On the corner of Tulsa’s fairgrounds sits an old Baldwin steam locomotive. The Dierks Forest #207. It was built in 1917 and was used by a lumber company, Dierks Forest, for hauling lumber in southeast Oklahoma and southwest Arkansas and was moved to Tulsa’s fairgrounds in 1963.
One source I found claimed some sort of supernatural presence. I don’t know about that but when I see industrial machines like this I just imagine all the work that went into it, from the engineers who designed it to the men who built it and then followed by the people who operated and maintained the engine through its life.
Saturday the weather was glorious. Nice and sunny with a steady cool breeze. It was perfect weather for a horseback ride at All-star Therapy Group north of Tulsa near the little town of Ramona.
Cisco even posed for a picture and Logan had big smiles. I love the shadows in this ic also.
Logan and Cisco, closely attended to by Russ went on a ride across the pasture and through the woods.
And then we headed back to the barn under a big blue Oklahoma winter sky. A great day for a ride. At least for Logan, Russ and I had to hustle to keep up with Logan and Cisco. Logan did a good job keeping his horse under control though.
Logan, a few years ago, about to test himself in an arcade game where you see how long you can stand a little tickle of electricity. I don’t know how long he took it but he is a tough guy. He considerably bigger now.
I’m linking with Foto Friday Fun by Gaelyn, my favorite seasonal Park Ranger. Go check it out. A number is given every week and then you search your photo archives to find a photo with the same number. I cheated this week because I didn’t like the results of the number I was supposed to use.
I cheat a lot, especially on blog memes. Does that bother you?
Photo shot on the sly at a casino showing the patrons having “fun”
It is Friday the Thirteenth today, are you going to try your luck today? Perversely, I’ve always regarded Friday the 13th as a lucky day for me. However, let me see, let me add up my total gambling expenditures in the last five years. It adds up to somewhere between zero and nothing. I’ve been to casinos though, lots of times.
I saw Chris Isaak performing with his giant blow up doll in a local Tulsa casino.
And, little known fact, many tribal owned casinos have pretty decent art such as this mural by Del Iron Cloud in a casino in South Dakota.
How about you? Does Friday the 13th have any significance to you one way or another?
I took the photo with my Apple Ipod Touch and used its Splash App to make everything but the flag black and white.
We have had a warm spell lately but the mornings are pretty brisk. This is from one day last week as I was walking one morning last week on the River Parks trail. It was very chilly and there was a stiff breeze blowing. The bright morning sun made everything look a little magical. Still it felt more like March than February. It felt more like March than February though.
Saturday, I dropped the kid off at his Improv class and headed over to the Tulsa Boat Show. Logan and his mother hate the boat show so if I want to go I have to go when I can.
And I found some boats. I loved this tri hull pontoon boat. Pontoon boats make for a lot of room and a smooth ride. They are not too sexy though.
The dealers had their big boats there also. Yes, there are lots of these, and bigger, on Oklahoma lakes. I think the boats are bigger than the lakes just between you and me.
Once I have paid the fee to get in, I have never bought anything at the boat show. Nothing, not even food (it is kind of like fair food.) Still it is fun seeing what is for sale. I would like some property where I could tool around in a four wheeler like the above.
They had an amphibious car, or maybe it is an amphibious boat. A car that get in water.
It has a most manly instrument panel don’t you think.
Here is a video from four or five years ago. Yes, it can go pretty good but never gets up on plane. It just plows through the water.
And they had some Indian Motorcycles. I’ll take red please. They are beautiful.
They also had some funky powered assist bicycles. They can go up to 25 miles per hear I heard a salesman tellsomebody.
Weapons are extra.
I’m a sucker for old woonden power boats. They are just so cool. This is an Aristo Craft, 1956 model. $16,000 bucks and it is yours.
I think that would is beautiful.
there are lots of trailers at the show also. They get fancier ever year. This one has a rear deck. You have to provide your own kids though. Maybe next year they will have them with kids. Stay tuned.
This is more my speed. I love the color.
Many trailers and RV’s now have outside kitchens, stereos, televisions. I think that would be nice.
What about you? Have you been to a boat show lately?
Early Friday morning I was driving son to school when I saw a flash of red berries as I turned on Riverside drive here in Tulsa. I took Logan to school and then drove back to the river, parked and walked down to where I saw the berries. The early morning sun was shining full on and I took the pic with my cell phone and posted it to Instagram.
Every once in a while you have to take a little time off to check things out.
I take pictures all the time. I carry my cell phone, an ipod, and my Nikon point and shoot with me everywhere.
I take walks at lunch. Generally about one or two miles and I go all over downtown. I always pay attention to my surroundings and nearby people and I’ve had to pay extra attention. We have a new crop of homeless people downtown. It has changed the complexion of downtown and how people perceive the homeless. The new, younger, more thuggish group is a lot more aggressive than the older people who were the most polite homeless people I’ve ever seen. There is a lot more drug dealing downtown and it is done right out in the open and the participants don’t seem at all concerned about who sees them. This is a disturbing trend.
On another noon day I went out to west Tulsa to find a geocache. It was the first time I had been noon geocaching in a long time. The cache was on an abandoned road. How exactly does one decide to abandon a road? Anyway, it was fun.
About two weeks ago I moved offices in our building from the 17th floor to the 5th. So my views to the west for sunsets is different. No more views of the refinery or the Arkansas River. Instead I get the above. I’m not complaining.
But hey I got a different view toward the city center also. Everything always seems to work out.
Got my teeth cleaned and xrays. No cavities!!! I hardly ever have cavities. The secret is regular flossing. I always floss the night before I go see the dentist.
This morning I took the kid to school on my day off. After I dropped him off I parked on the Arkansas River and walked a little and took some pictures. I loved this bench and the bare branches of the tree, along with the River and the swell of Turkey Mountain in the background.
Friday night Logan had a comedy improv show. Laughing Matter Teen Improv at Clark Theater is a lot of fun. Logan is second from the left. We have been going for years and it has been fun watching these young people grow up.
Heather and I went to see The Imitation Game. It is about a British mathematician, Alan Turing, and his participation during World War II of cracking the German Enigma Code which helped shorten the war. It is also about his being gay during a time of persecution of gays in Britain. The movie also flirts with him having Asperger’s Syndrome. The movie interweaves three different time periods quite well. His life at a boarding school and his persecution by his fellow students for being different. Second his work and life during the war while he was working on deciphering Enigma, and finally the early 1950’s when he was being investigated and put on trial for Indecency.
The movie is really, really good and suitable for a date movie. Benedict Cumberbatch plays the role well, showing lots of inner turmoil. Keira Knightly plays his pretty, and open minded, and brilliant coworker. She is all the cuter for having less than perfect teeth is what I thought. Plus, don’t make her mad as she can really slap somebody hard. She must have taken golf lessons. You know where you learn to “Swing through the target.”
I’m not going to give the movie away or even review. I’m just saying it is a great movie.
Check out the web site for the Imitation Game. Lots of good stuff there. You can crack codes so we can so how smart you are.
