Around Columbia

How Democratic is the Workd?

2026-10-16T13:02:29.704-07:00

How democratic is the world in 2026? Glad you asked. I was dumbfounded when I found out.

According to the latest major international studies, fewer than 16% of countries qualify as full democracies, and only about 6.6% of the world's population lives in them.

There is indeed an important distinction between fully functioning democracies, imperfect democracies, and countries that hold elections but lack the institutions and freedoms necessary to qualify as genuine democracies.

Three respected research organizations measure this: the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), the V-Dem Institute, and Freedom House.

1. Percentage of countries by type of government

The Economist Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index 2025, published April 7, 2026, classifies 167 countries and territories.

Source: EIU, Democracy Index 2025.

2. What distinguishes these four categories?

The EIU evaluates 60 indicators across five dimensions, so a country's classification is based on much more than whether it holds elections.

3. Countries classified as full democracies

The following are examples from the EIU's highest category, including its ten highest-ranked countries.

Other full democracies include Australia, Japan, Taiwan, Costa Rica, Uruguay, and Mauritius. These are examples, not the complete list of 26.

4. Examples of countries in other categories

These examples distinguish imperfect democratic systems from governments that maintain elections without providing genuine democratic competition.

Flawed democracies

United States, France, Italy, Portugal, India, and Brazil are examples of countries with competitive electoral institutions but significant democratic weaknesses in the EIU framework.

Hybrid regimes

Examples include Turkey, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nigeria. Elections and political opposition exist, but serious problems with electoral fairness, rights, or institutional independence undermine democratic accountability.

Authoritarian regimes

China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, Belarus, Saudi Arabia, and Eritrea exemplify systems where meaningful political competition or fundamental democratic rights are severely restricted or absent.

These are illustrative comparisons rather than a complete country-by-country reproduction of the EIU rankings.

5. What percentage of the world's population actually lives under democracy?

Country counts can be misleading because countries differ dramatically in population.

The EIU estimates that approximately 45% of humanity lives in either full or flawed democracies, while about 55% lives under hybrid or authoritarian systems.

6. An alternative study finds an even more troubling situation

Its Democracy Report 2026 evaluates 179 countries, with these findings:

Source: V-Dem Democracy Report 2026, using 2025 data.

V-Dem estimates that 74% of the world's population lives under some form of autocracy, compared with 26% under either liberal or electoral democracy.

That differs considerably from the EIU figure because the organizations use different criteria, country coverage, and classifications.

An important example is the United States. V-Dem downgraded it from a liberal democracy to an electoral democracy in its 2026 report. The EIU continues to classify it as a flawed democracy, ranking it 34th. These are assessments of institutional performance, not claims that the United States has ceased holding meaningful elections.

7. Freedom House: another way to classify countries

Its 2026 report classifies 195 countries as follows:

Freedom House also separately evaluates 13 territories. Importantly, being rated Free is not identical to meeting the EIU's more demanding full democracy category.

8. Where to find the complete country lists

These sources provide the country-by-country classifications:

My overall conclusion

A country calling itself a democracy tells us very little by itself. A more meaningful test is whether its citizens can freely replace their leaders, whether opposition parties can function, whether courts and the press are independent, and whether government power is genuinely constrained.

The striking finding is that only about one in six countries meets the EIU's full-democracy standard. Even among countries with real elections, democratic protections vary substantially.

distinction between electoral democracy and liberal or full democracy is particularly important: elections are necessary for democracy, but they are not sufficient to guarantee it.

So what do we about it? I am writing that post now.

Karst Trail at Rock Bridge Memorial State Park

2017-03-31T15:56:00.002-07:00

This is the first of a series on the trails at Rock Bridge Memorial State Park. Rock Bridge Memorial State Park is located just south of Columbia. Beautiful, and well maintained, there is lots to do there, and even more to see.

My son-in-law and I are hiking the trails one at a time. We start this series with the Karst Trail which which is named after a a "landscape formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves."

Entrance to the trail from the parking lot.

There are a lot of sinkholes in Missouri, there are a lot at the park, but I have never seen so many sink holes in one place than what I saw in this park.

Options

Below are pictures of just two, of the many, sink holes we walked by:

Overall impression? The Karst trail is picturesque, lots of variety, and a pleasant walk. Nothing breathtaking, I will show you some of that later, but interesting nonetheless. Pleasant. It took us less than 45 minutes to hike the two mile loop. We did not see a soul either. You can actually make a day of it by stringing together some of the smaller trails like this one, but unfortunately you will have to drive to some of them since they do not all connect. There is one larger 8 mile loop which I will cover later.

