Expedition Oklahoma

Old Settler's Days Parade in Velma

So, I attended a parade  yesterday morning.   It wasn't early enough in the morning.  It was 100 degrees outside by the time it began.   But my daughter and I ventured out and she took her new "baby" out with us, who is too cute not to show you all. 

I call her our new Ewok.   But  her name is Tashi.  

Really small dogs such as this are ridiculous and deserve to wear bows in their hair and sweaters in the winter.   She's just a silly little ball of fluff.   

Here comes the parade!  

Spectators waiting on the parade.  This photo, just speaks "Oklahoma" you can see the pumpjack and the oil refinery in the background. 

Parades are for children, that is who they bring the most pleasure to. I think young and old attend to watch the children.  

Miss Velma Alma -  throwing candy.  

ATVs on Parade.   

The class of 1962, if they are anything like the class of 1992, they are a great group of people.   

Oklahoma parades are a mixture of old cars and horses it seems.  When I was a kid in Nebraska the parades were marching  bands and floats made by businesses and organizations.  I wish there were more floats in parades down here, yes they are work, but I miss seeing floats.  

11:11 AM...100 degrees.   Summertime.  

A local political candidate.  Passing out candy,  I didn't see any baby kissing but I may have missed it. 

Stephens county has everything under control.   

Will a big smile win your vote ?

More horses.  

Oklahoma! 

making childhood memories for this little girl. I remember the times I was in parades as a kid.   

oh I am tired now. I've been posting photos all evening. I'm almost caught up.  This has been the summer without internet access at my house.   

The beginning of the parade is almost the ending of my post.  

But in the circle of life, or of the parade. I will end like I begin with a photo of a very cute puppy.   

The Velma Picnic

When my Mom was a kid she went to this picnic, she told me.  My Husband grew up in this town, so this is the celebration he's been to a few times.  I attended for the first time last year to get a few photos of the rodeo, in fact it was my first rodeo to photograph for my page.   

Here are a few shots of the other things to do besides attend the rodeo (see previous posting for some calf roping photos).  The Ferris wheel at dusk, I love Ferris Wheels - they are amazing to photograph.  I'm not too sure about how much I like riding on them.  

Come for the dance, going on at the same time as the carnival and rodeo.   

I noticed this was called the "Old Settler's Days"  and I'd always heard of it as "The Velma Picnic"  a tradition over 100 years old.  Velma is one of the oldest communities in Stephens county.  

I missed a Rodeo shot,  but this horse happened to catch my eye.  

Teenagers socializing, see the smiling one?  She's mine, no, she didn't know I was taking this photo.  And that is why I like it.  Except she steals my clothing,  regularly.  My new clothing.  That I haven't had a chance to wear.  She told me that "we are sharing much better now"   - no, I've given up all hope.   Wouldn't have it any other way though.   

I love shooting carnivals.  I love the lights and the colors - and they are just fun for everyone attending, except for the wallets.   Those are emptied.  

Spectators at the rodeo, its getting late, these images are jumbled of dusk and evening, carnival and rodeo.  But it was all going on at once.   

another rodeo picture. 

The rodeo crowd with the amusement rides in the background. 

I rode the Ferris Wheel, nervously with my Hubby.  Amusement park rides, do not amuse me.  

Naturally drawn to the beauty found within the lights of the ride. 

The moon and the Ferris wheel.  My husband kept counting the number of rotations we did.  The ride was l ong enough to make me think we would never be free of the amusement.   

I began looking desperately at the Carnie operating the ride... to please stop.   

Editing the photos made me dizzy. I had to stop and do them in two sittings.  No, I'm not a adrenalin junkie.   

And I will close with a shot of the carousel.  

Rodeo at the Old Settler's Days in Velma Oklahoma

Here are a few shots from the Calf Roping at the Old Settler's Days in Velma Oklahoma.   

It has been incredibly hot outside.  So we didn't venture out for the Thursday night Rodeo events.   But we did make it Friday night and managed to watch the calf roping.  I now wish I could have photographed more.   

Time was called.   The calf is tied.   

I love the excitement of the rodeo. You can't beat it.  It is an entertaining sport. 

I've never been into horseback riding.   But I enjoy watching others.  Horses always made me nervous.   

I love outdoor rodeos, indoor ones are harder to shoot.  I got there in time to have some sunlight for my photography. 

The horse and the calf is putting on the brakes while the cowboy is in motion.  

I want to caption this calf with "What the....."
 
It doesn't look heavy in this picture....

This is what happens in those Flyover states that Jason Aldean sings about.   I love this shot, as the sun was setting.  

This is the best shot of the last few weeks.   I really like how it turned out.   If you've never experienced the Rodeo - you should.   Unless you're a participant I would suggest leaving your expensive cowgirl boots at home if its over 100 degrees outside though.   

