Beaten And Non-Beaten Paths

One of the most under appreciated and under used sources for mostly no or low cost fun, are state and national parks. Within less than an hours drive of our home, there are more parks, trails, fishing streams, caves, camp sites, boat launches, forest etc than you could see in a month if you spent your full time trying to. Go out a couple of hours and it would likely take a year of weekends to just take a quick look around each of these mostly free amenities. Some folks prefer to get their dose of the outdoors within the confines of their back yard or their city's green space. For my money, I like to get out in the middle of things and off the beaten path as often as I think about it. Although these pictures aren't what I'd consider off the beaten path, some folks would consider venturing out to a locality like Roaring River State Park, a wilderness adventure---and there's nothing wrong with that. I'll keep you posted....

~One of the Ozark trails at Roaring River

~Not sure of the species of this tree, but I like the way the picture turned out (I took it all by myself)

~Just a cool stone water fountain at Roaring River

PS. When I see old things that were built by someone's "own two hands", I find myself wondering about who they were, where they lived, and what kind of life they led. I'm guessing the fellow who built this water fountain was named John and lived in a little house in the country outside Cassville, Missouri. He likely spent his spare time fishing for catfish on the banks of the White River, when he wasn't gigging frogs or hunting squirrels. Thanks be for the stone mason--a dying breed.

The Ubiquitous Copper Head

A few years ago Sue saw a snake crawling across the ground at our cabin and disappear under the deck. A couple of minutes later I found him under this rock and managed to get him into an empty dog food sack...ALIVE. No big deal for an old gnarly guy born and raised in South Texas or West Oklahoma...but I'm from Missouri. We didn't have rattlesnakes where I came from, as far as I know. In case your wondering if this was really a rattle snake, it was. Most folks from Missouri and Arkansas would call this a Copper Head. About everyone I've ever known who cut the tail off a snake, cut the tail off a Copper Head. The next time you hear someone say, "I killed a snake yesterday.....etc", ask them what kind it was. I'll bet you a day old grape jelly donut they'll tell you it was a Copper Head.

Maybe some day I'll write the rest of this story. It was one we won't soon forget. I'll keep you posted....

Draw Down

~Before

One of my log home clients needed two extra logs to complete the deck on the back of their log home, which was set up last Summer. A few weeks ago Pioneer sent two cedar post down on a truck that contained assorted logs and log furniture destined for several different client locations across the country. Unfortunately, the logs didn't make it to our destination in Pittsburg, Kansas with the load of furniture that was shipped to Mitch and Vicki: I'm guessing the two post were mistakenly off loaded on one of the prior stops, so on to "plan B".

A few months back I'd given my Madison County, Arkansas clients the two logs you see above from my personal inventory, but it turned out they were too large in diameter for their purpose--thus the special order of two 10" post from my friends at Pioneer. When I realized the post I'd ordered from Pioneer didn't make it here, I decided to just take the two post I'd given Paul and Karen initially and carve them down to about 10" in diameter. It turned out to be quite a task and took me about 5 hours of whacking, cutting and gouging with my box of hand tools. In the end, however, I was pleased with the results. The logs turned out nicely in my opinion. I made a good effort to give each of them as much character as I could muster, with the use of my Gransfors Bruks small Scandinavian forest axe, Gransfors Bruks draw knife and my personal slick provided by Pioneer. I must say the GB axe performed admirable, but the GB draw knife turned out to be way to small and light for removing material on this kind of project. Essentially, it's a finish knife. I'm going to look into obtaining a much beefier draw knife, so I'm better prepared for my next little log project. I'll keep you posted....

