Fun in Okmulgee, Oklahoma

Friday afternoon I spent time in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, home of the Osage Nation, with one friend; yesterday I drove about 85 miles south to Okmulgee for another friend's housewarming party. What fun!

First, a little information about Okmulgee. The population was 13,022 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Okmulgee County. The town has been the capital of the Creek Nation since the United States Civil War. Okmulgee means boiling or bubbling water in the Creek language. The site was chosen because the Creeks believed that tornadoes would not strike there.

It was a beautiful drive down Highway 75, at least until I discovered that right now, Hwy 75 doesn't go straight through, at least southbound. They're working on the road, doing something. So, I had to find my way back to the highway and with my great sense of direction (LOL!) got to the party a little late. However, no problem. Crystal's front porch welcomed me even before I went inside.



She bought a wonderful old house recently and has been making it very livable. She decided to celebrate with a housewarming party - and what a party it was!

First, let's stay outside for a few minutes and get acquainted with the chickens.

One of them managed to squeeze between the chicken wire and the fence to freedom, at least a short-lived freedom.


















I love this side yard. Even though the day was hot and muggy, this shady spot felt nice and cool.






Okay, time to go inside. Remember the old finger game we used to play as children: "Here's the church, here's the steeple. Open the door and see all the people," intermeshing all our fingers and wiggling them. That's what it was like opening the door. Lots of fun people inside, many of them talking about their interest in tropical birds. Here are some of the people.

Patti, Connie, Debbie, Jan, Kristin, Robert, Floyd, Stella











Joy (and she was definitely a joy!)





















Thelma and Crystal

















Patti, Connie, and Debbie
















Stella and Patti.
The kazoo band really didn't get going. Oh, well. The poppers did. Hadn't realized they made such a loud explosion for such little things.

















Lonnie and Crystal














Crystal and Robert














The usual suspects, plus me

















Jan made the delicious desserts.























Thank you so much, Crystal, for such a wonderful time!

Pawhuska, Oklahoma

This afternoon I drove about 25 miles to Pawhuska, Oklahoma so my friend Nikki could show me around her town. Pawhuska is the county seat of Osage County, home of the Osage Nation. We ate a delicious free lunch at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church and arranged for a tour of the church a little later. In the meantime, Nikki introduced me to her chickens and her wonderful garden, above Bird Creek. We chased little tiny frogs that had just graduated from the tadpole stage, and I got to meet three cats. A few blocks away is a pedestrian suspension bridge that connects two residential areas on either side of Bird Creek. The bridge reminded me a little of Capilano Suspension Bridge in Vancouver, British Columbia, only a bit smaller. We walked about halfway across and looked down into the water. Three fairly large turtles swam near the edge of the creek, mostly underwater. We drove around more of the town and Nikki pointed out various Osage Nation buildings and businesses, the old high school, and some beautiful houses. We stopped by the pawn shop/quilt store and talked with the owner a bit about the quilting guild meetings this month. Back to the church. Although today began with a thunderstorm with very heavy rain, the afternoon had turned hot and muggy. So, stepping inside the church was a cool treat. I took many pictures of the beautiful stained glass windows. The church is known by many as "The Cathedral of the Osage." Here's a little history of the church and of the windows:

Immaculate Conception Catholic Church

1314 Lynn Avenue Pawhuska, OK 74056
918-287-1414

Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Pawhuska, Oklahoma is known by many as "The Cathedral of the Osage." Perhaps it has been given this title not only because of its large cathedral-like appearance, but also because of its importance in the life and history of the Osage. It was in 1673 that Father Jacques Marquette, the great French missionary and explorer, came unexpectedly upon a band of Osage Indians in what is now the state of Missouri. In the years that followed, many other Jesuit missionaries, known as "black robes," visited the Osage villages, introducing them to the Christian Faith. In 1847, Father John Shoenmakers established a permanent mission and schools for the Osage at what is now St. Paul's, Kansas. Known as the "Apostle to the Osage," Father Shoenmakers worked for some 36 years among the Osage until his death in 1883. By that time the Osage had been moved southward into Indian Territory or what is now Osage County in the State of Oklahoma. Immaculate Conception Catholic Church was established in 1887 to serve the Osage Catholics of Pawhuska. The present Gothic-Style brick church is the third church built by the parish. Begun in 1910, it was not completed until 1915. The original plans for the church was to have large stained glass windows, but the First World War delayed those plans. It was not until after the war, or in 1919 that the windows were commissioned. Twenty-two windows made in Munich, Germany adorn the walls of the church today. Two large windows on opposite ends of the transept measure 9 feet across and soar 36 feet high. The north transept window is known as the "Osage Window." It depicts the early missionary Father Shonmakers with a band of Osage in authentic Osage dress. The window on the south transept depics Christopher Columbus and the Spaniards first encounter with the Native Americans. Other windows depict Biblical figures and scenes. The quality and beauty of these windows has been widely praised. Their artistry and detail is truly exceptional. Each year visitors of all faiths visit Immaculate Conception as a historical monument of the Osage, and to view its beautiful windows and interior. Today, Immaculate Conception continues as a living and active parish of 140 families, most of whom are Osage.

