Pavement and Gravel

This is how I spent Christmas:

Geary, Oklahoma

As a side note, I had a flat in Geary in the early 80's at about 1:00 in the morning.  Some old man came driving along and changed the tire, and told us "kids" to get ourselves home, because nothing good ever happens that late.  Same thing my mama used to say.  They were both right, I've come to realize.

On the side of the road north of Geary, there's these three grain bins.  Or there used to be three, but you can sorta tell in this picture that the center one is laying down on the job.  Several years ago, on Memorial Day weekend, a tornado came through this area and picked that center bin up, bounced it up and down for several hundred yards, and deposited it on the edge of the highway.  I've always found it interesting that instead of junking the thing, they moved it back to its original location...where it's lain on its side with its innards sticking out ever since. 

Greenfield, Oklahoma

Next, I swung by Greenfield... where the fields aren't all that green and there's not much left.  If I remember correctly, Greenfield was the smallest school in Oklahoma at one moment in time that still had a football (8-man) team.  Not anymore, though, the football team and the school are both gone, to the best of my knowledge.

Once you've "swung" left at Greenfield, you have to turn back right and you'll go by this big hill.  It's not a lot different from a lot of big hills in the area...but what is different....

....is the Indian by the crosses (crosses which you can't see...sue me, but I was taking these through the car windows.  Hey, it was 28 degrees!)

Next, I arrived in lovely Watonga, Oklahoma.  Watonga used to be famous for cheese, until the land-hurricane of a few years ago destroyed the cheese factory, causing much sadness for the Okie cheese-lover. 

Watonga, Oklahoma

Now they have a little casino and not much else, other than ALCO, which is one of my favorite stores in the world (just the ALCO in Watonga, not every ALCO).  Yep, I'm easily entertained.

When you get to the stoplight in Watonga, you turn and start on the longest stretch of highway on the planet.

Well, it's probably not the longest road on the planet, but I can tell you that I'm always happy when the grain elevator of Seiling comes into view.

There it is.  Civilization.

Seiling, Oklahoma

Not much civilization, but still.

Home of a famous weatherman. 

And home of these nifty Christmas decorations.  I like the Chrismoose, but I was pretty impressed with the "gifts" that were up and down Main Street, like the ones in front of the moose.  See if you can figure out what they are.

Okay, so I'm easily entertained and easily impressed.  I do not care. 

You know what they are yet? 

When you leave Seiling, there's still miles and miles to go, so I try to find some scenery.

And then, finally, turn back north and go to Mooreland.  Home of NTR and the Bearcats.  And Miss Oklahoma 2000-something and a race car driver.  (They's got signs outside of town, except for the NTR thing.  Oughta have a sign for him too, I believe).

Mooreland, Oklahoma

Mooreland is also home to this beauty of a little church.

And to a Veteran's Memorial, which I hadn't seen before.  Looks sorta new.

It doesn't take long to drive through Mooreland (oh really!) so quickly enough I'm back on the highway, headed to Freedom.

This next picture might look familiar. 



(By the way, I counted the blocks going south-to-north in Freedom, and I believe there are 4.5.  I'm going to give them the .5, even though there's not another street).  Probably about the same going the other way (east-west) too.  Of course there are houses here and there outside the "blocks" that I'm not counting, but not enough to worry about a population explosion.

Back on the highway again.

And then turn off on a county (paved version) road.

And then (you knew this was coming....)

Turn off the paved road.  Travel country-style.

And then in a little bit, it's right over the hill.

Lookout, Oklahoma

That's where I grew up.

Then, do some Christmas-ing.

See some kids, and take pictures of them whether they want you to or not.



After about five or six hours, get back on the dirt road....turn back on the paved road... you get the picture....

Now, Back to the Game

So far in the local football pool, my record is 7 wins, 1 loss, which is good enough for a tie for the #1 spot. Yee-haw! 

That probably won't last long.

Here's who I have for the rest of 2010:

Air Force over Ga Tech

WV over NC State

MO over Iowa

Maryland over East Carolina

Baylor over Ill

Okie State over AZ

SMU over Army

Syracuse over K State

NC over Tennessee

Corn Children over Washington

Clemson over S Fla

Miami over ND

GA over UCF

South Carolina over Fla State

Back later with some Christmas travel results.  :)

Merry Christmas!

For to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign to you; You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

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Christmas Week Wrap-Up

The art of wrapping Christmas presents seems to be a dying one.  I can't remember the last time I actually got a gift in a wrapped box, or the last time I gave a gift in a wrapped box.  Now you just take whatever the stuff is and stuff the stuff in a gift bag.  I don't think it's nearly as exciting, I mean, you can't shake a gift bag much.

Here in a little while I'm going to wrap up the rest of the gifts I have to give.  I will stuff them in a gift bag.  I am so lame.

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Speaking of gifts, a friend of mine told me that her (elderly) mother got her a Snuggie.  Leopard-skin print even. 

