The 2011 Imaginary Family Project – Week 47

#47 of 52 : THE KALIN FAMILY via ELDRIDGE BENJAMIN
The Imaginary Family Project - Week 47

External Photo Clues:
None

Imagine:

The Skin I’m In

Well, she actually sent it. She sent it to my office. I’d never given them my home address. They’d never asked, not that I care. I don’t even understand why I’m even thinking about this. I was sure I’d put them behind me. But, looking at this picture of my ‘family’, I do feel something. I’ve considered waking Nzhinga. She’s great at this sort of thing. I’m not.

I’m looking at the photograph again. I examine the face of Edmund, my ‘brother’. At only 19, his drinking has clearly taken a toll on his body. Apparently, he’s close to his niece, Mildred’s daughter. I almost feel programmed not to look at Mildred. My mother often explained that it was loathsome enough to be ugly on the outside, and the very least I could do was to avoid ugly thoughts. I regard my mother’s countenance. Even though I’m thousands of miles away, I can’t help but to feel like she’s judging me. Her scowl suggests that, as I stand in her judgment, the verdict is unfavorable. It’s as though her disapproval has, somehow traversed the sea, implanting itself into my life. Continue reading The 2011 Imaginary Family Project – Week 47

My Little Victory Garden, 2011: Goodbye…and Salt, Pepper, Oil

My radishes look quasi-ready to harvest, my green onions keep things fresh in my kitchen, my spinach and lettuce are playing tag with the freezing weather…and I realized I probably need to shut down our My Little Victory Garden posts.  Why?  My garden is basically taking a nap, and although my cooking with local vegetables will continue as long as I can find them, I thought this series could use some rest.

Okay, I could use some rest from this series.  There, I said it.  Before I sign off until next Spring, however, I thought I would share with you the secret that keeps amazing me time and again.  What is that, you ask?  Well, it’s the secret that to eat well, you usually only need salt, pepper and oil.

Oh sure, saffron or special fillers are always a great thing, but for me – if I had to choose a day in and day out routine – it would be none other than delicious food from the Earth, barely enhanced with salt, pepper and oil (SPO).  Here’s an example…

Bok Choy grown in the Tulsa area (Yang Farm), with chili-oil, salt and pepper. Continue reading My Little Victory Garden, 2011: Goodbye…and Salt, Pepper, Oil

On the Horizon: Monumental Task

Old Station Monuments and More is barely one mile from my own home and I had yet to step foot inside. Like so many people, my mom and I would always discuss what a “cute little place” it is as we flew by on Highway 33. Little did I know, there was not only a unique story about the property, but a truly unique story about the couple behind the business.

In this week’s video blog, I’ll show you the quirkiness that will keep you coming back and an atmosphere that is sure to please.

~Courtenay Dehoff

 

Like an Old Married Couple…

Sam Presti is going to the Home Depot.  I don’t know what time they open, but the Thunder GM is likely perusing the circular for David Stern’s recently announced post Lockout “Buy Now Pay Later” free agent sale.

"Young pup," Sam Presti - OKC Thunder General Manager, image by NewsOK.

It was not that long ago that Presti, the young pup that he is, sat on the sofa listening to old Poppa NBA and the trophy wife Momma Players Association fighting like there was no tomorrow.  Presti’s siblings, the NBA fans, sat and cried next to him while Momma and Poppa called each other every name in the book and yelled that the love was gone, likely forever.

Then, cooler heads prevailed.  You see, Mom and Pop remembered what it was that brought them together in the first place.  Was it love?  Not hardly.  You see, the kids control the trust fund, and without the family staying together and the kiddos seeing the old couple playing kissie kissie nice, there ain’t no money for nobody.

So, here we are.  A new Route 66 lies before us, courtesy of the proposed reduced game reconciliation schedule.

Will we, the kids, agree to go along for the ride?  I assume we will.  Why?  I don’t really know.  Pops is all about practicality, but Momma is kinda fun to watch once the party gets loud.

Thunder Up.

The metaphorical "Poppa and Mama" of this post ~ NBA Commissioner David Stern with NBA Players Union Leader, Billy Hunter. Image by TheMajors.Net.

