Category Archives: Out Visiting

Grotto Spring

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I’ve looked in and around Grotto Spring dozens of times, but today as I spluttered along Spring Street having left the Eureka Springs Post Office, I pulled the jalopy over and hopped out.

You may not know this and I often forget, but Eureka Springs, Arkansas is a pretty little place.

As many times as I’ve been here, I don’t remember that face above the little bench. I wonder who it is? Deity? Local barkeep?

This looks like it always did. Stairs into a little cave. A nice place to cool off on a hot July day. Of course, it’s the middle of winter.

This looks the same, too. Except what’s that ahead at the back of the cave? Perhaps I have just forgotten it.

A closer look shows it’s probably part of a local system of magic. Not sure how it works but there’s several items around the Virgin of Guadalupe: coins, Wrigley chewing gum, a .45 round.

Blustery Morning at Wilson’s Creek

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Yesterday I found myself at a deserted Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield near Springfield, Missouri. For misanthropic reasons, I enjoy any park best when I’m the only person about.

Standing at this sign I was unprotected from the wind and the 40 mph gusts (per KSMU radio) tried to rob me of my $3 baseball cap. Looking straight ahead and slightly to the left, there is as pretty an Ozark springhouse as I can remember seeing. When I stepped inside it I heard something slip into the water and believe I could see a frog floating in the dim light. My night vision isn’t what it once was, and I was avoiding soaked boots on such a cool morning, but I now wish I wasn’t such a coward. All my frogs are asleep this time of year.

Walking across the windswept field to the springhouse, I couldn’t help but notice ample evidence of armadillo activity. I returned to my vehicle using a slightly different route and found one armadillo finished with its earthly digging.

The Blue Skies of Green Forest

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Tasked with a mission, the yellow dog and I loaded up and headed east on US 62. We had been given a bundle of old flags to be destroyed, so our destination was the American Legion in Green Forest, Arkansas.

The American Legion (Jordan Davis) Post #162 is on Main Street.

They have a receptacle out front for disposing of old American flags. They handle and destroy the flags following proper protocols.

Our task complete, we had the luxury to admire the sky.

Wowzer! Have you ever seen a sky with such a beautiful blue?

San Andres Mountains

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The neighborhood Master Naturalist was recently posted to the desert southwest fighting invasive plants. She took this photograph in the San Andres Mountains of southern New Mexico showing the yellow poppies in bloom.

A Visit to the Berryville Library

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I always enjoy visiting the library in Berryville, Arkansas. I more often use the Carnegie Public Library in Eureka Springs as it is my hometown library, but today I was looking for a particular book that wasn’t available there. So, as I already had business across the river, I stopped in. Browsing, I glimpsed out of the corner of my eye the Bible and the Lord of the Flies displayed together. Some part of my brain apparently tried to determine the common denominator to have these books together and when it failed, I found myself standing at the display. Turns out they are both books that are frequently banned.

NCIS Eureka

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The other morning in town I stopped at the bakery next to Harts. Walking up to the counter I passed a tall gentleman wearing a blue ball cap that said, “NCIS Eureka.” While ordering one of those ham and cheese deals that tastes so good, I started wondering about the hat. While ordering stuffed muffins to hand out to the kids, I decided I would ask the tall man where he had acquired the cap and wondered if I might mention to him that my father had worked for the precursor organization to NCIS for several years. The man had been standing next to the tables where locals frequently gather for morning coffee and conversation, but he was gone when I turned around. Exiting the air conditioning into the humid warmth, I scanned the sidewalk and parking lot knowing that the overwhelming odds were that he was just a fan of the popular television franchise and not a retired special agent or whatever, but I wished I could have made sure.

Hiking Black Bass Lake

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Black Bass Lake is the old city reservoir of Eureka Springs, Arkansas.

These buildings and signs are reminders of this pretty little lake’s history.

The old crumbling rock dam is an interesting sight.

I followed the trail that hugs the lake for nearly a mile.

It is a pretty hike with several interesting features, including this spring.

I enjoyed looking at the trees during my jaunt. Notable were several majestic mature cedars of surprising height. I also spotted this crooked tree.

There were a couple of well maintained foot bridges across dry creeks that returned me to my point of beginning. I’ll have to return when the water is running.