She said that her first reaction was, "Oh, Mom, way to waste your dollars."  But then she put on the Snuggie and says that suddenly her life was complete. 

Well, she didn't say that but she did say that she loves the Snuggie.  I asked her if she planned on getting an Amish Heater, a Ped Egg, Ginsu Knives, and a Chin Exerciser next.  I think I'm funnier than she thinks I am.

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Chloe has done very little the last few days.  If you don't count finding the only muddy place in the whole yard and laying in it. 

It is so hard to be her.

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I was halfway listening to the news last night and they had on their usual soldiers stationed overseas wishing Merry Christmas to their families back home.  Suddenly I heard "to my friends and family in Freedom, Oklahoma" but by the time I got to where I could see the TV, the soldier who said it was off the screen.  I'm going to have to investigate just who that was; surely somebody in Freedom will know.

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I had a plan to put together a little Christmas song trivia, but I think I got distracted (or maybe lazy) and didn't get that done.  I'll shoot for New Years.  I did find out that Nate's favorite Christmas song is that Parumpa Pum Pum one.  You know, The Little Drummer Boy.  Lauren said hers was "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree".  Those are important facts to know, maybe....

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Yesterday, I made a hat for Chan (Kim M.'s daughter).  It's Kim's favorite colors.  I hope Chan likes the same shades of autumn or she is going to be a little disappointed.  Hey!  It was the yarn I had on hand.

A person can whip up a hat on one of these looms in about 2 hours.  Unless you quit halfway through and take a nap or somethin'.  Not that I know anything about that.

All's well that ends well, I always say.

Really I don't think I say that very often. 

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My favorite new Christmas commercial is that one of Santa running through the Target parking lot.  He could have parked closer to the door.

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I was in one of the local shopping centers the other day and I noticed this painting inside an art gallery.  The gallery was closed (Thank GOD!  I didn't want to be tempted to figure out a way to buy this) but I took this picture through the window.

I don't know what I'd do with it - it's about 11x14 or maybe even bigger, but it is the most beautiful painting of a buffalo I've ever seen.  My picture doesn't even come close to the colors on the original....the animal's gaze is spellbinding.

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Merry Christmas Eve, y'all.

The View from the Bluffs

Here's some shots of my little bitty hometown.  (More of my favorite photos, and I shamelessly stole these from Carol, who was a couple years ahead of me in high school....well, actually a couple years ahead of me in grade school and junior high too):

The bridge on the left has always been known as the "new bridge" as opposed to the one on the right which is creatively called the "old bridge".  If my memory isn't completely shot, I think the "new bridge" was built when I was in grade school...or maybe high school...  But anyway, what I remember most about the two bridges together is that in track practice, we were to run from the school, across the old bridge, around the old road, and come back to town and then the school on the new bridge.  It seemed like a LONG WAY, and so to shorten it we would cut down through the river bed by veering off the old road, zipping through the brush and sand, and climbing up onto the new road and heading back into town.  And I'm sure at the time we thought that NOBODY KNEW!  Yeah, we were just that FAST when we ran the loop!

That old bridge is also where two of the boys in my class hid their old Playboy magazines in about the 6th grade, which were found by us snoopy girls.  You cannot get away with anything in a small town, believe me.

By the way, that's the Cimarron River that those two bridges cross.

This view is looking to the east from the area where the bridges are.

I like the sunshine streaming in.

That is the road into town; and right at the front right of the picture is the road that you take to get up on the bluffs (and then take a picture of the two bridges).  Let's see; once you cross the bridge, you have a short drive where there's a restaurant (seats at least 25) and the old depot, and the grain elevator where the buzzards roost...and then the "city blocks" start, of which there are maybe six or seven, and then the rodeo grounds, and then you're out of town. 

Did you blink?  Then you missed it. 

Here's another shot of the Cimarron (I actually took this one myself and didn't commit any computer crimes to "borry" it):

That was a couple of summers ago; I was standing on the "new" bridge and took a picture of the "old" one.

Earmarks

“Earmarks can definitely get out of hand and can increase spending on projects that are not fully justified,” he said via e-mail. “At the same time, the unelected federal bureaucracy should not alone be making these decisions.”

He said individual members of Congress sometimes must be involved in protecting the interest of their state when there is "bureaucratic bias against them".

There's so much controversy over the earmarks in the budget... but a famous former politician that's now in a highly-political job here in Oklahoma recently made the statement above.  I underlined the statement that I find most intriguing. 

Now, I don't agree that professors up at Pokeytown (OSU) should get 40 million dollars to study grandparents in Alaska.  (I think that was in one of those stimulus bills). 

But, I do agree that the director of some obscure government agency should decide at random how money should be spent, so on that point, I'm for the "earmark".  At least, in theory, we can vote out the politicians who pork up everything, and we can't do the same to the agency director.  Right?

