“Shadow Eyes” – Local Author Releases First Work

When Dusty Crabtree thought about writing, she generally gravitated toward short stories or essays. She is a high school English teacher here in the Oklahoma City area and has had plenty of opportunities to teach and edit the writing of others.  But time to write a complete work herself? Well…

But she had a friend and that friend gave her an encouraging nudge.  And before long, her ideas and characters about darkness, light, shadows, morals and choices every teen can relate to came to fruition.  “Shadow Eyes” was the resulting junior fiction novel and it is now for sale.  And, receiving great reviews.  Check out what’s being said thus far about the novel on Amazon:

“Such a great read! MAKE YOU[R] TEENAGE DAUGHTER READ THIS!!!! Help them understand it[‘s] okay not to give in to peer pressure!” ~musapublishing

“I am a mother of a young teenager and this is definitely a book I will encourage her to read as she hits high school age. I love the way that this book shows there are forces out there that can influence us in negative ways and that we have a choice to follow them or not.” ~Amazon

“Awesome book! Picked it up at 7 in the evening and didn’t put it back down til I finished reading at 2 am. The way the author introduces the characters draws you in from the beginning and never lets go. I would recommend this book to anyone.” ~Amazon

Crabtree feels that reading is a way of assisting students AND adults in building decision-making skills.  She writes:

“I intentionally wrote Shadow Eyes to be a moral-promoting book with life-changing lessons, while still being intriguing and appealing to teens as well as adults. I want to get Shadow Eyes into the hands of teens who desperately need positive role-models and media that will uplift them instead of teach them that being immoral is okay. Teens are my passion – I’m a high school teacher and youth sponsor at our church. Writing this book was just another avenue for me to pursue that passion.”

Let’s take a few glimpses into this work.  After all, you might want to know a little bit about the storyline, right?

Iris Kohl lives in a world populated by murky shadows that surround, harass, and entice unsuspecting individuals toward evil. But she is the only one who can see them. She’s had this ability to see the shadows, as well as brilliantly glowing light figures, ever since an obscure, tragic incident on her fourteenth birthday three years earlier. (language from the Shadow Eyes pages on Goodreads.com)

Curious?  How about a few quotes from the manuscript? Continue reading “Shadow Eyes” – Local Author Releases First Work

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On the Horizon: Ag is Everywhere, Just Ask a Teacher

One hundred years ago nearly every man, woman and child had to be involved in growing the food and fiber he or she needed simply to survive. Today only about two percent of the American population grows all we need, leaving the rest of us to grow in other areas: in medical advancement, communication and information technology, space exploration, the arts and much more.

Most of us are three or four generations removed from the farm, but all of us depend on agriculture. Tomorrow’s leaders must be agriculturally-literate to protect and preserve the advantages we gain from a strong agriculture. Building that essential literacy is the purpose of Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom.

The Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom curriculum features lessons for grades pre-K-8. The lessons use agricultural topics and ag-related activities to reinforce core skills in Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Visual Arts and Music. Most of the lessons are interdisciplinary and teach many of the Oklahoma State Department of Education’s Priority Academic Student Skills (P.A.S.S). On top of that, they’re really fun lessons. In some ways, I wish I would have had Ag in the Classroom when I was going to school. It might have made learning more enjoyable.

Now there are even programs designed for teachers so they can learn how to better teach using the curriculum and also demonstrate agricultural practices to their students. Each teacher has her/his own approach to teaching but some are more creative than others and are able to make learning about agriculture fun and exciting every day for their students.

In this week’s video blog, meet Shirley Lettkeman, this year’s “Ag in the Classroom” Teacher of the Year who you can tell is very dedicated about letting her students know where their food comes from.
~ Alisa Hines

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My Little Victory Garden: Yellow and Green Tomato Pappardelle with Grilled Lamb Steaks

I think one of the most pleasant surprises I’ve experienced over the past few months is the discovery of genuinely good tasting produce coming from local hoop and green house operations.

Case in point: Crow’s family farm in Shawnee, Oklahoma.  They showed up at the OKC Farmer’s Market this past Saturday with large, “real-smelling” red, yellow and green tomatoes.  And while I appreciated the fact that they still had a few purple shelled peas, some pumpkin puree and a few other items, my brain was already dreaming up the week’s meals with plates covered in orange-yellow, low-acid tomatoes.

After a quick stop by the herb section to grab thyme (mine died in the drought last year), I then headed to the Urban Agrarian to think about my centers of the plate.  I wanted…Spring, earthy and “Easter-ish.”  My solution included some Cordero Farms Lamb Steaks and four ounces of fresh Della Terra fresh pappardelle pasta.  I bought a few other things like a nice package of Cacioavera and some purple asparagus just for good measure, then headed home to cook good things!

