Cloudland Cam, 9/30/03, 8:45am, cloudy and gray, temp 55 degrees FALL COLOR NOTE: I will be posting a color update in this spot during the month of October, although there won't be too much happening until another week or two. I must warn you not to believe what you may see or hear on other color updates: I just checked the official Weather Channel online page for Arkansas and they said that "peak had passed" and that the leaves were falling and soon would be all gone! A couple of years ago one of their announcers said on television that "the PINE TREES were peaking in Colorado this week" so a lot of their info is suspect. |
9/1/03 Cloudy, cool, damp, windy, and a bit of heavy mist in the air at first light this morning. Looks like there is a nice bunch of moisture blowing up from the Gulf - hope it continues. I got a note and photos from one of our faithful Canadian Journal readers last night. She has been engulfed with this horrible firestorm, and reports 249 houses in her town burned to the ground by the 20,000-acre blaze. So far her house is OK, but some of the photos she has been sending are pretty amazing. They have not had a drop of rain in that part of Canada for a very long while - if you have a special rain dance that you can do and send her way it would be most appreciated!
Late last night (or was it early this morning?) while I was editing maps, I kept hearing something scratching on the glass patio door. I got up to let the dog in a number of times, but always found both of them asleep on the floor at my feet. It was pitch black outside, and both of the lights on that deck I have toggled off so I could not see what the critter was. Finally I got the nerve to open the door and go outside to look and see - another skunk perhaps? As I slid the door open I was bombarded with large green flying critters - katydids, and entire herd or flock or swarm of them wanted inside the cabin! I quickly slid the door closed once again and realized the sound I was hearing was that of the bugs slamming into the glass door. I ran around and collected as many of the guys as I could from off of the furniture, and released them back outside. This morning there are several bodies on the floor - I guess this was their last hurrah and a dying wish to be inside the cabin. Perhaps they just wanted to be part of Pam's book project - at least they made it into the Journal.
Speaking of Pam, she has been a real trooper, and in the marathon map-creating session this past few days she completed more than 50 maps - all drawn from scratch! I worked on another 30 or so, many of them were maps we already had that needed to be redone, updated, and reformatted for this specific guidebook. She would pull ahead in the total finished count, then we would draw even, then I would leap ahead, only to look over and find she had one or two more completed than I. Funny how sometimes it took more time to redo an existing map than it did to draw one from scratch! In the end my bride fell into bed both mentally and physically exhausted, but with a HUGE grin on her face from having finished every single map! Still a ton of work to do on the book, but at least that part of it is out of the way. Right now I am going back into each map that both of us completed and tweaking everything, making sure we got a good product before sending it into the actual page layout. Once that is completed, I will begin the actual page layout, which is going to take many long days to complete. Don't know when I'll be able to update the Journal this week, but when I need a break or having something interesting to tell you, I'll make a post. In the meantime, someone told me that today was a holiday (Labor Day - hum, that seems to fit because we'll be putting in another 20-hour work day!) - so HAPPY HOLIDAY! I hope you get to swim and lay around and eat a generally enjoy yourself...
9/2/03 Rain, marvelous, luscious, wonderful rain! It rained and rained and rained all day, but it was mostly just "weeping" out of the clouds and not much real downpour - we only had less than an inch total, but we'll take everything we can get! All day long the scene outside my window changed minute by minute, with new clouds being formed down in the canyons and the winds sweeping them on their merry little ways. Dark clouds hung low, and the wilderness too was dark and gloomy. But I know everyone out there - from the smallest bug to the largest critter - was thankful for the moisture. It remained rather warm too, and I spent most of the day behind closed doors and windows (not so much because of the warm temp, but because of the high humidity, which hovered above 95% all day).
I've been at the computer today now for more than 16 hours without a break (other than some pee breaks and a run or two to the refrigerator). I'm on page 72 in the book, and have placed 47 trails into the bookóabout half of them. That's just PLACING the trail title, text, and map, not doing any editing. I also tweaked a few of the maps, drew a couple of new ones from scratch, and did a bit of writing. Still a long, LONG way from the finished product, but it is beginning to take shape - at least there are now things on the pages!
Just to give you an idea of how I have been getting IN to this book project, I must tell you about my night of rest last night. All night long I kept waking up with the same nightmare, and I swear it was happening even while I was awake. I know this is crazy, but I can see it all happening - and more importantly FEEL it happening - as plain as day. One of the graphics that I have been placing on the maps - parking symbol for goodness sakes, has been rearing up and biting me on the behind! Over and over and over again! The symbol is a black or red square (depending on how it is used on the map), with a white "P" in the middle for "Park." That square is hinged (in my dreams) and opens up in the middle and moves over and chomps down on my flesh. OUCH!!! What in the world is that all about? I love those little graphics! Anyway, you can imagine that after another long day of staring at all of those little parking symbols what my night is going to be TONIGHT! And, oh yea, towards the wee hours of this morning the Parking symbols were joined by the Wheelchair symbols and BOTH of them were coming at me! How can a guy get any rest with all of that going on? (Hey, I've not had a thing to drink in a long time - perhaps I should. Of course, it could be the Mocha that I am "on" again now...) So when you eventually get your hands on this neat guidebook, and you are out there hiking to some wonderful little spot, just think back and remember about me being attacked in the middle of the night!
9/4/03 I got home really late last night from a meeting in town, then went out to soak my weary bones in the hot tub. It was a wonderful night, with a bright moon dipping low in the western sky, Mars shining brightly in the clear sky, and a chorus of bugs, frogs, and birds singing at the top of their lungs. Speaking of birds, we have had a whip-poor-will out here this past couple days - I don't recall hearing them this late in the year before.
There were a number of cloud streaks high in the sky last night, and the way the moon was lighting them up they looked just like the northern lights - and I do believe they were even moving around a little bit - perhaps dancing to the music of the wilderness symphony below.
Speaking of the northern lights, I cancelled a trip that I had scheduled last week in Alaska - learning how to play acoustical guitar from one of my biggest heroes, Lynn Miles, who just won a Canadian grammy for her current album. When I booked the trip I knew it was too good to be true - I really had no business taking a week off right in the middle of not one but TWO big book projects! So I cancelled the trip about a month ago. August and September are great months to view the northern lights up there, but I have seen them before, and will do so again. And I can listen to Lynn anytime.
