Little Bluff Cabin cam February 26 - the first heirloom daffodil of the year has bloomed at the historic homesite a couple hundred yards from our gallery. Always a treat to see this long-abandoned place come to a very colorful life this time of year. Our country may be being flushed down the toilet at the moment, but Momma Nature will always prevail over any coward king. HAPPY WEDNESDAY to you!

Print Of The Week above (click here to order)

02/01/25 My dad would have been 112 today. I really only knew him for about 20 years before he died. His spirit of adventure comes right along with me on all of mine…

I was on the road early once again, this time it was just me, and to another area of the southern foothills of the Ozarks. Day three after the big rain turned out to be not nearly as much water as before, but that was OK. I need to explore a couple of new places to me, measure waterfalls, and get prepared to return when we have a lot more rain.

The first waterfall was pretty easy to get to, although the road in to the parking area was kind of nasty. In fact when I was getting close to the last turnoff the NAV system I was using said “In one half mile, PARK, and then hike 1.5 miles to your destination.” Oops - the “destination” was not the waterfall but the parking spot for it. I was not amused - there was a forest road that was open all the way to the parking spot, althouth the road is no longer maintained and is kind of sketchy in places (sometimes just "hold your breath and drive" and hope you don't get stuck. My new mobile office van made it just fine, thank goodness!

20 minutes later I was standing at the base of Grapevine Shelter Falls, a 63’ waterfall - this one was really nice, but just not enough water flow to make a good photo (and as you can probably see the wind was blowing). This was a perfect example of why I love waterfalls so much - even though the waterfall itself was not perfect today, the LOCATION around it was just amazing - a very tall bluff with giant blocks of sandstone all around, overhangs, hidden caves, and big trees. Many waterfall locations are quite scenic even without running water.

Soon I was back at the car heading to another parking spot, and then off into the woods for this time a group of five waterfalls all together in a small area. Easy in and out, but not enough water for the best photos, so I’d have to return when there was more water. It was GREAT to get out and see more new country.

Come on RAIN!!!

NOTE - the January Journal was updated on the 29th-31st - click here to read if you missed it.

02/05/25 I LOVE our cabin in the fog today! Mia is back after squirrels. And it looks like our heirloom daffodils are UP and ready to start blooming - next day of warm sunshine otta do it.

020725 The photo below is a HAPPY DISCOVERY I made online today - 2025 marks my 50th year as a pro photographer, and this SIMMONS FAMILY album cover, taken in 1975 at a city park in Mountain View, Arkansas, was my first comercial assignment (and the first of several record albumn covers I took). Much to my surprise, it is still available for sale online in the original vinyl LP album, as a CD, or as a cassette tape!

02/09/25 I had the gallery open all day yesterday but no one showed up - and I was forced to look myself in the mirror and confront the fact I'm WAY behind on EVERYTHING! In other words - just par for the course for me, haha. BUT just as the clock was about to stike closing time, a car arrived. A nice gentleman came bouncing in and was thrilled to be here - as I was to have him. It was great to hear about his hike to the Glory Hole and other adventures. I'm not really a people person but do enjoy answering questions about the outdoors, photography, waterfalls, and whatever comes up in conversation - and of course, making a sale. He drove away leaving $20 in my pocket in exchange for a copy of my most favorite picture book, and I think we were both happy campers.

"THE NEW PHONE BOOK'S HERE! THE NEW PHONE BOOK'S HERE!!!" How many remember that wonderful scene in THE JERK movie when Steve Martin gets the new phone book with his first ever name and phone number in it? We kind of feel the same way now.We've not had an actual street address since moving to Cloudand in 1997 - all of Newton County where we live has been stuck using "hand carry" addresses from the 1800's, which are BOX numbers, not street addresses. For ages none of the delivery services would allow shipments to anyone with the word "box" in the address, even though NONE of these are "post office" boxes - the software simply could not tell the difference.

Anyway, fast-forward to the 21st century when Newton Couty became the last county in Arkansas to be issued 911 address by FEMA. Unfortunately the first round or two or three tries at this were a disaster and we still didn't have a working street address for years (the postal service refused to recognize them).

