Blogga.
OK, here's the deal. This blog will cover life in Arkanssouri, that strange little patch of ground between Oklahoma/Kansas (would that be Kansahoma?) and the Mississippi River, roughly from the latitude of Springfield MO southward to the latitude of Fayetteville AR. The capital of Arkanssouri is Thayer, Missouri.

I'm planning to cover such topics as sports, politics, entertainment, and a healthy dose of my libertarian philosophy. Some say Arkanssouri is a geographical area, but it's more than that. It's a state of mind. That state of mind is what this weblog is all about.

Oh, there will be plenty of comment on national issues, too. Don't you worry your sweet little mind about that.
So here we go . . .

I started the day with my usual laps around the Mammoth Spring State Park. With just a little effort, the place could be great.

Here are some of my suggestions for improvements:
1. Get rid of the horrid geese. Certain sections of the walking path are virtually covered with goose crap, and one must step carefully. Other sections have been taken over by the wretched birds during the daytime. They can be very aggressive, and NOT just during mating season as a "Geese can be aggressive during mating season" sign suggests. One has to give them a wide berth to avoid getting bitten. And they're terribly loud.

The Canada geese are not the problem here, only the white/grey ones. Most of the Canada geese are rather timid and scurry away when someone approaches. Those that stay where they are just watch curiously as people walk by. Little One, as I've named the smaller of the two Canada geese that stay at the park year round, in fact seems rather friendly.

2. This year there seems to be an invasion of muskrats that weren't there last year. I'm hoping park officials are planning on trapping them and moving them somewhere else (like onto some nice lady's fur coat). While they haven't really done anything wrong yet, they ARE vermin, after all. And I have to believe that as their numbers grow, so will their aggressiveness.

3. Put some ashtrays around the walking trail. Have they counted the butts scattered on the ground? And, yes, some of them are mine. The problem is, once I've smoked a cig, I can't put it in the trash cans because it might start a fire, and it's absurd to think people are just going to carry a dead butt all the way around the park until they get back to their cars. What are we supposed to do with them?

4. Stop making people who go into the visitor center for a drink of water answer inane questions about why they're here and where they're going, among other questions. I finally had enough of answering the same inane questions over and over again that I quit going in the welcome center entirely.

It's a good park. With a little tweaking, it could be a great park.

How does it compare with the other parks nearby?
Well, there's the Warm Fork Park in Thayer. The upside of Warm Fork is that there usually aren't a lot of people around to get in your way. The downside is the REASON there aren't any people -- it's a pathetic, half-assed little park. The restroom is ... and I'm not exaggerating . . . an outhouse without any way to wash your hands afterward. It doesn't even have a door. And if you've ever been downwind of an outhouse, you know how most of the park smells.
If you're going to have a restroom, have a restroom, NOT a hole in the ground that stinks to high heaven. It's like something out of a third-world country.

Then there's Grand Gulf State Park near Koshkonong. It's probably a better park than Mammoth Spring, but it's a bit out of the way. While their restrooms are essentially an outhouse too, they've done a pretty good job of keeping it clean and keeping the smell down. At least there are doors, and at least there are separate restrooms for men and women. Sure, they COULD be brought into the 21st century, but they're doing pretty good with what they have.

Other than that, my only major complaint with Grand Gulf is that there should be a better delineated walking trail all the way around the gulf. Right around the parking area, there are great, but very short, trails. One leads down into the Gulf (I think about an eighth of a mile) and some lead to gulf overlooks. While I guess there are technically trails that lead further around the edge of the gulf, when I tried to follow them, they soon petered out until I couldn't tell if I was still on the trail or in the middle of the forest.

Just one other, minor, gripe. They should do a better job of clearing brush around the overlooks. Brush obscures what could be a truly remarkable view.