Devil’s Real Estate
Devil’s Well is a big stomach, says one of America’s preeminent geologist-explorers. It’s Mother Nature’s idea of an indoor pool, except that it’s cold and dark and underground and scary as hell, hence the name. It is the world’s most … Read More
Prairie Spinner Leaves Missouri, Becomes Hurricane, then Returns
If the wind in this tightly wrapped cosmic comma were placed over warm water, it would have a name. Clouds swirl like pinwheel blades as the fast moving prairie low pulls outer bands into its vortex. Over water the storm … Read More
Mass Grave in Jefferson City
This monument stands atop a mass grave in the Jefferson City National Cemetery. Beneath are buried the 147 Civil War Union soldiers killed responding to the Centralia Massacre. “On September 27, 1864, Bloody Bill Anderson’s guerilla gang—including a young recruit … Read More
Greed, Pride, and the Lake of the Ozarks
Much of the development at the Lake of the Ozarks can be traced back to one event. Flash back to the late 1960s. In a move that forever changed the face and fortune of the lake, then-Governor Warren Hearnes entered … Read More
Hope and Change
Canton lured me back for an overnight, where I went to a free show at the college. A young comedian mesmerized the crowd with juggling and jokes, then the juggler asked the young lady sitting next to me to assist … Read More
My favorite backyard fireworks
They don’t seek loud noises, but then again, they don’t seem to mind. They produce a show as good as any riverfront fireworks extravaganza, with the colors of a garden rainbow. Long past fireworks season, they point their colorful fingers … Read More
Centralia Cemetery
On July 4, the Centralia Cemetery honors each of its 479 veterans with an American flag. According to the city, the sight has been known to stop passing traffic along nearby Highway 22. Curious whether the cemetery holds the remains … Read More
Requiem for an Old Broadway Star
The demolition ran into a snag. A piece of equipment broke, and the wrecking of the old hotel stopped for a few days, leaving a solitary four-story turret rising above the rubble. Maybe it was an elevator shaft, I couldn’t … Read More