Skywatch Friday – Outside Time!

I got it all on this week’s post, Gardening, Hiking, Bicycling, A Plea for Help, and a Musical Finale! Are you ready? Lets get started!!

Earlier this week I went to Turkey Mountain. We’ve had a lot of rain and they want people to stay off the trails when its muddy. Kind of like your Great Aunt Grace telling you to stay on the plastic runners. Or at least that’s what my Great Aunt Grace would tell me. Anyway I first checked the Monarch Waystation. Lots of green stuff there and few blooms.

I’m no butterfly but if I were I guess I would be digging into whatever these flowers had to offer. My botanical ID skills are woeful. I do know that these are yellow blooms. Enough Gardening, and now Hiking!!

And then I got back in my car and drove up to the upper parking lot. Ordinarily the I would have gone up the trail but I was rationing my energy because the temperature was over 90F and the head index was almost 110F. Anyway, I started down the Snake Trail to go explore the NW side and see if there were any new trails out that way.

The Snake Trail is pretty decent. When I take first time visitors to Turkey Mountain, before the new trails were started, I took them on Snake because it was relatively flat and not very technical (in other words breaking your ankle was unlikely). Turkey is going to have a mixture of old and new trails. The terrible erosion prone, non sustainable trails will be blocked off to allow the ground to heal.

I got up close to the YMCA and headed east and soon came to some new trail that I had not seen yet. So I jumped on it and went a couple hundred yards or so and saw that it was not yet open. I thought it looked a little rough. Anyway I got off it and got on a parallel old trail.

I emerged on what is called the Powerline Trail and went back to the parking lot. Powerline is difficult. It gets kind of technical and really steep and has several false ridges. I guess you could call it Heartbreaker as well. It is in full sun which makes it extra fun on a hot sunny day. But hey I made it. I guess you already figured that out because I wrote this post.

And now the Bicycling Segment!!

Thursday morning, I got up, skipped yoga and took my bike out on the other side of the Arkansas River to ride the paved trails. That hill you see on the other side of the river is Turkey Mountain. Don’t be giggling or laughing at the Mountain. We don’t have too many in Tulsa.

On the south end of the RiverParks trails is a Native American Tribal owned casino. The trail squeezes in betweenn casino and the river. Somebody, maybe the tribe has been doing some “Riparian Mitigation” on the riverbank and it is bearing fruit. I never noticed these trees before. I love it.

On the north end I stopped at the south end of the Gathering Place. With better weather people are taking their toddlers there and they let the kids migrate into the bike lanes. I don’t blame them, they are new to the trails and don’t understand. Anyway, when the new people I just cut my ride short and go back. Better than risking hitting somebody. But I stopped and smelled the roses

Do I look like I need help? Well I do!! Come volunteer at the Tulsa Ironman race on May 22nd.

Last year I volunteered on the running segement on Sunday afternoon. It was fun and easy. I just handed out water and gatorade to the racers for several hours. These men and women are amazing athletes. The Tulsa Urban Wilderness Coalition gets paid for the volunteer hours they provide to the event. Check here to get more info if you are interested.

And the musical section of this mess of a post. Featuring a hot mess herself, Miranda Lambert. I got her new album Palomino and am loving it. She is a good singer and has quite the sense of humor.

That’s about it folks. I guess I had some sky photos in here somewhere. I’m linking with Skywatch Friday. Come join in!!

Shadowy Critters

I put my trailcam out last night for the first time in a long time. I checked it this morning and we had a mystery cat snooping around at 1:30 in the morning.

I haven’t been able to go hiking in the woods for a while because of all the rain we’ve had so I have been walking around Lafortune Park here in Tulsa a lot. I followed this squirrel down the trail for a 25 yards or so and he finally climbed up this pole and was looking at me chattering and flagging his tail. It was like he was saying “What!!”

I am linking with Shadow Shot Sunday and Saturdays’ Critters. Come join in the fun!!

Skywatch Friday – Cinco de Mayo

Big news is that last week I took my brother Bob out for another outing. This time we grabbed some burgers and headed to the RiverParks trails to have a picnic.

And then we wheeled him up and down the trail for a mile. He’s a former marathoner who participates in his sport by riding his chair in the halls of where he lives. About 16 laps to a mile so 48 to do a 5K. He loves entering virtual runs and has finished a bunch of them. He is one amazing guy.