Nikki told me that the first Boy Scout Troop in the United States was started in Pawhuska.

Boy Scout Monument The first boy scout troop in America was organized in Pawhuska, Osage County, Oklahoma, in May, 1909, by Reverend John F. Mitchell, a missionary priest from England sent to St. Thomas Episcopal Church, by the Church of England. Rev. Mitchell, who had been associated in scout work with Lord Baden-Powell in England, organized the troop of Boy Scouts under English charter, and equipped them with English uniforms and manuals. A life-sized bronze statue stands as a monument in front of the Osage County Historical Museum to honor Reverend Mitchell and the 19 charter members who were organized under English charter.

Pawhuska's troop had the honor of being Troop No. 1 in the Boys Scouts of America, and has the certificate on exhibit in the Historical Museum in the Scout Room. When the Cherokee Area Council of Boy Scouts was formed in Bartlesville, Pawhuska was numbered Troop 33. This Troop No. 33 is a continuance of the original first Boy Scout troop in America.

We drove through Osage Nation Headquarters, then stopped at a small storefront to buy freshly-made Indian Fry Bread Mix.

What a fun day! Back home in Bartlesville, it's time to walk a few blocks to the Bartlesville Community Center for the opening celebration of the OK Mozart Festival. I'm looking forward to the fireworks when it gets dark.

Here are many more pictures I took today. You don't have to be a member of Facebook to view them, either. Just click on the words "Pawhuska Photos" below.

Pawhuska Photos

It's a rough life sometimes, but someone has to do it.

Busy morning - did some gardening work in the side yard to help some plants that weren't making it in the back. Too much shade there, so perhaps the transplanted squash, peppers, and cucumbers might do better with more sun. The cucumbers look pretty puny, though, so I planted three hills of lemon cucumber seeds just in case. Also stuck some sunflower seeds in the ground by the fence. After running some errands and cooking several types of beans and some rice, all to go into the freezer, I decided the weather was just too good today to waste.

Thus, four pictures. You don't have to be on Facebook to see them, either. Just click on the words in CAPS below. Or, just look at the pictures without clicking on anything.

PICTURES OF A PERFECT DAY IN OKLAHOMA

Garden, continued

This blogger seems to be messing up again tonight as it deleted three pictures for some reason.

I do have some pretty decent looking tomato plants. Somehow I planted them in April, right before it started raining almost every day for a month.

Gardens today

This morning I got up really early, at least for a Sunday, put my now fairly long hair into a short ponytail (shades of junior high school!), and pointed the pickup in the direction of Turley. Some of us from A Third Place Community Center were going to put in a new community garden; a few people started around 7 AM. When I got there at 8:30, someone was doing some tilling on the first bed. By around noon, we'd made two different raised beds as well as an experimental plot. We'd also had a short church service while sitting on the straw bales of the first bed.

The Methodist Church up the street gave us the use of an empty field so this morning was the first time we'd done anything with it. There's going to be a short garden tour next weekend, so this one will be included to not only show what the Center is doing around town in their "Let Turley Bloom" project, but also to demonstrate various methods of growing plants.

We constructed the first bed with bales of straw, carefully placing them so that people may reach the center of the plot while sitting on either side.


We did some tilling to loosen the soil a little, then put down newspapers, some mulch, then bags of topsoil and manure. In that one we planted tomatoes.














Bonnie and Ron had made a wooden raised bed framework for the second bed, and we prepared that one the same way as the first, planting a variety of peppers and some cucumbers.



