Sarah is 14

My beautiful granddaughter Sarah celebrates her 14th with friends and family.

Fifth Sunday After the Epiphany

The stained glass window above the altar looks much sharper thanks to my new camera. Praise the Lord (and thanks to St. Susan).

Riverpark at the Pedestrian Bridge

Turning around and looking up river is the 21st street bridge. The clouds are interesting. We are forecast for rain tomorrow.

Riverpark at the Pedestrian Bridge

The telephoto lets me move in close to the low water dam and eliminate distracting detail. Click on the picture to see it larger. Now you see the little duck.

Riverpark at the Pedestrian Bridge

One of the features of the Arkansas Riverpark is an old railroad trestle just above 31st street which has been turned into a pedestrian bridge. At this same point is a low water dam which keeps the river full upstream from here. My new camera takes in all the detail.

Waiting For Susan

Smokey and I are waiting for Susan to come out of Kohl's Department store. She is buying a birthday present for my granddaughter Sarah. We will drive over to Wagoner tomorrow after church for her birthday dinner. I have no clue what to get for a 14 year old girl but Sue will find just the right thing.

A New Camera

This is 20x magnification or 560mm OPTICAL zoom! It can be pushed even more by another 4x digital zoom. Amazing. It has lots of other features I will share with you as soon as I figure them out. Happy Birthday to me! Thanks, Sue.

A New Camera

This camera has more features than I know what to do with. Fortunately, while I study its 289 page User Guide it will take superb photos by default in "Dummy" mode. Here is the Fellowship Church where I attend my AA meetings most days at noon. This is actually about a 28mm wideangle. I scaled this down so it would load faster but the detail is amazing.

A New Camera

I began this blog posting photos from my iPhone. It has the advantage of posting directly from the iPhone to the internet via email which is really quick and convenient. However as a camera it has quite a few limitations. Sometimes I post better photos that I load to my computer from a Fuji Z1 which is better, but still not all that great.

Several months ago my internet friend Sharon who posts her blog "Hodgepodge" from Hawaii got a new camera and began posting superb photographs. Now the fact that she lives in paradise gives her a big advantage, but the quality of the photos is amazing. Well, I contracted the new camera bug, and after a lot of shameless hinting my dear sweet wife bought me the same camera for my birthday.

Here it is, a Canon PowerShot SX10 IS in all its glory.

Brady District

The old downtown area around the Brady theater was largely falling into disrepair like the old downtown areas of many cities. Tulsa has worked hard to bring attractions into the area like the new BOK center, and a new baseball park to be built next year. A lot of new restaurants and pubs have started bringing more people into the area. The Blue Dome Diner where my son Luke cooks is a good example. The area in general is called the "Brady District", and is as they say, a happening place.

Brady Theater

Completed in 1914, the Brady Theater was originally designed as a municipal auditorium and convention hall. The building was known as Convention Hall for the first forty years of its life. When the facility officially opened, it was billed as the largest hall between Kansas City and Houston.

The Brady Theater is in the old part of downtown Tulsa north of the railroad tracks was a thriving area in the early days.  As time went by, the tall buildings went up on the south side and the old area became run down.  More recently it has been revived as an arts and entertainment  area.

Some of the greatest names in show business have graced the Historic Brady Theater stage. A partial listing of those artists who have performed at the Historic Brady Theater: Enrico Caruso, Chet Atkins, Tony Bennett, Blood Sweat & Tears, Pat Boone, Glen Campbell, Chicago, Roy Clark, Rosemary Clooney, George M. Cohan, Phil Collins, David Allen Coe, Alice Cooper, David Copperfield, Bill Cosby, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, John Fogerty, Kenny G., Gallagher, Genesis, Al Green, Merle Haggard, Don Henley, Buddy Holly, Tom Jones, Journey, Kansas, B.B. King, Cyndi Lauper, Lyle Lovett, Motley Crue, Willie Nelson, Ted Nugent, John Prine, Kenny Rogers, Will Rogers, Styx, Ed Sullivan, Randy Travis, U2, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Robin Williams, Dwight Yoakam, and many many more.

Autograph Book

One of the family things that has been passed down to me is an autograph book that belonged to my great aunt's first husband, Mr. Christian, who died soon after they married. I know little about him other than he was thought to be an honorable gentleman. I believe this book originally belonged to his father. It has Mr. Christian's name in the flyleaf and is dated 1868.

At the time a great deal was made of penmanship. A fine hand was the mark of an educated gentleman and was practiced and refined to an art. It was common to keep an autograph book in which one collected the signatures and momentos of one's friends. Those who were sufficiently skilled would add a calligraphic drawing, often of a bird, which demonstrated the skills of the writer.  There are quite a number of these in Mr. Christian's autograph book, of which I will post a few examples.

