Monthly Archives: May 2014

A Nice Run Spoiled on Turkey Mountain

I had Friday off. Everybody at the house was snoozing away so I geared up and headed off to Turkey Mountain. The weather was glorious with the sun shining, no wind, and low temperatures.

I don’t generally get to run in the morning and I headed off on the Yellow Trail.

The Arkansas River was up a little and the vistas from the trail was beautiful. And then,

I came across my old friend turtle. At least I thought he was my friend. He wasn’t too friendly and took off.

I would have thought that he could have at least slowed down for a few hundred yards to visit but I’m way too slow for him.

Have you ever had to deal with an unfriendly turtle?

A Sunday view: A few of the trails of Turkey Mountain

The Drama Club’s Performance of Crazytown

Logan’s school’s Drama Club had their play on Wednesday, Jonathan Rand’s Crazytown. Crazytown is about a city where everything is just plain wrong, and backwards, and doesn’t make sense. Logan was in a couple of segments including the one below where he plays a sportscaster. I listened to him and his mother practice the lines for weeks and it was great to actually see what was going on.

His mother and I are of course very proud of him. He has worked hard at his craft and is much improved in how he moves on stage, using his voice, and realizing that he can fuss and fidget while performing.

He is switching schools to a much larger private school in the Fall and we hope that he’ll be able to perform in something there.

Logan and the rest of the drama club did very well and the play was well received. They had been practicing for sometime once a week after school and it was great to see it pay off.

Skywatch Friday – Tulsa Skyline

Downtown Tulsa late Spring.

Skywatch Friday

Happy Birthday Logan!!!!!

Somebody is the big Sixteen Years Old!

Somebody who came kicking, screaming, yelling, and squalling

But who could be calmed down with a burger and shake.

Who turned into a speed demon on the road

And dresses up really nice

Who has always been into music.

And is interested in learning about the world around him.

And who likes to make stuff

And who could do the cranky cowboy bit with anybody.

And loves his Grandmother

And learned how to ride a horse, looking good doing so.

Who has learned how to stand up for what is right.

And who loves his Mother

And his Gramps

And humors his Old Man

Happy Birthday Logan, We love you very much!

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 with Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone with Electro

Son and I went to see “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” Sunday night. We loved it. Spiderman swoops in and fights villains and saves the day for everybody. I hope that doesn’t spoil it for you. Looking at the characters I get this.

Andrew Garfield plays Spider Man/Peter Parker. – I guess Garfield does okay. You this movie’s Spider-Man is kind of a wise cracking clown. Peter Parker is a total wimp. He doesn’t make it to his own graduation on time to see his girlfriend’s speech. He breaks up with her only to follow her around creepily and he continually puts her in dangerous situations. He also lives with aunt and spends a lot of time moping around. Come on Parker, Man Up!

Emma Stone plays Gwen Stacy – Spiderman’s girlfriend. She is really really cute with the hair and the clothes and the great bod and all that. The sooner she dumps Parker the better off she’ll be in my opinion anyway. She needs a protective order on him is what I think. Or more accurately that is what she should have done.

Jamie Foxx plays Max Dillon – Max is a poor picked wimpy Electrical Engineer (unlike us Chemical Engineers who are totally manly you understand) who… Well, I’m not going to spoil it for you!

Sally Field plays Peter Parker’s Aunt May – Who wouldn’t love to have Sally Field for an aunt. She’s great but she needs to kick that Peter Parker out the door on his ear. I mean the shiftless dude graduates and isn’t doing anything besides stalking his girlfriend. She needs to have a little graduation party of her won with three gifts. Give him a hundred bucks, a good hug, and a kick in the butt and then lock the door behind him.

My favorite character is the villain Electro. I am not going to say much cuz I don’t want to spoil the movie for you, but he is one mean dude.

Logan and I each gave this move three stars out of four. Better go see it quick if you want to see it.

Check out the Movie’s Web Site for lots of stuff. Photographs, videos, games, it’s all there.

Sometimes the Impromptu Gatherings are the Best

It was Memorial Day and a get together had been planned in western Oklahoma for a multi-birthday celebration but you know life doesn’t quite cooperate and it didn’t look like it was going to happen until the bunch out west decided to drive to Green Country so we had our get together anyways only on the other side of the state. Nobody minded though.

Heather and cousin Cheri Lou aka “Thelma and Louise”. It’s best to keep these two apart. No matter what I do with the camera, Cheri Lou doesn’t like it. She doesn’t like it close, she doesn’t like it when I pull back. and she doesn’t like where I point the camera. Hey Cheri Lou, why don’t you take a few pics? Just kidding, Cheri Lou is sweetheart.

