Ben Bulben, County Sligo, Ireland, by Jon Sullavin

Irish Dreams and Night Photography

The swans flew low overhead. Their great whit bodies seemed to fill the sky. The thunder of their wings took Father Tim’s breath away. He stood transfixed with his mouth open like a boy. His Irish vacation dream had come true!

This delightful scene comes near the end of Jan Karon’s In the Company of Others. I just finished this story about Father Tim Kavanagh (a retired Episcopal priest) and his artist wife, Cynthia, who are vacationing in the Irish countryside. It seems appropriate to listen to this Father Tim story so close to Saint Patrick’s Day.

Many of the people who first settled the Ozarks were Scotch-Irish, giving us a deep Celtic heritage. Our rugged ancestors are celebrated in a number of ways North of the Tunnel. Here are a few excellent institutions that offer exhibits and experiences of Ozark history and folk heritage: the Visitors Center at Hobbs State Park; Shiloh Museum of Ozark History, Springdale; and the Ozark Folk Center State Park in Mountain View. Why not put a visit to one or more of them on your spring calendar?

An author who speaks from a Gaelic perspective is Alexander McCall Smith whose wide ranging works include at least two series of books set in Edinburgh, Scotland. Although best known for his No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency books featuring the beguiling Botswana (Africa) detective, Mma Ramotswe, and her “assistant detective” Mma Makutsi, McCall Smith has lived much of his adult life in Scotland. He is labeled a “Scottish writer.”  I have just begun his The Unbearable Lightness of Scones but will have finished it well before he comes to Fayetteville in April. This world-renowned author will be speaking at the Fayetteville Public Library on Friday, April 6, 7 p.m., as part of the library’s 5th annual Adult Reading Festival. Best of all, his talk, “The Very Small Things of Life,” is free. Be there early for a good seat!

A Monte Ne Hotel photo by Jade Morgan

P.S. In this morning’s newspaper is an account of a daring rescue at Monte Ne. This past Wednesday a young man (20) managed to get stuck in one of the old hotel chimneys still standing beside the lake. According to the account, he and a cousin had been taking pictures and, in trying to achieve that “perfect pose,” he became wedged in the chimney. After receiving a 911 call at 3:45 a.m., the local firefighters (Hwy 94 East Fire Department) responded. Failing to free the man, they called in the Rogers Fire Department.

After much consideration the chief decided to lower a rope from the top of the three-story chimney rather than break a hole in its side. Unable to get a truck close to the structure, the firemen took their ladders to the spot, lowered their gear, and extricated the erstwhile photographer from his “prison.” It’s been some time since there was that much excitement in Monte Ne!

This incident raises some interesting questions. Among them must be: What in the world were they photographing so late at night? Were they armature “ghost hunters” or …? What do you think?

Crocus, Kites, and Windmills

Spring is coming. The first daffodils and crocus are in bloom. Buds are swelling on the maples, and some leaves have already opened on bushes in the back yard. The peeper (frogs) chorus is in full voice, and mourning doves coo in the late afternoons.

Last week was National Severe Weather Week. NOAA weather radios were available at a reduced price as part of a program to help the public understand and prepare for “Tornado Season,” now through May. (KFSM, Harps, and the Midland Weather Radio Company were one of the partnerships making this offer.) For more information about storm preparedness, check the National Weather Service site. 

Wind, hopefully not the destructive kind, is a part of the mystique of March. Visions of the conclusion of Mary Poppins where the children and their parents are flying a kite to the strains of “Let’s Go Fly a Kite”  merge with the sight of local children racing to get their kites airborne in parks and playgrounds on a windy afternoon. If that sounds like fun, you might want to take part this Saturday in the 10^th Annual Cain Hill Kite Festival.

Not only is March remarkable for its windiness, it ushers in a new wind turbine (a newfangled windmill) on the John Brown University campus in Siloam Springs. Put through its paces for the first time Wednesday, the turbine will power lights on a cross-campus walking trail. This is part of a statewide effort on the part of colleges and universities to both use green energy alternatives and prepare students for jobs in the field of renewable energy resources.

What has the winds of March blown your way recently?