 

 

Fireworks in Velma

No, it wasn't the Fourth of July or an Independence Day celebration.  This was a Mayor's racing night, which we missed, because it was hot out and didn't make it in time to photograph the other excitement.  I can't tell you the "official" name of this event.  

The crowd was gathered to listen to the live entertainment as the sun slipped beneath the horizon. 

The moon, a bounce house and classic autos.   

another angle of the old cars.  

Sit down and listen to the sound of someone's passion, these little bands put their heart into their music.  Support them, these events hold meaning to them. 

Play that funky music....  white boy.  

Time for fireworks!  This one was a little too close to the ground but it made for a cool shot. 

I love fireworks! 

I can't say a lot about fireworks.  I started out with my telephoto lens (usually a mistake for me) and returned to the car for the fisheye). 

Although I like how this shot turned out.  Too blurry for my liking but I'm too lazy to use a tripod. 

shooting stars. 

My favorite kind of firework, the ones that look like shooting stars.   Beautiful. 

Never lasting long the displays soon end.  

and I will continue with some of the wider angle shots of the show. 

My Husband and my youngest watching the fireworks.  

This was my favorite shot from the fireworks.  

A welcoming little community -  is what we've found in Velma.   I've enjoyed my summer of moving from the country to "almost' town.   

More fireworks going up. 

this shot is blurry,  but I do like it. 

 

World's Largest Garage Sale in Duncan Oklahoma

Duncan Oklahoma on the third weekend in July you will find the "World's Largest Garage Sale"  - actually  just a lot of yard sales in a town of 20,000 people.  

These signs are found everywhere in town.  We bought a paper and proceeded to follow directions to one sale and then just drove around.   

Of course I wanted to document some of the bargains, that I did not buy.  I have a house full of my own old junk,  I really don't see the need to buy too much more.   

The gnomes weren't for sale.  But they were just sitting there.  

Okay, so my taste is a little bit eclectic.  I tried to photograph some of the oddities instead of taking them home for potential decor.  But for $3 I hope the coconut monkeys found a home. 

Crafty people hanging around.  

Sometimes you would run into a traffic jam at a yard sale.  

A bouquet for your sweetheart?  Perhaps?  

Plenty of clothing for your children, or yourself? Maybe, you should come in 2013 and take some of Duncan's trash home, for your treasure.  

Tis' always "Joyful" in my world.    Well, because I am a Joy.   That's not me being arrogant, its my name.   Maybe I'm not always Joyful, but people always call me a Joy.   

For a price you can take home these Teddy Bears and give them a child to love.   

These are the sweet smelling perfumes of years past.  

I *ALMOST*  bought this.  *almost*  I took a photo instead.   I did want it.  It was unique in a strange enough way.   

Ghosts of home decor past.  Pink, floral and now dated.  

I do like old cameras.  Not enough to buy  them, but I enjoy taking photographs of them.  

Whenever I see these on a yard sale I want to scream "THROW THEM AWAY HOARDERS!!!!!" But, I just shake my head and walk away....  slowly walk away....  

Oh, my childhood.  A box of barbies. Can you tell that I loved Barbies?   I do, I actually still have all of my old barbies in a box somewhere, at my Parents storage.  I am a barbie girl.   Kind of.    

 All American stools for sale. 

If you start early you can decorate your Christmas tree before the holiday rush! 

Tip to yard sale holders, price your stuff.  We don't want to spend our time waiting on you to research a fair market value, also take note of depreciation.   Your old stuff is worth next to nothing for those of us out bargain hunting.  Also this is handy to know, despite shows like Pawn Stars and "picker" type shows, most of your old investments lose value.  Your clothes no matter what mall brand they are after you've taken them home and washed them a few times are not worth much at all.  Things lose value. It is stuff.  You can't take it with you when you die   

I'm not much on having yard sales.  Not when I can donate them to Goodwill or toss stuff in a dumpster. I can't get rid of books.  I also like blankets. If I ever become old and senile, you will find me in a house of blankets surrounded by books, and a few cats.   

I would have to say "Neigh" on purchasing this trick pony.   

Break out the film...  put some lemon drops in the candy jar and have a nice evening. 

I do like antique plates and glassware.   

Old typewriters - I wonder what letters were written on this old machine. 

 

Oklahoma Melon Farming

My posting and updating my page has been sparse lately.  Tonight that will change.  I have my portable hard drive and a couple of weeks worth of photos.  This post we will actually go back to May to some photos I have not edited or posted since I shot them in the midst of my massive new home renovations.  

Here are some photos of my Dad plowing the field with some of his older equipment, being pulled not by a horse but by my baby sister on the tractor.  These were shot in late May. 

Plowing the field. 

So as I type this I'm sitting here eating a sweet Charleston Gray Melon while at my Parents' house.  Trying to keep the juice off of the keyboard of this Mac computer.   

