Skywatch Friday – On the Trail Again!

I was feeling all energetic and everything so I thought that I would go for a little hike on Tulsa’s Turkey Mountain Urban Wilderness. I probably should have gone to the gym, but I’m gymed out, Physical Therapy is all gym, and not the fun kind.

So off I went, the trails were all wet, not very muddy though but rain was in the forecast and the park warned that they might close the park to everybody if it got bad enough.

The upside of rain is that all the ponds were full. Nice to see.

I used a mixture of the new trails and the old trails. The Stay Gold and Tree Hugger respectively.

This pond was dry the last time I came by.

I was going down the trail with my Merlin app trying to figure out the birds that were singing and a mountain biker came by and said to be sure to watch out for the copperhead snake on the trail up ahead. Yes sir! Time to put the eyes on the trail and not the device.

Do you know how many sticks look like snakes!! A bunch. The thing about copperheads is that they are the slugs of the poisonous snake families. They are not vicious and once they find a spot they like, they don’t like to move, and they are hard to see. So watch where you step!

The only snake I saw was this chain snake.

This is a Skywatch Friday post so I need to have one view of the sky. Here’s the overlook on Turkey Mountain on the very southeast side of the park. That’s the Arkansas River down below. To the left are the funky old office towers that used to be the televangelist Oral Roberts hospital. (Don’t ask me why a faith healer needs a hospital.)

And then back to the parking lot. Never did see that copperhead. I am not complaining about it, just saying.

I am linking with Skywatch Friday and Our Corner of the World.

Saturday’s Critters – Dogs, Birds, Rabbits and Squirrels

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A white crowned sparrow visiting the backyard and singing its song.

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A mourning dove checking things out on the fence.

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Sadie our new dog romping in the backyard.

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A midnight bunny

Sadie is really fitting in well in the household and gets along with everybody.

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From the Gathering Place in Tulsa, I shot this image of American Pelicans hanging out in the Arkansas River.

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A common grackle at the Gathering Place.

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A couple ducks taking advantage of a water feature.

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And a squirrel posing for me.

I’m linking with Saturday’s Critters.

Skywatch Friday – Late April 2025

A sunrise this morning. We have a new dog, Sadie, and she gets up early, and that means we get up early with her. You dog owners know that when the dog gets up you better take it outside right away or face the consequences.

A neighborhood skyshot and reflection.

My volunteer gig with the Tulsa Urban Wilderness Coalition is kicking in. It’s Earth Day season. Here is me and my friend Marci at the local electric utilities employee Earth Day event.

And at a community event a couple days later in downtown Tulsa.

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And speaking of electric utility, here is there power plant on the Arkansas River.

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And the boat shed at Tulsa’s Gathering Place.

Here is my wife Heather. We attended a fund raiser for the local botanic garden. It was called “Sip and Stroll” so that we sipped and strolled, noshed appetizers and talked to people. Our first grownup date in a while and it was fun.

It had been raining in the gardens so the iris’s had raindrops on them. I love raindrops on flowers.

I am linking with Skywatch Friday and My Corner of the World.

Introducing Sadie – Our New Dog

We did a thing yesterday. We went to a dog rescue place and picked out a new dog. Sadie is her name. They had named her Lucky Leprechaun. I liked the Irish theme but didn’t like the name so on the drive home I got a list of Irish female names and we all liked Sadie. She seems okay with it.

Heather and I went first and kind of picked her in a preliminary way then we drove home, got our son and our other dog Kodi and drove back. Logan liked her. Sadie and Kodi made introductions and then kind of ignored each other, so at least there was no blood. Our son Logan liked Sadie as well. We actually spent most of the day at the place talking with the people that worked there making sure that Sadie was the one. She is about 8 months old and came from a shelter somewhere else in the state. She appears to have a very broad gene pool.

So we went all in. We could have taken her home on a trial basis but we felt pretty sure about her. Heather had got us pre-approved earlier in the week so we filled out the forms and paid the fees and now she is ours. She cuddled with me on the drive home.

And after we got home. She seems very confident and is very well behaved. She gets along with the cat. So today there will be a bath, and a walk. This week she’ll visit our vet to get checked out. So far we feel pretty good about our new family member. She is very affectionate and loves to cuddlle. She loves playing and at night she settles down and goes to sleep.

I’m linking with Saturday’s Critters

Skywatch Friday – Flowers and More

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Here is the Full Pink Moon from just a few days ago. It’s not pink. It has not ever really been pink. Now if you insist, I have the skillz and appz to make it pink.

From the Tulsa Botanic Garden. They had ultralife size origami, only with other materials and they called it florigami. It was cool, I’m guessing this is a giant begonia. Sorry if I am wrong, I often am.

And these are some big lillies.

And these are some tulips.

Tulips at the Health Zone

My gym is part of a hospital system that I think spends more on landscaping than they do on medical stuff (I’m kidding.) So these are the tulips from my gym. Does your gym have tulips? Maybe you need a cheaper gym. Maybe I do also.

Me leaving PT earlier this week cuz I hit 120 degrees on the knee bend test. That is a critical point in knee replacement physical therapy. Hurts like you know what but things are getting better quickly. Also, this week I was able to get on the stationary bike and turn the pedals. That was also painful but I loved it just the same.

From my latest money making venture. I’ve been saving the families aluminum cans for a long time. My wife gave me the ultimatum that they needed to be gone by the time book group starts or she’ll get rid of them for me. Hey she never asks me for a thing or ever gets mean or anything so we she makes a request I’m all over it. (most of the time). So I bagged them up and weighed them. 30 pounds!!

Drove 22 miles to a metals recycling place in north Tulsa. Got in line drove through the hole into the building. They threw my bags on scales and they suddenly weighed 17 pounds. Got paid in cash and I’m still trying figure out where my missing 13 pounds of cans went. To be fair, the scales are literally big enough to drive a car onto so I am not surprised that they are not true in the entire range. I’m not sure that I cleared a profit but hey I got to see a different part of Tulsa society. I sure lead a sheltered life is all I am going to say.

Went for a walk and found these small bluish-purply blooms and thought they were pretty cool. Just so you know, in Oklahoma, bluish-purply is word.

And late one day caught the American Flag flying.

I’m linking with the fine photobloggers at My Corner of the World and Skywatch Friday.