Tag Archives: jigsaw puzzles

A Late Autumn Hike

I went on a late afternoon hike recently at Turkey Mountain. They are putting a new sign up. Kind of cool in that it is also a topographic map of the park. I think maybe they are going to make it into a planter of some sort.

I took the Lo Chi trail which goes downhill to the Arkansas River. It passes this beaver pond on the way down.

And the trail goes under this flyover for one of the downhill bicycle runs. I guess this is technically a table top because you don’t have to catch air. But you can if you want. A real flyover would be a gap. Talking to the bikers they have their own language. Many older people like me would “roll over” this rather than try and jump.

And I found this baby backhoe that the contractors use to build trails. I’ve lost track on the new trails. This looks like they are building a new trail already.

Lo Chi doesn’t get as much use as some of the other new trails. I only saw one other person on my two miles outing.

And the sun started setting. I was on the east side of the ridge so it immediately got a little cooler.

We still have some pretty good fall color on the mountain.

And some more color. I walked a short segment of the RiverParks bicycle trail as part of my route.

Only two miles but hey I had a good time.

Back at the parking lot, these two women had set up their apparatus on one of the pavilions and were having a lot of fun twirling around. I don’t know what you call this but it looks challenging.

Pretty darn athletic is what I thought. They would climb up to the top of the pole and invert with the their legs holding them up. I couldn’t do that in a million years. Got to have a strong core for just start plus not get dizzy twirling round and round upside down.

Changing course, one morning in our back yard.

Found this giant Santa Claus inflatable in a nearby neighborhood.

And we are slowly getting our house decorated for Christmas.

And after a long hiatus I started doing jigsaw puzzles again on my ipad. I love doing them even though they take a lot of time. A great advantage is that you can’t lose any pieces and I use the option to orient the pieces in the right direction. Plus the texture of cardboard gives me the heebie jeebies and so I avoid that as well. And! there is no table with the puzzle on it when you are not working on it.

And today (December 7) is Pearl Harbor Day. Let’s not forget the heroes that day.

And, I am linking with Skywatch Friday!

Skywatch Friday – Anybody have NASA’s phone number, the moon is missing!

I’ll explain myself in a little bit. Just hang with me.

From Tulsa’s fabulous Gathering Place looking across the Arkansas River to the west bank. The power plant is Tulsa Power Station. Way back when I worked for the natural gas pipeline company that supplied power to that plant. If you want to check out Pirtek USA Cost, you can click here! Believe or not I took great pride in doing a small part in providing energy to Tulsa. I know that burning hydrocarbons contributes to global climate change and fully support efforts to convert to carbon neutral sources of energy.

A scene at the YMCA on Turkey Mountain.

Me playing around with my drone and my trail camera in our backyard. Sorry for the intense expression. I still have lots to learn about drone piloting.

The same day, a view of our backyard from 50 meters up. I posted a similar photo a couple years ago and a very conservative, very distant relative got very upset with me about violating my neighbor’s privacy online. I actually had to take her step by step through unfriending and blocking me on facebook. So she did me, and I did her. I hope she is happy, cuz I am very happy to be rid of her. Tell me, am I violating anybody’s privacy? Careful what you say or I might block you as well.

Looking northwest at 50 meters above my back yard.

And this is my front yard.

I walked down to where my brother’s apartment is. That is his window. Whenever I drive by I honk.

Walking back from my brother’s apartment I passed this pond in an adjoining neighborhood. They used to have swans but I didn’t see any. I hope they are okay. Something about swans in our Tulsa neighborhoods that drives people to hop fences and attack the swans. What up folks?? Why do people do that? I am actually glad if you cannot imagine why somebody would attack a swan.

We have had lots of rain this spring. Lots and lots even though not far away in western Oklahoma they have had a severe drought. The past few days the temps and humidity have gone way up here. I have this feeling that things are going to dry up here as well.

One day when it was so hot I went to a park nearby that has some huge trees. I loved getting underneath the trees and looking up. Lots of shade in those old trees. I went on a spurt of hiking and trail running the a couple weeks ago and I am paying for it now. My right knee is killing me and only just today did it start to calm down after lots of ibuprofen and rest. So I have been spending lots of time inside and its killing me. I’m an outside kind of guy regardless of the weather.

