Tag Archives: Tulsa

Today’s Flowers – Daffodil Mania

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Here is the conventional view

I don’t mind Winter too much here in Oklahoma where it generally is not too severe and given my trailrunning and geocaching hobbies late Fall and Winter is really, really nice because I don’t have to worry about the many vipers we have here and the ticks, chiggers, bees, hornets, spiders, and wasps which have each sent me to the doctor before. Anyways Winter isn’t too bad but Spring is just great. It is great for baseball coming back and wonderful for the flowers especially the daffodils. I just love daffodils.

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How about we get down to the ground and look up?

Tulsa’s best spot for daffodils is Woodward Park. This years “crop” seems a little sparse compared to previous years but still just spectacular.

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How about zooming up the iso, and reducing the fstop to get narrow depth of focus. I know it is not much but I love this shot.

I went at lunch one day last week and the light was hazy. I thought it made for a nice effect.

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Woodward Park is almost as good as the State Fair for people watching. We Tulsan’s love Woodward Park

I saw this lady get out of her car and she sat in the middle of a daffodil patch and brushed her hair really good and put a blue ribbon in and made a bunch of selfies. I thought it was really sweet. A couple years ago a guy and his girl were there and he set up a tripod low to the ground and he filmed he and his girl rolling around kissing and groping each other in the daffodils. That wasn’t too sweet.

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On this past Wednesday during our Spring Break staycation the family indulged me by going to Philbrook Museum to take pics of the daffodils. They seemed kind of sparse there also. Still beautiful.

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They had some of these very pretty blueish purple flowers also. That’s not the latin name for them, it is the Okie name.

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And the purple flowers falling over the ledge is great also.

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The best daffodils at Philbrook were in the front of the museum. They don’t charge you to look at these. We are members at Philbrook so its all the same to us. I love flowers in abundance. I’m greedy that way.

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I know I am posting way too many pics of them. I promise not to post any more. I might change my mind though. Can you tell that I am a potential politician?

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Here I found the abundance I was looking for. I fixed the focus about one third of the way down which left the flowers in the back kind of mushed (that is a very technical photographic term) in an effect that I kind of liked.

So this is my daffodil mania post. No filters, not even any cropping!

So, did I post too many photos? I’m trying to figure out what blogging means in this day of Instagram, twitter, and facebook. I love Instagram and post two or three pics a day with minimal text. Twitter I use mainly during breaking news plus it is a best way to keep abreast of industry news. Facebook is for friends. So I am trying to figure out where blogger fits in. I like getting to know people in blogging and it is kind of hard in Instagram and Twitter. With facebook I already know you. At least I thought I did until you started posting the My Little Pony videos. (hah)

So, how are the flowers where you are?

I’m linking with Today’s Flowers.

Weekend Reflections – Staycating for Spring Break

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Logan has Spring Break this week. Originally we thought we might go to New York City but one thing led to another and so we are staying in town but trying to get out and do things. Wednesday we all slept in and then breakfasted at First Watch and then went to Zink Lake on the Arkansas River and walked about three miles or so.

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We then went to the Philbrook Museum because I wanted to get some pics of daffodils. While there of course I had to take some pics of the Tempietto and the reflecting pool. I think more electrons have been spent photographing the Tempietto than any other feature in Tulsa.

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All that is lost on some folks who walk around staring at the little screens. 

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Back to the Tempietto, I think it is the prettiest thing in Tulsa.aaBack to the Tempietto, I think it is the prettiest thing in Tulsa.

Wednesday night we took Logan to see the “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly” with Clint Eastwood. I saw it about forty years ago when it came out and wow, I was blown away at how good it is. What a great, intense, well done, movie. Logan loved it also. Afterwards we realized it is the first R rated movie we ever took him to see so I guess it is a rite of passage.

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Out of focus, and off kilter, I kind of like it that way except I wish I had the focus on the flower better.

I said something about daffodils, here are one and a half. I was trying to do the bokeh thing by messing with the speed and aperture. Next time I will figure out how to fix the focus so this is all I have for now. I’ll be posting my daffodil pics later.

