Catching an Indian runner duck is harder than you might think. As their name implies, the ducks run — en masse. Like flying geese that veer whichever way the leader heads or sheep that follow one another off a cliff, a group of Indian runner ducks acts as a single organism at times, moving in a swarm. more

I am sitting at this writing on a sofa set catawampus in a living room cluttered with stacks of cardboard boxes, pieces of furniture, luggage and computer parts, recuperating from the exertion of two hours spent unloading a truck about half the size of a railroad boxcar. more

Dear Editor, more

I told someone last week I was going to the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Fireworks Museum. They acted shocked that a museum focusing on fireworks was strange for Dallas County. more

Long before Missouri conservation agents would confirm their presence, some of us who hunted the remote woods of Dallas County were certain the hills and hollers along the Niangua River harbored black bears. more

Remember the ABBA song from 1977 “Take a Chance on Me”? more

It is commendable that we remember our own mothers with cards and other tokens of love this Mother’s Day, but it is even more fitting that we thank God and pray for mothers everywhere. more

The year was 1968. I was riding down the road with my parents. Dad was tokin’ on a Marlboro Red, and Mom was dragging on a Benson & Hedges cigarette. I was running and climbing all over the car, even hiding out where the spare tire rides. It was a 1960 Ford station wagon — a big old gunship. I know you’re saying, “Running around without a seat belt on, and the parents were smoking with the kids in the car.” It wasn’t politically correct, but it was 1968 when people were free. I don’t think the car had seat belts, and we did not have those odd bicycle helmets. How did we ever survive without all the safety features of today?   more

We are less than two weeks away from legislators throwing stacks of paper in the air to celebrate the end of the 2023 session of the Missouri General Assembly, and like every year, there are still a lot of bills in the air. Missouri Farm Bureau is focused on a few key issues as we approach the finish line.  more

Did you know that they have safety glasses for yard work? more

Cool mornings and hot afternoons, like we have been experiencing lately, remind me of camping and fishing trips to the river and stays on the lake in my younger days. I rarely, if ever, get around to camping and fishing trips anymore during the season. But when I was a kid, that was how my dad wanted to spend his time after a long, hard week of work at the sawmill or timber. more

To the Editor: more