Hulston Mill Memories by Raymond Keith Farmer Samuel Farmer, my great-grandfather, owned the mill from 1916 to 1941, when he sold it to Frank Nixon. I was raised in Dade County, Missouri, just seven miles northeast of Greenfield. My grandfather Howard Farmer was Samuel’s son. Samuel also had a daughter, Nona (my great-aunt), and she…
Been thinkin’ about… A Magical Halloween Halloween is my favorite holiday of the year. For me, Halloween was a week of spookiness complete with a trip to the dime store for candy and picking out a mask, then home to scare my big sisters (who were often obliging enough to pretend to be frightened).After sunset…
I Have Seen the Elephant by Pat Craig A mid-1800s’ fable revolved around a farmer who heard the circus was coming to town. He had never seen an elephant and headed to town with his produce to see the elephant. On the road, he encountered the elephant. Unfortunately, the farmer’s horse had never seen an…
The Sluagh by Joshua Heston It was a day I’ll never forget as long as I live. I was a young priest then, fresh out of Dublin. A city boy as sure as the world. Assigned to a godforsaken western isle of Ireland on the far-flung coast of County Clare. It was a beautiful, harsh…
Glade & Glade Snakes by Ben Dalton If you’re not from this neck o’ the woods, you might know a glade as a clearing in a forest. However, glades have a special meaning to those of us who live in the Ozarks: A glade is a unique ecosystem that is drier, rockier, and more resembles a…
Dancing Between Light & Shadow: Brother Brother by Gideon Pellegrino The stage is a small stone platform dressed with instruments. The sun has begun its routine set past the sky, letting the moon push it from our view. And the moon is full. Outside a cozy coffee shop somewhere in a small nook in Hollister,…
KING OF DIRT by Will Brooks with art by Helen Long Just the appearance of the truck made me feel dirty. The grubby yellow paint gave little hint to the fact that the truck had started out white. I walked around the truck, being careful to stay upwind. On the driver’s side door was a…
Dave Loftin shares his story of runaway lamb chops to a ready crowd. The Fugitive won first place in StateoftheOzarks Midsummer Writers & Artists Competition. Artwork by Marty Schmitt (foreground) was inspired by Dave Loftin’s story (below). Beyond, Sophie Liffick’s emotional Heart & Hands art is presented on a Jimmy Swaggert vinyl record. Life on the Farm…
Been Thinkin’ About… Nine summers ago. Change. Love. Heartbreak. The passage of time. The pain of self-doubt. Life. Nine summers ago, the tomatoes were ripening. Strawberry season had passed. Cottonwood leaves rippled in the dry August air. And I was on a mission. One I absolutely believed in for no apparent reason. I had known…
Been thinkin’ about… …fireworks, magic and America. We’re over halfway through the year. This being 2016, we’re not only past the six-month-mark of New-Year-resolutions-gone-sour but we’re also up to our ears in that most-American of all pastimes: Getting angry about politics. Sometimes, I think getting angry is what we do best. If it’s any consolation,…