Tulsa’s 2023 Veterans Day Parade

Last Friday I went downtown to see the 2023 Tulsa Veterans Day Parade. I see whenever I can. Tulsa has one of the largest such parades in the country.

This year, son Logan joined me. The first time I have ever watched the parade with anybody!

A World War II vintage DC-3 Transport aircraft started flying over downtown Tulsa well before the parade and kept flying circles throughout.

A Tulsa Police Department motorcycle squad opened the parade.

Their were High School marching bands representing their schools.

TPD had some of the officers who are veterans in the parade with one of their armored vehicles.

Some veterans organizations showed up.

Including the Veterans Administration.

Logan liked all the military vehicles that were in the parade.

Several Junior ROTC squads showed up and marched.

Miss Oklahoma showed up with a big smile. I googled her and her name is Sunny Day. What a name,!! I think it fits here. When I lived in Dallas years ago I knew somebody named Happy Holidays.

And more military vehicles. This looks foreign to me but still cool.

My former coworkers from the company I retired from showed up in force.

And it still wasn’t over. I didn’t stay long enough this time but after the parade is over, veterans from all over town show up and march. Some in full uniform some with just a cap. Lots of young people and lots of elderly folks showing their pride.

I’ve missed the parade a few times over the years but I’ll keep going for as long as I can.

I’m linking with My Corner of the World

Shadow Shot Sunday – Low Autumn Skies

This is a backyard shot showing my neighbor’s fence to the east casting a shadow on my fence with the green space to the north. You get a bonus shot of our dog Kodi at the lower left hand corner.

And here is another fence shadow shot in our greenspace showing a fence shadow from a private residence.

And from my last bike ride. A shadow of my bike during a rest and photographing break. I only do photography when I go by mself. I do too much slow wibble wobbling to suit most people. My problem is that I see stuff I have never seen before and I have to check it out. I have been running, walking, bicycling up and down the Tulsa Riverparks trails for over thirty years and I always see lots of new stuff. Often it is old stuff that I see in a new way! Does that make sense?

I am linking with Shadow Shot Sunday 2

Saturday’s Critters – Seen on a Bike Ride

I went on a bike ride the other day on Tulsa’s Riverparks Trails during a very unseasonably warm day.

I saw two groups of white pelicans on the river. They were both all hunkered down. I hope that they will get going to where they need to be for the winter.

The canadian geese are here all year long in Tulsa. Many of them still migrate south but I guess the others have figured out what some of politicians haven’t, that global warming is a thing.

And I saw a few great blue herons. They are everywhere. Back in the day when I still worked I was out in the natural gas fields of western Oklahoma and I stopped on a dirt road to make a cell phone call and suddenly noticed in the field next to where I parked there were a bunch of great blue herons. Not in a pond or water, just standing there in a field. I took a pic but it is long gone. Well before the days I knew about storing and tagging and all that other stuff.

I found a bunch of seagulls clear across the river.

I stopped and took a photo of the foliage on Turkey Mountain across the river. I never get tired of seeing it.

Nearby was this plaque commemorating the first Oklahoma Game Ranger killed in the line of duty. He was game ranger murdered in the line of duty in Oklahoma. On Turkey Mountain investigating a poaching case. I don’t think it was ever solved.

Back in the day, Turkey Mountain had a bootleggers, lawmen, oil field hands, ranchers, railroad men, and farmers. I have personally found “shake and bake” meth labs. It has a shady past. So does Tulsa for that matter. Machine gun Kelly, Pretty Boy Floyd, John Dillinger, Bonnie and Clyde, Ma Barker. They all have Tulsa ties. Read more about Tulsa’s shady past here.

Oops I digressed. I am continually fascinated by the dichotomy of Tulsa. On the east bank are big companies, operas, ballet companies, symphonies, wonderful museums and on the gritty west side, like Turkey Mountain, refineries, oilfield manufacturing, factories is where the money was made to pay for all the nice stuff. That is where the outlaws hung out.

I’m linking with Saturday’s Critters.

Oops one more thing,

Excuse my appearance, I’m retired so I get kind of scruffy. That is me, (of course) and Lizzy early in the morning. I read the paper and drink coffee in the morning and she reads over my shoulder. I keep telling her that is rude but she won’t stop.

Skywatch Friday Update

On a whim I stopped one day at this park while running errands. It has good fall color scenes in the past and today did not disappoint.

We got some clouds the other day at sunset and the wind dropped so I launched my drone in backyard to see what I could see.

Last week I attended a “Berm Clinic” on Turkey Mountain. They had an old pro trail builder to teach us how to repair berms and lips on downhill bicycle runs. I don’t ride mountain bikes but I wanted to learn a little bit about this so I could help out on the trail days. We also learned about fixing lips which is what bicyclists use to catch air. The lips need to be sharp edged to get the best results.

I stole this photo from somebody else’s facebook site. There is me in the foreground working on repairing a berm. It was a fun and interesting two hours.

And I have been on a couple hikes on Turkey Mountain the past few weeks. I have so many pics of fall colors.