Yesterday afternoon I took a quick hike up to the office to get something. On the way up I realized that was the first time I had set foot out of the cabin and off the deck for THREE DAYS! Can you believe it, living right here in the middle of this incredible country?
We had a nice, cool night, and this morning found the first rays sunshine poking through crystal clear air for the first time in a good long while. It felt good. It looked great. We still have plenty of hot and humid weather to deal with, but cool and crisp days are on the way!
Pam and I are in the middle of four or five "passes" of editing for the book. I have spent the past two days placing all of the text and graphic files, and spent most of today doing one complete "pass" through the entire file placing the special text and graphics that are associated with three unique things in this book - "Amber's Tips", "Wise Old Owl Saying", and the "Scavenger Hunt" questions. Pam is just about to finish up with her next "pass" tonight, then she will hand the stack of paper over to me and I will begin another "pass" through the file - this is a big one where she has done a great deal of text editing. Once I complete all of that, I will run through everything once again, then we will be ready to pass the stack off to a couple of other editors. While they are doing their work, I will be drawing the regional maps, making up the regional trail lists, putting the finishing touches on Pam's introduction, and composing and placing a number of other parts of the book. Our original goal was to have this book out the door when I left for Alaska on September 23rd - that day has come and gone - now the new goal is this coming Monday or Tuesday. A few more 20+ hour days for me and we'll be finished! Well, maybe not...
Right now the sun has set and the evening is just wonderful. I have had trouble remaining at my desk to work while a tremendous light show has been going on outside - lots of pinks and reds and yellows and purples and blues in the western sky. I made one mad dash out the door with my good camera to take a photo, but it was no use.
Uh oh - Pam is walking this direction with a pile of pages - looks like I had better get to work! It's just now 8pm, and I bet by 1 or 2am tomorrow I will be half-way through that pile and ready for bed! The book is beginning to take shape, and it looks just a great as I have been hoping - heck, I've learned a great deal just by placing the tips and owl text - how did those girls come up with that stuff?
Oh yea, I am happy to report no further attacks in the middle of the night from computer graphics!
9/10/03 HAPPY FULL MOON DAY!!! You can always tell the day that the moon is actually full because it sets around the same time as sunrise, and rises later in the day at about the same time as sunset. People have been telling me for days now about the "full" moon outside, but it really is only here today. Much too hazy outside this morning to see the moon through, although I did see it last night as it was racing Mars across the sky.
Well, we finally did it - one major project down and 15 to go! The new kids dayhikes book is officially complete and off to the printers in Michigan. The last few days and nights were long and frantic, but I think we have put together a very nice product that will bring a great deal of joy to thousands of folks for many years to come. And just to give you some idea of what we have put together, here are a few stats: more than 70,000 words, over a quarter of a million characters, 90 maps containing more than 3,000 individual details (all created from scratch), plus another 70+ illustrations, and all this took only 1,200 person-hours to produce. I must tell ya, that even though my photo students have gone on to get published in National Geographic, and many other publications, including a number of magazine covers, the moment that my bride put her digital signature on the end of her introduction to this book (the very last thing done), I was more proud of her than I have ever been of anyone that I have ever been associated with in the business world. She poured her heart and soul (and a great deal of sweat and blood) into this project, and it shows. CONGRATS PAMELA!!!
By the way, you may be wondering what all the fuss is about, and why I have been so spastic about all of this these past few weeks, and why it took us so long to get it done. Well, there are two answers to that: first, most books like this one are created by publishing companies who have a large staff working on it over a long period of time. It was just the two of us on this one (plus Amber, and our text editors, who eventually had to make a trip to the cabin and move in for a short period while going through all of the text). And secondly, as far as hiking trail guidebooks go, you won't find another one in the country with as much accurate, first-hand information as this one (indeed all of ours) has in it. I don't know why, but other publishers simply do not even require nor recommend that their authors EVEN SET FOOT on the trails that they are describing! I have been stunned about this fact over and over again. I know of a recent guidebook by the largest guidebook publisher in the country where the author was NOT even a hiker, nor hiked any of the trails! She called around and tried to get everyone else to do this for her. The book, no doubt, is full of inaccuracies, and probably not too useful. Our books are different, and I can't imagine why anyone would produce one that is any other way. I guess that is just the nature of the beast.
OK, so now you have heard quite enough about this guidebook - at least for now. It will be back from the printers in early November, when I'll have more details about it posted here. THANKS for wading through all of our production woes with us!
THIS morning I got to remove the 3 x 5 file card on the wall of the cabin in front of my desk that is covered with the major projects I have on my plate - one down, fifteen to go!
YIPPIE, I can no rest and take some time off! Yea, right. There are 463 unopened e-mails in my in basket right now, a stack of snail-mail (actual mail, not junk) nearly a foot tall in my other in-basket, I've got to write a trail maintenance manual and get it printed, make about a dozen large prints to send to customers in three states (each one of those is going to take about an hour of computer time alone), hug my wife, come up with a plan of action to counter our delightful friends at the national park service's environmental assessment of the extension of the Ozark Highlands Trail through the Lower Buffalo River area (they have denied it), schedule an emergency board meeting with our OHTA board to deal with my plan of action, and process a number of book and poster orders, and do all of this by either Friday, Saturday, or Sunday of this week! And that's just for starters, and above and beyond our normal business day here. I've also got to make a trip and spend a day teaching volunteers about trail maintenance this weekend, and most importantly, go to a basketball game of Amber's. That is one thing that will remain on the very top of my list this fall - getting to every one of Amber's b-ball games. Oh yea, and hugging my wife is up at the top too! Gradually I'll be able to get back into the woods, especially now that the weather is beginning to cool off. It was actually a good bit of timing that I busted my ankle when I did and was able to stay off of it for a week - no longer swelled up, but there is still a great deal of pain down there once in a while. Oh ya, and after I get some of this stuff cleared away, we are going to start on the new book - Glenn's guide to Ozark swimming holes! Won't be nearly as much work for us since Glenn is the author, but it will still take a great deal of computer time to put it all together and draw the maps...I absolutely LOVE to work! (It's a sickness, I know, but at least I also love to PLAY too...)
