Category Archives: Skywatch Friday

Entertaining One’s Ownself

My wife and I went to Tulsa’s swanky Utica Square shopping center the other day. She really likes the Athleta store there. As an exercise instructor she lives in workout gear and Athleta’s stuff is great. So while she was shopping for her Christmas gifts from me to her I took my phone out and did some exploring.

I found this cool clock. Who uses a clock to tell time any more? We all have phones and stare at them all day long.

Found this sculpture of a little girl reading. I love to see young people reading. I volunteer with Reading Partners and tutor a girl in reading for an hour a week. She’s really a hard worker and stays engaged the whole hour. Unlike some of my generation, I see lots of hope in the future generations. If you are interested check the link see if they have a program in your area.

Right across the street from Utica Square is the Temple Israel Synagogue. I have long loved their bas relief of the Ten Commandments. I shot the photo from the shopping center’s parking garage to get a little elevation.

I also love their 3D Menorah. For the longest time I thought it was just a cool modern sculpture. Well duh, it’s a Menorah I found out on their web site.

Also across the street from the center is this cool office building. I love it’s design including the arches on the ground floor and all the balconies. It looks like it belongs on a coast somewhere.

Found this dolled up wooden sculpture next to a day spa.

So that’s it for the shopping center. You get the picture. I went drone flying earlier.

So here’s a sunset from 40 meters over my back yard. Somebody in one of my drone groups on facebook said that they were tired of sunset photos. Suck it up buddy, here’s another one is my response.

I’m linking with Skywatch Friday – come join in!!

Skywatch Friday – New Trail Progressing on Turkey Mountain

A new trail is being built on Turkey Mountain. Designed and constructected by the firm Progressive Trail Design out of Bentonville, Arkansas, it is the first professionally designed trail on Turkey Mountain. The rest were built by the users and followed old game trails, jeep tracks, oilfield roads, and the builders’ whims. This new trail is designed to last and be low maintenance and sustainable. They finally got started a couple weeks ago and have been making good progress. I went out there recently to check it out.

It looks very nice and “flowy.” People, especially mountain bikers like the smooth back and forth and up and downs. It’s apparent that it will primarily be a mountainbike trail and I’m just going to have faith that it will work out for non bikers as well.

It’s not open yet they have blazed a trail but the surface is still unfinished. They don’t want anybody on it until they are done and the surface is suitable for sustained use. (I stayed off the trail except at designated crossing points where it crosses existing trail.)

A banked turn. Lots of work before this is finished.

I paralleled the new trail on existing trails until I heard the sound of the trackhoe they were using to move the rocks and other heavy work involved. I went a little further until I saw the crew through the trees and that is as close as I got.

So I am very excited about all this.

About as excited as this tree I found while scouting out the trail.

Any you know it’s getting to be Christmas song. I love this new song my Carrie Underwood, “The Stretchy Pants Song.” My wife, who is also an exercise instructor, has been using it in some of her classes and her students love it.

I am linking this to Skywatch Friday. Come join us!!

Thanksgiving 2021

Happy Thanksgiving Everybody!!

We’ve had big Thanksgivings and smaller ones, especially with this pandemic we have been having. This year is a smaller one. A big treat is that we are having Thanksgiving on Wednesday with my brother at his Assisted Living Center. I’m looking forward to that.

It will just be a few of us on Thanksgiving Day. As our waistlines have expanded, we have downsized the meal. We don’t have the appetites we used to have anyway. We use disposable plates for the meal so nobody gets stuck with the dishes.

We’ll be counting our blessings as well. We have lots to be thankful for.

I’m wishing you a very Happy Thanksgiving

I’m linking with Skywatch Friday, come join in!!

Autumn Colors at Woodward Park

Tuesday was a very warm day here in Tulsa. After my yoga class I headed up close to downtown to Woodward Park. Lots and lots of trees here and tons of fall color. So I just wandered around.

I stopped by the Five Moons, Oklahoma’s Native American ballerinas. In the last century these five women, Maria Tallchief, Marjorie Tallchief, Yvonne Chouteau, Rosella Hightower, and Moscylene Larkin were at the top of the ballet world. Hit the link above to find out more. The sculptures are actually on the grounds of the Tulsa History Museum which is adjacent to Woodward Park.

I also stopped by “Appeal to the Great Spirit” to check him out. I love this sculpture. It used to be in a local high school until they tore the school down and the statue was moved to Woodward Park.

Lots of brilliant fall color on disply.

I love this blast of yellow as seen from the shadows.

