Canoe The Ozarks

It’s August 12 and a customer is asking me a question that is very slowly penetrating my wish scheming daydreamin’ state of consciousness.  The next moment finds me abruptly cognizant and agitated that  “I’m NOT on the river anymore!” I must have been “Piney dreamin’.”  It’s a condition that has no cure nor does it […]

It’s the night before the Summer Solstice and I’ve been lounging on the little deck.  The Lightning Bugs are out in force tonight and I’ve got a great seat for this amazing light show. Their lights are streaking and tracing against a dark curtain of trees that flourish along both sides of the little Ozark […]

Oh Mamma Maia, daughter of Atlas(Gr), Roman Goddess of fertility, your name lends well to my favorite page on the calendar(Maius/Latin)! This transitional month finds me still reveling in the resurrection of life along the river and excited by its unerring promise of summer.  This second wave of spring is composing the lushest and greenest […]

The commencement of spring on the river also welcomes new arrivals of many songbirds. These merry messengers have traveled a great distance to sing their spirited songs that soar from the Maker’s code. Some of the earliest arrivals include:  Woodthrush; Swallows; Indigo Buntings; Phoebes(here long before April).  And four different Warblers:  Yellow-throated; Parula; Black & […]

A robin is chirping and the trees are glowing with a haze of chartreuse that mellows the green with a signature scene(Monet comes to mind).  The Chorus Frogs are already calling from a nearby creek and daffodils are poised for blooming just across the street. It’s the “second coming,” the renewal, the promise of new […]

Sometimes the best cure for “cabin fever” is a…CABIN, WHEN it sits close to an Ozark stream. It could be mid January to late March before I take my “break the winter doldrums” or “cure for cabin fever” trip.  And if the temperatures are colder than usual, I like to head for a cozy little […]

It’s about three weeks past Christmas and I’m already getting cabin fever.  Here in St. Louis we just received our second snowfall(2-4inches) and the mercury is dropping fast. The wind chill was hovering at -1 this morning. Brrrrr’ And it’s this time of year when I often find myself looking at photos from past canoe […]

The colors in the Ozarks were spectacular this year, SO I HEARD.  I wasn’t able to get away this time and I still wince when I hear people mention how beautiful the colors were.  And some people are saying that it was the best fall display in decades. Rolling hills of reds, rust -reds, yellows, […]

Sweet September.  A transitional month that offers the last vestiges of summer and softly announces a prelude for fall. The air seems crisper, cleaner; your nose swears it so.  The trees and vegetation are still showing their  green, but the vibrancy is noticeably fading as a few leaves slowly feather down onto the river. As […]