Archive for September, 2009

Another Gyros

The 29^th Annual International Festival has come and gone leaving behind flattened grass, car tracks, and happy food vendors.  The International Festival, for many years, was held within the confines of the Library Plaza south of the Lawton Muncicipal Library on 4^th Street and “B” Avenue.  Yes, this was a very tight fit and parking was anywhere you could find a place throughout the downtown area.  There were two stages, one on the east and one on the west with almost everything else fit in between.  I say almost everything else, because not everything could fit nicely into this space so there was some overflow.  However, everything was set up on either a concrete, brick, or asphalt surface and all the parking was on asphalt, too.  With the move to Elmer Thomas Park in 2008, many things changed besides just the location. Read the rest of this entry »

This Old Desk!

I know it’s not really a desk, it’s a drawing, or drafting table, but I couldn’t get “This Old Desk” out of my head and “This Old Drafting Table” just didn’t seem to “cut the mustard”.  Anyway, my dad had this old drafting table in office for many years.  Dad was a general contractor Southwest Oklahoma and Northern Texas for over 50 years.   I don’t recall him ever telling me where, or how, he acquired it, but it occupied a prominent place in a room he designed for storing blueprints, drawings, and other such items just off his main office.  I remember growing up in his house and seeing him in what could best be described as a daydream, oblivious to the sounds and activities around him.  What he was doing was developing visions in his head of how something needed to be constructed or the steps required to produce the final result he was envisioning.  Sometimes, I’d see him sitting at this table sketching out on paper the final result of a daydream that had entertained him during an earlier time.  But for the most part, this table was a symbol for him.  It represented the need for planning and for seeing the end result before the endeavor was ever undertaken.  For the most part, these mental images stayed in his head until he imparted them to those skilled carpenters, masons, painters, and others who would bring to reality those images.  He could carry around in his head Read the rest of this entry »