Another Little Free Library

2015-10-11T16:22:00.000-07:00

About one hundred yards from the Daniel Boone Regional Library, here in Columbia, I found another little library. This one is actually registered with Little Free Library at www.littlefreelibray.org.

As you can see it even has a registration, or charter, number on the lower right side.

I am a huge believer in books. Not the ebook, or digital version, which I think provide an inferior experience, but rather the old fashioned kind that you can hold in your hand.

I plan on building one over this winter to launch this coming spring but I am going to specialize in children’s books. There are only two chartered ones, this one and another one I do not have a picture of yet. The one I wrote about two days ago does not have a charter, and there are bound to be others. Columbia is a college town, and is generally a book loving community. KOMU TV ran a story about several I have not seen yet, some without charters, in July of this year.

Here is what the Little Free Library web site has to say about how the project got started:

n the beginning—2009--Todd Bol of Hudson, Wisconsin, built a model of a one room schoolhouse as a tribute to his mother, a former school teacher who loved reading. He filled it with books and put it on a post in his front yard. His neighbors and friends loved it. He built several more and gave them away. Each one had a sign that said FREE BOOKS. Rick Brooks, of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, saw Bol's do-it-yourself project while they were discussing potential social enterprises. Together, the two saw opportunities to achieve a wide variety of goals for the common good.

In September 2015, the organization reported over 32,000 chartered Little Free Library sites in all 50 U.S. states, and in over 70 other countries world wide.

Fall Sale at Tryathletics - A Columbia Tradition

2015-10-06T20:40:00.000-07:00

Columbia is blessed with some great locally owned and operated business such as Tryathletics. If your local chances are you already know about their annual shoe sale which is always held around this time of year. The sale started this morning and I stopped by there on my way to work, and purchased two pair of high quality running shoes for half price. Not the shoes you get at the discount or big box stores, but the ones that you find at the serious sporting good and sport specialty stores.

When I got there the place was packed. The parking lot was full, and there was even a food truck outside doing a very brisk business. I should have taken a picture of that! The picture to the left is only a fraction of the huge selection they had to offer.

I am a huge supporter of shopping locally at locally owned and operated enterprises. I am proud put in a good word for them.

1605 Chapel Hill Rd.
Columbia, MO 65203
(573)-447-2453 (phone)
(573)-447-4477 (fax)

Little Free Libraries Come to Columbia Missouri

2015-10-04T16:00:00.001-07:00

Some ideas are so fresh, so elegant, and make so much sense that I just fall in love with them. Then there are some extra special ones that go even further. They spread a sense of brotherly love, cooperation, and goodwill.

Netflix is an example of the first. I have long been a fan of Netflix starting way back when they were in the business of just shipping you a DVD through the mail. I was glad to finally escape the awful store front débâcle that was the retail DVD movie rental business. An example of the second kind is the little free library movement.

Yesterday I was out walking when I passed a gentleman who I often see out walking with his dog. We exchanged greetings and I noticed he was carrying books. I was curious as to what kind of books somebody would be carrying while they walked and asked him. He told me, and then explained he was going to the "little library" which was less than a hundred yards up the road on Green Meadows Court, just across the street from the Green Meadows Court and Greenbriar Drive intersection.

According to the little free library map there are six other locations ran by local volunteer participants who have registered. There may be others that are not listed. The fabulous web site that started it all is located online at http://littlefreelibrary.org/. The movement has spread throughout the United States and even overseas. You can listen to a short news report about it, less three minutes, thanks to Vermont public radio.

My own neighbourhood library is about a quarter of a mile away from my front door. Today I dropped off two books and picked up one.

Strawberry Hill Farms - Start Thinking About Spring

2014-12-07T11:25:00.003-08:00

This is the view from where we parked at the very east edge of the nursery.

On a cold December day we can comfort ourselves knowing that inevitably
spring will come just as we think we will not be able to take the cold and dark another moment. In March one of Columbia's premier plant nurseries will be opening back up. Now is a good time to start planning our gardens.

I took these pictures this summer, but have used Strawberry Hill Farms for over three years. Prices are great, and the plant quality is outstanding. I get consistently good results with the bedding plants and the flowers I buy there. These pictures were taken during a trip when I brought my mother into town so she could buy flowers. By that time I had already been to Strawberry Hill Farms at least twice, and my garden was thriving.

Inside the greenhouse at Strawberry Hill Farms

Another picture from inside the greenhouse.

My moms final selection.

