Our Christmas in the Ozarks

We celebrated Christmas with family in the Ozarks.  It was a little left of My Corner of the Ozarks, but in the hills for sure.  No cards sent out yet, but our annual epistle will come, I promise.

This year we gathered at Indian Point near Branson.  All three sons were planning to come, but Brad got a new job right before Christmas and couldn't make it.

 This is the house where we stayed on Indian Point.  Our "Christmas House" for 2013.

 Janet and Dwight hosted for meals us three times.  That was above and beyond!  Thank you.

Lance, Grace, Karis, Olivia, and Emily arrived first (after Mimi & Papa).  We were within walking distance of Table Rock Lake.  Too cold for water skiing.

Our first visit at Janet & Dwight's was when Kirk, Jeanine, Lexie, Grayson, and Dad arrived at Branson.  Second cousins had fun together.  First cousins didn't even fight.  

Here we are with Andy and Betsy's girls, Adelyn and Marian, after Matt, Jackson, and Cami arrived.

Matt and Lance seemed to get along also.

We acted out the Christmas story.  This is Mary with the Christ Child.  This was a quiet time for "Mary".

Three wise "men" arrived on their camel named Lance.

So, what do you do for a week at the lake in winter?  For one, make taffy.  This is a Nuttle family recipe and tradition.

How about some table games, anyone?

A trip to Silver Dollar City livened us up.  It was cold and crowded.  But the next day it was warmer and the traffic into SDC was much worse.  We picked a good day to go.

Olivia had to have an adult with her for this ride.  They made me turn my cap around.  And ... I was dizzy when I got off.  She just laughed and smiled the whole ride.  

Cami and big brother, Jackson.

Of course, opening gifts was a hit.















But our greatest earthly gift this Christmas was having most of the family together.  They got to see some cousins that they rarely see.  Dad (Great Grandpa) got to see them all.

But Christmas is really about that heavenly gift that came to earth to bring about our redemption.  I hope your Christmas was a special as ours.  May the gift of Jesus Christ bring Christmas joy to you and your house all year long.

The Invasion

We recently had an invasion from the east in My Corner of the Ozarks.

These are the invaders:  five grandchildren.  They came from Eastern and Midwestern cities to spend a week with grandparents in the Ozarks.  We called it Camp David.  Their ages range from 1 to 11.

We had lots of fun.  Camp David lasted a whole week.  

(Jackson, Olivia, Karis)






Camp David included archery at Great Grandpa's house.

(Karis)

The weather was great.  Not too hot, but warm enough for swimming.

(Olivia, Karis)

Great Grandpa got in on the fun.  

(Cami and Great Grandfather)

Mimi prepared many meals.

(Karis, Papa, Olivia, Mimi, Cami)

We can have a fun time almost anywhere.

(Karis, Olivia, Emily, Jackson)

Uncle Brad left his high-rise in New York to be a camp counselor.  He was wonderful (essential?) help for the week.

(Emily, Jackson, Olivia, Brad)

One-year old Cami provided entertainment for all.  

(Karis, Mimi, Cami, Olivia)

They seemed to adapt well to the Ozark culture.

(Emily, Karis, Olivia)

Back on the Jack's Fork

We finally were able to make it back to the river yesterday, June 26.  There's been plenty of water on the upper Jack's Fork this spring and early summer, but our busy schedules kept us away.  It was a beautiful day on the Ozark National Scenic Riverway.

Last summer during the drought the river was usually too low to float.  Our only 2012 float trip was on the Current River.

More rain is forecast for this weekend, so maybe the Jack's Fork will remain floatable for many more weeks.  What a treasure we have five miles from home.

2013 David (Davied) Reunion

On June 21-22 the David family gathered for their biennial reunion at Mountain View, Missouri.  A total of 64 descendants of of Edward R. Davied (1882-1976) and Nina Belle Porter Davied (1891-1974) enjoyed food, games, the Jack's Fork, and each other.

 Ed and Nina discovered "My Corner of the Ozarks" in 1915, moving here with two children, Robert (1912-1996) and Imogene (1914-1998).  They first lived on a farm west of Mountain View. A third child was born on the farm (Erma (1916-2002). Later they occupied a home on East James Street where six more children were born, Mildred (1818-1985), Eileen (1919), Gene (1927), Evelyn (1929), Wayne (1930), and Lloyd (1932).

 Ed and Nina were married June 4, 1911 in Illinois.  They were married 63 years.

Ed sold used furniture, real estate, and anything else that would make a profit. They made a home for a large family during the Great Depression and World War II.  All of their sons and sons-in-law served in the military.

There are five surviving "children" of Ed & Nina.  Four of them were present at the reunion. Pictured here are Gene, Wayne, Lloyd, and Evelyn.

This is Linda David Chastain, Robert's daughter, with her husband Danny.












This is Gene David with his children, and some of his
 grandchildren, and great grandchildren.

This is Evelyn David Peters with some of her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren.

 This is Wayne (Butch) David and some of his children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren.

This is Lloyd David and some of his children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren.  

The Davids plan to get together again in two years.  There will probably be more great grandchildren to get to know.  I think they will grow up to love "My Corner of the Ozarks".

Poaching and the Ten Commandments

Here’s a challenge for you:  how many of the Ten Commandments are violated when a person poaches a deer? 

I was taught when I was growing up that poaching was not only illegal, but it was also unethical and immoral.  That was my dad’s view, but not all our extended family members agreed with that position. 

A distant relative lived a life of poaching in Missouri and elsewhere, including Yellowstone National Park.  He taught his son to poach.  Often such behavior is passed from generation to generation.  But in 1997 his crimes caught up with him to the tune of a $20,000 fine and a lifetime hunting ban. 

