National Western Heritage Museum in Oaklahoma City

Stayed last night at a nice Drury Inn in Joplin, Mo. then drive a couple hours to Oaklahona City and stopped the the Cowboy Museum. "End of the Trail" is the iconic statue that is housed here and it is truly awesome. This is actually the original that was done by a California artist in early 1900's to commemorate the demise of the American Indian culture. Bronze was not available during first World War so was completed in artist plaster. This museum rescued it from deterioration, brought it to Oklahoma and restored it and then made an exact copy--in bronze--that now resides at the original location (I think at Point Reise in California.) It is a familiar image that we have all seen somewhere over the years but it speaks volumes!! 

Best of western art, in fact it's collection chronicals the history of American art by showing the progression/representation of art in the West from 1880's to present.

Tribute to "Wild Bill Cody" and his legacy--good and bad.

This year's addition to permanent collection.

The grounds

Cowboy Christmas tree

Actually, good smooth driving-- mostly-- we ran into this major slow down near St Louis. Luckily our side of freeway was clear. We dodged the bullet this time.

Jamaican feast and starting journey home

Reynard's Mom treated us to a down-home, real Jamaican meal. She cooked all day and produced a delicious  Ox-tail dinner with West Indian Rice and Peas (we call them red beans.) With Steph's left-over-from-Thanksgiving pumpkin and apple pies for desert,--we ate well!

Hugs all around, then time to start the journey home. Always hard to leave the kids!! First night all the way to Joplin Missouri. 

Stopped to see Grand Falls on the edge of town, just to get out of car and get a little excersize. And enjoy the fresh, fall air. Unfortunate we hit cold, winter weather in Bloomington so we didn't spend much time outside unless we bundled up.  Now we are back to light jacket fall crisp weather. Us Tucsonians can't take the Midwest cold without complaining a whole lot!!

Thanksgiving in Bloomington

Stephanie was the chef of the day and she put on a fabulous Thanksgiving feast. She did a prime rib roast that turned out perfect!

She did have tiny bit of help from Reynard and his Mom, Lola.

We feasted for sure.

And relaxed and enjoyed the day.

Was cold and rainy on Thanksgiving in Indiana. Bundled up and enjoyed a walk anyway. The kid's neighborhood is not far from downtown and interesting neighborhoods to stroll. Lots of leaves fallen to crunch through for a nostalgic fall scene.

Crocheted quilts covering tree trunks for an interesting arts touch. 

Verna

We got word late last night that sister-in-law, Verna, (Will's brother Jay's, wife) quietly passed away and went on to her eternal home with her Lord. We are all devestated at her loss, she is such a vibrant, compassionate, beautiful woman who touched us all and blessed this family.

  Her daughter, Rebecca posted a beautiful tribute on Facebook that lovingly sums up her life.  Here it is:

On November 23, 2021 we said goodbye to an amazing woman, Verna (Kortenhoven) DeBoer, at the young age of 70.

She was so many things: beloved daughter, sister, friend, talented soprano, nurse, wife, mother, hymn singer, psychiatric nurse educator, speed walker, Banket maker, mentor, parish nurse, infectious laugh and happy feet minister, BS meter, high pain tolerater, doting grandmother, and small dog whisperer to name a few.

She became a shell of her previous self to a disease (Parkinson’s) that over 15 years took her body and voice from normal gait, balance, perception, energy, circadian rhythm, and related cognition to rapid deterioration (dementia) of her language skills, memory, and reasoning to a torturous near schizophrenia (psychosis) requiring constant “smile and nod” as she would say. Such irony given her profession. Her treatment and medications gave her comfort and hope until they became the double edged sword of so many illnesses in the end.

For the last year she was at the mercy of our love, our abilities, our time, our patience, our interpretation, our rules, our advocacy, and our honor of her wishes.  

Now she is forever free from “our plan” and always in our memories - until we meet again. Assurance she would soon “Awake My Soul and Sing” was her strongest medicine.  Sing Mama, sing.  

Memorial and livestream TBD (est. 2nd week of December).  Foundation gifts in lieu of flowers also TBD.

RoadTrip

On our way to Bloomington, Indiana to spend Thanksgiving weekend with Stephanie and Reynard. 3 driving days. Good weather, some bad roads--mostly good, we are always complaining about state of our nations roads.  Book on tape, satalite radio, podcasts, Spotify. . .time passed quickly. Good trip

West Texas sunrise

Lots of open road Amarillo Texas to Springfield, Mo. 