Have you ever tried staycating? What is the secret.

I’m linking with Weekend Reflections

South Tulsa Skywatch

South Tulsa Skywatch - Topaz Glow - Whisker Wires at 32 pct

I used the Whisker Wire filter in Topaz Glow, backed off about two thirds.

So last Sunday it was kind of raining and sprinkling and so Logan and I decided we would go to the local mall and walk around a little bit. So we walked around and mocked the merchandise and left and I snapped the above pic with my cell phone. The sky was very dramatic. After a winter of no drama is was nice to see a few clouds.

What are the skies like where you live?

I’m linking with Skywatch Friday

Poems and Promises by Rosalind Cook in Honor of EG Camera Girl and Birdman

Poems and Promises Woodward Park HDR

Friday at lunch I hauled the Nikon over to Tulsa’s Woodward Park to take some pics of stuff. You know Spring type stuff, daffodils and such. I got those pics and I got this one. Actually, this sculpture is hard to photograph decently because it is dark and the shadows and all that so I bracketed it with three photos in succession each about 2 fstops different; under exposed, right exposed, and over exposed. I then combined the three pics with some software I had and I got something halfway decent.

At least we can see her face and the background isn’t blown out. If I were a photographer instead of picture taker I could monkey around a little more but this what I get. This sculpture is named Poems and Promises and it was gifted to the City of Tulsa back in 2010 by the Sculptor, Rosalind Cook, and her husband. I think it is incredibly beautiful!!

I got to thinking that I had posted this art before and sure enough I posted some film photos back in 2012 so I went back and checked it out and and what stunned me were the first two commenters: EG CameraGirl and Birdman. EG CameraGirl was a Canadian blogger whopassed away at the end of February as a result of car accident where her husband died and Birdman was from Maine and died of a heart attack just after retiring from a long career as a high school teacher.

They were both full of life and had unique blogs and were lively, interesting, and humorous comments and both very encouraging. I never met either one in real life but I feel that I knew them. I know that I miss them both. So this post is dedicated to them.

Skywatch Friday – Downtown Sky

Downtown Tulsa - Rooftop - church view Topaz Adjust

We had some stormy rainy weather on Tuesday when I went to my car on the roof of the parking garage I liked the view to the south with the big clouds and the wet streets. I also noticed that four of Tulsa’s major churches were in the view. From left to right we have the tower of the Bruce Goff designed art deco masterpiece, Boston Avenue Church, then the green domed First Christian Church. Then to the right the twin spires of the First Methodist Church and then to the far right, Holy Family Cathedral. Tulsa is unique in major cities in the US in that the downtown area are really thriving and maintaining their membership. The churches and businesses stayed downtown when everybody left and now the people are coming back to live, as well as work and worship. Exciting times we live in is what I say.

I am linking with Skywatch Friday

Multitasking – Geocaching with some Hill Training

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Son Logan rocking the hat and Star Wars shirt.

Part of geocaching is that if you place a cache then you are responsible for it and if it goes missing you have to replace it. I have such a cache called “Little Haikey Creek” located in south Tulsa right in the middle of a giant freeway exchange. I’ve had it for years and hardly anybody ever looks for it because it is a long walk from the nearest parking areas. 

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So off we went on the Mingo trail that winds through the freeway interchange.

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The highest part of the freeway exchange goes right by the Mingo Trail and the resulting hill is popular with runners who want to do hill repeats. Hill repeats are where you keep going up and down hills, repeatedly. It is kind of like hitting your head with a hammer repeatedly, except hill repeats are good for you. Supposedly, anyway Logan and I decided to run up and down the hill just for the fun of it. Really we just walked. But I’m calling it a run. What do you know? You weren’t there.

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So anyway we got to ground zero (that is geocacher lingo, for the place where the cache is supposed to be) and placed a new one. Somewhere in the woods above. Then we headed back.

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We passed a homeless guys place. This kind of puzzled me. Most homeless guys camp near where they can get food and water. This place is a long hike for either. Oh well.