As I am sitting here typing this the sun is about to peek out over the far ridge, although it will just be a pale yellow ball because there is so much haze in the air. The ridges are beginning to emerge out of that haze, although they remain dark gray and not their normal black. It has been dry, and we could use some rain, to not only wet things down but to sweep away all of that haze. There is a breeze blowing, and it is cool. Pam has been up since 5am, Amber since 5:30. Pam is heading out shortly to spend the day in town, to deliver calendars and do many other chores, plus she is modeling for a painting class at the Walton Art Center. One of these days I'm going to have to take that girl on our long-promised honeymoon to Hawaii.
I am suffering from a tiny bit of mocha withdrawl (I drank the last of two cases of them yesterday). It has been what kept me going these past long nights - one shot early in the morning while I soaked in the hot tub normally lasted me the entire day and long into the night.
OK, time for me to attack that stack of e-mails, or the snail-mail, or the prints, or the maintenance manual, or the phone calls, or, heck, perhaps I will just leave it all behind and go for a hike around the loop...
BE SURE to watch for the full moon rising tonight just after sunset...
9/12/03 It rained off and on all night - about an inch total - but at first light this morning it has stopped. We are engulfed in heavy clouds that are down low in the valley and up here with us too. There are enough holes in the clouds that I can see out into the wilderness from time to time, but mostly all I see is white. The scene is ever changing though, and it is tough to be sitting inside at the computer instead of out there in the middle of it.
I got to get out into the forest once yesterday, and had a wonderful time. My ankle was still bothering me a great deal, so I did not hike far. I found a really nice spot in the middle of a maple grove, and just sat down up against a moss-covered boulder to take in the view. There wind was really kicking up and blowing things around quite a bit. It was a cool breeze, and almost time for a flannel shirt. (I know people make fun of guys like me who wear flannel shirts, but they really are quite comfortable, and I rather enjoy wearing them.) Most of the trees were still wearing their summer green dress, but the underbrush was beginning to spruce up with a splash of color here and there - especially the poison ivy and Virginia creeper plants - some of them are getting downright brilliant orange and red!
At first when I arrived on the scene there were no critters in sight at all. But soon a chipmunk came out - actually he just appeared on top of an old stump about 20 feet away from where I was sitting. He might have been there the entire time and I did not notice him. Wildlife is good at that - just "being" there without anyone seeing them. Anyway, at first this little guy just sat and stared right at me, not moving a hair. Then he twitched and went back to being motionless. Then he twitched and moved a few inches away. Finally he ran down the old stump, across the forest floor, and up onto a boulder. Watching him scamper across the leaves I could hear him quite well. But if I had not been seeing that noise happen I would have never heard it. Sometimes you need more than one sense to make things happen.
A few moments later another chipmunk appeared out of nowhere (or had he been there all the time?). Before long the two of them were running and playing and causing all sorts of commotion, ignoring me all the while, at least they appeared not to give me any glances. But I bet I was in the corner of their eyes all the time.
The leaves on the forest floor have begun to disintegrate, and they are rather soft now, even when dry. Soon the next layer will be added to the top, pushing last year's leaves further down into the ground where bacteria will begin to eat away at them. A couple of more seasons of leaves on top, and eventually the current leaves on the ground will become dirt - that's the process of soil building. They say many of the pioneers worked the soil until there was no soil left to work - washed away by rains and winds. But many decades of inactivity and plenty of leaf falls has built the soils back in these hills back up again in many places.
The forest in general looked quite healthy, and I could not see any signs of stress from lack of rainfall. We have had a good amount of rain this past summer, although not too much yet in September. But what the heck, it is normally dry now anyway, and the forest knows what to expect and how to deal with it. Seemed like all of that was about to change though - it just felt like the pressure was changing or something, and the blowing leaves on the trees were whispering that rain was on the way. (Plus I looked on the radar and saw this HUGE front moving in our direction!)
I had to run into town for that emergency board meeting late in the day and missed what Pam told me was a very nice thunderstorm that blew through, dumping about a half inch of glorious rain. The roads were damp when I returned home in the dark. I stopped the truck and rolled down the windows to breath in the newly-washed air.
Today will be one more day at the computer for me - I have to write a trail maintenance manual for our volunteers who go out and keep the trails open and safe for hikers. Few people realize how much work is involved, and that most of that work is done by volunteers. I'm going to stay off my ankle one more day, but have to get out on it tomorrow to work with the volunteers. I hope by then it will be healed up enough so that I can come back to the cabin and resume my treks down to the river - I have managed to keep off the 14 pounds that I lost over the summer, even though I did basically no exercise at all these past two weeks, other than with my hands at the keyboard! But I can FEEL me slipping back out of shape once again, and I really need to get back to it. Also, I still have another 10 or 12 pounds to lose.
9/14/03 It is late at night as I am writing this, and I've just come in from a soak in the hot tub underneath a sky filled with a million stars. It's as clear and black out as I have seen it in a good long while. The Milky Way and other stars stretched right on down to the horizon. Nice and cool out too, which is what brought about a clean sweep of the air - a cold front that moved in over the weekend. There was a hint of woodsmoke in the air - someone over on a distant ridge stoking the fireplace to keep things nice and toasty. I rather look forward to the crisp air of fall, and the frozen air of winter, when I can get some really good exercise chopping wood each morning.
The past couple of days have been just marvelous out here in the wilderness. I spent a couple of very wet hours early yesterday morning putting up netting all around Amber's basketball court - 10 feet tall so that now stray balls don't go half way to the river! A light rain fell most of the time I worked on the netting, but it was a warm rain and I really didn't mind a bit. Then I sped on over to the Blanchard Springs area to deliver some maintenance tools and a few words of encouragement to the volunteers who have adopted sections of the new stretch of OHT trail nearby. Back home again in time to spend an hour with my daughter out in the woods.
We drive around a little bit on the tractor, then just went on a ramble through the woods. Such a wonderful feeling to be with a bright and cheerful youngster (and one that is turning into a pretty good defensive b-ball player too!). She came on over and grabbed my hand and we walked hand-in-hand through wildflower-studded meadows and into the darkening forest. I sort of like this new job of mine, and think I'll keep it for a while, at least until she leaves home to hold the hand of another...
There was no rush to get up this morning, although it was just WONDERFUL outside, so we did get up, and Pam and I went on a hike around the loop. The air was cool and the sun tried to break through the clouds. My bride came over and grabbed my hand and we hiked through wildflower-studded meadows and into the dark forest together. How could I be so lucky to have two terrific ladies with which to spend my life!
