Archive for the ‘Sociology’ Category

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[Sony A700 w/CZ 16-80mm | 27mm | f/8 | 1" – 15" | ISO 1600 | 5 images, tonemapped]

It’s been a good while since my last post.  I apologize for that!  I have been distracted by life and have not been able to pursue my love of photographic art.  However, this past week I was in Norman, OK. attending a three day marathon workshop on Franklin/Covey’s “Four Dimension of Execution”.  After sitting for hours upon hours the first two days, I had a great need to stretch my legs.  Toward that end, I loaded up my camera gear and headed for the OU campus about 9:30 PM.  Being an alum of OU, and very familiar with the campus, I was already anticipating seeing our Bizzell Memorial Library glowing in the night.  I was not disappointed and I hope you like it.

Evans Family Thanksgiving Greeting

It’s been over two months since my last post.  During my time away, I had a total knee replacement of my right knee; my focus has been on recovery and not on much of anything else.  Well, I’m doing very well and am able to return to the things I really enjoy.  I’m not going to bore you with details from the surgery and rehabilitation.  I’m picking up where I left off, as if the past two months were an empty ( ).

The photograph above is not our traditional Thanksgiving photo.  In past years, the photo was taken with everyone standing behind a fully set table complete with the Thanksgiving feast spread upon it’s ample surface.  Because this year’s meal was so much later than in the past, stomach’s were growling, and the food so enticing, everyone wanted to eat and take pictures later.

You know how you spend so much time preparing this once-a-year meal and then, how in 20–30 minutes everyone has eaten and are clearing off the table?  This sort of makes it seem not worth the effort.  I think that’s why many people are opting to do something else for Thanksgiving and that’s very unfortunate.  To combat this trend, in our house anyway, I thought it would be nice to serve the meal in courses.  This way much more time could be spent on conversation and fellowship and enjoying the food.  I suggested this to Sherry and was pleasantly surprised when she agreed to give it a try.  The result was that the meal took 65–70 minutes to finish, there was much more talk and laughter, and just perhaps, each ate a little less than in the past.

Here is how the meal was served with course numbers and the name of the preparer.

1. JFK’s Favorite Soup w/ breadsticks:  Herbie
2. Wonderful Mixed Salad:  Marcy
3. The Meal:
   1. Golden Roast Turkey w/Stuffing:  Herbie
   2. Green Bean Casserole:  Sherry
   3. Creamy Mashed Potatoes:  Erin
   4. Delicious Cranberry Salad:  Sherry
4. Dessert:
   1. Pumpkin Delight Pie:  Linda
   2. Chocolate Pecan Pie:  Linda

The meal was wonderful, but then you know, there’s always the cleanup!

The Sun Rises Early!

I never know what I’m going to get with a sunrise.  I’ve enjoyed countless sunrises over the years:  the majority from getting up early, not coming in late, although there’s been a few of those, too.  For the past decade, or so, the sun risings I’ve witnessed follow on the heels of simple planning.  But in spite of the planning there’s no way I can know what scene will unfold in the eastern sky.  I’m always in the dark on that and leaving home at dark-thirty doesn’t help, either!  Sunsets are different and I can anticipate and see the event unfold;  I’m waiting on it to happen.  Sunrises are so different!

Best Made Plans?

It’s an easy matter to catch the nightly weather forecasts to get an idea of what the weather is predicted to be five to seven days in advance.  But gee whiz, I live in Southwest Oklahoma where moist warm air rising from the Gulf and dry arctic air sweeping down the Plains from Canada can ruin the best meteorologist’s forecast in a matter of hours.   Experience has taught me to check the forecast late the night before and then don’t bet any money on what it’s going to do.  It’s also easy to get the forecast for things like the times for Nautical Twilight, Civil Twilight, and actual time of sunrise, percent of cloud cover, probability of precipitation, direction and velocity of wind, and temperature at any given hour.  There are also plenty of simple software programs that will tell you the precise degree from North that the sun will actually rise on the horizon based on your geographical location.  I use a free one called “Ephemeris.  I plug in the angle of declination for Lawton, or any other location, and then every time I open it I have the time and angles for the rising and setting of the sun and moon on that particular day.  It’s very handy.  Now, with all that in hand a reasonable person would think it’s just a matter of getting out of bed.  “Not so Sherlock!” Read the rest of this entry »

