$1? Not too far...

Received this highly stamped dollar bill from a bookstore. It's being tracked on a website - www.wheresgeorge.com. So far, he had traveled around 35 miles. I put in my info and sent him on his way with a pizza delivery guy.

spray paint

A different kind of graffiti, on north May, between Barnes & Noble and Zorba's Mediterranean restaurant.

bob marley

Over the weekend, I saw this sign on NW 50th and Villa. I suppose someone could interpret it as "Stop listening to Bob Marley." However, I prefer to think of it as, "Stop, listen to Bob Marley" - which, I'm pretty sure, is how it was intended. Yay for good taste!

"Sun is shining, the weather is sweet, yeah - Make you wanna move your dancing feet now - When the morning gathers the rainbow - Want you to know I'm a rainbow too..."

greetings to the queen?

My sister watched the kids yesterday so that Ryan and I could have a date for our anniversary and my birthday. One of the places we stopped by was Canterbury UK Imports and Antiques. They even had a South African flag up, so Ry was pleased. ;) It was a nice little shop. I ended up with a poppy art card (my fav flower) and teas. Ry chose a really junky chocolate from his childhood. He also had a drink in hand that he was nostalgic over... before putting it back when he looked at the ingredients and concluded he was surprised he'd survived (grin).

cloud layers

Driving around this afternoon, I couldn't help but enjoy the beautiful sky. So - sharing. :)

anniversary

"I hear the sound of those big jet engines - Shut down and fade away - The time it takes to open that door is just insane - There's someone on board I'm waiting for - It's so much more to me - Than just another plane..."

Ryan and I dealt with 1 1/2 years of distance, lots and lots of immigrations red tape (including a claim that our 20+ page file had been lost), and when he finally received his fiancee visa and landed in the USA... A Good Feeling. (Can I just say, worlds better from when I had to leave him in South Africa and endure the long and very lonely plane trip home?) We married June 20, 2000. Our 8 year anniversary is today! It's been a fantastic stretch of love, friendship, growth, children, silliness, new directions, harmony.

golden dome

The Gold Dome is also on the corner of NW 23rd and Classen. A big "Save The Dome" campaign happened when the bank using it wanted to demolish it and sale it to Walgreens. You know, gaudy historical landmark for a chain - whoops.

From wikipedia: "The Gold Dome is a geodesic dome in Oklahoma City, United States, considered to be a major landmark. Located at the intersection of North West 23rd Street and North Classen Boulevard, it sits in the heart of the city's Asia District. Once threatened with demolition, it has now been redeveloped into an Asian cultural center complete with office space, retail, restaurants and an exhibit on the works of Buckminister Fuller planned for the vault of the former Citizen's Bank." And - "The dome is constructed of 625 panels, ranging in size from 7.5 to 11.5 feet in length, 60 – 70 pounds in weight each, and spanning a diameter of 145 feet.[1] The interior covers about 27,000 square feet.1 The Gold Dome bank was an approximately $1 million investment."

If I'm honest (and why wouldn't I be?), I didn't know it was an Asian cultural center at all - looking at the signs in the front, nothing triggered that. I guess I'll have to check it out more closely. There's also The Prohibition Room, a 30s-40s theme restaurant - and I see they have vegetarian options too, so yay!

a golden sky: building

This is a 21 story condo building in midtown OKC, at NW 23rd and Classen. It was formerly called Citizens Tower and housed businesses. It was then purchased, revamped, given posh hotel-style amenities, and renamed The Classen. At first, they were just for sale, but now they're allowing rentals. (Maybe because while $200,000ish is cheap for some places, in Oklahoma City, that will buy a nice house? Or maybe because the other condo / apt places downtown are mostly purchase, so there's a rental market? Dunno.) Apartment.com shows their rates at $1250 to $2000 / month and describes it as:

"The wait is over, Oklahoma City's most exclusive luxury high rise apartments are now available for lease. Originally constructed in the style of Frank Lloyd Wright in 1966, The Classen is a 20 story hexagon marvel, clad in glass and marble. Its towering presence is a premier architectural icon that shines again in the Oklahoma sky. The Classen has floor to ceiling windows, with breathtaking panaramic views of the downtown skyline, the State Capitol, treescapes dotted with houses and steeples, and legendary Oklahoma sunsets. Let us lavish you in style with panoramic views, stainless steel appliances, hardwood floors, granite counter tops and amenities that rival a five star hotel."

(Photo is from a couple of weeks ago. Today, Oklahoma City is having a break from all the intense sunshine - rain, yay!)

water therapy

Oklahoma is currently... hot. It has been for a few weeks. Last summer was relatively mild - we even had some 80s in July and rain throughout the whole span of months (gasp). (Though, my inlaws from South Africa and New Zealand still thought it was steamy, and many locals complained about the rain.) We've primarily had highs in the 90s this month, which makes me sad to say it's probably going to be a 100s kind of summer. One way to cope and flow with it? Water of course! This is my son with the water hose yesterday. :)

a tribute to dads

Ha! My dad, mom, and baby-me! Funny clothes, huh? But, it was 1980, so what can be said really?



This is my husband and our son in December 2006 at Lake Hefner. The water levels were tremendously low that year. The sandy "beach" was actually the bottom of the lake exposed from lack of rain. Usually a few feet of water would have been over that area.



March 2007. This is one of my favorite photos of the two of them together. (But, Kai has grown a few inches since. :o) It was taken at Will Roger's Park.



August 2007. One of my favorites of him with our daughter. Also Lake Hefner in the background.

