Tree shadows on a wall and the leafy ground at the University of Oklahoma – Tulsa during a geocache hunt this weekend.
Shadow Shot Sunday – Shadowy University Wall
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Saturday’s Critters – White Tailed Deer
A couple of legacy photographs of deer at Tulsa’s Oxley Nature Center.
A lone deer on one of the water pipeline rights of way that run through the park. Oxley is my go to place for finding deer.
Another legacy photo that I had on the default setting of private that indicates that I have never published this photo before. A group of three deer including one looking at me right in the eye.
I’m linking with Saturday’s Critters
Skywatch Friday – Healing on the Trail
On our trip to Colorado Springs last month when we interred my brother Bob. My sister Ellen suggested we go for a short hike at the Fountain Creek Regional Park where she volunteers weekly in their visitor center.
What a great idea that turned out to be. I’ve been escaping to nature my whole life to get rest, comfort, and rejuvenate myself and this was the perfect park for that. What a jewel, El Paso County has in this park. So the five us hiked a one mile or so loop trail.
They pack a lot in that one mile loop to see.
We saw several mule deer. This butt belongs to one of them. Sorry, that was the best photo I could get.
BIL Irv, found this tiny little geocache (called a nanocache). I went ahead and signed the log even though he found it. Please don’t turn me in to the geocaching police.
“A walk in nature, walks the soul back home” – Mary Davis
“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.” – Albert Einstein
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” – Psalm 19:1
“Nature itself is the best physician” – Hippocrates
“I go to nature to be soothed, healed and have my senses put in order.” – John Burroughs
“Allow nature’s peace to flow into you as sunshine flows into trees” – John Muir
So one hike isn’t going to bring anyone peace. It’s a process, not an event and I will always miss my brother.
I’m a big fan of Fountain Creek Regional Park now. Hopefully I’ll be back.
I am linking with Skywatch Friday
2025 in Photographs
January 2025, on Turkey Mountain on a cold winter day at the Overlook Hub looking out over the Arkansas River and south Tulsa. I am hiking on Turkey Mountain at least once a week. I love the place.
In February I got a new right knee. Lizzie the cat immediately named herself Nurse Lizzie and stuck with me for months.
And making sure I am doing my exercises right. If nothing else she would crawl up on my knee and purr. Didn’t mind it to tell you the truth.
We got a new family member in March. Sadie we got her on St. Patrick’s Day and I named her. It fits. She is a sweet dog.
Gets along with well with everyone. It looks to me in this photo that Sadie and Heather are plotting something.
This is Heather with our pom Kodi. In addition to being my wonderful wife who took care of me during my hospital stay and recuperation. She also teaches a wide variety of fitness classes at different places and her students love her. (I would know, I take three or four classes of her classes every week). She immediately reads a room and tailors the classes to fit the needs of the students. She’s amazing actually. She teaches a wide range of people, young folks, older folks, people who are fit, people who are new to fitness. She embraces them all and they love her back.
By the time the daffodils bloomed I was out and about taking photographs. I even helped cut new trail for the Tulsa Botanic Garden.
In May, I went to a minor league baseball game with a friend.
During my recovery I had about two or three rounds of home PT and another four rounds of regular PT, plus daily homework. The day I was able to turn the wheel over on a stationary bike was one of the happiest in my life as that meant I could ride my bike again. I love riding my bike.
We had a nice neighborhood rainbow in June.
In September, Heather and I, protested on No Kings Day. We were amazed at the turnout in deep red Oklahoma. I think it amazed a lot of people that turned out on a chilly, rainy day. It was a typical genteel Tulsa affair. The cops showed up just to make sure people knew where to park so they wouldn’t get towed. People that drove by that didn’t agree with the protest just drove on through. Others waved and honked their horns. No tear gas, or angry counter protesters. Just people being themselves.
In August we went for a family vacation to our beloved Orange Beach, Alabama.
And, son Logan started work with a law firm as a paralegal in August. He had been studying and dreaming about that for a long time and it came to happen. He loves his job. We love that he loves it, and we love that he is out of the house during the week days! He also earned his drivers license!! A twofer!! We are so proud of him.
My sister Ellen came to check on our brother Bob. Next to Ellen is her husband Irv. Irv is the world’s greatest BIL.
In October I had a little relapse with my knee when I slipped and fell on a hike and my right ankle ended up being right by my right hip. I was able to walk back a mile and half to my car and drive myself home and get cleaned up. Heather drove me to the Orthopedic Urgent Care who patched me and set up an appointment with my surgeon’s office. His PA said that I might be sore for a while but I’m okay.
Sadly, our brother Bob passed in November after an illness of six years. We miss him terribly. Ellen and Irv jumped through a bunch of hoops to get Bob a spot and full military honors at the Pikes Peak National Cemetery in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Brother Bob was a good guy. Physically tough, never complained and a laugh that could fill a room. A history nut, especially about the Presidents. Want to know who was in Abraham Lincoln’s cabinet? Bob was your man on that. Runner of over 50 marathons and over a hundred half marathons. He joined the Navy, saw the world. Decided he didn’t like ships so he switched over to the Seabees which he loved. Ended up his career after his military retirement as a civilian employee for the navy.
So our little family is at the end of 2025 and wishing all of you a great 2026!!
Sunday’s Shadows
A parking lot shadow selfie at the end of the day recently.
Shadows at the entrance to a trail on my outing Friday.
