The preacher at my church read a few lines from Harry Chapin’s classic, “Cat’s in the Cradle” in his Father’s Day sermon last weekend. Below are the lyrics he read:
A half century has passed since President Kennedy challenged our nation to do what most thought to be impossible: Land a man on the moon. Yet in just eight years, Neil Armstrong made that giant step for mankind…thanks in great part to the work of several Oklahomans.
Per capita, Oklahoma has more former astronauts than any other state and many were in attendance at an event to honor the fiftieth anniversary of the race into space. Former astronauts and NASA workers gathered at the Oklahoma History Center to commemorate the 50th anniversary of JFK’s challenge to Congress:
“I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish.” – John F. Kennedy
Few people embody Oklahoma’s pioneering spirit more than General Thomas P. Stafford…a man whose mother came to the state in the back of a covered wagon, while he later rocketed into space. The same passion that took General Stafford to the moon is still evident today in his work to educate a new generation about science and technology.
This week in our video blog, we visit the Stafford Air and Space Museum in Weatherford, Oklahoma to look into our country’s aerospace history, as well as, the life of an extraordinary Oklahoman.
This past week, I picked up my second order from the Oklahoma Food Cooperative. I had been waiting for leeks to be ready, and they finally were. Leeks, new potatoes, creme fraiche, beef bones, chuck roast, ribeyes! (my husband’s 50th birthday is in July), fresh broccoli, fresh corn, and seventy-five pounds of Stratford peaches.
Yes, seventy-five pounds.
My daughter, her friend, and a former supervisee were canning. Oh, that I could just taste fresh peaches every day I might write more like Shakespeare!
I’m going to tell you about some of this produce and how it turned into a delightful meal, but first I need to share with you why Cucuzza squash might actually be Audrey II in the next production of Little Shop of Horrors. (The guy sure looks like plant food to me!) By the way, I think Levi Stubbs did such a great job with that song. But that’s beside the point. The POINT is that I told myself last year I couldn’t grow squash in my small raised gardens.
Then I changed my mind. I was in Lowe’s, I sauntered over to the seed packets, glanced casually along the top of the veggie packets and then hesitated. “Cucuzza Squash?” I thought. “What is that? Hmmm…” I read that it’s a yellow-green heirloom Italian summer squash you pick when it’s approximately eight to ten inches long. And, when left to its own devices, it continues to grow then dry into a gourd. “Hmmm….” Continue reading My Little Victory Garden: Leeks and the Squash Monster→
Crickets. Do you hear them? That’s because I’m not at The Ranch. I headed back to my hometown of Chickasha, Oklahoma for a 30 year class reunion. A lot of times people head back to their childhood homes and think everything seems small. That was not the case for me this week.
Now this is some summer fun!
You remember playing in the sprinker, don’t you? The 100 degree temperatures were trying to dry out the grass on the sod farm. I guess it just wasn’t going to happen today. I had to drive out to the motor and get a closer look at this. I think the neighborhood kids could be quite happy after lunch once this got turned on.
Wind turbines have moved into Minco.
Wind mills were never a rare sight in Oklahoma, but since I’ve been away, several wind turbines have moved into my home state along Highway 81. The famous Oklahoma wind is going to be harnessed by these incredibly large “windmills” and turned into usable energy. These turbines are growing in popularity and come in a variety of sizes. The blades alone are about 116 feet long and are placed on top of a 212 foot tower. The three blades cover about an acre of air space as they turn. These two wind turbines in the photo to the left make the trees in the same photo look like shrubs.
I ate fifty cents worth of a $2.00 pancake.
Also in Minco located at the southwest corner of the stop light sits the Coffee Cup cafe. That location has been some kind of restaurant since I can remember. I stopped in to have a cup of coffee and a little breakfast one morning after checking out the wind farm. I ordered just one pancake and some bacon. When I spun around on the stool to face my plate, I was amazed! Continue reading Small Town: BIG Fun→
Note from Editor: Reposted in honor of Father’s Day, 2011
I read the following quote not too long ago in a book about NFL great, Joe Ehrman and I couldn’t agree more with his assessment of what being a real man is all about.
“Masculinity, first and foremost, ought to be defined in terms of relationships. It ought to be taught in terms of the capacity to love and to be loved. If you look over your life at the end of it… life wouldn’t be measured in terms of success based on what you’ve acquired or achieved or what you own. The only thing that’s really going to matter is the relationships that you had. It’s gonna come down to this: What kind of father were you? What kind of husband were you? What kind of coach or teammate were you? What kind of son were you? What kind of brother were you? What kind of friend were you? Success comes in terms of relationships.
And I think the second criterion – the only other criterion for masculinity – is that all of us ought to have some kind of cause, some kind of purpose in our lives that’s bigger than our own individual hopes, dreams, wants, and desires. At the end of our life, we ought to be able to look back over it from our deathbed and know that somehow the world was a better place because we lived, we loved, we were other-centered, other focused.”