Steve Mattison

My wife reminded me that this is our normal month for the most rainfall and after all we had received earlier this spring, I had forgotten that fact. Watching those wet Iowa folks helping each other out in the flooded streets of their towns reminded me of how great American neighbors really are. I talked to a farmer the other day that lost his brand new tractor in a flooded stream that he had forded sucessfully for years, but this is just not an ordinary year. I believe we are seeing new records set because we are in either a 100 year or 500 year or 1000 year cycle of flooding like we have never seen before. Unfortunately it seems there is more on the way, hang on, keep your head above water, and keep on being a good neighbor. That is what being a mid-west citizen is all about, help, give, & pray for each other.

Engineers at Table Rock Lake Dam must be proud of their water control abilities this year. Watching the flooding in Oklahoma, Kansas, Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana and Illinois sure helps me appreciate how well we have been served by the system set up to handle all the water everyone has gotten this year. 100 year floods are something we have heard about all our lives but it sure seems like we are living through one of those centennial events we have been hearing about. I know some folks would dis-agree with my perspective on how well we have been able to handle the extra foot or so of rain this spring we have been blessed with but the majority would have to agree, compared to those states mentioned above, we have sure been able to survive these floods in a lot less devistating way than most of those poor folks that live on flat land where the water has no where to go. Our hills and hollers make for wild winding roads to ride but they sure handle the water well, I would say. Even though the James River has set a new high mark for it's history, we have not seen the widespread evacuations and homes under water I watched on the news today. Neighbors need neighbors in times like these and these are our neighbors in need right now so come on you all and pitch in any way you can and feel like a real American!

Buying land for a good, safe, long-term real estate investment always makes sense when the price is right. Right now is the best time to buy land I have seen in a few years. Putting your investment into a limited resource that will only increase in value while supply decreases is the smartest investment one can make. You could easily do better on this type of investment than anything else that is legal I know of. Want to see some good investment land in the Ozarks of Missouri in the Table Rock Lake and Branson area? Go to my website, www.ozarksagent.com, give me a call at 417-350-9743 or just email me and we will get together the information you need to understand just what I am referring to. steve@ozarksagent.com

Weather you have been getting rained on or not, spring weather brings some beautiful sunsets and sunrises. Missouri has been one of the newsmakers lately because of the large amounts of rain we have been getting, but that is also one of the great things about the Ozarks, we can handle it. Our beautiful green hills and hollers move the water right on down to Table Rock Lake and cleans our fisheries so efficiently that it is only a matter of a few days before you can hardly tell we have received a foot of rain. True, a river or two can escape it's bank for a short while, but most people have learned of that possiblity years ago and built up where they do not have to worry about that. Today I noticed the Bradford pears and some other fruit trees are blooming, as are the wild daffodils and forsythia with the dogwoods and gladiolas soon to follow. Spring is beautiful and that takes rain and thunderstorms to bring it all about, which is what woke me at five-thirty this morning so I could get some blogging in before going down to the Reeds Spring Middle School at eight to help set-up the equipment for the new church, Hope Fellowship, that meets there. Galena, Crane, Cape Fair, Branson West, Kimberling City, Spokane and Highlandville people are all close enough to make the 9:30 am start time and are welcome. We have been running a radio ad on a couple of Branson radio stations letting people know it is a non-denominational church for those who are looking for a loving, accepting church home. Bible belt areas would seem to have enough churches already, but this one is so different than any I have ever been to that I recommend you check it out for yourself, it may just be what you have been looking for. In the meantime, thank God for the rain and enjoy the beautiful Ozarks springtime that has finally arrived after a long, long winter. Life is good and getting better is the message of spring to me and that is when the real estate market starts blooming again too.