Tallgrass Prairie Preserve

A short drive north of Pawhuska, Oklahoma is the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve. Before pioneers came to the great plains there were tens of millions of Bison or American Buffalo grazing in grasslands which stood 6 to 8 feet tall for as far as the eye could see. Prairies exist in areas too wet for desert yet too dry to support healthy forests. This preserve is the largest protected remnant of tallgrass prairie left on earth. Originally covering over 142 million acres in 14 states from Texas to Manitoba, urban sprawl and conversion to cropland have left less than 10% of this magnificent American landscape. Since 1989, the Nature Conservancy has proven successful at restoring this fully-functioning portion of the tallgrass prairie ecosystem with the use of about 2500 free-roaming bison. The preserve spans 39,000 acres, and bison again graze the prairie.


The perimeter of the preserve is fenced and the entrances are blocked with cattle guards made of a row of railroad ties spaced a few inches apart. Cars can drive over but hoofed animals are very reluctant to cross them. There are Buffalo and Texas Longhorn Cattle who roam the area. Signs at the entrances warn to observer that these are not "tame" animals. Do not annoy the Buffalo.


Verdant grassland flows over the rolling hills like green water undulating in the wind. There is a quiet majesty about this open landscape. It was a warm day (90F) and we started out with the windows closed and the air conditioner on. I rolled the window down to take some pictures and the air smelled so wonderful that we opened all the windows to breath it in. I was a moist sweet mixture of grass, wildflowers, and Bison dung. Smokey really liked it.


Here and there are small groups of Bison, also called American Buffalo. Before the pioneers came these animals grazed in great herds numbered in many thousands. When they moved they looked like a wooly ocean and sounded like thunder.


The tallgrass prairies are covered with Big Bluestem, Indian Grass, and Switch Grass growing to heights of eight feet at times. Mid-grass prairie is dominated by side-oats grama and wheatgrass, with a mixture of shortgrass prairies in dry sites and tallgrass in wetter sites. It is estimated that there were between 30-60 million bison roaming the prairies. Elk, deer, and antelope also grazed in astounding numbers. Large predators preying on the grazers included the grizzly bear and wolf. For more information on the tallgrass prairies look HERE.

Sunday Jigsaw Puzzle

Price Tower, Bartlesville Oklahoma, Frank Lloyd Wright

Bartlesville, Oklahoma

Susan, Smokey and I decided to take a quick break and drove up to Bartlesville, Oklahoma to rest and relax. Bartlesville is a nice town about an hour's drive north of Tulsa. We had an excellent Chinese dinner at the Szechuan restaurant and stayed in a dog friendly hotel. Today we drove over to Pawhuska, then up to the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve which is home to a herd of Bison or American Buffalo. We took lots of pictures, and will start with Bartlesville.


On a hill just outside of Bartlesville are three water towers labeled Hot, Warm, Cold. This is not part of a community hot water program, it is just for fun.


The Price Tower is a nineteen story, 221 foot high tower in Bartlesville, Oklahoma that was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. It is the only realized skyscraper by Wright. The Price Tower was commissioned by Harold C. Price of the H. C. Price Company, a local oil pipeline and chemical firm. It opened to the public in February 1956. Bartlesville is also home to the Phillips Petroleum Company, now merged with Conoco.

(from Oklahoma Byways)
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Price Tower

Frank Lloyd Wright called this masterpiece the “tree that escaped the crowded forest” when he completed it for the H.C. Price International Pipeline Company in 1956. The Price Tower is Wright’s only built skyscraper. The combination apartment-office building received the American Institute of Architects 25 Year Award and is on the National Register of Historic Places. The Price Tower Arts Center offers a variety of traveling art exhibits and permanent exhibits on Wright, Bruce Goff and the Price Company and Tower.

