Saturday’s Critters – 7 December 2024 Edition

Hey its getting to be Christmas. We pulled the tree out of the attic and stood it up and guess what? The lights still light up!! Outstanding. Plus, it’s my tradition that when Heather turns her head I put the star on the tree. It stays up there until she notices it.

This is our Pom Kodi. It looks like he is looking at the tree. Nope, he’s looking at the door to the utility room waiting for my wife come home. Kodi likes her lots more than he likes me. Notice the topper on the tree.

Our cat Lizzy likes Christmas trees as well. When she was younger she would climb up into it. She always waited until it was fully decorated. Kind of hard to perform a cat extraction with a fully decorated tree. I thought I had a photo of her in the tree but I couldn’t find it.

Our silly Pom saw us getting on our scale so he tried it also. He even put all four feet on it. He was too light to register a weight.

And here he is chilling out in his bed waiting for my wife to come home. He thinks that I am no fun.

Here is the tree at our gym. Complete with a stuffed lion. This morning somebody added a full size kangaroo. I forgot to a photo of it so you will just have to take my word for it.

We went on a dog walk our greenbelt spotted this great blue heron looking lost. He was about 30 feet from a little creek. He let us get pretty close and then he flew up and got on the peak of a house nearby. He looked pretty comical. I didn’t take a photo because I am leery of taking photos of people’s homes,

I was at Woodward Park yesterday evening and up walked this gaggle of geese. They reminded me of a gang, marauding through the park. Luckily, they ignored me.

And that is all that I have this week. Actually, I have more, but this is enough for this week. Check out Saturday’s Critters.

Skywatch Friday – Touring the New Gilcrease Museum

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As described previously I got a chance to tour the new Gilcrease Museum last month. The building’s exterior is finished and most of the interior.

One thing I love about the building is that it has views of the outside. This is from the terrace looking north to the Osage Hills.

This is looking through another window east. You can see downtown Tulsa just to the right.

From the terrace looking southwest into the sun.

This area is going to be a cafe with outside seating on the terrace. I didn’t take any photos of the new galleries. No windows and plain gray walls. Not much to see there, yet.

On the terrace looking at the exterior walls. I was struck by the wavy design and asked the guide what that was about. She said she was told but did not understand it. She said it was “architectspeak.” Maybe so. I think it does add interest to the building.

They are still building this grand staircase which is going to be in the center of the building and go to all the floors.

I can’t wait to see it when it is done.

How much does all this cost? About $140 Million. Check out the private money donated. Tulsa has a lot of very generous families who are not afraid of donating money to the right cause. There is a lot of work to be done. They are designing the interior fixtures. The contractor will turn the building over in May 2025. The concrete and other materials used in construction needs to “off gas.” The vapors could be harmful to the collection, so the museum is not scheduled to open until November 2026. I can’t wait. Check out Gilcrease.org for more details. Check out their online collection. It’s fabulous.

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

Shadow Shot Sunday – Partying Like it’s 2014!

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I’m going back to the old days for my shadows this week. Remember 2014? No covid right? Ah, them were the days. I noticed that I posted the same shot for Shadow Shot Sunday twice in the last three weeks. If anybody noticed they were nice enough not to say anything. You know how us old guys are. We are forgetful, and lazy. So I’m going back ten years.

My legs got really long! #sunset #shadows #igersok

And I was a lot skinnier back then as well! Not so much bingeing Netflix and snacks back then.

#pedestrianbridge #arkansasriver #trails #riverparks #trails #tulsa #oklahoma #igersok #shadows #bridges

Tulsa had this old pedestrian bridge across the Arkansas River. I loved it. A former railroad bridge that was deemed unsafe by the city and torn down and replaced by a fancy new bridge. I love the new bridge as well. At least I got photos of the old bridge. The new bridge is pretty sleek but its shadows are weak. You didn’t know I was a poet did you?

#fireescape #windows #shadows #blueskies #tulsa #oklahoma #igersok

I love fire escape stair shadows. I don’t go to downtown much any longer so I dug this up out of archives.

If you love shadows go check out Shadow Shot Sunday.

