Rolling Through The Arkansas Countryside

Recently we took the girls on a train ride. There is a scenic tour that runs through the Boston Mountains from Springdale to Van Buren here in Northwest Arkansas. There is also a short leg that runs from Van Buren to Winslow and back which is only three hours long. We decided on the shorter tour in consideration of the attention span of Ari, the three year old.

These photos are just of the view out the window. More about the train itself will come later.

Though the initial part of the ride is through the town of Van Buren, and it brings an understanding of what it means to be on the wrong side of the tracks, soon it moves into the country side that I have come to love deeply since moving here.

There is space, and the light plays freely on the landscape.

Dry river beds abound at this time of year though in the spring they run full.

The mountains are gentle, and roll out as far as the eye can see.

Old towns bear the history of times that were harder, and yet perhaps fuller than the days in which we now live.

The architecture has character, and a certain practicality as there were days when coolness came from shade and stone rather than electricity.

Are those headstones lining the walls of this crumbling barn?

The water seems so soft, probably influenced by the limestone that is abundant.

And yet, there are the hard lines of modernity framing parts of the landscape.

The highway is new and convenient, and is the route we drive back and forth to the horses. It was a treat to see if from a new perspective.

The rock from these mountains has been used to build countless homes. The pallets in this field are waiting to be loaded and transported away for use in fences, buildings, and maybe a pretty little rock garden.

This is the scene that I carry with me whenever I wander away from this place.

The worn down rock of these ancient mountains, the water that carves deeper in time, and the trees that blanket it all.

This is my home.