This family owned and operated business, like all family owned and operated businesses in our community, deserves our support. The quality of their products and their willingness to share their knowledge, makes it easy to do so.

Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trax, and Other Running Events in Columbia

2014-11-28T11:12:00.001-08:00

Columbia is a great fitness town. I have done several stories about our local trail system, which is simply outstanding, within the city and how it connects with the state wide trail network. I run on those trails at least one time a week. There is also an active fitness culture, and a fantastic running community. The annual Turkey Trax, held on Thanksgiving morning, is just one example of the many running events that are held here. Probably over one a week on the average.

This past Thanksgiving I ran in my second Turkey Trax here in Columbia. Although it was a very cold morning hundreds of runners showed up for this great annual event. Ultramax Sports sponsors this race and their events are always well organized. A calendar of events they are sponsoring is available online. Last year the event was held at Rockbridge High School, but this year the event was moved to downtown. I ran this event with some family members and we had a great time. You can find that story at my other blog Running Ugly.

This is me, number 1677, two of my daughters, and my favorite son-in-law. It is fun to be active and healthy as a family.

A crowd shot of the finish line.

The announcer that cheered people on. You can see how well organized the event was. Registration proceeded without a hitch right up to the start and EVERYBODY got a t-shirt.

Another shot of the finish.

Why pictures of the bathrooms? Because it is important and you know that if you have ever raced. There were FOURTEEN bathrooms for this event and I did not see a single person having to wait their turn. I was very impressed.

Pies, and yes they were all kosher (I checked) for people who placed. I came in sixth in my age division so I went home hungry.

The Columbia Ultramax Sports store located on Broadway downtown.

The pictures are a bit blurry. I used an iPhone but I have one of those waterproof cases. The area around the lens gets obscured with dust and lint.

The running community is backed up with one of the best running clubs in America for a city our size. The Columbia Track Club is active and puts on a lot of its own events, while helping with many others. It also sponsors an annual summer track event for kids. The Calendar of events, including training runs for the Columbia Track Club is available online. Tryathletics is a local small business that is also very much involved, and giving, to the community. I would be remiss if I did not mention them.

The Crossroads

2014-11-24T17:24:00.002-08:00

Occasionally I focus on eateries located at the periphery of Columbia. This one is noteworthy because it is close to Amish country near Sturgeon, Missouri. If you want a day trip, a trip to the Amish community, and a meal at the Crossroads would be ideal. Just keep in mind that the Amish close everything on Sunday.

Take 63 North heading out of Columbia to get there. The Crossroads is located less than fifteen minutes north of Columbia at the junction of 63 and state road 22. My parents love this place which is an example of good local home cooking Missouri style. They are especially fond of the homemade pies. I heard rumors that the place has changed hands recently but I have no idea if the menu has changed much, but I do know the pies are still available. My father told me that the Crossroads was fixing around 75 of them for Thanksgiving. Many of those pies were preordered, to be picked up for the Thanksgiving holiday and eaten at home. These pictures are from this summer.

This is the intersection that has historically been called "the junction." Across the street, just north and closer to the highway, used to be a truck stop which went through several iterations.

The address is: 760 Highway 22, Sturgeon, MO 6528. Let me know if the food is still good. Running a restaurant is a tough thing to sustain at a quality level for a long period of time. For various reasons owners, and quality, can come and go. But, keep in mind that there are some places like this one where the locals do eat, and the food is good.

Greenbriar Extension Completed

2014-05-24T11:48:00.000-07:00

My last post was about the construction of the Greenbriar extension which I found out about by accident when work had just started in 2012. For that last post you have a visual tour that runs roughly from north to south. This tour runs from south to north, in the opposite direction, on the completed extension.

The Katy Trail itself runs a little over 264 miles across Missouri from Clinton in the west to Machens Missouri in the East. Columbia's own MKT trail connects to the Katy trail, and the MU Recreation Trail connects to that. The Greenbriar extension connects the south west section of Columbia to the MU Recreation trail. More specifically, it connects to the Hinkson Creek Trail section of the MU Recreation Trail. Sounds confusing? It is. The trail system is complex until you get to know it.

The extension starts on the south side at the corner of Greenbriar Drive and Green Meadows Circle. Not Green Meadows Street, the longer street everyone is familiar with that runs east and west past the Beth Shalom synagogue, but is a little semi-circular street behind the better known thoroughfare. You take Greenbriar Drive heading north, to get to the Greenbriar extension. The pictures for the following tour were taken on a bicycle ride about an hour ago. I am on this section of the trail you are looking at (walking, running or bicycling) at least three times a week. Even during the winter when it is ice and snow covered. The Greenbriar extension is centrally located so you can access both sides of Columbia, and the down town/Mizzou campus area, with relative ease.