Thanksgiving Weekend Critters

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I fired up the trailcam in the backyard. It captured this handsome tuxedo cat sneaking up on something. We have all sorts of field mice and small birds hanging around the backyard.

It looks like he is looking at the overturned barrel planter.

Earlier in the day a squirrel was checking out the wheelbarrow.

Back the next day checking out the barrel.

We had another Coopers Hawk perched on our back fence right above the wheel barrow.

He stayed there quite a while and kept looking at the ground. I’m sure he was hungry.

Here’s our little Kodi dog, the Pomeranian sporting his Thanksgiving hairdo and tie. I swear he prances around after a new hairdo.

And here’s Lizzy with a Thanksgiving nap. She’s a championship napper. Nobody naps like a cat.

I hope everybody who celebrates Thanksgiving had a good one. Ours was a little quiet this year.

I’m linking with Saturday’s Critters.

Happy Thanksgiving Skywatch

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Thanksgiving is here again. I hope that if you celebrate it that you can do so with family. I’ve been lucky I’ve never had Thanksgiving without family.

We’ve had big gatherings and we have had small ones. This year it is just us three along with the two critters. My brother is nearby so we’ll go visit him in his apartment.

We are buying are dinner ready made and heating it up. We’ve done the big all day cooking thing so with just three of us, this is the way to go.

Our two critters, Kodi and Lizzy. They are not really big fans of each other right now.

So if you celebrate, Have a Great Thanksgiving!!

I’m linking with Skywatch Friday

New Zink Lake Overlook Murals

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On my little kayaking adventure a few weeks ago on Tulsa’s revamped Zink Lake I passed what is known as the Zink Lake Overlook and I saw this mural facing the lake. I had seen some painters working on it but I didn’t know if they were just doing graffiti or what. Nope, no graffiti, they had been commissioned by the River Parks to paint murals. Eleven different artists involved. How cool is that?

I don’t have any before photos. When I first got my drone I flew it there just to play around. As you can see above it was a dingy neglected place with all sorts of nooks and crannies that are hidden from view. I think you know what I mean I say that public places that have nooks and crannies hidden from view is not really a good thing.

I did like the bollards they used to define the water’s edge. Makes it look like some sort of riverboat infrastructure. They were handy for daring kids or high (on drugs or alchol) adults to jump from one to another. Well all that changed.

https://www.fox23.com/news/new-zink-lake-overlook-murals-are-now-open-for-the-public-to-enjoy/article_91dd4eb2-7d44-11ef-8681-a7f76a037af5.html

I stopped there and checked it out. It is a sea of color now and paints have been sealed to protect from the elements and make for easier cleanup in case of tagging. Oh boy I hope that taggers spare this place.

The nooks and crannies are still there along with a huge surface to paint.

The bollards are gone and now we have better fencing to prevent falls and mishaps.

I just love all the colors.

In one of the nooks and crannies somebody sleeping. No way you can keep it all out.

It is a lot more inviting public space now.

Right around the corner to the left was where the guy was sleeping. I left him alone.

I’m linking with My Corner of the World

Thomas Gilcrease Mansion Shadows

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So Friday afternoon I was going to a preview of the new Gilcrease Museum. I checked in with guard at the entrance to the parking lot and I was a little early and so he said you got some time so go ahead and park and make yourself at home. I never need to be told that. You invite me to your house, I’m going to check out your books, liquor cabinet, and refrigerator. I’ll be playing with your dog and tracking down your cat. So now you know why I never get invited anywhere. But at Gilcrease I parked and walked across the street to the Thomas Gilcrease Mansion. I love the formal garden there.

They had the fountain going so I was trying to make a slow shutter photo of the fountain. Doing that with a handheld phone is tough. I hope it doesn’t make you too dizzy. And then I thought, hmm, I’m going to check out that the green structure is over there. I don’t know what you call it but it is wrought iron and very ornate.

So it was like wow, those are some interesting shadows.

Then I looked up through the lattice and wow. This is really cool. I’ve been here a lot and I guess that I never looked up.

So then I looked to the side and I love this shadow of the structure plus the garden fence. I love the long shadows of autumn.