“I Used Only the Good Notes”: How Jack Black Smacked Me Into Holiday Shape

I sank into my precious recliner and asked Mick for “the clicker.”

Having control of the remote control is control I rarely have.

My Thanksgiving visitors were gone, I had just remade all the beds and done several loads of laundry and I needed a break. So I channel-surfed.  And surfed.  I have cable TV and couldn’t find one program I wanted to watch.  So I compromised my principals and began watching the middle of a movie I only somewhat like.

“The Holiday” was getting bashed over and over by my cranky thought process and I almost gave up on the television watching altogether.

“Jude Law is mostly convincing but is paired with Cameron Diaz who is entirely unconvincing. Kate Winslet is fairly good, but is paired with Jack Black who is an unconvincing romantic lead. Cripes, the only true redeeming value in this movie is Eli Wallach.  Please, please let there be more of Eli and less of everyone else.”  I’m ashamed to admit that this was my truly snippy line of thought as I evaluated the value of sitting there another few moments.

But then there was a fifteen-second, truly wonderful moment with Miles and Iris.

Miles (played by Jack Black) had been working on theme music and was demonstrating his ideas to Iris (played by Kate Winslet), narrating the scenarios and emotions that accompanied his musical thoughts as he played.  He then switched into a sweet, flowing melody and told her that he wrote a theme for her.  As their demeanor changed, he added: “…and I used only the good notes.”

I was verclempt.  My throat was completely choked with emotion because at that moment, not only did Jack Black pull off “Mr. Romantic Lead,” but he gave me a thought to carry throughout this entire Holiday Season.

I want to use “only the good notes” for those I care about…as I chose my Christmas gifts, as I budget the precious time I have off work between semesters and as I think about how to acknowledge those I love.

“Only the good notes” is not always what I have in mind when I think about “getting through” the holidays.  Yet, “only the good notes” is a wonderful frame for me to reconsider how I approach them.

So today, I’m wishing you a melody for your heart that you can pass on to others in your life…with only the good notes, delivered carefully and purely to their destination.

Love,

[kelly]

Vulnerable and Human, Kevin Durant is Doing the Happy Dance

Kevin Durant’s Twitter account has been an open window into his emotional soul these past twelve hours.

10:00 p.m., he knows something is going down:

“My thoughts racing, I need to sip some wine to calm them down a lil bit! Suggestions?”

When the news broke, approximately 3:00 a.m.(ish), he’s scared to believe it:

“If this is true I am Bouta go wake my mom n grandma up and put on a suit and thunder hat and cry! Please be true #nbaback”

And then, reality starts to sink in while happiness hits:

“My expression now http://lockerz.com/s/159614750

Finally, not only is he starting to believe the news but an adrenaline wave of an embattled player feeling victory rushes out:

“Mannnn im bouta to get a ratchet tattoo on my ribs that say “survived the nba lockout in 2011”

He was feeling it. We’ve ALL been feeling it, but I think KD deserves to feel the victory just a little more sweetly than most. After all, he hasn’t been just a spokesperson for what he described as a “sickening situation.” He’s been ambassador.

For Kevin Durant, basketball truly never stopped. Case in point? This recently released video sponsored by Nike. A classy way to make a crystal clear point:

Second case in point? Continue reading Vulnerable and Human, Kevin Durant is Doing the Happy Dance

Princes, Paupers, and Black Friday

Thanksgiving is about perspective and proportion.

I sat before a Thanksgiving meal this week and surveyed the sumptuous spread. I couldn’t really get my brain around it all. The easy drive down the four-lane interstate to my in-laws’, the warmth of their home, the antacids at my fingertips for post-meal relief—the ease of my life is vastly beyond comprehension.

I imagined what it would seem like if I had the ability to pluck most any person from history and insert them into my day. I imagined Abe Lincoln watching us talk on cell phones to friends and family, using dishwashers, coffee makers, refrigerators, microwaves, and two-ply toilet paper.  There would be an absence of smoke from coal ovens and fumes from kerosene lamps; the clothing would be washed free of horse smell and hair products and deodorants galore. I could show Abe the football games on television, download the Gettysburg address, or Google the medicines that would have saved his son Tad.

