The Year of Seasons in the Ozarks

​(Written c/1953-54​)

​​Indian Summer

H​​ere in the rugged Ozark Mountains of Southern Missouri and Northern Arkansas, you can find some of the most delightful and most extravagent sight in the United States. Beauty so rare can meet the eyes as you gaze over the low ridges and high alpines of these beautiful hills of Missouri and Arkansas.

An Indian summer is something to behold. These hills have an elegant beauty that one would never dream of unless he could see it for himself. Beauty so rare that it is astounding. Sloping over the small ridges can be found vines growing with leaves that have turned to purple, rust, and gold. When the sun hits these beautiful leaves, they gleam like a thousand eyes of midnight. The evergreens t​​hat grow on the hillsides seem to stand alone in beauty among the other trees of gold, rust, and brown. The greenness of the evergreen seem to blend with the Autumn colors. Around Halloween is the most beautiful time. The farmers have their corn shocked and tied. Pumpkins entwine around the shocks all over the fields. The fields are beautiful as far as the eye can see. The orchards are heavy with fruits. The apple trees are hanging low with delicious red, ripe apples.

The small streams roll on their way with hundreds of beautiful leaves floati​​ng upon the crest of the water. Along about this of year, the children start picking walnuts, pecans, and hickory nuts. On a Saturday afternoon, when there is no school, they all go into the wooded areas. There they pick a burlap full of nuts. Whey they get their sacks filled, they carry (or rather drag) them home. They hull them and put them in barn lofts, or sometimes out in the barnyard where the sun can reach them, and wait for them to dry. In about 3 or 4 weeks, when the nuts dried, the children either store them in bins or take them into town to sell.

And what is more enjoyable this time of year than a hayride? The older children love these hayrides. They hitch a wagon onto ​​the back of a tractor or a team of horses, and go to their favorite place, usually around a stream and have a weiner roast. Indian summer is indeed a beautiful sight to see, especially here in the Ozarks of Missouri. It  is a beauty so rare, that one would have to see it to believe it.

Ozark Winter​

After the leaves have fallen and the frost has bitten, then the cold winds of winter comes whistling through the trees that are left so bare. The animals that could have been seen running around in the early Fall, now huddle together in small ravines or decayed tree trunks to keep warm from the biting winds of winter. The snows have fallen and the tree branches hang low with the weight of ice and snow.But when the sun shines on this ice and snow, it is indeed one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen. The ponds and streams are heavy laden with ice. The young and old alike love it, because they can ice skate on the frozen waters. In some regions of the Ozarks, the people have to go into town early in the fall and get enough supplies to last for the winter months, because it is almost impossible to get into town during the heavy snow or ice.

The snowbirds are skimpering around trying to find a little seed or bread crumbs t​​o eat. It is sometimes impossible to find either. The quail is the most accustomed bird of the flock. In the late of November, the hunters come hunting for the quail. Many are killed, but the ones that survive don't last very long in the cold of the winter. Some survive through it all, though. But they are getting more scare every year.

Around Christmas time, it is one of the most happiest of the seasons. Everyone is busy getting ready for the rushing holiday. The children go out into the woods and pick out a favorit​e evergreen for their Christmas tree. They bring it back by sled and start t​rimming it to put into the house by their favorite window. After the snow has been brushed off, they sit it in a bucket filled with big, heavy rocks to keep it from falling over. After it has been put in place they carry it into the house and start decorating ii. They string popcorn and wrap it all over the tree. When they finish decorating it, they wrap their presents and place them under the tree. Christmas Eve they distribute them among the family and unwrap them. Christmas is really a happy time for the Ozarkians. And so is Winter a happy time for the Ozarkians. The weather may be cold, but they love this season.

Springtime in the Ozarks

​​​​​When the last snow has fallen, and the ground begins to dry, the warm rays of the sun pierces the warming earth, and the buds of Spring begin to appear on the branches of the trees, and the low bushes. Along about April, flowers are planted, and gardens are sown.  The orchards are bright with the blossoms of apple, pear, and peach trees. The animals come out of their hibernating surroundings, and begin to friskily play in the warm sunshine. The air has a twang of freshness, and the ground begins to get greener. The Easter lilies are bright yellow near the first part of April. They are the first flowers that bloom in the springtime. The birds are again being seen flying around and building their nests. They fly through the blueness of the sky. The vines are soon hanging heavy with leaves and blooms. The Spring rains bring the vegetation their supply of water and soon they spring above the fresh earth.