First Ozark Mountains Camping Trip

First Ozark Mountains Camping Trip 

Award Winner Ozark Writers League Essay Contest

by Rolland Love

I was 8 years old the first time I camped in the Ozark Mountains. My dad and I pitched our tent on a gravel bar at the Jacks Fork River. For dinner that evening we ate fried squirrel and corn on the cob from Mom’s garden. I sat by the firelight and dreamed about the big fish I would catch the next day as I watched red and yellow flames cast shadows that danced like ghost at the edge of darkness.

There were a full moon and so many stars that the sky looked like a river of silver. The call of a whippoor-will echoed off the towering limestone bluff across the river and I was lulled to sleep by the jug-a-rum croaking of a bullfrog in the slough. Dad brought our camp box inside the tent so the raccoons would not eat our food.

For breakfast the next morning I helped dad skin an eel as long as his arm that we caught on a limb line during the night using a redfin minnow for bait. Dad rolled the eel meat in cornmeal and fired it crispy brown along with scrambled eggs. He dipped up some water from a spring near by and boiled a pot of coffee that was so strong I spit it out when I took a sip. When Dad said it was powerful enough to put hair on my chest, I decided I would have a bare chest forever.

After breakfast we swam across a deep blue pool of water, caught crawdads with our hands to use for bait and dad showed me how to skip rocks. We waded up a spring branch where the water was so cold I shivered. We floated a stretch of the river in a raft dad made out of inner tubes, and hung out on the bluff side in the shade when the sun got too hot. Droplets of cool water dripped from a mat of green ferns hanging over the edge of rock ledges and splattered on our heads.

Red, yellow, and blue wild flowers grew along the riverbank and willow trees waved in the wind at the river’s edge. A snake slithered across the river in front of us and a turtle plopped into the water off of a floating log. Red Tail hawks and turkey buzzards soared high above on thermals and dragonflies with iridescent blue wings lit on our toes. We explored a cave, where bats screeched loudly and fluttered in the darkness. A blue-gray King Fisher scolded us with a harsh-rattling kack, kack, kack call for invading his stretch of the river. We used the crawdads to catch smallmouth bass and goggle-eye, and dad fried them for lunch when we reached our campsite.

After we broke camp and started up the steep river hill toward home, a black and white Pileated Woodpecker with a red crest on the back of its head flew across the road in front of us.

Many camping trips have come and gone since that summer long ago, but none so memorable as the first one—just me and my dad, swimming, fishing and exploring the river for two whole days, seeing nary another soul.

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Birds: Sparky the Master Builder

Sparky the Quaker parrot who lives in Portland (OR) works on his stick project, building himself a huge nest in our dining room bookshelves. He started building about five years ago and we supply the 3/16-inch dowels and clothes pins. He gets a helping human hand at times, but he built the massive structure all by himself. 

7 Foods That Boost Every Type of Bad Mood

Learn what to eat when you’re feeling stressed, cranky, sad and more

By Sarah Jio

While that tub of ice cream in the back of the freezer may be what you crave when you’re feeling blue, there is a long list of other (healthier!) foods that can cure a grouchy morning or a stressed-out afternoon. We talked to the experts to get the scoop on what to eat to make you feel better no matter what your mood.

Stressed: Eat Chocolate

The scenario: It’s Friday at 6:30 p.m. You’re hungry, tired and late for your dinner date. You were supposed to be out of work an hour ago, but your boss has asked you for a favor…again. The stress is building, so what can calm you down fast? Now’s the time to pull out the chocolate bar hiding in the back of your desk drawer. Experts say that chocolate—particularly dark chocolate—may help reduce the stress hormones that are swarming in your body. In fact, a recent study by researchers in Switzerland, published in the Journal of Proteome Research, found that eating just a smidge of dark chocolate (about 1.4 ounces) has the power to lower the stress hormones cortisol and catecholamines in the body, reducing your anxiety and giving you a better chance to get the job done—and make your date.

Sluggish: Eat a Spinach Salad

Can’t concentrate? Trouble keeping your eyes open? Skip the coffee and have a spinach salad instead, says Joanna Dolgoff, MD, author of Red Light, Green Light, Eat Right. “Folic acid, or folate, helps your body to process and lower homocysteine levels,” says Dr. Dolgoff. “High levels of homocysteine are associated with damage to blood vessels, in addition to interfering with the flow of blood and nutrients to the brain. Impaired blood flow may leave you feeling sluggish or slow to process or recall information.” The best way to get a boost? Eat folate-rich foods like spinach and other leafy green vegetables as well as potatoes, fortified breads and cereals, beans, peas and mushrooms.

Cranky: Eat an Apple with Peanut Butter

Did you snap at your kids…and the telemarketer on the phone? Crankiness can be a sign that your body needs fuel. Just be sure to refuel the right way: with foods that don’t leave you with a blood sugar crash an hour later, setting the crankiness cycle in motion all over again. To blast irritability, “eat combination foods at each meal and snack,” says Dr. Dolgoff. “Combination foods contain a carbohydrate in combination with either some protein or some fat. Carbohydrates are a great source of energy that quickly burns out. Adding some fat or protein will slow the digestion process, causing your sugar and energy levels to remain stable for a longer amount of time. A great example of a combination snack is an apple with peanut butter. The apple is your healthy complex carbohydrate and the peanut butter is a healthy fat. Combining these powerhouse foods tastes delicious and gives you energy that lasts for hours!”

