Expedition Oklahoma

Dust Storm on New Years Eve near Blair

Today we decided to take the Kayak to the Altus Lake near Quartz Mountain.  It was supposed to be 70 degrees and we've been enjoying the new Kayak and decided not to battle the celebrating crowds elsewhere.  Beautiful sunny day, not a cloud in the sky on the way over.  When we initially stopped at Blair on our way to the lake it was 78 degrees outside.  Weather we didn't have this summer or very much of this spring.  I will post more about our visit to the lake later, but I wanted to put the photos from this dust storm up.   I've never been in a dust storm, but my fascination with the lives of people during the 30s on the Great Plains has been long lasting.   I've read Steinbeck, Egan and other authors, bought the documentaries and read old accounts of dust bowl survivors.   So, to see this cloud of dust approaching was something else.  It is hard to imagine what it must be like to experience something like that, until you do.  

On the horizon, we stopped so I could take photos of the cloud which was moving fast. I didn't realize it was moving as fast as it was...

This is the view towards Blair as the wind was just starting to hit...  

Not a minute or two later in the other direction...  with a very upset ten year old demanding I get in the vehicle..we left.   He was not pleased about this new weather event.   

I went hoping for a beautiful mountain sunset...and I found the sun blotted out by the dust.  I still wonder what the man who was holding the "End of Times" sign in downtown Altus thought today..when this storm blew in.    

Outside of Blair, this photo was kind of strange.

Tumbleweeds Tumbling...  

This was a "dog shot"  hanging out the window with my camera...  I know, dangerous. I know very well as I was almost the victim of a Buzzard this summer.  But...  what can you do when you need to photograph something.  Oh, the antenna, really was a distraction for the shot.  

This shot shows how the wind was blowing the powerlines...

Entering Blair Oklahoma..during the New Year's Eve duststorm.  

The quickstop in Blair during the storm 

A girl running into a store during the dust storm in Blair this afternoon.  

a shot of downtown Blair 

It was something else...  

Can you see the Farm in the dust?  More tomorrow

A Year in The Life of a 10 Year Old Boy

Sometimes it seems like I take more photos of my youngest son than my older two children.  I do.  Because he likes his picture taken and he's 10. He's still willing to go outside and play, unlike his siblings.  

This was during the big blizzard we had in early February. It was 10 below this day.  

Turning ten last February... into the double digits. 

Competing in the Lego Contest..

My favorite pictures... Driving the tractor.. 

Justin and his namesake...  

Third Grade Relay at School...  

at the beach...  

This is my favorite photo from 2011.  

The OU game didn't go so well fo rhim. He did not enjoy the crowds....  

Justin decided he wanted Okra for dinner one night and went outside to cut his own.  

With big brother and sister...  the group "portrait"  was not a success.  

Carving pumpkins...

My Halloween Ninja...

Out shooting on Thanksgiving..this boy loves shooting guns. 

Sharp Shooter...

The Hundred Dollar Lego...   that he wanted so badly, that the Parents put together.   

He didn't have a lot of fun with his lego space shuttle but he really loves the Kayak his Dad got for Christmas!  

 

 

Kayaking at Fuqua Again

Yesterday was even warmer so we took the Kayak out again.   Fun. 

I love the new lens...can't you tell.   The angles are so wide, even with the round distortion.  

No, I'm not helping to carry it...I'm just watching. I did on the return trip. 

Look Mom...  

Justin loves it.  I think its fun.  Now we have two paddles.  Hub spent his Christmas Giftcard from my brother on another oar.   Thanks Steve.  

Ray and Justin rowing on the lake.  

on the lake.  

Justin demanded to be in the back and decided that he couldn't see...so they switched.  

They are lucky they didn't go wading...

I went rowing for a while... 

Time to go home, so we went for a walk so Justin could look for shells...  

So, I started to chase Justin to take his picture..he started running in a circle around his Dad, I had my camera to my face.  I ran right into Ray with the camera at my face and hurt my nose. Lesson learned.  He thought it was hilarious.   

Coyote Ugly

So, driving home from town via county roads we stopped when we noticed a fence with three dead coyotes hanging from it.  Fish-heads, boots or any number of things grace our fences, but coyotes were a new sight.   So here are a few photos of the local hunting trophies left to hang.  Coyote ugly, indeed.  