It's kind of nice being raised by a melon farmer.   We have photos of my Dad at age two in a big melon field, his father raised watermelons too.   Watermelons are a cash crop in Rush Springs, which is the Watermelon Capitol of the world.   

Fast forward to last week and  here they are growing in the field. I went out and picked five and took them home.  

He also planted lovely, sweet cantaloupes.  Which I can never spell correctly.  

Isn't amazing.  Isn't the world amazing how you can take a tiny seed and in a few months you have something that  you can cut open in a field on a hot day and have nourishment?  Isn't it sad to know the growing urban populations of the world will never experience walking through a field of food. 

Can you see the watermelons and cantaloupes in the field?  

As a child our family would have our reunions on the second Saturday in August, my cousins would come up to Rush Springs from all over and we would spend days outside on Grandma's porch and we would always eat lots of sweet watermelons.   Some of my best childhood memories are around the time of the Watermelon festival and my Grandmother and cousins. 

Picking watermelons, if the curl is dead they are ripe, you can also listen to see if they "sound" ripe, by thumping them.  

so incredibly sweet, nature's candy. 

I had twenty in the trunk of my car a week ago..there are still plenty.   Cantaloupes taste best with vanilla ice cream.  

I don't think I can eat anymore now.   I'm full.  I do love watermelons and cantaloupes.  

I used to not like being the child of a farmer, and knowing how agriculture has always played a role in my life. I desired to be like "everyone else"  - Now, I wouldn't have it any other way.  It has enriched my life in ways that so many others can't experience.  For that I am blessed.   

 

Swimming at Bear Falls in the Chickasaw National Recreation Area

Bear Falls and underneath is the Chickasaw Language Translation.   The Chickasaw National Recreation was once the historic Platt National park.  A park that maintains the natural beauty of the cold spring water that runs down Travertine Creek into the historic town of Sulphur.   

A blade of grass sitting peacefully in the water. 

With temperatures over 105 today the water was refreshing.  While lakes often have blue-green algae alerts the water of the creek is cool and refreshing.  Frigid most of the year, but perfect in July.  My kids love this place.   

The boys.  Clearly used to my camera,  they no longer protest.  They are in the acceptance stage.  

On the way to Sulphur my boys were discussing how to "make money" and my youngest son told his older brother that "the easiest way to make a lot of money was through hard work."  Not a bad sentiment from an eleven year old child.   

In another discussion later this evening the same son was discussing watching "Through the Wormhole" on the Science Channel and he popped off with another bit of childhood wisdom:  

"We're like Pokemon, just a little bit.  But it takes a long, long time to evolve."  

He is my son who shouts "THIS IS NOT HISTORY" at the History Channel when they are showing their reality shows.   

Even in the murky water there is a glimpse at beauty. 

See the little fishy? 

The beautiful creek.  

If you sit still and look just right you can capture the reflections of the trees in the creek, and the sky in the natural mirror.   

The little waterfalls that are found throughout the creek and its natural swimming holes make this a great place to be in the summer.  

This was the only flower I could find today. I miss seeing all the wildflowers they were beautiful this year.  

I also like the tree in the background, an interesting tree.  With interesting roots.  

What fun for children, to swim in a creek.  Like kids did before there were swimming pools in our backyards filled with chemicals.  

leaves in the water.  

To see more of this delicate beauty please see my previous posting.  

Orange Butterfly at the Chickasaw National Recreation Area

So, my enthusiasm for photographing this beautiful park is waning.  I've got numerous posts on it, we go here to swim in the summer often.  We love the cold water and the park, but photographing it.  Well I wasn't excited today. I took the camera, I didn't anticipate any great photography to happen. I thought "why am I photographing this place...AGAIN."   But, after I got there and went out in the creek for a while I was getting some nice macro shots and then this stunning butterfly few up on the only flower in sight.   I don't know what kind of butterfly this is, but it is one of the more beautiful ones.  

I was like WOW! Look at that orange! Brilliant!  And then I was excited about photography and knew I had a good subject.   

What a pop of color - in the greenery of the Travertine Creek.  

"Happiness is like a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you."

Nathaniel Hawthorne

"Butterflies are self propelled flowers."

R.H. Heinlein

"The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough." 

Rabindranath Tagore

And you think you'd like to gather it up and take it home.  Because it is so beautiful, but you know it would die, and no longer flutter among the greenery.  

"We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty."

Maya Angelou

"We must remain as close to the flowers, the grass, and the butterflies as the child is who is not yet so much taller than they are. We adults, on the other hand, have outgrown them and have to lower ourselves to stoop down to them. It seems to me that the grass hates us when we confess our love for it. Whoever would partake of all good things must understand how to be small at times." 

