Ozark Vacation: Canoeing the Norfork River

My lovely wife, Sun-Ae, who is now again sitting across from me at her desk, has forwarded more belated Ozark photos from a couple of 'adventures', and today's batch -- borrowed from my brother Uncle Pat -- comes from the Norfork River, upstream of that beautiful Ozark lake that faithful readers have already seen a couple of times recently.

We first glimpse Sun-Ae canoeing as En-Uk pretends to follow suit by paddling the air:


In the background . . . uh, backwater . . . are Aunt Shoshanna and her husband, my brother, Uncle Shannon. All of my brothers are now getting called "Uncle" as I adopt the perspective of my kids. Anyway, Aunt Shoshanna and Uncle Shannon took Sa-Rah with them in their canoe, and you see her sitting with enthusiasm between them in the photo below:


Minus a paddle, she has little to do other than observe the scenery as it slips greenly by. Below is an image of Sa-Rah looking older and wiser as she contemplates how life is like a river of love:


I can imagine from this photo what she'll look like 10 years from now. But before that time, she will have undergone many amazing and even inexplicable experiences . . . such as that common, rural-myth experience of the mysterious, disappearing canoe:


"What's up . . . down? Sideways? Vanished? Where the wind-blown hail is that dadgum canoe gone to?!" mutters Uncle Shannon in his most genuine simulation of hillbillified accentification.


Reverend John, having worked his "Miracle of the Disappearing Canoe," attempts another 'ubernatural' wonder: "Fleeing on Water." But like the anxious Saint Peter, his faith has weakened, leaving his fallible feet to slip beneath the surface tension even as he flees . . . and leading us to wonder if an irate Sa-Rah will manage to apprehend this impressive but erring uncle.


Uncle Pat, meanwhile, flashes his Chesire Smile at the charismatic hillbilly antics as Shannon and Shoshanna's canoe mysteriously reappears in the deepening afternoon of lengthening shadows. But my brother the 'Chesire Pat' is himself about to disappear, leaving us more to wonder . . .

. . . O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Ozark Vacation: Lake Norfork and Uncle Cran's Farm

From my lovely wife, I learned that in contrast to that rainy moment at Lake Norfork a couple of weeks ago . . .


. . . my children recently spent a sunnier day with Uncle Cran and Aunt Gay at that lake. Uncle Cran also sent an email to remind me:

In a previous email, I suggested that the day would come when you would say, "Uncle Cran, go jump in the lake!" Your enthusiastic response was that when time came, you would do do. The time has come, and passed, without your encouragement.

I said that I would "do do"?! I don't recall that! I can only encourage in ways that I am aware of, and I fail to see how my do-do would be in any way an encouragement to anybody. Nevertheless, I will post the photographs of the lake and farm:

Yesterday, at 10:00 am, Gay and I drove to nephew John's and picked Sa-Rah and En-Uk. Sun-Ae said she was behind in her translation work, so she stayed and worked on her assignments.

We motored west on highway 62, across Lake Norfolk over the Veda Sheid Memorial Bridge, to Highway 101, then east across the other twin bridge to Bidwell Point. Actually this is the place we had gone to before, but were rained out, and only Sa-Rah was brave enough to get in the water during a pouring rain. Here we are at the entrance.

Without Sun-Ae? Without the professional photographer? Okay . . . well, let's see the happy campers:


Eh? Uncle Cran, you've cut the children out of the photo! Even when I click on the image for a close-up, all I see is a sign . . . fronted by a 'mailbox'? Wait a minute:


Okay, there they are . . . and also again:


And yet again:


Exciting. Try not to overdo the thrills, sir. Of these photos, Uncle Cran adds:

On a previous blog, in one of my senior moments, I had reported we went to the Henderson Park Area, but this time I will correct that error.

Thank you, Uncle Cran. Readers take note: Earlier images of the lake on that rainy day were of Bidwell Point, not the famous Henderson Bay. Meanwhile:

With the 62/412 bridge in the background, our intrepid swimmers fortify themselves with the picnic food prepared by Aunt Gay. Notice the eager anticipation registered of the faces of your brave children, awaiting their moment of food, then fun.