Princes and Paupers

We live as princes, we do. But we shop like paupers.  Need proof?  Looming behind the bountiful Thanksgiving table is the frugal frenzy of Black Friday….

After the Dallas Cowboys squeaked by the Miami Dolphins, the Black Friday sales circulars were spread out on the table.  There were deals on tools and ladders, televisions, clothing, toys, and gadgets. An hour later I was catching the fever. I was being overpowered by two strong feelings: Continue reading Princes, Paupers, and Black Friday

Feel Weird About the Commercialism of Black Friday? Try This Idea on for Heart Size.

Reach Clothing giving away its first shirt.

I’ve always wondered why someone hadn’t taken the Tom’s Shoes idea then enhanced or expanded it into other areas.  Silly me…doubting the veracity and ingenuity of Okies, eh?

Enter: Tyson Baker, founder of Reach Clothing located in  Collinsville.  I thought perhaps for your Black Friday moment of pause, (that exists, right?) you might want to learn about a cool story.  A story cool enough to potentially guide your holiday shopping.  Here are his own words…

 In April of 2010 I heard about a third grade student who was being bullied for wearing the same shirt to school every day. Still in high school at the time, I knew bullying went on at the upper levels, but never realized it stemmed down to such a young age. Admiring the TOMS Shoes business model of “buy one, give one” I thought: Why could I not take this same simple business idea and put it to clothing to help kids in the U.S?

With 16 million children considered homeless within the U.S. and 1 out of every 3 kids projected to be bullied at some point, we are trying to break that cycle. If I can give a child a new stylish shirt to help the bullying, or a new sweatshirt to stay warm in the winter I know I am doing my job.

How Reach Clothing gives back – After every 250 shirts we sell, we then partner with local non-profits to distribute the clothing from their area. In 8 months of business we have donated 500 brand new shirts to children in need, and we have met our next goal so in December we will be donating another 250 to an OKC non-profit. I am just trying to change the world.

Our products are now in Whole Foods Market, the OKC store and the Tulsa store. We are working to place inventory in Texas stores in the upcoming month.

My last donation drop was an amazing and emotional thing for some of the volunteers at Reach Clothing. Check out the new blog about my experience there:

http://blog.reach-clothing.com/?ci=23323
(Editors note: I strongly encourage you to read the story – it’s a cool, cool thing).

Now… Another comment from me.  Is this true?  Do children get bullied because of their clothing?  As a researcher, a teacher, and as a child who was bullied at times because of her hand-me-down clothing, the answer is “yes.”  Why would children be this cruel? Continue reading Feel Weird About the Commercialism of Black Friday? Try This Idea on for Heart Size.

The 2011 Imaginary Family Project – Week 46

#46 of 52 : HER AUNT
Imaginary Family Project - Week 46

External Photo Clues:
None

Imagine:
The sun was bright but the air was cool as it blew in across the ocean.

Her feet were bare but there was no joy from the sand squishing her toes.  She recalled that feeling used to give her such joy, but that was a long time ago.

She’s older now but she doesn’t have much to show for all the wear and tear.  She’s tired and sat down but soon regretted it for the grit already made her uncomfortable.

She tried to not let her grump spread.  It’s not the beach’s fault.  It’s a great view, a lovely moment in time.  It is just a reminder such moments haven’t been too forthcoming lately.

Maybe it was her fault?

She was willing to shoulder some of the blame, but not everything that has happened to her was a fair cause and effect.  She was then annoyed with the whiney tone she had taken in her head.  She just let it go and then lay down.  She looked up at the clouds.  She remembered she used to do that too.

Calm. Continue reading The 2011 Imaginary Family Project – Week 46

Running, Strolling, and Change on the Horizon

by Michael Mitchell

“It’s always the simple things that change our lives. And these things never happen when you are looking for them to happen. Life will reveal answers at the pace life wishes to do so. You feel like running, but life is on a stroll. This is how God does things.” -Donald Miller

On Monday of this week, I was officially promoted into a new role at the university where I work. And while I wasn’t exactly looking for a new job, had you asked me about this particular role a year ago, I would have probably used the phrase “dream job” to describe it.