Recent renovations by architect Wendy Evans Joseph have created an upscale 21-room boutique inn called Inn at Price Tower. With the creation of this inn, Wright enthusiasts can have the opportunity to stay overnight in a Frank Lloyd Wright building. Also on the premises is the Copper Restaurant + Bar, a fine dining experience for Bartlesville natives and visitors alike. Future plans for the Price Tower Arts Center include an expansion of their educational program. The Price Tower Arts Center has currently commissioned world-renowned architect Zaha Hadid to create the new complex that will adjoin the Price Tower, complementing the symmetrical design of Frank Lloyd Wright.

Bartlesville is the home of the annual OK MOZART International Festival, a week-long music event, each June. It takes place in the Bartlesville Community Center, designed by William Wesley Peters, one of Frank Lloyd Wright's students.

(from Oklahoma Byways)
Bartlesville Community Center

The Bartlesville Community Center was designed by Wesley Peters, chief architect of Taliesin West–The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. Beautiful flowers, sheltering trees and a statue called Suspended Moment compliment the smooth curves, rounded lines and earth tone colors that make up the unusual architectural style. The exterior earth colors are continued inside the Community Center where you will find circular ramps leading to different levels and Crystalline light fixtures that are suspended like icicles from the meeting hall ceilings. An acoustically superb performance hall that seats more than 1,700 is the main focus of the Community Center considered to be “…one of the finest concert halls in this country,” said Ransom Wilson, Conductor of the Solisti New York Orchestra. Also found within is the world’s largest cloisonné artwork, a mural that is 25 feet long that depicts a stylized northeastern Oklahoma countryside. The Bartlesville Community Center is a wonderful tribute to the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation and a must-see for any architecture fan.

Chalk Art

Molly and Willy decorated the stepping stones outside our back door with colored chalk - "Pastels". It will look pretty until the next good rain, which in Oklahoma July may be quite a while.


Molly's art.


Willy's art.

Dwarf Crepe Myrtle

The summer after I moved to this house in Tulsa's Brookside area I planted four dwarf Crepe Myrtles across the west side of my front flower bed. That would have been early summer of 1994. When I moved into this little house it had not one single tree or shrub. Bit by bit I started landscaping the front and back.


I had the idea of planting hardy perennials that would grow and bloom with a minimum of care. While dwarf Crepe Myrtle is not usually thought of as a bedding plant but it seemed like it would work. It had a compact growth pattern, it bloomed continuously from early summer until frost, and it is virtually indestructible. I prune it back to about 18 inches every winter and in the spring it takes off again. It has survived being moved when I moved everything around at the time we did some concrete work on the driveway and front sidewalk. I have a variety of perennials all around the place. The idea is that something is blooming all the time and nothing requires much care.

University of Tulsa

McFarlin Library, the heart of the 200 acre TU campus.

A few weeks ago I attended the 50 year reunion of my 1959 Wagoner High School graduation. I drove by the University of Tulsa today and stopped to take a photograph of the main library. It is kind of a boring story but I will tell you what I did after high school.

After earning my Bachelor of Science degree at Oklahoma State University in 1964 I spent 2 years as a Lieutenant in the Army, then taught mathematics and science in the Tulsa Public School system for 3 semesters, and then began working on a graduate degree at the University of Tulsa in 1967. In January of 1968 I went to work for American Airlines as a programmer trainee and completed my Master of Science degree in January of 1972.

Working out a graduate program mostly in the evening while working full time with a wife and a growing family is a very different experience than enjoying campus life as a single undergraduate. Being a college student at OSU was a lot of fun. Graduate school at TU was a grind. I enjoyed the classes but there was no partying.

The University of Tulsa is a private university located about 2 miles east of downtown Tulsa. Established in 1894, it provides undergraduate, graduate, and professional education of the highest quality in the arts, humanities, sciences, business, education, engineering, law, nursing, and applied health sciences. The current enrollment is 4,192 of which 3,049 is undergraduate, 1,143 graduate and law.

Greetings From Smokey

Smokey sends you greetings and best wishes.

Well Rooted

I was driving around taking pictures this afternoon when I discovered this wonderful tree. Actually what was wonderful was the root that had grown up out of the ground between the street and the sidewalk. This is on 16th Street between Rockford and St. Louis.


I could just imagine all sorts of wee creatures making their home in the nooks and crannies. There is a whole landscape here.