My middle son, David Christian Miller, was named for this gentleman who had no children of his own, and it will pass to David when I am no longer the holder.

South Sky, 2:30 PM

Looking South from 45th and Peoria.

North Sky, 2:00 PM

Looking North from 31st and Riverside

Hungry Squirrels

I have a lot of very fat squirrels.

No matter how clever the bird feeder, the squirrels can defeat it.

Meanwhile back to my bird feeders. I built a squirrel feeder stocked with corn to lure the squirrels away from my bird feeders. They enjoyed the corn but by no means confined them self to it.

PSO Power Plant

Not being an engineer I can't tell you what all this super structure does but it certainly looks complicated.

Coal is dropped a box car at a time and carried up to furnaces that convert water to steam which powers a turbine that generates electricity.

Five trains of coal, each 100 cars long are brought down from Kansas every day to fuel the plant.

Just west of the Oologah Dam, Public Service Company of Oklahoma operates a big coal fired electrical power plant. This is only one of several around the state. They tell us that the newer coal fired plants are quite green.

Lake Oologah

Behind the dam looking East. Oologah is named for the nearby town of Oologah which was the birthplace of Oklahoma favorite son Will Rogers. The little farm house where he was born is nearby and available for a tour on weekends.

After church we loaded Smokey up and drove northeast of Tulsa to Lake Oologah, This is a view of the dam from the lake side.

Oologah was created by damming up the Verdigris River. Oklahoma has hundreds of man-made lakes and over 2,000 miles of shoreline, most of which is public property. This provides those of us who live here with many opportunities for swimming, boating, and fishing. Unlike some of the larger lakes, Oologah does not generate hydro-electrical power, but is primarily for flood control.

Fourth Sunday after Epiphany

This morning's bulletin. Fr Rick chooses the cover art for the service bulletin each week. They are always interesting. The note in the bulletin says this is Christ giving the "new" commandment but does not name the artist. I like the style of the artist, detailed and compelling but very simple, almost like a child's coloring book.

Strange Bird at my Birdbath

A rare Flightless Dog Bird.

Birdfeeder Customers

The House Sparrow looks like an ordinary field sparrow who has been shot with red spray paint.

Birdfeeder Customers

The cold weather has brought lots of hungry birds to my feeders. Here a male cardinal shares some lunch with a couple of sparrows.

Smokey is a Clean Dog

The ice melted enough today so that Smokey and I ventured out to the groomer where Smokey got his bath. The groomer always fits him out with a new kerchief. This one is red with hearts for Valentine's Day. Smokey thinks it's kind of girly but he is OK with it.

Chili with Beans

A good hot bowl of Chili is perfect for a cold winter day. Sue made a nice pan of cornbread to go with it.

What makes a good pot of chili is a very subjective thing. Some like it very spicy, others like it mild. It can be just meat and chili seasonings, "Chili Con Carne", or maybe with pinto beans. I have seen chili with beans, tomatoes, and a variety of diced vegetables, although to me that may be a nice bowl of soup but its not chili. If you google "chili recipes" you will discover a bewildering variety of recipes, some of great complexity.

For years I have made very good chili from a very simple recipe. Here it is.

EASY CHILI

Ingredients:
2 pounds ground beef
2 cans chili beans (pintos)
1 packet Williams Chili Seasoning

Brown the ground beef in a large pot or Dutch oven over a hot fire.
Stir it a lot.
When the meat is no longer pink stir in the chili seasoning.
Pour in both cans of beans.
Fill each empty can with water and add both to the pot.
Stir it until it begins to bubble.
Turn down the heat or set it off the fire and onto a scoop of hot coals.
Let it simmer for about 30 minutes, and stir every 5.
If it boils over its too hot, if it doesn't bubble it is not hot enough.

This will serve 8 hungry people. You may add salt to taste. There will be no left overs.

Some like to sprinkle chopped onion or shredded cheese on top. Some like to crumble soda crackers in the bowl although I think this is sacrilege. Chili is good served over steamed rice, or over cooked spaghetti.

I like Williams Brand Chili Seasoning because it has a good flavor but contains no salt. Most commercial chili seasonings are mostly salt. I like to add salt to my own taste. Williams is available almost everywhere, but if you can't find it, here is a simple recipe for a decent Chili Seasoning.

Easy Chili Seasoning

1 teaspoon paprika
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 to 3 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
2 teaspoons garlic powder

ENJOY !

