Tag Archives: Oklahoma City

The Hana Chronicles: Month 8, Day 30

0
Posted by on in children, collaborating, Community, Education, Family, Hiking and Nature, Historical, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

September 20,2026- Hana was glad to see me, when I stopped on the stairs,and looked down at her. She was in her highchair, eating her dinner, stopping to show me what was in her mouth. I just told her to chew it up well and continued to my bringing my bags upstairs and putting stuff away.

Later on, we went to a Korean restaurant, where we each enjoyed our favourites- mine was bibimbap. Hana was given several pieces of skinless, sliced grape, as she had already had dinner. Once done with those, she cast around the room, looking for whatever she might get her hands on, as well as being interested in the party behind her. When she fidgeted a bit too much, her father restrained her, which she found objectionable. Later, in the car going back, I admonished her from the front seat, to which she replied: “Papa said I am not to hit Daddy. Uh,uh,uh!” She was nice to him when we got back, and promptly fell asleep, after telling her mother that she didn’t want any more of her nightcap bottle.

My morning at the Baha’i Summer School had me thinking about how vibrant Hana will be, if she is carefully guided. The children and youth made colourful and insightful presentations, and a number of the children showed a joie de vivre that reflects her energy. This is a cut above children running about and being noisy. The Alpha and Beta generations are thinking things through and showing more group-oriented energy than I recall seeing in the two generations above them. Electronics still have their place, but their use is not as dominant as it was among children ten or twenty years ago.

HANA’s NOTE– I am glad Papa came back. He tells me if I am not being nice.

EXPANDING CIRCLES– Oklahoma: The Sooner State is about an hour and thirty minutes north of us, using US 75. The Turf- Oklahoma has three fairly rugged, if low, mountain ranges: The Wichita, in the southwest, the Ouachita, in the southeast and the Boston Mountains, in the east central region. Black Mesa, in the far northwest, is actually Oklahoma’s highest point, even as it is shared with Colorado and New Mexico. The central area of the state, and the northeast, around Tulsa, are largely plains and prairie. Oklahoma has six major rivers, flowing west to east: The Red River, along the border with Texas; the Washita, which flows into Lake Texoma; the Canadian; North Canadian; Cimarron; and Arkansas. These help with the state’s substantial agricultural output.

FIRST NATIONS: It’ well-known that Oklahoma was the relocation place for those nations which were displaced by the policies of Andrew Jackson and several presidents who came after him These included the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, Delaware(Lenni Lenape) and Seminole. Later, the Iowa, Kaw, Kickapoo, Otoe, Ottawa, Pawnee, Peoria, Ponca, Pottawatomie, Quapaw, Sac and Fox, Seneca and Wyandotte were sent here, from other parts of the Midwest and Northeast. The Modoc were brought here, from California.

Often overlooked, though, are the nations which were already present in parts of Oklahoma, particularly in the lush and attractive riverlands. Apache, Arapaho, Cheyenne, Kiowa,Osage, Tonkawa and Wichita peoples were established across both “Indian Territory” and western Oklahoma, when the first people expelled from the east and southeast arrived. None of these nations, either indigenous or transplanted, were treated equitably or fairly, until relatively recently.

I’ve been to all parts of Oklahoma, except the southwest. I’d like to visit the areas around Lawton, Anadarko, Chickasha and Duncan, as well as hike a bit in the Wichita Mountains. My favourite hiking spots are Black Mesa, Roman Nose State Park, Gloss Mountain and Grand Lake o’ The Cherokees. The Ouachitas and Bostons would be nice to check out, along those lines.

I have made solemn visits to Oklahoma City and Tulsa, paying homage at the memorials to the 1995 Bombing victims and the Greenwood Massacre, respectively. There are other places of interest in both major cities, of course, and I would be happy to take them in, with my grandchild(ren). Enid was a happy place to visit, when a friend lived there. He has since moved away. I’ve also found interesting historical sites in Claremore, Ponca City and Tonkawa. Far flung places like Guymon, Henryetta, Moreland and Sallisaw have been comfortable venues to enjoy a hearty meal or spend the night. There is plenty left in Oklahoma to both re-visit and experience for the first time.

Where I feel most at home: Downtown Enid, Tonkawa, Grand Lake of the Cherokees

NEXT- Arkansas

Sixty-Six for Sixty Six, No. XXII: Wonders of the Middle Realm

6
Posted by on in Community, Hiking and Nature, Historical, Social, Travel

April 9, 2017, Prescott- Yesterday, I wrote of the western third of the contiguous United States, which is where I have spent most of my time, since 1992.  Being from the East Coast, and preferring surface travel over flying,  especially when the weather is good, I have developed an affinity for the regions which many call “flyover country”.  The Great Plains and South Central regions may not have the jaw-dropping grandeur of the Mountain West or Alaska, but there is plenty worthy of spending one’s time.

The Rockies, of course, are the heart of the Mountain West.  In many visits to the heights of Colorado, I have felt most at home in Longmont, Loveland and Denver, where I have family.  Manitou Springs, Garden of the Gods and Seven Falls have helped make Colorado Springs another “feel at home” stopover.  One of these years, I will find my way to the summit of Pikes Peak.  Boulder, also, has welcomed me, several times, with wonders ranging from Pearl Street Mall, and Boulder Books, to Eldorado Canyon, which I hiked in the rain, whilst carrying an umbrella.  The Tetons and Yellowstone invite me back, as well, with visions of geysers and Grizzlies.

As the Rockies recede into the Great Plains, I find Spirit Tower (forget the name, “Devil”), Medicine Wheel, the Badlands, Black Elk Peak (formerly Harney Peak), Scott’s Bluff and the determination of the Indigenous People of the prairie as riveting as any great mountain or canyon.  Little towns like Deadwood, Belvedere and Custer(overlook the name) (SD), Burlington, Granada and Walsenburg (CO), Wellington,Dodge City and Hays (KS) have been as welcoming as any place in the West.  There is, to my mind, a goodly amount of sophistication and culture to be found in Omaha, Lincoln and Wichita, as well.

Friends in Amarillo and Enid (OK) have helped make those cities almost necessary pit stops, on any eastward trek that takes a southern route.  Texas, like California, is a world unto itself.  I was captivated by the warmth I felt, across the state, from the great cities of El Paso, San Antonio, Austin, Fort Worth, Dallas and Houston to small communities- Grand Saline, South Padre Island, Laredo, Marfa, Sanderson, Quanah and Temple.  There wasn’t much happening in Luckenbach, when I happened through there, but the locals were glad I came, anyway.  Revelations abound, across the Lone Star State, from the view of the Rio Grande’s confluence with the Gulf of Mexico, to Pedernales Falls, northwest of San Antonio, or the wild canyons of the Llano Estacado and the Trans-Pecos region.  My favourite museum section remains the Music Hall, at Bob Bullock Museum of Texas History, near the Texas State Capitol (itself an extraordinary edifice).  Then, there are the five missions in San Antonio- a very full day of discovery!

Oklahoma has no end of variety, but I will content myself with sending kudos to Lake Texoma and Lake of the Cherokees, Black Mesa(the state’s highest point, at its juncture with New Mexico and Colorado), Tonkawa and its monument to Chief Joseph, of the Nez Perce, and the heartfelt, humbling memorial to the victims of Oklahoma City’s tragic bombing, in 1995.  Oklahoma City remains the only place where I have been mistaken for a county employee- being invited to an employee barbecue, as I walked by, on the way to the Memorial.

I will continue to skip the temptation to fly over, as long as the weather is not too harsh.