I don’t run any longer but I walk and ride my bike quite a bit. This is at Lafortune Park which has a nice 3 mile path around it. I prefer trails but it has been raining too much to walk on dirt.

My favorite tree at Lafortune Park.

Heather and I went on a bike ride earlier this week on a rail to trail route north of Tulsa. It was beautiful and we covered 15 miles or so.

And I had to stop at the Rexall Drug Store in Sperry that was a movie scene in The Outsiders movie filmed in the early 1980’s in Tulsa. I love finding and checking out old movie scenes (and new movie scenes as well.)

It has been a windy spring so I have not been flying my drone. It weighs only 249 grams and I could just see it heading to Arkansas in the high winds. The other day the winds died down and I launched the drone and caught an ok but not great sunset at about 50 meters.

And here is the view looking straight down. Our home has the four blue chairs.

And a drone selfie of yours truly.

A day or two ago we had big thunderboomers in Tulsa and a Tornado Watch. So time to go outside and take a video right?

Wednesday night was more of the same. This was later in the afternoon.

Sorry for the scattered nature of the post. Too many photos and not enough posts.

I hope everybody is having a peaceful time. Lots of drama going on both nationally and internationally. Everybody just breathe okay.

I’m linking Skywatch Friday come join in. Let me know of other great memes you have seen. Don’t be shy if you are the host of one!!

Star Wars and Tequila 2022

As I write this post, it is May 4th, Star Wars Day!! Why, because “May the Fourth be with you!” If you don’t get it, I’m sorry. The local baseball AA team , the Tulsa Drillers has a Star Wars day on the 4th, if they are playing a game, and lots of people show up in costume.

Star Wars and Baseball! Can’t beat that.

Thursday is May 5th, Cinco de Mayo, a Mexican holiday celebrating their victory over France in the Battle of Puebla in 1862. In the US, it is mainly an excuse to dring margaritas. That’s okay isn’t it? I will now have a musical interlude on one of my favorite country songs: “Tequila a Little Time” by Jon Pardi. The video is filmed at my wife and I’s favorite beach bar, Florabama, on the border of Florida and Alabama.

If you don’t get the play on words, then I can’t help you.

https://flic.kr/p/Jji7zP

We’ve spent a lot of time at Florabama. We don’t drink too much tequila.

Our beverage of choice are bushwhackers, kind of a rum and ice cream concoction. Our limit is two and we always stay within walking distance.

Anyway, you enjoy both holidays, responsibly!!

Skywatch Friday – Hiking and Baseball

Earlier this week I went out to Turkey Mountain to see if the Monarch Waystation needed watering. It didn’t so I decided to go for a walk on Turkey Mountain.

Instead of going to the upper parking lot for my walk I started from the lower parking lot. I haven’t done that much in the last several years because of the dismal state of the trails going up hill but I was told that that had changed and sure enough very soon I saw the old trail was closed and a new trail was open. And it was lovely, instead of going straight up the hill it goes up gently with a bunch of switchbacks. They don’t have it open all the way to the top yet but it is far enough where you avoid the really bad parts of the old trail.

So then I just took off when I got to the top.

Found these trees, I can’t tell if they are fighting or dancing. What do you think?

On our last big work day one of the things on the list was sowing grass seed on the back side of the switchbacks to keep them from eroding. The grass is doing great.

On the far northern end of the area I came across this ancient dump. Turkey Mountain spent many years as an oilfield and there are several dumps from that era. There are no plans on cleaning them up because they are an archeological resource, or so I am told.

And found an old power pole knocked down.

And here is a video of the route I took.

Unplugging is a movie that was shot in northeast Oklahoma and had at least one scene shot on Turkey Mountain. I love the visuals as northeast Oklahoma is beautiful, but I have to tell you this is not a great movie. Eva Longoria is in it and I was shown the very rock where she decided she needed to take a nap on right in the middle of shooting.

And now we are switching gears. Wednesday son, Logan and I went downtown to see the Tulsa Drillers minor league team play the Corpus Christi Hooks. I love daytime baseball and I thought I would be seeing lots of such games upon retiring. Well this is the first game I’ve been to in three years. I enjoyed myself immensely. I even think Logan liked it and he is not a baseball fan.

