Site scouting

Of course I would do this on the coldest day of the year. Site scouting. I'm gearing up and getting ready to start shooting soccer and baseball for the season. I wanted to get a feel of the fields so I have started visiting. Sylvan Hills has a beautiful new field which was nicely protected. I'm excited about getting out there and capturing the Bears in action. Sylvan Hills always produces some good players.

Soon this scoreboard will be lit up.

I spotted a pipe and couldn't resist a little sun flare through the pipe shot.

College of the Ozarks

One of the hidden secrets of the Ozarks is the College of the Ozarks. I was told there were some nice photo ops there. It's just outside of Branson. The next exit actually. The college is unique because the kids who graduate don't have a debt if they work on campus. There was a sense of pride in the students we met. I got to see greenhouses, cattle and one of the crown jewels of the place, the restaurant. We were told to go to brunch on Sunday and boy were we surprised. It was out of this world. A student from Puerto Rico made my omelet. Our server was a Criminal Justice major. The furniture was some of the most beautiful handcrafted pieces. The service was 5 star as was the food. Very much worth the stop!

I took time to photograph around the mill that seems to be almost in the center of campus.

National Ice scuplting competition

We headed up to Branson for the weekend just to get away. Talk about a quite town. One guy told me, "You can lay in the middle of highway 76 for half the day and not get run over." He was right. No shows and even a lot of restaurants were closed until March. Now the sales were big time. We saw 85% off in a couple of stores.

The surprise of the weekend was there just happened to be the National Ice Sculpting Competition going on and it was free. The tents were packed and of course it was older folks or kids so I too it easy on getting great photos. One time I also started to wiggle on through the crowd to the front but I just didn't feel like this was the place for that.

These guys are great. One fast competition was 15 minutes and one guy had a beautiful fish done within about 10 minutes. He was a real showman. Dancing around and we all just waited for an arm to fly across the room. I mean the dude was slinging a chainsaw!

Swan Song

My wife and I took off about an hour and a half north of Little Rock to a town called Heber Springs. It is a lake town known for Greers Ferry but we had our GPS locked in to another another lake on the outskirts of town. Lake Magness. It's a small private lake but something magical happened about 1993. Folks think a storm knocked a few Trumpeter Swans off course and they wintered at this lake. Now years later there can be as many as 195 swans as well as other water fowl enjoying the lake. I didn't expect to see so many cars as we pulled up. It was a beautiful Arkansas winter day with blue skies and the temperatures right about 60 degrees. We had been told to arrive about 4pm so we could see them coming in. It's not a real schedule but about. We only saw a few more ducks come gliding in as the swans were already there. I'm starting to like these exploring the state of Arkansas adventures. Enjoy the photos!






One thing that happened at sundown today in Arkansas... Duck season ended. Not the best season as it didn't get really cold up north to drive them down. Maybe next year...

Going through the door to another time

Today my wife and I were supposed to go to Heber Springs to shoot the trumpeter swans but the weather was not cooperating so instead I ran out to Scott and stepped back in time on the farm. There was thick fog all day long so I thought I would go shoot a barn in the fog or maybe a solidarity tree. Just as I got down the road the fog was gone. I knew of a couple places in Scott
(a wide spot in the road) that I could nab an image of.

To my surprise the door to this gin was open,
I walked around looking in all the opening I could find.
There were no keep out signs so I crawled up and in.
This is something I seem to be doing more and more to get a shot.

There were old remnants of gin machinery.
I love when I happen upon things like this because
my world stops for a moment and I go back in time.
I hear men talking and the machine running.
I smell the old oil and dirt. Feel the sticky humid air. I feel freedom.

There were a couple old window panes and as much as I would have loved
to taken them home, they were not mine to take. One thing I do is to leave
any place I visit the same or better when I leave.

Not a rocks throw away is an old store called Cothem's and it's one of those old dives that will have a waiting line outside on days they are open. Many promises and lies have been told around the tables as it is a popular gathering spot for business and politicians.

This is the backyard of Cothem's. The side yard has goats, a rooster and a calf.

Another rock's throw starts one of the most beautiful roads in Arkansas. Land's End and the pecan lined road. Even in the winter it is a beautiful place. These pecan trees and others some to go on for miles. It was a favorite spot for me to ride my bike. Flat, quite, and beautiful.

Billie's graveyard maintenance project

I planned to spend this beautiful central Arkansas Sunday afternoon driving a few back roads in search of on old barn or abandoned house. I saw some photos a touring cyclists had taken along his route and it inspired me to try the challenge. Little did I know what adventure I was really going to have. Nope, I didn't get taken by backwoods bandits but it was being watched.

I took Hwy 107 out of my home base of Sherwood and headed north. It's a beautiful drive of hills, ridge lines and valleys. I spotted a road to turn toward Cabot and I remembered there was a couple roads off of that. This is my wife's dad's family farmland back in there. If you are from around central Arkansas or know the area, where yo take the Cabot exit and the Wal-Mart on one side and whatever is on the other? Yep, that was all their farmland at one time.

Anyway, I turned onto Sumner Cemetery road because I remembered that that's where my wife's grandparents were buried and since I was close I would pay my respects. I also knew there were barns on that road as well.

I got out and had forgotten how fascinated I was over all the very old grave markers. 1908 is a young one out there well at least towards the front. There are many from the 1800's and some are just a worn down spot of cement to mark the burial.

I spot my wife's grandparents place and walk over to straighten their flowers and I hear something making it's way towards me. It would take a few steps and stop. Take a few steps and stop. I really thought it was someone else paying respects so I turned to acknowledge them and lo and behold it's a pregnant billie goat! My fist thought was, "Oh Lord, please don't let that goat charge me and chase me around the grave yard. Yes, Lord, it would be a funny story but let's wait for another day. Please." Come to find out it was a sweet pet goat and just as calm and gentle as could be. I thought it was funny, I mean a goat ... in a grave yard... Together we walked around and looked at a few more grave markers and discussed "Billies graveyard maintenance methods."

Yes, it was just another typical day.

Hidden treasure of Saline County

Growing up in Saline County, Arkansas in the 60's and 70's meant one thing in the summer. The Saline River and swimming. There were plenty of places to swim along it banks which snakes through the west side of town. You could swim up around Alum Fork, or may be did like we did and preferred Cecil Jones, a store on the bank of the river, since it was just down Highway 5 from my folks house. Nothing beat a day spent in the cool waters and then walking up the hill to the store and getting a coconut bar. Yes, those rainbow colored compressed coconut things. By the way, I treated myself to one from Cracker Barrel not long ago. I can say that I have outgrown them now. HA!

Other spot along the river like Lyle Park, or maybe off the backside of Trout and Seiver streets. It was private property but there was a cool spill way that you could sit under as the waters cascaded over. It was just like a water tunnel.

The most daring went to none other than the Steel Bridge as seen in the photo above and below. Easy to find as you just took River Street in Benton and followed it until you got to the river. I had heard stories of folks jumping off the bridge and of all the years I lived in Benton I never ventured there, until today. What a beautiful place and I had it to myself until just as I was walking back to the car and met a family hiking that way. As I stood there I grinned as I could hear Fleetwood Mac "Rumors" album playing in the background and classmates laughing and enjoying a time less stressful. We still had some time before we had to grow up.

As I packed up my camera I caught myself humming... "Don't stop thinking about tomorrow..." Fleetwood Mac, Rumors album, the soundtrack of the summer of 1977. Somethings like the steel bridge just never get old.