The experimental plot was a last minute idea when Bonnie found some landscape fabric in their pickup truck. We spread newspapers on top of the weed, then the landscape cloth, then mulch, topsoil, and manure. In that area we planted a couple of squash plants.


Besides gardening, Bonnie led us on a short field trip, pointing out various plants, and someone found a small brown snake curled up on a branch. We pushed five shopping carts up the path from below the field, loaded them into a couple of pickup trucks, and took them back to the market.


By 11:030 or so, it was starting to get hot, so Ron led a short church service while we all sat around on the straw bales of the first bed. Who says church has to be held inside a special building!

After a pretty decent lunch at Arby's of chopped salad with grilled chicken and a delicious Jamocha milkshake, I drove back up to Bartlesville and checked out my own garden. With all the rain lately, then hot days, it's doing really well. I was worried because of all the trees, so we'll see how it goes the rest of the summer. I'd like to dig up a spot near the side fence to plant some corn and green beans, so will see how ambitious I am tomorrow. Next door neighbors have a tiller, so I might borrow that. It would be much easier than the shovel method I used on the first garden in back.

Here is a picture of the beginning of the back garden, followed by recent photos of various parts of the yard.

Biplane Expo 2009

Short blog tonight, mostly a link to lots and lots of pictures. Today was very windy, but it was also the last day of the last Biplane Expo in Bartlesville. They've been doing them for 23 years, so I figured it would be a good time to check it out. Many, many wonderful planes. Here's the link to a Photobucket album. You can click on each picture to make it larger or click "Slideshow" to view them that way.







Bi-Plane Expo 2009 Photos

Taking a break

After two months of blogging every day, I'm going to take a short break. Since I moved here in February, things have started getting busier and busier as I've gotten involved in not one but two communities: Bartlesville and Turley, Oklahoma. They're 40 miles apart and I'm usually down in Turley at least twice a week, if not more, volunteering as volunteer coordinator for A Third Place Community Center. I've also been getting more involved with the UU Church here in Bartlesville as well as the community itself. With all this volunteering, I've been putting off replying to email from many good friends around the country and feel bad about just sending them a rather impersonal blog.

So, this month will be a vacation of sorts. I'll write the blog when I've actually got something to say, not just borrowing things from others or grasping at the proverbial straws. In the meantime, I'll still continue to read and comment on the many blogs I follow.

See you later,
Chris

Loreena McKennitt's Prologue with some assistance from Rumi...

Okay, this is better. Just got a phone call that helped the mood a lot. And now this from another blog. I love Lorena McKennitt's singing and this is beautiful. Just click on the words below.

Lorena McKennitt's Prologue

No Real Blog Tonight

After two months of blogging each day, tonight I'm feeling kind of out of sorts, not sure why. It's been a good day with Tulsa area ministers' cluster meeting and lunch. However, I've been dragging around all afternoon and will probably just go to bed early. Need to drive down to Turley tomorrow for a volunteer training session, so would like to feel fairly decent for that. I think a lot of this is probably mental - missing people, not hearing from others, and so forth, and it will eventually go away.

So, not sure if this will count as a blog, but at least it's a placeholder.

Chris

Heroines for June 3 - Favorite Women Mystery Writers

Last night I finished an excellent book by a woman mystery author I hadn't read before, Rett Macpherson. The book, Died in the Wool, is the tenth of her Torie O'Shea mysteries. MacPherson's books, like many series, are best read in order because the characters change over time. For example, in Died in the Wool, Torie has two teenage daughters and a young son, and her mother is married to Colin, once the town sheriff. Since I liked the book so much, this morning I checked out five more in the series, including the first in the series, Family Skeletons. I'm about halfway through that one. Sure enough, Torie's daughters were three and six years old, and there was no son in sight. Colin was the sheriff and Torie's mother lived with her and her family. I'm looking forward to seeing how much the characters change.

I seem to go in spurts with my reading, focusing entirely on non-fiction for a while, then "important" classics, then my favorite light reading such as mysteries with women heroines or talking cats (Shirley Rousseau Murphy's Joel Grey series). Since I've discovered new favorite writers mainly by word-of-mouth (my mother, Yarntangler, librarian at the Coquille, Oregon library, etc.), I thought it might be fun to share some of those favorite with you today.

