Canada Honkers

Canadian Honkers. Permanent residents of Mohawk Park, Tulsa, Oklahoma

Monochrome Weekend - Central Park Apartments

The Tulsa Skyline from The Apartments at Central Park

Skywatch Friday - Spring is Coming!

My maple tree is budding and the Mockingbird is singing. Surely Spring can't be too far away.

Genealogy Summit

Today I met with my favorite cousins Catharine and Glenda to work on our common ancestry. Among us we have a lot of old photographs and letters going back to the civil war and before. We started last year scanning pictures and transcribing old letters so that our family history will be preserved for later generations. We accomplished quite a lot then took a photo of our reunion. Of course Smokey thought he was part of the family and climbed right in. I have some very nice looking cousins, eh?

Feeder Favorite - Male Cardinal

The male  Cardinal is bright red all over.  The female is more a rust color. 

This time of year the songbirds are hungry. Putting out a seed feeder is a big help and they will reward you by flocking to the feeder and doing a dance for you. I prefer black sunflower seer, safflower seed, and thistle for the finches. Less desirable birds like starlings, grackles, and sparrows will sometimes push others away from the feeder but hey, they are hungry too.

Wordless Wednesday - Downy Woodpecker

The aluminum pie plate is an attempt to keep Starlings out of the suet feeder. (Doesn't work)

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Bird Feeder Customers - House Finch

The little House Finch is a regular at the feeders.  He looks like a sparrow that has been sprayed over the head with red paint.

Philbrook Gardens

This is a view of the Philbrook Mansion from the south garden.

This is a view of the Philbrook Mansion taken from the south garden. I took this last November but do not think I have posted it before. I was reminded of it by my friend Yogi who did a very nice post of Philbrook today in his blog Yogi's Den. It is worth a visit.

Hubcap Graveyard

Hubcap Graveyard, Route 66 Museum, Elk City, Oklahoma

Monochrome Weekend - Winchester Cathedral

Choir and Nave, Winchester Cathedral, United Kingdom

Last weekend I shared a photo of the beautiful sanctuary of Winchester Cathedral. From the same place from which that picture was taken, I turned around and looked down the beautiful choir area through the long nave to the porch. It is called the "nave" from the same word as navy. The church is the ship of life which carries us to the Lord.

The delicate wooden tracery which decorate the misericord of the choir is amazing. This exceptionally beautiful cathedral was begun in the year 1079 and has an interesting history. The church is still is regular use with an ambitious schedule of services and activities. They have an interesting web site.

Skywatch Friday - Route 66

Route 66, the Main Street of America runs through the heart of Tulsa.

Mayo Hotel Penthouse Elevators

Penthouse Elevators, Mayo Hotel, Tulsa, Oklahoma

The elegant Mayo Hotel in downtown Tulsa was the subject of my post of November 16, 2009.

Riverside Apartments

Riverside Drive is a popular place for apartments. They all want a view of the river. Click to enlarge.

Here are more SEPIA SCENES

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Penthouse of Mayo Hotel, Tulsa

The Mayo is an elegant old Tulsa Hotel that was empty and in danger of destruction. Thankfully it has recently been renovated. For more see my post of November 16, 2009.

See more Ruby Tuesday.

Willy is a Foole

Saturday evening our church had a Mardi Gras party and Willy got to wear a Foole's cap. Foole in the sense of a clown. Willy makes a good clown. We all had a nice time.

Route 66 Motel

Abandoned Motel and Restaurant, Old Route 66, Tucumcari, New Mexico

Monochrome Weekend / Weekend Reflections

Altar, Winchester Cathedral, United Kingdom

In 2000 I was privileged to be part of a group from Tulsa Community College that spent 10 days touring England and France. We traveled through Winchester where I discovered that Winchester Cathedral is more than a song by The Beatles.

Winchester Cathedral at Winchester in Hampshire is one of the largest cathedrals in England, with the longest nave and overall length of any Gothic cathedral in Europe. It is exceptionally beautiful.


More Monochrome Weekend


More Weekend Reflections

Skywatch Friday - Rain Over Tulsa

Creek Nation's River Spirit Casino

The Creek Nation River Spirit Casino at 81st and Riverside

Gambling is not legal in the state of Oklahoma. However, beginning in the late 1970s a series of decisions by the United States Supreme Court ruled that Indian tribes have limited sovereignty over tribal lands and may license gambling within their jurisdiction. Since then Tribal gambling has rapidly grown into the billions of dollars across the country.

The land between Riverside Drive and the Arkansas River beginning just north of 81st street and running south for nearly a quarter mile belongs to the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and has become the site of a very large Casino complex. It began as Creek Nation Bingo in 1984 and has evolved to a Casino that rivals those found in Reno or Las Vegas.

Although Sue and I have never been in the casino we drive by it many times a week as it is on the way both to our church and the Walmart. It seems like every time we drive by it has grown a little more. Tonight I stopped on the way home from choir practice to take a picture of it all lit up with colored lights.

Oklahoma’s 29 gaming tribes contributed nearly $106 million to the state of Oklahoma in fiscal year 2009, according to the Office of State Finance. That figure was about $81 million the previous year. Most of that money goes to education, but $250,000 is set aside each year for problem gambling assistance through the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Service.

Wikipedia has a good article on the evolution of Native American gambling enterprises HERE. The Creek Nation has a website for the casino HERE.

Wordless Wednesday / Sepia Scenes

Abandoned Factory, Tulsa, Oklahoma

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and More WORDLESS WEDNESDAY