Feature Columnists

Anyone who walks in the Missouri woods during summer is sure to eventually walk into a spider web. More often than not, it is the spider I have photographed for you here: the web weaver. She is called the Spiny Orbweaver. Only the female Orbweaver spins a web. The much smaller male does not. There...

Over the last few months, many gardeners have brought me samples of plants that are not doing well. They want to know what to spray on the plant to make it better. In most cases the samples are leaves that have a lot of brown on them and in most cases the transition between brown and green on the...

There is always something to do; a favor that must be done. A deadline that cannot be missed. A call, email, or text that must be made. Work easily slips into our schedule filling every gap. Without work we cannot enjoy rest, but without rest, all we are is enslaved to work...

Happy birthday to Mildred Legrand, Charlotte Smith, Sue Crump Masters, Germaine Cannon, Marie Williams, Bobby Burks, Jeremy Chapman, Chris Robinson, Mark Robinson, Curtis Flood, Claudia Marion, Leonard Kluesner, David Lape III, Gary Kluesner, Gilbert Burkhart, Eric Cobb, Jack Coomer, Donna Fisher,...

The box turtle is a slow-moving creature. It spends more time crossing a road than any other animal its size. That means the box turtle is in greater danger of being run over than most others. Box turtles tend to be more active during summer and especially ahead of rain. Many people consider seeing...

I took this photo between rain showers the afternoon of June 24. Shown is a small land snail shell and a baby American toad. The snail shell was about 3/8 of an inch across. It was lying on the ground near the little toad. I sat it beside the toad to give an idea of how small the toad is...

The book of Jeremiah, found in the Old Testament, speaks to people who are in a hopeless situation. Their cities destroyed. Many people have been carried off by the invading army only to find themselves living in a place they didn't like, surrounded by strange smells, odd foods, and people who were...

Happy birthday to H.B. Rice, Dan Burger, Betsy Rice, Sarah McDonald, Kathy Leggett, Randy Payne, Judy Scott, Tomye Campbell, Darlene Duff, Harley Wicker, Courtney Walter, Chelsey Walter, Ashley Davis, Mark McGuire, Jack Simpson, Sandy Patterson, Ruby Dixon, David Griffin, Sarah Benton, Jeanette...

You can't really see the Junk Bug as it crawls around. You see what looks like a little collection of trash that moves about. I saw a Junk Bug for the first time as a small boy and was fascinated by it. I remember calling it a haystack bug because it looked like a little walking haystack...

This has been an unusual gardening year. Or, it is a usual gardening year but we don't always remember how unusual other springs have been. So much for nonsense. I have been inundated with gardeners bringing me pictures of problems they are having with plants in their gardens, landscapes, and shrub...

What does it take before we finally wake up, before we finally realize that time doesn't last forever? One thinks he can accomplish something or take a trip, tomorrow. Yet, the present is all we really have. Proverbs 27:1 warns us when it says, "Do not boast about tomorrow for you do not know what...

The other weekend I sat outside a coffee shop, listening to a jazz duo play Carole King and Van Morrison. All of a sudden, a little girl walking by stood in front of us. The girl was around four years old, wearing a pink dress with popsicles printed on it. ...

It's Father's Day. I don't want a card or a gift or lunch from my loved ones. I want to tell my wife and daughters to save their money. I mean it. You want to give me something? How about a nap? As the start of the seventh decade of my life fast approaches, I'm more interested these days in...

Happy birthday to Bill Dysinger, Shawn Nix, Peggy Lee, Berta Payne, Stephanie Phillips, Beth Eichhorn, Janice Trankler, Chris Qualls, Ryan Dirnberger, Amber Schlitt, Jason Umfleet, Amanda Ford, Carl Kagle, Terry Glenzy, Regina Wall, Ashlie Smith, Pat Burger, Don Moss, Laura Schilling, Ronnie...

I found this wonderful native wildflower blooming in a brushy weed patch in Scott County, Missouri. The bloom, which reminded me of a small king's crown, was at the top of the approximately 3-1/2 feet tall plant. Grandpa called this flower "horsemint." It is also called bee balm, monarda and wild...

My sons are color-blind. They see everything around them differently than I do. According to the British website Colour Blind Awareness, one in 12 men and one in 200 women across the world are color blind. While color blindness impacts a relatively small number of people it has a significant impact...