It’s funny – looking back at my life the last few years – to see all of the seemingly small things that had to line up in order for this one big change to take place. And yet, as cliche as it may sound, this opportunity came along at a point in my life when I’d recently made a concerted effort to stop striving for that ever elusive “perfect” job. Though I’ve spent a good deal of my brief professional life trying to run, it wasn’t until I finally started trying to stroll that this opportunity materialized.

But enough with the poetic wax.

As I move forward in my new role, which seems (as best as I can tell) to have a fairly steep learning curve, I’m entering into season of pruning in my life (much like the season of pruning that led to my involvement with this blog in the first place) and the time has come for me to step away from the Red Dirt Chronicles. I know this will come as a terrible shock for both of my faithful weekly readers, but trust me, despite an absence of writing from yours truly here on the RDC, the sun will still come up next Wednesday morning.

To my friend Kelly Roberts, thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to write for the Red Dirt Chronicles this last year and a half. Thank you for understanding in those increasingly frequent occurrences when I’ve been late with a post and/or just completely forgotten. Thank you for always reading and commenting on my stuff. Thank you for being such a great editor. Thank you for giving me this outlet to occasionally put my thoughts on manhood, fatherhood, and other mysteries out there for the world to read. Even more than that though, thank you for being a great friend to me and the ladies Mitchell. And please note, you will not find the words farewell or goodbye in this paragraph. Please interpret their absence as an open invitation to pop in on the Mitchell clan anytime you find yourself in northwest Oklahoma City.

To the other RDC contributors, I rarely comment, but I read all of your posts and have loved getting to know you all through your writing. You are a fine group of talented writers and genuinely good people. Thank you for consistenly sharing little pieces of your life with all of us each week.

As I close out this post, I have decided to blatantly plagiarize Rob’s going away piece, and I quote, “I have an exciting new career opportunity and I need to devote my time to [learning] this new job, but I want you to know I will still be reading the RDC as often as I can, and I may even write a piece from time to time. I consider myself so very blessed and so incredibly fortunate to have been a part of this site and I wouldn’t trade this last year for anything!”

Amen brother. I couldn’t have said it better myself… so I didn’t.

God bless and peace out.

[michael]

Not-So-Newlyweds: How to Keep the “Happy” in the Holidays

Remember being a kid and the only holiday stress you had was convincing your parents you were asleep while secretly plotting your position for attempting to catch Santa swooping down your chimney (well, that, and if you’re like me, wondering whether he would come at all, given that you didn’t have that all-important brick structure in your living room)? In those days, turkey magically appeared on the table, along with pumpkin pie and that gelatinous cranberry stuff. Grandma and Grandpa, aunts, uncles, and cousins came over, and joy abounded right there in your dining room.

Then you became an adult. Maybe you got married and realized that the inner workings of such a magical day involved more than you had been led to believe. You became aware of the conspiracy to hide from children the dark side of the holidays, the one in which Grandma and Uncle So-and-So argued for half an hour about whether the turkey was really done, and you were spared from witnessing that car ride with your cousins in which they were threatened within an inch of their lives to not to torture the dog—like they did last year—or to face the direst of consequences at home. Not to mention the whole decision process of where Thanksgiving was going to be and who to spend Christmas with. (“Your family again? We always spend the holidays with your family.” Yes, that discussion). For many years, I too was protected from this less-glamorous side of the holiday season, but now, having been married for a few years, I have learned a few lessons about avoiding holiday disasters and keeping that “happily married” thing going into the New Year.

You can’t force anyone else to use a calendar. Luke’s family are big calendar users. They know their Thanksgiving plans weeks or months in advance. My family (not all, but in general) are a bit more “free-spirited” in their planning and often don’t announce holiday plans until a few days beforehand. Continue reading Not-So-Newlyweds: How to Keep the “Happy” in the Holidays

Rejecting Chumbawamba; Accepting Adolescent Doodles

My therapy. You'll soon find out why...

I experienced two brand new phenomena on Friday, November 18th.

First, I chose to turn on “The Sports Animal” talk radio mid-morning after I heard the OSU plane crash news.  I promise you, that’s never happened before.   Although I’ve been a “victim of the environment” wherein my husband listens to sports talk radio with me in the car, and I choose not to throw a fit “because this is ridiculous and endless ranting about mindless nothingness,” I’ve never made a conscious decision to listen.