Eh? What's this about "the 62/412 bridge"? Good Lord! What sort of a bridge would be left only one-seventh constructed? Thank God you made it safely across! As for the photo, Uncle Cran, I'm sorry, but this appears to be 'posed':


But in this action shot, they appear to be preparing to stuff their faces . . . or are already doing so:


I see that En-Uk is again dressed with somewhat inappropriate modesty in his burqini, while the less modest Sa-Rah adopts a hijab. Remember to wait half an hour before going into the water! Now come various preparations, such as lathering on the sun cream under Uncle Cran's watchful eye:


I think that Aunt Gay's fingerprints were all over that photo. Anyway, next comes Uncle Cran's threat of dangerous activities:

En-Uk is ready, with ball in hand, to brave the perils of Lake Norfork, in spite of dangerous crawdads (crayfish), man eating catfish, and Uncle Cran, and his favorite weapon (the said ball), soon to be used in the game, "Kill the Kid." No one was actually killed, but Sa-Rah, En-Uk, and I spent several hours throwing it at one another.

I appreciate the confession, Uncle Cran. Here's the photo a ready En-Uk:


En-Uk and Sa-Rah now rush headlong for the lake:


Uncle Cran emphasizes:

En-Uk and Sa-Rah are in the lake, hopefully having fun.

Yes, hopefully:


From an obscure distance, we hope for the best. More reporting by Uncle Cran:

Aunt Gay and En-Uk are diligently searching for mussel shells, as Sa-Rah engages in her favorite pastime, floating on the surf board, and dreaming youthful dreams.

Uncle Cran is undoubtedly projecting his own idle youth onto my daughter, but let us take a look:


Sa-Rah is obviously swimming vigorously! So much for Uncle Cran's 'idle' report. But enervation soon overtakes them. En-Uk grows weary of the hunt for shells:

As the kids continue their thrilling adventures, Aunt Gay takes the mussels and stores them for the mighty hunter.

Once more, we have a photo . . . of Aunt Gay leaving with the shells as En-Uk heads out toward Sa-Rah:


Well done, weary En-Uk, who nevertheless keeps swimming. But not only En-Uk is weary, for Sa-Rah is as well -- and she takes a well-deserved break:

Aunt Gay and Sa-Rah prepare for an afternoon break, before returning to the water.

So they say, and we will see. Here's Sa-Rah's break with Aunt Gay:


Rather far afield. But they do return to the water, where Uncle Cran joins the fun . . . and objectifies himself in the retelling:

We swam, and played in the water from 11:00 am until 3:30 pm. During that time, Uncle Cran was in the water, yelling and splashing, dunking Sa-Rah and En-Uk, while Aunt Gay relaxed in the water. Unfortunately, my camera batteries died, and we couldn't take any more photos. Perhaps Sun-Ae's camera recorded more action, and she may send them to you later.

Yes, Sun-Ae's camera rescued an image of Uncle Cran:


Fully clothed . . . sopping wet. But eventually, the fun lake activities have to end:

After our full day of fun at the lake, we returned to Uncle Cran's and Aunt Gay's home. As before, Sa-Rah demonstrated her talent with the guitar.

As we see:


Good to see Sa-Rah practicing under adverse conditions . . . I refer to Uncle Cran's guitar. Next, a report on Aunt Gay:

Aunt Gay prepares the fish that En-Uk had caught from his previous visit. She had frozen them, for the day that the kids returned for a visit.

What? No mussel shellfish stew? Anyway, it looks good:


The early meal is not shown, but eventually, everything devolves to Wii anyway:

Meanwhile, En-Uk and Sa-Rah engaged in a tension filled game of Wii. Look at the intense concentration expressed in their faces.

As we again see:


They do seem intently focused. I wish that they'd apply that focus to their studies. Anyway, next comes Sarah's turn:

Sa-Rah is tossing another strike in the bowling tournament, while En-Uk is secretly saying, "Please miss!"

If it's a secret, Uncle Cran, how do you know? Still . . . here's the photo:


Strike two? But who's counting? Perhaps Uncle Cran:

Meanwhile, after suffering succesive defeats at the hands of Sa-Rah and Uncle Cran, En-Uk found a worthy opponent in Aunt Gay, but he prevailed with a hard won victory.

En-Uk, champion of the world, showing hs winning technique even as Aunt Gay bowls:


En-Uk and his tag-team hound-dog appear to be interfering, so I take it that this is his famed 'winning technique'. But no matter, for other fun activities beckon:

The day would not be complete without a drive around the field on the ATV.

That would, of course, be Sa-Rah:


Wait -- also in on the fun is En-Uk:

Not to be outdone by big sister Sa-Rah, En-Uk prepares to drive around the field, with Uncle Cran riding on the back and pouring out a bag of range cubes for the cattle.

