An urge of unknown origin

We believe there are sign alignment issues with this caddywhompus arrangement. As best we can tell, the towns of Marvel and St. Charles have not been moved. This is for real, not cut and paste.

A spontaneous trip to St. Charles

An urge of unknown origin sent me to tiny St. Charles, Arkansas seeking fodder for this venue. Once the urge was codified to action, I decided on separate going and coming routes. In days past, this practice was defensive in nature. Currently, it is a practice to afford more visual opportunities. My going route took me through Stuttgart, Arkansas to Crocketts Bluff, Arkansas and then to St. Charles. That selection put me in front of the hilarious sign above.

Click the store to see pictures and story of how this adventure started

In St. Charles I found a historic store with some  east-coast connections one would not expect to find in the depths of LA (lower Arkansas). I also discovered a few tidbits of history about the area.

It was a “days gone by” trip, looking at what worked years ago but does not work now, a valuable exercise if one intends to survive the whirlwind economic and social idiosyncrasies that steer the world in which we live.

See the Photo of the Week Page at Corndancer dot-com for pictures and observations.

The following pix are targets of photographic opportunity to and from our destination

East of Stuttgart, we confirmed the presence of armed and frisky “good-ol-boys” in the local population mix. A shotgun smacked this sign along with what appear to be .22 shots.

You are looking at the entire central business district, as in “down-town,” in Crocketts Bluff, Arkansas. What the town lacks in size it more than makes up with its cleanliness. It is also a destination for serious anglers and waterfowl hunters.

I’m not sure what these doo-dads are or what they do, but they looked like an interesting picture. They are part and parcel of the huge University of Arkansas Agricultural Research facility east of Stuttgart, Arkansas.

Farmers on the Grand Prairie are generally a neat lot. Their premises, for the most part, are well manicured like this one. The old barn is providing shelter to aluminum irrigation pipe sections which have fallen from grace in favor of collapsible plastic pipe.

I always call these wild flowers Holly Hocks, with full realization that they are not. They grow by the gazillions on LA roadsides this time of year. These are on Highway 153 south of Crocketts Bluff.

Being a dog person, it is always nice to find a furry friend who is as glad to see you as you are to see him. This dude wandered up to visit as I was leaving St. Charles.

We have established an additional population of armed good ol’ boys in the DeWitt, Arkansas area. Unlike ducks, geese and deer, signs never seem to be out of season.

I first shot this residence South of DeWitt, Arkansas in June 2009 when it was occupied. There was a tricked out blue chopper ensconced on the front veranda. Click here to take a look at the 2009 picture. You will need to scroll down to see the picture when you arrive at the linked page.

After this shot, we lit a shuck for home. I hope you have as much fun looking at these pictures as I did shooting them.

BONUS GALLERY

There are 20 pictures in this trip collection, you see nine of them here. You can see these anbd th rest of the pix, in a larger format in our Weekly Grist Gallery.  Enjoy looking!

Thanks for dropping by,

Joe Dempsey
Weekly Grist for the Eyes and Mind

http://www.joedempseyphoto.com/
http://www.joedempseycommunications.com/
http://www.corndancer.com/joephoto/photohome.html