StateoftheOzarks Weekly

The Day Before

BEEN THINKIN’ ABOUT… THE DAY BEFORE. A lemon sky gathers, clouds a distant tangerine smudge where the sun is setting on the far western horizon, somewhere over Oklahoma it seems, and the ribbon road is again endless, east versus west, time over and again. The forest ridges tumble away on all sides, faceless, nameless to…

StateoftheOzarks Weekly

Forest or Fire

BEEN THINKIN’ ABOUT… FOREST OR FIRE. Hot afternoons and cold nights and the Ozarks’ oak forest blossomed in crimson, orange, and brilliant yellow. Fall has finally fallen, too late for Halloween, but right on cue. I drive home in awe, even as early dusk covers the hills in a gauzy purple blanket. At some point…

StateoftheOzarks Weekly

Sky Change

BEEN THINKIN’ ABOUT… SKY CHANGE. I took off running after the July thunderstorm, running to the top of the south hill where the big hawthorn grew, running past the grapevines and the plum thicket and the day lilies wet with evening rain.The sky was clearing and I knew, somehow, I should be high up on…