Rise Up Ozarks! Rise Up Midwest!
Powered by sunlight and using rain for water, our cabin in Shannon County makes a fine solar home. Ozark renewable energy inspired the sustainable design.
Ozarks
Ozark Singer Conquers Europe
Ozark ‘Tenore Assoluto’: From Mansfield, Missouri, to Montpellier, France. Opera has been a reach for many, especially us hillbillies. Seeing a world-class star in one of the great opera houses of Europe might just cause you goosebumps. An Ozark ‘baritenor’, as he calls himself, did that to a full house in southern France on …
At the Dent County Historical Society
In early March I took an exhilarating yet exhausting drive across the Ozarks. Though Springfield and Salem lie nearly on the same latitude in Missouri, they’re about 75+ miles apart. The preferred routes on divided highways chosen by Google clocked in at about two and a half hours. The southern route followed US 60 to …
Gun Show-Train Show Smack Down
What I remember from a local train show yesterday was the fleam. I hadn’t seen once since running the Ozark Agriculture Museum. It’s a simple device. They were used to induce bleeding in belief bad blood could be eliminated and health restored. The procedure almost cost the life of our first President. Luckily medicine has …
Driving Advice from the Pros
Later Cameron Powers did well as a highway construction contractor, but his real love was playing music. He and his partner Kristina Sophia traveled in a big RV for several years sharing with various groups Middle Eastern music they’d learned on the road in Egypt, Jordan, Syria and elsewhere. “The secret is limiting stops for …
Forest Fires, Naked Rainbows & a New Book
In a murky thicket I’m finishing final edits and additions to Ozark Voices, my oral history book. Several chapters deal with the U.S. Forest Service. The head of this huge agency was supervisor for the 1.5 million-acre Mark Twain National Forest, headquartered in Rolla, for many years. Randy Moore has been in the news. He’s supporting a …
Birdwatching from Madison, MN, to Subiaco, AR
Has our poet of overgrown fields flown the coop to become some exotic creature? Maybe a crow? Lots of critters inhabit Robert Bly. Can his work have wings into the future? He died a few days ago, Nov. 21, 2021, at 94. I helped organize a reading for him way back in 1964. His first …
First Killing Frost
Trouble sleeping. After sunset I walk in the woods where stars sparkle above soaring oak and hickories. What’s that noise? An armadillo, bear or ghost? I’m nervous in the dark with just a tiny flashlight. The state has recently opened a season on our Black Bear, the first ever. Forty be “harvested,” as they call …
Unmasking the Paranormal Circus: Meditation on the Dark Side
What drew us here, to this scruffy parking lot in a mid-American shopping mall on one of the last nights of summer warmth? Was it the magnificent tent? The luminary appellation? The possibility of something extraordinary right here in our usually sleepy Ozark city? I woke up at 4 a.m. today pondering our visit, but …
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Earth Day at the Homeless Shelter
A freak blizzard early this week has meant snowmen coexisting with redbud trees in full bloom. The cold front probably nipped Ozark fruit and spring soirees. This photo is a neighbors house, with red buds to the rear. An inch of snow set back Cathy and my travel plans. Fun to be pissed off at …
Whippoorwill Morning
One of these mysterious bird sings downhill at 5 a.m. The world’s going to be new once again. Warm enough to leave windows cracked, love ballads from doves, owl warnings, frogs’ splashing, nuthatches prowling and eventually my neighbor Timothy whistling an aria as he walks down the gravel road eventually spur Cath and I to …
Trial by Water
It began with a bang. Starting up water service in our cabin, immediately the plastic filter fell to the floor. The tank flooded the basement. Luckily thinking fast, I shut off the supply line. We had turned off the water for winter. Who left the filter off? I picked up the quart-sized plastic vase that …
Spring Construction: With Sister Tabitha Babbit & Kent Brown
Today I fastened down the top part of my new trellis. This has been a month-long project done with the help of Kent Brown, including pine provided by David Haenke from the sustainable Alford Forest near Rockbridge, Missouri. My plan is growing pole bean in two boxes. We live in an apartment now with no …
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Reflections at Roaring River
We’ve reached a great turning point, the Opening of Trout Season, March 1st. A week ago it iced all the way to Texas. Snow plows and cinder trucks growled. A pipe froze in our Springfield apartment. Saturday, the 6th, offered the opposite. Beginning with a 6 a.m. alarm, I wanted to get to Roaring River …
The Coldest Night at the Overflow Shelter
This has been a winter to remember. The text message came about 3 p.m. A man who signed up to work at a nearby church taking in homeless can’t make it. “Can you come in?” A week ago I signed up as a back-up in case a volunteer had a problem. This was a big …
Homes & Heavens
Our neighborhood rouses amazing holiday decorations inspiring hope in this crazy time. Helpful when the craziest President ever endangers our future. What inspires people to string lights around their houses? My favorite has its structure outlined in vibrant colors, a twinkling camel and a Snoopy dog waiting by a flashing mailbox for his Christmas cards. …
Hauling Ties in an Early Ozark Blizzard
This story was told to me by the man who lived it, Darrow Doyle Faubus, named for the famous attorney Clarence Darrow. During his retirement Doyle became a singer and songwriter in the Fayetteville area. I was lucky to meet him once at the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History in Springdale, Arkansas. An auditor and …
Not Having a Truck
I just sold my truck. For the first time in roughly a half century I have no way to haul bikes or boards, boats or barrels of beer; snakes, smart-ass smugglers, or any spontaneous stuff to go anywhere whatsoever. I remember many wacky adventures: Hauling a 400-lb. hand-made traditional john boat to an exhibit of …
Alford Forest: New Lease on Life
How to escape a pandemic, urban stress or summer’s heat? A river offers a safe, forever cool retreat. Ozark streams present recreation constantly renewed by huge springs, some of the largest in the world. Spring water keeps everyone healthy. A big part of this endless cascade depends on surrounding forests. A friend living deep in …