Skywatch Friday – Oklahoma Sunset

The other day the sky looked promising for a decent sunset. It seems the best conditions are high thin clouds. If they are too thick they kind of smother the sun and you get no color. And the thing is the colors don’t last so you have to be ready to go or the opportunity is gone. So I was home, my drone batteries were charged up so I launched it from the back yard.

If you are lucky, and I was that day, you get opposite sunsets which is where you get colors in any direction. So this is looking north.

And this is looking south.

And this was the west, the day before.

And this is looking down. You can see my orange landing pad. I do think that is my new roof. We color matched it to the old roof so there it looks the same. I do only periscope flights. I go straight up from the backyard and look around and then come back down. I don’t fly the drone over other people’s property or anywhere where I can’t just legally walk over and pick it up if something goes wrong. That’s just me though.

I’m linking with Skywatch Friday

My Corner of the World – 2024 Chalk It Up Festival

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The Tulsa suburb of Broken Arrow had their 2024 edition of the “Chalk It Up Art Festival” on their Main Street last weekend. Artists who entered got a designated space on the blocked-in street to create a work of art with chalk. We try and go every year. Lots of people enter and they are quite talented. The theme this year was “In My Own Back Yard” The following were my favorites.

Lots of entries featured pets.

Some had kind of a fantasy thing going.

This reminded us of our dear departed Rascal. He was such a good dog.

As a kid who couldn’t stay inside the lines on my grade school art projects, I appreciate people who bend the rules a little bit.

And I loved this. Who doesn’t love blowing dandelion seeds in the wind.

I think this won the “People’s Choice” award.

I think this had best in show. I love the deep rich colors of the work.

Another dog, Mango has his own swimming pool.

I think there were over fifty entries including those from children to adult artists. A talented group of artists for sure. They have Chalk It Up on the weekend of the September every year.

Sad thing is that the artists can’t dig up their huge pieces of pavement and take them home. Late Saturday afternoon, the police take up the barricades blocking traffic and people waste no time driving on this art. Oh well, that the nature of it.

I am linking with My Corner of the World

Shadowy Running – 20 years ago

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So I used to be a runner. Not much of a runner but still I entered races. My big race of the year was the Tulsa Run 15K. I loved it, 9.3 miles from downtown Tulsa through midtown and then back in late October, Tulsa’s best season. It was like a meditation to me. I ran along and just took it all in, the sun and wind in my face, the beautiful fall foliage, the other runners, the bystanders and all the bands. It was a big event in Tulsa, thousands of runners, lots of spectators. Beer and candy bars at the finish. I think I ran something like 20 or more in a row. I was a very slow runner. I always finished in the slowest 10 or 20% of the field. My goal was to just enjoy it and finish. So this is a brief story of my blazing finish at the 2004 version of the race.

I was running along, enjoying myself, zoning out and like I said before just enjoying the sun and wind on my face. I was going along at a pretty good pace for me and I was getting close to the finish and there were these two women in front running together but I wasn’t paying attention to them. Now oftentimes at the finish, there is the finish line and just before is another line with a sensor that makes your name pop up and you can get your name called out. Well I was focused on the finish line but the two women stopped running hard at the line before the finish line and I didn’t notice that so I ran in between them almost knocking them over. They were good sports and everything and no boyfriend came over and punched me in the nose or anything but it wasn’t really a good look for me.

But, you will notice that I beat both of them by a toe! So maybe it was worth it. Instead of finishing 9,373rd in the race, I finished 9,371st. (I’m making those numbers up.)

The other thing is that may be the only running photo of me with at least one foot in the air. This is one of the thousands of photos I have recently found that I thought were lost forever.

I am linking with Shadow Shot Sunday

Critters Big and Small – Under a New Roof

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Our big thing this week is our new roof. It was supposed to take two days but it will end up being four because of our steep pitch. I know one thing, it is not the workers. They are amazing. They show up early and work hard until 6 pm or so with only about 30 minutes for lunch and then they clean up everything really well before they leave. I think they are amazing. They are loud though!

Our poor little Kodi did not like it one bit! He’s kind of anxious anyway so he had a hard time of it.

Lizzy the cat dealt with it by taking over Kodi’s crate.

We are almost done now. We just have to get the new guttering on Monday morning.

On another front we have had some visitors in our backyard. I was told by a professional naturalist that this is a Red Spotted Purple Butterfly. I think it is beautiful.

Google images told me that this is a Gulf Fritillary. It is also beautiful.

That’s about it for this week. I’m linking with Saturday’s Critters.

Skywatch Friday – Grab Bag of Skies

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Tuesday I noticed that there was a hole in the sky so I took a photo of the hole.

I love power plants, especially those powered by natural gas and if they light up really good and have a cool sign then so much the better. This is Public Service Company’s Tulsa Power Station located on the Arkansas River in Tulsa.

This is a backyard sunrise shot from earlier this week.

And a shot of my neighbor’s sprinkler reflecting the sunset one day against a cool sky. Hey I’m opportunist and don’t apologize for it.

And this is from back in 2012 when our family went to Seattle for our vacation. We took a day trip to Mount Rainier National Park. I tried to take this photo but we were blacked out because the sky and the mountain was so bright. I figured out how to correct that on the iphone Lightroom app using their new masking capability, and I was able to bring us out from the dark. You can tell that I didn’t do that good a job on the masking but you know sometimes enough is enough.

