Stargazer is another detective novel by Anne Hillerman set on the Navajo Reservation. This one stars Bernadette Manuelito, a tribal policewoman, who gets involved in a murder case involving her old college roommate Maya and scientists doing research at the Very Large Array radio telescope (“That’s where Stargazer came from, get it.”) As in all the Hillerman books, Navajo tradition and the desert southwest are prominent in the story. Since Anne took over the series after her father Tony Hillerman died, she put more emphasis on the characters and the relationships between the characters. I kind of like that. Anne Hillerman has made the series her own.
I hope everybody is recovered from the Fourth of July celebrations. Those of us who celebrate it anyway. It was low key for us. I put our flag up early. We grilled burgers at our house and took dinner over to the world’s great MIL’s house. We ate and visited and then went swimming. Had a pretty good time. We left just as her neighbor’s were working up their celebration. Remember the video we saw during the first gulf war when the US was attacking Baghdad and everybody in that town was shooting up in the air. That’s kind of what it was like.
We got home to much less of a ruckus. Tulsa doesn’t allow home fireworks, although it seems unenforced but it does tamp it down compared to Broken Arrow, where MIL lives where you can do what you want. I got home in time to launch the drone. I was going to be cute and say come back Thursday to see what I got but I’m giving it to you now.
Pretty decent sunset. So now the pressure is on I have to come up something decent for Skywatch Friday. So if you are a wise ass, you would tell me that I have never had anything decent before, why worry about it now. But I know you are not that kind of person. I am!! But you are not, I have faith in you. Don’t let me down.
So next morning I go on a bike ride. That’s what this whole post started out being about but I got sidetracked. I’m blaming you. Just fess up so we can move on cuz I am not taking the blame. I’ve told you before I’m in training to be a politician.
It was a nice day. Warm and dry for a change. Out west they are having hot and humid. Something is up. You and I both know what it is and it doesn’t involve cow farts. Anyway with all the rain we are having the Arkansas River is way up.
I rode the RiverParks trails up to the Neon Sign Park off southwest Boulevard. These are facsimile signs from actual businesses that used to operate on Route 66. This is where I remind you that I am 66 this year and so Route 66 is a big deal to me this year. And probably next year because I don’t know if a route 67 exists and even if it does it is probably too far to drive to get photographs. 67 is a prime number though and I just love prime numbers.
Across the River is Cyrus Avery Plaza. Avery is the guy who invented the concept of a cross country route from Chicago to Los Angeles. I love the plaza but the homeless folks drive me batty. They are not threatening just annoying. To be fair though if I was starving and had no place to live I would be more annoying than they are.
So all told about 14 miles which is just a warmup for most riders I know. You know it took me an hour and a half and that is about all I’m going to do. I had a good time though.
Went to the gym and showered put clean clothes on ( I love using the gym’s hot water and towels, especially for non-gym exercising) and got home just in time for Lizzy the yoga cat’s finishing up her Shavasana pose. She’s great at yoga, especially the cat and cow poses. She refuses to do up or down dog though.
Hey you want a hoot. We have two idiot dogs and I put on some dog youtube videos. Abby loves them. Barks her head off.
This year we have lots of rabbits and squirrels in the neighborhood and now we have a predator. It likes to get on roof gables and powerlines and screech and then swoop. I took a partial differential equations class back in college and one of the problems they had us work on is the mathematical relationship between the numbers of prey and predators. Turns out there there is no happy equilibrium. It cycles, the number of prey increases which after a delay increases the number of predators, and then they gobble up all the little cute prey animals and then the predators starve and the cycle starts anew.
I think it is a red shouldered hawk but I am in no way a birder so if somebody has a better id then please let me know. I submitted the pics to inaturalist dot org and they are waiting for more community ids. So it saw something, screeched and went swooping into a neighbor’s yard for something.
Tuesday, I didn’t have anything going on and son, Logan, didn’t have school or work so we decided to head up to the little city of Pawhuska in Osage County about an hour northwest of Tulsa.
Martin Scorsese is filming “Killers of the Flower Moon” in Pawhuska. We were able to get some glimpses of the set. They have taken a big part of downtown and transformed it back to the early 20th century by putting dirt down on top of the asphalt and redoing the fronts of many buildings. The movie people have taken over the whole town with all their trailers and equipment. It is very interesting. The movie is being directed by Martin Scorsese and is starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro.
The movie is based on a non-fiction book that describes how Osage Indians were systematically murdered in the early twentieth century for their money. It was the first case that the newly created FBI worked on. It is a great read.
https://flic.kr/p/2m8sMbC
After checking out the movie guys and gals, Logan and I went to Pawhuska’s swinging bridge across bird creek. It is pretty bouncy but I felt safe on it. It bounces more than it swings.
And great photos of the sky over the muddy Bird Creek.
And then we decided to head out of town to check out Blue Stem Falls. I had to stop and get photos on the way. Osage County is beautiful.
But just short of our destination the road was overrun with water. Turn around, don’t drown is my motto. So we’ll check it out next time.
And I saw this sign. I asked Logan if he had news for me and his mother.
We went back to Tulsa via Bartlesville. Home of the Price Tower. Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. It is the only high rise he designed that actually got built. The 19 floors are cantilevered from a central core which gave Wright the opportunity to use lots of glass on the exterior walls since they had no structural function. The structure now houses a hotel, restaurant, and an arts center. I think it is the coolest high rise in Oklahoma.