(By the way, I must pause here to let you know that both Pam Ernst and Amber Ernst are officially enrolled in and recognized by the Library of Congress of the United States now - and as soon as we ship them a copy of the new book in November, you'll be able to look them up and their names will pop up as authors. Yippie!)
We inspected a new dwelling on Bob's property - a "bear watching station" that was built up on stilts, is carpeted, and has three windows that look out over the east meadow. A very nice place out of the weather to watch bear, deer, or whatever happens to wander by. It was put up by the Woods Boys, but I bet Bob and Benny spend some time up in there as well.
Looks like it's time for berries to turn bright red, and fruit to get ripe and fall to the ground. The dogwood berries are becoming really nice and RED. Wild plum trees that we visited were nearly bare - their fruit having already ripened and fallen to the ground, much of it eaten up by some wild critter.
There was a hint of fruit as we passed the thick forest where the pawpaw patch is. I had blue jeans on and ventured into the briar thicket that guards these trees. There were quite a few pawpaws scattered all over the ground, so I gathered a few of them up for their annual group shot. At first I thought they were not ripe, but soon that sweet fragrance engulfed me and I knew there was a fine snack to be had! I bit into several of them, and my oh my that is the sweetest fruit I had ever bit into - Harry & David has nothing on Ozark pawpaws!
Pam was having fun with a new little digital camera that she is using to document a few scenes that she wants to draw or paint. She is really beginning to pick out some neat details in the wild things we pass, and some of the man-made ones too (like an old fence post that had a ton of character).
Black gums continue to turn blood red, and the ivy that carpets the forest floor is beginning to blaze. I think we're going to have a grand fall this year! Of course, I say that every year, but it usually turns out true, at least to some degree.
After a few hours inside the cabin messing around and getting a bit of work done, I decided it was time to test my ankle and make the trip down to the river - too many cookies and chips these past couple of weeks with no exercise. I wrapped the ankle up good, and started down the hill.
At first it was quite uncomfortable hiking, and I thought my ankle was going to cause me to turn around before I even got to the bottom of the first bench. But I kept going, very slowly, and making sure to place my left foot down carefully on solid ground. It took me a while, but I managed to make it to the river's edge without doing any damage.
The river was running well, no doubt helped out by the recent rains. Aspen and Lucy spent some time swimming while I collected my mask, snorkel, and water-walking shoes that I stash behind a large beech tree during the summertime. There were TONS of spider webs across the trail on the way down, so I didn't linger too long at the river and wanted to get back up the trail before the little devils had a chance to string new webs up again.
Ahhhhh, yes, climbing back up those 70 flights of steps - that's what I had been missing these past couple of weeks! Really. It felt great to reach out and put a little muscle into it. And my ankle didn't hurt a bit. Before I knew it I was standing at the base of the bluff waiting for Lucy to catch up. Just a great hike.
There were a few cloud streaks in the western sky this evening, and the setting sun really lit them up. I scrambled to dig out my "real" digital camera to record the moment. Funny how clouds like this can be absolutely quiet, yet produce such a symphony of COLOR!
I'm headed out of here before daylight in the morning - have to give a program to the Regional Airport Managers Conference in Eureka Springs first thing, then motor on over to Rogers to work on getting several very large color prints printed (40" x 60") at a lab there. Then I have chores in Fayetteville, and finally back home again. Still a TON of things on our lists to get done - never a shortage of important tasks - but both Pam and I feel a huge sense of relief and release that the kid's book is completed. Several weeks of constant focus can really wear you down mentally, as well as physically. Gosh, we can actually sit back for a moment and do absolutely NOTHING if we want to! Of course, that giant list is sitting right there on the table next to me, but what the heck, there are stars to visit and hands to hold...
Cloudland deck cam, 9/15/03, 4:42am, 52 degrees, moonlight and stars
9/18/03. Nuts. Big nuts. Green nuts. Nuts on the trail. Nuts covering the deck. Nuts falling from the sky. Nuts crashing into the roof. Nuts hitting you on the head while you hike through the woods. Nuts! It is raining nuts out here in the wilderness these days, especially HUGE acorns and hickory nuts. Also walnuts, and a nut or two that I have not been able to identify. We will indeed have some fat squirrels and deer this winter. (I've heard there has been a run on post-it notes at the office supply store.)
We've been spending this week trying to catch up - I'm down to only five unanswered e-mails in my in basket, and only about a dozen regular letters to answer! I've been working on the early design for Glenn's swimming hole book, getting print orders out, and continue to process book and calendar orders (those we've never fallen behind on - they are a priority and get done first). The pile of calendar cases up in the warehouse is going down fast, and I think we will sell out of them this year. They are getting out into the bookstores, and even Barnes & Noble should have a good supply of them (although they made us ship them to New Jersey first, then they will be sent out to the local stores). I gave a slide program to a group of regional airport managers in Eureka Springs on Monday - first time I had seen those programs in a while. I really don't like all the time it requires to get to and set up for programs - takes a minimum of 4-5 hours no matter where the show is or how short - but I do love to share the great beauty of Arkansas with folks.
We've been spending a bit of time working with Amber on the b-ball court too. She has become quite a tenacious defensive player, but needs a lot of practice shooting. I'm in the middle of installing a second goal right now at the opposite end of the court (that one is mostly for me). I've never really touched a basketball before (although played football and baseball, ran track, and swam competitively all through my youth), but I enjoy it now, and want to be able to stand in the middle of the court and shoot in either direction. And since the court is completely enclosed with netting now, we don't have to go chasing the balls half way to the river!
Speaking of the river, I have been going down to visit each afternoon. It is in great shape, and flowing at June levels - even Whitaker Creek has flowing water in it. The trees remain healthy, and some of them are beginning to show a bit of yellow tinge. By early October I think we'll have some color - depending on the rain and temp patterns (little or no rain from this point on is BETTER). And then the color will come charging on.
