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VOL. 46, NO. 11
APRIL 2019
www.riverhillstraveler.com
Bladesmith enjoys creating heirloom knives By MATTIE LINK
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A fly fisherman fishing an Ozarks stream for bass.
April showers bring
summer smallmouth
mattie@riverhillstraveler.com _____________
rancis Kirk has turned his fascination as a child, and hobby in his spare time, into a full-time business. Kirk is a bladesmith/knifemaker who owns FK Knives in the Cabool area. “I have always been fascinated with knives and collected them when I was growing up,” said Kirk. “I have thought about making my own knives and blades for a long time.” Kirk has been making knives full-time for a year now. Please see STEEL, 18
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By Ronnie Moore t’s officially spring in these hills. Birds are singing, flowers are budding, and the white bass are pushing their way upstream to spawn. Turkey season. Morels. We have a lot going on right now. But I only have one thing on my mind... and that is catching a summer smallmouth. More precisely, a summer smallmouth, with a fly rod, while wet wading an Ozarks stream. For me nothing compares to slipping off into one of these cool streams that is too insignificant for most to try or float. We are lucky enough to have a collection of great float streams that give us an abundance of opportunities.
Please see BASS, 19
The Texas adventures of Mike & Matt
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By Sandy McMurry-Richey ike and Matt are on a Texas adventure in search of “liquid gold.” Liquid gold is a name for rough crude oil that has lured many a “wildcatter” to the East Texas oil fields since the early 1900s. A wildcatter is an adventurer who drills holes in search of the liquid gold. Many a book, song
and movie have been made about such. But the liquid gold that Mike and Matt are seeking is the very profitable nectar and pollen that our honeybees turn into pure, sparkling honeybee food used to raise their brood. According to Matt, “Yes, I’m down here for the early pollen. I’ve got 2.5 frames of brood on average
already. In 2 weeks those will be 5 frames of bees. So they explode early. “Texas is like the greenhouse for beekeepers. It allows you to start the season earlier.” As the two men travel the 11.5 hours to East Texas in Matt’s swank F-550 with a 275-gallon tank of sucrose plus boxes of Please see BEES, 18
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RiverHillsTraveler.com
Rob Parks makes a variety of amazing spinnerbaits.
Blades of glory
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o, this is not an article about a funny ice skating movie. Instead, I would like to take a few minutes to discuss, in some detail, one of the two most important parts of the traditional spinnerbait. Besides the hook, the spinners themselves make or break the spinnerbait. These lures that we have all thrown at bass most of our lives are a bit more complex than they might appear at first glance. Having used spinnerbaits for over 5 decades, I have gotten pretty good at Mike Roux knowing when and ———— where and how to use them. However, when it comes to what exactly makes up these amazing lures I went straight to the Midwest expert on this topic. Rob Park is the owner of Raptor Premium Spinnerbaits. Park makes all of his spinnerbaits by hand and is a stickler for both quality and detail. I began by asking him what makes up a great spinnerbait. “A spinnerbait starts with a straight shank, wide gap hook,” he said. “The
wire form either has an R-head or a loop leading down to the molded lead jig head. “On that frame are spacer beads, a skirt and, of course, the blades.” I became very interested in the blades. I will now pass along some of the massive amount of information I got from Park. There are three main types of blades. There are a few other outliers, but I am going to focus on the top three, one at a time. COLORADO BLADE — These are very rounded blades. Because of this shape they have the most vibration and create a noticeable thump during a slow retrieve. Blade sizes are universal and sized from #00 to #10. Even though blades of different types may be sized the same, it does not mean they have the same dimensions. WILLOW BLADES — Sometimes referred to as “Willow leaf” blades. These are longer and narrower than Colorado blades and are pointed on both ends. Willow blades spin the easiest with less vibration but much more flash. INDIANA BLADES — Are for all practical purposes the cross between the Colorado and Willow. These have moderate vibration when compared to the Colorado, but produce a bit more flash. Still, though, less flash than the Willow. Blade material is most commonly steel, copper or brass. Some are plain while others are plated with nickel, gold or silver. Still others are polished brass or copper. Black nickel is also a good color choice. Often spinnerbait blades will come painted in a variety of colors. Rob Park
and I have seen white, chartreuse, black and red blades just to name a few. Park said he has also seen walleye fishermen paint theirs with glow-inthe-dark paint. I asked Park about the number of blades he likes on his spinnerbaits. The conditions of the day is how he decides upon single or multiple-blade lures. Water clarity, water temp, time of day and the amount of vibration you wish to achieve all come into play as you make the “number of blades” decision. So, now it was time for me to stop asking Rob Park about facts and get his opinion on HIS favorite spinnerbait. “I love copper blades,” he said. “The reason for that is that the bass seem to love them. It does not matter if they are brightly polished or tarnished like an old penny.”
