A Thousand Thanks

Maple at Ponca near Lost Valley Store

"GRATITUDE is the key to happiness." C. S. Lewis

     This quote is written on the first page of a little book I picked up while shopping in Harrison recently.  It was entitled "1001 Things To Be Thankful For" (Hallmark)  Being a former librarian I really can 'judge a book by its cover'!  And, no, it wasn't the picture of the cute little boy (he just happened to look like Jack Henry!) gazing lovingly at the huge ice cream cone in his chubby little hands. 

     The book is a list of mostly little things that make life worthwhile.  I read them all at once and am now repeating a few pages each day leading up to Thanksgiving Day.  I am also compiling my own list.  I add a few every once in a while, and hope to eventually get my own "1001 Things I Am Thankful For."   It is pure therapy to mentally drift off for a minute now and then while working and add to the list in my head.  Later, I can sit down and write it in my journal.

     The book's list is in no particular order and is sprinkled with quotes and pictures.  Some of the things are obvious--the first daffodils of spring and friends who believe in you.  Some, I wouldn't think of--tire swings, a great hair day, sports mascots,or free cell phone minutes.

Here are some 'graditudes' on my list:

The many flavors of hot tea, windows with a view, birthday cards, retirement, a great radio station (KESA in Eureka Springs), new china, or old china, twinkle lights anytime of the year, old bicycles, did I say "retirement"?, wrap around porches, cabin guests who leave as friends, raspberries in the backyard, rocks of all shapes and sizes, cousins, old farmhouses, old stores revived as antique shops (I have several favorites!), photos of family on the fridge, lunch in town in the middle of the week with my husband, walkie talkies, old-fashioned bath tubs, peanut butter, women's Bible Study ...

My list is at 80 and growing.  I plan to get to 1001 by Thanksgiving!

By the way, the photo above is one thing I am thankful for.  I watch this tree in Ponca each year and marvel at its beauty.  This time I was able to capture it before the rains and winds took away its leaves. 

     

It is good to give thanks to the Lord,

to sing praises to the Most High.

It is good to proclaim your unfailing love in the morning,

your faithfulness in the evening.

Psalm 92-1-2

Fall Full Blast!

Newton County Highway in the Fall

Every good and perfect gift is from above...James 1:17

       Jack and I make a point of never taking for granted the fact that we live in one of the most beautiful places on earth!  We really believe that, and many guests agree.  Proof of this is the fact that we and every other cabin/lodge in Newton County has a "No Vacancy" sign at the door, and are reluctantly turning away folks who want to visit last minute. Our October dates have been booked for weeks. We understand the lure of the Ozarks in autumn, and try to schedule our activities to allow lots of drives through the mountains and also time to participate in all the special events/festivals in the area this time of year. 

       We make War Eagle Fair an annual event--always going on Sunday afternoon.  Usually, the crowds are smaller and the shopping pace is slower--time to visit with vendors we know.  This year, the weather was perfect--cool and sunny.  And, the crowds had the same idea that we had! 

     We did enjoy the fair though.  And we always find a few special treasures we "need".  We  bought several Christmas presents for those who "have everything".  Bet they don't have a robin's egg-shaped bird feeder, or a hand-painted tin box for fishing flies!!!   Unlike the midway at the carnival, the food is not always fried.  The chocolate-covered strawberries-on-a-stick I got on the way out were somewhat healthy.

     Saturday afternoon the sun was out and so were the people as they participated in the annual Newton County Tour of Homes.  The old and beautiful "Orphie Duty" house has had a major facelift thanks to Steve and Jackie Ray from Kansas.  They lovingly and meticuously restored it and the surrounding fields and barns so it is once again the beatiuful old white home standing proudly by the side of the road in Boxley Valley. 

       Another stop on the tour was the old Villines Store--a small rock structure owned and brought back to life by Joe and Genevieve Villines, decendants of the original owner, Hez Villines.  The young couple choose to live and raise their two boys close to family and the farm that is a part of Joe's heritage.  The store is now a gallery for local artists.

       I have to stop and look out the large window by my desk. Oh! the beauty I see!   The gold, red, and yellow leaves are never still as the winds blow briskly across the mountains--another sign of fall in the Ozarks. It is not possible to describe such color!  Artists try as they paint greens, golds, yellows, reds, and every hue in between.  These colors are sandwiched between an azure sky and the emerald green pastures yet untouched by a killing frost. 

If we didn't remember why we kept coming back time and time again until we finally had to live here, we do now!

     Fall, a special time of transition from the business of summer to the slow-paced winter months ahead.  What a wonderful way to celebrate!  It is God's gift to all of us.