More of those 'breeder' cubes, I'd wager. Be that as it may, here's the fearless En-Uk:


And those seem to be all the images from Yasgur's Farm . . . uh, Uncle Cran's Farm. Thus ends the photographic saga of our day at the lake and our home. Now for some final words from Uncle Cran:

Regretfully, all good things must come to an end. At 5:30 pm we all loaded up in the car for the return trip to John and Sandy's home. On the way, En-Uk regaled Aunt Gay with a non-stop account of everything he could think of to say, while Sa-Rah rode in the front seat, quietly speaking to Uncle Cran of her coming trip to Branson with Uncle Shannon [and Uncle Pat] and her return to her friends in Korea. We arrived in Salem shortly before 6:30 pm, said our goodbyes. Sa-Rah said, "See you next year," and Gay and I returned to our home. You might ask, "Where was Uncle Cran?" Well, he was dutifully performing his duty, and manfully manning the camera [even when he appears in the photo?]. As my cousin Martha's husband, Bob Foster, would say about his fishing trips, "It's a hard, dirty, thankless job, but somebody has to do it."

Yes, somebody does, and in all honesty and gratitude, thank you, Uncle Cran and Aunt Gay for taking care of my children and showing them the beautiful lake.

Uncle Cran's Farm . . . and a Brief Stop at Lake Norfork

I've finally got my own internet connection back. I had contacted my wife, who emailed the Korean fellow in Seoul who usually sorts out our linkage difficulties, and he came yesterday to fix the problem.

I've also received some more photographs and emails from my Ozark homeland. Here is an early email from Uncle Cran, which arrived late last Friday (shortly before my internet problems) and told of my wife and kids having reached the farm near Gepp, Arkansas, a sojourn that -- due to temporary illnesses -- turned out less adventuresome than originally planned:

This morning we drove to John's home and picked up Sun-Ae, Sa-Rah and En-Uk. John and Sandy have a beautiful home. We got there about 10:00 am, and motored back to our house. We drove a little more slowly than usual, as En-Uk said he gets car sick, but we made it ok. And Sa-Rah has an upset stomach, so Sun-Ae gave her some medicine. She has a low grade fever, about 1.5 F degrees above normal. Gay gave her a tylenol, and she is lying down. We hope she gets to feeling better.

En-Uk found the Calvin & Hobbes book he was reading last time, so he is absorbed in it.

Yes, totally absorbed:



He may be 'reading' for some time . . .

When he finishes and we eat our noon meal, we are either going to play Wii, or ride the ATV [all-terrain vehicle], whichever he prefers. Or both, when he decides what order he wants to do them. We plan to fish the pond later this afternoon.

They did all three. First, En-Uk and Uncle Cran face off on the Wii:


En-Uk wins, apparently, so they next test drive the ATV:


En-Uk soon steers, drives the cattle mad (prompting protests in Korea against ATV-tainted American Beef):


Then some fishing in the pond:


En-Uk lands a big perch:


Ever the sportsman, En-Uk salutes the fallen fish (in bucket) as Aunt Gay looks proudly on:


Two friendly dogs congratulate En-Uk on his fishing skills . . . as an 'aristocat' strolls nobly by:


Also in his email, Uncle Cran also posed a difficult hermeneutical query:

Sun-Ae said to tell you hello. I told her she could email you later if she wishes. She gave Linda a beautiful handbag, and gave me a miniature gold colored fan bookmark. It is beautiful, and has small flowers on it, and a neat green colored string attached.

As I looked at the Korean writing, I noticed some English letters, evidently an English transliteration of some Korean words. I will attempt to decipher the meaning, and here are the unreadable letters of the alphabet, so perhaps you can be of assistance. Here are the runic letters:

Hand Painted

Korean traditional pattern bookmark
Puts in a your valuable mind
A fan with spokes made of double slips of bamboo

There is another paragraph of four lines, but I won't burden you with them. The above mysterious letters probably convey a secret message, which my ancient mind is unable to decipher. Perhaps you can help.

I replied to Uncle Cran's query:

Like you with your Korean-made bookmark, I am constantly finding poems on Korean products. Let's look at yours:

Hand Painted

Korean traditional pattern bookmark
Puts in a your valuable mind
A fan with spokes made of double slips of bamboo

This looks a bit like haiku . . . but the syllables don't add up (and Koreans probably wouldn't use a Japanese poetic form anyway). Very mysterious, just like Korea.

Now that I've had time for reflection, I realize that this mysterious poem is similar to what in Japan is known as a Zen kōan (in Korean, Seon gong'an), a poetic expression whose meaning is inaccessible to the rational understanding, so I ask myself, "Why does Uncle Cran need help?"