~After 5 hours of hand work (a true Pioneer craftsman could probably have down this in a lot less time than it took me)

River Recon

For quite some time I've been wanting to learn how to fly fish. I took the first step Saturday by running some recon at Roaring River State Park in Southwest Missouri, which is conveniently located about 6 miles from our cabin. Although I've been to the fish hatchery a number of times, I've never really thoroughly walked the river and checked it out from the standpoint of a guy who very well might be in the process of becoming a world class fly fisherman. Now that I've accomplished that, I'm ready for step two--getting my fly rod and reel out of the attic and learning how to use it. I purchased the equipment several years ago when I left the corporate world and other than running a test pattern a time or two, have never actually learned how to use it the way the inventors had intended. My buddy George Dunning is planning on getting me up to speed before he heads off in four weeks for his Freshman year at Washington University. My guess is George won't have a chance to do much fly fishing the next 4 to 6 years, so maybe I can catch up with him in the fly talent department while he's busy hitting the books and staying out all night chasing college girls. I'll keep you posted. 

Little Farm

Another fine picture off the Huckberry web site. I'd like to give credit to the artist who painted it, but I don't have any idea who it was. Probably a gal named Melissa who's grandparents lived on a little farm in the foothills of eastern Montana when she was growing up in the 60's. She now lives in a little apartment in Manhattan and spends most of her time painting pictures that reflect the style Norman Rockwell became so world famous for. Right now she's probably sitting in the corner coffee shop sipping a latte and nibbling on a scone, looking for inspiration for her next canvas project. Might I suggest something in a barn...down by the river perhaps?

Keep up the good work Melissa. We'll be looking for more of your work to show up at Huckberry.com

I'll keep you posted.....

More Or Less?

I noticed a new business last week and was reminded of something I figured out a long time ago: when a business advertises "and more" to describe the balance of their inventory, don't expect the "and more" stuff to be nearly as exciting as the stuff that's mentioned by name. For example, if a business advertises "Flashlights, Catfish Bait and More", you better believe that the most exciting thing you're going to find in that store when you walk in....is flashlights. When a store advertises flashlights and catfish bait as their premiere product lines, and you go in expecting to find a nice assortment of handmade hunting knives, you're almost surely going to be disappointed.

With that in mind, the next time you see a commercial where an overly enthusiastic pitch-person is beside themselves over the thrill of telling you their business is having an awesome sale on "flashlights, catfish bait and A WHOLE LOT MORE!", don't take the bait unless you're also in the market for flashlight batteries and maybe some old fishing hooks. There's nothing wrong with shopping for any of this stuff; you just need to set your expectations properly regarding the remainder of the inventory.
Stay tuned....there's A WHOLE LOT MORE where this came from!
~I'll keep you posted.....

Blasting Zone Humor

I made this sign a number of years ago from a piece of wood I cut off a dead Ozark chinquapin tree that was lying in the woods a few hundred yards north of the cabin. A local guy named Derrick said it was chinquapin, so I took his word for it. The wood is hard like oak with a similar grain and texture. Chinquapin makes for nice sign material and would probably also make a nice rocking chair or coffee table.

Interestingly, in the 9 years or so the sign has been in place on this medium sized hickory tree just a few yards from the shooting range, not one person that I know of has ever commented on it or the irony implied by "Quiet Please" in regards to anything having to do with a shooting range or tractor pull. I guess humor must also be in the eye/ear of the beholder, just like art and beauty. I'll have to ponder that a bit more and of course, I'll keep you posted.

Work Of Art

I've heard it said that you're not supposed to criticize art. That makes sense, seeing as how art, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. That said, every time I see a "work of art" that to me looks like a bunch of individual pieces of metal welded together, I'm reminded that I have several pieces of metal lying around inside and outside my barn. One of these days, I'm going to borrow my Dad's welder and create my own world class work of art out of these random pieces of metal and place it in a strategic location for everyone to enjoy as they drive up to the cabin. When my work of art is complete, I'll take a picture of it (which I guess would also be a work of art, and make me an art photographer) and post it on here for everyone to see...all over the world. At that point, I guess I'll be an actual real life artist. And as soon as someone sees my work of art from as far away as Germany or the Czek Republic, I'll be an artist with world wide notoriety. In the words of the late Jed Clampett (Buddy Ebsen), "Weeeell doggies"! I'll keep you posted....