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Happy Dad's Day!

ants

Taken back in April at Will Roger's Park (the gardeny area) in NW OKC. Even ants like pretty locations, yes? ;)

flower standing alone, standing proud

Another from the Omniplex gardens, mid-summer 2007.

flowers wild and free... with borders

Another view of the Omniplex gardens, this time from May 2007. :)

flower of pink sunshine

Another pretty flower from the Omniplex gardens. :)

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Thanks, everyone, for visiting - I'll be catching up on comments later this weekend. :)

flowers like crumpled sky

The Science Museum in NE OKC was called The Omniplex until recently. It houses a large hands-on science center, but also art museums like the Red Earth Gallery and International Photography Museum and Hall of Fame. They have a pretty garden as well - lovely for walks and lunch. This photo was taken there last summer.

Science Museum Oklahoma

recycle

OKC has a curb-side recycling program for paper, plastic, and aluminum - picked up once a week. We put out our bin each week, but many people... don't. :( The city tried to motivate people by giving away money for several weeks - anyone who sent in a little postcard with their info would be put in for a drawing - if your name was drawn and you had your recycling bin out, then tada, $100. I don't know if that raised awareness and motivated people or not - one extra person put out theirs on my street around the time. Personally, I think easing the earth's burden is worth the tiny effort of washing the containers and carrying the bin to the curb. Just one of those Human Responsibility things.

velvet monkey

There's a small stretch on NW 16th, just west of Classen, that is being revamped into a new artsy, trendy area called 'The Plaza District'. This sign is above an old abandoned building - something else coming soon.

Links:
The Plaza District
The Velvet Monkey Salon

birth

This is a photo of me from June 2006. I was about 37 weeks pregnant with my daughter, Ari Ella, though she wouldn't arrive for around another month. The background is Lake Hefner (North OKC). We were rain-deprived so water levels were quite low - often, the water easily up to the top of those bordering rocks - but the sailboats still had plenty for gliding along, which made it quite lovely.

I just watched The Business of Being Born (imdb info here). If you haven't watched it, please do. Women, definitely. But, men should too - I'm always surprised at how often I hear women give into fear and interventions because their husbands aren't 'comfortable' with the other choices. (Seriously, ridiculous.) It's a well-composed documentary about the shifts that birth has taken, especially within the US, away from it being viewed as a natural process of transformation and passage and into something that is better skipped for the 'end result'. Not only does that have a mental, emotional, and spiritual impact on women, but a physical toll on women and the babies too. (Yep, hospital births with doctors are actually less safe than other options.) The movie was a good blend of first-hand experiences, actual facts and research, interviews from both sides. And, I'm always relieved to see a few MDs out there who understand that birth is more than just a job for them to accomplish, even if they are still a minority within the USA.

Both of my children were natural births. My son, Kai, was born in March 2003 at a hospital with a Certified Nurse Midwife. (Our local independent birthing center closed after 20 years in business mid-way through my pregnancy.) With him, I knew no one personally who had ever went through birth without drugs, epidural, cutting, surgery, stitches, yelling profanities, etc. I researched, read, and intuitively knew that I could. But in a way, I still felt I had to "prove" myself - that I had the will-power, the strength, and the wisdom to do it. I did, and it was incredibly empowering. However, the hospital setting was far from my ideal.

So, Ari was born at home, 9 pounds 4 ounces, with a Certified Professional Midwife. My midwife described my birth as being as close to unassisted as possible - which was exactly how I wanted it. I labored on a birthing ball, listened to world music, received reiki from my husband, had the midwife come in every little bit to check on Ari's heartbeat and me, pushed Ari out in a mere 10 minutes on a birthing stool, and... was already home sweet home. Certainly 15 hours of labor wasn't a breezy walk in the park, but it was also powerful and incredible and I can't imagine it any other way. I don't plan to have any more children, but if I was going to, I wouldn't even hesitate for a 1/2-second to do a homebirth again.

My first week with Ari:

spiders and our histories

This photo was taken in September 2007 at the Martin Nature Center in north OKC. However, with the heat settling into our days (welcome to the 90s), spiders are trying to nab a free corner in our house to escape from the warmth - so, it seems appropriate to share the photo now. This one had prime real estate right along the path, and was quite amazing to observe. (Though, I'm glad I didn't accidentally run into his web. As much as I like spiders, I would have probably been Pathetically Squealish.)

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In the realm of Native American totems, the spider represents, in part, the weaving of our life story. This brings up a situation from yesterday. I posted the longer version of it in my other blog, but here's part of the post:

So, this guy remembered me, 13 years later, after spending a few Saturdays sort-of-together [at a journalism class]. Did he just recognize my face and have a good ability to place it? Or, did he have an actual memory of me? Did he really remember me?

I always find it fascinating, this thought that a stranger may know something about me, something that hasn't been retained in my conscious memory, and so in a way, this person who hasn't interacted with me in years may know a part of me or my history better than I know it myself. How many specific imprints of ourselves do we retain? How many memories exist where we can truly isolate it all and say, "This is who I was in that space of days"? Growth and time have such a flow; the past just sheds itself, and the lessons weave into the current being in such a way that it's hard for me to remember exactly who I was at 15.

(june theme day) paseo 7: shadow self

I love Sean Corner's work - something about it ignites longing, reflection, an inner unraveling. His website: http://www.seancorner.com/.

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June's CDPB Theme Day is: My Corner Local Shop. So, listing an artist at the Paseo Art Festival is a little bit of a stretch? Especially when I don't browse there regularly? Still, it's local commerce, and one of the best way to buy and explore is directly from the artists, creators, producers, I think - so, I still get to share the lovely artwork, ha. :)

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