Posts by Rosalie Toler

October 2, 1995

Dear Laurie and Rod:

This is Rosalie sending you greetings from the river and the woods. We’ve never been formally introduced so Gerry wanted me to answer

your letter. Salt Spring Island sounds like another spot to put on our list which has become overwhelming. We’ll have to live a long time to see everything, some of it without teeth or running shoes. No matter. By then, who’ll remember the details?

We’ve a varied life here at Ozark Campground. We’ve been barked at by a 100-pound puppy and complained to by a man named Ernie who rode in on a motorcycle and found cow piles in the campground. Gerry tried to herd away the four guilty cows but he wasn’t good at it. We’ve seen an armadillo strolling down the road with its mind on something else and deer leaping through the woods. We watched six people, who didn’t know how, try to put up their tent, and we sang “Let Us Gather by The River” with the crowd at a ranger presentation. Every Tuesday we drive into Jasper to collect our mail and eat brownies. Our biggest crowd was over Labor-Day weekend–106 people. Last night it was just us, a zillion insects, a pair of newlyweds in a tent, and a thunderstorm.

The leaves have changed colors, here, in the last few days. It seems to happen suddenly. At some moment, when we weren’t looking, the color red drifted in and, next, we’ll notice yellow, and orange. The leaves aren’t the only newly-colored items around here. Two trucks passed us and the occupants had green faces; they waved at us with green hands. Hunters. October 1 opened deer season with bows-and-arrows. Such is life at the Ozark Campground, along the Buffalo River, in Arkansas.

Thank you for the letter, your address, and telephone number. We’ll stay in touch.

Rosalie Toler (and Gerry too.)