Ordinarily Oklahoma

Icy December - Beauty

2007-12-09T18:59:00.000-08:00

This mornings ice storm left beauty and destruction. Here is the beauty:

1906 - Oklahoma - 2006

2007-11-16T09:32:00.000-08:00

Oklahoma turns 100-years-old today. Happy birthday!

For an entire year, cities and towns throughout Oklahoma have held special festivities in honor of the centennial. But, tonight ...

... Statehood Day comes to a spectacular climax with an evening performance featuring a star-studded list of Oklahomans from stage, screen, and concert halls. A Broadway-quality gala employing the latest in lighting, multi-media, and staging will showcase the very best of the state’s long list of celebrities. The once-in-a-lifetime event will also be broadcast across the state on OETA.

Who was there:

Reba McEntire

Toby Keith

Garth Brooks

Vince Gill

Carrie Underwood

All-American Rejects

Byron Berline

Flaming Lips

Amy Grant

Argus Hamilton

Shirley Jones

Leona Mitchell

Kelli O’Hare

Patti Page

Willard Scott

Blake Shelton

Jimmy Webb

Johnny Bench

Canterbury Choral Society

Nadia Comaneci

Bart Conner

Gov. Brad Henry

Miss Americas:
Lauren Nelson (2007)
Jennifer Berry Goodson (2006)
Shawntel Smith Wuerch (1996)
Susan Powell (1981)
Jane Jayroe Gamble (1967)

N. Scott Momaday

Oklahoma City Philharmonic

Oklahoma City American Spirit Dance Company

Barry Switzer

Links:

Oklahoma Centennial Homepage - 1907 - Oklahoma - 2007
About.com - Oklahoma City - The Oklahoma Centennial Spectacular

Sunny Yard in Fall

2007-11-15T07:47:00.000-08:00

Tri-Color Autumn

2007-11-15T07:42:00.000-08:00

Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge

2007-07-05T07:54:00.000-07:00

The Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge is a beautiful place. Located in southwestern Oklahoma, it is a natural treasure. Within the 59,020 acres of the refuge, you will find bison, longhorn and elk roaming freely. Prairie dogs have their own town and the state's tallest mountain AGL (as measured from above ground level). (FAQ)

The photo below is from on top of Mount Scott (elev. 2464).

While not "in" the refuge, a Meers-burger is a must for the hungry traveler.

The Holy City, home to the annual Prince of Peace Passion Play.

The rocks here are composed of granite,rhyolite, and other igneous rocks of the early or middle Cambrian times. Read here about the age of the mountains. You might just be surprised.

Talimena Drive

2006-12-30T20:00:00.000-08:00

One knows that you can take Talimena Drive to get from Talihina, Oklahoma to Mena, Arkansas. It's not called Oklahoma State Highway 1 for nothing! The drive is beautiful year round and absolutely outstanding in autumn. However, on this cold and rainy day in December ... it had a certain beauty. The runoff from the rain filled the mountain streams, fog hung in the valleys and low clouds skittered by in the distance.

Talimena Drive runs through the Winding Stair and Ouachita Mountains. The mountains are unique in themselves, as they are a "fold-and-thrust" mountain range ... formed when rocks from the south where shoved hundreds of miles over the rocks in the north. So, basically ... this area was once part of a deep sea floor in Texas and once was as high as the Rocky Mountains. Over time, the mountains have simply eroded away.

Unlike most other mountain ranges in the US, the Ouachitas run east and west rather than north and south. This physical oddity sometimes confuses pilots flying overhead.

These photos are in sequence as taken from driving east to west from Mena to Oklahoma Highway 259. (brochure and map)

Old Military Road

Addie the AdventureMouse visited Talimena Drive. (blog)

Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge

2006-09-17T18:40:00.000-07:00

The Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge is where you can dig for selenite crystals. Here, the crystals form in wet soil ... sand and clay particles get trapped inside causing an "hourglass" shape to appear. This unique shape cannot be found anywhere else in the world.

The digging area is open each year from April 1 through October 15. Each year, a new section of the lake bed is sectioned off for digging. This allows the crytals time to reform.

