Water Water Everywhere!!

We just completed the wettest April on record.  Saturday the 29th was probably the highest one-day rainfall here.  We left West Plains just as the thunderstorm started.  We made it to Mountain View, but we could not get home.  We needed to cross Jam-up Creek to go south to our house, but all roads south were closed due to flooding.  After the rain let up after about 3 hours we were able to travel south when one lane opened up on Route 17.

We often have a small lake in our back yard.  We live in a karst area.  Most of southern Missouri is underlain by sedimentary rock with cracks, crevices, caves, springs, and sink holes.  Our back yard is a sink hole and that is where we frequently get temporary "lakes".

We had an overnight pond in the backyard on April 21-22.  I put out the "no fishing" sign for a joke.

The pond disappeared in a few hours, as usual.

But on the 29th our rainfall probably exceeded 10 inches.  The next morning the backyard pond covered my garden.

The  rainfall total at West Plains was near 15 inches.  Electricity was down.  Schools were closed for the whole week.  Mountain View - Birch Tree schools were also closed for the week.  There were more "flood days" than "snow days" this year.

News reports had 270 state highway closures in Missouri including sections of I-44, I-55, and US 60.  There were six flood-related deaths in Missouri and four in Arkansas.

Never before had our backyard lake covered the street, but this time the street was closed for the whole week.

Linda could not resist the "lake" when the sun finally came out.  She paddled the neighborhood kids all around Lake David.










Our lake disappeared down into the sinkhole by Friday, May 5.  Our water went into the underground caverns and rivers that go to places like Alley Spring, Big Spring, or Greer Spring.  I finished mowing the grass in our old "lake bed" on May 6.

Of course, in July we will be praying for rain.

Camp David 2016

 In August 2016 we hosted "Camp David" once again.  Pictured are Emily, Cami, Jackson, and Olivia.  Missing was Karis, who was working hard to make the high school cross country team.Camp was August 8-15.  Also missing was Mariam, who was born August 16.

The events of Sept. 30-Dec. 6 prevented me from documenting 2016 Camp David until now.

Camp David moved to Maryland so we could include Karis part of the time.  We enjoyed Ole Mink Farm resort in the Catoctin Mountains and we found out that we were only four miles from the real Camp David presidential retreat.  Of course, the site is off limits to lowly citizens, but we found the gate.

So my corner of the Ozarks missed having Camp David, but we took it to the eastern mountains.

Our (now) six grandchildren are growing and learning rapidly.  We enjoy them and love them very much.

Ozarks Honor Flight, May 10

Gene David and Tracy Bales of Mountain View went on the Ozarks Honor Flight to Washington, D. C.  on May 10.  Gene served in the U. S. Navy in 1945-46.  Tracy was in the Army during the Korean War.

Former Seaman Gene David was accompanied by his grandson, Dr. Andrew Ellett.

Grandson Lance David and granddaughter Karis met Gene in Washington, D. C. 

An Invasion of My Corner of the Ozarks

Over the Memorial Day weekend there was an invasion by the Nuttle family in the Ozarks.  Twenty-some descendants of Edith Flossie Giddings Nuttle Everhart gathered at Mountain View.

It was not easy to organize this clan for a picture.

On Friday before the family arrived, our backyard was a lake.

 But true to the nature of the Ozarks, the water drained away through the sinkhole in the backyard and we played volleyball on the "dry lake bed" on Saturday.

 Graves of family members buried at Mountain View were visited:  Jack & Maxine Jackson and Corliss & Marj Depee.

Can you discover who is giving directions?

This group traveled all the way from Ohio.

This group traveled all the way from Kansas.









The history of this family includes homesteading in western Kansas by John Alonzo Giddings in 1886.  He was Linda's (my wife) great-grandfather.  Three of his grandchildren moved to Mountain View in the 1950's.  I'm glad they did, because that is why I met Linda in the fifth grade.  (And married her while in college.)

