Ozarks Alive

FYI: I’m getting ready to send out Ozarks Alive’s free monthly email newsletter. This email contains links to Ozarks Alive articles from the past month, so you never have to miss a story. A link to sign up is in the comments!

(Pic for attention - it was a beautiful day in rural Dade County.)

Yesterday made me feel like I was 17 again. Let me explain...

I began writing about the Ozarks when I was in high school at Marshfield. The local newspaper had a weekly history column called "Landmarks," and in an unexpected turn of events (that I chalk up to divine intervention), I was allowed to write it from the end of 2005 through my high school graduation in 2007.

During that period, I spent nearly every Sunday at the Webster County Historical Museum searching for ideas and then wandering into the countryside — no GPS and only a paper map in hand — to try and locate something related to the topic for photos. That might be the remains of an old schoolhouse, a historic site or other place of significance.

I never planned to be a journalist or even a writer prior to this time, but I quickly fell in love with the chance to share stories. This work changed the trajectory of my life and ultimately was how Ozarks Alive came to be years later.

In an unexpected throwback, yesterday I was out in Webster County on a sunny Sunday evening doing the same work I did so many years ago: Wandering down a gravel road looking for any hint of remnants for a long-gone settlement called Sarvis Point. This story isn't for Ozarks Alive — it's for a friend's publication — but it was a reminder of those long-ago days when I was out wandering in this area for these types of stories.

Concrete remnants of Sarvis Point were challenging to find, but that was OK: I found some great moments of reflection.