The Salt Plains is a popular spot ... my advice is to come early in the season to ensure an untouched digging spot.
__________

Note: In April 2007, a Boy Scout digging for crystals uncovered some mysterious vials containing liquid. It turned out to be WWII military Chemical Agent Identification Sets. Crystal digging has been temporarily suspended until the site has been deemed safe.

Oologah Lake

2006-07-21T09:45:00.000-07:00

Oologah Lake is about 30 miles northeast of Tulsa. The lake was created in 1963 when the US Corps of Engineers built a dam on the Verdigris River. The lake has 29,500 surface acres of water and 209 miles of shoreline.

These photos were taken on July 3, 2006, near the road to Goose Island.

Behind the Ballfield

2006-04-23T12:43:00.000-07:00

Ever wonder what's behind the outfield? Let's take a peek.

The land butts up to a railroad track.

A hanging jaw bone.

This secluded triangle is a quiet retreat.

This farm backs up to the ballfield. The lack of rain makes for a low pond.

Cattle trail against the fence line ... watch where you step!

Morning Sun

2006-04-13T07:04:00.000-07:00

One Week Later

2006-03-31T13:39:00.000-08:00

Fourth Day of Spring in Oklahoma

2006-03-23T08:51:00.000-08:00

We received about 2 inches of snow in our backyard.

Snow and Birdhouse

2006-03-23T08:49:00.000-08:00

Snow in Pear Tree

2006-03-23T08:44:00.000-08:00

You can see the green grass peeking through the snow.

Red Bud Tree

2006-03-16T10:11:00.000-08:00

This tree is just starting to bloom.

Pear Tree in Bloom

2006-03-16T10:09:00.000-08:00

This is not the ornamental Bradford Pear tree. This one bears fruit.

Iris

2006-03-16T10:07:00.000-08:00

Purple iris next to our house. The rock wall is made of limestone which is in abundance around here.

Quince

2006-03-16T10:04:00.000-08:00

Hyacinth

2006-03-11T06:48:00.000-08:00

Forsythia

2006-03-11T06:46:00.000-08:00

Offbeat Oklahoma

2006-02-13T06:43:00.000-08:00

Found an interesting website called Road Side America. It is an online guide to offbeat tourist attractions. I ran across this while searching for the "blue whale" in Catoosa. Not only is it listed in the website, but several other people with memories of the whale have left their stories.

Other stories of note are the "Circus Performers Graveyard" in Hugo ... Hugo is the winter town for the Carsen & Barnes circus; and, "Center of the Universe" in downtown Tulsa. The state also has a "shoe tree" near Stroud.

To take a peek at offbeat places in Oklahoma, click here.

Tagged

2006-02-08T15:30:00.000-08:00

I was tagged, however, I must reformat a little for the state of Oklahoma ...

Birthday: November 16, 1907 ... big 'one, zero, zero' next year! Whoop, whoop!

Origin of the word Oklahoma: Based on Choctaw Indian words for red man ... okla meaning people and humma meaning red

Motto: Labor omnia vincit (Labor conquers all things)

Oklahoma's five civilized tribes:
Chickasaw
Cherokee
Choctaw
Creek
Seminole

Population: 3,450,654 (year 2000)

Land area: 68,667 square miles (year 2000)

Persons per square mile: 50.3 (year 2000)

Topography: High plains predominate in the west, hills and small mountains in the east; the east central region is dominated by the Arkansas River Basin, and the Red River Plains are in the south.

Industry:
Mining: petroleum, natural gas, coal, crushed stone (limestone quarries), iodine (not produced in any other state), sand and gravel

Agriculture: beef, chickens, eggs, hogs, milk, sheep, turkeys, fish (farm-raised catfish), wheat, hay, corn, cotton, grain sorghum, peanuts, soybeans, peaches and pecans

Manufacturing: oil field machinery, construction machinery, machine parts, refrigeration and heating equipment, transportation equipment (aircraft and aerospace equipment, automobile assembly), computer and electronic equipment (electronic components, military communication systems, telephone equipment), fabricated metal products (structural metal),
processed foods (meat-packing plants, animal feed, bakery products), rubber and plastic products (tires)

Services: private health care, equipment rental companies (oil field equipment, rental cars), telemarketing firms (telephone reservation systems), repair shops, wholesale trade (food products, grain, oil and gas, transportation equipment), retail trade (automobile dealerships, discount stores, food stores, service stations), government services (public schools, hospitals, military bases), finance, insurance and real estate groups