I think these two like each other.

Three of their kids and Kyle the cousin. Nothing like cousins in my book.

I cooked hamburgers outside in the rain. Actually I was comfortable and dry under the overhang. I love rain and storms and the energy in the air. Way, way back I was just a fifth grade Yogi in Utah at a Church Camp high up in the Wasatch Mountains. When it rained, and it rained a lot, we all had to stay in the lodge I would go walk out in the rain just to get away and get soaking wet. The counselors would be yelling at me. “Don’t you know to come in out of the rain!?” I’d be thinking “I’d rather be out here than in there with you.” So that was it for me and the Episcopal Church. Sorry, I’m rambling.

Heather, Logan, and Kyle. You can tell that Kyle is hungry. If he is eating my cooking you know he has to be hungry.

Cheri Lou and Nana, the world’s greatest MIL.

Time to light the cake. There were several birthdays being celebrated but Logan was the only kid so he kind of appropriated the cake. Being the nice guy and loving father that I am, I didn’t point out that I still had several days to go on my 59 days of birthday this year. That’s okay, poor kid gave me his birthday money. I am thinking about going all Tea Party on him and taking it all in exchange for a voucher.

Take a big breath in!

And blow!! Good lungs this kid has.

And of course we made him sing for his supper. He gave a spot on performance of “Man of LaMancha” that he performed at his recital.

So we had a great Memorial Day.

What about you? How did yours go?

Memorial Day 2014

All Pics at Floral Haven Cemetery in Broken Arrow. They do a great job on Memorial Day.

Memorial Day is the day we remember those who died defending our country and veterans who have passed on and just people we miss.

Flags are put out and graves decorated. The cemeteries really are colorful this time of year.

Whole families show up with flowers and buckets. Things are cleaned up and trimmed, the flowers are arranged and rearranged. Pictures are taken and retaken. Sometimes little pinwheels are set in the ground and knick knacks are set on stones. Stuff like small University of Oklahoma football helmets or old fishing lures, stuff like that.

It seems to be pretty happy work for the most part. It is good to remember those who have gone on before us.

I came across this Medal of Honor awardee’s grave. That of Lieutenant Ernest Childers, a Native American, a member of the Creek Tribe, who despite a broken foot, took out two machine gun nests in Italy in 1943, as well as killing two snipers who were trying to kill him.

Who are you remembering this Memorial Day?

Scavenger Hunt Sunday – Turkey Mountain Automated Pancake Edition

Where I Stand

That is where I was standing Saturday morning. I took son up on Turkey Mountain. We took the blue trail, a short 1.5 mile loop.

Pink

Pink is the color of the free bikes available on the River Parks in Tulsa.

Technology

4H is an awesome organization. They are even tackling our country’s STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) manpower (and womanpower!) shortage.

Something New

An automated pancake grill. Keeping America Strong!

Favorite Place

My favorite place, besides the beach which is a long way from where I live so it doesn’t really count, is Turkey Mountain in Tulsa. An urban wilderness.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

Serendipity – “Games Along the Way”

Note the doll on the little girl’s back and the baby on the mother’s back.

I had lunch with a friend Friday. I stopped at Centennial Park on the way back to the office to snap some photographs of the park. On my way back to my car I passed a set of bronze sculptures installed on a traffic island. I found it totally charming. The artist is John Gooden of Kingfisher, Oklahoma. It turns out that the traffic island is a park called Medicine Wheel Park.

The installation is called “Games on the Way” and it shows a mother carrying a baby walking on a path accompanied by a little girl carrying her own baby and a boy playing “Shoot the Hoop.” Everybody is smiling and they seem in total harmony with each other.

The sculptures are sponsored by the Indian Health Care Center of Tulsa and it is meant to outline their approach to care as nurture: “An embracing approach to care to strengthen physical, emotional, mental and spiritual wellness within a family.”

All photos are HDR processed. Without it the sculptures are just big dark colored blobs. With it you can see the details.

And who can argue with that?

I love coming on unexpected finds like this.

Have you come upon something great lately? Tell us about it.

Graffiti Friday – Cool Cat in the Permission Zone

I was in east Tulsa yesterday for Logan’s school awards assembly (more on that later, he scooped up nine awards!) and I stopped by Mad Mike’s Liquor store on 11th street to see what was new in their graffiti. This cool guy with the shades was my favorite.

Mad Mike’s has created a “Permission Zone” where graffiti art is encouraged. It changes quite a bit and is quite the place.

Do you have any permission zones where you live?