Park also told me he has experience with bass that will not hit any other color but copper. He recommends that, regardless of the type or size of the blades you are using, if you are having no success, switch to copper blades. I have a policy not to recommend any products that I have not personally field tested. So last fall I took Raptor Premium Spinnerbaits to Michigan in search of trophy smallmouth. The massive brown bass annihilated Park’s spinnerbaits. I was so happy I had them with me. So there you have it. Spinnerbait knowledge passed along to you from a true spinnerbait professional. Contact Rob Park at rdpark@mchsi. com or at rps@mediacombb.com. (Mike Roux can be reached at 217257-7895.)
April 2019 • Page 3
RiverHillsTraveler.com
Step back in time at Doniphan Heritage Days
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ucked among the banks of Current River is a town that at one time was a hopping little community. Doniphan — like many other small towns across Missouri — has struggled to maintain its heyday of yesterday, but to no avail. At one time when Doniphan was in its prime, the town was a site to see. In the center of it all was the beautiful Ripley County Courthouse and the magnificent Current River, the flagship of all Ozark streams. On any given Saturday on the square a person could watch a championship checkers game, play a round of horseshoes, listen to some gospel preached, and lots and lots of southern gospel and blueRichard grass music being Whiteside played on the steps ———— of the county seat. The old-timers tell me of a day when the streets could not hold another person. Those days are but a distant memory to some of the older folks. Times passed and years gone by. When looking at the old black-andwhite photos in the Doniphan museum, a person begins to feel they were born 100 years too late. Hungry to once more feel the buzz and excitement of a hopping little river town. Hungry for a town that once existed. Today that dream is coming to pass. Once more the sound of bluegrass music will fill the air along the banks of the Current River. Once more you will hear banjos, fiddles and mandolins on the county steps. These are the grassroots of many, many fun times that lie ahead in Doniphan, Missouri. Behind the scenes of all of this are normal citizens. A handful of individuals have been working hard to make
invested a considerable amount of time making this an event the entire state can be proud of. Another big player in this is the Bob
Lewis family. Lewis is a hall of fame bluegrass man that knows just about every person from here to Timbuktu that has ever touched a banjo. This is more then just grassroots. This is getting back to who we are as river town folks in the Ozarks. Everything will get kicked off at this year’s first-ever Heritage Days in downtown Doniphan in April. At Heritage Days you will see how life on Current River was in the early days. Bring your family and stay for the day or the weekend. Doniphan Heritage Days and the list of activities and events can be found on the Facebook Doniphan Heritage Days page, plus there’s a flyer in later pages of this issue of the Traveler. (Richard Whiteside lives in Doniphan, Mo., and can be reached at rlwhiteside72@gmail.com. His blog can be followed at www.ozarkriverman.wordpress.com.)