Then all of a sudden and without warning, we started to receive mail and packages with a BRAND NEW address - an actual STREET address that both the post office and most of the delivery services accepted. HAPPY CAMPERS ALL AROUND! That new address is: 1915 NC 8167, Jasper, Arkansas 72641 (NC stands or "Newton County Road#")

02/11/25 we had a lot of ice buildup overnight - especially on the trees. At one point late last night the ground was completely covered with 1/4" of ice and with temps in the 20's did not look good. But by first light today the earth never actually froze so melted most of the open ground areas - that means we can still drive out to the highway, which we hear are all clear. Hiking through the icy forest is magical - as it usually is here - ya just gotta watch out for falling ice-covered limbs

02/18/25 Chilly with snow flurries here at our cabin this morning. Temps are supposed to plunge to zero and below with a FOOT of snow in the next two days. (shhhh - but YEA! - we sure do need the moisture) We’ve been on the road for a week and just got back last night (about 2,000 miles total, which included four days driving to and from). The laptop computer that I use for Journal updates (old software is required that won’t run on newer computers) does not have a working screen, so I have to plug it into a large external monitor in order to use it - and I usually don’t carry one of those on trips. SORRY for no updates this past week!

This was an Ernst (Cecil) family gathering down south (Alabama/Florida panhandle area) by my sister who got a large house she rented via charity auction. We were all three surviving Ernst siblings, plus my sister’s kids and grand kids - eight adults and two young ones total. The beach was foggy, cool, and windy the first couple of days, but eventually cleared off with brilliant sunshine and beautiful ocean waves. (I’m not a beach goer so mostly puppy sat, but did get in a hike or two.) Speaking of puppies, FLORIDA IS NOT DOG FRIENDLY!!! We only managed to find one section of beach dogs were allowed on - 330’ long. We mostly walked neighborhoods during the day and then drove to a campground a few miles away at night (no dogs in the party house, which was fine - we love camping with our pups!) There was a LOT of great food and we ate all meals at the house so never had to deal with the mobs of people in restaurants.

The first day there we spent several hours touring the National Naval Aviation Museum- HIGHLY RECOMMENDED even if you are not interested in that sort of thing - it is simply AMAZING!

Anyway, the last night we went to this spectacular Japanese latern/light display and spent an hour wandering around. The lighted couple in the photo was almost 20’ tall! It was so great to get to spend time with the family - although it will probably take me a month to work off the six pounds I gained from all the food!

We are all stocked up back home, snuggled in, and ready for the big snow...

02/19/25 Nine degrees below zero wind chill at sunrise. The big snow event turned into a much smaller one - we only got about four inches, but it did snow most of yesterday and a few fluries still this morning. At one point it snowed for several hours but nothing was added to the ground - it was snowing very fine micro-flakes. The pups helped me gather kindling and we had wood-fired pizza for dinner - it was kinda chilly running outside in my slippers to tend the fire, haha. The outdoor clay oven cooks best at around 925 degrees (about 90 seconds is all it takes to cook our 9" pizzas). Wilson is helping me break trail through the forest - Mia was out in the yard early but she decided to stay by the fireplace and not follow me up to the office - smart girl. Time to hike back to the cabin and break trail on the other side of our woods, then sit down for a cup of tea. WILSON - let's go buddy - MUSH!

02/20/25 Not much snow melted yesterday wih a high of only 8 o 9 degrees. They always say "it's coldest right before the dawn" and it was indeed today - -11.7 wind chill, with actual being -3.4. BRIGHT blue sky today with highs in the upper teens. On our hike to the office this morning it seemed about the same temp as yesterday, and it's 56 degrees in the gallery/office..

02/21/25 It was a delightful dawn this morning - I snuck out into the snowy back yard in my slippers for this...

02/26/25 The first "Whopper Junior" was born overnight in our neighbor's pasture next door! These are beef cattle, and there will be probably 30-40 or more new calves appear in this pasture the next month or two. Sometimes the mom backs up against the fence right in front of Pam's Swing (or nearby) and the calf gets shot out through the fence wires and lands on our side. Neither mom nor calf are happy then and whenever we hear a comotion we head for the fence and get ready to dial 911BurgerKing. So far all episodes have ended well for all iinvolved.

SPEAKING OF YOUNG ONES, here's a photo I came across yesterday while doing a deep dive into the early days of life with a digital camera (2001). I have no idea why these two terrific young ladies decided to take up with me but I'm sure glad they did! Our 24th anniversary is next month...