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On the way back, we ran up the hill again!! Just for the heck of it.

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There he goes down the hill. I like how he is holding his hat like a cowboy holds his cowboy hat. Logan is a native Okie you know.

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And then a cyclist came by and went up the hill by diagonal. No way that Alan Bates could do that.

Anyways a good time was had by all. The cache was replaced, we got some fresh air and exercise and a lot of fun. Logan still hates geocaching but he is starting to run/walk with me a little bit and I’m loving that.

What have you been up to lately?

Digital Art Meme – Kwan Yin Sculpture at Tulsa’s Tam Bao Temple

Buddhist Sculpture Kwan Yin - glow squiggly lines ii 82%

I went on a lunchtime geocaching adventure in east Tulsa last week and on the way back to the office I saw a huge sculpture so I pulled off the road and took a photo of the statue. I would have got closer but a dog came bounding out and although friendly acting decided to move on. It turns out that the sculpture is of the Buddhist bodhisattva, Kwan Yin, who represents mercy, compassion, kindness, and love in the Buddhist religion. The sculpture is located at Tulsa’s Tam Bao Buddhist Temple.  The sculpture was erected by the Temple to express their appreciation to the people of Oklahoma and United States for the hospitality extended to the Vietnamese refugees who came here after the Vietnam war.

It is 57 feet tall and made of granite and is beautiful. I used Topaz Lab’s Glow software to add some texture to what was a flat blue sky.

The following is a short (1 minute plus or minus) documentary on the sculpture.

I live for serendipity. Don’t you?

Linking with Digital Art Meme

Rat Rods! at the Starbird Car Show

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I went to the Daryl Starbird Car Show here in Tulsa a couple weeks ago and I learned something new. I’ve learned the term “Rat Rod.”

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Rat Rods are like hot rods only with no chrome, rough or nor paint, and just generally look kind of homemade.

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Wikipedia talks about Rat Rods being a reaction to the pretty show hot rod show cars of today that are meant to be shown and not driven.

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Rat Rods are often associated with Rockabilly or Greaser culture. They are supposed to be a throwback to the hot rods of the 1930’s to 1960’s. I love them. They have that Mad Max home built slopped together look about them. The safety people among us are going nuts I’m sure. Exposed exhaust pipes, drive belts, and fans. Whoops there goes your fingers, please don’t bleed on the cars sir.

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Apparently conventional hot rodders loathe the rat rods. I just love controversy like this. Reaction and counter reaction, yin and yang. I’ll be looking into this more.

What about you? Have you ever heard of rat rods before?

Running Hills Where There Are No Hills

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Last week I had a lot of fun running hills at Turkey Mountain with Trail Zombie, Clint,and Lea. This week I couldn’t run there because by the time I get off work it is dark and I don’t like to run hills by my lonesome in the dark. The days are getting longer though and daylight savings time starts March 13 so it won’t be long.

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So I went running on the flat lighted trails of Arkansas River Trails system. So I used whatever hills I could find and looped back around them. Places like bridges, overpasses, and underpasses and whatever small hills were available.

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So I didn’t get 900 feet of elevation, I only got 41 feet but it is making me think how I can add a lot more elevation to my river runs. One thing is that you can see from the photo above that downtown is elevated quite a bit above the river so I might figure out a loop up and back. Tulsa’s infamous “Crybaby Hill” loop for the Tulsa Tough bicycle race is a loop that starts on the opposite bank above and goes behind the light colored condos just to the right. 

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That ought to add some elevation.


What about you, are you looking for any hills to climb?

Wish me luck I’m running my first trail race Sunday morning, the quarter marathon segment of the Post Oak Challenge,  since I banged up my knee last September running the Escape From Turkey Mountain Race.  Check out my 2015 Post Oak Challenge. The quarter marathon is kind of kiddy race because we won’t go up Holmes Peak like the other races do. That is today (Saturday) and I am helping out on Turkey Mountain Cleanup this morning and Heather is teaching a class today at the gym and Logan needs to get to and from his musical rehearsal. You folks with families know all about shuffling things around.