Fish, float, hunt & explore the Ozarks! Rick Yates
this dream come true. More than grassroots. One of the key players in this is Rick Yates, a local sign artist and classic car enthusiast. I would like to add that Rick’s brother, Billy Yates, is a famous Nashville songwriter who wrote several hit songs for George Jones. Billy also has two shows in Branson. When I asked Rick of what he would like to see this turn in to, he said: “I would like to see the young people growing up here to have a good example of what a town should be like.” Over the past three years Rick has orchestrated a very nice cruise night event called “Cruisin’ the Park” that consists of classic cars, street rods, muscle cars, etc. All of this along with live local music and concessions. The combination of hot rods, bluegrass music and lots of good food is Rick’s dream for our community. Along with his wife, Cathy, and daughter, Ashley Thompson, Rick has
Convenient home delivery! FISHING • HUNTING FLOATING • TRAVELING CAMPING • GUNS • HIKING
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MO has 8 sites in Civil War Passport program
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issouri State Parks is participating in a Missouri Civil War Passport program sponsored by Fry’s Lyon Foundation. Passports are available for $10 at Missouri State Park retail sites, all 39 passport sites, or online at mostateparks.com.! Participants will stamp their passports at participating locations. The program began April 1 and will end Dec. 31, 2020. The foundation chose the sites included in the program based on their inclusion in the federally-created Civil War Sites Advisory Commission’s list Jimmy Sexton of historically sig———— nificant sites, 29 of Journey On which are in Missouri. The group included 10 additional Missouri sites they considered important. Participants who visit and receive stamps for all the sites will receive a certificate of completion by Fry’s Lyon Foundation. Missouri State Parks has eight sites included in the passport program: •!Battle of Athens State Historic Site; •!Battle of Carthage State Historic Site (stamp location is at Battle of Carthage Civil War Museum); •!Hunter-Dawson State Historic Site; •!Battle of Island Mound State Historic Site (stamp location is at Bates County Historical Society and Museum); •!Battle of Lexington State Historic Site; •!Missouri State Museum;
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•!Battle of Pilot Knob State Historic Site; and •!Battle of Belmont, in Mississippi County (the historical marker for this site is located near Towosahgy State Historic Site and the stamp location is Hunter-Dawson State Historic Site). ——— More than 5,100 anglers visited Bennett Spring, Montauk and Roaring River state parks on opening day of trout season. The catch-and-keep trout season began on Friday, March 1. “What a great opening day! Nothing stops anglers from coming to these three parks for trout opening,” said Ben Ellis, director of Missouri State Parks. Based on trout tag sales, 1,684 anglers visited Bennett Spring State Park near Lebanon; 1,727 anglers visited Montauk State Park near Salem; and 1,784 anglers visited Roaring River State Park near Cassville. This year’s total is an increase of nearly 500!more than!2018 figures. A breakdown of trout tag counts and photos from the day are available at mostateparks.com/TroutOpening2019. “Each park has something to offer these anglers,” said Carol Comer, director of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. “Go to any one of the three state parks, and you will find family traditions that run deep, year after year. There is something to be said about Missouri State Parks and trout fishing.” The catch-and-keep trout season continues through Oct. 31. Trout season in Missouri is a cooperative effort of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, which manages state parks, and the Missouri Department of Conservation, which operates the hatcheries and stocks the streams with trout.!
——— The U.S. Forest Service’s Region 9 recently recognized Missouri Stream Team #4847 in the restoration category of its annual Eastern Region Volunteer and Service Awards for their contributions in cleaning up the Current River and Mark Twain National Forest. The team, led by Richard Whiteside of Doniphan, gathered individuals and groups for cleanup efforts after the devastating flooding in the area that hit last year and brought massive amounts of debris onto the riverbanks. Overall, 92 people volunteered a total of 594 hours toward water/soil improvement and stewardship projects. In just one year, Stream Team #4847 removed a total of 300 tires, 100 cubic yards of trash, 40 yards of metal scrap, seven refrigerators, four washers, and 16 cubic yards of household and construction debris. ——— Recently Brent Stock and Todd Wilkinson, as part of James River Basin Partnership, took part in several rapid trash assessments in conjunction with the City of Springfield’s Environmental Services Department along Fassnight, Jordan, South and Upper Wilson’s Creek. During an assessment, they marked off a 100-foot area from a particular landmark, such as a box culvert or bridge, and then identified and counted as many pieces of trash as they could, from bank to bank. What did they find in these areas? Check it out: • Upper Wilson’s Creek (Grand & West Bypass) — 85 pieces of singleuse food-related plastics and 56 plastic shopping bags. • Jordan Creek (Mt. Vernon &
Kansas Expressway) — 60 pieces of single-use food-related plastics and 45 plastic shopping bags. • South Creek (Sunset & Grant) — 83 pieces of single-use food related plastics and 60 paper products. • Fassnight Creek (Jefferson & Bennett) — 50 pieces of single-use food related plastics and 40 cigarette butts. Cigarette filters contain cellulose acetate, a form of plastic that can take a decade or more to decompose, according to NBC News. "Obviously that’s just a small snapshot of trash in our urban waters," said Wilkinson. "Taking the time to inventory the amount of litter present in small sections of our urban streams was a real eye opener, especially when you consider that the bulk of that trash comes from single uses such as for food. "Plastics are a huge problem in our waterways, both locally and worldwide, and the new threat of microplastics – which we are only now beginning to discover – makes our commitment to reduce and/or eliminate single-use plastics vital to not only the health of our waters, but also for future generations." (Jimmy Sexton is owner and publisher of the River Hills Traveler. He can be reached by phone or text at (417) 451-3798, or jimmy@riverhillstraveler.com.)