In 2010 right down the road at Birch Tree, a conservation law enforcement sting found 425 wildlife violations in seven Ozarks counties: Oregon, Howell, Shannon, Dent, Miller, Crawford and Iron. 

In the Ozarks, poaching is common.  For some it is a way of life. 

So, how about my question?  Does poaching violate any of the Ten Commandments?

I believe poaching violates Commandment Number 8:  You shall not steal.  The game a person takes illegally does not belong to him. 

The wildlife of the land belongs to all the people, not to the landowner.  That was confirmed early in American history by the U. S. Supreme Court.  Non-migratory animals are the responsibility of the state in which they reside.  Migratory species come under the responsibility of the federal government.  But the people are the owners. 

The primary purpose of game laws is to protect the wildlife population from over-exploitation.  The secondary purpose is to fairly distribute the harvest among the hunters. The poacher is stealing from the people of the United States in general, and in particular from his neighbor or friend who will never have a chance to harvest or even to see the game he has stolen.

Poaching violates Commandment Number 9 also:  You shall not give false testimony.  The poacher probably will.  I doubt if any poacher can keep quiet about his actions among other outlaws.  But when he is among law-abiding citizens and law enforcers, the poacher must lie. 

Poaching violates Commandment Number 10:  You shall not covet.  Coveting seems to be the basis for all the commandments.  Covetousness is based on selfishness, self-centeredness, and desiring to have someone else’s property, such as their game animals, and their recreation. 

What else does the Bible say that might relate to the behavior of a poacher?  Keep in mind that the first game law was written in the Old Testament.  Deuteronomy 22:6-7 says:  “If a bird's nest happens to be before you along the way, in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs, with the mother sitting on the young or on the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young;   you shall surely let the mother go, and take the young for yourself, that it may be well with you and that you may prolong your days.”  God expresses concern for his creation in many places in Scripture. 

How about the Golden Rule, which says “do unto others as you would have them do unto you”(Matthew 7:12).  The poacher should consider others. 

Christians are commanded to submit to human government.  (Romans 13:1-7, 1 Peter 2:13-14, Matthew 22:15-22)  The only exception for a Christian is found in the example of Peter and John in the book of Acts.  When confronted by religious opposition, Peter replied, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God.” (Acts 4:19)

Much has been written about the Christian justification for civil disobedience.  In my opinion, game laws do not rise to the level to justify civil disobedience for a Christian.   Joe Poacher is not Dietrich Bonhoeffer. 

Why would I write about this subject?  Probably because it has always bothered me that my Sunday School teacher when I was a young teenager was a known poacher.  And he liked to brag about it.

Ozark Christmas Dinner

We had a wonderful Ozark Christmas dinner.  It's great when family can gather over a delicious meal on the holiday.  Linda presented a festive table in a room of wonderful aromas. 

We didn't have a Christmas turkey or goose.  We had a quail dinner.  By the way, it was the noon meal, not the evening meal.  That's dinner in the hills. 

My plate has three half breasts of quail.  There is no finer meat.  It was a great meal!

There are many species of quail around the world.  Ours is the bobwhite quail, more properly northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus).  The bobwhite is native to roughly the southeastern one-fourth of the United States.  In my youth quail were abundant in the Ozarks.  Many households kept bird hunting dogs and stocked up on #8 shot shells prior to each November. 

Our Christmas dinner came from a donation from our neighbor who shot his birds at a put-and-take shooting preserve.  They were "hand-reared" quail.  Wild quail are becoming increasingly rare in Missouri and all across their range.

When I was in high school in the 1960's there were 180,000 quail hunters in Missouri (MDC data).  Now there are about 20,000 quail hunters.  In 1966 the Missouri quail harvest was 3.8 million.  In 2010 only 140,00 bobwhites were taken by Missouri hunters. 

Illinois bobwhite numbers peaked in the late 1950's.  The highest number of Illinois quail hunters reported was 188,000 and the annual harvest exceeded 2.5 million in four years (IDNR data).  In 2011 13,000 Illinois quail hunters bagged 46,000 birds.

What happened?  Quail biologists are in agreement about the causes.  The primary reason was the subtle but significant landscape changes that happened over several decades.  People changed the way they used the land, mostly for economic reasons.   Those changes were a little different in different areas:  more intensively grazed pasture in southern Missouri and southern Illinois and more row-cropping in central and northern areas of Missouri and Illinois.  There were similar changes from Kansas to Florida. 

Quail need early successional habitat dispersed over a wide area.   Such habitat looks a little weedy and includes some bare ground.  Because bobwhites rarely move long distances, all their habitat needs (food, escape cover, nest cover, brood cover, etc.) must be available within the range of their normal movements. 

In a desperate effort to restore bobwhite quail numbers, a national cooperative plan and organization has been developed: 
"The National Bobwhite Conservation Initiative (NBCI) is the unified strategic effort of 25 state fish and wildlife agencies and various conservation organizations -- all under the umbrella of the National Bobwhite Technical Committee -- to restore wild populations of bobwhite quail in this country to levels comparable to 1980.

"Today, NBCI is a multi-faceted initiative characterized by three key elements:
(1) an easily updated, online strategic plan released publically in March 2011
(2) a massive and easily updated online Geographic Information  System (GIS)-based  conservation tool to help state biologists and other conservation planners identify and achieve individual state objectives within the overall national strategy. (Over 600 biologists within the bobwhite’s range participated in building this conservation tool.)
(3) a small team of specialists dedicated to range-wide, policy level efforts to bolster respective state step-down strategies."