Tag Archives: Arkansas River

Skywatch Friday – Fall is Falling

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My wife’s cousin’s wife, Cheri Lou took this photo at the ranch in western Oklahoma. I love the rolling hills, grassy rangelands, and the big skies out there. The people are great also.

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Where we live in northeastern Oklahoma is more forest land and a lot wetter. Son Logan and I went on a little jaunt at Tulsa’s Oxley Nature Center. Lots of wildlife in Oxley. Lots of water also and it is right underneath the main approaches to our local airport and is right next to the police gun range so it can get kind of noisy but I love it.

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There are several sizeable lakes and ponds and it is known as a good birding site. I love birds but I don’t have the patience to put in the work.

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Here you go, any photoblogger worth his salt has the obligatory first red leaf of Autumn. I think this might be my first red leaf ever.

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This gave me a start! Don’t worry, it is a rubber snake placed near a geocache. At least I think it was near a geocache. I looked for it and didn’t find it. I lifted a rock and found me a real snake. Just a tiny little garter snake but I decided, enough is enough.

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Saturday I had some time so I went looking for some urban caches in Tulsa. Found one near the Saba Grotto. I think it has some relation to the Masons. There were a few instagram pics with Saba Grotto. it looks like a big man cave. They have a pretty active facebook page and they seem to have all sorts of benefits and events. Who would have thought? Stuff like that intrigues me. People don’t seem to join clubs any longer. They belong to “affinity groups” where they do people who have similar interests but is a lot looser. Anyway, one reason I love geocaching is that I find new places and learn new things.

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Another cache I found was on a freeway interchange. Talk about hiding something in plain sight. Lots of cars whizzing by while I figured out where the cache was.

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I am still training for the Tulsa Run 15K the last weekend of this month. Last week I ran 9 miles after work and I actually felt pretty good. Cooler weather and a hydration vest works wonders. I had already signed up for the race and went ahead and signed up for the Route 66 Half Marathon in November. This weekend I am running 11 miles on Sunday morning. At least that is my plan. Check back later. Plans change.

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A side benefit is running is the opportunity to take photographs. A great deal of my running (and a great deal of my photos) are along the Arkansas River. Tulsa really is a beautiful town. Of course I love the gritty west side of Tulsa where all the industry and refineries are.

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In the Fall the skies get a lot more interesting. This is a sunset photo looking east with my back to the sun.

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I’ll finish up with a selfie with a combuster at a waste treatment plant on the river. I was halfway on my nine mile run and I was really happy with how good I felt. Cooler weather, a hydration vest, and Metallica on the earbuds works wonders. That is about as big a smile as you will ever get out of me.

I’m linking with Skywatch Friday

Skywatch Friday – Storm Coming on Turkey Mountain

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One day after work when I was on the east bank of the Arkansas River looking across trying to figure out whether to run on Turkey Mountain or not which is the hill to the right. I decided to go ahead and stayed dry for the most part. I really look forward to my Wednesday night runs on the mountain or the river and rarely cancel them. I always feel like a kid when school has let out especially when the weather is decent. I hardly ever see anybody else especially when I’m more than a quarter mile from the parking lot.

I’m linking with Skywatch Friday

Skywatch Friday – Silhouettes

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Skywatch, Modern Sculpture Silhouette from the east bank looking west

Those who follow me know that one of my joys is my weekly run after work on the Tulsa River Parks Trails along the Arkansas River. I run the trails almost regardless of the weather. Lightning  and Ice are the only reasons I have not run the trails. And this time of year by the time I get changed and dressed and then out to the river the sun is about to set.

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Tree Silhouette looking west

It was about five degrees cooler than I was planning on and there was a fairly stiff northern breeze that I hadn’t planned on either. I was a little under dressed with just shorts and a long sleeve t shirt but I put in three miles anyway. I started out into the wind so that when I turned around I was with the wind. Otherwise, even with the best technical gear you turn into a refrigerator.

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A little bit more open, still on east bank

So coming south on the west bank was great, I was very comfortable and was able to enjoy the run. If I had been dressed just a tad warmer I might have gone another mile or two.

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Sorry for the fuzzy shot, on the west bank looking back across the river. Downtown Tulsa is a couple miles past the river.

I injured myself a couple months ago and and been going through a self rehab of run walks, and massage and just trying to be patient and it worked out. Last Sunday I ran in a Quarter Marathon with some pretty good uphills and downhills and finished without any problems so this week on my weekly run I let myself run a lot more than usual. The thing about running is that running, even running as slow as I do, is a lot more fun than walking.

The thing about by new gym at the Methodist church downtown is that I can go change there and then drive down to the river and run my run and then drive back to the gym and shower and get clean clothes on rather than showing up at home all stinky, smelly, and hungry.