I am linking with Skywatch Friday

Tulsa’s Williams Crossing Bridge at Night

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Last night I ventured out to the Arkansas River to check out the new Williams Crossing Bridge’s lights.

I was impressed. They are LED’s and have lots of colors possible.

The bridge has only been open a month. It is 1440 feet long. It is high enough over the water to keep it clear of a 500 year flood event.

It connects Tulsa’s Gathering Place on the east side of the Arkansas River to the RiverParks Trails on the West side of the river. It is 18 feet wide and has separate lanes for pedestrians and cyclists. It is the first “Steel Plate Arch Bridge” built in the United States. (See below what a steel plate arch bridge is)

I think it is gorgeous. I am planning to be there at sunset in the near future to get some Skywatch Photos.

I am linking with My Corner of the World

References

Black Wall Street Times

City of Tulsa

The Architects Newspaper

Architectual Record

I asked CoPilot AI what a Steel Plate Arch Bridge is and the following was the answer.

A steel plate arch bridge is a type of bridge that uses steel plates to form an arch structure. Here are some key features:

Structural Design: The arch is created using steel plates that are often bolted together. This design allows the bridge to handle significant loads by distributing weight efficiently through the arch shape ¹.
Compression Forces: The arch primarily works in compression, meaning the forces push inward along the curve of the arch, which helps in maintaining the structural integrity ¹.
Versatility: These bridges can be tailored to various site requirements and are often used for overpasses, pedestrian walkways, and small to medium-span crossings ².
Durability: Steel plate arch bridges are known for their strength and longevity. The use of galvanized steel plates helps in resisting corrosion, making them suitable for various environmental conditions ³.
Ease of Installation: The modular nature of steel plates allows for easier transportation and assembly on-site, often using local crews and equipment ².

Shadow Shot Sunday – From the Dog to the Beach

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Here’s Kodi the ornery Pomeranian hiding in the shadows of a tomato plant.

At the gym, a Kia Soul with eye lashes.

From twenty years ago, with family in Ventura, California celebrating my brother Bob’s retirement from the Navy. Looks like me and my lovely, and kind of ornery, niece Dana were having a photo shootout on the beach.

And my sister Ellen, Dana’s mom, joining in the fun. Ellen has a ornery side also.

And brother Bob with niece Dana to the our right.

As you can tell, it was an impromptu beach visit, and too cold in December for swimming suit anyway.

I’m linking with Shadow Shot Sunday

Saturday’s Critters – On the River

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Egrets and great blue herons sharing the prime fishing spot downstream of the Zink Lake Dam.

More sharing downstream of the dam.

A closeup of a great blue heron.

Here is one fishing with one leg. Or maybe sleeping. I don’t know, its eyes are open.

And a human fishing from the rocks at the dam.

Headed back to the car on the bike path I come upon this gaggle of geese.

These pics are from my bike ride early this week. My knee has been feeling much better. I woke Wednesday and I had some bad back spasms. My wife drove me to the Urgent Care and the on duty Nurse Practioner, prescribed me some muscle relaxers, and she gave me the old man side to side hug telling me that I should take a week off from my bicycling, hiking, weight training, and yoga. My wife was in there and thought it was a hoot that I am officially elderly and harmless in the medical world’s eyes. I’m good with it, I will never say no to hug from somebody nice. So this morning (Saturday) I woke up and I think I might live for a little while longer. Yesterday I wasn’t so sure. Tell you what though, the medication makes me not want to drink alcohol. I’m afraid my stash might be getting out of date.

I am linking with Saturday’s Critters

Skywatch Friday – To the Moon and back to Earth

Wednesday night was the Full Harvest Moon in Tulsa. Fortunately we had clear skies in Tulsa.

A friend in Arizona asked me if we had a lunar eclipse going on and I said, not as far as I know. Right after that the local news came on with a shot of eclipse so I grabbed my camera and went out and got my own shot.

Went on a bike ride again earlier this week. My knee held up pretty well and I was kind of babying it a little anyway. Anyway, I took another photo of our brand new dam and pedestrian bridge across the Arkansas River here in Tulsa. This is a view from the southwest side.

And this is a view from the northeast side. The river sure looks good with water in it.

And I rode back to my car down the east side of the river. Stopped for this photo. The hill on the other bank is the Turkey Mountain Urban Wilderness Area.

Sunday night I was taking our refuse and recycling carts to the curb for weekly pickup and I noticed this reflection of the sunset. Photographers are always droning on about leading lines. So after nearly 70 years of picture taking I finally got a leading line. So proud of myself.

I am linking with Skywatch Friday and My Corner of the World.

Shadow Shot Sunday – Wilbur from Long Ago

Meet Wilbur, a Vietnamese Pot Bellied Pig. We ran into him at Bear World, near Rigby, Idaho in 2004 when we were visiting my father in Idaho Falls. We loved Wilbur.

Son Logan loved him the most. Wilbur just had one spot of shade under the hot sun.

I thought these photos were lost but I found an old tower PC that we had. I pulled out the hard drive and ordered an enclosure for it on Amazon. When that came I plugged the hard drive in and connected to my laptop and voila. Thousands of photos that I had thought were lost and are now found!! I’m so happy.

Shadow Shot Sunday

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