Me and Aunt Marie

My aunt has lived in the same house for over 60 years. That’s how long I’ve been going there to see her. She’s actually got pictures of me that are over 60 years old taken at the same location as the picture that you see here. There’s something to be said for memories. 20120330

Camping Fun

It’s John and I camping at the Osage Hills State Park near our hometown. We used to camp there in high school. Today, we can legally drink the beer and get to drink a much better brand than we did in the 60′s. Plus, we get to take hundreds of pictures with our digital cameras. The tents are better. The sleeping bags are better. We don’t have to hide when the ranger comes around and wants to collect camping fees. 20120330

Morning in the Osage Hills

If there is one place that I would call near and dear to my heart, it’s the Osage Hills. 20120331

Moon Glow Hut

When I was a young person, I used to go to Ochelata, Oklahoma to the Moon Glow Hut and try to have a little fun. It was a bar / dancehall where loose women congregated. Or so I thought. This is a picture of it taken in 2012. It had sustained a little fire damage recently. Some cowboy probably got really drunk and pissed off and tried to burn it down. It was something of a rough place. 20120331

More Camping Fun

Yes, we’re still camping. This is taken near Tulsa, Oklahoma. When Oklahoma became a state, there were no lakes in the state. Just some ponds scattered around here and there. Today, there are approximately 55,646 miles of shoreline along Oklahoma’s lakes and ponds, significantly more miles of shoreline than the Atlantic and Gulf coasts combined. Oklahoma has more man-made lakes than any other state, with over one million surface acres of water. God bless the Corps of Engineers. 20120401

Tornadoes

This is what it looks like when a tornado touches down on a building. This one was about six blocks from my house. Not such a good thing. Actually, a lot of houses in my neighborhood now have new roofs and new fences. Some have a new garage or storage building. None suffered as much damage as this commercial building. There is a reason that the National Severe Storms Laboratory is located a couple of miles from my house and it’s not one that I like to talk about. 20120414

Roofer and Sider

Yes, I do roofing and siding. Just not very well. My true talents lie elsewhere. This is a job I’m helping my son-in-law do on a rent house he owns. I just finished the side. I like helping my son-in-law. I just wish we were home-brewing instead of doing roofing and siding. 20120422

Your Name Is

This is a wire woman and a wire dog that I saw at the Arts Festival. I talked to the guy who did them. Very talented. 20120425

Art Festival

Oklahoma City has a good Arts Festival. I’ve been to it many times. It’s a good time to get some street food and to people-watch. There’s also some art. Some of it is really, really good. I like to go early in the day before it gets too crowded. When I go to the Arts Festival, I try to make a day of it in downtown OKC. Maybe I’ll take in a museum or just ride my bike around downtown. 20120425

NRM Music Festival

Every year in Norman, Oklahoma they block off several streets in the downtown section and set up a dozen or so band stands and have music for a couple of days while the carnival is in town. It’s called the Norman Music Festival. Some of the acts are so-so. Some are fairly good. Some are excellent. The best thing about the festival in 2011 was the weather. It was perfect. There are days that are meant for getting the bicycle out of the garage and go for a ride. This was not only one of those days, I had somewhere to ride to.