Easter Moon, Rising by Joshua Heston Clear skies. Hot afternoon turning to cold dusk. Gravel clattered beneath my truck. It was getting late but not too late to be on the mountain. In the sudden, lingering twilight, sarvisberry blossoms became firework starbursts in white. Delicate new plum flowers trailed the mountainside. From inside Bear Cave,…
Archery Shoot in White River Country by Joshua Heston One by one, pickups pull into the open space atop the ridge. It is a cold, sunny winter morning above this particular Ozarks cedar glade. Archers of all ages and skill levels amble to the check-in tent, then to the test range. “You know you’re a…
by Tom Koob The big oak tree had lived for years, easily over a hundred years. The tree grew well in an agreeable spot. The trunk was over three feet across; its black bark wrinkled and gnarled with lumpy burls, evidence of broken limbs and injuries. The oak had one very thick limb jutting straight…
Frost Flowers by Tom Koob Today I found frost flowers. The night had been clear and cold; the first hard cold snap. It was a bright, crisp morning. The sun shone in clear yellows through the now mottled leaves that the oaks and hickories reluctantly refused to release. A path ambled through the forest. And…
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…