Enjoying the wealth of camping in the Great Outdoors - cousins Ashley Holt and Alex and Coleman Stephens with a Bennett Springs box turtle.
Has it ever occurred to you that being ‘poor’ is only possible when considered within the context of mankind’s economy? I mean, just imagine if we were disciplined enough to remove all of our material wants and perceived entitlements. We would be left with just the true fabric of life as provided by the Creator in nature. All the riches or the lack there of, would no longer be meaningful concepts. Just like the raccoon, bobcat, or whitetail deer, you would be happy to sleep, eat, and stay healthy and you would ask for little more. I am not naïve enough to believe that our society can ever completely revert back to being one with Mother Nature, however, just making a few steps in that general direction is enough to make one realize how blessed and ‘rich’ our lives can be regardless of our economy and financial status.
A perfect example of such a rich way of life was right here in the Ozarks during the Great Depression. The old-timers told stories of folks from the cities coming into this country during the depression and telling about how bad things were outside the hills but the locals would have none of it. Money had always been tight in these parts and many folks from the Ozarks were still involved in a barter economy utilizing very little money. It was simply business as usual. In addition to farming, daily living required one to hunt, fish, or trap for their daily food. Yes, by some accounts we were poor but we didn’t know it and, poor or not, life was still as sweet as a drink of cold spring water on a hot July day. Sometimes what you don’t know not only won’t hurt you, but it can make for a more fulfilling life all the way around.
Now, fast forward 80 years from the Great Depression to 2010 in Bennett Springs State Park. What a beautiful jewel of the Missouri Ozarks! The Indians called it “Eye of the Sacred One” and it doesn’t take long to realize why. Established in 1923, this majestic park boasts a spring that churns out 103 million gallons of crystal clear Missouri spring water daily. With amenities including a full service restaurant, a generously stocked lodge, a motel, 5 campgrounds, cabins, a swimming pool, a fish hatchery, and beautiful scenery around every corner, it is a site to behold and a camping and fishing trip to experience. Just being there will enrich your treasure chest of life’s experiences.
Memorial Day weekend found our immediate and extended family camped at Bennett Springs in true hillbilly fashion. There were eight of us - dad, mom, kids, cousins, uncles, and grandma, staying in one 16 foot camping trailer. If grandma would’ve been smoking a pipe we could have made a hillbilly postcard! Want to know if you really love your loved ones? Put eight of them in a 160 ft² box and if you don’t kill each other then the Creator has truly blessed you! We camped, fished, cooked over the fire, swam, and generally enjoyed the Great Outdoors. We were rich!
As we hiked the roads through the five campgrounds, the camping shelters ranged from 10 year old tents to brand new half million dollar motor homes. As we waded and fished the river, the fishing apparel and equipment ranged from top-of-the-line Orvis and Filson to hand-me-down Zebco 202s with bobbers. Yet, despite the huge range in quality and cost of the equipment utilized, no one seemed to care, or even know, if they were poor in the campground. Life was good for all.
Today, if you need a reality check to help reset your connection with your family and Mother Nature, get in the Great Outdoors. Nothing is more refreshing to feel the freedom of Nature’s Economy. Nature’s Economy never needs a government bailout, it never needs to raise interest rates, and it never sees jobs move out of the country. Nature’s Economy is always a constant; a safety net to provide for us when our own system casts doubt. It is a perfect economy with a perfect currency and if you don’t know any better, you’ll never be poor.
This past Memorial Day Weekend at Bennett Springs was a great weekend and a fitting way to honor our ancestors from the hills. We were a family, one with Mother Nature, oblivious to the economy outside these Ozark hills, happily enjoying the basics of this life - eating, sleeping, and enjoying healthy living. Man we were rich this past Memorial Day, I hope you were too. So says the One-Eyed Hillbilly. Good luck, be safe, and get a big one.
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