On the banks of the Oklahoma River (aka North Canadian River) near downtown Oklahoma City sits the Chesapeake Boathouse.
It is designed by architect Rand Elliott to look like a racing shell with oars.
Tulsa’s Hanging Tree
I want to show you a tree. An historic tree that I can see right from my office. What I have to say about it is a little graphic. So if you are little delicate you may not want to read any further.
Do you see it? Tucked in there on the other side of the BOK Center, where the NCAA tournament was playing this weekend, next to the Inner Dispersal Loop. It is not in a good neighborhood. Lots of abandoned buildings, the county jail and the Day Center for the Homeless are right down the road. Lets go get a closer look.
The tree has always looked alive to me in a scary kind of way. This tree is known locally as the Creek Hanging Tree. According to the book, “Tulsa’s Haunted Memories” by Teri French, between 15 and 20 people were executed by hanging from the tree between 1870 and 1889. One time three cattle rustlers were hung at the same time. I read somewhere else, but cannot find the reference, that the tree is right next to the original railroad and a passenger train pulled through right after the execution and the sight of three men hanging there made quite an impression on the train passengers. I don’t know if that is true but it makes a good story.
Tulsa portrays itself as a very sophisticated city. It is, we have the Philbrook and Gilcrease museums, Opera and Ballet companies. It is also home to the Tulsa Race Riot which some call the worst ever in the United States. Machine Gun Kelly and Pretty Boy Floyd spent some time in the area. Tulsa has rough side in its history that I find fascinating. The hanging tree is one of the remnants.
TATUR Snake Run
The Tulsa Area Trail and Ultra Runners (“TATUR”) had their annual Snake Run on Saturday. This run is a little different. Most runs one runs a fixed distance and how you place depends on how fast your ran the fixed distance. Everybody runs the same distance but different times. In the Snake Run everybody runs a fixed time and tries to maximize the distance. There were two times one could pick, three hours or six hours.
It is also a trail race not a road race, run on a relatively flat area of Turkey Mountain. They had two loops, The big loop was about four miles long and a smaller half mile loop. The idea is to run the big loop as many times as you can, when there is not enough time for you to run another big loop you run the small loop until the gun goes off. You get no credit for partial loops. So there is a little bit of a mental edge to the run.
Of course being a Trail Run they make even the parking fun. See the cars way down the hill on the left. That is the parking area. Everybody is walking up the hill to get to the start.
Race Director, Ultra Runner, fellow blogger, and geocacher and all around good guy, Ken, aka Trail Zombie.
He and Brian of RunnersWorld Tulsa started the race and off we went. Brian is a good guy also. He told me that he peeked at my blog every now and then. That is how I know he is a good guy.
I just love trail runs. You get to run through the woods! What’s wrong with that?
I had planned to run just two loops or eight miles but I settled into a pretty good run walk rhythm that I carried on through the whole race. I would run 0.20 miles or about a 1000 feet and walk 0.05 miles or about 250 feet. I had my GPS running watch so that’s how I knew how I was doing.
So I just put my brain on autopilot and let the watch tell me when to run and when to walk. So I was able to get into my trancelike meditative state and just be in present. I had only two hiccups to my trance. I tripped on root and fell. Nothing messes up a trance like a face plant into some dirt. Also, somebody was handing out little liquid energy drinks. I tried it and lucky for me I was close to a comfort station so I could get a little comfort. That stuff ran right through me. I was able to get back in the groove pretty quickly into my trance.
So I didn’t take too many photos. I finished two big loops and then started running the small loops. I think I must have run about 8 or 9 of them. I hadn’t seen the results yet so I’m not sure how many I ran.
I finished my final small loop 2.76 seconds before the gun went off, so I didn’t waste any effort. When you are as old and fat as I am, you darn sure don’t want to waste any effort. I was very pleased with my effort. I haven’t run 12.45 miles since the 1990’s when I was running marathons (ok, only two marathons) and a bunch of half marathons. So I’m thinking about training some more and maybe runnning the half marathon part of the Oklahoma City Marathon coming up later this spring. Maybe a 25K trail run. Maybe I have a few miles left in me.
I got a nice participant medal for my effort. As you all know, I am the king of participant medals. One of these days I am going to just buy my a trophy just so I have one. The young man who won the three race ran 25 miles. Incredible, he ran almost marathon distance on a trail with rocks, roots, and stumps.
TATUR and RunnersWorld Tulsa certainly know how to put on a race. They had all sorts of goodies during the race and after there was barbecue beef sandwiches, soda pop, malted barley flavored gatorade, brownies, chips, all sorts of stuff. A bunch of volunteers showed up and worked hard making sure that everything ran smoothly. Trail Zombie and Brian were here, there, and everywhere making sure that everything went well.
Of course, I had to make my way back to the parking lot. I had a lot of chores at home to do. Sweetie took this pic of me working hard.
Tallgrass Prairie Preserve
Earlier this week I took a day off and the family drove up to Pawhuska, Oklahoma to visit the Tallgrass Praire Preserve owned by the Nature Conservancy. It was my third trip there in the last year but neither Sweetie nor SuperPizzaBoy had seen it before.
