The heatwave continues unabated, I am sure it was hotter than yesterday but I haven't looked at any weather maps.
I was out and about this morning, I went to my favourite shop, the Dollar Store. I was going to a Baby Shower later in the afternoon, so shopped for baby products; lotion, talcum powder, bibs, etc.
The Senior Centre this afternoon was quite busy, but I left at 4 to get ready and find my way to the Baby Shower. It was for one of the Family Promise guests who was pregnant when we last hosted them at Emmanuel. Elizabeth at Emmanuel offered to host it but it was held at the Day Centre. I arrived a little early and was offered a conducted tour of the facility, which is in a big four bedroom house. They have four families at a time on the programme.
The baby was just born last night so the mother was still in the hospital, and the father opened the presents.
He seemed very delighted and appreciative of everything, all the little outfits and presents, there were members there from all the participating churches.
Elizabeth from Emmanuel is seated on the floor. She is training to be a priest and has recently retired from her nursing career. She is one of the leaders in the church and does a tremendous amount.
Sunday
Being the 5th Sunday we had a bring and share lunch after the 9.30 Service, I think I mentioned I was taking brownies I'd got from the Kiwani bake sale. I also made a brown rice salad out of pity for the vegetarians.
After the lunch Fr Bill spoke for a while about taking the church forward.
I must have been very tired, I have this belief that because I am old I don't need much sleep so tend to go to bed very late. When I got home I thought I'd have a nap and slept soundly until 6 o'clock, after which I watched the Food Network competitions on television.
Monday
Out and about this morning, picking up the flowers from Emmanuel to take to the hospital chapel. Before going round the floor I spent quite some time in the office hanging out with Larry and someone else, talking mainly about the changes in the hospital now that it is being run by a Catholic foundation, or organisation. It is beginning to become apparent that some changes are not going too well with the very Baptist population round here.
The weather.........
As you can see the intense heat, and the drought, is all over the Mid West. Amarillo is in Texas, Dodge City in Kansas, Shreveport is in Louisiana.
And it is going to be 111 in Shawnee on Wednesday, just when I thought it couldn't get any hotter..............
As you can see it doesn't get any cooler, it is going to be 109 in Tulsa on Monday. I think that is considered dangerously high. I needed a few things from Walmart and stepped outside in the middle of the afternoon but I could not even contemplate getting in the car, the inside temperature would have been off the scale. Later on I opened all the windows and went out this evening about 10 o'clock when it was a cool 93.
There is a bring and share lunch tomorrow after the Service at Emmanuel. I am going to take the brownies I bought at the last Kiwanis bake sale, which are in the freezer. I bumped into a guy in Walmart from Emmanuel, and he asked me what I was taking tomorrow, his face lit up when I told him the brownies, I often take them to the Wednesday evening meal. They are very nice, very chocolaty, and I have tried telling them I don't make them, but it doesn't seem to get through.
There was a bit of drama going on out in the street this morning outside my neighbour's house, and I don't know why I didn't take my camera out earlier. I keep my blinds down so I miss anything that might be going on outside, but I went out to speak to Kevin who was cutting my grass and there were two fire trucks, the fire chief's car, a police car, another car, and a wreck which was being lifted on to a truck to be towed away. Apparently the wrecked car had driven into the telegraph pole. I was in the computer room at the back so wasn't aware anything was going on until I went outside. This vehicle here is from the dept responsible for the telegraph pole, and I think my neighbour is afraid it was going to fall on her house.
This has not been a good day. I didn't get a lot of sleep last night due to my dozing off in bed holding a cup of tea, which saturated the mattress and bedding. I put the bedding in the washing machine, a hot water bottle on the mattress and tried to sleep in the spare room. Poor Bubbles was very confused, she likes everything predictable, so do I, I don't handle these little setbacks very well.
I went round one floor of the hospital, then to Emmanuel for Fr Bill's mysticism course, which actually is more of a discussion group but I don't mind that. I was the only chaplain at the hospital today so went back afterwards to go round the second floor.
With all this excitement and dashing about I had a headache and felt very, very tired, but did manage to sleep for a while this afternoon.
My final irritation was forgetting a lecture and reception at the Art Gallery this evening for the new exhibition. It would have been nice to have got out, and I am sure I would have seen lots of people there I knew.