Yesterday morning the air was absolutely STILL and quiet. I could hear sounds coming from all over the place, including mmmmmmoooooooooossssss from contented cows in a pasture way over at Mossville. What a soothing sound that was. This is the open area and buildings that you can see when you are standing on Hawksbill Crag. Many people think that is our cabin that they see, but it isn't - you can't see our cabin from the Crag at all when the leaves are on the trees, and only through the trees and with a pair of binoculars when the leaves are off of the trees - in other words you cannot casually look out and see our cabin EVER when you are at the Crag, only when you are really looking for it with magnification, and only when the leaves are off (and you have to be way out on the edge too). What you see normally are the buildings at Mossville, which is actually across on the other side of the Buffalo River. But it looks much closer from the Crag. That pasture has been there for ions, the red barn and farmhouse for many generations. There are also several other cabins along that ridgetop, and at night you can see two or three or four nightlights - we don't have a nightlight, so any lights that you do see from the Crag belong to the folks at Mossville.
The nights have been cool this week and the days too, although yesterday it got up into the mid 70's, which seemed rather warm. Of course, I was using the post hole digger so that might have had an impact on my heat factor. I have returned to my weight-loss schedule, and am below 170 for the first time in a good long while. My goal is 160 (down from about 180-something), and the maintain somewhere between the two. It sure does feel GREAT to be back in shape, or at least near there!
Here are a few photos from hikes we've taken this past few days:
9/21/03 While some folks on TV and radio would have you think today is the first day of fall, it actually isn't until Tuesday, but HAPPY ALMOST FALL anyway! It has been one very lazy day here at Cloudland, the very first such day in a long, long time. We had planned to spend much of the day printing and shooting a cover photo for Glenn's new swimming hole guidebook. Not one, but two models (red bikini tops and cutoffs in hand) had to cancel at the last minute, and we kind of had to stick around to see if we were going to get the shoot set up (never happened). Pam wanted to go rock climbing, but couldn't leave, and me, heck, I was quite happy to just sit around. We took this opportunity here at the cabin to do absolutely nothing all day long! Well, that is not exactly the case, but relative to the rest of our summer we didn't do too much. Amber and Pam and I spent a lot of time out on the basketball court playing, then Amber and I went back out a couple of times for more b-ball; I got to watch some football on the tube; Pam got a little reading done; and the girls built a scarecrow. (I also got 4-5 hours of work done at the computer before our day actually begun, but we won't count that). And oh yea, Amber and I had a couple of acorn-tossing contests this afternoon.
A couple of days ago we went down to a potential swimming hole cover shot spot on the river to see how it looked, and how much water there was. Plenty of water, and the lighting would be good no matter if we had clouds or sunshine. Only problem was that we would have to haul in a ladder in order to climb up on top of a boulder that is in the middle of the river in order to get a good vantage point to take the photo from. It is a very nice spot on the river, and while most of the river is bone dry right now, this hole has plenty of nice, cool water - which is why Glenn is putting it into the guidebook.
It has been hazy, no actually kind of smoky all day long, with warm temps and a cool breeze blowing up from the south, and then from the southwest. Keeping an eye on the radar, we could see that two large storms were on either side of us, but not much was happening right here in the middle. That was until just about 20 minutes ago. The sky opened up and it began to pour right around 6pm - YIPPIE! We've not had too much rain in a while, and sure can use the wet stuff.
While Amber was down on the lower deck gathering up acorns for our contest, she called me over to witness a once-in-a-lifetime event for me. Few people even realize what all of this is - and we never would have if not for Scott Crook and his pet flying squirrels. It seems that inside most acorns there is a very tiny grub worm. After the acorn falls from the tree the worm eats its way out of the acorn. This little worm is a favorite food of flying squirrels, which are the most common squirrel in the Ozarks. You hardly ever see them in the wild because they are nocturnal, but there are millions of them around here. Anyway, you can tell that the worm has eaten his way out of the acorn when you pick one up because there will be a small hole in the acorn - that is where the grub came out of. And you can tell if a flying squirrel has had a little snack because the acorn will have been eaten into - the squirrel really doesn't eat the acorn itself, but rather chews into it until he finds the grub worm. Sometimes if you gather up a quantity of acorns and put them into a plastic bag or bucket and wait until the next day, you will see many of these little white worms in the bottom of the container - and many little holes in the acorns!
ANYWAY, Amber called me over because she had found one of the grub worms right in the middle of emerging from the acorn - something I had never seen happen before! I ran for the camera, but was too late to catch the worm in the process, but did manage to snap a photo of him before he slid off of the nut. The worm was about twice the diameter of the escape hole he had eaten in the side of the acorn. Pretty neat!
It is later in the night now and the rain has passed on through - about an inch of the good stuff. Supposed to be more on the way, but we're not holding our breaths. Very nice to have what we received.
The days are certainly cooler now, and while we are still in summertime, fall is not only in the air but creeping into everything. Is there a better time of the year than fall in the Ozarks? I think not!
Not sure why I bring this up at this point, but it just popped into my head and so you get to read it. Talk about a waste of taxpayer money! I got a call from a contractor in Colorado the other day. Seems that the Ouachita National Forest here in Arkansas has hired his firm (in Colorado) to come up with a listing of scenic places in the Ouachita National Forest - in Arkansas. He is in Colorado. His firm is in Colorado. They have been hired by the forest service (i.e. YOUR tax dollars) in Arkansas to find scenic places here. He called me to find out which of my photo books might have photos of scenic places in Arkansas that he could add to his list. Huh? Does that make any sense to you? I also got a call from an online art gallery that has received nearly THREE MILLION dollars in TAX PAYER monies in the form of grants to start their business. They wanted me to pay them $1,000 to put my photos on their web site. Am I missing something here? And one final blow that we got this week, well, actually two of them - we got notice that our property taxes were going up about 25% this next year (there used to be a state law in Arkansas that those things could only go up a maximum of 10% in any one year). AND, we also just got notice that one of our insurance policies is going up MORE THAN 25%!!! And we have never had a single claim of any kind or value with this company - not a single claim! We already pay more than ten grand each year for property taxes and insurance, and now it will all be that much more. Good grief, what is going on? I guess I should move to Colorado, and get a job funded with taxpayer money to tell other states where their scenic areas are...OK, I'm off my stump...
The next 4-6 weeks will be some of the most magical times you could ever imagine out in the forest as summertime fades away and autumn sets in. No matter what the weather, I suggest that you pack your bags and head outdoors whenever, to wherever, and as often as you can. I'll take a few hikes too and see what I can find to show you.