We were seated on the first base side and I saw this huge mural just outside the left field fence. It is a giant mural of Jacke Robinson. The player who broke the color barrier in professional baseball back in 1947. It’s a very fitting memorial. First, ONEOK Field is in the Greenwood area that was demolished by the Tulsa Race Massacre back in the 20’s. The worst race riot ever in America. Second, Robinson played for the Los Angeles Dodgers which is the parent organization of the Tulsa Drillers. The mural was installed last year right before the centennial of the massacre.

When the game ended Logan and I headed over to get a better look. It is really big and really nice.

7F0C3C73-EC72-4FF2-8097-B4AB1EEAB0C2 — Jigsaw Puzzle (Not my photo)

And finally, another jigsaw puzzle that I completed on my ipad. They are quite addicting.

Earth Day 2022 in Tulsa

This past Saturday I drove to Tulsa’s Arts District, just north of downtown, to help work an Earth Day booth for the Tulsa Urban Wilderness Coalition. It had been a long time since I had been to such an event. They used to have them on the main mall during the work week when I was still working.

Just as I got there a fashion show featuring recycled materials was underway. That was interesting.

It was pretty windy. Kind of a full skirt alert thing going on.

They had some musical performances. Some guys drumming and then later on some sort of hippie, country, poppy group who were not bad at all.

Wandering around the other booths I came up on the table for the Carrie Dickerson Foundation. Carrie Dickerson was a determined lady who led a coalition of people that forced the Public Service Company of Oklahoma to abandon the Black Fox Nuclear Power Plant project in 1982 after a nine year battle. Construction on the plant had already started and when it was cancelled, it was the only nuclear power plant to be cancelled as a result of legal and citizen action. As much as I am proud to be a member of an organization that forced an outlet mall to abandon their plans for a mall on Turkey Mountain, I’m in awe of the people who forced Black Fox to be shut down. People don’t remember it much any longer but Oklahoma has populists roots that are still there beneath the surface. RIP Carrie Barefoot Dickerson.

I’ll climb off my soap box long enough to show you a monarch butterfly who I saw flitting around the earth day events.

And then later on a bunch of young women in their prom dresses with their beaus, parents, and photographers came for the photo ops available at Guthrie Green. I thought it was kind of cool. I have great hopes for our young people. They are going to inherit the world. Personally, I think they are up to the task.

Redbud Skies and More

Several days ago I was on Turkey Mountain checking out the Monarch Waystation. I water it when needed but it hasn’t needed a drink in weeks with all the rain and cool weather we have been having. I sowed some native prairie seeds a couple months ago and I was trying to see if any of them were coming up.

I don’t know a thing about wildflowers, and it looked like a bunch of weeds coming up to me. I guess that may be what some people call wildflowers. It may take a few more weeks and somebody who knows what they are looking to see if we are successful or not.

And then I ventured down the paved path and hung a right on the dirt road to the redbud grove. It is beautiful a whole hillside covered with redbuds. There are lots of the trees around town but I don’t know of any that are all together like this.

And then I ventured on the new Lo Chi trail. The old one was cool but kind of frustrating because it was an out and back along the base of the east side of the Mountain. I hate out and backs so I would do what other people did, climb up the side of the mountain to another trail. I’m too old for that foolishsness now.

And there is no need, the trail builders have made a loop out of with all sorts of cool switchbacks and other features to make it fun. You can enter and exit at different spots from the paved trail. Loops are fun, out and backs are boring.

So back on the paved trail I took a shot of the railroad tracks on the base of Turkey Mountain, next to the Arkansas River. They have only one customer now, a big Kimberly Clark Plant. So every once in a while, you can see a freight trail lumbering slowly along these rails. I am not a railroad expert at all but I would not think that these sketchy rails, ties, and roadbed could handle much of a load.

And then fast forward to Tulsa’s Woodward Park. The flowering is disappointing this year for whatever reason but one could find nice groupings here and there.

So it was worth going to but I wouldn’t travel far to see it.

The tulips looked nice in the overcast late day. I think they are almost at the end.

Tuesday we had dramatic skies in Tulsa so I made this low key photo.

Monday I rode my back on the RiverParks trails. My north turnaround was the Route 66 Sign Park. I took photos and then used the circular app on my iphone to twist them on top of themselves. I love this kind of stuff.

I did another one and it looked like a hot air balloon.