I find myself tending to associate "earmarks" with a budget given to a state agency.  The budget(s) are divided up (earmarked) into different categories, such as personnel, operating, and so on.  And that keeps the agency(s) from arbritrarily deciding to spend all the money on personnel and then having no funds to pay operating expenses.  At least that's how I see it.

Well, I could be wrong.  It's happened once (maybe twice) before.

And the bureaucratic bias statement?  (I put the quotation marks around that). 

Well, where I live is simply known as a "flyover state" or the "great unwashed", dependent upon which elitist happens to be talking.  So yeah, I think there's some bureaucratic bias against the poor Okie chirrens. 

By the way, the statement?  Former Senator and Governor David Boren, now President of the Only University that really matters, (except for NWOSU).  :)

The Picks are In

I've turned in my Bowl Game Winners to the local football pool and so far, so good, 3-for-3 on those first three games played Saturday.  This is the first time I've ever been in a Bowl Game pool but I used to get into the March Madness office pools.  Not to brag or anything, (yeah right) but I won the money 5 out of 7 years.  Heh.

Next up I have Louisville, Boise State, Navy, Tulsa, and Fla Intl.  That'll take us through the 26th.  I know, I know, a couple of those are risky but you just gotta go out on a limb sometimes.

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I've been saving up a whole lot of pictures throughout the year that I've marked as my "favorites".  Of course I had good intentions to post them as I found them, but you know where good intentions lead.  So I think I'll post one today and try to get to them all by the end of 2010.  (2010?? Good Lord, time is flying.)

I especially liked this one - a shot by Laryn of her other half, Preston, instructing Jack on "How to Pee in the Woods". 

And that's just one of those things that everybody should know.

Antiques and Junk

I took a couple of days off this week and spent one of them at the Rink, which is a giant antique/repurposed (think used)/junk store in Oklahoma City.  Actually it might be in Bethany, I'm not sure exactly where one ends and the other begins, not that it really matters I guess...

It doesn't really matter because I could look around in this store for days.  It's one of those places where different vendors rent space to sell their wares.  I took my college-age friend, Lauren, there last year and she met me there again, and brought along another 22-year-old.  They were in a buying mood I think - both of them left with a box of invaluable finds.  I spent most of the time thinking about getting rid of everything I have now and replacing it with new decor junk.  It's not like I haven't done it before, heh.

That's the view when you first walk into the Rink, and Christmas was definitely the theme of the day.  Feather trees and Santa were everywhere.

I didn't know Santa would bring tobacco for Christmas!  Is that politically correct?

That one looks a little angry.  Scary Santa!

Santa drinks Coke, apparently; he'd be kinda fun to have.

The red metal shelf seems to have been some kind of store display in its last life.  I think I'd like to have it and "store" quilts on it.  I would need to get some more quilts.

There's a lot of Coke memorabilia in the Rink.  A lot of it costs a lot too.

Oops, one more tree.  I was glad this one was small - because it's just too gaudy for words. 

At least, I THINK there's a tree under all that.

I like this cake saver thingy - the color and the big beady topper.



I was reading a blog the other day and the writer had made one of these wreaths from an old book.  I think a Christmas wreath might be fun if it were made with old Christmas sheet music.  One of these days, I'll do that.

One of my favorite quotations is painted on the floor of one of my favorite "booths".  And, I like just about everything that this particular seller has.  When I do all that redecoratin', I'll shop here.

Here's a kinda odd thing.

Is that a Volkswagen hood?  Or trunk? 

At first, I thought this vase was strange.  But after I've looked at the picture for a while, I'm liking it.  I know, weird.



See the fish? 

What's that word used to describe odd decorating?  Keitche?  Kitchy?  I've tried to look it up on Google and everywhere else, but maybe I dreamed it, because even the danged Google doesn't seem to know.

I like this vase too.  It's purdy.

I really like old carousel horses.  They.  Is.  Expensive.

I think I will just like them from a distance.  That one is way past my budget.

I also like these vintage "toys". 

A toy ironing board.  Merry Christmas, poor little Okie child.

Here's another horsey.  This one wasn't thousands of dollars.  I want it.

Whatever would I do with it?

I'd think of something.

I also liked these bamboo blinds.  They had a pair of them; $100 each.  Pricey.

But they'd be really cool just used as a wall hanging in the right room.



Paris Chic.

The oddest thing I saw all day:



A gurney.  Being used as a stand for some old theater seats.  What would a person do with an old gurney?  That doesn't involve "eewwwww"?

Here's another thing...if you don't like going to the modern dentist, imagine how it was when the chair was like this:

Ouchie. 

Okay, now here's the thing that I really, REALLY want.  Santos Dolls.

These are reproductions, of course.

I used to see similar Santos in Santa Fe that weren't reproductions. I've wanted one ever since, but since they cost as much as a car, um, probably not.  There's one on the website that's valued at 17k. 

I want a lot, don't I.

So I went home empty-handed and made some danged truffle things.

The End.