Category Archives: Skywatch Friday

Skywatch Friday – The Crystal Bridge at the Myriad Gardens

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This past Wednesday I needed to go fetch the kid from college and bring him home for Easter. I had some time so I stopped at the Myriad Gardens in downtown Oklahoma City and checked out the Crystal Bridge. I think that I have only been in it one time before and that was in 1988 after they reopened up after the Oklahoma oil bust. They are going to shut the bridge down soon, revamp it, and reopen next Spring.

So it’s been thirty three years and yes it is kind of showing its age but it is still an amazing structure to be in.

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Lots and lots of tropical plants under big, huge, glass windows.

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There is two levels, ground level and then this skybridge which goes over everything.

Not too many people the day I went. Masking and social distancing were being enforced. But there were not too many people so I made several rounds of the facility.

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I loved looking straight up the trees.

There are all sorts of little nooks where you can sit and take it all in.

Water is a feature, nothing like the sound of water falling to make one relax.

It’s closing soon. It’ll open in a year. I plan to check it out after the crowds have moved off somewhere else.

I’m thankful for places like the Crystal Bridge where people can go and recharge and get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

I am linking with Skywatch Friday and Thankful Thursday.

Skywatch Friday – Up or Out

With the weather warming up I have been flying the drone a bit. I don’t go very high and I don’t let it go very far. I look at youtube videos that show the pilots getting way up in the air, higher than the office towers in downtown Tulsa, or flying across lakes or going across farmer’s fields and such. I’m not into that. If I can’t see it then I am not happy and I darn sure don’t fly it where if it falls I couldn’t legally and safely walk over and get it. Makes me nerd but hey, these little things are expensive but they are marvelous. With the GPS built in they can hold their position in even a pretty good breeze.

So I am still mainly in the elevator mode. I send it straight up and then look around. I have practiced a little bit doing turns. It’s hard to do smoothly.

And here is a shot of the moon from a few days ago. The night was not too cool and the skies were clear, so I took the shot. So its not a full moon but I still like it.

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And you know, even overcast skies are skies. Here’s a nice tree at Lafortune Park.

I took the kid back to college the other day. On the way back I took a small detour down Route 66 for some geocaches. I love Route 66. It’s part of my heritage from I was a kid and teenager in Arizona and New Mexico. I looked for five caches and found five!! So time to call it good.

I found a cache at this funky cemetery in Bristow, Oklahoma. It had this odd tower. Steps leading up to an office. Not a chapel. In fact more of store room. Below is a garage. I love funky stuff like this.

I have hundreds of photographs of this building in Tulsa. Boston Avenue Methodist Church. An art deco design and is just beautiful. We were members when we first moved to town and it is even more beautiful on the inside. It was built in the late 1920’s just in time for the depression. The members had to fight like crazy to keep it, otherwise somebody was going to convert it to a movie theater.

And back at home. Early in the morning with the sun peaking over the fence. We have a couple of yappy dogs and so I go out with them in the mornings to keep them from barking otherwise I have a new neighbor that comes barging over pounding on our door, enraged about the dogs barking. So I go out to hush them early in the morning. They love updating their BarkBook status with the other dogs in the neighborhood.

Is everybody staying safe? We are trying to but it is kind of difficult right now as the Governor has opened up the state and simultaneously ordered the state health department to hide the data from the citizens. That happened about three weeks ago. What I can piece together from the data that is available is that new cases which had been declining have plateaued and may be increasing. Who knows!! Anyway, we are vaccinated and are isolating.

Take care everybody!! I am linking with Skywatch Friday. Come join the fun.

Skywatch Friday – Quadruple Threat Week

Coming Through the Rye
Coming Through the Rye by Frederic Remington
at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum

Coming Through the Rye shows four horseman in high spirits galloping into town to have a great time. It might be indicative of this week.

Back Yard Skies

First off, this year’s switch to Daylight Savings Time is throwing me off. How can that be? I am retired, I don’t generally have to be anywhere, why is it bothering me. Well it is.