And Route 66 doesn’t go through Bartlesville but it is home to Phillips 66 who has this big 66 just waiting for me to use it in honor of me being 66 years old this year.
And then after some barbecue in Bartlesville we headed home. Still had big skies but the threatened rain didn’t happen.
And that evening we had a pretty cool sunset which I captured with my drone.
And so we had a pretty cool time. I’m linking to Skywatch Friday. Check it out. I’m also linking with Skyview!
The other day I went for a hike on Tulsa’s Turkey Mountain Urban Wilderness Area. Last time I was out I followed trails on the east side overlooking the Arkansas River. This time I took the west side trails.
I checked out the new trail segment that I helped build in early April along with a bunch of other people.
I got down close to the YMCA and turned back. I got along a segment paralleling 61st street thinking that that was the place to see deer. I looked up and there were two of them. I hardly ever see them in broad daylight.
We stayed there looking at each other for a couple minutes and they had enough and went on. Seeing deer on Turkey Mountain is a rare thing since the area became popular after a dipweed shopping center developer proposed an outlet mall on the mountain. (They dropped the project after overwhelming community opposition.)
It’s hot here in Oklahoma. I am still running and hiking but I live for the shady routes like above on Turkey Mountain. It’s all shade there but you have to watch out for ticks, chiggers, and snakes. Deet works wonderfully for the bugs, snakes, just keep an eye out if you can. My biggest problem is tripping on the rocks and roots.
My other route is Lafortune Park. No bugs, snakes, rocks, or roots there but a lot less shade except in certain areas.
It borders a golf course which makes it kind of scenic.
This is my favorite post workout drink (after I down about a liter of water.)
My advice for running or hiking in the heat is to take it easy and take lots of water.
We found out this week that we have a Cottontail doe and at least two kits in our back yard. You can see one of the kits in the upper right corner of the photo above.
So that’s all great but we had a family earlier this spring and are two dogs got three of the four kits. I was pretty angry with them but dogs do what dogs do. We are keeping our dogs away from this latest family.
Which is fine but now we have a hawk hanging around the backyard now and we think it might have got one of the babies. Hawks have to eat, I get it, and they have babies that need fed also. Nature is kind of mean sometimes.
Here’s Lizzy. She doesn’t go outside. You can tell she is not missing too many meals. She is grumpy because I was trying to get a shot of her sleeping and it woke her up.
Went for a walk at Lafortune Park here in Tulsa. I saw all these geese including some youngins’ coming out of the pond in a single file line. As I got closer they saw me and broke rank. I messed up the whole shot all by myself.
This was Fathers Day last Sunday with Heather, my wife. I am 66 years old this year so I am trying to get as many Route 66 icons in my posts as I can. This is Buck Atoms on Route 66 just east of downtown Tulsa. I had a blessed Fathers Day. Cards and gifts from Heather and son as well as from my MIL. Son had an online Spanish class test so he was tied up most of the day Sunday. I’m blessed and thankful to have him for my son. It’s been quite a summer with the intensive summer school plus working at Lowes Hardware quite a bit.
https://flic.kr/p/2m484HL
He’s a great kid even if dislikes geocaching. Shows how smart he is maybe.
This is four years ago at Orange Beach, Alabama, our favorite vacation spot. We didn’t get a vacation last year for obvious reasons. Maybe later this year.
I love cow pics. This is a bunch of Angus cattle at my wife’s cousin’s ranch in western Oklahoma. They look like they want to know what is going on. No, they didn’t really want to know. Cows don’t die of old age on a working cattle ranch if you get my drift.
Saturday I ventured to a popular rock climbing area in Tulsa near Chandler Park here in Tulsa to meet IRL a couple people I knew through social media, Tim and Brittany. They are rock climbers and they were going to let me use my drone to video them doing what they do. I’d never been close to the sport before and I guess what I learned is that I don’t have enough upper, lower, or core strength to even get off the ground.
I was impressed with the whole rock climbing infrastructure in the area. Previous climbers had already installed a lot of the bolts and pins they use for their safety ropes and harnesses. They told me that there is an app (of course, there is always an app, right!) that maps out the areas and routes. So I got to meet Tim and Brittany and learned a little about their sport. The video is on their youtube channel. Check out their other videos, they are very active. They hike, camp, bike, and go kayaking in addition to their rock climbing adventures and do a good job editing their videos. Give them a like and subscribe to see their other adventures.
I was flying in tight quarters between trees and the face of the rock so I wasn’t keeping up with the climber as I should have some of the time. Still it was nice to go somewhere besides my back yard to fly the thing.
They had offered to bring an extra harness so that I could try it. I’m like thank you but no. At my age gravity is not my friend!
After we parted ways I stopped nearby where the State is building a new expressway in west Tulsa. I got the drone out and started taking it up and due to high winds I had to call it off plus some small bird was flying around the drone in a not very friendly manner so I called it quits and brought it back down. Still not a bad shot.
And here is yours truly, the drone pilot in my element. Tshirt, boots, and hiking boots, I have totally gotten worthless. I love being retired. Maybe I can buy this old gas station and get it going again. Whaddya think. Maybe not is what I say.