As I left the garden I found this plaque about gardens. I swear have never seen this before but it is perfect.

I’m linking with Shadow Shot Sunday.

Saturday’s Critters – 23 November 2024 Edition

A couple of geese on Tulsa’s Swan Lake (which is really a large pond.)

Our chill cat Lizzy taking bathing herself on the back of our sectional.

And yawning big for a nap.

Kodi, our Pomeranian is settling in for a nap as well. This is all making me sleepy.

I’m linking with Eileeen’s Saturday’s Critters. Check it out!

Woodward Park Skies and a Moon

I was loving the light and the reflections

My son not only has a BA in History, last summer he finished a certificate program to be a paralegal. He is working his way through the formal certification tests and has been looking for a job as a paralegal.

Oklahoma Fall Color is a lot of yellows and browns.

He got a call asking for him to interview a law firm in mid town Tulsa for a paid intern paralegal job. So at the appointed time I drove him to the firm and then headed out to nearby Woodward Park to wander around, see what I can see, and maybe take a few photos.

Stumbled on a wedding going on. I wish them a long and fulfilling marriage.

It was late in the day, the sun was low and the shadows were long and it was a beautiful Oklahoma autumn day. Autumn here lasts ridiculously long.

So I wandered around doing my thing and when I was about finished, son called and said he was done. I picked him up and he said the interview went well and they would let him know in a few days.

They came through with a full time, paid, temporary intern job at a salary about 50% higher than the box store job that he has. So of course he said yes.

The sculpture is Rosalind Cook. A very talented artists who is retired and lives in Tulsa. This is named “Poems and Promises” and was a gift from Ms. Cook and her husband to the City of Tulsa.

Monday morning my wife took him to work and I picked him up at the end of the day. I have picked him up after work countless times over the years and he never had the big smile that he had that day. He had a great first day. He was nervous at first but his training kicked in. He had such a sense of accomplishment.

I don’t know who the artist is for this work but this little lady is going to get pretty frosty this winter. I have photos of her with a robe made of snow.

His boss sent him an email saying he did well.

Appeal to the Great Spirit. I have been posting a lot recently of this sculpture. I love it even though it is controversial to some degree for cultural misappropriation. I’m pretty “woke” especially for Oklahoma but sometimes a scupture is a sculpture.

His second day went well also.

I fired up my Hyperspektiv App and made a glitchy video of the work. I kind of like it.

Who knows where this is going, they only promised a temporary job, but for now his Mom and I are happy just enjoying the work he is doing.

IMG_3610_HDR — It kind of looks like a skinned grapefruit.

And here is that moon I promised you. The full Beaver Moon shot a few days ago in my back yard.

I’m linking with Skywatch Friday

My Corner of the World – Hiking Oxley Nature Center

One day late in October it was very windy. Windy days I like to go to Oxley Nature Center, especially their Sierra Club Trail. You can hear the wind howling in the treetops but it is calm down on the ground.

And I hardly ever see anybody. This trip I encountered only one person. A guy headed towards me looking kind of angry and upset. I had my spidey senses going but he passed me without looking up. I could hear him walking past in the leaves, crunch, crunch, crunch. Any change in the pattern and I would have looked around. But nothing happened. I’m not going to begrudge anybody needing a little solace in the woods.

I took a small garbage bag and my grabbers with me. The places I go hike there is hardly ever any trash. This day I found just a few cans and wrappers and that was it. Put the trash in the trashcan at the trailhead at the end of my hike.

It was a feast of Oklahoma style fall color. We don’t have a whole lot of color in the fall besides some yellows and browns. I’m okay with it.

Here’s a little reddish color for you. My Merlin ID app was going crazy with all the birds in the area. I was going crazy with inability to see such birds, except as small specs when they took off. I saw lots of squirrels and a glimpse of a deer. Kind of a zero day for photographing animals.

And a short video of the wind in the treetops.

And at the end, I see where a city surveyor had set up shot. I hope that they are not putting a new freeway in!!

A little shy of 3 miles, a nice walk in the woods is what I thought.

I’m linking with My Corner of the World.

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