I Dream of Sinkholes

When the sinkhole in Barry County formed last year, I followed the story with fascination. Underground Ozarks has a picture posted of the end result, a pond about the size of a football field.

The Nixa sinkhole began to form Sunday morning, with no forewarning. The resident had just come home from shopping and was reading the Sunday paper. He heard a rumble that he thought was a tornado, and took refuge in the bathtub. A few moments later, another rumble, and he realized that something else was afoot. He went outside to find his garage, car inside, a goner.

My friend, who lives two blocks from the sinkhole, says the end is not in sight and that neighbors have brought lawn chairs to watch as the rest of the house slowly topples inward. Another smaller sinkhole at the north end of the Nixa city park also appeared recently, which city employees have been attempting to fill, but to no avail.

There is a huge sinkhole near where my Mother grew up in Webster County. They called it the Devil's Den, and she told us the bottom had never been found. You could look way down in it and see debris floating around. She said a team of horses and a wagon were lost in it long ago, and stories circulated that the mob disposed of their dirty business there. Great material for a bad dream.