9/23/03 HAPPY FALL TO YOU! The first day of fall is always special at Cloudland. Heck, I guess every day of the year is special here. The sun has not come up yet, and it is cool, quiet, and very still outside. There is a bank of clouds gathered in the very bottom of the canyon, and already it is beginning to break up and move around. I took a deck cam photo a few minutes ago while the clouds were still there in case they are all gone by the time the sun pops up. There is also a cloudbank that stretches across the southern horizon, and I'm hoping the rising sun will light that up - right now it is just dark gray.
We had a scare last night - a really STINKY scare, especially for Lucy. While I was outside soaking up the millions of twinkling stars that were out, both of our pups took off in a terror into the night. I could hear them in the meadow below (which, by the way, is filling rapidly with brilliant flowers). They headed off in opposite directions, but both seemed to be on fresh trails. A few minutes later I realized that one of them had struck pay dirt - the air had filled with the delightful aroma of SKUNK!
Lucy was the first to appear, and she headed for the dog door with her tail tucked tightly between her legs. Uh, oh. As I climbed out of the hot tub that wall of intense stink hit me - Lucy had been sprayed, and it smelled like a direct hit. Now I realize that what most of you smell as you pass a dead skunk in the road is a terrible smell indeed, but that is nothing like the odor at ground zero - up close and personal the smell is something quite different, and only those who have lived through it will relate. I ran into the cabin, dripping wet and naked as a jaybird, and hollered up to Pam in the loft to stop Lucy from burrowing under the bed, which is her usual sleeping spot. Pam managed to head her off, grabbed her collar, and led her out the front door.
Aspen soon appeared as I was locking the dog door, but he seemed OK, and had not been hit by the skunk - he got to stay inside. Poor Lucy - she was only trying to protect and defend and got shot right in the face, and we rewarded her by kicking out into the night. I did give her a couple of treats, and put her favorite daybed out on the front deck. Whew, it STUNK around here!
By the way, just in case any of you are keeping tabs, Amber's basketball team won their THIRD game in a row last night! (they lost their first three, so are now 3-3). You may wonder about basketball in the fall, but it is because the same coaches coach the younger kids and the older kids, and having too many teams at the same time just doesn't work. So the younger kids have their season in the fall, with there being four games each time (5th and 6th grade girls and boys). It is really a lot of fun to go watch these youngsters give it their all out there on the court!
We got the cover proof of the Kids Guidebook in the mail yesterday, and it looks good, so we are GO for printing of the new book. We normally have to go through a series of these proofs for both the cover and text, but computer advances now allow us to actually create the computer file here at home that they make the negatives from for the text, so we know exactly what the final product is going to look like and save a couple of proofing steps (that doesn't save us any money, but does save a couple of weeks in printing time). And since the cover was shot with my digital camera, that saved another week in processing and proofing time. I do love this digital stuff! Our original goal was to have the book in hand by the first week of November - I'll keep you posted. We already have orders from dealers piling up.
By the way, spots in my fall digital photo workshop are filling up rapidly, and there are only two spaces left - if you are interested, you can get the details here. (I just added a SECOND workshop so there is now plenty of room.) We are buying a new computer today that will make the digital workshops even better.
Have I mentioned the Elk Centers in Ponca and Jasper before? If not, I must tell you that these are two quite interesting places to visit while you are in the ares. The one in Jasper is located right on Hwy. 7 next to the forest service office (The Hillary Jones Elk Center and Game & Fish Visitor Information Center). They have a lot of neat stuff in there, including a long table covered with critter hides that you can touch (you can't believe how SOFT a muskrat hide is!), plus a bunch of native fish in several long aquariums. And they have one of the best mammal displays I've seen anywhere. And, of course, a number of mounted elk. ALSO you can purchase all of my books and the calendar there, and the money goes to help keep the center open. While we were in there yesterday was nearly ran smack into the famous and talented DON KURZ from Missouri. Neither of us recognized each other so we continued on. (Don, if you are reading this, I was the guy who walked in the door with a box of books just as you were leaving, with my bride and daughter (with a friend) right behind.) I came soooooo close to meeting him!
There is also an Elk Center right in beautiful downtown Ponca on Hwy. 43. This one is more of an educational center, with a number of interesting, and yes educational displays, plus mounted critters. They don't sell anything there, but it is definitely worth a stop. They are open seven days a week now until November, then five days a week. The elk in Boxley are beginning to bugle, and you can see them along the highway most any morning and evening.
My wife just handed me a long list of chores that we have to do in town today, so I had better cut this off and get it posted. The clouds in the canyon are almost gone now, and the sun has not appeared yet. It is going to be another fine day in the Ozarks - welcome FALL!
9/25/03 It is twilight at the edge of the wilderness, the air is still, and it seems as though there is absolutely no sound at all - total and complete silence. But when you stop and really try to focus on sound, there really is quite a bit of it - crickets softly chirping in rhythm with each other; tree frogs filling in the gaps, a few distant hoots. And then the silence is broken with a loud cry of a coyote over on Beagle Point - "Where is everyone?" he seems to be saying. We're right over here, sitting back, sipping a bit of red wine, and soaking up the last rays of yet another gorgeous day in the wilderness.
Evening before last, our entire family headed up to what was left of the garden in the Faddis meadow to gather up a few corn stalks. Husband and wife holding hands, with daughter in between, two dogs romping on either side of the lane, and two cats chasing the wind. And goodness was it windy. We selected about a dozen tall corn stalks that had already been knocked down and stripped of all produce by Mr. Bear. I sawed them off with a little folding saw that I brought along for that purpose. Then we all trekked on back to the entrance sign and installed the corn stalks next to the containers of mums and a "scare crow" sort of figure (scares me to death every time that I drive up thinking it is a human standing there - oops, I'm not supposed to tell you about that creature). It was a great family outing, and I think all had a good time.
The next morning (yesterday), they sky was really weird - filled with all different types of clouds - and the wind was thrashing the trees all over the place. There were clouds down in the valley, but they didn't seem to be moving around much. I snapped a photo and posted it on the site, and within ten minutes the clouds had all gone their separate ways and complete disappeared. The bank of clouds overhead remained until late morning, then flew off to reveal a beautiful blue sky.