~This is a work of art that doubles as a hotdog stand in Seaside, Florida

Old Brick Barn

~An old brick barn from County St. Louis

Another barn for your review. I don't know about the history of this particular structure, but a brick barn is somewhat out of the ordinary for East Missouri, and I'm guessing the builders were of European decent.
A barn crafted with bricks instead of boards has it's virtues. One of those virtues is it lasted long enough for me to drive by in the summer of 2014 and take this picture. I doubt if that's why "Ol' Henry" chose brick over Pine or oak, but I'm glad he did. Thanks Henry for leaving a light on for us!

Old Rock House

I'd like to tell you that the cat on the bike is me...that's not me. But, I think I've seen that old rock house. Could be I just saw an old rock house that looked like this one, in a place that looked like this. I'll have to do a little research first to find out whether or not it snows in Ireland. I should have done that before I posted this, but I was in a hurry. My Ain't Dee Dee says she checks my blog every morning to see if I've posted anything new (she gets up around 4 a.m. every morning, so 9 a.m. is like lunch time to her). I don't want to disappoint her, because she knows people-- if you know what I mean. In any event, this is another cool picture I clicked and dragged off Huckberry.com. If the folks at Huckberry are reading this, I think you guys are a terrific group of folks and I can't wait to get that doggone hatchet that's Made in America. A woodsman can never have enough hatchets. A good woodsman is always in the market for the next hatchet or axe and is never completely satisfied with his last hatchet acquisition--or at least not for very long. Please don't tell my bride: she thinks I have enough hatchets right now. That's coincidental; I think she has enough shoes right now. I'll keep you posted....

Cool Locality

I'd like to tell you I took this picture out behind the cabin, but that would be an extremely tall tale. I actually did take this picture though---off a website called "Huckberry". They sell some pretty cool and sometimes unusual stuff for the discerning individual. In my estimation, the site is geared more to  the average guy than to the average gal, but regardless of your gender or overall persuasion, they do have some pretty cool stuff. Note: I'm not on their payroll; I just think they sell some cool stuff, and stuff that appears to be of higher quality than a lot of the stuff you'll typically find in your average Moto-Mart or on Chinastuff.com.
Huckberry.com Unusual stuff for Uncompromising folks (my tag line-not theirs...as far as I know).

PS. In full disclosure, I felt I owed it to the fine folks at Huckberry.com to pass along their website info, considering they were nice enough to share this cool picture with everyone--very thoughtful of them (I hope I didn't violate some photo law by clicking and dragging their picture off their site onto mine: if so, I'll probably be hearing from our current administration's photo-czar)...I'll keep you posted.

Ugh, I've Been Kissed By A Dog!

When I was a kid, there were a handful of shows, movies, and cartoons that aired on TV once a year. Made for TV productions like Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical version of the classic fairy tale,  "Cinderella", "The Wizard of Oz" and of course prime-time animated specials like "A Charlie Brown Christmas", were annual television events at our home, not to be missed by my brothers and myself if at all possible. Starting in 1965, (the first year "A Charlie Brown Christmas" aired on Television) our family could be found sitting down in front of the TV watching these shows each year when they were on---without fail. Unlike today, if you missed these once a year programs because you were in the woods behind Patton's house playing army, or you'd lost track of time while down below the house damming up the creek, you had to wait an entire year to have a chance to watch them again. There were of course no VHS tapes and players, no DVR's, and there was also no cable television, at least in our neck of the woods. In the 1960's and 70's, you either made plans to be in front of the Television at the pre-determined time to watch "A Charlie Brown Christmas", or you missed out on the event altogether. 

I have fond childhood memories of watching special TV events-especially those around the Holidays-like "A Charlie Brown Christmas", while eating Little Debbie Christmas snack cakes (the ones shaped like a Christmas tree) and washing them down with a 16 oz. bottle of Pepsi or Coke; the kind that then came in actual glass bottles.

