Kansas City’s grand and restored Union Station. Reminds me of a childhood trip to the east cost in the mid 1960’s when I was a kid. We went by train from Utah to Chicago to New York City and on to New London, Connecticut. I still remember the huge train stations packed with people waiting for their trains to leave. Little did I know that I was witnessing the tail end of an era.
A few minutes today at Union Stations brought back a lot of memories.
I’ve been reading posts by my fellow bloggers in Canada, Colorado, New York, and I’ve noticed with some envy that their leaves are turning and here in Oklahoma our leaves are still bright green. Whattup folks!
October 13 is Blog Action Day, a yearly event hosted by Envato where bloggers if they choose, join in on a particular topic. This year’s topic is Human Rights and they are partnering with Amnesty International. There are human rights issues all over the world and I guess that I could write about them but I have nothing new to add to the discussion. I am much more comfortable posting about things that I’ve seen myself. My Human Rights topic is the right to protest that we have in America.
(All photographs are mine.)
Whether we are protesting unfair labor practices, or those who hurt children, or perhaps you don’t want Keystone XL pipeline built, or perhaps you do, or you don’t like our country’s taxation and spending policies, or maybe you think that Wall Street dominates our life too much it is amazing to me how much protesting is done in my home town of Tulsa. The buckle of the Bible belt, a very conservative community where the current big civic controversy is a green waste pickup program that has gone awry somehow.
In many other countries the powers that be don’t like protest or free speech. If they want you to have an opinion, they’ll give one as the saying goes. Some countries will put you in jail. Some might even kill you. 
The problem here is not that we don’t have freedom of protest its that we take it for granted. I’ve heard people tell me that protests shouldn’t be allowed. Especially things like union picketing, or environmental activism, or other not very nice topics.
Some such people tell me, well yeah they should have free speech but that is more like writing letters to the editor and such. Not out in public rubbing it in our faces.
So yes, I am concerned about abuses in Syria and Egypt but I am also worried about Americans losing their rights, or trivializing their rights, or morphing our rights into something altogether different. For example it looks like the US Supreme Court may eliminate political contribution limits in the name of Free Speech. Uh?
People have the right to stand up and be counted.
They are making an appeal to not only the courts, or the police, the legislature, mayor, governor, and president, they making an appeal to you.
Ignore them, or talk to them, read their signs or not. But let them have their say.
By letting them exercise their rights, you are protecting your rights.
It’s October and the temperatures are cooling here in Oklahoma. Not like they are elsewhere as we are still running our air conditioners but the weather is cool and dry. October is the Oklahoma’s best month. I happened to have Saturday morning free so I headed to my favorite running spot, Turkey Mountain. I had the place to myself. I’ve signed up for the Tulsa Run 15K race late this month and the Route 66 Half Marathon in late November so I’ve been running longer miles during the week. My goal Saturday was six miles of easy running.
I started down the trails but I noticed a short side trail that went to a road and I could barely see an opening on the other side. Hmm, I didn’t know there was a trail over there so I headed across.
And sure enough there was a faint trail over there. It wasn’t very big and it wasn’t very long, less than a mail loop. Guess what though. No litter. Yep, no red bull cans, no water bottles, nor candy bar wrappers. I scared up three white tail deer though. They don’t stick around for me to get my camera up and going though. It was pretty nice. I didn’t see any side trails though.
It was nice although the trail almost petered out a few times.
The only man made object I saw was this old barbed wire fence. Soon enough though I looped back across the road back to the park. Going from illegal to legal.
I made a turn through a privately owned area of the mountain. The owner bulldozed down a lot of brush and trees earlier this year and got everybody all excited that he was going to put something up but he was just clearing things out so it would be easier to sell. Still not good news but maybe somebody will step in and buy and and give it to the River Parks. Its happened before. Keep your fingers crossed.
Several bikes passed me. I passed one who called my name out as I went by and I yelled who’s that. He yelled “Tom.” I know a Tom who rides bikes and would ride by without stopping. It’s probably him.
There is one spot on the western side of Turkey Mountain looking east where you have a good panorama.
You can see from the pics that the leaves haven’t turned here yet. I did find some color.
I also found this little green snake. When I first started looking at him he reared up and was doing his cobra thing. Dang little dude has spirit. I have to give him that. This is actually the first snake I’ve ever seen on Turkey Mountain. He and I went on our separate ways.
I looped through the West Side YMCA. Earlier this year this pond was nearly dry. I’m glad we have been getting some rain.
More color on the mountain.
Anyway, I had six really slow, lazy, nice miles. I had a great day.
