Missouri: Arrow Rock Camping, Part 3: A Fuller History

Never Been Beat by Artist Joe Don Brave, Arrow Rock Historic Site Visitor Center, Missouri. May 2018.

The Arrow Rock State Historic Site's Visitor Center is very, very attractive. It is a space easy to miss, abutting the village, but tucked behind trees and a boardwalk. There's an expansive parking lot accessible from the rural highway that serves both the village and the state park.

Joe Don Brave exhibit, Arrow Rock Historic Site Visitor Center, Missouri. May 2018.

Given the diminutive size of Arrow Rock and its rural setting, it surprised and pleased me to see the permanent exhibit called Slavery, Racism, Violence: Justice and the Constitution -- the African-American experience in the Boone's Lick from Emancipation (1865) to the beginning of the Civil Rights Era.

History exhibit, Arrow Rock Historic Site Visitor Center, Missouri. May 2018.

For healing to occur in our society, it is imperative for us to look at our shared history, to gaze on it, to see it and to see the women, men, and children - our ancestors - who lived it.

History exhibit, Arrow Rock Historic Site Visitor Center, Missouri. May 2018.

The exhibit impressed me with its straightforwardness in presenting facts and the effect of slavery and post-slavery times on residents, both black and white.

History exhibit, Arrow Rock Historic Site Visitor Center, Missouri. May 2018.

History exhibit, Arrow Rock Historic Site Visitor Center, Missouri. May 2018.

History exhibit, Arrow Rock Historic Site Visitor Center, Missouri. May 2018.

History exhibit, Arrow Rock Historic Site Visitor Center, Missouri. May 2018.

The visitor center featured a beautifully-lit room of art work by Joe Don Brave, an artist of Osage and Cherokee heritage.

Missouri: Spring Love

My sister and I sat outside on a sunny, warm afternoon.

Suddenly, a dark lumpy shape buzzed past me. Whoa, big fella! Let me get out of the way for you! Another body zoomed past.

I jumped.

However, neither had any interest in me or my sister.

These rotund carpenter bees had other fish to fry today.

Carpenter bees, Missouri. May 2018.

Carpenter bees, Missouri. May 2018.

Carpenter bees, Missouri. May 2018.

In the first photo above, the male did connect briefly with the female. Then they parted and the male began to hover near the female, waiting for her to take flight again, which is what he particularly enjoys seeing happen.  My video of same below:

From wikipedia, re: mating behavior:

Males require female activity, specifically flight, in mating. Occasionally before mating, the couple will face each other and hover for a few minutes. When the male contacts the female, he mounts her back and attempts to push his abdomen under hers. Copulation occurs at this instant, and it is almost always followed by more mating attempts. If, during copulation, the female lands, the couple will disengage and the male will hover waiting for the female to take flight again;however, although the males almost always disengage and pause copulation when the female lands, there have been instances recorded in which the males will hold on to the female with all six legs and flap his wings in an attempt to lift her back into the air.

Someone else got a video of a liaison in another state:

In this video, the male seems to be OK with hanging on while the female walks along the surface.


Spring love. Reminds me of that time in New Mexico. February, it was. Sex Amidst the Gravel.

Missouri: Arrow Rock Camping, Part 2: Additions to the Carcass Gallery

I experienced a moral dilemma about my photo of this racoon, freshly killed on the road. The original photo was very, very graphic, and it prompted me to think what I wanted to achieve by sharing it or even keeping it at all.

Because I'm not entirely sure why I collect this gallery of animal carcasses to begin with, I didn't have a clear answer to the question of why I would censor one of the photos.

I do know that one reason I capture these pictures is because it is an act of seeing an individual that used to be alive, but which is now dead. So the way I edited the racoon picture is in that spirit.  I can look at that small hand, for instance, and touch the leathery palm, in a way. I can see the animal as a whole and not get lost in its entrails. 

Dead racoon, Arrow Rock State Park, Missouri. May 2018.

There is something odd about a carrion eater like this vulture being dead. Do vultures eat dead vultures?

Dead vulture, Arrow Rock State Park, Missouri. May 2018.

Dead vulture, Arrow Rock State Park, Missouri. May 2018.

My cumulative carcass collection below:

Missouri: Arrow Rock Camping, Part 1: Cold Coffee and Some Walks

Arrow Rock State Park, Missouri. May 2018.

I'm a bit of a camping Goldilocks, perhaps, in that I don't want to camp when it's too cold and I don't want to camp when it's too hot.

The first weekend in May was a splendiferous time for my first Missouri camping foray this year.

I chose Arrow Rock State Park.  I've been there before. I like that the state park is tucked up against the village of Arrow Rock, and it's pleasant to poke around town.

Cold coffee fixings, Arrow Rock State Park, Missouri. May 2018.

To keep things super easy for me, I decided not to cook a damn thing. Not even coffee. Whoa, wait a minute! Not that I'd do without coffee, for God's sake! Nope, I'd bring my favorite instant coffee, some sweetener, a flavored creamer, and shake it all up in cold water each morning. Damn good stuff.

Arrow Rock State Park, Missouri. May 2018.

When I arrived at the campground, I nabbed the second to the last available campsite. Hoo-wee, that was lucky! The Audubon Society was hosting a weekend birding event, so I got there in the nick of time. I saw a lot of big-rig camera gear. Impressive.

I took several walks over the weekend.

Arrow Rock State Park, Missouri. May 2018.

One of the coolest things I saw was this tree being consumed by beaver bites.

Beaver teeth markings, Arrow Rock State Park, Missouri. May 2018.