In addition to his email, Uncle Cran also posted a blog-entry comment about the same farm stay, providing a brief sketch. Here's Uncle Cran's blog-comment report:

As soon as Sun-Ae gets her latest photos delivered to Jeffery, and Jeffery sorts out hers and mine, which contain both pics from her camera and mine, he will have some neat pics of their stay with Uncle Cran and Aunt Gay.

That moment has arrived! Already arrived . . . as you've seen. Now for Uncle Cran's insights:

Jeffery is correct. His wife is a sweet and wonderful person. This says a lot about her patience with dealing with my nephew.

Yes, it likely does say that -- but her putting up with me prepared her for dealing with my at least favorite uncle. More insights from Uncle Cran:

En-Uk has a keen mind, and is a powerful opponent on the Wii games. Sa-Rah is a marvellous pianist and guitarist. She is also a good Wii player, and in addition, mastered the ATV.

Keep in mind that Uncle Cran was competing with children -- and we can know for sure only that Uncle Cran didn't win, or he'd be crowing about it. Much as I'd like to think my children sufficiently precocious to defeat a real adult, let's recall that they merely defeated Uncle Cran, whom my wife characterizes as being "as young as En-Uk" (see her message further below). Anyway, here are more pictures, but devoted to Sa-Rah this time. First, she takes on the Wii:


And competes to defeat a seated, apparently bloody-nosed En-Uk?


Successful or not, she then turns to driving the ATV:


Having made rapid progress, she gives her mother a ride:


Later, out in the field, two lonely head of cattle notice far-away Sa-Rah on the distant ATV:


The cattle approach her for some nonexistent food, and one of them leaves the other somewhere far behind:


Sa-Rah faces off against one head of cattle:


But she then makes her escape through a sargasso sea:


Yet seems to get stuck in the sargasso seaweed:


En-Uk and Uncle Cran come to the rescue with . . . "Cattle Drive Breeder Cubes"?


Let's cut to something more family oriented. Uncle Cran tells me that Sa-Rah seems to have recovered well, and the photos confirm this, but the weather refused to cooperate for swimming at Lake Norfork's Henderson Park:

We drove to Lake Norfork, but it was steadily raining before we got there, and only Sa-Rah had the fortitude to go wading in the lake for about 15 minutes.

We see that En-Uk also contemplated wading:


Sa-Rah, however, enters the lake first:


En-Uk tries as well . . . but chickens out:


Leaving Sa-Rah to wade into victory:


"Raindrops keep falling on my head . . ."


This is a weird Ozark summer, what with its cool weather and frequent rains! Anyway, they went home a day early:

Sun-Ae wanted to return to nephew John's house at Salem so they could attend church there tomorrow. Ironically, thirty minutes after we dropped them off there, the rain stopped and the sun has shone ever since. But we had a good visit, and maybe before they finish their vacation, we can have them back and swim in the lake. And at that time, nephew Jeffery can say with all sincerity, "Uncle Cran, go jump in the lake!"

Glad to oblige, Uncle Cran. Just let me know when.

Later, an email arrived from Sun-Ae covering much the same territory:

Now is Sunday evening around 6:00, and John and Sandy went to church for [the] evening service. I and [the] kids stayed home, and finally I have some time to write you again about what we're doing.

You have got already some pictures from Uncle Cran and heard most about our stay at Uncle Cran's place. Uncle Cran was very nice [about] entertaining En-Uk and Sa-Rah. Especially, he played long the Wii-game with En-Uk, [and they were] competing [with] each other. He is 70, but his spirit is as young as En-Uk's. [See, I told you that my wife said this!] Gay cooked for us a nice Mexican meal and as dessert the blackberry cobbler with ice cream[, much to Cousin Bill's dismay], which I and Sa-Rah liked a lot. En-Uk naturally never likes berries or any kind of fruit, so he had just ice cream.

I felt quite comfortable with them and at their place, so I could even work [on my translation article]. Sa-Rah wanted to stay longer but I thought that we should not burden [them] too much . . . . Anyway, I wanted to treat them for lunch on Saturday, but they said that we are the guests, and when they come to visit us in Korea, we should treat them. They are going to Germany in September to see James' family in Heidelberg, and Gay is excited as well as worried because it's her first oversea trip. If she has good time, then she might try to come to Korea some time?

Colonel James Hodges, as you'll recall from earlier reports, is in charge of NATO operations in Europe. You may have heard from the mainstream media that some general or other is in charge of NATO. Not true. Cousin James is running things. Anyway, I reckon that we're obliged to have Uncle Cran and Aunt Gay over to our place in Seoul since they nursed our two kids to health and showed them a good time on the farm.

Actually, Uncle Cran, we'd be happy to have you and Aunt Gay visit us in Korea.