I'll top off the series with our Patriarch John, and his lovely wife Pat. Uncle John doesn't see his role in the family as the 'ruler'. He and Pat are more like the family mentors. They've played a large role in keeping tradition of our family gathering since Grandma (Velma) went to be with John David McKenzie Senior. Five generations of McKenzies were together this time if you consider the great great grandchildren 

My nephew, Scott is on the right. His sister Kathy is to his left. The big fellow in the background is Mark, a cousin. Kathy's husband is at the table with her and Scott. Scott's wife is at the table in the foreground. They're relatively new at our Ceilidh and with 120+ names floating around in my feeble old head I ain't gonna guess. 

Carolyn, Jennifer, Joshua,Gwen, Ron, T.J., Kayla, Matthew, and Brandy. All but Ron (the M.C.) and Carolyn are first timers at our family gatherings. I wish I could remember the cutie in front's name. I think she's Carolyn's grand-daughter. 

Johnathon, Ron, me, Honey, 'Bobby Guy', and Roslyn. The story behind my crooked smile is on my NWScott VFD webLog. 

McKenzie Klan Ceilidh

Brother, RadicalRon holding a quilt that was auctioned off at the McKenzie Klan gathering. Just right of him facing the camera is Uncle John, the Patriarch of the family, Robert G., my dad, Michael, John's son, Eva Nell, my aunt, and Mark, a cousin. I can't identify the young lady front right. 

More effective and more fun than a stairmaster. They'd just finished duty in the swimming pool. With net bottoms laced on they'll do fine at the Ceilidh at Eurika Springs. Keep the canoe from getting overloaded. 

Today I introduced my two girls to the simple pleasures of tire rolling. 

I'm calling this long lanky fellow an Emerald Green. 

This is the Fly Catcher female. I had to put up stakes temporarily to keep the dogs from running over some new flowers. The birds like them and the Crepe Myrtle as vantage points to watch the nest on our porch. 

Our male Fly Catcher. They come back every year. I've tried to interest them in baskets and bird houses. They insist on building their nest over our porch light though. 

Looking over the camera and clicking, I could see two or three at a time. 

There's Ruby Throated and Emerald Greens 

1st grade 'Graduation'. On the Principal's list too. 

westEdge

Looking West, the clouds were moving North. The Western side of the cell tried the hardest to spin off some twisters.

southEdge

At only 1000' high, East Poteau Mountain was still deflecting the wall cloud. Looking South, the cell wall was moving East to West.

rotationalCell

This is a view of a rotational cell from the inside.

northEdge

The clouds on the North edge of the cell started out moving East to West. Within and hour they were moving West to East. The entire front was going SouthEast.

lomaLinda: beautiful earth

This weblog will be a place where I post pictures taken on and around our property in the Ouchita National Forest.

I wish I'd taken more pictures back when we first got the place. The grounds were heavily overgrown with scrub brush and the buildings in need of much repair. It is ours though. Thanks to Eva Lou and her sister.

Eva Lou felt the place needed us as much as we needed it. They could have gotten more money for it. Even from kin-folk. This is the kind of area that kin close ranks around. Outsiders don't move in easily. In her lucid days Eva let me know that she not only welcomed me as a neighbor, but appreciated having us here.

Later when Roslyn was born, Eva Lou would sit on the porch of her house up the hill and just watch Roslyn playing in the same fields and woods that she'd played in herself as a young girl.

Eva told us tales of when this valley was called Cougar Run by the old timers. And how Freedom Road got it's name because when the outlaws got this far the Hanging Judges Marshalls had little chance of cornering them or cutting them off.

These East and West running Washboard ridges, thick wood laced with creeks and caves, with two cuts through the Poteau Mountain chain with the Oklahoma Territories close by made a posse's job tough. This is the area where Belle Star brought what was left of the gang after Frank and Jesse disappeared. Several of the local caves claim to be their hide-out and stash although the best accounts say the money was hidden in a cave on the Oklahoma side.

Eventually, I hope to make the property pay off by using it as a showcase for watergardens, fountains, and cultivated native growing plants and trees that I'll use for landscaping jobs.

I also hope to rent sites for motor homes, travel trailers, and campers without using asphalt, concrete, and clutter. Maybe put together some outdoors activities to take advantage of natural local resources for folks that feel crowded and commercialized in the Ozark Mountain Region.

Rivers and lakes within an easy radius have something to offer everyone from Pro's to lazy drifters, and fishermen. The hiking and camping don't get much better. Local hunting, in season, has already made it's own reputation.