Still Slick

The sleet stopped overnight although it is still very cold. The sun is shining but there is a thick layer of hard ice all over everything. Sue has gone cautiously out to the market to get a few necessities. Poor Smokey is out of dog food. When he comes to where we are sitting, lays his head on our knee and looks at us with sad eyes we know it is time to check his dog food dispenser. She also got me the ingredients for a good pot of chili. This is chili weather.

Icy Streets

My friend Renny in Norway posted some photos in his blog of young children out in the snow near his home. They are all bundled up in snowsuits and mittens and walk to school and play in the snow without a care. The roads are plowed and life goes on as normal.

Here in Oklahoma such weather is not normal. Driving on snow is not bad if drivers slow down and are careful. But trying to drive on sheet ice is very treacherous and we don't have much experience with that.

As a result all the schools are closed today and traffic on the main streets is sparse and moving slowly. As we watch local television news we see a rash of house fires as people begin to use unsafe heaters to add extra heat to older homes. Sue and I are safe and comfortable as our little house is well insulated and has central heat. But for those with inadequate housing or worse yet, for the  homeless, these are difficult conditions.

Icy Streets

It turned very cold yesterday then started to drizzle, not a hard rain, just enough to require the windshield wipers. By late evening the roads were sheets of ice with more rain mixed with sleet during  the night. Here is my front walk and driveway which blends right in with the street.  

It is still coming down in the form of sleet which is actually a good thing as sleet gives a little more traction than glazed ice.  As or me, I think Smokey and I will stay home with Susan today.  I had planned to take Smokey to the groomer for a bath but he will be pleased to put that off.

Master Grant

Grandson Grant is adapting well to life in Korea. Three months old and counting.

Chandler Park

Sycamore tree. I like the white on brown pattern of the bare trunk.

Chandler Park

Chandler Park is about 3 miles west and a little south of downtown Tulsa. It has the usual things to be found in a city park, playgrounds, picnic areas, and a swimming pool. It is also one of the  highest points in the area and provides a commanding view of Tulsa from the west. If you click on the picture to enlarge it you will see the skyline in the distance, and of course, the Arkansas River winding towards the city.

Philbrook Art Museum

The noble hound reminds me of Smokey. I have to admit that I was very politely reprimanded by the security guard for stroking his nose. That I am not the only one to do so is evidenced by his shiny snout.

Philbrook has an amazing variety of exhibits from all over the world, too much for one post. I will share more on another day.

Philbrook Art Museum

The museum itself is a work of art. This is the main upstairs corridor. I like the dogs.

Philbrook Art Museum

In addition to paintings are exquisite examples of jewelery, pottery, and basketry.

Philbrook Art Museum

On the upper level of the rotunda is a collection of Native American art. This is part of an extensive collection by early Tulsan Eugene Brady Adkins which has been held by Philbrook.

This collection will soon be housed in it's own gallery in downtown Tulsa.

Philbrook Art Museum

A quiet Saturday afternoon is the perfect time to visit Tulsa's wonderful museum. The first thing seen in the rotunda is this beautiful statue by Rodin.

Blue Dome Diner

Condiments and coffee cups. Every cup is different, collected from a number of flea markets. Don't let the humble appearance fool you, they have great food, and their walnut-blueberry pancakes are to die for.

Blue Dome Diner

Downtown Tulsa and the Blue Dome Diner. My youngest son Luke is the cook. I would say he is the chef but it's not that fancy a place. That's him in the orange cap.

Obama Smokey

My noble friend Smokey courtesy of obamacon.me.

Obama Inauguration

The world was watching Tuesday as Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States of America.  I am interested to know your reaction to our new president.  I would appreciate your comment.  Here are some world reactions.

From Obama's home town Chicago Tribune:  HERE

From an American expatriate living in Norway: HERE

From an immigrant American living in California: HERE

And from CNN, a set of photographs from around the world: HERE

I would like your reaction as well. Please leave a comment. Thanks

Inauguration Day 2009

Last evening Barack Obama hosted a dinner to honor his defeated Republican opponent John McCain. Following today's swearing-in ceremony President Obama and his wife Michelle escorted Former President George Bush and his wife Laura to a waiting helecopter to begin their trip home to Texas.

It is one of the wonders of American Democracy that despite bitter contention and hard fought election campaigns our government makes a peaceful transition from one administration to the next. President Obama has made this particular transition unusually gracious. He is off to a good start.

There is a new White House web site that contains a great deal of information about the plans and policies of our new administration. See it: HERE
(photo from Reuters)

Inauguration Day 2009

In his inaugural address President Barack Obama calls the nation to meet the challenges before us. For the complete text of the inaugural address click: HERE
(photo from CNN, text from The Washington Post)