I really can’t figure out Labor Day. We celebrate labor by taking the day off? What is up with that?  I can’t figure it out, you know Memorial Day we fly flags, July 4th is Fireworks, Halloween is pumpkins. What is Labor Day and why do we celebrate it. I don’t know? We don’t really celebrate those who labor do we? No we just give them more work. Celebrating labor is slightly socialistic. What we really like is wealth. Wealth means no labor, at least not for them that has it. Lets have a national wealth day. I’d rather be rich than work. What about you?  Oh well, nothing to get the mind on straight like going to Tulsa’s urban wilderness, Turkey Mountain.

Here I be!! I don’t take too many “selfies” as such pics are called on Instagram. I just wanted to show how happy I was to be there.  Plus I got a rare haircut. I mean I paid 22 bucks for it. That comes out to be about 50 cents per each hair cut. That is is kind of high in my opinion. I mean cutting 44 hairs should cost less than 22 bucks I think. I think 10 cents a hair  is more like it. What do you think? Another reason I’m smiling is cuz of this.

I smoked some chicken leq quarters the day before and after I get through running and getting cleaned up we are going over to Nana’s (the world’s greatest MIL) to eat the chicken along with a whole lot of other stuff.

 There is not a whole lot to take pics of during the heat of the day. The deer and other critters are way off deep in the woods resting ( or that special place that waiters and waitresses go when you need your check). So I thought I’d take pics of the flowers I saw. There isn’t much color on Turkey Mountain this time of year.

You know what kind of flowers these are. Well some are yellow and some are purple. That is the sum of my knowledge about wildflowers.

It is hot, but only in the 90’s and the humidity is lower. Fall is coming. Autumn is my favorite season of the year. Warm days, cool nights, football. Unfortunately I’m a Dallas Cowboys fan so I football isn’t as enjoyable as it used to be.

There were also a bunch of spider webs out in the woods shaped like funnels. I would think that it would take some very energetic and creative spiders to create these. They are kind of like the roach motels of spiderwebs. My friend mister Google tells me that these are funnel-web spiders. The American kind is not really a bother to people.  The Australlian variety is deadly. I wonder why that is, maybe it has something to do with spending their whole life upside down. I can’t think of anything else. Can you?

The thing about Turkey Mountain is that the trails are crowded with people the for about a half mile then it thins out rapidly especially to the northwest end of the mountain. I like to run out there to the Westside Y because it feels like a long ways.

I ran clear to the north side of the wilderness area to the Westside YMCA. They operate a day camp during the summer and give lots of kids a taste of the woods. This pond almost dried up over the winter but we’ve had some rain in the Tulsa area so now the kids have some water to canoe on. Or at least they would if there was still camps but the season is over.

I ran on back and came upon a bulletin board with maps and warnings and such. The River Parks authority has put several of these numbered stations across the mountain. The idea is that if you have a problem and can make it to the station then you can call 911 and tell the dispatcher what number you are at then they know where to send help. I think it is a good idea. There is water at the main parking lot but nowhere else. If you go up on the mountain take lots of water and if you are taking a dog take water for them also.

Nearby is what I call Wagon Wheel Lake (All the ponds on Turkey Mountain are called lakes for some reason, so I get to call the pond a lake also.) We have a had a wet year, usually the ponds are dry and the vegetation dried out by this time of year.

I finished up my run and took another selfie of me. Notice how I got my jaw forward to cut down the number of double chins? I tried that trick but it sure makes me look stern. 

I ran the pic through the grunge filter on snapseed. I love this result. Sure makes me look grungy. I smelled pretty grungy too so I went home and cleaned up and we headed off to Nana’s.

Oh yes, after a pre-dinner Tanqueray and tonic we had the chicken, and purple hull peas, sliced tomatoes, marinated cucumbers, Sweeties home made cole slaw, and on and on. I was too busy eating it to take a picture of everthing.

So Labor Day turned out okay. I guess that I’ll stick with Labor Day and not agitate for a Wealth Day Holiday. I’ve been thinking about it and if you are wealthy then every day is a holiday. That’s what I think anyway.