Winter Memories by Dale Grubaugh This winter? It has been cold! January? The temperatures were below zero at night and barely out of the single digits in the day. Five inches of powdery snow on the ground, more in the forecast. The wind howling. It was a good time to stay indoors watch winter from…
PLATE 1. U.S. MARINES WITH COMBAT LOGISTICS BATTALION 22, 22ND MARINE EXPEDITIONARY UNIT WAIT FOR A CH-53E SUPER STALLION HELICOPTER, APRIL 25, 2014. Yankee Whiskey, Mike by Lauren Hembree I wrote a poem once. It was about you and how you had decided to run off to the military instead of marry my cousin (or…
James’ Footprints by Joshua Heston I still remember it awful well. That old hot summer had kind of given up — fitful-like — to become a fall that just couldn’t seem to make up its mind about what it would grow up to be. And it hadn’t been a good summer either. My cousin James…
Leofstan’s Last Voyage by Edwin Woolsey Mirroring his mood, the gorgeous blue sky faded to sullen gray as Leofstan trekked eastward toward Bristol. What he failed to notice… the other seamen quickly saw. The air filled the sail with a doleful omen from the sea, uncharacteristic of bright spring weather. The misty, murky gloom pursued…
Yet I remember by Lindel Gore 06:00 hours, 24, 7, Phoenix, Arizona: coffee, and toast. This is the smell that floods my mind from the time I spent with grandma (My father’s mother). I was thirteen to seventeen years old then. After bloody noses, black eyes and bruised ribs, the smell of grandmas’ toast and…
Story by Chris Whitley. Artwork by Shelly Maledy-Martin (pictured above) The Treehouse Chris Whitley This is a story about a tree house, a scar, and the loyalty of brothers. Growing up, I was fortunate to have three big brothers looking after me. Seven, nine, and ten years older than me, to this day they often…
Archery Decisions by Joshua Ong The sun had made its way up and was casting an orange hue over what would soon become a competition zone. Here, in only a handful of moments, arrows will fly toward all kinds of “animals.” This is an Archery Shooters Association (ASA) Tri-State Qualifier hosted by the White River Bowmen…
Red Riding Hood by Sarah Crouch The wolf had arrived, as he set in motion his devious plan, he changed into Lettie’s form. He knocked on the door. “Who is it?” a scratchy voice called within. “ It is I, Grandmother, Lettie, come to deliver a basket of goods,” the false child said. The older…
Original artwork by Curtis Copeland. Impending War by Clint Lacy Cotton was not king in the Ozarks but hard work was. The soil was not suited for farming. If it had been the planters would have bought it up and brought their slaves with them. Planting was done in small clearings. It was no easy…
Original artwork by Lydia Hoskins. Ozark Strawberries by Dale Grubaugh These Ozark Hills can sure produce some mighty fine vittles. Blackberries, dewberries, gooseberries, huckleberries and strawberries. All of these berries grow wild ’round the Ozarks. Most, except for the dewberry, have been tamed. But none have been tamed like the strawberry. The wild strawberry, sometimes…