Sunday Jigsaw Puzzle

Saint Bride by John Duncan (1913)

According to the legend of the Irish Saint Bride (Saint Brigid) she was miraculously carried by angels to Bethlehem to attend the nativity of Christ. Scenes from the life of Christ decorate the angel's robes. They are led by seagulls and an otter. That Saint Bride lived 600 years after the birth of Christ did not bother the Celtic mind in the least. I really like this picture.

This painting was on the cover of the book on Celtic Spirituality by J. Philip Newell we used for our Journey in Faith study at Christ Church last spring.

Harwelden Sculptures

The Harwelden Mansion is the former home of Mary and Earl Harwell built in 1926. It is now home to the Arts and Humanities council of Tulsa. On its grounds are two sculptures. The first is a handsome and whimsical figure playing a flute. He is dancing and has a pair of drama masks hanging around his neck. Clearly he represents the performing arts.


He also looks like he is thoroughly enjoying himself.


The other is the Arts and Humanities version of the Tulsa penguin. About 10 years ago the Tulsa Zoo raised money for a new penguin exhibit by selling a number of 6 foot tall white fiberglass penguins to various businesses, churches, and individuals to decorate as they wished. Later many of them were auctioned off to raise more money for the zoo. First there were Cows in chicago and New York, Pigs in Seattle, Horses in Rochester, and now Penguins in Tulsa. There should be pictures of all them somewhere on the internet but I couldn't find it. You can see some of them HERE. or search google images HERE.

Farewell to Lyman

The container with Lyman's ashes rests on the center of the altar table between his childhood photographs. Sorry for the poor quality, all I had was my iphone.

As most of you know, I am a recovering alcoholic and attend AA meetings on a regular basis. The particular AA group I usually attend meets in the Fellowship Community Church Monday through Saturday at noon. Lyman was the gentleman who started this particular AA group 15 years ago. He passed away earlier this week and a memorial service was held for him this afternoon at the church. A lot of people came.

Lyman was a faithful servant. He came early every day to set up chairs and make coffee. Over the years he sponsored hundreds of recovering alcoholics and encouraged many more. AA was Lyman's religion and the coffee bar was his altar. The group grew over the years and now it is not unusual to have 50 or 60 people at a meeting. The coffee never ran out and many insisted it was the best coffee anywhere. We called it Lyman-aid.

Lyman was born with Cerebral Palsy and walked and spoke with some difficulty. His parents were told at birth that he would be unable to walk but he taught himself to walk anyway. He worked, he married and had children. He carved out a good life for himself but found himself dependent on the comfort of alcohol. I don't know the details of that part of his life but whatever happened, he made a new life for himself that centered around Alcoholics Anonymous. I just know that he was always there, there was always coffee, and whoever came was made to feel welcome.

At the service today the pastor of our host church shared some of Lyman's history. He was born July 1, 1942 and died July 14, 2009. He talked about Lyman's service and told some stories about him. Then people were invited to share something if they wanted. Lyman generally didn't have a lot to say but had a dry sense of humor. He was thin with white hair and almost always had a smile on his face.

As an example here is one story. Because of his palsy he moved and spoke in a rolling but deliberate way. At every meeting a basket is passed and most people toss in a dollar. This is what the group operates on for rent, coffee, whatever. The money is counted, put into an envelope and someone, usually Lyman, drops it off at the drive through teller at the bank. One day Lyman took the proceeds from several days and gave them to a pretty young girl who appeared to be rather new. She spent several minutes counting all the one dollar bills and appeared to be puzzled by so many bills. Lyman offered an explanation in his terse way. "I'm a lap dancer".

Lyman was cremated and his ashes will be placed in the columbarium at Fellowship Church on the row closest to where our AA meetings are held. In that way, he will still be with us.

Willy's New School

School will resume in about one month. Willy will be in the fourth grade and will attend Orville and Wilbur Wright Elementary. The school is right in our neighborhood and he should be able to walk to school as soon as he and his mom are sure he knows the way. The school is named for the Wright Brothers who invented the 1903 Wright Flyer, the world's first successful airplane. The school is built on a circular design like the path of an airplane propeller. Out in front stands a real propeller on the school marquee.