This is where the extension starts on Green Meadows Court about one mile from my house.

It is pretty much down hill all the way until you get to the extension that opens up between two house just before Greenbriar ends at a cul de sac.You make a right onto the extension.

Now it gets a little steep, but the trail is beutifully done. Watch out for the blind corners - you really can't see anyone coming up on you from any direction on this first switchback!

This is the view looking down from where I took the first photograph.

Here is pretty much the same view from a different angle.

I have just ridden past the bridge, seen in the last two pictures.

Here is another switchback that was just hidden from view in the last picture. Still riding down the hill. The visibility on this switchback is not a problem.

Onto the level area. This particular part of the trail is always lush and green.

There is some whimsical bicycle art along this stretch. I will show you one, and leave it up to you to spot t he rest of them. Make sure to look up, to the left, and to the right.

The whole extension is a bit more than a quarter mile. Here it ends at the Mizzou trail which connects to the Katy Trail further down the road. The MIzzou tennis courts are just out of sight in this view, partially obscured by the trees in the right hand corner of the picture, but about another two hundred yards north.

This sign is visible from the last picture but now I am at the end of the extension ready to ride back up. So, I am heading back from where I came from in the other direction. I wanted to show you the sign because it has the directions, and distances.

As I said in my last post, the trail system in Columbia keeps getting better and better.

It seems that Google Maps now provides most of the trail details. You can follow Greenbriar on the map until you get to the extension, and then follow the extension to the rest of the trails.

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Greenbriar Extension to the Columbia Trail Network

2012-10-18T19:42:00.000-07:00

The trail system here in Columbia, for walking and bicycling, is incredible and getting better.

The Katy Trail runs a little over 264 miles across Missouri from Clinton in the west to Machens Missouri in the East. Columbia's own MKT trail connects to the Katy trail, and the MU Recreation Trail connects to that. Various neighbourhood extensions, official and otherwise, are either a reality or in the planning stages. The latest is the Greenbrier Extension which will connect the south west section section of Columbia to the MU Recreation trail. More specifically, it will connect to the Hinkson Creek Trail section of the MU Recreation Trail. Sounds confusing? It is. The trail system is complex until you get to know it which I am in the process of doing. For me personally it is a great news since that the trailhead will now be extended to exactly 1.2 miles from my house. I have already measured it.

The pictures are basically in chronological order walking in from Epple Field onto the Hinkson Creek Trail.

Below you can see the entry of the new trail extension to the left of the already existing trail. Just beyond the gravel pile.

The last hundred yards includes a pretty steep switchback. This is where construction was underway when I visited.

The rest of the pictures are walking out.

Back on the Hinkson Creek Trail heading pack toward Epple Field where I parked.

I stumbled on the Greenbriar extension just a day or so after construction had started. It was a mere trail maybe not even fifty yards, cleared in the woods. The following pictures show what it looks like now. After taking these pictures I drove to the end of Greenbriar and was able to find the entrance so essentially the trail has been cut, and is now in the final stages.

Sam Walton Used to Live Somewhere Around Here - I Think

2012-07-30T13:23:00.001-07:00

Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart, graduated from Hickman High School here in Columbia, and then went on to take his bachelors degree in business at the University of Missouri before starting his retail career in Oklahoma. That is if you do not count some clerking he did at a local five and dime here. It would be stretching it a bit to call Columbia his official hometown since throughout his life he moved around the Midwest a lot, and he was not born here in Columbia. However, becoming the richest man in the world, and founding a retailing giant that become a social institution, counts for something so Columbia should at least make the attempt to lay some claim. I started thinking about this after doing some reading.

Sam Walton's autobiography, Made In America, is everywhere. If you go to many yard sales you are likely to eventually run across a copy, or you could check out the book section of any thrift store. You can even get a copy at the library. More on that later. I think there is something like one copy of the book for every single person living in America. Despite the availability I avoided reading it for years, and when I finally got around to it was pleasantly surprised to find it was actually worthwhile reading. I recommend it. At the same time I read the biography Sam Walton: The Inside Story of America's Richest Man by Vance H. Trimble. I did not like it as much. I am proud to say I purchased neither book, but checked them out at the same time from our very own Daniel Boone Regional Library. It turns out both books were written around the same time - when Mr. Walton was dying. The biography by Trimble is bland, and certainly treats the subject of the book gently, but it does contain a lot more detail than the autobiography. One of those details is that Sam Walton lived on Rosemary Lane during his stay here. 1309 Rosemary Lane to be precise according to the unauthorized biography by Trimble.