How are your days?
Saturday I ran six miles on the trails of Turkey Mountain. Of course I took my camera and took lots of pics including this classic shadow selfie. The giveaway is the thrown out elbow. Although we are still pretty green here in the Tulsa area, the sun is getting lower and making great shadows.
Friday night our son’s school had their annual Fall outing at Firey Trails a meeting place way out in the woods west of Tulsa.
Son always likes it. It wasn’t cold at all. In fact he told, I’m really hot. I said take your jacket off dude. Oh yeah he said. Sometimes I wonder?
Bill, the man who is here, there, and everywhere, cooked the hot dogs and later told stories at the camp fire.
It wasn’t explicitly a Halloween event but some students showed up with costumes. This young man wanted to make sure that I got the teeth in the photo.
I forget what this young man is supposed to be. A superhero of some sort no doubt.
The medic for the Wolverine. I innocently asked who is the Wolverine. That led to a long involved discussion that I just couldn’t follow about the Wolverine and his superpowers and the relationship to other superheros.
Hot dogs, chips, chili, fritos, cookies, cake, pop. All the basic food groups. You have to have a well rounded meal.
And of course smores. Here one of the dads shows the youngin’s how it is done.
Amazing how the vibes change from year to year. Sometimes the students are full of energy and halfway wild with lots of drama. Friday night the mood was mellow.
Of course the hayride is the can’t miss event. Especially the last ride of the night. Upper classes only and it gets attacked by the Seniors. Lots of noise during the attack. Three pairs of glasses lost.
For the moms the big event was one young man with a guitar who wanted to play a song for his girlfriend on the bridge. Of course he made the mistake of saying that that was what he wanted to do. The moms were all swooning and falling all over themselves. I was proud of him, he is figuring out this girl thing early. (Some of us never do.) (Note I had permission, if “knock yourself out” is permission, from the young man’s mother to photograph the event.)
Another year at Firey Trails in the books.
The view west from the east side of the Arkansas River in Tulsa Wednesday evening. I love a little Fall color in the sky and on the river.
Tulsa’s Petroleum Club building. I used the Hipstamatic App with my Ipod Touch to take these pics. So I guess I could say that these are “SOC.” More and more people are using their phones and ipods to take photographs and post them.
The Petroleum Club is just a regular office building now. The Petroleum Club itself that occupied the top several floors went bankrupt several years ago. The energy industry is still going strong but people don’t head to the club after work to drink and socialize. They go to their kids soccer practices and other things like that.
This is my first post on Black and White Wednesday. It probably won’t be my last!
Our young man is getting all grown up. I used to call him SuperPizzaBoy. It doesn’t seem to quite fit any more. He is growing into a young man. I’ll have to think of a new nickname for him.
(He is kind of handsome I think.)
He is a busy guy. A sophomore in high school now. He also does chess club and the lego club at school and singing lessons, and other stuff also. He has a full schedule so he has to budget his time to make sure that everything is done. This past weekend is a good example.
(Around and around we go. If the weather is good he rides outside, which is much nicer)
He has to get up early, get dressed, have breakfast and after a fast stop at Starbucks we drive 36 miles one way to therapeutic horseback riding. He has come a long way and is getting more comfortable all the time with his horse.
(He has a great sense of humor, most of the time.)
We drive back into town and then he changes, has lunch and then we head to his weekly Improv Comedy class. This past weekend was a double dose as he had to go back in the evening for their first show.
He loves improv and is pretty good at it. I’d find it really tough. There are guidelines to improv but you really have to be on your toes and think fast. Two things nobody has ever accused me of doing.
(Take a bow kids for a job well done. The adult leaders also, talk about a handful!)
The show was great. Many of the kids have been together for several years. They are really a lively and energetic bunch and can be very funny.
(Poor kid, he has a Dad who just has to try all the Hipstamatic combos)
Today, we got up and went to church. After lunch son had some homework to do. He doesn’t find geometry near as much fun as I do, but he is getting good at writing papers for his English class.
(How much farther Dad! About 20 minutes Son! That’s what you said 20 minutes ago!)
And then for a little outside time. We ventured up north Tulsa to Oxley Nature Center and hiked the Northern Woods loop for an hour and a half to get a little fresh air.
(How come teenagers don’t like lily pads?)
He doesn’t like near as much as his old man does but he indulged me.
(They don’t like the sun shining through trees either)
We saw a deer and enjoyed the silence. We didn’t see anybody else the whole time we were there.
(Poor kid, his Dad dresses like such a dork.)
