Vacation, Day 4

Today was great! No visits during the night from the resident wild animals and I discovered that they do have bears here at Turpentine Creek. So, lions and tigers and bears, oh my! I just couldn’t resist. Anyway, this morning Lynn headed out to the Eureka Springs farmer’s market while I caught an extra hour or so of sleep. It’s a great arrangement, one we faithfully follow most Saturday mornings at home. Lynn brought back dome great fresh produce, including green beans, fresh baked bread and some tasty mushrooms. Of course, Lynn made some new friends while she was there. We’ll never starve no matter where we are because Lynn will know or be able to find people who grow food. It’s amazing, and it is really awesome to know the people that grow a lot of your food. Breakfast today was a tasty mix of breakfast sausage from our friends at Hickory County Sausage in Lathrop, Missouri with potatoes, onions, and oyster mushrooms. This was followed up by a slice of bread with homemade butter and strawberry-banana jelly made by my wife. To wash it all down, a glass of chocolate milk. Hmm-mm good!
After breakfast, I washed dishes and then discovered that the Wildlife Refuge has wifi. I love this place more and more. After updating my facebook status and blog, I finally went on the official tour of the refuge. It was great and answered some questions I had such as whether all the animals were kept in the same type of pen that I’d seen. I’d been thinking that these pens were a little on the small side and they are completely floored with concrete, all in all, not the best environment for wild animals. Anyway, I learned on the tour that most of the animals on the refuge are kept in much larger pens behind the compound. The newest animals are kept in the compound where they are most visible to the public. The animals that are anti-social or have been here the longest get moved to the larger pens as pens become available. I took a lot of pics and I hope they come out. The funnest might be the one of a tiger poking its head above the edge of its water tank where it was playing with a ball. Another would be of a mountain lion playing with the raw egg it had just been given.
After my tour we had a quick lunch of PB&J’s and headed for Eureka Springs. We modified our plans a little and visited some shops and art galleries this afternoon. First up was the Amish Furniture store. I love the craftsmanship of wood furniture and always find it beautiful. Then we went by the Cherokee Mountain Gallery, still closed, and then went to the artists colony, an artists coop a little off the beaten path in Eureka Springs. We saw some interesting art and met some even more interesting people there. Our next stop was Eurekan Arts, a wonderful shop with some gorgeous pottery, wood turnings, and photographs. Lynn just loved some photos of peppers and other produce and I was enticed by some wood boxes, but we decided to move on without buying.
Our next stop was Mountain Eclectic Arts which was great for several reasons. First was the interesting collection of antiques, home décor and art in the shop. Second was the spring located inside the building. Third, was meeting Jack Bratt, one of the owners, and a former resident of our own Historic Northeast community in KC, MO. We had one of those do you know so and so…yeah, doesn’t she live … conversations and then got some advice on good places to visit. We bought a gift for Lynn’s mom and a tea light lantern for our place before heading out to a couple of the places Jack recommended. On the way, we tried to check out Thorncross Chapel, an internationally known building due ot its unique architecture. Then we found our way to Paradise Pottery, which is the cooperative venture of husband and wife artists, Lara and Jim. We fell in love with the unique handpainted glazes done by Lara, something she said reminds her of landscapes, particularly the White River, which was across the road from their workshop/gallery. The colors were incredibly vivid and almost seemed to be intertwined in places. We bought a small bowl to add to our collection and left talking of pieces we’d love to have down the road. Lynn had the idea that a commissioned fountain/font for a church would be awesome. I wholeheartedly agree!
After leaving paradise, we followed Lara’s advice and drove further down Blue Spring rode to where the White River curves around from one side of the road to the other. I took quite a few pictures of the river, and even talked Lynn into driving to a bridge where I got out to take some more. However, I had a camera malfunction and didn’t want to walk out on the bridge (no sidewalks) to try again once Lynn helped me get the camera working again. So we drove on to Beaver Dam and I took some pictures of the sunlight on the water that should be really nice. After that we returned to Turpentine Creek and had a late dinner of andouille sausage—also from our friends at Hickory County Sausage, fresh pepper, tomatoes, onions, corn and mushrooms from the farmer’s market seasoned with a beautiful sunset that left the sky painted in bands of color. After cleaning up, we settled in for the night to a symphony of frogs, crickets, and the wind through the trees. The cats have been pretty quiet tonight, a couple of coughs from one of the lions and nothing else. Thank you God, for the beauty of your creation, for my lovely wife, for new friends and old. Good night!