Apricity West

April 9, 2021, Friday

Last night was the first night we used A/C - I tried to imagine it was the ocean surf - NOT.  On the road at 6:30am with a full day ahead of us to McAlester, Oklahoma. Road construction everywhere!

 

A different kind of sunrise...

Statue of Sam Houston

 

Huntsville, TX is one of the prisons that held rodeos... 

The Texas Prison Rodeo was launched in 1931 during the depression years, being first held at the baseball park outside the "Walls" Unit. The baseball park, located on the east side of the prison, was normally home to the Walls Tigers baseball team. The rodeo was the brainchild of Lee Simmons, General Manager of the Texas Prison System. Simmons envisioned it as entertainment for employees and inmates. Welfare Director Albert Moore headed up the organization and planning for the early rodeos along with Warden Walter Waid and livestock supervisor, R. O. McFarland. The attendants included a small crowd of local citizens and prisoners. Simmons realized he had a winner on his hands. Two years later, over l5,000 fans traveled to Huntsville for the show. Soon, the Texas Prison Rodeo was drawing the largest crowds for a sporting event in the state of Texas. With a lifespan of more than 50 years, the Prison Rodeo became a Texas tradition, held every Sunday in October. Crowds grew to exceed 100,000 in some years.

 

The rodeo was not held in 1943 due to the war but when it returned in 1944, all profits from the "Victory" rodeo were invested in war bonds to contribute to the war effort. 1950 was the first and only time the show made a road appearance. It was held in Dallas in the early summer. A new structure made of concrete, steel, and brick was built to replace the old baseball stadium. Weekday rodeos were added to the regularly scheduled Sunday performances in some years and in one year, 1942, the rodeos were all held on Thursdays.

 

Due to costly renovations that the prison system said were necessary to the arena stands, the rodeo was shut down after 1986.

 

We bypassed the Interstate that goes through Dallas for more rural routes 79 and 19 - and to see the country. 

Observations in Texas:

• One Baptist church for every 2 ranches 
• Lots of cattle and sooo many baby calves 
• More horses mixed in
• 2 herds of goats
• 6 llamas 
• Huge tree farm at Twin Lakes Ranch
• 2 to 4 lane roads with speed limit from 55 to 75
• Historical Marker signs with numbers to Google to get the full story

Welcome to Oklahoma... originally named Choctaw (Land of the Red Man)...

I was born in Norman, OK but we moved back East when I was 18 months old. Dad was from Pittsfield, MA and Gram and Gramp Bickford still lived there. Our first road trip back to Oklahoma was in our green Hudson with mom, dad and Cindy. Dad took the backseat out and put in mattresses (sans seat belts back then).We left on Thursday afternoon and arrived on Saturday afternoon with one motel stopover. Years later Mom brought all 4 of us girls to visit Gram and Gramp York via sleeper train - we were 2, 5, 9, 11 years old. A distinct memory of mine about Oklahoma is the color of the soil - red. I even brought home a small jar of dirt and rocks as keepsakes. 

 

So I am disappointed to say that the last hour of today's drive was almost as bad as that washboard ride on the desert road in Congress, AZ - bumpity bump all the way. Immediately after the Welcome sign, the roads deteriorated. They were concrete with spacings that caused a bump/clunk every 10 feet or so. I was driving and was so worried about Gracie that I kept checking the rear camera to ensure she hadn’t fallen off. Lily the kitty was so rattled by it that she came up front to the cab to squawk about it. She never leaves the bed while traveling. We couldn’t wait to get to the Indian Nation Toll Road assuming if there was a toll, it would be good. It turned out to be only slightly better than the feeder road and cost $4.50 twice. At last we arrived at the Valley Inn and RV Park, set up for the night, ordered pizza delivery and poured a cocktail. The weather is calling for severe storms throughout the night with up to 70mph winds, possibly tornadoes, but not likely. Should be a restful night (ha!) before the last leg of our next destination - Lake of the Ozarks, Sunset Beach, Missouri. 

 

April 10, 2021, Saturday

Well the winds were not as strong as they predicted, but the rain was torrential with a lightening show for about 1/2 hour at 9pm. The air cooled down considerably allowing for sound sleep. Back onto the toll road at 7:15am - lots of construction in McAlester and beyond, hopefully to correct and widen the !?&^% condition of Highway 69. The view is pretty standard for highway (fields, trees, trains) until there is water - miles of lake(s?) on both sides of the road with choppy brown water. When I mentioned it to my mother on our daily phone call, she said it was probably man-made which shocked me. So I Googled it and, lo and behold, Oklahoma has the largest number of lakes created by dams of any state in the United States, with more than 200. This body of water is Eufaula Lake, a reservoir, the largest man-made lake (159.4 sq. miles) in Oklahoma. Measured by surface area, it is the 34th largest lake in the United States. Oh and the water was brown (called turbidity) due to those rains last night. 

 

Then the highway barrels right through the center of Muskogee 5 lanes wide lined with gas stations, motels, pharmacies, and traffic lights - OY! We are surrounded by trailer trucks making their way north too. I have noticed several signs for Amish restaurants and bakeries - who knew? 