So let us hope tomorrow is better.
The Kiwanis speaker this morning was very interesting, it was the City Manager talking - and taking questions - on what is going on in Shawnee. There are two road works projects going on, and he talked about the problems and issues concerning those. And the beautification of the town; there is a lot of civic pride in keeping the town clean, and looking pretty. He said that ten years ago there were 30 people working in the parks and gardens, but in these hard economic times they have been reduced to ten. He mentioned the income that the rodeo had brought into the town a couple of weeks ago which was quite substantial.
There are, or were, several tennis courts in the parks, but this is not tennis playing country, I was always surprised seeing the courts, but now the nets have been taken down and basketball hoops have been put up, which is more American, or at least more Oklahoman.
I have been bothered lately by barking dogs, just when I'd thought I'd solved that problem. He told me to contact the Animal Welfare during the day, or the police at night, and if it still doesn't stop to call him, and gave me his card.
This evening I went to a fundraising bean supper with Pattisue. It was held in a Baptist church but organised and hosted by the Salvation Army. They provide every child in Shawnee going back to school with a backpack full of all the equipment a child needs for school.
Pattisue.
I got myself into a pickle tonight. I dozed off in bed with a cat curled up in one arm, and holding a cup of tea in the other hand, and when I dozed, the tea spilt, saturating everything right through to the mattress. I am glad the spare bed is all made up.
The last couple of days have just been hot and uneventful. I did my stint at the front desk yesterday at the Senior Centre, and shopped, and watched television.
There's quite a bit on television at the moment with the unfolding drama of the massacre in Colorado. You may have heard that the apartment where the crazy guy was living was booby trapped and had the front door been opened the entire building would have exploded and gone up in flames, killing everyone inside. There is now a blackout on the news, and police and attorneys can't be interviewed.
The Presidential candidates are out and about campaigning, Romney is on an overseas tour, and Obama is - to use the Republicans rather sour expression "campaigning on the tax payers dime".
I am not quite sure why Romney has gone to England, unless he wants to see the Games. Ostensibly he is paying his respects to David Cameron. He is going to Israel because there is a large Jewish vote in Florida, which is a key state. Other key states of Ohio and Michigan have a high Polish Catholic population, hence his visit to Poland.
Speaking of Florida. Jeb Bush, the governor, son of George, has decided that the Vice President should be the Floridian, Marco Rubio, whose family came from Cuba. And Romney has duly been informed of this.
I was a little restless this evening and drove down to the lake. I was surprised there wasn't anyone at the beach or picnic area. I didn't stop there, I drove all the way round which I hadn't done before. It is quite a few miles, but all the rest of the lake has homes fronting on to it.
Bubbles. She is such a little snuggler.
Sunday
Went to the 9.30 at Emmanuel. The summer is winding down as children are getting ready to go back to school, at Emmanuel we get back to normal with two Sunday services on the 7th August, I will also be glad to be back to normal Wednesday evenings.
I just wish the weather would wind down a bit, get a little cooler, like in the 90s. People who work are glad to go in to work, the rest of us stay at home indoors, I don't mind as I am not an outdoor person but it is hard on those who like to be outdoors, working in their gardens.
In the evening I went to the movies downtown with Sharon and saw 'Snow White and the Huntsman'. Apart from the fact that the fighting at the end between the goodies and baddies was a bit too drawn out, it was a good film, and I am becoming quite a fan of this genre of movie.
Monday
Went to the hospital this morning and was glad to see Larry back from his fortnight in Missouri. Spent the rest of the day catching up on some jobs around the house, watching tv, doing a little bit of needlework.
The Nebraska licence plate features the Western Meadowlark and Golden Rod, the state bird and flower.
Nebraska was originally part of the Louisianna Purchase, a very significant part of US history, so I will mention it briefly but bear in mind that this is a very, very abridged version. It was all actually a great deal more complex.
The Louisianna territory encompassed all, or part of 15 current US states and the two Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. France controlled this area from 1699 until 1762 when it gave the territory to Spain. Under Napoleon France took back the territory in 1800 in the hope of building an empire in North America, but a slave revolt in Haiti and impending war with England led France to abandon these plans and they sold the entire area to the United States, who had originally intended only to seek the purchase of New Orleans and its adjacent lands.