Happy birthday to Gerald Beck, Scott Barnhart, Andrea Horman, Deidra Coleson, Lisa Stagoski, Bill Hawkins, Richie Swain, Veronica Bennett, Don Seyer, Debbie Graviett, Janice Eftink, Jamie Keller, Dean Smith, Roggie Reece, Colin Phillips, Lynn Felton, Linda Kidd, Maxine Scott, Andy Wilhite, Esten...

There are about seven different kinds of native wild grapevines in Missouri. My photo shows the early stage of clusters of fruits growing on the vine. The grapes this wild grapevine will produce will be much smaller than cultivated vinyard grapes and generally are produced high in tall trees...

Happy birthday to Shane Dirnberger, Doris Parker, Ann Hinkebein, Carla Lee, Logan Bollinger, Wesley Curtis, Lavern Ballard, Jeremy Graviett, Herman Sadler, Morris Montgomery, Avis-Jean Wolfe, Jack Owens, Bernice Atkins, Ed Freed, Joanne Legrand, Jennifer Herrek, Movidene Cutler, Bob Dacus, Carol...

At the edge of a hayfield I found a small tree with limbs hanging full of berries of many colors. The tree is a Red Mulberry, native to the southeastern third of the United States. This tree is of no value for lumber, but it is very important to a large variety of wildlife. Whitetail deer will eat...

In Mark 10:17-31, Jesus tells the man who asks how to inherit eternal life: sacrifice for the good of your neighbors. My favorite line comes in verse 21, just before Jesus asks the young man to give away everything he owns: "Jesus, looking at him, loved him."...

Eric Liddell was the Olympian from Scotland who declined to enter the 100-meter dash in the 1924 Games because a qualifying heat was scheduled on Sunday. Liddell later became a missionary to China and was killed there in 1944. On the day that the 100-meter dash was held in Paris, Liddell is sitting...

To where are you traveling and will you ever get there? I mean, will you ever get to the point where you can kick back in your recliner and think all is well and all your challenges are finished? When will we be able to say "Whew, now, I am free. I am free of life's bad news, free of the struggles...

I took this photo last week at Capaha Park Lagoon on May 17. You can see pieces of bread at the feet of these two birds. Lots of white bread and small piles of cracked corn lay here and there on the ground. Bread pieces were floating in the water. At least two dozen geese and several mallard ducks...

Happy birthday to John Hendrix, Marc Sadler, Mike McCallum, David Eftink, Carol Gribler, Tiffany Henson, Loretta Ditto, Jack Grandville, Jill Little, Melonie Payne, Kathy Holmes, Casey Hampton, Wanda Perry, Kimberly Foulk, Danny Loucks, Kristie Lynn, Terry Curtis, Denny Graviett, April Stafford,...

Memorial Day began as Decoration Day after the Civil War. Memorial Day officially became a federal holiday in 1971. Today Memorial Day is the official start of summer, getting together with family and friends, and remembering the men and women who died while serving in the military. Allow me to...

My dear wife bought me a "smart" watch last year for Christmas. The gizmo keeps track of lots of things: e.g., how much water is consumed, how many flights of stairs are traversed, in addition to keeping the time. One feature evaluates the quality of sleep -- how much of it, in other words, was...

I was making a deposit at a local bank this morning and saw that they had a lot of barberries (very prickly bushes) around the windows of the drive through teller portion of the bank. I don't think any criminals would try to get through the bank via those windows because of the prickly bushes. This...

The big white flowers I share with you here are the blossoms of a majestic tree called the Southern Magnolia. Most common in the landscapes of Deep South states such as Mississippi and Louisiana, this tree is at its northernmost natural range in Southeast Missouri...

Happy birthday to Delbert Horman, Tull Garner, Frances Scheeter, Lefty Seyer, Samantha Kluesner, Kathy Reisenbichler, Bertha Essner, Chelsey Hanback, Steve Graham, Tammy Rains, Jimmy Wolsey, Rockey Rainey, Marvin LeGrand, Janie Fowler, Maria Collins, Neeley Bollinger, Marlys Ford, Stephanie Seyer,...

The first weekend I lived in Athens, Greece, I got left at the beach alone. I was an hour and a half away from our house, and all of my friends had gotten on an overcrowded bus I couldn't push my way on to. I didn't yet have phone service, I didn't yet know how to work the public transportation...

Do you ever reflect on the gifts you have -- those talents and abilities that are a part of you? You may become educated to become better at what those gifts enable you to do. Or perhaps, you can't see what you're really skilled at -- those that seem to come naturally. You often fail to notice them...