Second, I got my bicycle back. Some guy ran head on to me with his bicycle back in September and it took a while for everything to get healed up and so I took my bike in to get it fixed. Picked it up after a week and went on a test run on the RiverParks and fell down during a botched dismount. No problems, just embarrassment.

And the weather! I went to fetch the kid Wednesday and the skies look a little threatening. Beautiful but threatening. Fortunately all that happened was the wind blew and the rain fell. Welcome to Spring in Oklahoma. It was the aftermath of the storm that dumped so much snow on Colorado.

And then Saint Patrick’s Day. We do our celebrating at home. Saint Paddy’s day used to be huge!! Now its just another day. At least you don’t see as much crappy green beer as one used to find.

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And then the kid!! He’s a great guy and he’s about to drive me crazy. Zoom meetings in his pj’s, massive software downloads to upgrade his various gaming devices. Ahhhh!! Glad to have him around though. Really. He’s going back Sunday.

How is your week going!!

Skywatch Friday – Thunder Rolls Edition

We got our March weather going on, cold and windy one day, hot and windy the next.

With every once in a while a windy glorious day.

Wind is just a fact of life in Oklahoma. Good for flying kites, bad for flying drones.

Grass Fire

Also bad for grass fires in the spring before the prairie turns green.

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As I mentioned on the Skywatch Friday page, the family of the Ree Drummond, of Pioneer Woman fame, is going through a tragedy. Ms. Drummond’s husband and his nephew had a head on collision while driving fire trucks battling a blaze on their property. The husband refused treatment but the nephew is suffering severe injuries. I’ve never met them but we watch their television show. I know people who know the family and they all say that what you see on the media is just what the family is, genuine. Anyway, my prayers go out to the family.

Oil Prices in March 2021

And a little editorial here. Lots of people are wondering if the recent rise in gasoline prices are related to our present President’s executive orders. I don’t think it. Above is a chart of oil prices over the last year. When the economy tanked in March of 2020 due to the Pandemic, the price of oil cratered as well. In fact on one glorious, hopefully never to be repeated day, oil prices were negative. Since then the price has rebounded, mainly due to the economy recovering. It doesn’t have anything to do with who is president, it has more to do with the economy and what kind of mood OPEC is in.

And now a musical interlude. This deal with the Pioneer Woman reminded me of what I love about Oklahoma. I’ve lived here for about thirty five years and yes, it has problems but the people are big hearted, generous and welcoming. It made me think of Garth Brooks. He reminds me so many Oklahomans I have met. Very down to earth. So here is one of his songs.

I am linking with Skywatch Friday. Come join in!!

Skywatch Friday – Courthouse Skies

It was beautiful weather this week and I got to spend much of the first part of it at the courthouse. Nope I wasn’t in jail, I got called to jury duty. So I got to wait a lot in the jury room in the basement and then I got to wait a lot outside the courtroom and then wait some more while they questioned us one by one. It was a first degree murder trial so it was all pretty serious.

Tulsa County District Court Jury Guide

I was impressed with the whole thing. Lots of waiting I know but the important thing is to get things right. Execution was off the table but life without parole was a possibility. I was impressed with the other 39 potential jurors. They all took it seriously, none tried to get off the jury, and they gave thoughtful answers to questions. I didn’t get picked and so I am “on call” the remainder of the week. So I’m free at last!! I went home, after being dismissed, and researched the case. I’ll say more after the trial is completed which should be Friday or Monday.

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Meanwhile, here is my beloved Turkey Mountain from across the Arkansas River as it flows through Tulsa.

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And another shot across the river with some funky looking clouds.

I’m thankful this week for our justice system. For all its faults I think the people in it try and do their best. I am thankful for my freedoms that I have in this country and the opportunity to be on a jury.

I’m linking with Skywatch Friday. Come join me!!

Skywatch Friday – Vintage Oil and Gas Skies

I took the kid back to college on Wednesday. He got a sprained ankle last week so Heather and I did an evacuation to back home and got him in to see a doctor, fed him, did his laundry and got him rested up to go back. It’s just a sprain says the doc so we got him a brace and some ibuprofen and so back to school he goes. On the way back from dropping him off I stopped at the Oklahoma History Center in Oklahoma City. I had not been there in ages. Turns out that they have a lot of new stuff to show and I’ll post about that later. Today I am showing what they had outside, underneath a big blue Oklahoma Sky with some wind. (If it is Oklahoma, the wind is always blowing.)