that rudely invited themselves in through an open back door were sparrows, not turtledoves.! I guess it could have been worse. It could have been a bat. According to Mr. Randolph, that is worse than any run-of-the-mill songbird. However, the very worst of the worst bird to have fly into your house so far as life and death is concerned is… an owl. You probably already guessed that. If an owl flies in, you’re dead. Or “someone” is. What is it about the poor owl that scares so many people? I’ve always sort of liked owls – from a distance. But in Native American and Ozark culture both, the owl is just a feathered ball of bad, bad, news.! The old Ozark superstition, recorded by Randolph, is that if anyone is sick inside the house that an owl flies into, you must kill the owl and lay its body upon the chest of the sick person or it means absolute death for the patient. You know, if I woke up to find a dead owl on my chest I think the shock might kill me anyway. I have a bit of a phobia about all fowl anyway, in that I don’t like to touch them – dead or alive.! Going back to the poor, perhaps misjudged owl, here’s a quick story: A friend of mine and a Native American friend of his were traveling down Ozark backroads one night, when they suddenly came upon an owl just sitting in the middle of the road.
The owl turned its head toward the headlights and probably made an effort to fly, but my buddy, who was driving, couldn’t stop in time and the car ran right into and over the poor owl. My buddy’s Native friend screamed for him to stop the car. My friend, startled, does so. The Indian guy then gets out, goes behind the car and commences to stomp the owl, which was injured but still alive, until it was dead. Why? Because the owl had looked at him before they hit it with the car. The owl knew who he was, you see. He had to kill the owl before it cursed him. That was all in answer to my friend’s frantic questioning about just what in the world was going on. He told his friend “Look, man, you do what you gotta do, but hurry it up. We need to GO.”! I feel sorry for that owl, and the way in which it died that night, but it goes to show how serious some people take this stuff. To some people, these aren’t just funny superstitions to read over and chuckle about, but they have an element of truth to them.! All I can say is I sure hope there ain’t a lick of truth to the “birds in the house” belief or else, having had two birds fly in at the same time, I’m in double trouble! (Wes Franklin!can be reached by email at cato.uticensis46@gmail.com, or by USPS mail at 12161 Norway Road, Neosho, MO 64850.)
www.riverhillstraveler.com Email: jimmy@riverhillstraveler. com
How do you feel about birds in the house?
had a couple of birds fly into my house recently. Two of them. At the same time. They were in cahoots with each other! Or, more likely, they were mates.! Most everyone has probably heard that it’s bad luck for a bird to fly into your dwelling. Some of you may have even heard that it means someone will die. Folklorist Vance Randolph got some interesting feedback from Ozarkers on this subject back in the early half of the 20th century.! What it really Wes Franklin boils down to is ———— confirmation that a Native Ozarker bird in the house just isn’t a good thing at all, fate-wise, no matter which way you chew the matter. In fact, it’s apparently a bad sign if a bird even raps on your window, trying to get in.! Turtledoves, in particular, swooping in through your door means imminent death for “someone” — I presume that “someone” being one of the occupants of the home. Or maybe it’s just “someone” the residents know. That mysterious question applies no matter what kind of bird it is, and I’d sort of like to know what the answer is, seeing as how I experienced it recently, though in my case the birds
On the Cover Mike Roux was happy to have Raptor Premium Spinnerbaits on his smallmouth trip to Michigan.