 

In the town of Chouteau, still on the industrialized “highway”, we came upon a 2 car accident and both drivers were still trapped in their cars. Thankfully they were both conscious. 

 

Unsuspecting cattle en route to...

Red Bud trees

We arrived at Kibbie and Phil Rolf’s beautiful lake-house on Lake of the Ozarks at 2pm. Kibbie (a family surname) is a cousin of Rich’s late wife, Tress, and they grew up like sisters in Whitehall visiting “Gam" Clute at 17 Potter Street where the women folk ran the Guest House. So the stories were flying about their memories of the good old days. Kibbie pulled out her high school yearbook (she was 3 years behind Rich and Tress) and they went through most of it while Phil and I looked on with smiles. Her mother and father ran a GM car dealership in Whitehall and she knows everything there is to know about maintenance, repair and all makes and models. I was impressed that they were all able to recall what cars they had and when, including exterior/interior colors, year, make and model, cylinders, et al. Kibbie went to college in Missouri and ended up staying here. She and Phil have been married 44 years with 2 daughters, and 7 grands. 

This lake-house has 5 baths (3 of which are en suites), 5 bedrooms, a game room, an office nook, pantry that is stocked with everything imaginable, huge brick fireplace, an inset brick fire pit designed by Kibbie, 1600 sq. ft. of decks on 3 levels and is filled with a spirit of kindness and caring. 

April 11, 2021, Sunday

Well it turns out that Lake of the Ozarks is another man-made lake which was dammed in 1929, the largest private construction project in the US during the Depression.

A hydroelectric project in the Ozarks of central Missouri spared a large segment of the country from the hunger and poverty gripping the rest of the United States. The industrialization following WWI, the massive electrification of American cities, and the growing movement to bring electric power to the farms capped by the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 spurred the massive construction project. Bagnell Dam would harness the Osage River and produce electricity for a growing nation.

 

All construction of the Bagnell Dam was done by hand labor. Thousands upon thousands of men dug dirt and rock. They hauled it by mule team and wagon. They built wood forms to hold massive amounts of concrete while it cured. They set tons of iron and steel to create the largest man-made lake in the United States from the waters of the Osage, Niangua, Grand Glaze, and Gravois rivers... By the spring of 1932, the lake had reached full pool, but not full potential.

 

Knowledge Nuggets:

20,000 men were hired working 24 hours a day

Paid 35 cents per HOUR - during the depression farm workers were paid 50 cents per DAY

At a cost of $30 million 

55,000 acres - stretching 92 miles from end to end with 1,150 miles of shoreline with 30,000 docks 

 

In 2021 Lake of the Ozarks was voted by USA Today readers the best recreational lake in the nation. It attracts so many tourists in the summer that Kibbie and Phil find it necessary to leave their lake-house of 14 years for their many travels. They are both very active members of the local Elks Club which organizes volunteer/fund raising events and group travel around the country.

It is said that the name of Dogwood developed because dogs were washed with a brew from its bark. It is the state tree of Missouri and this poem is hanging in the guest room. 

 A Dogwood Legend

 

In Jesus' time the dogwood grew 

To a stately size and a lovely hue

Twas strong and firm as oak-branches interwoven 

For the cross of Christ its timbers were chosen.

 

Seeing the distress at this use of their wood 

Christ made a promise which still holds good: 

"Never again shall the dogwood grow

Large enough to be used so

It shall slender and twisted be

With blossoms like to the cross for all to see.

As bloodstains the petals marked in brown – 

The blossoms center shall wear a thorny crown. 

All who see it will remember me

Crucified on a cross from the dogwood tree. 

Cherished and protected this tree shall be 

A reminder to all of my agony."

 

My rendition of a dogwood cross

Google - The dogwood petals instead are modified leaves called bracts that surround a cluster of about 20 tiny yellow flowers (the crown). As the flowers bloom, the showy bracts expand to attract pollinating insects. Each bract has a dark red-brown indentation at its tip (blood stains - stigmata).

 

April 12, 2021, Monday

Kibbie picked out this picture of Rich’s art and will hang it in their bedroom next to the framed letter below. It is long, but so appropriate for these times of environmental concerns:

 

"This is Precious Earth", by Chief Seattle

From Commencement Speaker - John L. Morris, 1995

In 1854, the "Great White Chief" in Washington (President Franklin Pierce) made an offer for a large area of Indian land (currently Washington State) and promised a "reservation" for the Indian people.

Chief Seattle's reply published here, has been described as the most beautiful and profound statement on the environment ever made.

THIS EARTH IS PRECIOUS
How can you buy or sell the sky, the warmth of the land? The idea is strange to us. If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them?

All Sacred

Every part of this earth is sacred to my people. Every shining pine near every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every clearing and humming insect is holy in the memory and experience of my people. The sap which courses through the trees carries the memories of the red man. Our dead never forget the beautiful earth, for it is the mother of the red man. We are part of the earth and it is part of us.

The perfumed flowers are our sisters; the deer, the horse, the great eagle, these are our brothers. The rocky crests, the juices in the meadows, the body heat of the pony, and man - all belong to the same family.

