Missouri Tales

3 May 2007
Pocahontas, Missouri
910 miles into my journey up the Mississippi River

It’s been quite some time since I’ve updated my journey. As I mentioned before embarking on this trek up the Mississippi River, this walk will have no deadline, there will be no schedule, and most importantly, I may find myself taking detours or settling down for awhile if a place caught my fancy (just laying the groundwork for some not-walking excuses).

Well, in the month of April I wandered way off my path; I took a quick side trip to Cambodia (no, not to adopt a child). And when I returned to my path, I settled down for a relaxing spell, getting real cozy in southern Missouri.


I crossed out of Kentucky and into the state of Illinois.

I spent a total of 15 minutes in Illinois; 1 mile walking the southern-most tip of the state. I crossed the Ohio River, walked by the Fort Defiance State Park, and crossed the Mississippi River into Missouri. When thinking about Illinois, Chicago always came to mind; windy city, cold weather blowing off the lake, snow, corn fields, the ‘Bears’ and the ‘Bulls’. I never realized that this state stuck its toe in the south, right in the middle of Ozark country. The Ohio River wraps around from the east and the Mississippi from the west. And there, at the point of confluence, is Illinois. I’ll cross back over later and explore more of this state later in my journey.

Missouri is an interesting place and I found myself enchanted by the Ozark region. It is here that I put away my walking shoes and sat dangling my tired feet in cold streams and laying beneath the trees watching little leaves sprouting out to greet the new Spring. And it is here that I read a couple of books that ironically took place in southern Missouri.




The first book I read was, ‘Winter's Bone: A Novel’ by Daniel Woodrell. I got lost in this book. The description of rural life in southern Missouri was vivid. I felt the frigid winter’s air, tasted the sun-cured deer meat, silently prayed for the young heroine of the story, and feared her ‘crank’ cooking family and neighbors. Today’s Ozark moonshine is called ‘crank’, a cheap drug also known as meth, crystal, or methamphetamine. I read this book with my back against a tree, my ear’s tuned to any sounds not created naturally by wind or forest. The Ozarks suddenly had a gritty edge I hadn’t noticed before. The beauty was still there, but I felt an ugliness lurking in the shadows. I made my way to a small town thinking that being with others would feel comforting.

But then I read ‘Sharp Objects’ by Gillian Flynn. Another excellent read but one that didn’t make my stay in this small town comforting at all. Behind the smiles, the ‘howdies’, and the ‘whattaya have, honey’, was a dysfunctional community where young girls tormented each other, drugs were common place and murders were gruesome.

After reading these two books (Google the titles. They really are good reads) I felt a need to put my walking shoes back on and head north. To leave behind the Ozark mountains and valleys, the quaint, small towns, and the nice people who treated me as family.

I’m just leaving Pocahontas, Missouri; population 127, 45 families, 3 churches (2 Lutheran churches and 1 Baptist). I’m sure it’s a nice place, but after reading ‘Sharp Objects’ I’ve decided to get back to my daily walking schedule and make it to St Louis before the end of May. I’m also reading a new book (‘Kafka on the Shore’ by Haruki Murakami) that takes place in Japan. So I feel safe with the road ahead of me now. And, I’m not planning any detours to Japan.