So we have gone from nice cloudy skies to colorful clear skies. They are colorful because of smoke from way distant forest fires in the west and southwest.

The strawberry moon is Tuesday night. I went out to take a photo of it and came back in all in a panic and told Heather to call NASA because the moon is missing. I got on my skyguide app and oops, the moon is underneath the horizon just yet. So this is a photo of the moon from a couple days before so it is only 94% full. I told Heather to tell NASA to stand down and stand by. We found the moon. Tell the truth, I don’t think Heather ever actually called them but that is okay.

This is not my photo. It is a jigsaw puzzle I finally finished after a few weeks. I’m really slow at them but I love online jigsaw puzzles. Everybody had their own way of doing them. I look at boundaries so I focus on the boundary betwen the street and the sidewalks, and the roofs and the sky and I focused on the fence a lot. I love solving them on my ipad.

I am linking with Skywatch Friday come join the fun!

Skywatch Friday – Droning On

We finally got a break in the windy spring weather and I launched my drone. I generally just go straight up 50 meters or so from my back yard and look around.

Not much to see if the skies are clear but if there are clouds things get a lot more interesting.

Another day we had some rain, that makes for dramatic skies.

And I finally got this jigsaw puzzle finished on my ipad. I had been working on it for several weeks. I love doing them.

I’m linking up with Skywatch Friday. Lots of talented bloggers there, go check it out.

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.

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.

Saturday’s Critters, Springtime

It’s the love season for dove. Here’s a couple doing some mixed bathing, almost concealed because the blend in so well with the fence.

Mr. Squirrel gets kind of thirsty also.

And we have another cat roaming the back yard at night.

We have lots of sparrows stopping by.

I love the cardinals.

I was walking at Lafortune Park the other day and saw this goose checking everybody out. As I approached it he started acting restless so I backed off so he could chill down.

Grackles everywhere. I run them off whenever I can.

And a brief kerfuffle between a sparrow and a cardinal.

And I completed another jigsaw puzzle on my ipad. I am really slowwwww on these. But they are fun.

I am linking with Saturday’s Critters hosted by Eileen.

Skywatch Friday – Springtime!

Up first thing this morning and we had some color in the sky!! I was up early because I am experimenting around with yoga classes. I realized that the reason I got into yoga a couple years ago was because of the breathing and stretching and the classes that I’m taking have gotten away from that so I went to a “gentle stretch yoga” class Wednesday morning and it was wonderful. So first day of branching is a success.

This is from a family outing this past weekend. Pretty soon all these trees will have leaves on them.

The park is adjacent to old sand mines on the Arkansas River. The structure you see in the distance I suspect was part of that. There is a geocache located on it. I found it years ago. I went home, grabbed a foldable ladder carried it across the park and set it up and found the cache that way. Those columns are over ten feet in the air. Gravity is not my friend!! Here is my post on my initial look for the cache, eleven years ago! And here is post showing the big, scary, not scared coyote who was staring at me when I came back with my ladder.

Enough of the boring going down memory lane stuff. We went on the Bixby bridge across the Arkansas River. This is looking west. I intend one day to take some sunset photos here.

And here is “tiny planet” type photo that wraps a pano photo up. It is further north on the Arkansas in Tulsa looking at riverfront oil refinery.

And this is not my photo. It is another jigsaw puzzle I solved on my ipad. 440 pieces and it took me a lonnnnnnngggg time to complete it. Just love it. I hauled somebody to a doctor appointment last week and I worked on the puzzle out in the parking lot in my car. Try that with a regular puzzle!!

That’s it for this week. I’m linking with Skywatch Friday. Come join in the fun!!

Skywatch Friday – Different Ways of Catching Rays!!

Sunset a few weeks ago captured with the drone.

And an opposite sunset looking to the northeast

I’ve rediscovered “tiny planet” apps. They take a photo and wrap it around itself.

I went on a bike ride on a glorious, windy, sunny, kind of cool Wednesday. I took the Katy Trail from Tulsa to Sand Springs to avoid the mobs of spring breakers on the RiverParks trails. It’s an old railroad that has been converted to a trail.