Second?  I heard grown men crying openly as they called in to “The Sports Morning” host, recounting the sadness of having two plane crashes impact the OSU Athletic Department and community within ten years.  One man couldn’t finish his comment because he was crying and simply hung up.  Responding to the following caller who was happy and excited about some other BCS Bowl possibility, the radio announcer said, “I wish I didn’t even have to work today.  This feels weird and wrong to be doing this kind of show right now.”

Let’s make that that three new experiences: At that moment, I gained respect for the announcer on Sports Talk Radio.  Continue reading Rejecting Chumbawamba; Accepting Adolescent Doodles

Lessons Learned from Tragedy

A crying cowboy is surrounded by the faces of the ten men who died in a plane crash on January 27th, 2001 (courtesy tulsaworld.com)

Editor’s Note, 11/18/11: After the devastatingly sad plane crash last night that took the lives of Oklahoma State women’s basketball coach and assistant coach, we began to receive a great many reviews of this post (pub. 1/28/11) once again.  Our thoughts and prayers are most certainly extended to the families, team members, and Oklahoma State community for this most recent plane-related tragedy, and to those connected to the two others who died in the crash as well.  Kelly Ogle at News9 just posted a Twitter photo of the girls’ team gathered around the kneeling Cowboy memorial, circling in prayer. You can view the photo HERE. ~ RDK

***

by Rob Loeber

It is impossible to walk past the memorial and not feel…something.  Front and center inside the doors of Gallagher-Iba arena is the tribute to ten men who had their lives cut short.  A single Cowboy kneels and cries, representing the tears of a team, a university, and a state.  Looking out at that Cowboy are the smiling faces of those ten men.  It’s as if one look is at once a reminder of our grief and a lasting image of just how joyful life can be.

Thursday marked the tenth anniversary of the plane crash that claimed the lives of those ten men.  Ten years later, an unspeakable tragedy in a field in Colorado, still echoes in the hearts and minds of everyone who lives in this state.  Those associated with OSU have taken every step to ensure that no one will ever forget what happened on the night of January 27th, 2001.

Time may indeed heal all wounds, but some wounds need to be recognized and embraced for the benefit of those left behind.  This is one of those wounds, and a celebration of those men is exactly what OSU continues to bring forth a decade after their lives were ended.  The University honored those men beautifully on Wednesday night before, during, and after a game against Texas.

Continue reading Lessons Learned from Tragedy

Comfort in Tough Times

by Alfred Lamar Jackson

Dear Readers – we’re going to have a short “A.M.” Simple Sabbath today, then perhaps another “P.M.” post.  I want to thank our first Faith author, Lamar Jackson, for one of his firsts posts that I felt might be fitting for this morning.  Thanks, Lamar… and, thank YOU for reading the RDC and being a part of our community.  As an instructor at Oklahoma State University, I’ve been thinking about my students and some of their friends who are hurting right now due to the most recent loss within the basketball team family.  And, I’ve been thinking about this: “He heals the brokenhearted, binding up their wounds.” Psalms 147:3. Yes, we’ll need the Great Physician around for a while…and I’m glad He’s here. ~ RDK

***

?Definitions?

Tough Times

Let’s be real for a minute –  a tough time can come to anyone at anytime. Just because the government and media tell us that we are in a recession doesn’t mean that it has been easy for everyone to this point in time. I definitely cannot speak for everyone on this, but for those who have been affected by lack of work or losing most of their retirement money due to economic turmoil, there is probably not enough comfort to go around.

Dig In!

Well let’s get right to it. Of course it depends on your source of comfort, right? The Christian-ese answer would be throwing out the verse in Jeremiah 29:11 which says “I know the plans I have for you” says the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Now don’t get me wrong, that is an awesome truth from the Word and has helped many a person through tough times. God does have those plans for us, but those plans don’t happen over night as I should have figured out by now. The hardest thing to do is to see God working toward His plans when we have to go through the hard stuff such as a really terrible day, losing a job, losing a loved one or just coming up short. The great truth is that there is always hope, especially for those in Christ Jesus. God may not change your circumstances.   Or, He might change one thing and not everything else.