The earth is so full of a number of things

I think we should all be as happy as kings.

R.L. Stevenson

      

    

    

The Woolly Worms Are Back!

Behold, the Woolly Worm

 

Sing a song of seasons!

Something bright in all!

Flowers in the summer,

Fires in the fall!

      As we worked around the yard this week, we came across the famous woolly worm, a harbinger of cold weather. You never see them when you are searching for them. They only appear when you aren't expecting them! Like when you put your hand down to pull a weed or pick a flower. Then they will startle you with a little "fuzzy wiggle"!  They are never in a hurry, and had rather be left alone. The old weather tale about the size of the stripes is never clear to me.  Is it the wider the band, the harsher the winter?  Or vice-versa?  The picture above was taken last fall.  You notice the woolly fellow is solid black.  We had a historic ice storm in January.  Does that mean solid black means harsh winters?  As I recall, I also saw other last fall with various size stripes.  This year I have seen several--different width stripes.  One was solid tan!  There must be a better way to predict the winter weather. Guess we will just get ourselves ready for cold winter weather and meet it head on!  The generator is ready!  Let is snow!
     The guys at Handyman Hardware in Compton say the large number of bears we are seeing now are a sign of a bad winter to come.  Jack's trail camera attests to the fact that the bears are on the prowl.  Of course, they should be since they are storing up fat for the winter hibernation.  I read that they need up to 20,000 calories a day while getting ready for winter!  Gads!  Humans don't need that much in a month!

     The mama and cubs of several weeks ago are prominent visitors along the trail and are taking a large portion of the deer corn.  They are funny to see their antics on film as they try to get into the large barrel feeder in the tree.  We are also seeing a very large bear who has found a way to get his paws into the barrel!

     Signs of autumn are everywhere.  The trees along the highway going down into Ponca are already showing a lot of color, and everyone is excited and expecting a beautiful and colorful fall.  The elk are bugling full blast in the valley. (By the way, Color Fest at the Ponca Elk Center is the last weekend in October.)  I saw two hummers yesterday and none today.  (These are the stragglers and should be headed south soon. I'll keep a feeder out until I am sure they are gone--usually about the 15th of October.)
    The cool fog outside the window right now reminds me that summer '09 is history.  And, a  beautiful summer it was too, with cooler and wetter than normal days.  We are never satisfied--now we want everyday to be a bright, sunny fall day.  Then we will want bright, sunny and snowy winter days! 

In everything give thanks!  1 Thes. 5:18

 

We hail the merry autumn days,

When leaves are turning red;

Because they're far more beautiful

Than anyone has said..

                                 Charles Dickens

Rainy Days and Mondays...

Mountain Springs Spa

     It's not raining, nor is it Monday, but we have had rainy days for most of the last two weeks, leaving the yard in a wild state that reminds one of a hay field ready for cutting--if only  the sun would appear!  Rainfall totals are in the double digits over the last month!  And, the river was 3 feet over the low water bridge at Ponca on Monday. Should be great canoeing this weekend if it drops below the bridge by Saturday.

     As I look out the window, I see the faint beginnings of fall in the trees on the mountainsides.  Thanks to the rain, the flowerbeds are looking faded and in need of some sprucing up for the last of the season.  Bright spots are the marigolds that are planted by the birds and other critters each year.  In spring the little plants appear in unexpected places, so I try to let them grow, knowing that they will out shine most other flowering plants in the wanning days of summer.  A friend at church gave me a start several years ago.  It's an understatement to say they are the hardiest flowers in the garden!  To transplant them, just pull small plants out of the soil and transfer to another bed--no need to take a clum of dirt with them--they settle into a new home quite easily with hardly a drooping leaf.  They are capable of traveling hundreds of miles wrapped only in a wet paper towel.  My neighbor can attest to that!

     The few little hummers that hang around are enjoying the pineapple sage with its red, spikey flowers.  It comes to life when other plants are going to seed. We are noticing fewer hummers at the feeders in the last part of the summer--could be the rainy season has made wildflowers in abundance.  We are hoping that it the reason, and not the herbicide that the electric company is putting out under the lines.  We were given a choice of  declining their "offer"  which we and many of our neighbors did.

     By the  way, the honeybees are also having a hard time this year.  Eddie the Beeman has lost several hives this summer (down 60%).  He attributes it to herbicide and other poisons--as well as critters.  We know that one of his hives was destroyed by a large bear visiting the neighborhood a few days ago. Jack  'caught' him as well as the mama and cubs several times on the game camera set up in the woods.  Well, all critters have to eat!  But please, Mr. Bear, save some honey for us humans!

