Andy Ostmeyer

Joplin Globe Editor
Husband to Beth for 42 years
Father of Four
Grandfather of Emmy Jane
Ozark River Lover
Outdoor Page Columnist
St. Jude ourfamily patron

[Andy Ostmeyer @AndyOstmeyer]

Days are getting warmer and some spring flowers have left the stage, but wild bergamot, also known as bee balm, has made its appearance in Southwest Missouri. It's a member of the mint family.

[Andy Ostmeyer @AndyOstmeyer]

The Joplin Globe Outdoor Page Pick of the Week is a program on fishing Beaver Lake and War Eagle Creek with tips from an expert angler. It's free and runs from 1-3 p.m. Sunday, June 14, at Hobbs State Park visitor center. A 15-minute program will be offered every half hour.

[Ines San Martin @inesanma]

"My client is not in a hurry."

One hundred years ago today, on June 10, 1926, Antoni Gaudí died in Barcelona, three days after being struck by a tram on his way to confession. Because of his simple clothes and unkempt appearance, many mistook him for a beggar and delayed helping him. By the time he was identified, it was too late.

A century later, the man known as "God's architect" is being remembered not only for his genius, but for the faith that inspired it.

Today, Pope Leo XIV will visit the Basilica of the Sagrada Família to bless the newly completed Tower of Jesus Christ, the final and tallest of Gaudí's planned towers. Rising 172.5 meters (566 feet), it makes the Sagrada Família the tallest church in the world.

Gaudí devoted the last years of his life almost entirely to the Sagrada Família, convinced that he was not building a monument to himself but offering a work of praise to God. He famously accepted that he would never see it completed, saying, "My client is not in a hurry."

One hundred years after his death, the basilica remains a testament to a faith capable of imagining eternity—and to a man whose greatest masterpiece was never really about architecture at all.

[Scott @Havenlust]

"There is peace even in the storm."

— Vincent van Gogh

[Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library @TRPresLibrary]

#OTD in 1906, a little over three years after he sat by a campfire with John Muir under the giant sequoias of the Mariposa Grove, Theodore Roosevelt signed the Yosemite Recession Bill.

The law did something Muir had spent much of his life arguing for. Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove had been under California state control since 1864 — a strange administrative doughnut, with the federally-protected national park surrounding a state-controlled core. State management had been uneven; overgrazing, fire, and unchecked development had taken their toll. Muir had pushed for federal control for decades.

In May 1903, on a three-day camping trip with the President, he had finally found his audience.

The legislation Roosevelt signed on June 11, 1906, accepted California's "recession" of the valley and the grove back to the federal government, unifying them with the surrounding Yosemite National Park. It was the policy completion of a campfire conversation — and, in conservation terms, one of the most consequential signatures TR ever made, bringing the most iconic mile of American landscape under permanent federal protection.

Today, every visitor who stands at Tunnel View and looks across the valley — the granite walls, the falls, the meadows, all in their preserved state — owes that view, in part, to a camping trip and a bill signed on this day in 1906.

#OTD #OnThisDay #TheodoreRoosevelt #JohnMuir #Yosemite #Conservation #DareGreatly

[Andy Ostmeyer @AndyOstmeyer]

First blackberries of the season tasted great. They are early, plentiful and plump this year.

[Epic Clip Vault @EpicClipVault]

His friend dressed up as a bear just to prank him 😭

[Andy Ostmeyer @AndyOstmeyer]

It's Bat-O-Rama weekend at Devil's Den State Park June 12-14, with three days of events including hikes, talks by experts, a night program on echolocation and instructions for building bat boxes to help our endangered neighbors. Check out https://t.co/aA4vXx8zHJ for details.

[Tom Holland @holland_tom]

"For there's nothing as powerful or as great
As when a husband & wife, united by oneness of mind in their thinking,
Keep their home together—a great bane to their enemies,
A blessing to their friends, & their renown is on everyone's lips.”

Odysseus' great praise of marriage.

[Andy Ostmeyer @AndyOstmeyer]

Trumpet vine on display in Missouri, and in this case looking more red than the usual orange during a Saturday morning bike ride.

[Andy Ostmeyer @AndyOstmeyer]

My Outdoor Column in this weekend's Joplin Globe encourages Missourians to get out and see parks this summer in advance of the sales tax renewal on the ballot in August that supports park (and keeps them free). It lists events at Echo Bluff, Stockton, Prairie and and more.

[MO Conservation @MDC_online]

Report turkey sightings this summer to help with MDC wild turkey brood survey. More at https://t.co/j4QAYJYe9j

[Andy Ostmeyer @AndyOstmeyer]

Caught this beautiful example of American black elderberry making an appearance in Southwest Missouri. According to Missouri Department of Conservation, "Many old-time Missourians used to swear by the medicinal value of elderberry wine."

[Andy Ostmeyer @AndyOstmeyer]

Upcoming three-day weekends, like Juneteenth, are great for extended Buffalo River trips. Put in Thursday after work and get in three nights of gravel-bar camping. The Park Service also has events planned including whittling demos, night-sky viewing, hiking programs and more.

[Andy Ostmeyer @AndyOstmeyer]

Great article by Loring Bullard in the Missouri Conservationist on "one of the premier outdoor experiences to be had in Missouri," viewing the night sky from the upper Jack's Fork River. Few places in Missouri offer a better view. Well worth a read, and well worth a visit.

[Andy Ostmeyer @AndyOstmeyer]

Prairie State Park is reporting that its first calves of the year were seen this week. "Five in total were observed," according to the park. Photo courtesy Missouri State Parks.

[Andy Ostmeyer @AndyOstmeyer]

A Southwest Missouri man set a new Missouri fishing record earlier this month. Danny Naugle, Cassville, caught this yellow bass weighing 2 pounds, 7 ounces. It was just two ounces shy of the world record, according to Missouri Department of Conservation. Photo courtesy MDC.

[Andy Ostmeyer @AndyOstmeyer]

The Joplin Globe Outdoor Page Pick of the Week is a Wildflower Walk from 10-noon Saturday, May 30, at Prairie State Park. May is a great time to see prairie wildflowers. For more information, call the nature center at 417-843-6711.

[William Holtz @william_laketv]

INSANE: There Was A Bear Swimming in #lakeoftheozarks Thursday 🤯🐻

🎥 Riley Will

@MDC_online

[Andy Ostmeyer @AndyOstmeyer]

Trout Fest will include a trout derby this year, from 6:30 a.m. to noon, June 6, at Roaring River State Park. It's also free fishing weekend in Missouri. You can find out more in our outdoor column at https://t.co/aA4vXx8zHJ