And I ran in a trail race last sunday that started from the YMCA on the northwest side of Turkey Mountain. When I saw I ran it I mean that I walked it.

Got more photos during the race.

At the end I ate a couple of pancakes at the finish line.

And drank an adult malted beverage. All before 11 am on Sunday morning. I don’t know a better way to start the morning.

And more drive by fall color.

And some more while walking our dog on our neighborhood. I’m never afraid to post sky photos with all sorts of wires in the air. I got the software to eliminate them but rarely do.

So, I’ve been pretty busy the past week. How about you?

I’m linking with Skywatch Friday.

2023 Dia de los Muertes Art Festival

Last Saturday afternoon I ventured to downtown Tulsa to Living Arts Tulsa which was putting on their annual Dia de los Muertos Art Festival. I missed all the performances that happened the night before but they still had the altars to loved ones that community members built.

Dia de los Muertos, also known as the Day of the Dead. Is a Mexican holiday where families welcome back the souls of loved ones for a few days of visiting and feasting. It is usually celebrated October 31 to November 2.

As part of the holiday altars (or ofrendas) are built to honor family members. There are conventions for the altars (check here) but it seems more and more the ofrendas are departing from the “rules” and the emphasis is showing the departed, their interests and passions.

One sees lots of marigolds in these ofrendas. Some believe that orange is the only color that departed souls can see. Many ofrendas create a path of marigold flowers from the floor to the altar and then to the top of the altar. Those are to help guide souls to the altar and then on to heaven.

The brightly colored tissue paper with patterns cut into it is known as Papel Picado. It symbolizes the union between life and death.

Sometimes favorite clothing and beverages are on display.

You see lots of pastries and candles.

Photographs, favorite drinks are displayed as well.

Somebody constructed an ofrenda in honor of the recently deceased singer Jimmy Buffett. A guitar, music, and sandals were some of the objects on display.

I didn’t build an ofrenda but I did use a snapchat filter to celebrate.

I really enjoyed the whole show.

I am linking with My Corner of the World

Shadows on the Terrace

One of our YMCA’s has a really nice terrace overlooking a lake. A side benefit is that it makes for great shadows.

Just one more reason to appreciate the YMCA.

I’m linking with Shadow Shot Sunday

Mainly Backyard Critters

Here’s a backyard cam of Kodi licking his nose.

And then playing with him.

We have a tennis ball in the back yard. He loves chasing it all over the place.

At night other critters come out. I have seen this bunny during the day.

The way the eyes light up is spooky!!

Lately we have this black and white cat checking things out. We still have people in the neighborhood who turn their cats loose and there are several feral cats outside as well.

Hey, a non-trailcam shot of some geese at a local park.

That’s all I got this week!! I’m linking with Saturday’s Critters

Skywatch Friday – Finally Home

I’m done with posting about my travels for now. So these are some sights since I’ve stayed home .

The full, or almost full moon, in late September.

Old rock church in midtown Tulsa. The sanctuary is now abandoned but it is connected to a more modern sanctuary that got taken over by a church from the suburbs. It’s all confusing to me but I love to see buildings including church buildings preserved and repurposed.

This is the nearby sanctuary. Not very new, I’m guessing mid 50’s Mid Century Modern.

I’ve been flying my drone as well especially when we get weather. My little lightweight drone gets blown away by winds so I have to be careful.

I had to be really careful for this shot. A front was moving through so I didn’t get very high at all.

I encountered a glider at a monarch butterfly event. I guess you call these things sail planes now.

Another “weather” shot in our neighborhood green space in September.

So that’s it for this week. I’m linking with Skywatch Friday.

Shadow Shot Sunday – On the Trail

Taking a break for a shadow selfie late one afternoon while hiking on Tulsa’s Turkey Mountain Urban Wilderness Area.

Shadow Shot Sunday 2

Saturday’s Critters at Oxley Nature Center

Last week I went to Tulsa’s Oxley Nature Center. I went in search of otters. The staff reports that they are active on Coal Creek at 8 am in the morning. Well I got out there at 8:30 and I didn’t see them, I don’t think. Near the old beaver lodge which they reportedly have taken over I could see that something was moving under the water chasing fish. I didn’t know if they were otters doing the chasing or if it were bigger fish chasing the smaller fish. So another otter failure but for some reason I didn’t mind.

So I started hiking around looking at what I could see.

Oxley has nice wooded areas, lakes, ponds, streams, and swampy areas. All sorts of terrain and it is pretty flat and the trails are all in good shape so it is easy to move around the preserve.

I saw a great blue heron flying around.

And a closeup, sorry for the fuzziness.

I came upon a limpkin. A tropical wetland bird that has a large range in South America and in the USA in Florida. It is an apple snail eater but they can eat other snails. As apple snails have migrated into south Louisiana the Limpkins followed them. Nobody knows why they are in Oklahoma now. Supposedly Oklahoma has seven of them now, three of them at Oxley. They have been here a few years so I guess they like it. You can read the Cornell Labs writeup here.