This picture of Olivia and Douglas reminded me of the Charlie Brown cartoons when Snoopy would lick Lucy on the face and she would run off screaming something like, "Ugh, I've been kissed by a dog---get the iodine!", or something pretty close to that. Unlike Lucy, Olives usually runs off smiling and jabbering something not yet quite understandable after a dog kiss for her buddy Douglas. In any event, she seems to get a much bigger kick out of dog kisses than Lucy ever did. Further evidence that no two people are exactly alike. I'll keep you posted....

English?

Apparently, Douglas thinks Olivia is a human popsicle. He's technically not allowed to lick her face but does pretty much every time he thinks he can get by with it. Like this chance when he was just supposed to sit there next to Olivia for a picture. I suppose the temptation was just too much to resist, as Olives is very sweet. When Tyler acquired "Big O' Happy Head" at 8 weeks old, the breeders told him Douglas was an English Bulldog. I'm recommending Tyler go back and ask for at least a partial refund, as it's pretty evident Doug is French. I'll keep you posted....

Olives And Douglas

As I've shared, Olivia (aka Olives) and Douglas (aka Big O' Happy Head) are big buddies. Here I'm guessing Big Doug was thinking something close to, "Hey, how come I'm out here and you're in there?", while Olivia was likely thinking, "I wonder what would happen if I stuck my finger all the way up his nose?". Although you'd be naive in my opinion to ever fully and completely trust even the best natured K9 around a child that wasn't closely supervised, it's become evident to Olivia's parents that Douglas is a trustworthy companion for Olivia and highly unlikely to ever do anything intentional to hurt her. Case and point: as far as I know, Douglas has never knocked Olivia down on purpose, jumped on her, or even come close to growling at her. But, if you placed a pound of freshly fried up bacon across the room and the only way to it was over the top of Olivia, my guess is Olivia would be on her backside about the time Douglas discovered the bacon location. Aside from that kind of scenario, however, I think Olivia is safe around Douglas. It's also my guess that as long as her big buddy Douglas is around her, Olivia is safe from any potential neighborhood marauders.
Olives and Douglas...I'll keep you posted.

The Weather's Here, Wish You Were Beautiful!

~The author's favorite coffee cup, handcrafted by D. Little

If you live in or anywhere around Arkansas or Missouri and weren't sitting outside early this morning with a cup of coffee, you missed out, in my opinion! There's not a cloud in the sky and the temperature is a nearly unbelievable 60 degrees (sixty)! Oh, and it's July 5th (fifth)! If it were October 5th, it would still be an amazing morning, but getting this kind of an unexpected gift in July in our neck of the woods is, well....unbelievable!

Note: I apologize for all the exclamation points, but as Jeremiah Johnson perportedly exclaimed after acquiring his first "genuine Hawkin gun"...."You cain't go no better!"

~Max E. Pad

~Two complete sets of old toes (much too nice of a morning to be wrapped up in raggedy ol' socks)

Olives and Douglas

When our Granddaughter "Olives" was just a few days old, her new best buddy Douglas started keeping a pretty close eye on her. Who knows for sure what a dog is thinking, but it seems safe to assume Ol' Doug feels it's his responsibility to keep watch when his little friend is around.

Olives and Douglas have become big buddies over the past several months. We have a number of pictures of the two of them that in my opinion are of serious magazine front page quality. I know magazines are going out of style, but my guess is the front page will not, as long as folks continue taking pictures like this. I'll keep you posted.

Nice Setting

This was last night. We had one of the most brilliant sun sets in Northwest Arkansas that I ever recall witnessing-anywhere! It was so spectacular, I pulled off the road in front of Harps so my bride and I could just sit and watch it for a while. I didn't want to take a chance on it being gone by the time we arrived back at the house. I took this picture with my icamera (the makers refer to it as an iPhone, but it's a better camera than it is a phone). Pictures of course didn't do it justice and as a bonus, it came on a rare Summer evening boasting close to zero humidity, and a thermometer reading about 79--in JULY!
One of life's free and simple pleasures-a gift too often taken for granted, but not by this guy. I'll keep you posted on future sunset developments: where-ever my camera might find itself.

