Missouri outdoors

Missouri Life magazine's new editor-in-chief, Sandy Selby, greets readers through the My Missouri Life column.
I popped up from my nest of pillows and books in the back of the family station wagon and announced, “I’m going to live in Missouri when I grow up.” I made that declaration at age nine as my family traveled from our home in northeastern Oklahoma to Branson for a vacation.

Part native fruit and part pioneer weather forecaster, the American persimmon ripens this month around the state.

Watch for our native blooming trees this spring, and work them into your landscapes.

The Missouri Department of Conservation conserves and protects the outdoors and offers various volunteer opportunities around the state.