River Hills Traveler 212 E. Main St., Neosho, MO 64850 Phone: (417) 451-3798 Fax: (417) 451-5188
Owner & Publisher Jimmy Sexton Managing Editor Madeleine Link Circulation Manager Rhonda Sexton Staff Writers Wes Franklin • Mike Roux Bill Wakefield • Bill Oder Judy Smith • Michelle Turner Dana Sturgeon • Bill Hoagland Richard Whiteside • Ronnie Moore Advertising Jimmy Sexton & Madeleine Link
River Hills Traveler, established in 1973, is published monthly by Sexton Media Group and Traveler Publishing Company. Postmaster: Send change of address notices to: River Hills Traveler, 212 E. Main St., Neosho, MO 64850. Subscription prices: $22 per year; 2 years, $40. Back issues available up to one year from publication, $5 plus sales tax & shipping. COPYRIGHT © 2019 No part of this publication may be reproduced without the express written permission of the publisher of the River Hills Traveler or his duly appointed agent. The publisher reserves the right to reject any advertising or editorial submission for any reason.
April 2019 • Page 5
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Customers enjoying the Traveler
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To the Editor, ust wanted to send you a thank you for mailing the copies of River Hills Traveler. We love the magazine. I read it cover to cover. The articles are well-written, information-filled and entertaining. Our cus-
tomers always ask for it. Keep up the great job. You are appreciated. Thanks from The Jane Store! Sam & Gayla Baker, Jane, Mo.
The dam across Meramec Spring
VINTAGE OZARKS
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his is a relatively late real photo postcard. By the late 1920s much less detailed printed postcards had begun to usurp the market of the more detailed real photo cards, to the disbenefit of local photographers who produced the real photo cards in their darkrooms. Meramec Springs, six miles from St. James, Missouri, in Phelps County, has the seventh largest flow of Missouri springs. The average from 1922-1929 listed in The Large Springs of Missouri (1944) was 96,300,000. Both its beauty and historical utilization make it a popular park today. Like many of Missouri’s major springs it was preserved as a state park after earlier industrial utilization. Today’s peaceful setting is a stark contrast to the industrial beehive that once operated here. The spring was dammed to provide waterpower for the extraction of iron ore from hematite. Relics of the iron works active from 1826-1877 are park features. That nature can be restored in this way is hopeful. Missouri State Parks, a Division of the Department of Natural Resources, has been a national leader in acquiring and protecting exquisite natural resources like these great springs. (This feature is courtesy of Leland and Crystal Payton at Lens & Pen Press, publishers of all-color books
5 years ago • It’s April and the morels should be up. But I can’t find any. “Why does every spring have them before?” I thought to myself. “Why can’t Mother Nature make up her mind? A warm day into the 60’s followed by two cloudy days with temperatures hovering around 70 would make things a whole lot easier. That would make the morels pop!” Years ago, somebody told me that when the wild gobblers start dragging their wing feathers on the ground to make a drummer in a rock band proud, that the morels would stand up! I’ve taken that advice a few times in past years and found enough morels for a meal. (Aaron Horrell) • When I was a young teenager, my father and I hunted a local cattle farm in southern Missouri. For the previous three or four years I had hunted with my grandfather and this was one of the first times that my dad and I hunted turkeys together. My father, not having much turkey hunting experience, decided to tag along with me this particular spring morning. This hunt was another first for me. It was the first time I hunted with decoys. I brought along a hen and jake decoy to try to fool a big tom into coming into gun range. We arrived several minutes before sunrise and it wasn’t long before we heard our first gobble. We hiked across a wide-open cow pasture then set up along the edge of the woods. (Heath Wood) 10 years ago • When it comes to hunting gear, Bill Haynes is rustic and primitive, and mighty proud of it! He loves to gather his own materials and use “elbow grease
Real photo postcard. Postmarked Jul 2, 1929
on the Ozarks. Their next book, Lover’s Leap Legends, was inspired by their discovery that both the Osage and James rivers had Lover’s Leaps. Mark Twain’s satiric comments on those legends added motivation and they have found Lover’s Leaps across the country. Their
most recent book, James Fork of the White, was published in 2017. Some pages from this book can be seen on www.beautifulozarks.com. Their earlier river book, Damming the Osage, can be at seen www.dammingtheosage.com)
REMEMBER WHEN
