A certain kind of crazy

         I read an editorial column in one of the local papers today that talked about living in and loving our state. The author, Dustin Hughes, discusses the fact that the state of Oklahoma (the land, not the government) doesn't want us here. He brings up how Oklahoma continuously throws tornados, poison ivy, copperheads, 104-degree summers (106 by my thermometer) and some questionable politicians at us. Mr. Hughes also mentions how Oklahoma "nearly succeeded in kicking us all out in the 30s as the Dust Bowl, combined with the Great Depression, drove many families to California"  He says it takes a certain amount of crazy to love this place, and he's right.

        Growing up I heard several friends talk of how they couldn't wait to get out of Oklahoma. Through the wonder of Facebook I have managed to "catch up" with many of them and for the most part the majority of them are still here in Oklahoma. Many have never left. I was one of the few that did get out of Oklahoma, however, when I left I always knew I would be coming back. When asked why I would want to go back to Oklahoma I could only answer one thing, "because it's a part of me and you can't just leave a piece of yourself lying around somewhere while you venture off to other places."  That answer is still true, but there's more to it now. 

         As I've aged and matured over the years and as things and people have changed around me, I've come to recognize a couple of things. The 1st being that I am a city girl and I would do just fine in a large metropolis. The 2nd is that inspite of number 1, I still LOVE living in Oklahoma. I love that the Arkansas River is wide and lazy as it meanders through this part of the country. At times it even seems to stand still. It is a perfect illustration of why I love Oklahoma. You see, here in Oklahoma, life moves a little bit slower than it does other places, especially in a large city. It's not because we're slow people or country bumpkins. It's because, on some level just a little bit more than others, we know how to enjoy life without all the bells and whistles of the city. We enjoy those things, but we also know how to slow life down and sit in one place all day long waiting to catch a fish and if no fish are caught, it is usually still considered a good day.

      Occasionally we do get a little more starstruck with celebrities, we might not always understand what the city folk are talking about, it takes us a year or more to catch up on the latest fashion trends, and yes, sometimes we add an extra syllable (or two) to our words. But you know what, that extra syllable stretches out the word and slows us down. It helps us stop to enjoy the sunset, it's how we can smell when it's going to rain, it's why we go outside to see if the weather man's right when he says a tornado's coming, and it's why we can spot the big dipper and then debate whether or not it's actually the little dipper while driving down an old, quiet highway.

      Yes I'm a city girl, but you can keep your bustling, never sleeps cities. I'll come visit every now and then, but I love the slow pace of Oklahoma and if that makes me a little insane, well then, I guess I am a certain kind of crazy.

Life Lessons

Much of my life has revolved around sports and when I try to explain something, sports analogies are what most often come to mind.  So, here we go.

Since the World Cup just ended, I'll start there.  In soccer, you fill in the space vacated by your teammate so there's someone there. When the original occupier of said space returns, you move back to your original position as well. Basically, you fill in the gap for a temporary time until the person who is supposed to be there can occupy the space.

Similarly, in baseball (since we are headed into the All-Star break), when the star athlete goes on the disabled list with an injury the guy on the bench or down in the minor leagues comes in and fills the vacancy.  The benchwarmer/rookie knows that his time there is temporary and that once the full time guy comes back from the DL there is no guarantee that he'll get anymore playing time. So again, you fill in where you're needed until a permanent arangement can be made. Just because a guy did a great job filling in when needed doesn't mean that he's the best guy for the job. Teams will still go out and sign a free agent if that's what they believe is best for the team.

You may be asking yourself, why am I sharing this lesson and what does it mean?

Some friends of mine are struggling with a situation where they were the ones that filled in when a vacancy came up. They did a great job and indeed did put their resume in for the full time position. Now, it looks like they aren't going to get the full time gig. In this particular case it's like a team going after a free agent. Yes, my friend did a great job filling in as an interim guy and the powers that be would love to offer him the position, but they also have to do what is best for the "team". The "Owner" of the team seems to be saying that He has someone else in mind for the job. My friend would classify this as his dream job, but like I've said before, our dreams and God's dreams for us don't always align with each other. He's not being asked to leave the team and he's not being hurt on purpose. It's always been known that the job wasn't guaranteed to be his when it came time to hire a full time guy. Yet it still hurts, he and his wife are still disappointed  and probably taking it a little too personally.

Now, I am not an emotionally charged person. I am a logical thinker. So it's easy for me to see and say these things. And I admit that sometime this makes me, albeit unintentionally, seem harsh. The fact is that there are a lot of life lessons that can be learned from sports and this is just one I hope my friends and many others can grasp and understand. The ultimate fact is that it's not about you, me, us or them, it's all about Him, the Lord of all, the Great I am. It comes down to what He wants to happen. It really is that simple. You can't view it as a blow to you. You have to see it as what's best for the Kingdom.

