We’re spending this (Memorial Day) weekend at the Tan-Tar-A resort in the Lake of the Ozarks:

Yesterday, we went to see the Castle ruins:

You can read all about the castle here The ruins were quite impressive: I went up close to the Water Tower, and the view from there was impressive, too: Photography was indulged in, with monkey tricks: the name of the game WAS to indulge: Some folks like four wheels, some like two: We all set out on a hike after lunch: Watched a few birds along the way (is it possible to avoid this when I'm around?) This bird above is called the Eastern Phoebe, and it's similar-looking to the Eastern Pee-Wee, and that inspired me to versify: If I were a bird And needed a name that was impossibly twee I'd still chose a word ...Or two...that was not "Pee Wee"; Because, you see Someone might feel The name is a deal Too long...and just call me a "Pee"..... So...I'd rather be An Eastern Phoebe.... Heard them singing, too: Some moths were around, too! The mist at the spring was awesome: and so were the natural formations...this one is a natural bridge that spans two slopes: None of us shopped, but if we'd wanted to, we could have gone to Ozarkland, which was modestly claiming to be a "fantastic gift shop": We wound up with dinner at a Mexican restaurant, which had this lovely piece of wildlife:

Let me close with the most common insect here, the

CICADA:

and the ex-Cicada:

We saw Muskrats and Otters and Red-eared Sliders (Turtles) as well as water snakes…and several deer, too.

More details…go to my Facebook photos, (it’s SO much easier to upload hi-res pics to FB and add the narrative!)

click here

Let’s see what today has in store for us…there’s going to be fireworks in the evening on the lake.