Beaver teeth markings, Arrow Rock State Park, Missouri. May 2018.

Beaver teeth markings, Arrow Rock State Park, Missouri. May 2018.

Beaver teeth markings, Arrow Rock State Park, Missouri. May 2018.

I had the thought to record morning birdsong at my campsite and see about adding that to a slide show for my youtube channel. Below is my result:

Ferguson: Northern Lights Christmas

Northern Lights Christmas Market, Ferguson, Missouri. November 2017.

On the Sunday following Thanksgiving, Ferguson holds its Northern Lights Christmas Market and Parade. This is also when one can buy tickets to the Ferguson Christmas Home Tour.

Northern Lights Christmas Parade, Ferguson, Missouri. November 2017.

After a nature-infused weekend with family members in the Ozarks Scenic Riverways here and here, I hied home early Sunday so I could grab tickets for me and my mom for the Christmas Home Tour and also to see the parade that night!

Northern Lights Christmas Parade, Ferguson, Missouri. November 2017.

Northern Lights Christmas Parade, Ferguson, Missouri. November 2017.

Northern Lights Christmas Parade, Ferguson, Missouri. November 2017.

One of several videos here, a children's dance troupe:

And, as always, I swoon over drums:

But I was besotted with this crazy-creative moving train table, operated at the Christmas Market by one of Santa's helpers!

Missouri: Ozark Scenic Riverways, Part 2: Alley Mill

Alley Mill, Ozark Scenic Riverways, Missouri. November 2017.

November 2017


Thanksgiving weekend I spent with two brothers, a niece, and my mom in the Ozark Scenic Riverways area. We slept at Echo Bluffs State Park, three of us at the lodge, and two of us in the same real estate as the wild horses.

On Saturday, we visited Alley Mill, one of the National Park Service's sites in the Ozark Scenic Riverways. Alley Mill and Spring is a gorgeous rural space with its eye-catching red mill, the spirit-quenching spring water, gracefully-branched trees, and inviting lawn.

Alley Mill, Ozark Scenic Riverways, Missouri. November 2017.

Alley Mill is picturesque, pleading for promiscuous picture taking (purple prose?), and we arrived at the golden hour for photography. Given the two, golden results should be practically guaranteed.

Alley Mill, Ozark Scenic Riverways, Missouri. November 2017.

There was even a group of traditional Mennonite girls and women who brought some old-timey realia into the frame! Divine providence!

Eh. I just couldn't get a magical shot of that mill despite all of its visual come-hitheriness. 

But the spring channeled Van Gogh.

Alley Mill, Ozark Scenic Riverways, Missouri. November 2017.

Alley Mill, Ozark Scenic Riverways, Missouri. November 2017.

Two pigeons, perhaps overwrought from holiday stresses, squabbled. A video below:

Here is a slide show of our visit to Ozark Scenic Riverways. 

A side note

We lunched at a diner in Eminence, a nearby town. A tall person hung the mirror in the ladies' room.

Ladies' room in an Eminence diner, Ozark Scenic Riverways, Missouri. November 2017.

Missouri: Ozark Scenic Riverways, Part 1: Echo Bluffs State Park

Wild horse, Echo Bluffs State Park, Missouri. November 2017.

November 2017


I spent Thanksgiving weekend at Echo Bluffs State Park with my mother, two brothers, and a niece. My mom, a brother, and I stayed in the lodge; my other brother and his daughter camped in their camper truck.

Echo Bluffs State Park is a newly-minted state park that used to be a private youth camp, and there are many, many adults with fond memories of times spent at that camp.

The park is adjacent to Ozark Scenic Riverways, administered by the National Park Service.

There is a herd of wild horses at Echo Bluffs. The horses wander through the campsites at will. They poop there, too. Under normal circumstances, this might be an annoyance, but it's wild horse poop, so it has some panache.

Wild horse poop, Echo Bluffs State Park, Missouri. November 2017.

On my way to meet the family members, I drove by a dead snake. I, of course, turned around to take its picture.  I like snakes, and this was an especially pretty one. Given that it was November, I'm guessing it had sidled up to the road for warmth from the sun.

Dead snake, Echo Bluffs State Park, Missouri. November 2017.

Behind the lodge and cabins is Sinking Creek, which flows at the feet of Echo Bluff.

Echo Bluffs State Park, Missouri. November 2017.

I saw a fossiliferous rock. 

Echo Bluffs State Park, Missouri. November 2017.

A pretty sunset.

Echo Bluffs State Park, Missouri. November 2017.

Between you and me, I don't feel quite the same level of love that many express for Echo Bluffs, but I'm obviously not a reliable judge of fantastic-ness, given my ambivalence about Istanbul, which regularly hits top 10 lists of must-visits.  And it's possible that a quick trip in November doesn't show the park at its best.

So I encourage you to read this enthusiastic, well-written article about Echo Bluffs State Park. The author shares plenty of good pics, as well.

The Ozark Scenic Riverways area is beautiful, indeed. My camping brother, who's been to the area numerous times, directed our family quintet to his favorite spots.

One was Alley Spring and Mill, which is coming up in Part 2.

Ferguson: First Day of May

First day in May, Ferguson, Missouri. May 2018.

On the first day of May, I took a walk in Ferguson.

First day in May, Ferguson, Missouri. May 2018.

It seems spring has finally arrived.

First day in May, Ferguson, Missouri. May 2018.

First day in May, Ferguson, Missouri. May 2018.

A cumulative slide show of Ferguson below:

First day in May, Ferguson, Missouri. May 2018.

I think I hear angels singing.