Greasy Cheeseburgers

Not sure if they even have a restaurant, but if I were looking for a good cheeseburger I think this is the Oklahoma town I would start in! 

Minnows and Goldfish

I've always had a secret dream to one day own a bait and tackle shop.  Maybe it was because when I was a kid my Grandma lived on a Lake here in Oklahoma and I always loved it when my Dad would take us to buy bait.  I was always fascinated to see the oddities of tanks that the bait was housed in, the hoses strung out to keep fresh water coming, the old refrigerators and all the unusual things that was sold as bait.  You know things like gizzards, crawdads, worms, crickets, stink bait and of coarse crappie jigs.  One day, one of the old gas stations where we bought bait lost part of it's deli sign out front and all that was left was the word, "HOT".  Right underneath it was a smaller sign that said, "Crappie Jigs".  While we were standing there a lady came in and asked the attendant how much their "Hot Crappie Jigs" were.  I thought my Dad and I were gonna crack up!  Yep, if I owned a bait shop I think I would paint old signs just like this one and laugh at seeing what type of fisherman used minnows and what type used goldfish! 

Small, Available Things

I love Hummingbirds!  I just can't get enough of watching them.  We are very fortunate in Oklahoma that we are in their migratory flight pattern so we have the opportunity to see a lot of them during the summer months.  When I look at them I am reminded of how delicate and yet resilient their lives are - our lives are.  I am also amazed at how many places they can find a little sip of nectar to keep them going.  It reminds me of one of the verses in Mary Oliver's poem entitled Summer Story, “When the Hummingbird sinks its face into the trumpet vine, into the funnels of the blossoms and the tongue leaps out and throbs, I am scorched to realize once again how many small, available things are in this world that aren’t pieces of gold or power that nobody owns. . .”

Pondering the Pumps

Pondering the Pumps . . . When these pumps were set outside of the, now abandoned, W.S. Kelly gas station and general store in Cogar, no one would have ever thought that in 1988, they would be featured in a scene in the the movie, "Rain Man" and words like unleaded, ethanol and high octane gasoline were not common place. Gas was only distinguished by its color. Red gasoline was used in automobiles and green gasoline (on which you didn't have to pay taxes) was used for agricultural and industrial use. In Oklahoma, in about 1958, gas prices had reached the unheard of price of .35 cents per gallon. Today, the Oklahoma average is $3.48 per gallon. Since 2008, the big red APCO Petroleum Products sign has come down from in front of this station but the pumps are still standing and they still reflect the prices from an earlier and less complicated day. Sometimes, I stop for a second just to look at them and ponder as I drive away.