"One does not hunt in order to kill; on the contrary, one kills in order to have hunted...If one were to present the sportsman with the death of the animal as a gift he would refuse it. What he is after is having to win it, to conquer the surly brute through his own effort and skill with all the extras that this carries with it: the immersion in the countryside, the healthfulness of the exercise, the distraction from his job.

Jose Ortega y Gasset, Meditations on Hunting.

Coyotes are a nuisance animal... killing farm animals.   There are plenty of them around too.  

Lone coyote met his fate...  

a few miles down the road another display of coyotes...   I stopped to photograph because it was unusual to see coyotes on fences.   

Old Bridge near Bailey Oklahoma

My husband and I ran across this old bridge at night once and I wanted to find it again, so we drove home from our errands the other day and found the bridge which is located near the Old Bailey community.  Bailey is in Grady County and is 12 miles North East of Marlow.  Don't look for signs giving you directions, there aren't any.  There is a church and a school.  It had a post office from 1892 to 1932.  It was named for J.J. Bailey a wagon master on the stage line to Fort Sill, according to the book Oklahoma Place Names by George H. Shirk.  

We drove by the old Church, which looks like it may have been something else prior to becoming the community church and around to find the bridge we were looking for.  

Sometimes, if you stand on the bottom rail of a bridge and lean over to watch the river slipping slowly away beneath you, you will suddenly know everything there is to be known. ~From Winnie The Pooh  

My Husband thought this was fun.  He used to work on bridges.  I was not so sure.  

He was practicing his photography... from that height on the bridge.... see how far down it was. 

The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance; the wise grows it under his feet.  ~James Openheim

Happiness and sadness run parallel to each other.  When one takes a rest, the other one tends to take up the slack.  ~Hazelmarie Elliott (“Mattie”)

The world is full of people looking for spectacular happiness while they snub contentment.  ~Doug Larson

Isn't it cool when the days that are supposed to feel good, actually do?  ~Jim Carrey

One joy scatters a hundred griefs.  ~Chinese Proverb

39... going on 10...   sometimes.   But it is more fun going out driving around in the country taking pictures of whatever catches my eye then going to a movie or shopping or just about anything I can think of.  We had a good afternoon. 

From the fisheye lens...  Such a neat warped perspective. I love it.  My lines have all turned to curves and I love lines...  but curves are interesting.  Now, of course I want a new wide angled lens so I can have the width with those straight lines that I love in photography.  

 

Kayaking on Lake Fuqua

Today didn't go as planned, but it went perfectly.  We ended the day with the kayak on the lake.  Yes, in December.  I came home cold and wet but we had a great day.  

The Husband's new Christmas Toy.  His Kayak.  This is Lake Fuqua located in Stephens County Oklahoma.  

It is in his pleasure that a man really lives; it is from his leisure that he constructs the true fabric of self.  ~Agnes Repplier

He enjoys true leisure who has time to improve his soul's estate.  ~Henry David Thoreau

We give up leisure in order that we may have leisure, just as we go to war in order that we may have peace.  ~Aristotle


Adopt the pace of nature:  her secret is patience.  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

I believe that there is a subtle magnetism in Nature, which, if we unconsciously yield to it, will direct us aright.  ~Henry David Thoreau

 

December Landscapes..

Here are a few shots from this evening.  Poetry and photography go well together, all poetry is by Pablo Neruda on this post.  Next to T.S. Eliot, Neruda is my favorite poet. 

“Someday, somewhere - anywhere, unfailingly, you'll find yourself, and that, and only that, can be the happiest or bitterest hour of your life." ~Pablo Neruda 

“I want to see thirst  In the syllables, Tough fire In the sound; Feel through the dark For the scream.” ~Pablo Neruda 

“I love all things, not only the grand but the infinitely small: thimble, spurs, plates, flower vases.....”  ~Pablo Neruda

“I grew up in this town, my poetry was born between the hill and the river, it took its voice from the rain, and like the timber, it steeped itself in the forests.” ~Pablo Neruda

“He who becomes the slave of habit, 
who follows the same routes every day, 
who never changes pace, 
who does not risk and change the color of his clothes, 
who does not speak and does not experience, 
dies slowly. 

He or she who shuns passion, 
who prefers black on white, 
dotting ones "it’s" rather than a bundle of emotions, the kind that make your eyes glimmer, 
that turn a yawn into a smile, 
that make the heart pound in the face of mistakes and feelings, 
dies slowly. 

