On Sunday, while participating in cleanup effort at Tulsa’s Turkey Mountain Urban Wilderness I found a Christmas tree in the park. I consider it a form of graffiti. Not that it is bad but that is kind of what it is. I kind of like it actually.
I also found a couple bird houses that look like they have been there for some time.
A couple week ago I found another Christmas on the mountain.
This is what the tree looked like last year. There is at least one other tree based on what I see on my instagram feed.
I also found a nandina shrub. Nandina is of course not native to Oklahoma. Turkey Mountain back in the day had farms, ranches, homes, lots of oil wells, illegal liquor stills and a bunch of outlaws. There are a few places where one can see remnants of its past.
The cleanup was successful. About 45 people showed and picked up a ton of trash, trimmed trails, and picked up the remnants of at least two abandoned homeless camps. One of which had been occupied off and on since the 1980’s. This was the first cleanup we had since February. We took pains to ensure a covid safe situation. A local news station came out and covered the event. I can’t embed their report but you can check the link here.
In other news, my brother Bob is continuing from his illness that started over a year ago. He is transitioning from Long Term Care to Assisted Living. I’m really proud of him. He has worked hard. This former marathon runner is starting to walk and insists he is going to race again one day.
At the house, our cats are really into the Christmas Spirit. LJ loves napping in the sun.
Lizzie loves the bed spread.
My wife has put here snowmen out.
And other things.
We have a lot to be grateful for. We had a little scare. One of our painters came down with Covid and so we had to go get tested and we are all clear. Pending getting a test and then the results, we quarantined probably for a total of sixty hours. Drove me flat crazy I have to say. We sure didn’t want to expose anybody else though.
I hope everybody is enjoying the Christmas season. In these darker times one has to look for the joy maybe a little harder.
I am linking with Our World Tuesday.
Snowmen and pussy cats make me happy – have a great holiday!
I love your varied world in photos ~ So glad to hear about the progress your brother is making ~ Bravo to him ~ Wonderful Xmas trees in nation and gorgeous decorations that your wife has chosen to display and the smart kitties for finding good places to nap ~ Pats and purrs to the kitties and smiles to the humans ~ ^_^ ~ Great post!
Live each moment with love,
A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)
We lived in Eufaula, OK for 3 years before being transfered to IN. We loved our trips to Tulsa for a bit of “culture.” Thank you for this post. Brought back fond memories of OK! Merry Christmas!
I like seeing ornaments on live trees outside. Always lovely to see the kitties here. Merry Christmas.
oh no not good about your painter, I hope he is in isolation. I like that someone decorated the tree and I like your snowmen. Have a good Christmas and stay safe.
Good job helping with the cleanup of Turkey Mountain! People tend to paint slashes on trees in our wilderness – lately someone has used neon pink to mark the trees – I guess they don’t want to get lost, but I find it annoying that people find it necessary to deface the National Forest. I hate seeing neon pink in the middle of wilderness. So glad that brother Bob is improving steadily. I like your Santa mask. Merry Christmas to your family. Stay well!
Yogi, I am glad you brother is getting better.
Thanks for the tour and the images of the Christmas graffiti. The ornaments reminded me of the knitting graffiti I have come across in New Haven. It’s graffiti, a no-no, but it’s cozy and sweet, so who could argue (except maybe the person who owned the bicycle someone knit a sweater around….)
I hope you and your family stay well and have a great 2021.
Our two cats love being under the Christmas tree. Me…I call Yule tree. Celebrate yule covid style and coconut shrimp. And toast the holly and oak king for brighter days, more peace and tolerance for others.
Coffee is on and stay safe
Lovely finds and a great job done cleaning up! Spread the Christmas cheer!
I love that some of the outside trees have been decorated!
So glad your brother is doing so good! Beautiful cats and decorations!
I reckon your cats have got life sussed – wake me up when it’s all over! Love hearing about your mountain clean up – hope to hear that your brother is back to running marathons in a future post.
Beautiful Christmas tree in the forest – my sort of graffiti
Happy Christmas!
What a great community effort to clear up the mountain. Well done.
I Love your Cat’s Photos, they are getting into the Spirit of the Holidays much as I have during Lockdown, I swear I sleep as much as a Cat now that we’re in Lockdown Extended Stay! First time I’ve been fully Retired so I really have the Luxury of no real schedule to adhere to for the first time in a long time, which is Blissful. Here’s hoping 2021 is far better than this most difficult Year of 2020 has been. Loved the Living Tree Decorating… we have enormous Pines on our Mini Farm but they’re too high up to Decorate, even the lower branches are far out of reach.