The 1903 Wright Flyer made four flights at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on December 17, 1903, the best covering 852 feet in 59 seconds. It was the first heavier-than-air, powered aircraft to make a sustained, controlled flight with a pilot aboard. The school's motto is "Look to the skies"

Tulsa Rose Garden

Susan and I enjoy the Tulsa Rose Garden, They have every kind of rose you can imagine. From miniature roses the size of a thimble...


...to hybrid tea roses the size of a saucer.

Cooling Off at the Quik-Trip Plaza

When the high temperature gets up to 104F (40C) the little water park at 41st and Riverside is a popular spot for kids looking to cool off. Susan took Molly and Will there for a splash and they had lots of company.

This part of the Riverpark was completely remodeled during the past year thanks to corporate sponsorship by Quik-Trip the chain of ubiquitous convenience stores. They are good stores, they have most everything you need, and they are open 24 hours a day.

Highway Sunset

When we drove home Saturday after the reunion we enjoyed a beautiful sunset.

Happy Birthday Luke

Today is my youngest son Luke's 30th birthday. Luke and his girlfriend Cara came over for dinner. I grilled some nice ribeye steaks and made Luke's favorite curried rice dish. Sue had a nice Red Velvet cake and ice cream. Smokey got some good steak trimmings and would like to have a slice of cake.


Usually when you see a picture of Luke we are eating one of his breakfasts at the Blue Dome Diner. Today it was our turn. Happy Birthday Luke.

Crepe Myrtle

I planted these last spring and they are looking good. There are five of them around two sides of the deck and I will try and let them grow tall enough to make an arbor around the deck. I am admiring them as I sit out on the deck grilling steaks for my son Luke's birthday.

50 Year Class Reunion!

The Wagoner High School class of 1959 enjoyed a 50 year reunion. Each of us had a name tag with our name and high school yearbook photo. Of course none of us had changed a bit.

Out of a class of 60 there were 28 of us who returned after 50 years.

The Girls: Wanda Arnett, Mary Beth Hornsby, Phillis Lawhorn, Jayne Flippin, June Gilmore, Barbara Harvey, Rebecca Harris. (maiden names)

The Boys: standing; George Caveny, Nolan Geurin, Rayburn Collins, Richard Smith, Bill French, Ronald Nicholas, Charles Meeks, Wendell Hancock, Blain Davis, Leon Morgan, Billy Drake, Lonnie Wassom, Jessie Mitchell, Leonard Brill
sitting; Jerry Martin, Dean Caveny, Harvey Edwards, Bill Miller, Austin Harris, Almer Freeman

Sadly, 17 of us have passed on. They were not forgotten.

New Tulsa Baseball Stadium

Here is an updated view of the new baseball stadium being constructed in downtown Tulsa. I am on the North edge looking South by Southwest. When completed this would be at about center field looking diagonally towards home plate. The main entrance would be behind home plate.

The stadium is being built somewhat below ground level. When you enter, you will be near the top with the stadium stretched out beneath you. The Tulsa skyline will be visible beyond the stadium as it is ere. The new ballpark is one of the things intended to revitalize downtown Tulsa. It will be nice when it is finished. It will be named the ONEOK Stadium to indicate the major sponsor. ONEOK is a consortium of natural gas companies.

Jack Russell at the wheel

I was out at the Tulsa Fairgrounds today and found an unlicensed driver and his girl friend in a golf cart. Since he was not on a city street he was breaking no law.

Cowboy Gavin

Mike and Amber came over with Gavin. They gave me a new photo of Gavin wearing his Papaw's boots and hat. Howdy partner.

Leon's Restaurant in Brookside

Located at 3301 South Peoria Avenue this was built in 1945 and has changed hands several times. It was perhaps best known as the S&J Oyster Bar. In its present incarnation it is Leon's, an upscale bar and restaurant.