And I have been doing more jigsaw puzzles on my ipad. I love it. So these are not my photos.

I loved this one but it was booger bear. I worked from the inside out. I started at the steering wheel and moved outward. I put on the edge pieces as I found them but I didn’t stress about it.

I loved this one. It was a lot easier with the brightly colored sail and the stratified colors. On this one I started with the sails and the bright green sea.l

So that is it this week for Skywatch for me. I’m linking with Skywatch Friday.

Shadow Shot Sunday – Floral Hand Shadows

A few evenings ago I ventured out to Tulsa’s Woodward Park to check out the azaleas, tulips, and other plantings they have there. I decided to do something dumb that I do from to time. I pulled out my phone and fired up the Hipstamatic App and did some double exposures.

First I hold my hand up to the sky and snap the first shot and then point the camera at something floral and snap the second shot. The flowers fade out in the sun but come out in the dark shadow of the hand.

So I am sure that people were wondering what I was doing but you know, that’s their deal. You do you, people, and I’ll do me.

I may have carried it too far. I don’t know.

I had fun with it though.

For great shadows, check out the Magical Mystery Teachers Shadow Shot Sunday.

Saturday Critters – Our Pets – 2022

We lost our beloved Abby (right) to lymphoma on Wednesday. She was a bright, energetic, highly engaged dog almost up to the end. She was the straw that stirred the drink, so to speak, among the pets in our house. On the left is her cat buddy Lizzy.

Abby always liked to update her barkbook status first thing in the morning despite our efforts to shush her. We had a cranky neighbor who more than once came over to our front door and pointed at her and growled at me about the matter. Fortunately, he moved somewhere else. I miss Abby but I don’t miss our miserable neighbor.

Abby’s loss was proceeded by the death of our dachsund mix, Ginger last September. Ginger was the boss dog of the house and brooked no nonsense from either the dogs nor the cats and would give me an earful if I was late with her meals.

Abby loved barking at my drone, at the neighbor’s dogs, at dogs, cows, and horses on television. She was very verbal.

These are LJ and Lizzy, brother and sister. They play with each other a lot.

Our remaining dog is Rascal, a Pomeranian. He’s kind of our baby but he is old now and has lung, heart, and hip problems. We don’t know how long he is going to be around.

He and Abby loved to hang out together and loved to go on walks with each other to go bark and their friends in the neighborhood. Rascal I think wonders what happened to his buddy Abby.

But he still loves walking even though we have to pick him up and carry him home after he sees his friends.

You know our pets just don’t live long enough but we have them and love them anyway.

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

Skywatch Friday – Geocaching at Okmulgee Lake Park

Last weekend I took some time and went to Lake Okmulgee south of Tulsa about an hour to do some geocaching and hiking. I like finding geocaches out in the woods instead of in parking lots and other places.

It was sunny, breezy, and cool. A perfect day. The vibe at the lake was chill. Not that many people there.

They had several geocaches located in the rocks. I always keep an eye out for snakes whent he weather starts warming up.

Nothing like a few hours out in nature to feel chilled out.

I think the WPA built the dam and a lot of the infrastructure. I find that sort of thing interesting.

There were a couple caches I found but couldn’t get to so they don’t officially count as finds. This one I could have got to if I had a long pole or something else.

This one is in a cedar tree. I felt that I could probably have climbed up there but I personally know two geocachers who got severely injured in this park geocaching. One fell of the side of a cliff and broke a leg in two places. The other was climbing up a cedar tree and a branch broke. She injured her back and was out of commission for months. Gravity is not my friend so I leave the climbing to others. Especially out in the middle of nowhere, all by myself.

I found a skull out there. iNaturalist tells me that it is a racoon’s skull.

https://flic.kr/p/2kaQgbG

We had a to say goodbye to our sweet dog Abby, here pictured with Logan. Abby was fifteen years old and was doing great, going on daily walks and living her best life. She loved eating, walking, barking at other dogs and barking at horses and cows on television. She was our happy go lucky clown who always had a sweet temper. She got lymphoma out of nowhere and it got bad very quickly. So we had put to sleep.

So I like to think she is cavorting around in dog heaven with her buddy Ginger who left us last year. Our critters just don’t live long enough is what I say.

I’m linking this post with Skywatch Friday. Come join in!!

YogisDen.us

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