Welcome to my blog about Nature, Art with Ozark pigments, Rural Real Estate, & my Hermit Homesteading Life. Oh, and sometimes I write about my philosophical observations.
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Chasing Windmills and Wildflowers in South Texas
My past week has been filled with family and friends in Louisiana and Texas. While in Texas I got the notion to gather a collection of photos of the old windmills that are out there. Most of these are in …
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Blue Cohosh (Caulophyllum thalictroides) Unfurling
The blue cohosh (Caulophyllum thalictroides) is awake early this spring. I found some the other day, in three different stages of unfurl. The one completely unfurled is in a pot in the nursery area, the other two are in the …
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How to move a round bale without a hay spike by using the front-end loader instead.
I’ve been using a chain with the tractor and front end loader to move round bales to the horses. We don’t have a hay spike or fork attachment. This how-to assumes you have a tractor with a front end loader …
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Dirt Road Photos – Ozark Sunset Silhouettes
Scene from the dirt road in the Ozarks of northwest Arkansas. The Ozarks from a Scenic Dirt Road I was driving home from my daughter’s house this evening as the sun began setting on our beautiful Ozark hills. Just so happened …
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To-Do – All the Various & Odd Things on the List for March
The To-Do list today started out pretty clear cut. The plan was to get an early start into town. I need more potting soil, a few groceries, and feed for the horses. That plan was nixed when I woke up …
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The First Flowers of Spring at Wild Ozark
Nature lovers began the frenzy of watching for the first flowers of spring a few weeks ago. Here at Wild Ozark, we’re in a little eco-microcosm that is often more than a week behind surrounding areas in spring. Our temperatures …
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Stone Tool – Relic of a Long Bygone Era
I knew when I saw the rounded hand-sized rock that it was more than “just a rock”. It was a stone tool, & probably several thousand years old. There is something special about holding a stone I know once was …
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Coyotes at Midnight
I had trouble getting to sleep last night. Then there were coyotes at midnight, just as the drift of dreams was beginning to take hold. It went on for so long I had time to turn on the audio recorder …
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What is the “back burner”, really?
Back Burner You’ve probably referred to projects you’ve put on hold as being “on the back burner”. I understood what the phrase meant, and had used it often myself, but when we got our new/old cook stove, I learned how …
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Delve Deeper to Observe Nature
Take a moment from your day and delve deeper to observe nature. You’ll gain a sense of awe and wonder. Delve deeper Truly experience that moment. If it’s a plant you’re observing, reach out and touch it (be reasonable – …
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Repairing Our Wild Ozark Spring Water Line
Today I repaired our Wild Ozark spring water line Since I’ve learned how to do this myself, I figured I’d do it while Mr. Wild Ozark was at work. Later this summer we have plans to change out the entire …
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A Muck Boot and Pj Kind of Day
I didn’t feel like getting out of bed this morning. It was cold in the room when I woke and I just felt lazy. But the hens clucked louder as the minutes ticked past. I knew the dogs and horses …
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A problem in our gravity feed spring water system
What is a gravity feed water system? We are fortunate to have our very own spring fed water source that runs all year long. It is a spring that pumps out enough water, without fail, to serve our household with …
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Kings River Falls – Photos from our hike
On Sunday I went hiking with my two oldest children and their children, one of my daughter’s friends and her children, and my parents to the Kings River Falls. This trail is a little north and east of Fallsville, AR …
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A Poem by Joanna Macy
This is an untitled (newly titled!) poem by Joanna Macy, a deep ecologist. I found this poem many years ago on a website long lost to memory, but I’ve linked to Joanna’s website in her name below. I stumbled …
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The Sound of Winter
Some sounds are distinctly “winter”. Sometimes the sound of winter is marked by the absence of sound. Maybe it’s more correctly described as the “silence of winter”. I am often reminded of how grateful I am to have my sense …
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Meet our new team mates – Bat Cave Botanicals
Wild Ozark is pleased to announce that we’ll be working with Bat Cave Botanicals to bring wild Appalachian ginseng roots and leaf products to our online shop. About Bat Cave Botanicals My partner & I are fortunate to live …
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On the horizon-Just filling in
I’m swamped with my project list and missed my scheduled day to post here yesterday. So I’m just making a quick post to let you all know about a few things on the horizon. Some exciting announcements coming up – …
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Warm Egg on a Cold Day
There is something quite satisfying about finding a warm egg in the henhouse on a blustery 15*F morning. I tried something new to help me wake up a little earlier this morning. It wasn’t until 5 a.m. when the strange …
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Departures
Not all of my art reflects the Ozarks. Some of it is purely from the imagination, and some are images of things nowhere nearby. When I first began this site, I thought I might only post the art related to …
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What is Humanity’s Role in Nature?
Humanity’s Role in Nature Have you ever thought about humanity’s role in nature? Our various mythologies and religious origin stories offer some ideas that are generally accepted by many, but those are conflicting and I still wonder. Are we here …
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Snow is Beautiful but Hoar Frost is Magical
The sight of hoar frost makes me smile because it brings a memory to mind, one with imagery that could have been ripped from the pages of a fairy tale. Hoar frost happens when fog freezes on the trees and …
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Exercising Outside on a Crispy Ozark Morning
A crispy cold morning, great for exercising outside I did my exercising outside this morning, jog/walked to the mailbox in under 20 minutes – a milestone for me! Exercising Outside Feeding the critters acted as a warm-up spell, but it was …
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Wild Ozark Musings – December Newsletter
Below you’ll find the December issue of Wild Ozark Musings, a newsletter about nature, ginseng, and our wild Ozark life. Ordinarily I send this out as an email near the beginning of the month to subscribers. This month I didn’t …
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Exercising in Nature – or – Why it takes me an hour to walk to the mailbox and back
Exercising in nature is as easy as taking a walk to check the mail. It helps if you have a long driveway. One of my resolutions for the new year and the rest of my life is to get into …