From a man in transition to a transitioned man

While on vacation last week, the realization finally hit me that over the course of the last year or so I have taken up residence in an entirely new stage of adulthood.

I’m not sure exactly when this realization first dawned on me. Perhaps it was when we were packing the night before we left. As I looked around my living room at all the stuff we were taking with us this year that we didn’t even own this time last year it made my head spin a bit.

  • Diaper bag.
  • Pack ‘N’ Play.
  • Package of diapers.
  • Several jars of baby food.
  • Tons of toys.
  • Three tiny swimsuits.
  • Car seat.
  • Stroller (which ended up being too big to fit in our rented minivan with all of our other stuff).
  • An entire suitcase filled with miniature clothing that did not belong to either my wife or myself.

Perhaps it hit me the next morning while sweating like a nun in a brothel as I tried to get all of that stuff, plus mine and my wife’s belongings, into the back of the minivan. Continue reading From a man in transition to a transitioned man

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On the Horizon: “Lesson” of the Day – Eating Healthy Can Be Fun

Human health has been an issue for as long as I can remember. We see more and more people losing an uphill battle to weight gain and fast food chains are profiting from it. It seems like every channel has a new weight loss reality show starting that promises to change our lives. My question is why do we wait and let it get so bad?

In this week’s video blog, we show you how an Oklahoma woman is teaching kids to cook and eat healthy. The recipes are simple and quite tasty. Just a glimpse of a fun and proactive way to help battle the obesity beast before it gets out of control.

~ Andy Barth

 

On the Horizon: Eating Healthy Can Be Fun from Alisa Hines on Vimeo.

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Not-So-Newlywed Adventures

by Julianna Buller

As we wound our way deeper into the canyons near Cañon City, Colorado, I asked my husband what had been his favorite part of vacation so far. “Because you’re going to totally forget how much you loved it once you’ve white water rafted,” I explained. I had a hunch the fireworks we had appreciated so much would become a distant memory once we had experienced a few Class V rapids.

We arrived and, donned with helmets and life jackets, received a brief training about how to anchor our feet into the inflated raft to help us follow the Most Important Rule: Stay in the boat. As flatlanders better versed in back pasture mud holes than raging rivers, we grew concerned about the actual statistical probability of ending up wearing the raft as a hat, which our guide so humorously cautioned as a possibility. Nonetheless, we waded into the Arkansas River, jumped aboard, and began our journey.

As we approached our first rapid, a Class IV, the excitement and apprehension was palpable by everyone except the guide, whose five years of leading trips had probably worn some of the emotion from the experience.  Listening to the commands (Forward one! Forward two!), we easily traversed the roiling mass of water, our giddiness intact—if not increased—by the challenge. Once past the breaking current, we breathed easily, and rounds of high-fives were had by all.

The first Class V rapid we took on was a different experience entirely. Continue reading Not-So-Newlywed Adventures

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Mission Statements for the Essence of Parent-Daughter Living

Friends, our contributor group is a special collective of talented, loving, thinking folks.  In our short time together, I’ve become very endeared to them. It might be because when people write, you see their souls.  And, reading their souls each night has made me feel close to them – even though I don’t spend much time with them.  In a few weeks (or perhaps longer), one of our contributors will be revealing a project he’s been working on; it’s a contest of sorts, and is a cool thing.  He’s given me permission to preview a few of the images attached to this project.  They are simply photos, with life statements for parents regarding their daughters.  I hope you enjoy the preview glimpse, and I look forward to when he’s ready for the “big reveal.”   – Red Dirt Kelly, on behalf of [michael]

Continue reading Mission Statements for the Essence of Parent-Daughter Living

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My Little Victory Garden: The Sweet Simplicity of Braiding Onions

I was introduced to Laura Ingalls Wilder’s “Little House on the Prairie” books when I was eight years old.  Soon after, I began doodling on wide-ruled paper when day-dreams would overtake me.  In them, I was Laura and I was playing in the log cabin attic bedroom with my sister Mary.  We would cuddle our tiny corncob dolls while playing house, sitting on pumpkins for chairs.  Overhead, strands of dried onions would hang on every beam.  The detail of my drawings was only limited by the time I had for that particular sitting.  Since I was a farm girl and much of our lives revolved around storing food, preparing food, and growing food, I had found my literary heroine.

Thirty-nine years later, I still romanticize the annual rhythm of doing what I can with my own hands and my own earth to provide food for my family.  And one of these annual rituals includes harvesting onions twice a year, drying them, and braiding them into usable portions to either keep in the garage until those on my hook in the kitchen are gone, or give away to friends.  The process is easy, but I was taught. So in case you are just now at the point where you’d like to learn as well, here is a post to guide you.  Let’s begin, shall we? Continue reading My Little Victory Garden: The Sweet Simplicity of Braiding Onions

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Showcasing Red Dirt culture ~ authored and managed by contributors with connections to the great state of Oklahoma.