Category Archives: Musings

What is Humanity’s Role in Nature?

Humanity’s Role in Nature Have you ever thought about humanity’s role in nature? Our various mythologies and religious origin stories offer some ideas that are generally accepted by many, but those are conflicting and I still wonder. Are we here to rule? To support and steward? Or perhaps to destroy? Our current political, economical, and […]

Wild Ozark Musings – December Newsletter

Below you’ll find the December issue of Wild Ozark Musings, a newsletter about nature, ginseng, and our wild Ozark life. Ordinarily I send this out as an email near the beginning of the month to subscribers. This month I didn’t get it sent until mid-month. Sometimes I post the newsletter to my blog later during the […]

Looking forward to solstice

Pulled this one from the archives. It’s from when I worked in Bentonville, leaving before dawn and getting home after dusk. I hated that and am glad to be working from home now, but I still look forward to mid-winter’s eve. Hurry Up Solstice. – 2009-12-16 13:34 It was nearly 6:45 this morning before pre-dawn […]

Killing Pretty Roosters

First I tried selling pretty roosters. Then I tried gifting pretty roosters. Yesterday we killed pretty roosters. It was my chore to pick which ones. I felt a bit like Kali (Goddess who is both giver of life and bringer of death). Last summer and fall the hens hatched out some eggs and most of […]

One Photo. One Thought – The path of our choice.

One Photo. One Thought.  I chose to walk the one that beckoned my heart. About Wild Ozark Wild Ozark is a nature farm. Mostly we grow rocks. I use those rocks and some of the herbs to make earth pigments and watercolor paints. We also grow native clay that I use for paint and various other […]

Two weeks to Relax, Have a Fun Spree, Regroup

For the next two weeks I’ll be on internet vacation trying to relax and have some fun. I’ll be trying to relax. I know I’ll have fun. But for the blog and social networks, that means I’ll be spending little or no time on the internet. This is the first of the auto-posts I have […]

Looking back on 10 years of roughing it in the Ozarks – Happy Thanksgiving 2015

Many would consider us still roughing it. Life is a lot more comfortable here now, but we learned a lot about survival since we moved to these wild Ozark hills. Our Wild Ozark Origins When we first moved here to the Ozarks from south Louisiana, we lived in a very old house. We were a […]

Wild Ozark Nature Journal on Kindle

What is a sketch / nature journal? Sometimes nature writers like to doodle while they’re interpreting nature. My nature journal is a combination of art and written journal entry. It is both nature sketching and nature journal. Here are some sample pages from my first collection. All of my work can be seen at WildOzark.com/naturejournal/as I do […]

mermaid in a sea of swirling air

mermaid in a sea of swirling air Gloria drops her leaves litter like silk puddles around her on the ground She’s nearly nude now * The wind rolls in like waves breakers on hilltops It spills, crashes into the valley I feel like  a mermaid In a sea of swirling air About Wild Ozark Wild Ozark is a […]

First Freeze 2015 in the Ozarks

First Freeze It was 30*F when I looked outside this morning near daybreak. Honestly, it was somewhat after daybreak. Yesterday’s fun with the grandkids wore me plumb out and I slept like a rock past my alarm. Technically, the sun rises around 0600 but because of Wild Ozark’s narrow valley, it doesn’t shine through the […]

Symbols of Warmth and Sustenance

I brought the camera with me this foggy morning to capture some of the beauty that surrounded me in the hushed quiet of our little Wild Ozark valley. When I came back in I sat on the porch and listened to the sapsuckers discussing the next leg on their journey. Mist muffled crows cawed and […]

Feeding critters under a gentle patter of rain

This morning I was feeding critters under a gentle patter of rain. There are times when I am tired or don’t feel like going out on my regular chore round, but for the most part I enjoy this part of my day. Even in the rain. Or maybe especially in the rain. I like doing […]

The original sketch for my Goodreads Giveaway

I have a copy of my sketch journal up for giveaway at Goodreads. It’s titled simply, My Nature Journal. It’s not *my* journal but a blank one designed for others who would like to get into nature sketching. Part of the giveaway is an original sketch and journal entry that I’ll make in it before […]

Tangerine Sunrise, Goodreads Giveaway, Nature Sketching

When the sun rose high enough to top the trees it washed the hills in a tangerine glow. The trees are changing fast now and I really want to take pictures every day. I have been drawing more often than photographing these days. Here’s the journal entry for the most recent native plant subject. It’s […]

Rain or Hallucination?

So brief it almost feels now like it was hallucination, rain fell this morning while I was out feeding the critters. The chickens were all like “what’s that wet stuff coming down from the sky?” It’s been many weeks since we had rain last and everything is bone dry, including most of the creek. It’s […]

Beautiful Fall Misty Morning

There is a silence accompanied by a misty morning that is unlike anything else. This morning I sat on the porch to have my morning coffee. The roosters refrained from crowing. The logging activity is either done or stopped for a break. Only the occasional drip of condensate from the porch could be heard. I […]

Feels like fall is really here

It’s a foggy morning at Wild Ozark, and chilly too. Feels like fall is really here now. 42*F when I looked at the thermometer right after sunrise. I went down to the mailbox to mail a letter this morning after feeding the animals and noticed a grasshopper struggling in the middle of the little creek […]

For all the little acorns

May they grow to mighty oaks For the past several weeks one of the first morning sounds have been that of heavy equipment moving into place on the mountains to our southeast. Later, as the sun rises, it’s chainsaws. And the crashing of mighty oaks. Someone is clearing out an entire forest from the sounds […]

The Business ‘Circle of Life’ at Wild Ozark

An older post, but still representative. Eventually I’ll update it but for now, I’ll leave it alone: This is the second year since making Wild Ozark my full-time endeavor. Over the past year, I’ve noticed a life-cycle of sorts. It’s risen organically, and next year I hope to be more efficient at taking advantage of […]

Death from Above – Wasp vs Mantis

There are lots of videos at YouTube about wasp vs mantis, but they always show the mantis winning. Today I saw a wasp carrying the head of a praying mantis. I saw one yesterday, too. I’ve found lots of info online about the mantis eating the wasps, but nothing about wasps eating them. The praying […]

A Homesteading Hermit Self-Reliant Writer’s To-Do List

I’m a self-reliant writer for the most part. I’m also a homesteader and close to being a hermit (hermitress) these days. It would take a lot more money than I make at it to delegate any of the tasks, homesteaderly or otherwise, and more time than I want to spend waiting on traditional publishing so others […]

Spider Stick

Anyone who has ever ridden, or rather, *driven* a four-wheeler on a tree-lined path will know exactly why this four-wheeler is sporting a lovely branch of wilted leaves. It’s a “spider stick”. And it’s the person in front, if you’re riding double, who appreciates this little contraption most of all. I am not *scared* of spiders, I […]