He or she who does not turn things topsy-turvy, 
who is unhappy at work, 
who does not risk certainty for uncertainty, 
to thus follow a dream, 
those who do not forego sound advice at least once in their lives, 
die slowly. 

He who does not travel, who does not read, 
who does not listen to music, 
who does not find grace in himself, 
she who does not find grace in herself, 
dies slowly. 

He who slowly destroys his own self-esteem, 
who does not allow himself to be helped, 
who spends days on end complaining about his own bad luck, about the rain that never stops, 
dies slowly. 

He or she who abandon a project before starting it, who fail to ask questions on subjects he doesn't know, he or she who don't reply when they are asked something they do know, 
die slowly. 

Let's try and avoid death in small doses, 
reminding oneself that being alive requires an effort far greater than the simple fact of breathing. 

Only a burning patience will lead 
to the attainment of a splendid happiness.” 
~Pablo Neruda 

“To feel the love of people whom we love is a fire that feeds our life.”  ~Pablo Neruda

“and that's why i have to go back 
to so many places 
there to find myself 
and constantly examine myself 
with no witness but the moon 
and then whistle with joy, 
ambling over rocks and clods of earth, 
with no task but to live, 
with no family but the road.” 

~Pablo Neruda

"If suddenly 
you forget me 
do not look for me, 
for I shall already have forgotten you. " ~Pablo Neruda 

And I suggest you bookmark my page, so you don't suddenly forget me, and leave a comment.. so I can know who you are.  If you would like to order a print of my photos please visit my other page: 

www.joyfranklinphotography.com 

Christmas Eve Sunset

To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.  ~Lewis B. Smedes

The man who forgives is far stronger than the man who fights.  ~Nathan Croall

Treat everyone with politeness, even those who are rude to you - not because they are nice, but because you are.  ~Author Unknown

Kindness is in our power, even when fondness is not.  ~Samuel Johnson

Getting money is not all a man's business:  to cultivate kindness is a valuable part of the business of life.  ~Samuel Johnson

 

 

'Tis the Season...

For Christmas parties.  Here are a few shots from my Husband's Christmas party at his work.  

Christmas is forever, not for just one day,
for loving, sharing, giving, are not to put away
like bells and lights and tinsel, in some box upon a shelf.
The good you do for others is good you do yourself...
~Norman Wesley Brooks, "Let Every Day Be Christmas," 1976


I wish we could put up some of the Christmas spirit in jars and open a jar of it every month.  ~Harlan Miller

At Christmas
A man is at his finest towards the finish of the year;
He is almost what he should be when the Christmas season's here;
Then he's thinking more of others than he's thought the months before,
And the laughter of his children is a joy worth toiling for.
He is less a selfish creature than at any other time;
When the Christmas spirit rules him he comes close to the sublime...
~Edgar Guest

May you have the gladness of Christmas which is hope;
The spirit of Christmas which is peace;
The heart of Christmas which is love.
~Ada V. Hendricks

There's nothing sadder in this world than to awake Christmas morning and not be a child.  ~Erma Bombeck,

Christmas is a day of meaning and traditions, a special day spent in the warm circle of family and friends.  ~Margaret Thatcher

I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that - as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time.  ~Charles Dickens

December Walk

I went outside yesterday with the new lens that Mom got me for Christmas and was getting some shots from the fisheye view.  I'm looking forward to storm season now, because this lens will take excellent shots of the sky and the clouds. 

Treat everyone with politeness, even those who are rude to you - not because they are nice, but because you are.  ~Author Unknown

We always prefer war on our own terms to peace on someone else's.  ~Mignon McLaughlin, The Second Neurotic's Notebook, 1966

That you may retain your self-respect, it is better to displease the people by doing what you know is right, than to temporarily please them by doing what you know is wrong.  ~William J.H. Boetcker

When the Japanese mend broken objects, they aggrandize the damage by filling the cracks with gold.  They believe that when something's suffered damage and has a history it becomes more beautiful.  ~Barbara Bloom


A new wound makes all the old ones ache again.  ~Mignon McLaughlin

Don't ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive.  And then go and do that.  Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.  ~Attributed to Howard Thurman

The weak can never forgive.  Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.  ~Mahatma Gandhi