The area in green is the area of the Louisiana Purchase.
I took my little sightseeing trip today and went to the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.
It is a lovely museum.
John Wayne was one of the leading figures in establishing the Museum and served on the Board of Trustees from 1968 until his death in 1979.
There were some beautiful paintings of frontier and Native American subjects.
My attention on this 1946 poster was caught by the mention of Burl Ives who was part of my childhood. I looked him up on You Tube when I came home, heard him sing 'Big Rock Candy Mountain', and the magic is still there.
After I took this picture I was told not to take any more.
On my way there I pulled into a Wendys, a quite good fast food place where the burgers are always freshly made, they are never frozen, and I also asked if they did hot tea. We looked at the menu and saw they had English Breakfast, 99 cents, I got quite excited and said I'd have some. But they admitted they didn't know how to make it, they have never been asked for it before, EVER. I told them to look for an English Breakfast tea bag, put it in a cup, and pour boiling water on it. And if they couldn't find the teabag just give me the boiling water and I'll use my own.
Locally the news is the weather. It has been the hottest day of the year so far.
I was running around out and about this morning and knew it was going to be hot so turned up the air conditioning before I went out, and was glad I had. When I got home and out of the car I almost collapsed, and staggering up to the front door I fell inside with relief as the COLD COLD air rushed out to meet me.
It doesn't look appreciably cooler tomorrow. I thought I might go for my day trip I didn't take on Wednesday, but I am not sure. The car still feels a bit hotter than I like it, but in these temperatures I know it is no good whining to Terry to make it colder.
But it is looking cooler in the next 7 days, even going down to 99 on Thursday.
You have probably heard on your own news the massacre in Colorado which has dominated all the news programmes here. That's brought the President back from the campaign trail. He's ordered all flags on Federal buildings to be lowered to half mast until sunset next Wednesday. And he has asked news stations, particularly in Colorado, not to broadcast the negative tv ads attacking Romney and himself. He said this isn't a day for politics, and it isn't. One can't even look at the grief stricken relatives of the victims without crying. 12 people have died, over 50 are injured, some seriously.
Memo to my loved ones.........I fear that if there is going to be an attack in London during the Olympics this is the sort of thing which will happen. Take care. Please. Avoid crowded places in London if you can.
Desoto is the county in Mississippi where this licence plate was issued.
The lighthouse is the Biloxi Lighthouse on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and is said to be a symbol of resilience for the region as it was one of the few structures to withstand Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Katrina's storm surge enveloped a third of the 64 foot tall lighthouse and the pounding from water and winds toppled many bricks that lined the interior of the cast iron tower. The winds also broke many of the windows in the light cupola and destroyed the electrical system.
In March 2010 the City re-opened the lighthouse to public tours after a 14 month, $400,000 restoration.
The Kiwanis speaker this morning was very interesting, She was from South Central Industries, and was introduced by Fr Clark who is a member of the Board. The SCI provides vocational training and employment opportunities to the developmentally challenged.
I went straight from Kiwanis to the hospital to see if Pattisue was having her chemo, and fortunately after four weeks of her blood count not being high enough, she was able to have it today, so she was very happy about that. I went back a bit later and got her lunch from the cafeteria, Larry would have done that but is still on holiday. I then had lunch there myself, and went to their Thursday chapel service which Kevin led.
I am beginning to think, after four years in this country, that it is time to do a little sight seeing. At first I was very intimidated at the size of the country, I thought if I left Shawnee I might end up in Montana, or Michigan or somewhere, and never ever find my way back to Oklahoma. Now I think I have got it sussed. I drive south and I am in Texas, headed for the Gulf of Mexico. North, and I will arrive in Canada. West takes me to where I never want to go to, California. East is the general direction of Tennessee, the Carolinas, Virginia, all deep Confederate country, the stamping ground of General Robert E Lee who commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia against Ulysees Grant who commanded the Union forces in the Civil War.
So I've got it. The geography might be a bit sketchy, but I think now that wherever I got lost I could find my way back to Shawnee, Oklahoma.
