Kodi’s First Grooming

We took Kodi, the Pomeranian puppy, to his first grooming appointment. He did very well. He likes to look sharp.

Skywatch Friday – Cloudy Day Exploration

The forecast for Tuesday was snow starting late in the morning. I decided to skip my yoga class and go for a hike while the hiking was good. Turkey Mountain had closed their trails though and so I went over to nearby Bales Park to see if I could find the future connector pathway between Bales and Turkey Mountain. The two parks are separated by a freeway US 75 but I heard the highway department was going to put in a “shelf” or something on an overpass that could be used for a trail.

Bales Park was empty, one other vehicle when I got there so I took off on their recently constructed trail. Bales has some of the most picturesque trees in Tulsa. I just love their shapes. The sky is kind of bleh but that’s okay. It is what it is.

I love the Bales Park wicket. I can see future trail runs here with maybe this the start and finish gate.

I meandered up the Ridge Trail that runs parallel to US 75.

I got to the vista at the top where three trails converge. You can also get a view of downtown Tulsa way off in the distance. I actually felt sorry for my former coworkers who are slaving away down there making sure that we have enough energy to power the economy, and provide a return to the shareholders but mostly to keep those pension payments coming!!

So I headed north along this old road, not on the designated trail. True Confessions. I was looking for a way to cut under US75 where it meets I44. But I ended up having to go off trail.

I got to me destination. The Feds are financing the construction of a new interchange at US 75 and I 44. All of Oklahoma’s congressmen are hurrahing the project. What they don’t say is that they all voted against it. But enough of that.

So I found where the new trail cuts under US 75. It’s almost like a road. Really nice.

So I got over to the other side of US 75 where the YMCA is and followed a trail there. They have put a disc golf course up. YMCA’s are multitaskers!! It looks like they leased a site for a billboard at the same location.

I couldn’t tarry so I didn’t spend too much time on the east side of US 75 so I doubled back across the trail under the freeway.

And back to Bales Park. I love the trees there. I hardly ever see anybody at Bales Park. On Martin Luther King’s birthday, Turkey Mountain’s parking lots were jam packed. My wife and I went to Bales Park and didn’t hardly see anybody the whole time we were there. I saw literally nobody today.

Lots of gray sky and beautiful trees though. That’s Turkey Mountain in the background.

So I see how they are going to connect Bales Park and Turkey Mountain via the YMCA. The freeway interchange construction is at a pause right now and I don’t know when they are starting back up but I don’t see the trail connections being made until the interchange is complete. Obviously I went across and anybody else can but there is really no trails to connect to on either side. Not everybody is going to be willing to overland it like I did.

Here is a map of my adventure. Only about two miles but a million miles of fun.

And a little video.

And a slick map from Garmin showing my travels. If you don’t map your adventures did they really even happen?

It’s Skywatch Friday time. My skies are gray but hey can’t all be blue skies or dramatic storm clouds. Gray clouds are part of the as well.

Turkey Mountain Trail Work Day

group turkey mountain workday — Photo from TUWC facebook page

Early this past Sunday morning close to fifty volunteers showed up in the freezing cold to do a variety of projects on the trails of Turkey Mountain. They did everything from reclaiming old trails to building new trails to repairing erosion damage on trails. We all got divided into teams and off we went. The project was put on jointly by the RiverParks Authority and the Tulsa Urban Wilderness Coalition.

I was on a trail reclamation team. The park has lots of up and down trails which is just lousy for trying to control erosion damage. Plus the up and down trails intersect a new high speed mountainbike trail running back and forth across the cliff faces. Mixing glorified social trails with high speed black rated mountainbike trails is not good. So this project addressed a safety issue as well.

Reclaming the trails is basically putting debris such as fallen logs and brush on the trail and raking leaves onto it. The effect is startling when you are done. The trail vanishes.

Some trails you have to do several times as some people resist losing their favorite trail. What happens though is that without people and bicycles causing further damage, the old trail heal themselves.

Here is a reclaimed trail. The old yellow trail, it was replaced by a brand new trail off to the right designed and built to be sustainable and will shed water of the side of the trail instead of the water running down the trail.