Not Easy
So, when the Great Chief in Washington sends word that he wishes to buy our land, he asks much of us. The Great Chief sends word he will reserve us a place so that we can live comfortably to ourselves. He will be our father and we will be his children. So we will consider your offer to buy our land.

But it will not be easy. For this land is sacred to us.

This shining water that moves in the streams and rivers is not just water, but the blood of our ancestors.

If we sell you our land, you must remember that it is sacred, and you must teach your children that it is sacred and that each ghostly reflection in the clear water of the lakes tells of events and memories in the life of my people.

The water's murmur is the voice of my father's father.

Kindness
The rivers are our brothers; they quench our thirst. The rivers carry our canoes and feed our children. If we sell you our land, you must remember, and teach your children, that the rivers are our brothers, and yours, and you must henceforth give the rivers the kindness you would give any brother.

We know that the white man does not understand our ways. I do not know. Our ways are different from your ways.

The sight of your cities pains the eyes of the red man. But perhaps it is because the red man is a savage and does not understand.

There is no quiet place in white man's cities. No place to hear the unfurling of leaves in spring, or the rustle of an insect's wings.

But perhaps it is because I am a savage and do not understand.

 

The clatter only seems to insult the ears. And what is there to life if a man cannot hear the lonely cry of the whippoorwill or the arguments of the frogs around a pond at night? I am a red man and do not understand.

The Indian prefers the soft sound of the wind darting over the face of a pond, and the smell of the wind itself, cleaned by a midday rain, or scented with the pinion pine.

Precious
The air is precious to the red man, for all things share the same breath - the beast, the tree, the man. They all share the same breath.

But if we sell you our land, you must remember that the air is precious to us, that the air shares its spirit with all the life it supports. The wind that gave our grandfather his first breath also receives his last sigh.

 

And if we sell you our land, you must keep it apart and sacred, as a place where even the white man can go to taste the wind that is sweetened by the meadow's flowers.

One Condition
So we will consider your offer to buy our land. If we decide to accept, I will make one condition: The white man must treat the beasts of this land as his brothers.

 

I am a savage and I do not understand any other way. I have seen a thousand rotting buffaloes on the prairie, left by the white man who shot them from a passing train. I am a savage and I do not understand how the smoking iron horse can be more important than the buffalo that we kill only to stay alive.

What is man without the beasts? If all the beasts were gone, man would die from a great loneliness of spirit. For whatever happens to the beasts, soon happens to man. All things are connected.

The Ashes
You must teach your children that the ground beneath their feet are the ashes of your grandfathers. So that they will respect the land, tell your children that the earth is rich with the lives of our kin. Teach your children what we have taught our children, that the carth is our mother. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. If men spit upon the ground, they spit upon themselves. This we know: The earth does not belong to man; man belongs to the earth. This we know. All things are connected like the blood which unites one family. All things are connected.

Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. Man did not weave the web of life: he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.

Even the white man, whose God walks and talks with him as friend to friend, cannot be exempt from the common destiny.

We may be brothers after all.

 

April 13, 2021, Tuesday

Another sad goodbye. We are so thankful to have stayed with the Rolfs. They have a wealth of knowledge and we learned so many tidbits from them. Listening to Phil answer scam calls had us in stitches. They were such gracious hosts and sent us off with a delectable bag of goodies to get us through the day!

 

So it’s a travel day - heading in the direction of home, East on Interstate 70. Welcome to Illinois... Welcome to Indianapolis, Indiana...

We crossed into Eastern Standard time in Terre Haute, Indiana. Welcome to Ohio... The scenery is freshly tilled farmland with ponds, no livestock, green budding trees, more gorgeous Red Bud trees, and 18 wheelers galore as soon as we hit Illinois. Golfers on a golf course in Ohio. We saw more patrol cars today than we have seen the entire trip. 

 

April 14, 2021, Wednesday 

On the road at 5:45am - can’t believe the traffic on I-71 already. There were at least 35 trucks pulled over in a rest area. Another 20 miles down the road were 10 pulled over at a Flying J off ramp; 20 more miles and there were  25 on both sides of the road. OMG! Every rest area has a dozen on each side up until 9am. Not to mention the ones already up and running. A billboard we passed said, "If you bought it, trucks brought it.” Welcome to Pennsylvania… sighting Lake Erie on the left. Welcome to New York… now on I-90 and barely any traffic - toll charges start in NY. The Erie Canal is extremely low - you can hardly see it from the road at times. 

 

April 15, 2021, Thursday 

The weather forecast is showing a winter watch tonight and Friday! We had planned to spend the day in Glens Falls at Nora’s, but decided to head to Lee via Perry’s house and Whitehall. It was great to see Nora, Perry and their families, though briefly. Now heading to Lee after traveling 6,505 miles in 4 months! It's been a treasured learning experience with countless new memories in the bank.

 

The name of this blog, Apricity West, refers to “warmth of the sun” in the West. Now that we are heading East in Spring, I hope we will enjoy the warmth of the sun there (once this storm passes). Signing off for now until the next adventure… Monda and Rich