A similar effect here.

And here is shrub bursting with sunlight.

Stopped by my favorite sculpture of all time. “Poems and Promises” by Rosalind Cook. I used the Hipstamatic and Snapseed App on this.

By now I was getting hungry and I was close to downtown so I headed off to the Arts District.

I got some coneys from James Coney Island. It’s been in Tulsa for over a hundred years. I get them with cheese, chili, and onions and add a healthy splash of hot sauce and pepper them chili powder. Don’t knock it until you try it.

They sky was clear Tuesday night so I took this shot. It’s the Beaver Moon at 93% waxing gibbous so not quite full.

I hope everybody is having a great week!! I”ll be linking with Skywatch Friday, come check it out!!

Skywatch Friday – Restoring Equilibrium

Lafortune Park – I love the smudged cloud skies.

Last week was the busiest I have been in a while. I helped out at the Leave No Trace event here in Tulsa so I was there for most of it. Not that big a deal really, about four or five hours a day so don’t feel sorry for me but it was a lot to me.

Wild Turkeys hanging out on Turkey Mountain at the YMCA where the Leave No Trace Account was held. They Turkeys were there every day.

It started Wednesday and ended Saturday. Lots and lots of good stuff happened and I was glad to be a small part of it.

The way I recover from stress is to head back to nature. Sunday night I went to Tulsa’s Oxley Nature Center. They close the gate at 5 pm so I parked outside the gate and climbed over the fence. (Totally legal folks!!) One of the people I met at the event told me where to find the river otters at Oxley. That got my attention!! I have never seen one in the wild. (Spoiler alert, I still haven’t seen one.)

It was beautiful, the sun was getting low and the leaves were glowing.

There is nothing like a lonely trail through the woods.

I didn’t find the otters but I found a few deer including this one who posed for me.

The next evening I went back to Turkey Mountain. Not too many people in what is called the back country when the sun starts going down.

I found this deer and a few of his siblings and mom. I just had my point and shoot with me and this is the only photo I got. I have gotten pretty good at figuring out where the deer are in the evening on the mountain and how they move.

The sun was going down and the trees were putting on a show.

Sunset near what is called Rock City.

At some point the color is going to get a little better and then we’ll get a big wind and all those trees will be on the ground.

And again, give me a trail through the woods anytime.

So how do you recharge the batteries?

Come join party at Skywatch Friday. Lots of talented people there.

Lafortune Park Skies

We’ve had some dreary weather here recently, cold and rainy. Which I really don’t mind except I like a little blue sky for my skywatch posts.

We lucked out this morning. A front blew through and we got some great blue skies with big ole fluffy clouds. So I took a few shots at Tulsa’s Lafortune Park during my short walk there.

I like this one because of the two weeping will trees across the pond from each other.

So far, not much fall color quite yet except in spots.

A closeup!

I hope everybody is having a great start to November. Come join the party at Skywatch Friday.

Skywatch Friday – Halloween Tree Troll Edition

The Full Wolf Moon came up over a week ago. I love the full moons and all the different names for them.

We have had several storm fronts move through. Not too bad though and if the wind isn’t too bad I launch the drone and here is a sunset from about a week ago or so.

Here is another more recent drone shot looking southeast from our house. A massive system came through complete with tornadoes and all that but missed us and didn’t do too much damage anywhere else. I could only take the drone up high enough to clear the roof lines because the wind was so gusty.

I’m a sucker for a meandering trail. Here is one at Washington Irving Park in Bixby just south of Tulsa.

And I like to find the quiet shots during busy events. At Oktoberfest last week I moved away from the crowd and got this skyshot. You wouldn’t know anybody is around.

And I said this is a Halloween post. Here is my bride Heather and son, Logan, at a pumpkin patch some years ago. He’s a college man and will be graduating this fall (we hope) and is even taller now. With him gone we don’t do much for Halloween any longer. We’ll turn out lots off and not pass out candy. Talk about a couple of old grouches, uh. Sorry, that is the way it is.

I also promised a Tree Troll, didn’t I. I found a dead one on a recent hike on Turkey Mountain.

It’s very gruesome, with his eyes bulging out and mouth gaped open laying sideways on the ground. Poor mountain tree troll 🙁

That’s is about it for today. I’m linking with Skywatch Friday, come join in the fun.

The Prayer Tower at Oral Roberts University

In pursuit of my geocaching hobby I paid a visit to the Prayer Tower at Tulsa’s Oral Roberts University. The tower is right in the middle of the campus and it is designed to be a three dimensional cross. It certainly is striking with a flame out the top and a bunch of bronzed glass covering it.