Some movies filmed in or about Oklahoma
The Outsiders
Rumblefish
Rain Man
UHF
The Oklahoma Kid
Where the Red Fern Grows
Tulsa
Oklahoma!
Grapes of Wrath
Oklahoma Renegades

Oklahoma's state meal: fried okra, squash, cornbread, barbecue pork, biscuits, sausage and gravy, grits, corn, strawberries, chicken fried steak, pecan pie, black-eyed peas and milk

Other Oklahoma blogs: Blog Oklahoma (see member blogroll)

Other states I will tag: All 49 others!

Oklahomans In the News

2006-02-06T17:30:00.000-08:00

Josh Brown
Foyil, Oklahoma
Seattle Seahawks Kicker in Super Bowl

Jennifer Berry
Jenks, Oklahoma
Miss America 2006

Carrie Underwood
Checotah, Oklahoma
2005 American Idol

Click here for a list of the famous (or infamous) who were born or lived in Oklahoma

You Know You're From Oklahoma When...

2006-02-04T12:14:00.000-08:00

You say ya'll ... many times a day.
Bedlam is a BIG deal.
You can tell when it's tornado weather.
When you drive through a neighborhood anyone out walking will smile and wave at you.
You've worn flip flops in the winter.
You have stopped to let a family of deer cross the road.
You thought the twister ride at Universal Studios wasn't windy enough.
You know who your neighbors are, how many children they have, and when one of them gets married or graduates.
There are at least 2 to 3 Sonics, McDonalds, and Little Ceasars in your town.
You've been off-roading - many times.
You or someone you know was born, raised and still lives in the same town.
You know that Miami, Oklahoma and Miami, Florida are pronounced two different ways.
You plan events around football games.
You are a Cowboy or Sooners fan.
You learned how to do country and western dances at school.
A tornado warning siren is your signal to go out in the yard and look for a funnel.
You can properly pronounce Eufaula, Gotebo, Okemah and Chickasha.
You can remember the name of the last state legislator to introduce a bill involving castration, and he didn't mean farm animals.
You know exactly what calf fries are, and eat them anyway.
You think that people who complain about the wind in other states are sissies.
It doesn't bother you to use an airport named for a man who died in an airplane crash.
You have owned at least one belt buckle bigger than your fist.
A bad traffic jam involves two cars staring each other down at a four-way stop, each determined to be the most polite and let the other go first.
It doesn't seem odd to see the term "chicken fried chicken" on a menu.
You save all your life for your dream vacation, and use it to go to the OU/Texas game.
It doesn't seem peculiar if your sweetie says "I'm going in to town for something" even though you live in town.
You don't turn on the news until 20 minutes past the hour, because that's the only thing you care about anyway.
Your quarterback is hurt and it is the top story on the six o'clock news.
You keep track of the grain and hog futures on the radio.
You don't buy all your vegetables at the grocery store.
You go to the State Fair for your only vacation.
You get up at 5:30 A.M. and go to the coffee shop, where the waitress never asks what you would like. She already knows.
You are on a first name basis with the county sheriff.
You know what the "Sea of Red and White" is.
You think that using the elevator involves a corn truck.
You can drive 80 mph on a two-lane dirt road with one hand, but driving 45 mph on a four-lane expressway in a city scares you to death.
You use manure on your grass instead of Weed and Feed.
Your nearest neighbor is in the next zip code.
You know the difference between fee corn and sweet corn ... while it's still on the stalk.
You wear cowboy boots to church.
You know that everything goes better with Ranch.
You learned how to shoot a gun before you learned how to multiply.
"You wanna Coke?" "Yeah." "What kind?" "Dr. Pepper."
You know what "Orange Power" and "Crimson & Cream" means.
You actually get these jokes and pass them on to other friends from Oklahoma.

Redbud Valley Nature Preserve, Tulsa

2006-02-03T09:59:00.000-08:00

Up the rugged steps to the trail. These photos were taken in 2/05. The photos in Redbud Valley's website are from summertime.

The Eastern Redbud (cercis canadensis) is the state tree of Oklahoma.