A post, mostly in photos

[wayfaringwordhack]

To paraphrase from The Princess Bride, There is too much; I'll sum up...about our trip to Oklahoma, that is.

For three weeks:

We rested, following the sun's rhythms pretty closely, not bothered at all by the yapping of coyotes, which is so much more melodious as it rolls down hills and creeks, echoing off oaks than is the barking and snarling of the wild dogs that run the concrete labyrinth of this city.

(the photos are clickable)

We were fed.  Homecooked meals, none prepared by yours truly. As much as I like to cook, it was good to take a break...and have someone else do the dishes and putting away! Color me spoiled.

We worked, doing chores (feeding the animals and gathering eggs for Sprout; housework for moi) and helping out with heftier jobs (putting siding on the roof of a game room my guardian added on to the house.  Have I mentioned he is 85[!] and would have put the siding up himself if J wasn't there to help him?), and generally put our feelers out for how future farm life will be for us.

We walked, up the road to gather the mail, along the creek to find frogs and crawdads, up hills to check out the views. And at night we walked to see glow worms (larviform female fireflies) and even saw mysterious will-o'-the-wisps-like lights. Another night an armadillo* crossed paths with us.

We visited with friends and family who made the drive to see us.

We fished.

We celebrated birthdays.

And for that special birthday occasion, someone got to taste solids for the first time: fresh-caught bass.

_________________________

* Has anyone else been in proximity to an armadillo? There was one funky smell in its wake, and we don't know if it was the creature itself or something it had come in contact with. It smelled like skunk and wild garlic/onions.

Comments

[frigg.livejournal.com]

Ahhhh... the good life. :)

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

We do our best to live it. :P

[queenoftheskies.livejournal.com]

What a beautiful trip! I love your photos.

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

Thank you; we really had a good time out on the ranch. The perfect antidote to life in Cairo. :P

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

These pictures and your words make me so, so happy. That first photo is so unearthly and lovely, and then the photos with people in them are so *earthly* and lovely.

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

The first photos were of our last day, and that glorious morning was a perfect start to a great day, which just happened to be Sprout's birthday. :) It really put the crowning touch on a wonderful trip.

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Great photos! And how cool to see an armadillo!

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

I know; I just wish we had seen it during the day. We did get to see its tracks, though, and find the shell pictured above.

[nipernaadiagain.livejournal.com]

Such lovely photos, they give great emotional report of the vacation!

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

It is hard to make a succinct selection of three weeks of good times. Glad you enjoyed them. :)

[oiktirmos.livejournal.com]

Awesome family photos. Love the fog.
I hope to visit OK again someday.
I am sure you have read about Black Sunday.
It fascinates me. (safe link – weather service)
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/news/display_cmsstory.php?wfo=ddc&storyid=50702&source=0

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

My guardian was reminiscing about that and the dust storms he would see from time to time. Forgot to add that he was living in New Mexico at the time!

[oiktirmos.livejournal.com]

I grew up in New Mexico. Some of the most severe dust storms occurred in New Mexico, (before I was born, of course.)

[cafenowhere.livejournal.com]

Your photos make Oklahoma look magical! And Sprout is *strong* to be able to carry the baby like that. Glad you had a good time in the States. Sounds like a great mix of work and play.

After some cursory googling, it seems that armadillos *do* stink, more so when they're feeling threatened. A fact that I will now add to my novel-in-progress! :D

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

We had some magical moments, that is for sure. :)

I had googled, too, and yeah, it seems that we weren't smelling something else. We walked that way every day (and other times at night) and never smelled anything else like it at other moments. So cool that you can use this detail in your book!