I thought through all kinds of possibilities in the car on the way home, but settled on this dinner for hubby and I: Grilled Herbed Lamb Steak with Green and Yellow Tomato Pappardelle.  

When making this meal, it is best to prep the lamb steaks at least 1 or 2 hours before grilling.  Refrigerating overnight could be even better.  Lamb steaks are tender cuts of meat and delicious choices for center of the plate.  They’re also a little less expensive than lamb chops but still pack a nice punch for a special dinner. You’ll even notice that there is a nice natural segmentation straight across the center within the muscle so if want to cut them in half and serve light portions to two people, it’s an easy task.

In the food processor mix:

1 tsp sea salt; 3 garlic cloves; 4 sage leaves; strip one 6″ sprig of rosemary; 6-8 mint leaves.  Pulse until well minced. Make sure and breathe deeply for a nice aroma-therapy session while you cook!  Continue reading My Little Victory Garden: Yellow and Green Tomato Pappardelle with Grilled Lamb Steaks

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My Little Victory Garden: Local Raspberries and Blackberries Do Their Vines Proud

Note:  I didn’t write on Easter, but I did collect photos and cook on Saturday night.  I’ll have a NEW MLVG post up later today. I may write on my lunch hour since I’m excited to share the deliciousness of our local goodness very soon.  In the meantime, I’m sharing this “blackberry” post from last year.  I have a feeling our Oklahoma berry vines will be producing a little early this year, so it’s already time to think about how you might enjoy their goodness.  If you’ve not yet tried “pick your own” at Sorghum Mill, I definitely recommend them.  They have a lovely operation. Thanks, RDK

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(Originally published May 31, 2011): Normally we Okies can anticipate berry season by thinking: Mother’s Day – strawberries; Memorial Day weekend – time for blackberries, raspberries and blueberries.  However, I mentioned last week that this year brought a cruel weather pattern. Berry farmers are still suffering the consequences of an extended Fall/Spring drought as well as three or four dips during the winter to temperatures at ten below zero.

The owner of Sorghum Mill Christmas Tree and Blackberry Farm particularly noted the cold weather for what they’re seeing now: the freeze may have damaged the ability for the normal flow of water and nutrients to feed their bushes.  The berries are simply not themselves this year.  Nor are the berries nearly as abundant.

I stopped by to check on Sorghum Mill Farms Memorial Day afternoon.  She and I talked a bit on the porch and she allowed me an early peek into the harvest, although she said they would be ready for the public in about two weeks.  She was right.  Normally, their berries are (seriously) approximately 1.5 to even 2″ long.  They’re monstrous.  But not this year.  And it appears that what berries they have are not only about half the normal size, but are much more sparse. Continue reading My Little Victory Garden: Local Raspberries and Blackberries Do Their Vines Proud

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The Hunger Games meets Screwtape

Gratitude looks to the Past and love to the Present; fear… looks ahead.”  Screwtape

The Hunger Games and Screwtape

Max McLean as C.S. Lewis' "Screwtape"

Recently I saw an amazing performance of the classic C.S. Lewis novel, The Screwtape Letters. The play, brilliantly performed by award winning actor Max McLean, follows the schemes and thinking of a demon named Screwtape. The story is based on a view of spiritual warfare from a Hell’s point of view as told to a Junior Devil.

So, a few days later as I sat in the movie theater watching The Hunger Games, I was thinking of the psychology of evil. More particularly, the lies and temptations wrought by the Evil One.  I couldn’t help but view President Snow as the Devil himself, a schemer.

The strategy of Screwtape and the artfully manipulative plans of President Snow seemed eerily similar. Much as Screwtape offered careful advice to his protégé, Wormwood, so too we see President Snow mentoring his henchman, Seneca. In a scene that was particularly “Screwtape-ish” we hear the genius of evil:

“…why do we have a winner?” President Snow asks Seneca.  Then Snow answers his own question, “Hope.”

Hope?” Seneca replies slightly bewildered.

Hope, it is the only thing stronger than fear. A little hope is effective, a lot of hope is dangerous,” Snow declares.

Spark is fine, as long as it’s contained. So, contain it,” Snow warns.

I wanted to stand up during the movie and yell, “Did you hear that!”

I wanted to stop the movie and talk about hope and fear. Moreover, I wanted to yell at the Devil and say, “You can’t contain it!  You tried. You scattered the followers of Jesus Christ and watched them hide in fear on that dark Friday. You laughed when they brutally executed Him and put Him in a tomb. Ha! You thought you had contained Hope. You lose!” Continue reading The Hunger Games meets Screwtape

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