On my trips down to the river this week I have noticed that the forest
floor is literally covered with short hickory branches - perhaps a foot
or two long, with leaves and usually a hickory nut or two. No other species
of trees have been dropping off like this, just the hickories. Someone
once told me it was the work of a "twig girdler" - a bug that chews all
around a small branch, weakening the branch until the wind breaks it off.
I'm not really sure why these guys do this, or why the seem to only attack
hickory trees, but they have been hard at work.
(Here is an article that was e-mailed to me by Journal reader
Daryl Barnhouse that explains exactly what is going on here:
If you have noticed small branches on the ground in the fall neatly
cut from your hickory, pecan, oak, and elm, among other
trees, you have NOT been invaded by an alien. An insect known as a
twig girdler has visited your tree. This insect is
commonly called a longhorned beetle in its adult stage and each fall,
usually September through November, these beetles
neatly girdle tree branches about the diameter of a pencil. The branches
will fall to the ground and by the time the
homeowner finds them, the beetle that girdled the branch has left.
Because of this, the adult beetle is seldom seen. Damage
from twig girdlers is more common some years than others.
The adult beetle is about 1/2 to 3/4 inch long, has antennae about as
long as its body, and is grayish brown with a broad ash
gray band across the middle of its back. The adult beetles emerge in
the late summer and fall and locate a host tree. Here
they chew around and around the branch forming a V-shaped notch. They
usually don't completely sever the branch, but
leave a small section connected in the center. The chewing looks somewhat
like a miniature beaver has gnawed on the
branch. The partially severed branch usually breaks from the tree and
either falls to the ground, lodges in the tree crown, or
hangs loosely attached where it was girdled. Close examination of the
severed branches reveals tiny scratches where the
beetle has chewed the bark. The female beetle lays about ten eggs on
each severed branch and may deposit a total of 200
eggs. The eggs hatch in about three weeks and the larvae feed in the
cut branch. In late summer, the larvae pupate and about
two weeks later!
emerge as adults. There is one generation per year and adults
generally live six to ten weeks. For those who are interested,
the twig girdler is in the insect order Coleoptera (beetles), the family
Cerambycidae (longhorned beetles) and the species is
Oncideres cingulata.
These insects seldom do any serious harm to trees and are mostly a nuisance.
They have been known to cause significant
damage in pecan orchards and nurseries. Spraying with a chemical insecticide
is not recommended for controlling twig
girdlers in a yard situation. Instead, collect and destroy clipped
branches.
If you find small branches on the ground under your trees that have
been very cleanly and uniformly cut, you should now
recognize that a twig girdler has been busy in your tree. Don't be
alarmed; the damage is rarely of any consequence.)
Pam and I took off on a short hike around the mountain early this morning, just after sunrise. The very first critter that we encountered was a large, juicy orb weaver, who was tending to his web that was strung across the trail. I have eaten more than my share of these things, and I cringe every time I come close to doing so again - I keep a wide path when I see one across the trail. But they are colorful characters if you look really close, and can get down to business and really work up a storm. It looked like this guy's web had already been disturbed by a large critter, and he was busy trying to rebuild it. What am I saying "trying" to rebuild - he certainly will do so, and probably have the job completed long before I could ever even consider how to start.
Hickory nuts, GIANT acorns, BRILLIANT red dogwood berries all over the place, and persimmons - we've got lots of persimmon fruit getting ripe. In fact the persimmon crop is so good this year that many of the trees are full and their branches are bending under the weight. Here is a snapshot of one branch that was laid completely down on the ground because the fruit was so heavy. I wonder if wildlife waits until the fruit is just exactly ripe before digging in? Of course they do. However, in some years entire persimmon trees will go untouched by critters, and the fruit simply rots (or dries up) on the branches.
The phone rang at 6:20 this morning - some guy from Indiana wanted to know what the temperature was going to be on the Ozark Highlands Trail on November 8th. And, of course, if it was going to rain that day or not. Really. I get these sorts of calls all the time. How the heck do I know? I told him to consult the weather channel - they couldn't predict the weather as good as I couldn't.
Amber normally rides three different buses to and from school, a total of more than an hour of riding each way. Fortunately, she doesn't mind reading in a moving vehicle, and often has all of her homework completed by the time she arrives back at the cabin in the afternoon. Today her last "bus" turned out to be a Kubota tractor. I had driven up to the pickup spot to do a little mowing along the roadside, and waited for her to arrive. She jumped up into the drivers seat, and while sitting in my lap, drove the almost two miles back to the cabin. She was pretty good at hitting every pothole in the road (so am I).
Pam has started a new pastel class in town. She really seems to like pastels, and while she has only really done a handful of them, seems to have a knack for them. The only problem that I have with them is that until you apply a protective spray to the artwork, the darn things are so delicate - touch the surface of the painting with anything and the dust comes right off. It is impossible for me to scan her completed work, but I may start shooting copy photos of them so I can post here in the Journal. Come to think of it, what the heck, I think I'll go ahead and get a snapshot of the pastel she did in class last night - shhhhhhh, don't tell her!
Oh yes, I almost forgot to tell you. We brought home a bunch of tomato juice the other day and were all ready to give Lucy a good washing in the juice - which is the traditional remedy to get rid of "essence of skunk" on your dog. I happened to check my e-mail and found a "recipe" from a Journal reader (Daryl Barnhouse - THANKS man!) and decided to give it a try first: combine a squirt or two of dishwashing liquid, a bottle of hydrogen peroxide, and 1/4 cup of baking soda (all of this more or less to make up a good liquid mixture - I even added some regular water because I put in too much soap at first). Lucy was still totally covered with the awful stench of the night before, but I held my nose and charged right on it. Tomato juice works poorly at best, but this miracle mix from Daryl cut the stink INSTANTLY! I was shocked and amazed. It only took me two or three minutes to douse Lucy with the stuff, and she didn't stink any more! We allowed her into the house right away, and everything was fine from that point on. Good girl.
9/28/03 Right now the temp is 49 degrees, the sun has just peeked up over the eastern horizon and is lighting up the tip-tips of the ridges in the wilderness. As I type this rays of bright sunshine are spilling down into more and more parts of the forest below, revealing crisp, clean, bright shades of green trees that appear to be ready to begin their march into the brilliant shades of fall color. It is completely still and quiet outside, quite unlike the end of the day yesterday.