I know Rosemary Lane. It is a short street that runs east to west, and is about one long city block long. Many years ago it started out as a middle class, single family dwelling, residential neighborhood. Because of the close proximity to the Mizzou campus, which is literally right across the street, Rosemary Lane is now mostly campus student housing. That seemed to have started even in Sam Walton's time when his family rented out three of the four upstairs bedrooms to students (Trimble). At this point I doubt if there are any property owners who actually live on the street themselves. Instead the houses appear to have all been divided up, and the rooms rented out to students or their fellow travelers. I thought it would be interesting to drive by and take pictures of the former Walton residence, and write this story about it. Problem is, the house appears to be gone. It seems to have been replaced by the Sigma Chi parking lot. Fraternities have expanded their foot print in the neighborhood and one of the casualties was 1309 Rosemary. So, I photographed the neighborhood, and where the house used to be.

This view is facing west. College avenue is about fifty yards away, running north and south, and you can see the University of Missouri campus right across the street past College Avenue. 1309 Rosemary would have been to the right, where the fraternity parking lot is located although that is not visible in this photograph.

Below is the parking lot, referred to above, which stands about where 1309 Rosemary Lane would have been located. This is at the very west end of Rosemary Lane less than thirty foot from College Avenue.

This is a house that would have been one or two houses down from 1309.

Moving a little further down facing the North side of Rosemary. The view now includes another house as well as the one pictured above. These two houses give you an idea of the architectural style on the street which I actually find very nice. I love the porches.

This is a view facing east. Parking is allowed only on the south side of the road.

I am disappointed that I could not provide you with a photograph of the actual home where Sam Walton lived during his stay here in Columbia. I do feel though, that you can get a sense of what it was like. The homes were multi-storied and spacious with rather small yards, and the University of Missouri campus was literally right across the street. In the 1930s, when the Walton family resided there, it must have been a very pleasant neighborhood. It still has a lot of character.

I hope that neighborhoods like this in Columbia can be preserved, and do not succumb to blight or the encroachment of new development such as that which has already occurred around the edge of Campus near College Avenue.

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Kingdom City Tourism Center and Firefighters Memorial

2011-10-28T23:33:00.000-07:00

Located at the intersection of Interstate 70 and U.S. 54, at Kingdom City, is a tourism center and firefighters memorial about twenty minutes east of Columbia.

The firefighters memorial is a unique attraction, and is maintained by the Firefighters Association of Missouri. The associations web site has a lot of pictures of various events at the memorial. There are restaurants nearby as well as other amenities so it makes a good place to make at least a brief stop.

The best information I could find about the history of the memorial was from www.waymarking.com and this is a direct quote from that excellent web site:

This fire fighters memorial was dedicated May 18, 2002. On the black granite walls the names of all the Missouri fire fighters who have died in the line of duty since the first Fred Turnbull, St. Louis VFD, 1838 to the present. The Fire Fighter in Prayer statue is actually the second one. The first one was in transit through New York City on September 11, 2001 enroute to this memorial. On September 19, 2001, the New York Fire Department accepted the gift of the first Fire Fighter in Prayer statue from Missouri Fire Service. The gift was in honor of the 343 fire fighters who died in fall of the World Trade Center. The original remains in New York City at 8th Avenue and 41st Street and is probably one of the first 9/11 Memorials.

Providence South Bikeway

2011-08-09T22:30:00.000-07:00

The south Providence bikeway, funded by the Federal Highway Administration Non-Motorized Transportation Pilot Program, is near completion. It is a project of Getabout Columbia which advocates alternative modes of transportation with an emphasis on walking and/or biking.

The walkway runs parallel to the west side of South Providence. When completed it will be a beautiful addition to the city, and I am lucky in that I live less than a hundred yards from it - without having to cross a busy South Providence street.

Here is a picture I took when the project first started, and I was still unsure what it was going to be. This was even before the signs were put up:

But then things started to take shape. Keep in mind that construction and landscaping has been on again, and off again, for over a year now.

Here are some pictures of the project as construction continued:

Now it seems that all that remains is landscaping and fixing the drainage. I think this is going to be a popular feature here in the neighborhood. I just wished it stretched all the way to the Mizzou campus, and downtown.

