Revisiting the copperhead's home territory in prime winter hiking weather

While strolling, I wondered whatever happened to Cynthia Albers.

This week in Missouri nature gray squirrels breed through February; listen for the barks and squalls of mating red foxes, and skunks sleep when the temperature drops below 15F. The Geminids meteor shower peaks tonight and the leaves of Christmas ferns turn green.

Hiking Tywappity

There were lots of green ferns along the trail at Tywappity Lake on a recent hike. The strong winds have cleared much of the trail of leaves. The birds were active, and we saw and heard several red-headed woodpeckers. We also got a closer look at the stump where we previously spotted the big copperhead snake. It is a great time to hike. You are able to see so much more with the leaves off the trees, and there are no bugs or snakes! You can always bundle up on cold days and enjoy breathing the fresh air of Southeast Missouri!

The Chaffee Christmas Parade was a big success: four bands, eight floats, fire trucks, tractors, motorcycles, Santa Claus and, best of all, hot dogs and sodas for all participants! St. Ambrose once again won the traveling trophy for the best float, with S&W Cabinets second and Church of God third. HB Rice says the new venue at the CHS Activity Center went well, and they look forward to a repeat next year. A big thank you goes out to all those who helped, participated and attended the parade.

B25 I-do

Richard and I attended his niece's wedding in San Marcos, Texas. The young newlyweds are history buffs and exchanged their vows airborne in a B25 bomber. The 1940s-themed reception took place at an airplane hangar complete with vintage planes, museum and officers club of the Confederate Air Force. It was fun, plus we got to spend quality time with Richard's family and my sister, Ruth.

12.13.14

There may have been lots of special events yesterday, 12.13.14, on what was the last consecutive pattern of this century. This type of date has occurred 12 times since 2000; the first was 1.2.03. The next occurrence will be 1.2.2103, eighty-nine years from now, according to the American Mathematical Society. In the interim for number addicts, 3.14.15 matches the first five digits of pi.

Vicky Martin had a nice surprise recently when she heard from a previous owner of her home on South Main. GP Underwood owned the home but has lived in New Jersey for the past 50 years. Mr. Underwood is an ex-TWA pilot and, now in his 90s, plans to move to an assisted living facility in Virginia to be near his son. He was a member of the 140th Infantry Band in Chaffee, and collected many newspaper articles about the band's performances and World War II, which he placed in a scrapbook. The scrapbook will be donated to the Chaffee Historical Museum. While I was looking through it at the Chaffee Library, Katie Hampton joined me and said that her brother Kenneth Bolton played in the band. She remembers many summer nights sitting on a quilt at Circle Park and enjoying the music.

Storied stores

Circle Park is all aglow and our downtown streets and storefronts are looking quite lovely with all the Christmas decorations. We all applaud those store owners who take such good care of their properties and those such as Depot Deli, El Mexicano and J Marie's Flowers and Boutique who have upgraded their stores inside and out this past year. J Marie has added especially nice touches to their new addition, the former Slaughter's building.

Many of you remember the Gosche Store in Caney since the 1920s and 1930s. The original owner was Sam Gosche and, at the time, there was a gas station, a grocery store and a pool hall. It was a popular gathering spot for many years. KFVS did a story on it when it was announced that the store would be moved down the way about a mile to the property of the new owner, Kenny Schlitt. It is in its new location and is looking good. What is the oldest business in Chaffee?

Richard and I always like to visit the antique stores in the area. We check out Benton and, of course, downtown Cape. After writing about the Libson Shop, we dropped by Somewhere in Time, where the owner Paula Haas had shown me a 1960s Libson advertising brochure. It sold just a few days earlier so we missed taking another look. We also like to drop by Early Era Shoppe on Spanish. Not only do they have some unique collectibles, it is fun to visit with owners, Paul and Joretta Allee. Plus, who can resist having a good laugh listening to one of Paul's jokes!

Special words

Remember to tell those special people in your life you love them -- those three words mean so very much. Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with those who have lost loved ones, our homebound, those in hospitals and nursing homes.

And then ...

Then there was the homeowner so tired of raking the constant falling leaves that he felled the remaining with a powerful leaf blower.