A jigsaw puzzle I finished the other day with some railcar shadows.
I am linking with Shadowshot Sunday
The Goats of Turkey Mountain
I follow the Turkey Mountain social media pretty closely and had been reading with interest the news that they have been using goats to manage the invasive plant species on Turkey Mountain. They are provided by a third party who monitors them and they are guarded by a special guard dog. I knew roughly where the sheep were supposed to be but I had never run into them.
On of my recent hikes I started smelling what I would call a barn smell or a ranch smell The smell of animals and their manure and a little ways later I ran into them on a legacy trail.
They were totally chill, some were eating, some were resting. None of them looked stressed in any way. I thought this is cool. I have volunteered at Turkey Mountain and other places and sometimes we work on invasive special removal. It is hard work!! Other methods such as controlled fires are great but require the right weather and the availability of a crew to manage it. Mechanical mulching works well but is expensive and it really tears the forest up temporarily.
These goats were happily munching away. I found a source, goat foraging dot org, and they discuss that the manure that goats poop out also builds up the soil, their hooves help break up the soil and mix the manure in. The goat’s digestive systems also destroy the seeds as they pass through the digestive system.
It’s all pretty low cost and sustainable and provides another tool in land managers’ tool box to help manage the land.
I didn’t see a guard dog, nor a shepherd and no fencing but I’m assuming they maintain control over the herd somehow. I’m all about stuff like this.
I’m linking with Saturday’s Critters
A Very Merry Christmas Skywatch to You
Today is Christmas, Merry Christmas to you!! This pic is from back in August. My dream is Christmas on the beach one year.
Kodi, the mean Pomeranian wishes you a Merry Christmas. Just don’t try to pet him, or pick him up, or even look at him. Unless you are Heather or Logan, he loves them.
And Lizzy the Christmas Kitty.
And Sadie, the Christmas terrier. She loves everybody, even me. We got her to settle Kodi down and she does. If he gets out of line she flips him over on his back and puts a paw on his chest. Works every time. That’s Lizzy in the background. Sometimes Sadie thinks Lizzy is a squeaky toy but over time she has got more gentle with the cat and now they play pretty good together.
We are not going anywhere for Christmas, just us.
I’m linking up with Skywatch Friday.
Shadowy Stacked Rocks of Turkey Mountain
Seen on a hike on Tulsa’s Turkey Mountain Urban Wilderness Area. I used the Hipstamatic app on my phone to take the photo to enhance the texture and emphasize the age of the formation.
Linking with Shadow Shot Sunday
Saturday’s Critters – Real and Imagined
Here’s Lizzy doing her favorite activity. She is a world champion sleeper.
Here she is reluctantly posing for a Christmas photo.
Nothing cuter than a newborn calf on a ranch in western Oklahoma.
And I fired up my jigsaw app on my elderly Ipad. Google tells me that it is either a green sea turtle or a ridley sea turtle. I suspect the photo is AI. I was amused because you can buy the same exact image from various places on the web.
I’m linking with Saturday’s Critters.
Dirty Window Cross Country Road Tripping Skywatching
We drove from Tulsa to Colorado Springs last week. The drive takes all day. My wife and I take turns with the driving. When I’m driving, I just drive. When she is driving, I google all the small towns we pass and give her interesting (to me its interesting) tidbits about the town’s history, attractions, or culture. When I’m not doing that, I take photos.
The entire trip is across the Great Plains of the Midwest. To many they are very boring. I love them. I look for things. Is the land grassland or crops? I’m on the lookout for pipeline infrastructure and try and guess if it is for liquids or natural gas. I also look for wind farms. About 11% of our electrical needs come from wind. Think about all the carbon dioxide not being put into the air because of windfarms. That number is from 2022. I bet it is more than that now.
I love grain elevators. They are so photogenic. When you are up close and have good light. Not so much when you are shooting through a dirty window.
I love hay bales as well. There are hay bale enthusiasts that regard them out the field as an art form. I guess I can see that. Back when I was building pipelines I talked to a lot of farmers about all sorts of things and cutting and baling hay was fascinating. If you don’t let the hay dry out enough before baling it, it will have spontaneous combustion and start on fire where it is. Hopefully in a field, if you are unlucky it will be on your trailer or truck. Just one of the many useless little farming tips I picked up while buying pipeline right of way.
Most of the drive was in Kansas. I love Kansas, especially the work I did there. The thing about Kansas and business is that Kansas likes to protect Kansas based businesses and everybody can look out after themselves. That’s why I called Kansas, the People’s Republic of Kansas. Sometimes I think they took their protectionism a little too far. It’s a nice state though and the people are great.
And cows, there are lots of cows in Oklahoma, Kansas, and Colorado. I’ll give you a fun fact about cows that I bet you didn’t know. They only cows that fall into open pipeline ditches and die are prize breeding stock. At least that was what ranchers would tell me when I was trying to settle damages. Yep, they drove all the way to Maine to buy the animal, paid $50,000 dollars for it. For some reason though the cow on the bill of sale is a different color than the cow in the ditch. Ranchers tell me that can happen though. (Actually, 99,9% of ranchers are honest and just want to be treated fairly, but every once in a while you get “that guy.”
And trucks, freeways have lots of truck traffic. I have lots of stories about truckers from back when I was working. Most of them are pretty boring so I’ll spare you.
And then the sun started going down. Sunset lasted a long time.
I like road trips. The wife not so much. I get it.
I am linking with Skywatch Friday