We were done by 1 PM or so. Everybody was tired but satisfied by all the projects that got done that day. We had refreshments and people went on their way. Check out the TUWC’s facebook page for a bunch more photos from the days work.

Turkey Mountain cleanup - Bob — from a post by the Tulsa Riverparks Authority on facebook

Some serendiptiy earlier in the day. In a facebook post publicizing the event, The River Parks authority posted a photo from a work day from years ago. My brother Bob is in the photo off the right. I remember when he lived with us a short while he helped out in a cleanup one day. I thought that was kind of cool.

Linking with My Corner of the World

Saturday’s Critters – More Kodi

Kodi, our little Pomeranian is continuing to grow. He is still very small though. He is wearing a cat harness because the smallest of dog harnesses is too big for him. The way he is eating though he’ll be larger before we know it.

He loves playing outside in our backyard.

Kodi the Joey in his pouch — We call him Kodi the Joey when he is in the pouch

We bought a pouch for him to take him on neighborhood walks. He loves seeing the sights and hearing the sounds especially barks from other dogs we encounter during out outings.

He’s a lot of fun.

I’m linking with Saturday’s Critters. Go check it out!!

Skywatch Friday – Sunny Skies

Sunny weather this past week for the most part which suits my present mood. My brother got sick in late December and has had quite a journey but is getting released tomorrow to go back to his home. The whole family is happy.

A front porch skywatch photo. A cousin called it the Pythagoras Sky.

Another front porch sky.

Trees close to the parking lot of my brother’s hospital. I love the sight of trees in winter.

And a view of a sunset through the glass blocks of my gym.

Linking to Skywatch Friday

Camera Obscura on Greenwood Avenue

A friend of mine who is a retired college professor in the Oklahoma City area posted a link on facebook about a Camera Obscura installation in the Greenwood Area of Tulsa right in the middle of “Black Wall Street” being built by current professor. I decided to go check it out so last Saturday I went down and followed the signs to the third floor offices of the president of the Greenwood Chamber of Commerce. The office had the windows masked over except for a small hole in which was placed a lens of five or six inches in diameter. The amazing thing was that there was image on the other side of the room projected on rolls of paper and the sides of the room.

I used my phone to take a photo of the image.

It was an upside down and flipped sideways image of the scene across the street. I was inside a giant camera! It was amazing. I stood there astounded as the professor, Mark Zimmerman, a photography professor at the University of Central Oklahoma, explained what was happening. This is the earliest form of photography, first started in 500 to 1000 AD. Of course nothing is recorded unless one traces the drawings.

And here is the flipped image. I should have flipped it again left to right. Professor Zimmerman explained that our eyes see upside down and flipped images but our brain does the correctionso for us when it gets the images from the eyes.

Here is an article from Petapixle, with photos and videos showing how Professor Zimmerman made a camera obscura in his classroom.

Here is a link to the Tulsa World article about the installation.

And below is a YouTube video on how to make your own.

So seeing a Camera Obscura was my wow moment this past week.

I am linking with “My Corner of the World.”

Shadow Puppets

An interlude from a teen improv show way back when. Such energy they have.

Linking with Shadow Shot Sunday 2

Saturday’s Critters – Wild and Domestic

On a recent hike on Turkey Mountain I found this tree that had been cut down. I am thinking that it may be a beaver.

And on a different area of the mountain I found this beaver cut that somebody had decorated with gold leaf. What a lot of work! Lots of people have posted this on social media so I joined the crowd.

And from the trail cam in the back yard I got several photos of rabbits. Or least their ears and one eye.

I captured images of squirrels as well.

Here is a guy practicing his toe hold and doing a vertical yoga updog stretch (or upsquirrel?)

Our little Pomeranian Kodi continues to grow and bond with us. He is very smart and when in the right mood, obedient, but most of the time he just wants his way. I kind of get that.

He and Lizzie, his older sister are becoming friends. We call her Nanny because she keeps a close eye on him. When she gets tired of him she just jumps up on a chair and Kodi cries at her.

And that’s a wrap for today. I’m linking with Eileen’s Saturday’s Critters. Lots of talented blogger/photographers post there, and me. Check it out.