Take my Hand

Take My Hand

The key for the believer is faith. In your faith you will find the comfort you seek. Faith in knowing that God is there in your circumstance – walking beside you like a father walks beside his child. As I said, for me it’s the simple things that mean the most to me. I love picturing Christ as my dad and I’m a little kid that just fell and scraped my knee. As I sit on the ground in pain and hold my knee thinking how my world has been shaken, God bends down, takes my hand, picks me up, dusts me off and looks into my eyes with love and says “I’m right here.”

“For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.”
– Isaiah 41:13

On the Horizon: Prisons and Drugs

About 80 percent of prison inmates are there because of a drug conviction or crimes fueled by a drug dependency. I am not one to blame drug dependency or my love of greasy Mexican food on anything more than the lack of self control. I know breaking a drug addiction is difficult, but many people have kicked the habit. So while I am in the no excuses camp, I do believe state prisons are an awfully expensive solution to solve the state’s drug abuse problem. To learn more about the effects of cocaine the body, you may read online articles about cocaine half-life.

My hat is off to Oklahoma’s Speaker of the House Kris Steele who led the passage of the some of the first alternative sentencing laws despite lots of pressure from within his own party not to. A landmark corrections bill, dealing with nonviolent offenders and intended to relieve prison overcrowding, took effect this month. HB 2131, the first significant piece of legislation favoring alternative sentences for nonviolent offenders, expands both the use of community sentencing programs and the electronic monitoring of low-risk, nonviolent inmates.

In this week’s video blog, I introduce you to a guy our tax dollars are paying to house until 2034…at the earliest. Vince loved his cocaine and went on a robbery spree in Tulsa a few years back. He would call a taxi, have them drive him to a Subway sandwich shop, stick his finger in his pocket and then tell the teenager behind the counter to give him all his money. Pretty stupid stuff, and leaves little doubt he must have been on drugs. No surprise he gets caught and under mandatory sentencing gets a huge sentence.

Is Vince a threat or just a person with poor judgment and a drug problem? Take a look at what he has to say and let me know what you think. I am curious if I am just a sucker.

Rob McClendon

A Quota of Blessings

Not long after our wedding, the questions and comments began. You know the ones.

“When are you going to start a family?”

“I think you’d look great pushing a stroller.”

And my favorite….

“You aren’t going to be one of those women who chooses career over motherhood, are you?”

Most people approach having a child as a given and are not shy with their opinions on the matter. Fortunately, I have always wanted children so the pressure I felt was relatively healthy in nature. After a few years of alone time, my husband and I knew the time was right to start a family. The day our daughter was born we underwent an incredible metamorphosis. We were no longer a couple, but a FAMILY.

No sooner had our daughter weaned from the bottle than a new set of questions and comments began.

“When are you going to give Bailey a sibling?”

“You’re going to try for a boy, right?”

And my favorite…

“Only children are spoiled. It’s your responsibility to have more than one child.”

Fortunately again, I envisioned myself with more than one child so the comments aligned with our family goals. We put the questions to rest by adding a precious son to our clan three years after our first was born. Children are blessings and we were overjoyed to grow our family.

Now that my children are ages 7 and almost 4, the questions have a different texture. “Are you done?” seems to be laced with judgment from those with small-family experiences and expectation from those with large families. Continue reading A Quota of Blessings

Heavenly Handbags at “Rawhide ~ Western Culture” in Oklahoma City

Have you ever driven down Broadway, just south of N.W. 10th Street, glanced at Coffee Slingers around the Automobile Alley area of downtown, then seen that super-cool neon red "Rawhide" sign? This is THAT store. A store worth a visit.

“The bicycle shop is gone. Bummer.  I’m sad about that because I was dreaming of this $800 model I was going to ask my family to buy me when I finished my doctorate degree…”

These were my thoughts as I ordered my iced latte from Coffee Slingers.  “Have you visited the new antique store that took the place of the bike shop yet?” I asked the barista.

“No,” she replied.  “I can’t believe I haven’t just WALKED over there…it looks awesome through the window.  Have YOU visited Rawhide yet?”