They have bison, lots of bison, all over the place.
They have grand vistas of sky, rolling hills, and trees.
There are also birds, including this (What I think is a killdeer?)
She was yakking at us. We must have been too close to a nest or something. We left here alone.
The Preserve, formerly a working cattle ranch, has oil wells, apparently existing in harmony with the bison.
And there were spring breakers photographing everything in sight.
Including each other
The preserve encompasses 39,000 acres much of it the bluestem grass that the bison love to eat. Here is a link to travelok.com with some more information and describing how to get there from where you are.
On the way home to Tulsa, well outside the Preserve, we came upon a prairie fire. It was spectacular.
It’s been dry and windy lately. Hey smokers don’t be tossing your butts out the window!
We also passed this ranch gate. We’re guessing it is to the ranch home of the Pioneer Woman. But that is just a guess. If you have never checked out her blog you need to. It is something else.
Weekend Reflections – Oklahoma City Memorial II
I know that this is not a cemetery but it is a place of rest, sadness, and remembrance.
Braking for the Sun
Rowing on the Arkansas
Last Wednesday I went out for my Wednesday afternoon run out on the Arkansas River Trail.
I’d been wondering when the rowers were going to be back on the river. Well they were there.
Its just another sign that the weather is warming, and the season is changing.
I don’t know how many times I’ve seen these folks out on the river.
I never get tired of it.
Treasures
Mrs. Albright over at the Real Housewives of Oklahoma is asking us to describe our treasured objects.
I’m a kind of a “Stuff is just stuff” kind of guy but I really treasure some of my Mother’s jewelry that my Dad gave to me after my Mother’s passing several years ago.
Mom loved them and Dad enjoyed giving them to her.
I don’t know who made them but I don’t think that it was Native American so I don’t really call them “Indian Jewelry.”
All sorts of people were making jewelry of this style at one time in Arizona and New Mexico.
I see myself as a caretaker or a bridge to somebody else for this. Perhaps SuperPizzaBoy will get married one day and his wife would like to have some of it.
Or my Sister, or her daughters, or their children.
They bring back lots of memories. I don’t know how much they are worth, nor do I care. I’m not selling them.
If you have some treasures you would like to show and tell about make a post and link up with the RHOK ladies. They let guys participate also.
A Day Off and Tea for Two and the Home and Garden Show with Plus, Do I Need a New Dentist?
Last Friday was my day off, I get every other Friday off and I love it. Sweetie and like to spend the day together.
Poor SuperPizzaBoy has to go to school those days. Sorry guy, this is Mom and Dad time.
Sweetie and I had a few errands to run ourselves. For one thing I had to go to the dentist. I saw something at his office though that is really making me wonder. What do you think?
This is new, it kind of creeps me out.
He also has this in his waiting room. Now this I can deal with even though it looks a little top heavy to me. At least I don’t find it creepy.
I’m off topic. Sweetie and I got together after our errands and off to lunch we went.
We had lunch in a tea room. I had never done that before. It was great. The tea tasted good and was also beautiful.
The food was delicious also
I had a turkey sandwich. The stuff on the left is chilled rice salad. I had never heard of such and it was wonderful.
Sweetie had quiche, quiche lorraine. (Sorry since the B52’s song I just can’t say quiche lorraine.)
So filled up we traveled to the nearby Home and Garden Show at the Fairgrounds.
We saw balloon waterfalls,
The Gas Company was pushing natural gas powered cars
Beautiful Flowers
Sweetie, an Oklahoma State University certified Master Gardener had to check out their booth.
What was the highlight there? This:
I told Sweetie; “You are forbidden to tell me that Geocachers are nerds, they are nothing like the Master Gardeners.” What do you guys think? Geocachers or Gardeners, who are the bigger nerds. Tell the Truth now!
Well, school was over and we picked up SuperPizzaBoy and went out to visit his friend Nick. Nick’s family is the one with all the sheep.
Momma was in no mood for photographs on Friday. You can tell she was yacking at me about it.
So, I said fine and off we went.
It is my sweet Sister Ellen’s birthday today. If you have time please pop over to her blog here and tell her Happy Birthday. Today might be a little special because yesterday was the bridal shower for her youngest daughter (and my niece,) Jillian, who is getting married in a few months to a fine young man.
By the way, this is my 1000th post. Thanks to everybody out there who reads this blog and my fellow bloggers who have enriched my life the last three years so much. I have really discovered the kind and gentle part of the internet that I treasure. I have made a wide variety of new friends during this time and have been lucky enough to meet some of you in real life.
Luke 1:38
“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
Mary said this after an angel appeared to her at a well and told her:
“You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called[b] the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.” “
Mary was an incredible young woman who had to grow up quickly. She received the astounding news from an angel and scarcely batted an eye. What was it like to bear Jesus, and then later see him die on a cross? What a servant she was.
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Note: The photo is a double exposure from my Diana Mini film camera at the Church of Saint Mary in Tulsa.