Friedrich Nietzsche

Butterflies are beautiful because of their symmetry, the beautiful perfect symmetry of a butterfly, its uneven wings, filled with its lines and angles.   The deceptive designs of evolution.   The work of god, no matter what  you believe these tiniest of creatures whose lives are brief bring us, humans awe and wonder.   

In the shadows even butterflies can have an air of mystery and darkness.  

The butterfly got it's own post.  Beautiful little butterfly.  I thought the butterflies I photographed earlier this spring were amazing, but whatever this little one is - is pure beauty.   

Fourth of July Fireworks in Marlow

A yearly tradition is to attend the annual Fourth of July Celebration in Marlow, Oklahoma.   This year was no different.  Last year the extensive and miserable drought kept the fireworks display from happening.   This Fourth of July the celebration did go on.   In a small town, with a good fireworks display the community is packed with people driving in from surrounding communities.  Why the town of Duncan doesn't devote some of their celebratory resources (they have a lot of small celebrations and events)  to a fireworks display for a town of 20,000 I do not understand.  But whatever the case, Marlow is a busy little town on July 4th.   

The crowds arriving for the fireworks.  

Lots of family fun and photographers out capturing memories of their loved ones at the community celebration.  

10 pm, the fireworks were lit, the display began.  The "oohs and aahhs"  what a sight. I've always loved watching the fireworks. 

First time I've ever photographed my kids watching the fireworks.  My youngest suggested photographing the fireworks with the fisheye lens and he had a good idea.  He's quite happy that his suggestion was taken.  

they light up the sky with their abstract beauty.  

Watching the celebration of a nation.  The illusion of the liberty we all desire to say that we have.   

In a nation of rules and regulations and homeland security watching citizens as if they are children, searching toddlers at airports,  are we truly "free"  

Fourth of July -   if  you've ever picked up a copy of the stamp act or sugar act or any of the tax laws that were passed on the colonies by Britain, you will understand why this revolution happened.  Yet, we are in a nation where laws are passed without being read and our lives are highly regulated.  

But despite the hopeless political climate - aren't fireworks amazing to see.  

We are under a leader who constantly likes to point to a lack of "fairness" in our society.  But where in the Constitution am I guaranteed the right to "fairness."  No one has the right to life, liberty and fairness.  Because what is "fair" to one, is slavery to another.   

We live in a nation where needs versus wants can't be determined.  Where Mayors want to regulate soft drinks because the responsibility for societal problems must be given to inanimate objects.  Where political pundits can't admit to the fact that individuals should bear the responsibilities for their own actions.  

We live in a nation of freedom, where if you don't like what your neighbor says or does, you find the appropriate agency to report him to.  Where you go to the media to complain.   

We live in a country where the Senate can't pass a budget.  Where individuals borrow too much and blame the banks for loaning the money.  We live in  a country that can't comprehend economics.  

We punish the productive class. We punish the workers.  We tax, we tax, we tax.  The harder you work the more you are taxed.  The productive members of society are taxed to frustration, to the point where getting ahead is nearly impossible.   

Yet we also have a system set up to punish and watch the poor.  We have human services telling poor parents they aren't good enough and take their children, giving middle class workers a job.  We have a system that imprisons minorities at a high rate, we lock up non-violent offenders creating a punitive system to punish non-violent addicts.   

Imagine a society where you could live without fear of government oversight, or government harassment or the IRS.  Imagine a society where everyone paid taxes.  Imagine a society where we weren't putting non-violent people in prison for what they put in their bodies if they were harming no one.  Imagine a society where one in three jobs weren't regulated.  Fear caused the massive growth of Government.  Imagine a world were we weren't afraid to live.  Imagine a world where the bloggers could write and not think that Big Brother wasn't watching a compiling their names on a list.  

Imagine a world where we didn't have corporate tyranny, paired with governmental tyranny.  Where the little guy thought he had a say in how his world worked.  Where a handshake was as good as your name.   Imagine a world where families were a support system and not the government.   

What does liberty mean to you?  No one is "free" it is an illusion, perpetuated and celebrated. It is idealism, not reality.  Enjoy your fireworks and grilling, but don't forget big brother is watching you.  More regulations will come, every-time we vote.  Every-time someone says "There ought to be a law."  

But the fireworks ended and we all went home.  The horrible crowds are a great reason not to watch the show, but you'd miss out on a tradition if you stayed home.  

Sardis Lake Morning

We were on the way  to the Choctaw Nation Hospital in anticipation of our newest family member to arrive and I stopped at Sardis lake to gather a few early morning shots.  

Sardis is a beautiful lake, unfortunately there is controversy surrounding this beautiful lake.  I would direct you to this website for more education on the matter: http://www.waterfuture.tv/

I've never traveled, but it almost looks Mediterranean to me.  

A beautiful morning.  A beautiful day.  I love how the warm and cool colors blend for an amazing landscape.  

My opinion is this water should remain in the Choctaw Nation.