New Years Eve Libations

The makings of White Russians!

The great Johnny Bench

I wasn't a big sports nut growing up, but every red-blooded Oklahoma boy knew who Johnny Bench was. As close to a sports hero as I ever had as a kid.

Once could easily make the case the JB is the greatest catcher of all time (though Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez is gaining ground fast). In his book "Catch Every Ball", Bench relates the story of the rookie pitcher who insisted on throwing a fastball, regardless of the fact that Johnny kept waiving him off. Eventually Bench relented and let him throw his heat, which he CAUGHT WITH HIS BARE HANDS. I'm pretty sure that pitcher remembered his manners from that point forward.

Bench is a class act too. No "Tiger-Woods-type" scandals in this guys history.

I am quite proud to have his statue in front of my hometown ballpark!

Here Comes More Snow

Ziggy -- the birthday boy!

Today is Ziggy's 3rd birthday!

Sunset on our snowy street

Christmas eve blizzard

Oklahoma City had a blizzard on Christmas Eve. 14"+ (a record for any snow event in OKC
recorded history). Only the 5th white Christmas in recorded history for this town.

Here are a few of the pictures I took:

First a couple of the snow actually falling:




Then, some more snow covered things:

New with love and respect to old...

Meet the new kid. My big Christmas present. The Nikon D3000. Sleek, light, and very cool. I love it and will be taking many many pictures with it.

That is NOT to say that I'm tossing my old, reliable, amazing buddy Mr. D70



This camera has been an amazing photography companion, and I look forward to using BOTH cameras quite a bit going forward.

Snow in OKC

Growing up in OKC (1963 - 1984), we had 1, count'em 1, white Christmas, and that was a few flurries in 1974 (I think).

So far today, we are at about 6", and they think it will not stop until about 6:00pm.

Don't try to tell me that there is no evidence of global climate change.

Ahhh... Clearly a traditionalist when it comes to Christmas decorations

Winter Trees

I find myself looking at these leafless trees and I'm somewhat captured by the stark beauty of the geometry within.

Holiday tradition saved!

Our family has a holiday tradition surrounding Nouveau Beujolais. Each year, we try to drink a bottle together sometime before the first of the year. For those of you who are unaware, the Nouveau is one of the few wines that is marketed in the same year that the grapes are picked (it's actually a "Primeau" by strictest definition).

By drinking a bottle before the end of the year, we are trying to capture and share
"the luck of the vines".

Now, this year, we didn't manage to crack it open at Thanksgiving. We took it to Waco, thinking we would share it with the kids down there, but for some reason, we never opened it. We left the bottle down there so that they could share it sometime in the next two weeks, figuring we could surely pick another bottle up on our way home (through Dallas).

Imagine our surprise, when we stopped at 3 different places and NONE of them had it in stock.

Luckily, I found what I believe to be the very last liquor store in OKC to carry it, so Christmas is SAVED!!

Lines, Shadows, Grass, and Rolls Royce

Freeway overpass sign

I am in total agreement with The Midwest City Chamber of Commerce!

A little too much school spirit

In my recent break, I had honestly forgotten the thrill of driving around with my Nikon handy, ready to grab the most bizarre (aka batsh*t insane) stuff that I see. It really sharpens my observational skills.

This, for example, was on the side of the road on my way back from lunch. Tired of the usual stuff, I decided to drive around a little farther than usual from the grindstone to fast food other than Sonic, Taco Bell, or McDonalds. In this quest (I landed at Quiznos), I came across this on a street I had yet to venture down until now.

For those of you who aren't quite sure what you are looking at, this is a "discount caskets to the public" store, and what do you find in thier showroom window?



That, my friends, is a "Sooner Crimson" casket with the University of Oklahoma's logo enblazoned right above where your face would be if you were to be the final owner of this beauty.

LED Wrapped Trees at Chesepeake

Went to the Chesepeake corporate HQ campus this evening. They have lit up each and every tree in the joint with bright shiney LED strands.

Here are some other shots:

Criss-Crossing lines

The coffee cup that says it all

At my previous job, one of our purchasing agents (thanks Craig!) got this mug for me from one of our chemical supply houses.

The warnings include:

"Harmful if swallowed", "May cause cancer based on animal studies", and "Can cause reproductive effects".

The MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) is equally disturbing.

Now, if you excuse me, my morning cup-o-joe awaits...

Snowman tips his hat

Sunrise OKC through the trees

Snowy Woods

Fish on Green Wall

FYI, the green textured wall is painted wallpaper, and the shark is taken from Frank Zappa's "Yellow Shark" CD.

Brrrrr

Hey remember back on July 10th, when I posted a 109 degree day?



And it's still a week and a half from the first day of Winter!

Raw Rural Kansas Shot

Last weekend we attended a memorial service for my sister-in-law's father in Moran, Kansas. It was actually our second trip to Kansas that week (we had gone up to Wichita to see "Avenue Q" on the previous Wednesday), and we are headed up again (well, to Kansas City, MO, anyway) this weekend to visit with Caryn's folks.

This grain storage site against the cold-but-sunny-blue Kansas sky caught my eye.

Lots of lights

With the rapidly decreasing cost of LED Christmas lights, the "enrobing" of facades of buildings in colored and white lights is becoming much more popular.

All of these buildings are within about 3 blocks of each other near downtown Oklahoma City.

USS Oklahoma Anchor

This being the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, it seemed fitting to post this -- one of the 3 anchors retrieved from the wreckage of the USS Oklahoma, which was sunk by 5 torpedos in that battle.

And, yes, this is my first post in many a moon. Sorry about that - I've got pics for the next few days at least, and if I can just get back into the habit, we'll be celebrating the 1000th post before too much longer.