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
Gustav Spills His Guts
Just outside Windsor, Gustav’s guts started spilling. Gustav had slammed into Louisiana as a Category 4 hurricane, and plowed north through Arkansas into southern Missouri. By the time it reached Sedalia, the storm had devolved into an extratropical depression, which … Read More
The Road By Gads Hill
Boarding a railroad car at Gads Hill, Missouri, Frank James quoted Shakespeare, announcing to startled passengers his gang’s intent to rob them. Just the rich, mind you. Not the working poor, with calloused hands. No women. No children. The Bard … Read More
Looney Creek
It’s a peaceful spot to rest in eternity. Surrounded by forest between Bethel and Emden, Looney Creek Cemetery may have a longer future than the crumbling Old Brick Church, the ambassador for these bones. Frank Drake is buried here. A … Read More
A Drive Thru Jeff City’s Past
We had a busy day. Missouri Transit delivered my grandkids in time for us to scamper across the bridge to eat breakfast at Tremain’s. We watched passengers arrive on an Ozark Airlines DC-3, then retraced our route, past the Bridge … Read More
Crossroads
It was 10:00 p.m. My car, thirsty for petrol, urged me to exit the interstate and find fuel. Just ahead, Kingdom City waited with the tools to fill my tank. And my stomach. Kingdom City isn’t really a city. … 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
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