And a vantage from a high spot.

And turned 45 degrees to the refinery across the Arkansas River.

A late afternoon skywatch shot. After weeks of boring skies I’ve been busy.

A sunrise early in the morning.

And the old drone pilot himself.

We had a full worm moon on Wednesday with just a very light screen of clouds in front of it. I love full moons.

I am continuing to do jigsaw puzzles on my ipad. I love them. I love this Caribbean scene.

And this street scene. It takes me days to do these things. I don’t mind though it is very relaxing.

Anybody else getting their vitamin D on. I love being outside so much.

I’m linking to Skywatch Friday. Come check it out. Lots of great posts from bloggers all over the place.

Skywatch Friday – The Sun! At Last!

The cold, sleet, ice, and snow went away so we have been able to go outside and it is liberating. I’ve been on a couple bike rides. I’ve been retired for a year and a half and I still feel guilty taking off on a bike ride in the middle of a weekday afternoon. Most days feel like the first day of summer vacation when I was a kid. They days are just full of possibilities.

Oklahoma history is different. One of my recent bike rides took me by this old cemetery in the middle of suburbia in south Tulsa. It is the Rentie Grove Cemetery named after the family that owned the property. The Renties were freed black people who were slaves owned by Creek Indians who brought them along to Oklahoma when the Creeks were forced to leave the southeastern Oklahoma on the Trail of Tears.

We’ve been taking on our dogs on daily walks during not too bad weather. We have a one mile route that takes them by many of their “friends.” They and the friends give each other a good barking. A side benefit is good views of the skies with trees. Yep, powerlines but hey that’s part of it.

With the better weather I’ve been launching the drone more. This is a sunset at 50 meters.

And this was another day with a lower elevation. No, I wasn’t spying on the neighbors. I just liked the view of the sky.

I’m crazy about Route 66. It’s quite a history of the country and Oklahoma has more Route 66 mileage than any other state. This is a sculpture installation on the Riverparks Trails called “Where East Meets West” showing the conflicts between the old and the new, horse drawn wagons vs new fangled gas powered cars.

I am seeing a ton of homeless people in Tulsa these days. From what I understand it is a nationwide thing. I don’t have any answers but am glad to know that Tulsa is decriminalizing homelessness. If you call the police non-emergency line they will send out people to try and get people services rather than just rousting them out or putting them in jail.

My mother-in-law gave me a camera that my father-in-law owned. It is a 1960’s model Pentax SLR. It doesn’t work but I took it to a good camera shop and the guy said it looked like it is stuck mid-cycle. He was going to have the mechanic look at it and give me a call let me know if it can fixed.

I’m hoping it can. My father gave me his Canon film camera from the 60’s and I love the feel and heft of it and the action is smooth as silk. I have high hopes for this Pentax.

I finished another jigsaw puzzle on my ipad. I’m really slow at these things and I love working them and love the finished photos. When you finish it the puzzle lines vanish and you can save the image.

#doubleexposure #hand #sunflowers #hipstamatic

I am thinking and praying for the Ukraine.

That is it for this week’s Skywatch post. I’m linking with Skywatch Friday. Check it out!!

Skywatch Friday – Close to Home

The skies from our driveway a few days ago. Just a little bit of snow remained.

A family down the street made a snow family. It is all melted now but I thought it was cool then.

Big treat, warm day and we went to Trader Joes!! I stocked up on my favorite snacks.

I took son to an offbrand video game store. I noticed this sign board off to the side. It looks like a relic from an earlier time. I love mysteries.

Heather and I went to the Philbrook Museum of Art. They had a special exhibit on the “The Transcendental Painting Group” a group of artists in the 1930’s in New Mexico. Pure art, no relation to the world at all but this looks like a sky to me. What about you?

This is from March 2016. A photo I took of the Tulsa Driller at the Tulsa Fairgrounds.

I am now addicted to online jigsaw puzzles on my ipad. When you finish, the make a great picture.

What have you been up to? I am linking with Skywatch Friday. Come check us out!!

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