Lord, not my will, but your will be done.

~R

So, Now What?

It's a sad day when you realize the one thing you've been working towards the majority of your life isn't going to happen. Shaky hands = blurry pictures. Since this stupid disease hit me 5 years ago, my hands have not been quite as steady as they once were. However, I've still been able to take good pictures. The shakiness has gradually gotten worse even though it is still really only noticeable when I try to take a picture. I've tried all the tricks I've been taught over the years and they don't help. As long as I am touching the camera, there is shaking. I've spent my whole life working towards a career in photography and at this point in my life, I don't know what else to do. So, now what?

My Week in Review...Sort of.

It's been an interesting week. I've got pictures from Monday and Thursday, nothing happened on Tuesday, I just didn't take any pictures on Wednesday, and I was going to take some pictures Friday but ran into two obstacles named Shinka and Wrigley.

Monday: It was a nice day weather wise. I went to work for four hours and got off at 12:15. I went home and relaxed for a couple of hours and then went in search of something to photograph. There was a junior varsity baseball game going on at the high school and I found a hole in the fence where I could squeeze in and take some pictures. Baseball and photography: two of my favorite past times and I got to enjoy both simultaneously. :)

Sadly, the Tigers lost both games of a double header.

Thursday:  Thursday was a great weather day as well. I, again, worked part of the day and then got a little bit of rest before getting out in the world. Thursday afternoon/evening I took a couple of pictures of my niece for part of her Senior Pictures and then gathered with some friends to watch the latest episode of FlashForward, a television show on ABC that we've all been captivated by, and we also watched The Marriage Ref which is hilarious. Before the show I got to spend time with my best friends two boys. The downside of the night was that while watching The Marriage Ref, I laughed so hard that the pain in my throat returned after an almost two-week hiatus.

It's hard to capture a good smile from her. They always looked forced because she doesn't like to show her teeth. In this one, I told her to just relax and really, it's probably the best one.

I love this little guy.  Tanner would be the perfect subject for a photo shoot if you could just get him to stay still. A little bit more of his mouth and this would have been a perfect shot.

Tanner's baby brother, Denver. At 5 months old he's really starting to look like his momma.

This isn't exactly working out...

Okay this project 365 isn't going so well. It has made me look at the world while thinking "that would be a good shot", but I just can't get myself to carry a camera everywhere. Anyway, I'll keep trying. Here are a few of the shots I did get over the last week.

Watching TV with Wrigley

A late winter storm hit the area. The day before it was 73 degrees outside.

the Arkansas River

Wrigley out in the snow

Shinka had tons of fun out in the snow

This was just a few days after the snow. Everything is starting to look green again!

Days 1-3

Okay here are two of the first three days from project 365. I don't have anything from Thursday as I slept literally all day. Sometimes my body just needs to recharge.

On Wednesday I spent the entire day at Angus Church. We had a youth workday which was semi-successful. The kids vacuumed and cleaned the sanctuary in the morning and after lunch they tackled staining the playground equipment. We learned that 6th grade girls should not be allowed to paint or stain anything. Even with supervision they couldn't follow instructions and got stain everywhere.

These particular girls were eventually removed from the project and sent to scrub the bathrooms.

On Friday, I took full advantage of the weather and my fully recharged body, and I took Wrigley for a walk. We only made it one mile, but it was a much needed bit of excercise for both of us. When we got home I took a cool shower to wash off the heat and sweat. Then I decided to cook dinner. I made Taco stuff and then attempted a new recipe for peach cobbler. My peach Cobbler was GREAT! It's not quite as good as it is when the person that gave me the recipe makes it, but it still makes the mouth water.

It isn't all that pretty, but it tastes amazing!

One a day for 365....

I've been trying to come up with something to do. Something that would give me a topic to post about once a day for a year. I don't have the energy or cash to pull a Julie & Julia stunt and go through a cookbook. So I was thinking what might I be interested in doing once a day for a year? There's the "read the bible" in a year plan, which I need to do anyway, and then there's Project365. A photo a day that relates to what I did, who I met, and where I went. This could actually be challenging. There are some days that I don't leave the house. So finding something to photograph that describes my day differently than every other day could prove to be quite difficult. Also, I will have to back into the habit of taking a camera with me everywhere I go. I haven't done that since high school. So look for the first photo post tomorrow, March 17, 2010. St. Patrick's Day 2010 will be the beginning of this project. I will post atleast once a week and there will be atleast one photo for each day. I will try to post every day, but there will be times that doesn't happen, so once a week is my promise.