We had just a marvelous beginning and end to the day here at Cloudland yesterday - I'm sure the rest of the day was great too, but we were gone for most of it. It was an early start for us, as we had to hit the road and get Amber to an out-of-town basketball game (what am I saying - everything is out of town for us!). I really wanted to stick around because it was going to be one incredible sunrise. It had rained a little bit during the night, and in the dim predawn light I could see a beautiful cloudbank gathering far down in the canyon - a sea of white hanging low and protecting the river. There were streaks of white in the sky above, and already as we were pulling out their edges were beginning to turn brilliant orange and red. As we motored along another part of the mountain we could see those very same clouds on fire with some of the most intense color you could imagine - it would have been quite a sight from our cabin, but then that would have been nothing new!
Amber lost her game, but the girls played their hearts out, and it was a great game to watch. I have never been much of a basketball fan (although I did used to go shoot the Razorbacks as they made their way through NCAA tournaments back in the 1970's - I got press passes and was able to sit on the floor directly below the rim - a photo of me made it onto the cover of Sports Illustrated one time - not a photo that I had taken, but one that included me, sitting under the goal while Sidney Moncrief battled Larry Bird for a rebound). But watching these kids run and work and PLAY so hard is really quite exhilarating. I have not missed a second of any of her games, and don't plan to - at the top of my priority list this fall.
After spending the rest of the day in Missouri, we didn't get back to the cabin until late afternoon. And then one of those remarkable Cloudland Moments happened, perhaps one of the best ever. My lovely bride and I were sitting in the swing on the back deck, engaged in quiet conversation. The sun was quite low, casting long shadows in the canyons below. The color of that light was turning from white to yellow. And then we saw a butterfly spill out of the sky and drift along the edge of the trees above us, then slowly settling down into the flower-filled meadow below. It was a monarch butterfly. Then there was another. And another. And another. And another. Goodness, before too long there were dozens, no hundreds of monarchs in the air - we were in the middle of the monarch migration!
These golden jewels were lit up by that setting sun, and sparkled like glitter as they fluttered about against the black backdrop of Beagle Point, which was in total shadow. If you focused tightly, you could see butterflies way far out over the canyon, and beyond, and close by, and off to the right, and to the left, and directly above, all moving in different directions. Many of them cruised along the edges of the trees directly above us and around the edges of the meadow. They seemed to be looking for places to spend the night, and many landed in the trees around us.
One of the reasons why this scene was such a special one for me - aside from the fact that on its face value it was an incredible, beautiful scene, and we were witness to a major ritual of Momma Nature - was the fact that I was able to share it all with my best friend and life mate. So many times in the past when I have been to lucky to be a part of so many great wonders of nature, the experience was dulled a little bit for me because I had no one to share it with. Pam adds so much to my world, and moments like this one just put even more icing on the cake!
One of the neatest photographs that I ever saw was one taken by the famed photog George Lepp down in Mexico of a tree literally covered with monarchs. I bought a copy and had George autograph it to my mom, who absolutely love butterflies. No doubt she is the one who sends them to Cloudland each year, and provides so many flowers here for them to munch on.
Later in the evening, as I was soaking in the hot tub under a star-studded sky, not one or two, but THREE packs of coyotes began a wilderness symphony. Each pack was on a different ridgetop, and their songs bounced off of each other and echoed throughout the night. Were they speaking directly to each other? Or trying to outdo each other? Or just conversing with the night, without thought of neighbors? Aspen sat next to me and listened intently. When he first arrived here he used to sit up and howl and get flustered. But not he seems to understand what is going on, and tries to make out what they are saying. I sure do wish dogs could talk.
There were other orchestras in the night as well - crickets and tree frogs and hoot owls - and they all put on quite an audio show.
The sun has been up for over an hour now this morning, and I have not seen a single butterfly, either in the air or in the trees. I wonder if they got up and left during the night, or if they simply are well snuggled in and I am unable to see them? I'll keep a close eye out as the temps warm up. The sky is pure-blue today, so it will be easy to spot those bright orange dabs of glitter if they take wing and head to Mexico.
9/29/03 Another clear, silent, still morning today at first light, with a temp of 43. That has dropped down into the upper 30's in the canyons below no doubt, for the first time this fall. I took a hike down there yesterday morning and had to pocket my hands because they were chilled - a sure sign that bugs are on the way out!
The rest of my day was spent at the computer, including several hours printing some large color prints for a customer. I have now started printing images of other folks' work for them, and continue to be impressed at how wonderful the prints look that are produced by the premium, archival printing system that I now have set up here. Any of you that are interested in getting a print or two made, just send me an e-mail and I'll get you the details. (These are prints from your digital files on CD - either digital originals or scanned film - that you have already cropped, sized, and worked on, and are ready to send to print. I'll give you the specifications of what I need from you.)
Oh yea, didn't see a single monarch butterfly all day long - they did manage to slip off during the night - I guess they heard the blenders were being fired up down south of the border and they didn't want to miss out!
We've got a really busy week here that will include at least four trips into town, and I suspect many long nights. Amber has two more b-ball games, then we have a weekend filled with company, and will include a movie to be shot here at the cabin and in the surrounding hills and historical sites. I've got a $4,000 digital projector that will be delivered this week for me to evaluate. (Kodak has announced that they will no longer be producing slide projectors - that means the end to film is near!) I'm going to make one more attempt to convert my slide programs to digital, and this new projector, along with some very expensive calibration equipment, and the new laptop computer that we just bought, should do the job. I'm only keeping the digital projector for a week before sending it back, but should be able to figure out if it will work or not, and if I am going to jump in and buy one. When it is all said and done, it is going to cost me just over ten grand to put together a digital projection system capable of producing the sort of quality slide programs that I am used to. I doubt it will all be ready for our sweep of programs this fall, but I'll be working towards that goal. If and when I do get my digital projection act together, then my programs will be available for sale on DVD, something that is asked for at every single program I have ever given.
The nuts continue to fall here, and I am still amazed at how loaded the oak trees are even after a couple of weeks of nut production. The big red oak that grows out of the middle of our lower deck is so loaded down with acorns that we expect the branches to come crashing down at any moment.
To find the October Journal please go to the Cloudland Journal home
page (currently is www.cloudland.net/home.html)
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