“Uh….” I hesitated.  “Um, is that the store with that cool sign a couple of doors down?”

“Yeah,” she answered.  “If there’s any store you need to check out around here, it’s that one.  AND ‘Shop Good.’  Have you tried that?  You really need to check it out too!”

Okay.  I could tell I’d been living under a rock for a while.  So I went a couple of doors down.  I love baristas.  They tell it like it is.  If there’s any store you need to check out around 10th and Broadway, it IS “Rawhide.”  Here’s why… Continue reading Heavenly Handbags at “Rawhide ~ Western Culture” in Oklahoma City

The 2011 Imaginary Family Project – Week 45

#45 of 52 : SAMUEL AND JEREMIAH PAINTER
The Imaginary Family Project - Week 45

External Photo Clues:
None

Imagine:
Most people thought him crazy or just dismissed him completely but my brother and I could see a glimmer of truth in old man Dalton’s eyes as he rambled.  A clever man, disillusioned by the many tales he told – so much so that the lines blurred between fantasy and reality.  Then again, where better to hide the truth than amongst several tall tales, protecting it from the distracted masses where only the most passionate seekers would glimpse it and take hold.

Having been heaved forth from deep within the earth millions of years ago the mere existence of the ancient mountain range beckoned, “Come find me.”  The diverse ecology of the Wichita Mountains provided ample places in which to conceal secrets and fertile ground to inspire treasure stories.  The rocky crags even bore his initials.  Was he “him”?  Did he fake his death?  Was the Mexican loot there, the bounty bank right under our noses?  Oh it was there, every bit of it – and probably more!  We could hear it calling to us, taunting us in a game of hide and seek. 

I mean why else would Frank keep a home near it and visit so often?  A farm that cultivated nothing but late night rides at break-neck speed?  Was he searching for something or wanting to be near a supposedly dead brother?

The Good Book says that a wise man keeps his own counsel and that’s exactly what we did.  An occasional influx of people, mostly curiosity seekers, would cause us to momentarily halt our efforts so as not to arouse suspicions or draw them near us.  Those were the times we found most frustrating, not the endless days of searching bramble, wandering deer trails and moving rubble.

The talk increased and spread so far it caught the government’s attention, which all but crippled our efforts.  They obviously found merit in the yarns because establishing an artillery practice area and a wild life refuge in the same vicinity seemed a bit contradictory and created their own conspiracy theories, thus adding life and validity to the account.

Determination and dreams forge us ahead though.  Indian arrowheads abound as does the occasional artifact and trinket, down payments on the promise.  Only time will tell but, we’re close…oh, so close.  I can feel it in my bones, taste it.  Tomorrow.  Yes, tomorrow.  

About The Author:
Tammy Mullins is a published children’s author has been a contributing author and editor of several text books for legal support staff. She is active in her local church community, the Tulsa Orchid Society, and the Pride of Owasso Marching Band. Tammy resides in Owasso/Collinsville, OK, with her husband and four children.

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About The Imaginary Family Project:
The 2011 Imaginary Family Project is a year-long collective art endeavor coordinated by occasional amateur artist Quentin Bomgardner and co-sponsored by The Red Dirt Chronicles.  This project is based around “lost” vintage photographs, which have been acquired at flea markets, garage sales, estate sales, and eBay – heirloom collections, with no heir.  Every week a different author will “find” one photograph by creating an imagined history around one of its subjects.  At the end of the year, the collection will be compiled and presented as a group.

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On the Horizon: Prescription Addiction

Across the country, pharmacy robberies are on the rise, partly because of the increasing demand for prescription drugs. According to law-enforcement, prescription painkillers rank second behind marijuana as the country’s most common illegal-drug problem. Completing an assessment from a qualified substance use treatment professional is the best strategy for determining if someone truly has a substance use disorder and what the level of severity may be. If you or a loved one is struggling with addiction, you might want to look into Addiction treatment Thailand.

Prescription drug abuse cuts across all age groups and economic classes; often times sneaking up on people and taking over their lives. Prescription drug addiction is a problem that often does not end up in rehab; in this week’s video blog we explore the impact prescription addiction is having on our prisons.

Alisa Hines