Susan and I stopped there for a late lunch today. The menu had a good variety to choose from and the bar looked very well stocked. We settled for iced tea and a soup and salad combination. I had a green salad with ranch dressing and a bowl of gumbo, Sue had a Caesar salad and chicken tortilla soup. It was attractive, well served, and very tasty. The soup was rather spicy which I enjoyed.


The curved ceiling is a glass skylight giving the well lit interior a spacious feeling. The dining area was quite noisy when we arrived but by the time we finished our lunch we had the place to ourselves. We enjoyed our visit and will come back again to see what is for dinner.

Nice Try Smokey

Smokey tries to keep the squirrels out of the back yard but they are too quick for him. He chased one into the clematis vines growing on the fence but lost it in the scramble. No problem Smokey, it was a good effort.

Sunday Jigsaw Puzzle

A field of Daisies - enjoy!

Feeding the Butterflies

Our feeders attract birds and our flowers attract butterflies. I think this is a Fritillary on my purple coneflower.

Camp New Hope

This evening we took supper to the participants of Camp New Hope who are spending a week at Sequoyah State Park on Lake Fort Gibson. New Hope is a ministry directed toward children who have a family member who is incarcerated. Any child, age 8-17, who has a parent in prison is welcome at no charge. Camps are held during the summer for several age groups, this week was for teens 14 and 15 years old. The menu was hot dogs, fresh corn on the cob, and home made cupcakes. Just the thing for the Fourth of July, our national Independence Day.


Children who have a parent in prison are prone to have more problems at school, become depressed, are at greater risk of being abused, and are more likely to be arrested. New Hope provides healthy experiences and support services for these children.

Beginning with a half dozen campers in 1992, the ministry has grown to camps for multiple age groups and is pleased to have former campers now serving as counselors. In addition to the summer camps other activities are held throughout the year. I got to be Santa for their Christmas party.

This is a wonderful ministry. They do a great deal with very few resources. To know more about what they do, please visit their web site HERE.

The Rain Passed Through

We had a good hard rain shower early this morning and now the sun is out. The rain cooled us off but left us a bit steamy this afternoon. Any rain in July is a blessing.

Summer Flowers

My front flower bed has a nice variety of color at this time of year. There is a good mix of things growing in there and something is blooming all the time. I wish you a good day.

Tulsa Historical Society

Brothers David and Samuel Travis constructed complementary mansions on South Peoria in 1919. The Travis brothers, who had made their fortunes as independent oil producers, hired Noble Flemming to design their residences in what was then considered far south Tulsa. Flemming executed two designs in Revival style, set at the crest of a broad lawn rising to the east from Peoria. The two homes instantly became Tulsa landmarks. In addition to housing the Garden Center and the Historical Society these beautiful mansions are available for weddings and receptions. For a better history of these mansions see my previous post on the garden center HERE.

For more information about exhibits and resources available from the Tulsa Garden Center see their excellent web site HERE.


Despite its history of continual use as a residence, the Samuel Travis residence faced the potential of demolition, when it was purchased by a developer who planned to construct thirteen homes on the estate's 3.2 acres. Community sentiment favored the preservation of the structure and its important open lawns adjacent to the Tulsa Garden Center and the Arboretum.


Currently there is an extensive exhibit chronicling Oklahoma's 24 governors with information and artifacts on each one.


Another current exhibit looks at the history of the Skelly Oil Company. Tulsa once boasted of being the Oil Capitol of the World and was built by oil money in the early part of the last century. The history of Skelly, Phillips, Sinclair, and many others is a big part of the history of Tulsa.

In addition, there is an exhibit on Zebco, the Tulsa company whose fishing reels revolutionized recreational fishing equipment, and an exhibit on early Tulsa department store Seidenbach's with a display of elegant women's fashions from the 1950s. Also a collecion of very early photographs of native Americans taken in Oklahoma. I took more pictures today that I will post in HistoricTulsa.blogspot.com for those who are interested.

Row Row Row Your Boat

The Tulsa Skyline is a beautiful backdrop for any activity.


The Tulsa University Woman's rowing team uses the Arkansas river to practice.