Laws Observatory and the Central Missouri Astronomical Association

2011-06-09T11:56:00.000-07:00

Approaching Laws Observatory

Every Wednesday night from 8 - 10 p.m. members of the Central Missouri Astronomical Association volunteer their time to open and host visitors to the Laws Observatory. I think this is an exceptional public service by the group, and frankly by Mizzou, to make this resource available. I suggest going closer to 9 p.m. when it gets darker. Last night, when we visited, the view of the moon was stunning and we were able to view Saturn and some of its moons. Most paid family activities are not this worthwhile. Highly recommended.

Approaching the Physics Building

If you take the stairs this is the entry to the top floor where the telescope is located.

The ramp leads up to the telescope.


This is a visitors room with displays and other educational material for visitors.

This is a blurry view, handheld shot in the dark, from inside the observatory. The moon is visible through the roof slot and the telescope itself is to the right of the picture.

Views from the Roof

The following pictures were all taken from the roof.

Scenic View

Although you are limited to a small area where you still have some nice views of the campus, and the Columbia, skyline.

This is the kind of attraction you might not otherwise hear about, and is one that works nicely with some other activity since you really only need to spend thirty minutes there. The key with most activities is not to prolong it to the point that it becomes a chore rather than an adventure.

Here is a map to help you find your way:

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Blackwater Missouri Part I: The Pie Lady

2011-01-30T16:50:00.000-08:00

The Picket Fence

Imogene Mersey is 90 years old and will be 91 this March. She is the owner, and proprietor, of The Picket Fence which is "home of the pie lady."

Imogene Mersey (the pie lady)

Mrs. Mersey is indeed the pie lady and she offered up a menu of chili, sandwiches, cookies, and more importantly five different kinds of pie the day we were there.

Chocolate Pie

My mom tells me that the hardest part to get right with a pie is the crust and that Mrs. Mersey has mastered the art. Her crust was perfect.

We traveled to Blackwater as a day trip with all of our family and my parents. Everyone had something to eat and enjoyed the atmosphere including visiting with the folks that came in for some pie. The pie is the best seller.

Before the pie: my parents having some chili.

Rachel

Where's the pie?

I suspect that Mrs. Mersey makes most of her money on pies but that her passion is quilting. She is a master quilter and her work is beautiful.

Blackwater is located approximately 40 miles West of Columbia on Interstate 70. It is about three miles from the interstate and appears to be about three miles outside of Arrowrock which is another local attraction I will be covering in some detail on these pages. To check on hours or to order pies for a special event you can call Imogene Mersey at (660) 846-2263.

This was a wonderful trip. My kids had a great time - we all had a great time. I will be sharing more things to do in Blackwater with my next post.

Missouri Wildflowers Nursery

2010-12-21T20:12:00.000-08:00

Missouri Wildflowers Nursery is a wonderful place to visit and to select plants that are naturally inclined to do well here in Missouri. Closed for now, these pictures were taken on the last weekend they were going to be open as we headed into winter. In a matter of weeks they will reopen for you to make selections for spring planting.

Native Bamboo or switch cane (Arundinaria gigantea tecta) for more pictures if this plant growing in the wild see the Pinnacles Youth Park story.

Here is some information from their web site:

We sell native Missouri perennials, both seeds & plants. Our plants are nursery propagated. Missouri is the genetic origin, so they are best adapted to states east of the Rockies. View our plants online or come visit us. Our website species lists (found under "Plants & Pricing") are the most up-to-date of what is available at anytime. New & out of stock items will appear here first.

I think native plants are a neat idea and a practical one as well. We plan on purchasing a good number of specimens from the nursery and moving our yard to more native species over the next couple of years. In addition to their web site they have a very useful, and user friendly, catalog.

Contact Information:

9814 Pleasant Hill Road
Jefferson City, MO 65109-9409
(573) 496-3492

Knotty Pine Resort: Lake of the Ozarks

2010-12-13T21:01:00.000-08:00

The Lake of the Ozarks is about an hour away from Columbia and is a great place, within a reasonable distance, to visit for day trips, weekend vacations, or even longer. This resort was about an hour and thirty minutes from our house in Columbia.

There are many, dozens, of resorts at the Lake of the Ozarks and the Knotty Pine Resort was one Jenifer and I visited together in the early fall. Off season rates were in effect and we had a wonderful time, this is when we visited Ha Ha Tonka State Park, and enjoyed our stay here.

Price included two bedrooms and a full kitchen. You do have to bring your own towels to this particular resort and I suggest you bring some dish towels as well. It was very clean.

I enjoyed the cable television since we do not have it at home. But, now days CNN gets tiresome pretty quickly.