and imagination” to fashion them into turkey calls, muzzleloading accessories and knives. “My emphasis is on natural materials,” Haynes said in an interview. “I like the concept of liberating something that’s going to fall to the wayside and waste away.” Haynes, who lives in the country south and east of Rolla, recently had pieces of white oak from an old chair, an old rafter and a red cedar limb displayed on his dining room table. He was in the process of converting these to strikers and frames for friction turkey calls. (John Meacham) • I still search the brown leaves of the creek bottom forest for my first morel of the day, secretly hoping that those other guys were going to share their bountiful harvest with me. Morel mania kicks into high gear around turkey season each spring. Every turkey hunter seems to keep out for protruding morels white hunting for equally elusive gobblers. Rarely does a hunter score on both counts. But when he does, fried morels and turkey breast make a delectable meal that most aficionados are only likely to enjoy once a year, if that. (Bill Cooper) 20 years ago • Turkey hunting gadgets are almost as plentiful these days as the multitude of equipment options available to bass fishermen. Therein lies another dilemma for
turkey hunters. Gadgetry has stimulated much discussion in outdoor circles over the last two decades. How much is enough, or ethical? Where law dozen’t dictate, individual hunters must decide for themselves. (Bill Cooper) • It took awhile for Ol’ Craz’s bird brain to figure out the sign on the clubhouse down by Petite Saline Creek but when he did, it seemed like just the kind of place he was looking for that April. The story really begins back in the fall. It was that year when there were acorns everywhere. Tree branches broke with the weight of them. Big, sweet white oak acorns hung in clusters like grapes, and the bitter red oaks — just the right taste for accent — were thin-shelled and delicious. (Bob Todd) 30 years ago • I killed a gobbler opening morning of the first week of turkey season last year. And since I’d killed two birds during the preceding year, I felt like I was a pretty good turkey hunter up to a new challenge. I figured I was up to trying to bag Ol’ Craz. Now this old gobbler, by all accounts, is the stupidest turkey ever hatched. Most turkeys are smart enough to know there may be something interesting in store for them if they answer that winsome call they hear in the woods. (Bob Todd) • It has been almost fifteen years ago that I took my first wild turkey gobbler. That memorable adventure took place in the deep recesses of Asher Hollow County on the Phelps/Crawford county line in the beautiful Missouri Ozarks. I was superintendent of the James Foundation’s 1,750-acre Meramec
Spring Park, bordering the Meramec River. I quickly became accustomed to seeing large numbers of wild turkeys roaming around the outlaying areas of the park. (Bill Cooper) 40 years ago • Only the cruelest of men would name their son Sue or introduce him to hunting wild turkeys. I didn’t name my son sue. I called him Tom. But I did introduce him to turkey hunting. But it was an honest mistake. I thought turkeys were dumb. I’d started with the domestic kind. “You are in turkey country now,” my new boss said. “You meet me in Mason City, at 3 on Sunday afternoon. You are going to learn about turkeys. We will be loading out 5,000.” It was quite an experience. A semi full of coups pulled up to a picket pen and the turkeys were herded in. Loaders minded the truck and fathers backed into the flock of turkeys. You back up to the turkeys in line and reach between your legs and grab a turkey’s legs, bring him between your legs and swing him up to a loader who puts him into a coup. (Dick Bangert) • Fuel shortages, high prices and the threat of gas rationing have caused many of us to revise our plans for a summer vacation. Long trips are out if gasoline is going to cost a dollar a gallon. We must try to conserve energy. Here, within the River Hills country, it can be as exciting and rewarding as any grand tour and a lot less exhausting. For years we have been telling you that southeast Missouri offers more recreation per travel mile than any part of the state. This may be the year to prove it. (Emma Dunn) (compiled by MyraGale Sexton)
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Let’s get crackin’ on those springtime chores
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f you have ever read any of my articles in this publication, I am sure that you are aware of my fondness for trout fishing. As much as I’d like to be fishing every day, I realize that is an impossible dream. However, I do have many other interests besides fishing to occupy my time and one of those interests (it happens to be second to fishing) is gardening. In other words, I like to play in the dirt. My wife and I are both retired and one thing we have learned is that when a person does retire, that person needs more than one hobby. We have been retired for 13 years now and I can honestly say that I haven’t been bored or found myself without anything to do yet. You don’t ever want to find yourself retiring