A winter float to the Irish Wilderness

The Eleven Point River was running full and fast. From Greer Access, floating downriver through Stair Step Hole, whistling past Graveyard Hollow, I crossed Mary Decker Shoal, passed Hurricane Creek, the Turner Mill wheel and Stinking Pond, rounded Horseshoe Bend, … Read More

Hillbillies, Hay Bellies and Hostess Twinkies

Shuckin' Hostess

It was a dream. A nightmare. When I was a kid, I don’t remember seeing any over-sized hillbillies. Hill folk worked hard to squeeze a living from rocky soil. They were rugged, independent, self-sustaining people. Skinny, mostly, but healthy. They … Read More

Despite Sheridan, Bison making comeback

General Philip Sheridan’s statue stands on the New York state capitol grounds. Why do we honor this man who orchestrated the systematic genocide of the millions of bison on the American plains? Missouri’s Highway 13 cuts through a rogue’s gallery … Read More

Science Quiz

Ever look up to watch a hippopotamus swim?  Or stand between diving penguins and puffins?  On a delightful Saturday morning, the St. Louis Zoo proved again why a recent survey called it America’s favorite zoo. The experience invigorates the senses.  … Read More

Crossing the Lexicon

“…ours is a mongrel language,” Mark Twain said about the world’s most expansive tool kit, “which started with a child’s vocabulary of 300 words and now consists of 225,000; the whole lot, with the exception of the original and legitimate … Read More

Back Door Branson

It bothered him like a gnat, the red dot on his chest. He knew it wasn’t a rash because the dot danced in a tight circle on the outside of his grimy wife-beater undershirt. He tried a few times to … Read More

On Seeds

There are seeds in every abandoned house, in the dry rotted floorboards and the mildewy walls, in the moss on the roof where sunlight doesn’t reach. The seeds are in the windowsills, in the clawfoot tub with as many rings … Read More

Dan “Coach Hoags” Hogan

“I’ll come see you if I can make it.” I knew what he meant. Dan was battling serious illness and the Grand Referee had granted him limited precious overtime. I didn’t expect to see him. But he showed up, game … Read More

Good Water Gone Bad

It’s the greatest water park in the world. A summer afternoon at Johnson’s Shut-Ins will make you forget about manmade water parks. That’s because it pushes humans through some of the most hair-raising chutes a body can stand without drowning. … Read More