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AMTRAK Station at Jefferson City

2010-12-05T20:49:00.000-08:00

The closest AMTRAK station to Columbia is in Jefferson City. These pictures are in order from walking down to the station, looking around a bit, and then entering then exiting the waiting room. The station is ran by volunteers.

The first two pictures are of some historic buildings as you approach the tracks and the station proper.

These pictures were taken down at the tracks.

These are pictures of the waiting and ticket area.

A favorite trip of mine is to take the kids on a train trip from Jefferson City into St. Louis. Then my wife will meet us at the downtown station. It is a lot of fun and highly recommended especially if you, or your children, have not traveled by train.

Shelter Gardens

2010-11-24T17:57:00.000-08:00

This is from a Shelter Insurance web page:

Arguably the most well-known feature of Shelter's corporate office is Shelter Insurance Gardens. Just beyond the beautiful stone-and-wrought-iron gates are five acres containing over 300 varieties of trees and shrubs and more than 15,000 annuals and perennials. The gardens are open to the public daily between 8 a.m. and dusk (except Christmas Day, when the gardens are closed).

I have been visiting this Columbia attraction for years and have included here pictures from the last three years. As we head into winter this is a reminder of warm times, and beautiful flowers, to come. This is a must see and a wonderful place to picnic, or just relax. All four of my kids have made frequent trips to the Shelter Insurance compound to visit the garden, sit by the water fountain at night, or enjoy the summer concerts.

Make sure to check out my other story about the wonderful fountains that Shelter Insurance also maintains.


Entryway into the gardens.

Pathways.

Elephant Ears

Flowers

The school house pictures:

I am very thankful that Shelter Insurance has made a decision to keep the gardens open. This along with the fountain, which was mentioned in another story I referred to earlier, make them a good corporate neighbor to have in our community.

Make sure to visit. How can you loose with beautiful scenery in this Columbia landmark that is free and open to the public?

Ha Ha Tonka State Park

2010-10-31T21:52:00.000-07:00

Ruins of the main building which burned to the ground. The arches were door ways which are now largely obstructed with debris and growth.

This is a strange and wonderful setting with ruins of one man's dream and the beauty of nature each complimenting the other. About an hour and twenty minutes from Columbia it is well worth the visit. Ha Ha Tonka takes some effort to see, since you have to walk, and a trip there takes a bit of planning in order to do it right.

One of the carriage houses at the entrance.

These pictures are in order of our visit. We started at the parking lot and walked up past the carriage house. Then we spent a couple of hours walking around the ruins and then down to the lake and back. We then left to explore some of the other attractions at the park and came back later in the evening to take advantage of the twilight atmosphere.

This is the start of the Lake Trail which we hiked down to the Lake of the Ozarks itself.

The bottom of the lake trail. This trail is accessible by boat from this dock.

I wanted to take advantage of the changing light for different visual perspectives.

This is one of the separate trails away from the ruins.

Here we are back at the "castle" ruins to wait for the sun to start going down. This was our second hike to the location.

You can see it is starting to get dark.

The park closes at dark and there is limited primitive camping. Also, there are no vendors at the park so you have to carry in anything you will need such as something to eat or drink. A back pack, and as mentioned earlier some prior planning, makes this a very successful outing. Highly recommended.

7 Springs Winery at the Lake of the Ozarks

2010-10-19T22:46:00.000-07:00

On a recent trip to the Lake of the Ozarks we visited 7 Springs Winery which is located off of HWY 54 at the same exit you use to access Big Surf. The winery was about four winding miles and in the middle of nowhere. Our expectations were very low. However, we were very impressed with the beauty of the setting and the wine. Both were excellent. I highly recommend you visit this winery if you are in the area or even as a day trip.

The parking lot was empty. We were the first to arrive at eleven a.m. The place started to fill up around noon.

From the terrace, you can see a good deal of seating at the bottom of the hill from where the main building is located.

The food was very good. We just ordered a bread plate with three different kinds of bread and three different kinds of dipping sauce.

A pavilion for outside events.

Jenifer and I each tasted four wines and they were all good. This winery is definitely worth the time and trouble it takes to get there and the whole facility was tastefully appointed.

There is a lot to do in Missouri, a lot to do around Columbia, and it can be experienced for a relatively modest amount of time and money.

The Missouri State Capitol

2010-10-17T22:50:00.001-07:00

Located around thirty minutes from Columbia, south on HWY 63, is the state capital which sits on the west bank of the Missouri River. It is open for tours most days and is impressive. It is certainly worth the trip especially if you have not been there for awhile or your kids have not visited it yet. It sits next to the governor's mansion, and both are favorite sites for taking family pictures. This time of year, in the fall, the setting is stunning.