According to the National Retail Federation, 86 percent of Americans will celebrate Mother's Day, expecting to generate $23.1 billion in sales on Mother's Day gifts. Greeting cards alone are expected to exceed $813 million. In contrast American's spent an all-time high of $15.5 billion for Father's...

Happy Mother's Day! Happy birthday to Tyson Moyers, Leon Kirchdoerfer, Lachelle Carroll, Ben Spane, Sherra Jenkins, Jessica Holland, Carol Galloway, Debra Bader, Eddie Lair, Jimmy Roberts, Rick Duncan, Larry Glueck, David Moore, Jessie Brown, Chris Montgomery, Wanda Hahn, Shirley Jones, Leslie...

Wild ginger is native to the eastern half of the United States. It spreads slowly from the roots outwardly about eight inches each year. The tightly clustered, uniform green leaves can make a very nice ground cover in a "shade garden." Wild ginger requires very little to no care once established....

A generation ago, well before the events of 9/11, my wife and I happened to stay at a rustic motel in southern Maine. It was early summer; the weather was beautiful. We sat our luggage down, got oriented to our room, and turned on the television for a time of rest before dinner. ...

Happy birthday to Al Friga, Kristin Bailey, Priscilla Hornbuckle, Dolly Kluesner, Phyllis Richbourg, Lee McDaniel, Nancy Reece, Mary Duncan, Brenda Shields, James Blevins, Arlene Harrell, James McDonaldd, Steve Rose, David Bollinger, Roger Reisenbichler, Nikki Chambers, Margaret E. ...

The first time my friend Claire and I returned to Father Bill's grave in Kirksville, we danced. The whip and nae nae, right there in the cemetery, by the road where people driving by could see us. It was the only response we could find, the only way we could express our gratitude, joy, grief, need,...

Missouri spring firearms turkey season ends May 6. The best way to locate a wild tom turkey in the spring woods is to listen for him to gobble. Missouri's wild turkey hens normally make their nests and lay their eggs during April and early May. Wild turkey males are called toms and they always...

What pleasures does the sun hold for you? What feelings does it arouse within? Do you look forward to seeing and feeling the sun, or dread its rays? Various people probably have different opinions on what the sun brings to their lives, besides the necessities it supplies. ...

The average American makes 35,000 decisions a day. At your local Starbucks, you have 80,000 possible choices to enjoy your coffee. Sonic, America's most famous drive-in, boasts a menu of 168,984 drink options. We do not have a shortage of opportunities...

Happy birthday to Jeannie Smith, Shelly Schrum, Rusty Rister, Linda Lee, Louis Jansen, Brittany Glastetter, Joanne Richards, Gary Jones, Joshua Uhrhan, Micia Beard, Emma Wessel, Novella Howell, Lance Duncan, Sherri Goodman, Maria Collins, Bobby Little, Loren Elfrink, Betty McLain, Jeanette Hampton,...

Brumation is a state of inactivity experienced by the native three-toed box turtle in much of the U.S. Brumation is very similar to hibernation. Cold winters in southeast Missouri cause our box turtle to brumate as long as five months each year. When daytime high temperatures are no more than about...

A couple of weeks ago I got to go to Kirksville, Missouri, a place I love deeply. While I was there, I got to see so many of the people whom I love and am loved by. We got to sit, talk, be present with each other. We were content and happy to be together, without expectations, enjoying each other's...

Happy birthday to Jeremy Schlitt, Jennifer Eichhorn, Gabriel Seabaugh, Helene Chism, Linda Lindy, Blake Burger, Mike Mirly, Barbara Lewis, Richie Rister, Jimmy Chambers, Bud Schilling, Garrett Senciboy, Robin Gardner, Steven Dooley, Sheila Eby, MaKinsey Uhrhan, Mick Wessel, Dusti Garner, Lauren...

"So the Lord changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people." -- Exodus 32:14 I've been privileged to teach the Old Testament for the last six years at SEMO. I enjoy exposing my students to texts, like the epigram above, that they never knew existed. God's mind can be...

Like the Jack-in-the-Pulpit from last week's article, this is another photo from my April 7 outing. The late season snow was exciting for me. This photo shows an edible Yellow Morel with snow on it. I spent about four hours outdoors on this morning. Snow lightly covered the early spring vegetation....