It is now back open to the public from 12PM to 4 PM Monday through Saturday. There is no charge. So I showed up and showed my ID and up the elevator I went to the observation deck.

They have several stations with quotes by Reverend Roberts around the deck. They also have a couple private prayer rooms and a larger room for groups. It was all tastefully done, quiet, and reverential. The quotes were all very commonsensical. Anyway I had to find another one of Robert’s quotes in order to complete a virtual cache, my 2000th.

The grounds immediately surrounding the tower have several sculptures, a topiary garden, and other things to look at. It has been years since I have been on the campus. Since the university has straightened out their governance to enhance credibility and accountability they appear to be thriving. The grounds are now well taken care of, the buildings have been revamped and updated and they are on another building campaign. It’s nice to see such an important part of Tulsa community on the upswing.

Meanwhile, in downtown Tulsa the world’s largest “Augmented Reality” mural was activated. Above is what the mural looks like without augmentation. It is really a nice mural and beats the big wall of beige they had.

To activate the installation you have to elbow your way to a spot and point your phone camera to the QR code above and then you wait, and then wait some more, and respond to some strange buttons that show up on your camera then the surrounds become alive. The murals become animated and butterflies and birds fly about. And it is in all directions not just at the murals. You see stuff to the sides, straight up in the air, down toward your feet. I’ve never been on LSD but it is quite a trip.

You can record a little bit of it but it won’t save on your phone. I was able to post 10 seconds on instagram but that’s it. I anticipated such a thing so I took along a point and shoot to a video of my phone screeen but there was too much reflections. If you are instagram check out my feed yogiab to look at it. It’s pretty amazing. The installation is called The Majestic. Hit the link to check out more of it. Here is an article from the Tulsa World discussing the project.

I am linking with Skywatch Friday. Come join me and bunch of other skywatching photobloggers.

Skywatch Friday – The Skies of October

I’ve been enjoying my October so far. The weather has been good and I have been doing a lot of hiking and wandering. Above is the sky over Lake Bixhoma south of Tulsa about ten miles. I love it there during the week because nobody else is there.

This is a photo taken by “cousin-in-law” in western Oklahoma of Angus cattle on their ranch.

And this is at Martin Nature Center in Oklahoma City. I stopped there for a short hike on my way to pick up son at his college.

I’ve shown these chairs before. The City of Bixby repurposed the old auto bridge across the Arkansas River to a pedestrian bridge and added all sorts of extras such as these recliners.

And of course I had to try them out.

Here is the view I had.

The bridge ties into Washington Irving Park in Bixby where the man camped during his tour of what is now Oklahoma back in 1832.

And here is sculpture of the man. This is part of an outdoor amphitheater. The park is another good place to go during the work week cuz of hardly anybody else being there.

And this always makes me think and ponder. This is one of the girders from the World Trade Center that were destroyed on the attack on America.

So I’m really enjoying the moderate weather. How about you?

Come join me and and bunch of other photobloggers at Skywatch Friday

Late night bonus content – I flew my drone for a little while this evening.

Roughly a little south of northwest. All these were taken at about 150 feet elevation.

Looking almost straight west

Roughly a little north of southwest.

A really big cloud was passing over Tulsa. This is looking almost straight south.

A little bit north of northwest.

Almost straight north.

I flew the drone in “periscope mode” in other words I launched it straight up from my back yard and just rotated it and snapped a few pics.

2021 Tulsa State Fair

_DSC0073 — Something about Ferris Wheels!

I was going to pass on the Tulsa State Fair because of the pandemic but I thought I go early on a weekday and stay outside as much as possible and wear a mask when I go indoors. So that’s what I did Wednesday. I got there early before the midway opened up the rides so I got to see a lot of things without being around too many people.

They had a double decker merry-go-round. That is something you do not see every day.

A lot of younger kids were showing off their livestock.

And some older kids as well.

Cows were well represented.

And for a brain teaser, how about table with chains for legs. The chain links are not welded together. They are just regular chains. And the table is pretty stable. I had to study on it a little bit.

And there were lots of awards for the various crafts they made.

So I spent a couple hours, walked three miles, saw lots of stuff, drank a couple of beers and went home. (I’m not into so called fair food.)

Do you to fairs where you live?

I’m linking with Skywatch Friday. Join us!

Special Bonus Photo!!

A drone photo from over my house at sunset looking north. So its really kind of a reverse sunset.

YogisDen.us

Welcome to my world