and after a few months find that you are bored to death and thinking that maybe you should go back to work. That is not a good thing. So the first of Bill Oder March is not only a ———— red letter day for me because of the opening of trout season, it is also a good time to be thinking about what has been going on out in the yard for the past winter. I have already noticed that some of the stores have already had their seed packets, both flower seeds and vegetable seeds, for sale since the latter part of February. And now the larger stores have really started to get everything out in their gardening departments. All the garden centers have really started to buzz. All the beds in our yard are now composed of perennial flowers. I gave up on the vegetable gardening several years ago after becoming frustrated with the deer population in our neighborhood. I found out that I was only feeding the deer by planting tomatoes, broccoli, lettuce, etc. Our backyard is enclosed with chain link fencing but that is only a minor hurdle for our deer friends. They clear the fence with room to spare. I think the deer is a beautiful animal and it’s not that I dislike them. I am a big fan of deer. It’s just that I don’t like it when they demolish my vegetables. My tomatoes would get to the point where the vines would be full of green tomatoes and then I would go outside in the morning and find that not only the tomatoes would be gone, but the vines as well. They performed these cruel, sneaky tricks during the night but would always leave their telltale tracks behind. We now find it easier to go to the farmer’s markets or produce stands for our fresh vegetables. So my gardening now is with flow-
ers. We had a lot of roses at one time but deer like those, too, so I have resorted to flowers that are easy to care for and one that has become a favorite of mine is the daylily. They are insect resistant, disease resistant and deer will leave them alone unless they are really hungry. Deer are like any living creature – if they are hungry enough they will eat anything. The daylily also multiplies so that every two or three years, one plant becomes maybe three or four. So you can find a place for them in your yard or give them away to friends and relatives. I find that gardening is enjoyable and a good form of exercise along with being out in the sunshine and fresh air. I try to exercise regularly in order to keep in shape so I will always be in condition for those fishing trips. Some things that I find it necessary to do at this time of year are: 1. Get the lawn mower ready. Before the mowing season starts, I change the spark plug, the oil and the air filter. Last year our lawn had be mowed at least once a week all summer because it seemed that we always had at least one day of rain every week. So the lawn stayed green all season. 2. Fertilize the lawn. I do that early in the spring using products with crab-
grass preventer. 3. Pick up all the dead limbs in the yard. We have four large trees and at times, this past winter, it has been very windy. 4. Clean up the flower beds. Trim off all the dead stuff left over from last year’s flowers. 5. Even though I rake (I don’t like those noisy leaf blowers) our leaves every fall, over the winter we still get a lot of leaves blown in from the neighbor’s yards, etc., and I’ve noticed there’s been piles of leaves that are banked up in the corners of our yard that need some attention. 6. The bird feeders and birdhouses need attention. Some cleaning and the wooden ones might need some repairs. 7. We have a martin house but no martins. Still, I clean it out every year hoping that a martin family will find it before the starlings and sparrows do, but still no luck.
I’ve been told by various people that our martin house isn’t high enough or that it’s too close to the tall trees or that it’s pointed in the wrong direction, but I like it right where it’s at and the way I look at it is if the martins can’t find it, the starlings and sparrows need a place to live, too. 8. This is a good time to apply pine needles or ground up oak leaves around acid-loving plants like azaleas, rhododendrons and blueberry bushes. These are just a few of the things that keep me busy this time of year. Oh, I will still find time for a fishing trip or two but fishing is something that always takes top priority. It seems like we have had an extra hard winter this year – a lot of snow, several days of freezing rain, singledigit temperatures and a few sub-zero ones thrown in here and there and a lot of days when the furnace seemed to run constantly. I guess that will make us appreciate spring a little more this year. I know I’ve complained a lot about the winter this year and you can rest assured that in July when the weatherman starts talking about heat indexes of over 100 degrees, I’ll be complaining about it being too hot. I guess you can say that I’m guilty of being hard to please when it comes to our weather. Surely, I’m not the only one, though. (Bill Oder can be reached at oderbill@yahoo.com.)