Oklahoma Trip

Last week I finally got back to my home state of Oklahoma. I hadn't been back since January, so my visit was highly over due. This trip was the first time that Zane got to take part in "farm" activities. The things that I did on a daily basis growing up are now things that the grandchildren do occasionally on their trips to the farm. Sadly, some of the biggest farm activities revolved around doing farm work with Grandpa, which Zane will never be able to experience. His presence and memories of him are everywhere there, which at times is comforting, but since I am rarely there it is still very difficult to deal with.

The main reason for this trip was to take part in two different dedication ceremonies for the science complex at Pioneer High School which is now the Danny Blakley Science complex. It was a great honor to represent my father and the legacy he left in the community. Dad taught at Pioneer for 35 years and attended school there before that. As a teacher his main purpose wasn't teaching science, it was teaching high school kids how to be good people, make good decisions, and see a bigger world than the tiny community from which they came. I had dad in class in high school and many days there was no discussion of science, but large discussions on decision making, or using your life as a force for good in the world. Don't worry we learned Chemistry as well, but those are not the lessons that students truly took away from his class. This was proven again as many students spoke of the lessons they had learned from Mr. Blakley.  He would be so happy to know they were listening and they got it.

We were blessed with wonderful weather, though slightly on the cool side, for all kinds of farm fun. Zane had his first experience with chickens. He stayed safely outside the fence, for now, but I'm sure he will be ready to gather eggs just as soon as the chickens are ready  to lay them. The boys, sans Zane, went fishing at two different locations. The bridge, where we could see huge carp and catfish, and the shale pit where they actually caught quite a few fish. This was Brendan's first fishing trip and judging by the amount of time they were gone he seemed to have a great time. I wasn't really part of the fish fun because the girls ( and Zane) went to Amanda's graduation party. Congrats Amanda on graduation high school at the top of your class.

 There were Easter egg hunts, porch time, sand box fun, bad mitten games, camping, and bon fires. I got to visit with two of my best friends, Emily and Anna, both of whom sat with me at graduation, providing great comfort as always. It was fun to watch Zane and Kyser try to figure out how to "play" with each other. So far I don't think they have it figured out, but they were adorable together. Anna and I tried to start plans for her wedding which is always fun. And of course I got to spend so much needed time with my family. I got to be an Aunt while other people who were watching my child, which I always love.

 I also got to take Zane to two of my favorite places growing up, the hay bales and the wheat field. Growing up we spent hours running up and down the long rows of round bales in the summer. It was never ending fun! I was shocked, during this recent visit to the hay bales, to realize that I had forgotten how to get up onto the hay bale. I seemed to think that I should be able to just hop right up there, maybe this was the case when I was younger, but now I have to dig my foot into the end of the bale and climb my way. I vaguely remember this being how my mom got on to the hay bales when I was younger, sigh.

We also spent a lot of time in or around wheat fields. We would run through them, this resulted in very cut up lengths, but it's fun to hide in the wheat. We also had at least one photo session a year in the wheat field. This usually was when the wheat was beautifully gold, almost ready for harvest. The wheat wasn't quite completely turned, but it made for a beautiful pictures anyway, with that huge blue Oklahoma sky and flat sky line that I so dearly miss. I love these pictures!