First two photographs of the governor's mansion:

Believe it or not, the mansion even has a web site, and one that is worth viewing. Now we leave the mansion behind to start the tour of the state capital which is located about one block away from the mansion:

Since the Citizens United versus the Federal Election Commission ruling this is now the home of the best legislature that money can buy.

This is the third capital in Jefferson City and the sixth Missouri capital. This building was completed in 1917. The last capital was in the same location, and burned in 1911 after being struck by lightning.

The Missouri River is just on the other side of the wall down below the considerable bluff.

The view from the capital is very nice. In the picture below you can see the bridge crossing over into Jefferson City, the railroad tracks, and the Missouri River.

Press have prime reserved parking spots just outside the capitol. This is an example of just two of those spots.

Now for some pictures of inside the building:

Even the bathrooms are beautiful!

The museum is outstanding but not lit in a way that is conducive to photography. This is the only picture I felt was good enough to post. The rest were too dark and my on board flash too anemic.

The carriage way which is where the entry/exit for tours is located.

A Sunday afternoon seems about perfect since there is not much of a crowd.

Rock Bridge Memorial State Park

2010-10-14T21:40:00.000-07:00

Located at the south edge of Columbia is Rock Bridge Memorial State Park. There is also a small campground just west of the park that is vastly underutilized - there is no camping within the Rock Bridge Memorial Park itself.

There are some hiking trails, the rock bridge itself which spans a live stream, and a nice environment.

These pictures take you on a walking tour from the start of the main trail, which is under renovation, to the return back at the parking lot.

The "Rock Bridge." A live stream runs through it.

Descending down to the cave.

leaving the cave to go back up to the observation deck.

There is a construction detour that goes east and starts down from the ridge. Going left here, instead of right, would take you over the natural rock bridge itself. The trail is undergoing renovation.

Starting to come down from the ridge.

The "rock bridge" from the east side.

The picnic area next to the parking lot.

Well, not the most sanitary but at least there is something.

Hartsburg Pumpkin Festival

2010-10-09T19:46:00.000-07:00

I had been taking my kids to the Hartsburg Pumpkin Festival for years starting out when it was a lot smaller. After a bit of a hiatus I went back this year with the two youngest. They love it. The event lasts two days, and according to the web site is almost always the second full week in October.

Less than 15 minutes away from Columbia (when the festival is not going on) is the little river town Hartsburg, Missouri. To get there from Columbia you head north on 63 North and a bit past Ashland make a right onto State Highway A then descend down onto the Missouri River bottom. As a historical note The Great Flood of 1993 flooded the river bottom area where Hartsburg is located.

This event seems to get bigger every year and as you can see from the pictures it takes awhile to make your way down to the town.

The view of the corn field as we stepped out of the van.

Taking the shuttle into town.

A good many people bicycle in since the Katy Trail runs right through Hartsburg.

The Katy Trail runs through Hartsburg.

Tractors pulled the tram and here we are about to get on again for the ride out to our van.

Coming full circle back to our van for the trip home.

Be patient. Count on it taking you an hour on Missouri Highway A after you turn off of Highway 63 North. At some point on Highway A the traffic will back up and be bumper-to-bumper. Relax and enjoy the scenery. Then I suggest that after you get off the tram you just stroll all the way back to the downtown area. Get something to drink, and then plan what you want to see, buy, and where you want to eat.

This event really has grown to the point where it needs two things. It needs a better way of getting traffic through town and more places for people to sit.

Columbia Senior Center

2010-10-08T12:36:00.000-07:00

On Sunday my parents call and want us to meet them for lunch at the Senior Center located on Business Loop 70. So, we packed up and went.

My parents.

Dad and Rachel.

The dining facility.

The entry way and reception area.

To the left the library and straight ahead the poolroom.

The library

Newsletter

I really want to get involved in working with older people on computer issues and teaching them how to use this wonderful resource. My mom really wants to do Facebook since she hears everyone talking about it and knows it is a major way that people now keep in touch. I think she would like it but they only have dial-up which is a huge problem out in the rural areas where the classic problem of the "last mile" makes access for people on the fringes uneconomical for the providers.

Two computers with high speed access - the center also now has wifi.

Realtor legend Jake Jacobs spends a good deal of time at the senior center. I cannot remember a time in the last three years when I went there and Jake was not there. Jake is very involved with the center and has been for some time.

Jake Jacobs