Here they are, in no particular order other than as they came out of my brain. I've included websites with information about each author as well as lists of their books. Yes, I know there are many, many more I haven't listed. But, these are my favorites, at least so far. So many books, so little time! Perhaps this short list will introduce you to a new favorite heroine or two. Note: Click on the author's name for more information.

Earlene Fowler (Benni Harper - Quilts)
















Susan Wittig Albert (China Bayles - Herbalist)


Sue Grafton (Kinsey Milhone - private investigator)








Mary Higgins Clark

















Rett Macpherson (Torie O'Shea - historian, genealogist)





Joan Hess (Claire Molloy - bookstore owner; Arly Hanks - sheriff)










Elizabeth George










Janet Evanovich (Stephanie Plum - Bounty hunter)









P.D. James












Dian Mott Davidson (Goldy Bear - Caterer)











Elizabeth Peters (Amelia Peabody - Egyptologist)












Nevada Barr (Anna Pigeon - National Park ranger)












Sue Henry (Jessie Arnold - Dogsled racer)

Hero for June 2 - "The Invitation" by Oriah Mountain Dreamer

Rev. Alex Holt, a Unitarian Universalist minister and Buddhist, first introduced me to "The Invitation" in a sermon. Although I've completely forgotten the topic of that sermon, I've never forgotten the poetry of these words. To me, they ask the question, "How may we be heroes to ourselves first?"

The Invitation

Oriah Mountain Dreamer

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living.

I want to know what you ache for

and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me how old you are.

I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love,

for your dream for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon.

I want to know if you have touched the centre of your own sorrow,

if you have been opened by life's betrayals

or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit with pain - mine or your own -

without moving to hide it or fade it or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy - mine or your own -

if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you

to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be

careful, be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true.

I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself.

If you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul.

If you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see Beauty even when it is not pretty every day.

And if you can source your own life from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure - yours and mine -

and still stand on the edge of the lake

and shout to the silver of the full moon, "Yes."

It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have.

I want to know if you can get up after a night of grief and despair,

weary and bruised to the bone,

and do what needs to be done to feed the children.

It doesn't interest me who you know or how you came to be here.

I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back.

It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied.

I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself

and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.

Hero for June 1 - Manufacturer of Plastic Bed Risers

The NaBloPoMo topic for the month of June is heroes. Rather than try to come up with popular and famous people, I decided to write about everyday heroes, people or even companies who have done what I consider heroic things.

Here are the Merriam Webster online definitions for hero; my definition will include women as well as men.

1 a: a mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability

b: an illustrious warrior

c: a man admired for his achievements and noble qualities

d: one that shows great courage

2 a: the principal male character in a literary or dramatic work

b: the central figure in an event, period, or movement

Looking at those definitions, right away I realized my hero for today really doesn't fit in any of those categories. So, I'll make my own.

Today's heroes are the companies that make plastic bed risers. When I moved into this partially furnished house, the old foam mattress on one of the beds had to go. It was over 30 years old and falling apart. However, the box spring was still in pretty good shape. So, I ordered a 4-inch Memory Foam Mattress topper from Overstock.com and stuck it on top of the box spring. Very comfortable. But, the bed was rather low; I'd removed the casters from the frame since one of them was broken. So, I bought four plastic bed risers from Wally's World to raise the bed, and they've worked beautifully. I read some online reviews of these things, and some people were not satisfied with them, claiming they broke or fell over. Perhaps I'm having such good luck because the bed is only full-size, not queen or king. When I'm rich and famous, one of my first purchases will be an actual bed for this room. However, for now I'm satisfied.

Next, while doing my best imitation of a couch potato last night, I realized why I haven't used the living room sofa very much. It also came with the house, but it's just too low. I've put up with it so far because, with the cold weather, I spent a lot of time upstairs where it was warmer. However, now it's hot, and downstairs is much, much cooler.

This morning I removed the bed risers from the bed and tried them out on the couch. Ah, just right. The legs on the couch are sturdy wood and wide enough to fit into the recessed tops of the risers. And now I can sit down without having to rub my chin with my knees. We'll see if I need to put some kind of support in the center. For now, it's fine.

Now it's time to go get another set of risers for the bed. Someday I'll get all this worked out.

Chris