     The picture above is one I took on a hot summer day in June.  I'll tell you my secret--I fill it up in the early morning, letting the sun warm the water all day. At the end of a long hot day, I can slip into my swimsuit, and enjoy watching the clouds float across the sky as I soak in my "Ozark Hot Tub".  It also makes a good dog bathtub! 

     The tub is one of the things I will miss about summer, along with tomatoes from the garden, early morning coffee on the porch, late night iced tea on the porch with friends, flowers from my garden, cabin visitors coming and going, birds and their babies (especially the Blue(bird) family and their antics), visits to the river with Jack Henry, all our family and friends who come up in the summer, and the list goes on... 

     

 Goodbye to summer--hello to autumn!

    

The Lord will command His loving kindness in the daytime,

and in the night His song shall be with me--

a prayer to the God of my life. 

Psalm 42:8

   

    

    

    

The True Story of the Three Bears--Mountain Springs Version

Baby Bear Up A Tree

"Once upon a time there were three bears..."

       Our neighbor, Mike, called other day with a somewhat frantic tone in his voice. He needed help! A mother bear and her two cubs had wandered into his backyard, and his three dogs were, as they say, 'loaded for bear!'. He was trying to catch the dogs before Mama Bear got real aggravated at them and decided to protect her cubs. It is never safe to get between a mother and her babies (this is true for all mothers, human or other) we know.

       We jumped on our four-wheelers--somehow remembering to grab the cameras--and zipped down the hill to the scene of all the commotion. When we arrived, Mike had two dogs shut up in the basement. The other was dragging him around on a leash--straining with all her might to go after the critters! (This was Mama Dog from another story.) Mama Bear and one of her cubs were the edge of the woods about 20 yards away. We could see them ambling back and forth between the trees. The 'left-behind' cub was up a tree! There was a lot of squalling from the cub in the tree, and a lot of bellowing from mama in the woods. Now and then, we could hear a little 'snort' from the other cub who was probably a little bewildered with all the action going on around him! I'm sure both were encouraging the 'treed' cub to get on down from there! He would climb down a few feet, look at us and the dog on the leash, squall, and climb back up.

       We stayed around just long enough for a few pictures--not too close! At all times keeping an eye on Mama Bear,who was pacing at the edge of the woods all the while making an ominous snapping sound with her jaws. Obviously the bear family was not in a mood to pose for a family portrait! ( We had quickly devised a plan to run for the greenhouse a few feet away in case of trouble!) When we retreated to the house, dragging Mama Dog with us, the little cub quickly saw his opportunity and scurried down the tree to join his family. The hold episode lasted about 10 minutes at the most.

       Our cabin guests had reported that a noise from the porch had awaken them the night before, and they had seen evidence the next morning that probably bears had been snooping around. This confirmed their story! We haven't seen signs of the three bears since. We keep all animal feed and trash/garbage in sheds so they probably wrote Mountain Springs off as not worth the bother! Then, they moved on to 'greener' pastures. The picture Jack got is a sweet memory of the "Three Bears at Mountain Springs'.

       There have been quite a few 'bear sightings' in the area this spring and summer. Mostly they are just going about the business of finding a meal of bugs, berries, or whatever "smells" (garbage), and they aren't really interested in humans or any other animals for that matter, unless they seem to have the food. Mother bears can be very defensive if they think their cubs are in danger.

Going Green

Going "green" on laundry day

Growing up, one of my summer chores was hanging out the laundry. We had a electric dryer, but in the 60's, using a clothesline was not a matter of 'saving the planet' but of saving money. Most of the time, when Mother needed the laundry on the line, I was busy checking out the latest hairdos in "Seventeen", or listening to Ricky Nelson sing his newest hit "Garden Party"--still a favorite of mine! What would we have done with the Internet and cell phones! (I can't imagine the time I would have spent on Facebook, or texting, or 'twittering') Even so, it was never convenient for me to stop and hang the laundry on the line. Mother usually had to "remind" me several times. Didn't occur to me that the laundry needed to get the heat of the sun for several hours in order to dry before evening!

Through the years, I have always had a clothesline. Sometimes I would get nostalgic about the wonderful fresh smell of sun-dried sheets and go through a period of hanging out my laundry. It usually didn't last long since there were other things more important. How easy it is to load clothes from the washer to the dryer! Only seconds really! Anyway, there was always the chance the birds would use the clothesline for a perch. Ever go out to take the laundry off the line and find a purple "stain" on a freshly dried pillowcase? Saving money and the planet became secondary in my busy world.