This is home store for Bass Pro Shops and worth a stop just to see how huge this complex is. Is a destination store, museum, tourist attraction. We didn't take time to go thru museum and aquarium but plenty of wildlife displays in the sports store itself. Couldn't believe how busy it was on a Monday afternoon.

Driving thru St Louis.

Tour de Tucson

Today was "the Tour."  The annual Tucson bike ride didn't happen last year but was back, big time, this year. Will has been getting ready for weeks and turned out to be a mild, sunny day for a ride around town.

His category was 57 miles and he finished in about 3 hours and 40 minutes.  15 1/2 miles an hour average and clocked in at number 459 out of approximately 2500 riders!!  Yes!! He was tired and stiff when he finished but still smiling. And proud to show off his participation metal.

People lining up at beginning. There are several "rides" to choose from--102 mile, 57 mile, 28 mile and a bunch of fun rides for families and kids all the way down to 2 miles. Great Tucson community event.

Jeep

New proud owner of a new Jeep Wrangler! Picked it up yesterday, had been ordered for what seemed like forever. . .but finally delivered to dealership. Been on Will's wish list a very long time, and when our 2014 Honda began showing signs of impending demise and began to think about trading, he knew what he wanted to do.

He even let me drive it home, pretty fun!! Looking forward to checking out some back roads next summer in Colorado--or maybe right here in Arizona. "Snazberry Red'-- that's the color. He is going to enjoy driving it around town too!

My backyard jungle

In the last week we have had a Bobcat, gazillion Gamble Quail, all the birds and today these two guys showed up.  At the same time!!!  They were not too happy with each other.  The squawking Coopers Hawk alerted us to the visitors.  He didn't like the competition from the Great Horned Owl.  This was right at dusk.  Desert living.

 

Raku Party

We had a Raku party last night. My clay buddy, Glennda, hosts a Raku night in her back yard once a month and invites anyone who wants to come and participate.  I had some tiles I wanted to do.  We have a pot luck supper, then get to work firing the items for the night.  Sharing a little wine and laughter makes for a fun evening--plus we get to see other people's work and get inspired.

Raku is a "quick fire" technique where you bring items quickly to a high temp--maybe 1800 degrees and then carefully and quickly removing red hot items from the kiln and putting them into a contained space that has organic material that instantly flames.  The container is closed to cut off oxygen to the flame and causes smoke to penetrate the hot clay and causes the identifying black finish on the bare clay.

Here is a video that I hope you can open to see my tiles being pulled from the kiln. 

 

Will's newest stained glass

Will has been thinking of Christmas and did a few fun things. He is planning to join me at my next pottery show/sale Dec 5-6 and see if they sell. 

I don't want him to sell this one. I want it!! It's really sweet!  The tallest figures are maybe 6 in tall. Perfect size for my Christmas table. He displays them on a mirror which really sets them off.

6" trees

These hanging angels have a sliced agate for a body and are each as  individual as the stone! You have to see them in the sunlight!

Desert Living--A King Snake

Yep, That's a beautiful Sonoran King Snake all snug in a flower pot!! Now this is a Good snake, for real. They feed on mice and will take on a rattle snake. 

 

Story is. . .I had this badly overgrown Agave in a pot that was tucked back in a grouping of plants and decided it was ugly and needed to get rid of it. It was so rootbound that the only way to get it out of pot was to take a chain saw to cut the sharp leaves off and then chop it out in pieces. We worked and worked and just about to grab pieces with my bare hands and something moved!  We dropped everything. . .

He was gone next morning. Poor thing must have been pretty tramatized with a chain saw ripping at him!?

Love from "the girls"!!

And the best part was the hand written notes that Lia and Aeri sent with these beautiful fold-out cards! You open the cards and a surprise unfolds. Mine was a flower- Grandpa's was a hummingbird.

Play day!  We drive up to Phoenix today. We had tickets to "Van Gogh Immersive" in Scottsdale. Is a multi-media-arts show that is touring the US and is enjoying an extended run here. The audience lingers in the middle of the room while the works of Van Gogh appear, change shape, deconstruct, morph into new visions all around us. The still paintings take on a sureal new perspective. Pretty fun

Should be videos to see it move and change. . .

Then PF Chang's for lunch, some time checking out shops in Old Town Scottsdale, and the long way home through Florence. Nice day out.