Elements & Components

I like things that have well defined elements of age. This copper water pipe protruding from a wall surrounding a concrete vat somewhere in Napa Valley caught my attention. The natural patina on the bottom of the pipe took some time to form. Upon closer examination, however, you can tell by the condition of the concrete that this structure hasn't been in place more than perhaps a few years. Give it another 20 years or so of full-time exposure to the sun and the wind and the rain and it will likely take on a completely different level of character. A hundred more years and the guys who built it should also be worthy of contemplation regarding what their individual lives looked like when they weren't pouring concrete and installing water pipe.

This gate was fairly new when I snapped the picture. I took it because I liked the strong and utilitarian simplicity of the manner in which it was constructed. I'm no architect or designer, but I like things that work properly and are built to last. My guess is this gate will stand where it is way past "long enough" for the metal to rust appropriately and the wood to weather gracefully. Holy snot....am I beginning to sound like a professional HGTV design guy or did someone invite the Schwan's delivery guy over for coffee?

This rope and hardware holds up a nice wooden swing on the front porch of a unique restaurant Sue and I sampled while on a trip west a while back. I thought it was a good example of something that was done right the first time. In addition to buildings that are well constructed, I find I'm drawn to structures that contain unique and contrasting building components. In this case, rope and steel fasteners along with painted and bare wood, gave this building an inviting atmosphere and look. My guess is most folks don't sit around analyzing why they like a particular building or structure--they just know they like it. I've started looking closer at structures I like at first glance, in an effort to discern specifically why I like it. Sometimes I take pictures with the intent of remembering these various components, so I might one day incorporate some of them into our home, cabin or barn. Or, maybe I'll try my hand at constructing something cool that can be used for a specific purpose while contributing to the overall landscape. I'll keep you posted.

PS. I mentioned a while back that I'd keep you posted on the planned distillery project Kleitus and I had dreamed up. Upon further review, we decided that our time, and the world, might be better served if we focused more of our attention on some other mutual project. We also realized there are at least several bevy's of folk around the world right now working feverishly in an effort to make enough booze so that everyone who has the desire can get and remain stoned as often as they choose--daily for those who's lives are built primarily around booze. We were hit with the realization that two aging baby boomer-goomers distilling whiskey out of view in a relatively remote location, might not actually be such a great idea. Left to our own devises we might someday find ourselves "coming to" in a stooper wondering where the last 20 years went. As occasionally occurs with individuals of our gender, clearer heads prevailed!

Canada Major

~Toronto native, J. Richard Blickstead

The world is full of characters-this guy is one of them. My good friend Rick "Major" Blickstead is truly one of a kind. As an example, I don't know very many people (over the age of 12), who will pull down to a set of young guy swim shorts and "dive" off a diving board into a swimming pool surrounded by 50 or so folks, most of whom he'd met only a few hours hence and then swim several laps while alternating between the breast and the back stroke. And lest you think "so what", I should share with you, he was the only person in the pool!
I could go on, and probably will at some later date. Right now I'm going to post this, copy and paste the link to an email, and fire it off to my long time Canadian friend, Major. Right now he's likely in the middle of some serious thinking, but once he sees the email and clicks on the link, I'm substantially confident he'll chuckle "a bit", say something about my heritage under his breath (in the pejorative of course) before posting some ridiculous response to his name sake post, using the Canadian humor of which he is so terribly fond. Major, you are a piece of work my friend--that's why I like you so much---you Hoser!
I'll keep you posted on any news worthy developments involving "The Major"....oh, and Major, if you read this I wanted to let you know the Hogue knife you gave me is being put to good use. I keep it in my leather tool pouch and use it quite often with good affect. While I'm using it I think about my silly Canadian friend and smile as I recall the story behind that darn knife. Cheers to the power of suggestion!