2015 Christmas House

Christmas for the Davids involved departing from Our Corner of the Ozarks for a few days.  We picked a place near our son, Matt, who lives at Joliet, IL, since he had to work on Christmas Eve.  Lance and Grace and their girls drove in from Maryland.  Brad and Faty flew in from Africa.  

We had a great Christmas trip.  There were a couple of weather “glitches”, but everyone eventually made it home safely from Chicago.  Faty to Atlanta, one day late.  Brad to KC by rental car.  Lance & family to Grace’s brother’s in PA.  My sister Janet & Dwight home to Branson after a grueling detour due to flooded interstates.  Linda, Grandpa, and I got home to Mountain View only about an hour later than I had anticipated. 

We had all three of our sons and all five of our grands, but only two of our daughters-in-law at the “Christmas house” near Coal City, IL.  This was our third Christmas house, so named by Emily four years ago at Annapolis, MD.  Brad and Faty were unable to come for Christmas two years ago to Branson. 

No one was sick all week.  The only “fights” were between the younger siblings and they were brief and minor.  I read the booklet “If You’re Missing Baby Jesus” aloud, but not without crying.  Linda had the children read aloud the Max Lucado book, “The Crippled Lamb”.  Linda, Karis, Olivia, and sometimes Emily sang “I Sing the Mighty Power of God” several times (acapella).

Janet and Dwight brought Dad to Coal City on Dec. 28, but the weather was so bad J&D left to return to their son Kirk’s at O’Fallon, MO, after only a couple of hours.  Dad seemed to really enjoy being with his grandsons and the great grandkids.  And they loved having him there. 

The Christmas house was awesome.  It is owned by Richard Scheer.  He is apparently trying to sell it.  It was full of mounted wildlife, including two rooms of African wildlife.  We played with his games and took his paddle boat for a spin on the 8-acre lake.  We saw wild turkeys in the driveway and Brad saw four deer on his morning run.  Goose hunting was going on in the area around us. 

Many gifts were exchanged.  Only the five grandchildren received “major” gifts.  But all twelve of us had stockings “hung by the chimney with care” with much stuff in them.  The children seemed happy and busy with their gifts. 

I think the highlight was the Sunday morning trip to Gibson City where we attended services at Gibson City Bible Church and had lunch at Monical’s Pizza.  We all visited with many, many old friends.  And we surprised them; no one knew we were coming.  It was great to see our former next door neighbor accompany all the worship music with guitar (he’s good).  And Pastor Paul had a wonderful sermon from Philippians 2:12-18 emphasizing the role of believers as the real “Christmas lights”. 

Much good food!

 Lots of time to play.








I made a new friend.



On the right you can see two "stripes".  One animal and one referee.  Dave Yockey visited us briefly at the Christmas house.

Grandpa Gene with Cami, the youngest great grandchild.  

The whole gang, including Dad, Dwight, and Janet.

Jackson and Olivia playing a game.

We Loved This Invasion of Our Ozarks

In August we had our annual Camp David at Bunker Hill Resort, only 14 miles from Mountain View.  Camp David is when all five of our grandchildren come to Missouri for a week.  This was our fifth time to host Camp David.

Bunker Hill is located on the banks of the Jacks Fork River, part of the Ozarks National Scenic Riverways.  The river was quite inviting.  We swam or paddled every day, except the day it rained.

 This year Lance, Grace, and Matt served as Junior Counselors at Camp David, so named by Brad who considers himself a Senior Counselor because he has been to Camp David twice.

Of course, we did miss Brad and Faty this year.








We had all our meals at the Bunker Hill dining hall.  No cooking, no cleanup.  Just play, play, play.

New Hall of Fame Inductees

New names have been added to the Hall of Fame!!  Steve and Vicki visited us briefly in Mountain View at Our Corner of the Ozarks.  We had a good hillbilly lunch together.  Thanks for stopping by.

Of course, they are from Gibson City, IL.  

To see the entire Hall of Fame, please look below at "older posts". Scroll down to November 30, 2010.