Nothing Like Springtime in the Ozarks

            Nothing like Springtime in the Ozarks when blooming redbuds and flowering dogwoods spring to life in the shadow of a rugged forest of cedar, hickory and oak.  The ornamentals’ larger hardwood kin follow thereafter, their leafy sprouts sporting varying hues of virgin green.

            April rains quench Spring’s voracious thirst required to sustain renewed life.  An all-night pour ceases but heavy clouds remain stationary to give the ground time to soak in all it can before the sun’s evaporating powers return.  Morning’s misty haze rises from the hills carrying aloft dense humid air, a partial repatriation to its skyward progenitor. 

            Seen only in times of liquid plenty, mini falls rear their heads that drop baptismal founts from rocky ledges.  Rills running down the seams of the Ozark hills channel rain’s runoff that tumbles over rock strewn courses that babble in hydrated harmony.  Erstwhile dormant hillside lichen emerges as a soft green carpet atop cold inanimate stone in a display of rain’s restorative power.

            Fortified tributary creeks stir to heightened action with white-water hastening downstream to their confluence with surging rivers now on a roll collecting winter’s debris of leaves and branches along the way to drop elsewhere when later ebbing.  Backwater fills the floodplain where Sycamores, Gums and Maples reside in a symbiotic streamside relationship.  The trees’ rooted underbellies draw copious fills of hydration from their riparian frontage while anchoring the riverbank.  In turn, the river will bring down selected trees when flood waters choose to claim them.   

            Now saturated, the forest hollows luxuriate in their primal spot, the ground welling up like a sponge to retain its liquid treasure for the rich growth of flora that finds life here.  Nature’s kernel flourish in these flattened expanses of shaded habitat, where decomposed organic matter turns to humus that enhances soil fertility and water retention.   Hollows are hallowed ground where nature’s cycle regenerates life from death.  So too it must be for our eternal souls.   

            The most glorious days of the year occur in Spring after a rain soaking when nature sings its’ version of Here Comes the Sun. Having cleansed the air of dust and pollen, rain clouds depart leaving behind fresh, aromatic air that sends the birds a-singing in celebration of the forest’s budding bounty.

            Wildflowers abound in April.  A spring ephemeral, the blue bells rise out of assembles of green rounded leaves to enchant streamside lowlands.  Purple phlox, toothwort, buttercups, wild violets and crocus somehow blossom forth from the rocky Ozark landscape.  Perhaps the most beautiful, the rose vervain grace open rocky hillsides with large blossom clusters.

            The rain waters that showered the Ozark hills fortify the tributary creeks that feed the meandering Ozark rivers.  The Meramec, Current, Jacks’ Fork, Black, White, Piney, and Eleven Point Rivers scurry downstream with heightened exuberance.  Missouri’s renowned Ozark Springs—totaling over 300 in number in the Ozark National Scenic Riverways alone—provide year-round founts of crystalline waters.  Karst landscape—with underlying porous, dolomite rock—allows rainwater runoff a passage to sinkholes, caves and underground canals.  The subturranean waterways ultimately emerge as Springs, which continually replenish the rivers even in times of drought—akin to a water storage tank that collects water and discharges it over time.  As a result, the Current River, the Eleven Point and Jacks Fork Rivers remain floatable year-round. 

            A float down Ozark rivers provides a corridor through the beauty of our Missouri homeland where clearwater streams pass by tall river bluffs, run over shoals, around pointed islets, and pour into deep pools that reflect both the depth of its soul below and the blue skies and clouds above.  Here, kingfish and great blue heron perch; the pileated woodpecker laughs with its piping calls; dueling cardinals exchange their dulcet refrains; hawks and turkey vultures ride air thermals to effortlessly circle above; and the human species drift in canoes carried by the river’s current where they are awarded with a spiritual currency tendered freely by the wonders of nature.  

            Indeed, Springtime Ozark streams provide the highest rate of return for inner peace.