Anyway, I thought today I would start with a trip to a Museum in the City. But first I would have the car checked over, a mini service, tyre pressures and fluid levels. Once I leave Shawnee I am out on the Plains where I don't want to break down or -especially - have a burst tyre (and when tyres are driven at an incorrect pressure in this extreme heat, they burst; i've seen their remains strewn all over the interstate) However, cutting a long story short I needed two new tyres on the rear, Terry and his Dad were a bit shocked at how bad they were. I was prepared to wait but when Dad offered to drive me home I accepted, thinking it would give them more time to do the job without feeling pressured because I was waiting.
So I didn't make it to the City after all, I went home and was reading and watching tv.
The news.......is Syria, which is all going to escalate in the next 36 hours, it doesn't look like waiting until after the Election. The economy, which is dire, more and more cities are declaring bankruptcy, they can't pay their public employees. And the weather. Let us look at the weather.....
26 governors have declared states of emergency which then entitles them, I think, to Federal assistance.
Beginning round about next January food prices are going to soar.
These are the temperatures locally...
and the forecast...
The sirens went off in the street. I didn't think anything of it, they are tested on Wednesdays at noon, but then it seemed to go on, and on, and on, and I started feeling vulnerable - in view of the fire danger - without my car, and was glad when I got it back about 2 o'clock.
Finally.....
I don't know why this woman thought she could go up an escalator in a wheelchair..
people went to her assistance, and it all got worse. but no one was hurt, and she was said to be embarrassed......as well she might.
Have not had a wildly eventful day, even the Senior Centre this afternoon seemed quiet after the country music group left at 2.30. There was just me at the desk, staff in their offices, men playing pool and dominoes in their playroom. There didn't even seem to be the usual crowd of people cleaning up, doing their community service.
I overheard a conversation between Kate, the manager, and her teenage daughter, as daughter headed out the front door -
Kate - I don't want to think of you out riding on llamas.
Daughter - I'm not going riding on llamas, I don't like llamas.
Me - thinks "of all the things parents in Britain have to worry about I am sure riding on llamas is not among them".
Now that Obama is out and about campaigning, instead of running the country, the Presidential election is ratcheting up, and they have still got months to go, sigh. The great fear at the moment is that the situation in the Middle East is going to escalate before the Election, which would be terribly inconvenient. That would certainly bring Obama back from the campaign trail.
I've heard that the negative tv ads, each side attacking the other, are becoming more virulent. Fortunately Oklahoma isn't a swing state - at the last Election it was the only one in the Union where every single county voted for John McCain - so we are spared a lot of them.
And remind me someone. Do we have raging class warfare in Britain? That's mostly what their politics seem to be about here. "The Rich" is/are referred to like it is a dirty four letter word. No one talks about the prosperous, or successful.
All this politics and class warfare are weaning me off the news programmes. Tuesday nights are particularly good for Food Network competitions. Does Gordon Ramsay have any programmes over there? He has two programmes on Tuesdays here, Hells Kitchen and Masterchef. Both of which are very good.
I didn't make it to Emmanuel this morning, I was intending to go to University Baptist this evening instead but I went out in the country and took a wrong turning coming back to Shawnee.
For some time I have wanted to see this log cabin, ever since Bill Ford of the Shawnee Milling Company told us about it at Kiwanis.
The Shawnee Milling Co is the biggest employer in Shawnee, and the third generation of the family running it are very popular in the town, they do so much for the community. They were honoured a few days ago by a citation in the Senate for sponsoring the Youth Rodeo for twenty years.
Joseph Almeron Ford came to Oklahoma from Michigan in 1898, and this log cabin is typical of those built in Michigan with one room on the ground floor, and a staircase to the sleeping area.
The Milling Company started in 1906 (which is VERY OLD here) turning out only 75 barrels of flour a day, but it soon expanded. However the Great Depression and a very bad fire in the 1930s
could have been the end of it, but the Ford family loved the business and pulled it round. And after WWII automation and advanced processing took the company to new heights. It now distributes its products throughout the nation.
I live near the railway - the Rock Island Line - and at night I hear the mournful whistle of the trains as they bring grain to the Mill from Kansas.