When we moved to the mountain and lived in the little shed in the back (check out "About Us" at http://www.mountainspringscabins.com/ ). Jack was considerate enough to hook up the washer and dryer in the little mini barn close by. That worked for a while until the dryer quit! No use fixing it since this was only temporary anyway. We would be getting a brand new one for the house shortly. A temporary clothesline was stretched across the back from tree to tree. It worked! I had to learn how to hang and secure sheets in the windiest of conditions, and there were times when the sheets flew right off the line not matter what!

After we moved into the new house and started our cabin business, the clothesline was abandoned. Keeping laundry from two cabins going was a job that required help--in the form of an electric clothes dryer!

But I still missed the clothesline!

Last year, my neighbor, Darlene, got her new clothesline, which she uses a lot. Her husband, Mike, is a very handy man with a welding torch, and was nice enough to make me two T-posts just like hers. Jack set them in the ground and stretched the wires, and I painted them dark green.

Now hanging out the laundry is no longer a chore I put off. Just look at the scenery I get to gaze upon while I work! It is a brief respite in a busy day when I can let my mind wander and be amazed at God's beauty around us. And, I feel good that I am doing a little something to save both money and the planet!

If you visit us on a nice sunny day, you may see my sheets flapping in the breeze, soaking up the beautiful sunshine and fresh mountain air. If you stay at Eagle's Rest Cabin, you may even get to sleep on some of those sheets!

Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens,

Your faithfulness to the skies.

Psalm 36:5

Bluebirds Over The Mountain (A Song)

Help! What do I do now?

Bluebirds over the mountain

Sea gulls over the sea.

Bluebirds over the mountain

Bring my baby to me.

Doesn't seem long since I announced the arrival of Mr. and Mrs. Blue's bird family. We watched each day as they first built the nest in the box on the porch post near the bedroom door, then noticed Mrs. Blue busy laying eggs and setting on them. We watched closely, but didn't see the babies actually fly out of the box. We did see them many times in the trees nearby. I have read, and no doubt its true, bluebird parents feed the fledglings a month after they are out of the nest. Much like human parents who never seem to let go of their growing children! This was in May or early June.

One morning in late June we noticed the birds were showing a lot of interest in the little birdhouse at the end of the picket fence in the backyard. It is close to the area where we park our vehicles and I'm sure Mrs. Blue chose this because she loves to sit on the mirrors and look at herself! (This causes us to have to do an extra amount of cleaning, you see!) Anyway, it was obvious they were building in earnest and had plans for another family.

The weeks went by. We watched the little house through storms and extreme heat. Once Mrs. Blue was so hot she popped out onto the little porch to cool off! "His eye was on the sparrow" (bluebirds) as we traveled for two weeks in Colorado. During that time Mrs. Blue had been unselfishly tending her eggs/babies while Mr. Blue watched overhead singing to her and bringing her a tasty worm or two for strength. A little later came the feeding frenzy of both parents in and out with breakfast, lunch and dinner for a brood of hungry babies!

Then, when we least expected it, we were privileged to see the little fledglings emerge from the safety of their nest out into what must be a very scary world. Jack captured the last one in the photo above as the little bird tried to make up his mind--poking his head out of the hole, inching out further, then quickly pulling in, only to try again as his concerned parents called out encouragement from a tree overhead.

Finally, he popped out onto the ledge where he tottered about wondering what he should do next. During this time his dad flew down to the house and fed him a small bug. When he slipped off the edge into the flowerbed I became a little concerned. However, he landed on the soft leaves of a bush below where he sat for a minute or two before getting courage to try his wings. When he did, he swooped up to the nearby light wire, which must have been a feat in itself to catch hold of such a tiny landing pad.

We see the Blue family now and then in the trees around the yard. Mrs. Blue perched on the bedroom screen yesterday morning while we were drinking our first cup of coffee. It was comforting to see her back to her old ways of checking in on us. She and her mate, and sometimes a baby or two, perch on the birdhouse occasionally--not sure why. And, we are regularly cleaning the car doors! We are worried that she is passing this habit along to the youngsters!

I heard the above song on the radio--Jack's oldies classics. On further investigation, I learned it was originally sung by Richie Valens(this is the version I heard), who was famous for the song, La Bamba, (the movie, La Bamba, is the story of his life). He was a part of the infamous Dance Party Tour in 1959, and was killed in the plane crash with Buddy Holly. (The Day the Music Died) The song was also sung by the Beach Boys on their Sunshine Dream( or Summer Dreams) album, 1990, . I found the song on Beach Boys Greatest Hits Vol. 2. I want to get a copy of both versions. I noticed you can even get a ringtone version on your phone!