As you can tell, I am rather spoiled. I highly recommend being spoiled.

I am linking with Skywatch Friday

Scenic Weekends – Balanced Rock Art

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Wednesday evening was springlike. In the 70’s and a very light feel on the skin. I headed to the Arkansas River for my weekly evening run and it was crowded so I had to park in the satellite lot. Walking south I noticed a lot of people hanging out on the trail and I heard music and a rather good natured, nice party vibe going on. I got closer and I noticed some rocks in the water which were new. I’ve been running this stretch of river for 25 years so I know when I see something new. You can just barely see them in the photo above to the right. So I went to check them out.

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Somebody had put in some balanced rock art in the river and the shore. I had never seen anything like this and I was enthralled.They were both in the river and the shore.

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I thought it was cool. There were also people nearby sitting around campfires and just having a good time. I had never seen that either. I’ve seen homeless people with campfires but never just regular people. I’m sure they were violating some rule or another but they were not bothering anybody.

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So reading up on balanced rocks, I guess they are kind of controversial because some places they do way too many of them.  Plus they are not welcome in National Parks where you are not supposed to gather anything natural like rocks, sticks, wood or anything else.

But on the banks of the Arkansas River last week they were a welcome addition to the scene.

I’m linking (for the first time I think) with Scenic Weekends.

Skywatch Friday – Back to the Future

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Another shot from the building I work to the west with a sunset and the Arkansas River. I am moving this week from the fifth floor at work to the sixteenth floor so I walk a few steps over to the west window to see the Arkansas River out to the west. I started out in engineering years ago and after years of hopping back and forth between the engineering, operations, and commercial roles I am back in an engineering role for the first time in a dozen years. And so I am back upstairs.

I’m also getting geared up. The safety regs require safety boots while out on location. So I now have some company paid composite toe boots (lighter and more insulating than the old steel toe boots that I tossed into the Goodwill box when I last left engineering) and I ordered some FR’s (Fire resistant clothing) for use while in our facilities. I work in the natural gas industry) My employer provides a generous allowance to buy such items. I’m okay with all things safety including wearing uncomfortable clothes. When I was in operations management way back when my worst nightmare was that one of my 55 guys got hurt. The second nightmare would be having to call their spouse, girlfriend, or parent and telling them the news. Luckily that never happened. Safety for employees and the  general public  has gotten more serious and effective since and that is a wonderful thing.

I will only be in the field occasionally. Guys and gals that work out there a lot wear hazardous gas monitors also. I visited a competitors plant a couple weeks ago and I was one of the few that didn’t have such a device. The plant manager said, okay Alan, if you see us run, I would suggest that you run also. I thought that was hilarious.

So, life and works goes on!! How are things with you.

I’m linking with Skywatch Friday

Skywatch Friday – West Bank

River Ampitheater after-Edit.jpgThis is a floating stage on the west bank of the Arkansas River. The stage has not been used in years and is apparently too expensive to dismantle and impossible to move so I guess it will just sit there until a tornado takes it out. Back in the day, a lot of big names played on it Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Leon Russel, and others played on the stage. In the meantime it is biding its time with its memories in a little backwater off the Arkansas River. I don’t know how many dozens of photos I have taken of it, morning, night, noon, all four seasons. I love it.

I’m linking with Skywatch Friday today

Skywatch Friday – Evening on the Arkansas River

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Evenings on the Arkansas River this time of year are very peaceful. The weather is mild and pleasant and there are lots of people out strolling with the kids, bike riding, running, and skateboarding. Its the place to be.

I cheated on this and used a texture backed off about 75%.

I’m linking with Skywatch Friday

Arkansas River Reflections

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View from the west bank of the Arkansas River here in Tulsa of some rowers in the late afternoon last Tuesday. Tulsa has an active rowing community and I see them often out on the river practicing. It looks very hard work to me.

Logan is in production on the play he is in at Clark Youth Theater, “Romeo and Juliet Live From the Underworld.” This is a musical version and … “Romeo and Juliet awake in the after life, confused and unaware of their deaths. With the help of those in the Underworld, the lovers watch as the events of their lives replay before them, eventually making peace with the choices that led to their demise.” The play is very different and I am glad that I saw it twice as I did not understand at all what was going on the first time.

It takes a little to get an ear for Shakespeare especially when done to rap rhymes in Iambic Pentameter. The kids are doing a great job. There are some really talented and accomplished actors among the teenagers. Logan has a small part and does really well with it.

Anyway that is it for now.

Skywatch Friday – Arkansas River Sunset

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Tuesday night I made a run late in the day on the Arkansas River Trail right off downtown here in Tulsa. I was able to get this shot above of a sunset. Pretty soon my evening runs will be in pitch dark but now I’m enjoying the earlier sunset and slightly cooler weather.

I’m linking with Skywatch Friday