Ali Harter performs in Lawton. (click picture for more)

Ali Harter

Red Dirt, Country Blues, Country Folk, Outlaw, or whatever you want to try to tag her with, Ali Harter must be tagged as unique, talented, pretty, and Okie through and through.  Last night was my first time ever to hear her music but it won’t be my last.  I bought her CD titled, “No Bees, No Honey”, released on March 13, 2010.  I ‘ve already listened to it three times and have my earphones on right now listening to a fourth time through.  Unique is the best word I have to describe her music; it is definitely her own.  She is only 25, yet her sound is so much more mature than that!  Visiting with her afterwards she told me her early childhood idol was Bonnie Raitt.  I’m a huge Bonnie Raitt fan myself, but not once during her live solo performance did I ever say to myself, “Self, you know what?  She kinda sounds like Bonnie Raitt!”  But,that could just be me.  But the connection  I do think exists between Ali Harter and Bonnie Raitt is each Read the rest of this entry »

Turning to the Light

There are times when we cannot see what waits around the bend, because we are unable to see things ahead in time.  The images I made of Quartz Mountain Flyer’s railway is an example of that.  Two days earlier I was traveling from Mangum to Hobart on SH 44, which passes by the Quartz Mountains State Park in Greer and Kiowa counties of Southwest Oklahoma.  The highway skirts around the southern end of Lake Altus-Lugert as it makes its way north to Lone Wolf.  Glancing toward the lake at every opening between the trees, I was captured by what I thought would make a wonderful HDR (high dynamic range) image under the right lighting conditions.  Due to the recent and abundant rains, the lake was full of deep blue water creating islands of several ancient granite peaks.  For me this has always been a mystical scene but on this day, at this time, it was magical, too.  I wanted badly to stop, if only for a minute, but couldn’t because my time was very short and I still had to drive on to Anadarko after stopping in Hobart.  However, I did begin plans to return on Saturday.  Saturday was two days away and difficult to see, much like things around a bend. Read the rest of this entry »

Brandon and Leah Dance to their song — "Soul Sister"

Brandon and Leah now live in L.A.  They recently moved along with Leah’s daughter, Neveah.  Brandon is a neurosurgeon at UCLA’s Ronald Reagan Medical Center.  Leah has a Master Degree in Nursing and Neveah is using her PhD in Childhood to her best advantage.  They are roughing it right now while awaiting the arrival of all their furniture from Little Rock.

Sonny Nevaquaya plays at Medicine Park's 102 B-Day Bash

“59 & 102″

What do they have in Common?

Medicine Park and I both celebrated our birthdays on Saturday, July 10.  For Medicine Park it was their 102nd, having been founded on July 4, 1908, and for this Baby Boomer it was my 59th.  Well, since I consider my “birth day” as the most important day of my life, I make it a personal celebration whether anyone else gives a hoot, or not!  Since it occurs most often during the work week, I always take leave on my birthday.  This means I nearly always spend the day by myself, but that’s okay because this is something special I do for myself; it’s a gift to myself.  However, when my day falls on the weekend and there’s a big celebration going on somewhere, I’m not opposed to glomming on and letting someone else help me celebrate.  Well, with Medicine Park celebrating its 102nd Birthday Bash, six days late,  on Saturday, July 10, and Sherry offering to take me out to dinner for my 59th, I couldn’t let such an opportunity go to waste.  (Oh by the by, did I mention the best birthday gift I’ve ever received was when my son, Brandon, was born on my birthday in 1978?  I mean, after that everything else falls short… right?) Read the rest of this entry »