Skywatch Friday -

Spring went by so fast we hardly noticed.   For the last two weeks it has been summer with highs between 95 and 100 degrees.  It is enough to make a case for global warming



SkyWatch Friday

Sepia Scenes - Boston Avenue, Tulsa

Looking south on Boston Avenue from East Second Street, Tulsa.


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Signs, Signs - Ty's Hamburgers

Ty's Hamburgers, 1534 S Harvard Ave, Tulsa, Oklahoma.  Great old fashioned hamburgers, amazing curly fries. 

Signs, Signs

Ruby Tuesday - They Laid Hands On Him

Pastor Leron West and his wife Mary

The red carpet alone makes this a good post for Ruby Tuesday.  Much more than that, red symbolizes the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Christian Trinity. 

This past Sunday Sue and I attended the installation of our good friend Leron West as the Pastor of Mount Rose Baptist Church on Tulsa's north side.  It was a powerful and moving service.  Many pastors of other traditional black churches in the Tulsa region were present and took part in the service. 

The high point of the service was when Leron was asked to kneel beside his wife Mary and receive the laying on of hands of all the pastors present as they blessed his ministry and prayed for him.  Leron is kneeling at the center of the group gathered around him.



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Macro Monday - Black Swallowtail

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Sunday Bridges - Tunnel through the Blue Ridge

When Sue and I drove through the Great Smokey Mountains on that foggy Monday last month, we passed through a number of short tunnels.  As we approached the outlet the fog filled the air with a soft glow.  As we cleared the exit the trees and pavement emerged from the fog into view again.  It was a pleasant sensation.

I hope it is proper to post a tunnel on bridge Sunday.  To my thinking, a tunnel is a bridge pulled inside out.

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Weekend Reflections - Tulsa Baseball

Sue and I took our grand kids Molly and Willie to see a Driller Baseball Game tonight.  It was very warm but with a nice breeze and Tulsa has a beautiful downtown ballpark.  There is a wonderful view of the city skyline from the third base side.  (Click to enlarge picture)

The hotdogs are tasty, the soda is cold, and the ice cream is served in little souvenir plastic batting helmets.  And after the game was a very nice fireworks display.  And did I mention that the Tulsa Drillers pounded the Midland Hounds by 14 to 1?  What could be better?

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Skywatch Friday - Tallgrass Prairie

The Tallgrass Prairie Preserve near Pawhuska, Oklahoma is the largest protected area of tallgrass prairie on Earth, spanning 39,000 acres. The current expanse was purchased from private ownership in 1989 and is now managed by the Nature Conservancy to be enjoyed as a scenic drive. There is a sizable herd of Buffalo in here but we didn't see any this trip.  Read more in Wikipedia.


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Sepia Scenes - Split Rail Fence

Split rail fence near Mabry's Mill

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Wordless Wednesday - Storage Shed Door

This is a little storage shed at Mabry's Mill where we visited last month in Virginia.  It has a pretty good brace and lock for a old shed.  There was a still there.  Maybe this is where the corn likker is stashed.  Well I don't know about that but I do know that splashy orange flower is a Gibraltar Azalea.


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Ruby Tuesday - Osage Mural

Pawhuska, Oklahoma is the capital of the Osage tribe.  On May 16, 2011 a group of Osage youth worked together to paint a mural on the side of the Osage Language Center.  The mural was designed by Osage artist Ryan Red Corn and depicts an Osage straight dancer.  Behind the dancer is Osage orthography that spells Wah.Zha.Zhi, that is, “Osage language.”

Like many native american languages, Osage had no written alphabet and was a spoken language only.  More recently an orthography of phonetic symbols have been developed to facilitate preserving the language.  At the present time there are only about 20 living fluent Osage speakers, all elderly and in Oklahoma, and about 300 students of the language.  See a newspaper article from the Osage News.


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Tulsa Gentleman is Three Years Old

My first post to this blog was on May 29, 2008.  Since then I have made 1,531 posts to it.  To celebrate this occasion I will share 4 photos which are significant to me.

First is our wedding photograph.  We were married December 26, 2002.  We choose that date because it was the day after Christmas and the first day I had free.  I completed my 6th season as the Santa at Tulsa's largest mall.  Susan as widowed and I was divorced.  My kids live near by and hers are spread all over.  As a practical matter this was also the only time that all of our kids and grandkids were together.  Here we are, for the first and last time.  We have been together since, but not all at once. The three little girls in white dresses are our granddaughters - flower girls.

This is our little house.  It is small but very comfortable.  This photo shows  off our roses - Blaze on the porch, and New Dawn on the corner of the garage.  The New Dawn was started from a cutting about 18 years ago.

Here is my "family".  The smiling lady is my dear wife Susan,  and with her is our dog Smokey.  He is a Pit Bull Terrier and is the sweetest gentlest dog I have ever had.  Like children, it is all in how you raise them.  We make a happy family.

This photo is here because I like it.  It might be my favorite of all the pictures I have posted althought it didn't get much comment at the time.  I like it because of the simplicity of the composition and the clarity of the colors.

These are the memes I frequently post to.  I hope you enjoy them.
 
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Weekend Reflections - OneOK Building

OneOK is a natural gas distribution company in downtown Tulsa serving more than two million customers in Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas.  Yogi! works here.

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Skywatch Friday - Blue Skies Today.

One day we have tornado warnings, the next we have blue skies.  Welcome to Oklahoma.

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Sepia Scenes - Toddy

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Wordless Wednesday - Virginia Log Cabin

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Ruby Tuesday - Betty Boop Rose

Betty Boop is a Florabunda rose that blooms quickly and continuously.  It is named for a 1930s cartoon character.

The bush has dark, glossy, and healthy leaves and the grows in a rounded natural shape.

It flowers with profusion and sets new blooms so quickly that  'Betty Boop' is never without blooms.

We enjoyed this specimen when we visited Sue's brother Alan in Virginia earlier this month. 

Betty Boop was an animated cartoon character 

introduced by Max Fleischer from 1930 to 1939. 

She sang, "Boop-oop-A-Doop ".

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Wren Alston Miller is Baptized

Wren Alston Miller, daughter of Luke and Cara Miller, was baptized Sunday, May 22, 2011 at  St. James Episcopal Church in Wagoner,Oklahoma.  She was born on February 1, 2011.  She wore the same baptismal dress and lace cap as her aunt Catharine Alston Miller who was baptized in 1972.

Luke, Cara, and Wren

Officiating was the Reverend Joann Wright.

When a baby cries during baptism, the old joke is that it is the devil coming out.  Wren remained serene throughout the whole service.  Does that mean there is no devil in her?  Time will tell.  She seems pretty mellow.

Black and White Bridges - Jefferson Barracks Bridge

The Jefferson Barracks Bridge over the Mississippi River in south St. Louis, Missouri.


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Weekend Reflections - Ready to Sail

Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia


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