Arrival

We took our time this morning, enjoying this very nice state park.  A good hot shower, a walk, a bike ride.  We weren’t due at the ranch until mid-afternoon and it is only a half-hour drive away from here so we had some time.  We rode to the Dewey Short Visitor Center, perhaps the most impressive visitor center I have ever been in.  Overlooking the lake, the dam, and the city of Branson, it is a destination all by itself.

Also located near here is the Shepherd of the Hills Fish Hatchery.  This place produces around 400,000 pounds of trout per year.  When the dam was constructed, it changed the ecosystem to be hostile to many of the native fish, so trout were introduced, and the hatchery ensures a steady supply for sport fishing.

Kind of fascinating learning about how this whole process works.  We even were able to see the building where eggs are harvested and watched a couple people pick up a trout and squish a couple thousand eggs out of it.  A bunch of  raceways house thousands of small trout, and we were able to see a feeding truck go by, dumping food into the raceways and causing the water to boil with the fish all coming up to eat it.

One fun fact I did not know is that Missouri does not have any natural lakes.  None.  All of the lakes have been created by damming up the rivers.

Leaving here, we drove to our work project, the Lives Under Construction Boys Ranch.  We were greeted by the friendly staff and shown to our parking space for the next three weeks, a nicely-shaded area with spaces for perhaps five or six RVs.  Nearby is a double-wide mobile home which will serve as our meeting space and also has laundry facilities, which we were in need of after this much time on the road.

This ranch appears to have nearly everything.  Pens and pastures containing cows, donkeys, chickens, and even bison.  A welding shop.  A body shop.  A wood shop.  An auto mechanic shop around which are scattered a bunch of older cars that are available for the boys to work on.  And lots of other stuff which I’m sure we will figure out.

At 4pm we met with Steven, our liaison, who talked with us for a bit about the ranch and the work that is always needed.  He also  gave us a little bit of a preview of some of the stories we will be hearing during devotional times on the work days.  Amazing stories, hard stories. Stories of hope.  We look forward to hearing more over the coming days.

“Oh, one more thing,” Steve said near the end of the meeting.  “Use a good flashlight if you walk around at night.  I killed two copperheads this morning so you will want to make sure you see them before you step on them.”  Deb’s face went ashen.  Snakes??  That’s something we don’t have to deal with in Michigan.

We all gathered for dinner at 5:30, everyone sitting at a couple long rows of folding tables.  Dinner was served family-style and we were able to meet many of the staff and the boys in the program.  It’s gonna take me a while to get all the names straight.

After dinner it was presentation time, where three of the boys shared what they had been learning in their vo-tech classes.   They are big on vocational-technical training, which is the reason for all the many buildings and animals here.  One talked about his welding class and passed around several pieces of raw metal stock.  Two others talked about their food-prep class. One of them, age 10, described how he had set the tables his way, with all the utensils on the right of the plate.  One of the staff asked him if he knew the right way, and he did, however, he preferred doing it his way.

These presentations also give the boys experience in public speaking.  All three of them did a great job.

As we walked home, we talked with Tim, a retiree volunteer who shared some of his own journey, losing his wife to cancer and coming here to volunteer.  Everyone here has a story and I’m sure we will hear more.

We start work on Monday, so we have a couple easier days ahead of us.  Maybe I’ll get some more pictures.