Wellhead Stack

I looked at a bunch of oil and gas stuff. This is known as a “Christmas Tree” with valves installed on a oil or gas well to control and regulate the flow. I have never actually seen a stack this high. Usually they are about only two or three valves. I’m guessing what happened is that somebody wanted to donate the tree and so they got all the junk valves they could round up, bolted them together, slapped a coat of paint on it and said “Here you are!” Makes for an impressive sight but I wouldn’t stand near it in a lightning storm.

Pumpjack

This is a pump jack used for pumping oil out of the ground. They are also used on natural gas wells to pump the water out that impedes from natural gas well. There is a technical name for those kind of gas wells. They are called “sorry ass gas wells.”

Red Tank Wagon

An old school wagon using for hauling oil.

Drilling Rig

A portable drilling rig. Needs a coat of paint. Also something to stay from in a lightning storm.

Red Oilfield Truck

And a red truck. I’ve loved red trucks ever since I was about two years old.

That’s enough for now!!

I’m linking with Skywatch Friday. Come check it out.

Skywatch Friday – Ominous

I’m doing lots of walking these days. I haven’t run at all since last spring. I still think as a runner though, strangely enough. The above was taken last week here in Tulsa. It was kind of an ordinary color photo and but then I “messed with it” added some hdr and turned in black and white and it looks very ominous. Oklahoma is the king of ominous skies. With global warming there is a “lot of energy” in the atmosphere as the scientists put it. That’s not a good thing.

And here is a patented front yard sky shot from the house. I also “messed” with this photo. At least it is not ominous.

I injured my back last week and the doctor gave me some exercises to do. It’s basically yoga and all told between the stretching, the strengthening, and the stretching again it takes about an hour and 20 minutes and it is pretty strenuous but I get that feeling of well being afterward. The critters love that I am down on the floor with them. Which is fine but you know they need to get their own yoga mats. What do you think?

I am still geocaching. I will never stop. I am going to have a geocache hidden in my gravestone when my time expires here on earth. I might get it set ahead of time to make sure its done right. Anyway I digress again. This cache was at a park and I posted the video on instagram and one of my Igram buddies said hey, his grandson put that out as a scout project. I love the gentle fuzzy corner of the internet I am in with photobloggers and instagram. It makes the world a little smaller and kinder. Just so you know though I get rough and rowdy on twitter and I’m kind of in between on facebook. I have been unfriended by scores of people on facebook.

I’m on linkedin as well. Mainly the oil and gas part of it. Right now they are all swooning because Biden is going to destroy the oilfield and our economy is going to die and blah, blah, blah. Those two things didn’t do too well unde the last guy. Presidents come and go, and energy prices go up and down, and I don’t think there is much correlation. The oil and gas guys don’t want to hear that though.

Oh well, I’m getting off topic now. Everybody stay safe and post lots of great photos.

I am linking with Skywatch Friday

Skywatch Friday – Trees

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I went on a walk at Tulsa’s Lafortune Park. The trail is 3.1 miles long and loops around two golf courses, baseball fields, a tennis complex, a high school, a public library and there is almost always something going on except it was a cold windy day and I had the place to myself. The skies were overcast so I took photos of the trees on the golf courses.

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I love trees in the winter. Their twiggy fingers reaching to the sky. I love trees in all the seasons, how about you.

I got my first Covid vaccination shot this week. I think it is crazy that every state in the union has their own way of doing things. I spent two days refreshing my browser every ten to fifteen minutes. The other thing is that here in Oklahoma just because a site says no appointments available doesn’t mean anything you have to click through to be sure. I know others out in blogland have related similar stories. Anyway, I am glad we are finally getting a foothold, a beginning, to rid our earth of this awful disease.

I’m thankful for the vaccine and for the many millions of caregivers around the world who have risked their lives taking care of people who got sick with the disease.

I’m linking with Skywatch Friday, come join us.