A while back, I posted about our exploration of the bluffs along the driveway. This time we went hiking to what I call the “Corner Bluff”. It’s not far away, either, but takes a bit of effort. Getting to this one is fairly difficult if approached from the ground level, so instead of climbing up, …
A note from Madison: I get many requests by content providers to do guests posts here on the Wild Ozark blog. Most of the time, the subject matter isn’t closely related enough to nature or any of the site topics. However, southwest Missouri is a destination for folks all over the Ozarks and British Solomon’s …
Guest Post: A Nature Enthusiast’s Guide to Southwest Missouri Read More »
On this day in 2015, we had snow and sun sparkles. So far this year it’s been unseasonably warm and no snow so far. That could change this weekend, though – snow is in the forecast! Since we haven’t had any this year yet, I’m rerunning the photos from a couple of years ago. Sun …
Through Ice and Mud Whether through ice and mud, or snow, or rain or wind, kind of like the postman’s creed to deliver mail, we must deliver hay to the horses. It’s easy to stay in touch with the wheel of time when you repeat a certain activity outdoors throughout the year. I like this facet …
Through Ice and Mud We Go – Bringing Hay to Horses Read More »
These cherry leaves were such a brilliant golden yellow. They shined like a beacon in an otherwise bleak and dreary landscape. Glad I brought the real camera along for the ride to town yesterday. I think this would make a nice large-sized print for an office somewhere. If you happen to have such a space …
The Color of Cherry Leaves | Ozark Backroads Collection Read More »
I spent a little time down the road today trying to capture the last of the fall colors for the year. The wind has been gusting pretty hard and many of the leaves have fallen. It seems that every year, just as the colors reach the height of their glory, the winds come and strip …
Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis) at the creek’s edge in late August. It’s one of the showiest Lobelia species that grows in the Arkansas Ozarks.
Not enough time to make a decent post lately, so figured I’d at least put up a few of the photos I’ve taken in the past few days of August. Click on them to make them larger.
We hiked around a few gravel bars along Kings River yesterday. Wild Ozark is not far from the headwaters of this locally important waterway, but other than what we see from the window as we drive over the several bridges that cross it on the way to town, we haven’t explored much of it. Where to …
Kings River, Looking at Rocks and Evading the Rain Read More »
Thimbleweed is a graceful, interesting native Ozark plant that grows along forest edges (also native to many other areas of the eastern United States). It is most often found in the dappled shade of liminal spaces between forest and clearing. Before sending up flower stalks, the plant is only about a foot tall. The long …
It’s been awhile since I’ve wandered with the camera, but this morning on my way to town I brought the camera just so I could capture some of my favorite woodland flowers blooming along the driveway and county road. The sparsely petaled wildflower in the photo above is the original version. It’s the wildflower that …
PawPaw seedlings look a lot like hickory seedlings. In the photo you can see who’s who, but without the labels it’s easy to mistake one for the other. One way to tell the difference is the leaf arrangement. When they’re both older, it’s much easier to see that the leaves are arranged differently on the …
Black Cohosh or Doll’s Eyes? Trying to differentiate between black cohosh and doll’s eyes before they come into bloom, has been frustrating. It’s very easy to tell once they begin the blooming process as the flower stems originate in different places and the flowers themselves are very different. Both of these woodland herbs grow in …
Black Cohosh or Doll’s Eyes? Companion Look A-Likes Read More »
Lots of flowers in the ginseng habitat right now. The following are just a sample. Wild Ginger If you don’t mind getting down on the ground, you can see the wild ginger (Asarum canadense) blooming. Flowers are usually just below the leaf litter at the base of the stems. Mayapple The mayapples are blooming too. …
Beginning in May 2017 there will be a place to go for anyone interested in seeing ginseng growing in its natural environment, and for learning about the habitat.
Whenever I go away from the house alone, I take my camera. A simple run to the post office or to town becomes an Ozark Backroad Photo Journey. I generally try not to do this when I have passengers or am myself a passenger. It seems that stopping as often as I do when I’m …
Ozark Backroad Photo Journey – Come Along for the Ride Read More »
Yesterday I brought my camera with me when I went to the mailbox. If I had walked, I know it would have taken more than an hour because I would have seen so many more opportunities to stop and take a picture. There’s Never a “Quick Trip” Anywhere Out Here My intention was to make …
Today I built a culvert retaining wall for the culvert on the shop driveway to keep it from washing out around the sides.
I was driving home from my daughter’s house this evening as the sun began setting on our beautiful Ozark hills. Just so happened to have my camera with me so I stopped for a few photos along the county road.
Usually, Harbinger of Spring or Dutchmen’s Breeches are the first flowers I notice out here. This year different flowers made the scene.
I knew when I saw the rounded hand-sized rock that it was more than “just a rock”. It was a stone tool, & probably several thousand years old. There is something special about holding a stone I know once was held in another woman’s hand, possibly as long ago as 6000 B.C. (I’ve since found other …
Then there were coyotes at midnight, just as the drift of dreams was beginning to take hold. It went on for so long I had time to turn on the audio recorder and go outside. Now you get to hear the sound of this ruckus, too.
On Sunday I went hiking with my two oldest children and their children, one of my daughter’s friends and her children, and my parents to the Kings River Falls. This trail is a little north and east of Fallsville, AR in Madison county. Here’s a link the Arkansas Natural Heritage website for the trail. Kings …
Nature is my muse. I’ve been working hard on my novel, trying to get the first draft finished by the end of March. I want to be submitting it by the end of summer. The rain last night and the way the storm departed this morning as if grumbling and slamming doors behind it gave …
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
