Ozarks in spring

Summer in Columbia

Summer.  That should be all I need to say.  This was taken in a neighborhood a couple blocks away from my old house on Glenwood Ave.   Just beyond the top of the fence a hammock is visible in the backyard, beckoning, waiting, inviting.

Iris in the a.m.

Winter Bird

Found in a neighbor's yard, between snows this winter.   It resembles a sapsucker or woodpecker...but I'm no expert.

Cottonwood, Van Meter State Park

A friend of mine told me that native Americans used to hang weights on the lower branches of young trees in order to get them to point in a certain direction.  This cottonwood tree, growing out in the wetlands north of Van Meter State Park, is probably just old enough that it could have been taught to point.  But to what was it pointing?  A tree becomes a symbol and mystery.  The world becomes a little more interesting when viewed this way.

Redbud, Spring 2010

This was last spring, sometime in mid-April.  I was hoping that we would be close to this stage of spring by this time, but it looks like we are going to be pulled back into winter for a few days. 

Lay's Motor Lodge, Kingdom City

Lay's Motor Lodge, an abandoned motel located on old highway 40 in Kingdom City.  A sign at the edge of the parking lot advertises "Glass Heat Electric Heating" in every room.  I don't know what that is, but it apparently could not forestall the eventual demise of the motel.