Anxious: Eat a Salmon Burger

Worrying about your finances, your marriage, your kids? If anxiety and worries are consuming your day, consider heading out to lunch with a friend. The conversation will do you good, and so will the meal—if you order salmon, which is one of the richest sources of omega-3 fatty acids, a nutrient that may help tame your anxiety. "Regular consumption of omega-3s has extensive research support for both the prevention and treatment of clinical depression. And there's growing evidence that omega-3s also help reduce anger and irritability,” says Stephen Ilardi, PhD, author ofThe Depression Cure. While there are plant-based sources of omega-3s, Dr. Ilardi says it’s best to stick with fish: “The specific form of omega-3 that most strongly boosts mood is found most abundantly in coldwater fish such as salmon, herring, sardines and mackerel,” he says.

Angry: Sip Green Tea

Maybe your neighbor’s dog barked all night long and kept you up or your coworker took credit for a project you worked on over the weekend. Whatever the reason for the grrrrrrs, if you need to calm down fast, consider sipping a cup of green tea, says Jacob Teitelbaum, MD, a researcher, nutrition expert and author of Beat Sugar Addiction NOW! Here’s why: “Green tea contains theanine, which calms you and helps you maintain clear concentration and focus,” he says. Green tea’s modest amount of caffeine won’t send you into an angry rage, either; it’s gentler on your body than coffee.

Sad: Eat Whole-Grain Cereal with Lowfat Milk

Need a happiness boost? While the source of your sadness could be work- or relationship-related, it also may have something to do with a deficiency of vitamin D in your diet. “This nutrient has many different roles in the body, one of which is to help in the production of serotonin,” says Dr. Dolgoff, explaining that serotonin is a neurotransmitter known as the “feel-good hormone” that can help you feel calm, relaxed and happy. If you’re low on vitamin D, you may be affecting your body’s ability to stabilize your mood and reduce feelings of depression. To boost your intake of vitamin D, turn to lowfat fortified milk, fortified cereals or mushrooms. “Depending on your diet, you may also need to take a calcium and vitamin D supplement,” adds Dr. Dolgoff.

PMS: Eat an Egg-Salad Sandwich

If your go-to PMS meal usually comes in the form of comfort food (mac ’n’ cheese, potato chips, ice cream) consider making an egg-salad sandwich instead. In the days before your period, it’s normal for women to begin craving carbohydrates, says Stella Metsovas, BS, CN, a nutritionist in private practice in Laguna Beach, California. And for good reason: Carbs help your body boost its serotonin levels, in turn helping you improve your mood. But avoid high-sugar, high-fat carbohydrates, like doughnuts or chips, which can leave you feeling sluggish—or worse, grumpy—after your blood sugar spikes, then drops. Opt for whole grains, such as whole-wheat bread, and for extra PMS-zapping strength, pair them with tryptophan-rich protein such as eggs, sunflower seeds or turkey, which may enhance the release of serotonin, adds Metsovas. An egg-salad sandwich on whole-grain bread offers the perfect carbohydrate-tryptophan combination. Try our favorite tip: Cut the mayo and mix your diced hard-cooked eggs with a teaspoon of fat-free or lowfat plain Greek yogurt and half a teaspoon of whole-grain Dijon mustard.


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Beautiful time-lapse video of Yosemite National Park

Watch a staggeringly beautiful time-lapse video of Yosemite National Park

Robbie Gonzalez

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Robbie Gonzalez

 

If you've ever visited California's Yosemite National Park, then you have an appreciation for how absurdly majestic its scenery is. You also know how difficult it can be to encapsulate that majesty when describing it to others; somehow, adjectives like "breathtaking" don't even begin to describe it.

For years, I've referred to Ansel Adams' iconic photographs of Yosemite when describing the Park to friends who have never been. Now, I have this video to show them, as well. Feast your eyes on Project Yosemite — a time-lapse, HD tribute to some of the most jaw-dropping wilderness on Earth.

io9 spoke to the video's creators — photographers Sheldon Neill and Colin Delehanty — about how the project came together.

"Sheldon shot a video called Cottonwood Lakes to Mt. Whitney, and I contacted him because I wanted to know how hard it was to backpack with a 6 foot dolly," said Delehanty. "He convinced me it wasn't that bad, so I bought one from Dynamic Perception and we planned a trip soon after. Without Dynamic Perception this project wouldn't have been achievable on our budget." The two continue:

For this project we planned to shoot on top of Half Dome at night because very few people would ever go up there at that time, let alone bring a 6 foot aluminum rail and their camera gear to do time-lapses. We wanted to create something that had never been done before. Something special that would put Yosemite in the spotlight.

For those of you wondering, the song in the video is "Outro" by M83, off the album "Hurry up, We're Dreaming."

Visit the Project Yosemite website to learn more, and be sure to follow the links below to check out more incredible work from Neill and Delehanty.

Japanese Garden Royal Roads University British Columbia