It started innocently enough. The presentation going well. Had a modest audience of around three dozen people listening to my recreation of Henry R. Schoolcraft. Part of the Old Greenville Days celebration, I was emphasizing the fact that Schoolcraft had taken the Bettis Ferry a half-mile from the remnants of the original Greenville Courthouse…
Why?” This query was from my wife, and was in response to what was in the front of my johnboat. I had just returned from a river cleanup with a somewhat worse-for-wear picnic table. It was just part of what I had removed from Upper Current River that morning. The tires and six…
Addictions. We all have them. Some “compulsive engagement in rewarding stimulants despite adverse consequences.” “Habit forming substances or behaviors.” It has been said, “An overindulgence of anything, even something as pure as water, can intoxicate.” Pete Rose’s was an addiction to playing baseball. For some it is drugs. Many; alcohol. Poker. Video games….
“It’s all in the details!” The lady offering this time-honored adage was wiping the spare droplets of water from her car she’d just washed. Not accustomed to people paying such care to a vehicle, I had asked about her actions while sharing adjoining gas pumps at a filling station. Seems she’d had the…
These lines of the Statler Brothers’ song “Flowers on the Wall” were always enjoyable to hear. I never thought that more than a half-century later they would be describing my life. But, if you will accept a temporary trellis of brown string covered with vining moonflowers as a wall, it does just that. Moonflowers,…
By Rick Mansfield Fishermen call their invitation to prey the “presentation.” It may be as simple as a hook-full of worms dangling beneath a red and white bobber for whatever will bite, or as specific as a three-ounce hand-painted loon targeting a wary musky. It might be a ball of dough, a live minnow…
Sandy Creek Covered Bridge near Hillboro. When did we quit building covered bridges? Originally designed to make the wooden structures last longer by protecting them from the elements, iron and steel along with lead-based paint made the designs obsolete. At least, that is what a lot of civil engineers decided. Now, we know that…
This past week or so have been some great ‘shroom times. A couple of days we even hit the Ozark spring daily double. Found mushrooms and caught crappie — both delicious fried! Now I am far from an expert at either; just an amateur enthusiast. I have friends that actually find them by the…