An extract from their web page -
Shawnee Milling Company's Food Division
meets the custom milling and mixing needs of customers with outstanding
flour and corn milling facilities and a sophisticated mix plant
providing the finest baking products available. Special packaging
capabilities allow Shawnee to offer flour, corn meal and custom mixes in
a range of sizes from several ounces to bulk transport. Shawnee's flour
mill has the flexibility to mill a wide variety of wheats to meet our
customers' diverse needs and is located in the heart of the wheat belt,
providing access to the finest grains available. Few, if any, grain
processing companies can offer this breadth and depth of grain based
products from a single location.
There has been a change in the weather today, it started out as intensely hot as usual but then there was a downpour in the middle of the afternoon which cooled everything down.
This is the latest item to astonish me - who would have thought there was colour bias among animals? I certainly didn't until I was browsing the local animal charities in Shawnee, and found on a web page that back in May there had been a nationwide adoption event to help raise awareness about adoptable black pets (italics are mine, as they say). It hadn't impinged on my awareness, maybe I watch the wrong tv news programmes.
Anyway, here in Shawnee 'Saving Pets at Risk' have decided to continue focusing on black pets to help them find homes.
And here are two of them -
This is Baylen. Isn't he adorable. I have fallen in love with him myself.
He is a young wirehaired terrier/schnauzer mix. Found beside a pond near death, covered with fleas, ticks and starving to death. Apparently he is calm, loves attention and is highly socialised.
And this is Captain, pictured with his brother Flash. They were rescued from some abusive children, and are now healthy and affectionate.
They were pictured at their foster homes.
I was telling Rosalyn about my concern over the animals next door. I am sure my neighbour doesn't intend any neglect or cruelty, and genuinely feels she has the welfare of animals at heart, but she just doesn't know any better.
When Bubbles - originally a refugee from next door - was camping out on my porch day after day, for weeks and weeks, Rosalyn worked away on me until she had me convinced that it was my destiny to take Bubbles in, and she didn't let up until Bubbles' litter box was installed and we were in the vets getting her shots.
Although there is now another cat from next door camping out day after day on my porch Rosalyn recognises that another cat, and vets bills, are a no-no, so she is trying to persuade me to join 'Saving Pets at Risk' . I tell her if I do that I know I will be suckered into fostering them, but she is at the wheedling stage, "just go to a meeting, I will come with you, tell them exactly what you will, and will not, do".
Actually about twenty minutes before I was going out this afternoon to meet Pattisue for lunch I found a kitten - not one of the latest, but from the previous litter, cowering in the intense heat underneath my wheelie bin. I think I would have called Animal Rescue then if I hadn't been on my way out, but I put a bowl of water down for it intending to deal with it when I got back, and by the time I did it was raining stair rods and much cooler.
Pattisue and I had lunch at the China Buffet. It was quite nice, but not as good as it used to be. There is a definite lack of customer service, and not as many shrimp and prawn dishes as there used to be. And there wasn't any lobster, I am sure this is the time of year for it.
The China Buffet.
I remembered the Mysticism class this morning at Emmanuel and it was very interesting. Fr Bill was touching on matter I had learned in my degree course so I was able to keep up. The book we are reading is by Thomas Merton, a Trappist monk. His name was always uttered with awe and respect at Chichester, I thought he went back practically to the Desert Fathers, I was surprised when I learned he had been a social activist and died in the 1960s.
I went on to the hospital from Emmanuel and went round both floors. One patient I was talking to was a professor at OBU and she was talking very highly of Pattisue, who had been a librarian there before she retired. She was telling me how grateful she was for Pattisue's help with researching when she was doing her dissertation for her doctorate, going far beyond the extra mile.
There is a very severe drought at the moment across 61% of the US, and it is very bad in Oklahoma and other Mid West states.
When I went out for a little evening drive I photographed some effects of it. In previous years I have driven along the roads looking at the corn growing green and high, and wondering if it was high as an elephant's eye. I really don't know how high an elephant's eye is, there have been times I have tried standing beside the corn trying to assess it, but not this year.
There are hundreds and hundreds of bridges in Oklahoma crossing creeks like this. Approaching most of them - those that are highly photogenic - there is never anywhere near to stop, but this one which wasn't too interesting had a little pull in place, and there were two or three people fishing.
I never hear anyone here talking with admiration of the scenery, but I like it, especially the skies. The only place in Britain we have anything like them is round Constable country in Suffolk.
And finally......
Bonnie and Clyde's guns were sold for $250,000 each.
