Brent and I occasionally ponder things about Oklahoma that we had apparently forgotten, are rediscovering or learning about for the first time. I thought I'd share a few that came up recently that might be of interest to those living here, those that used to or those that wonder about live in the plains.
- It is INCREDIBLY windy. I remember the wind, but this is just wildly out of control. Just gales and gales of wind. It may be the storms moving through or spring or something, but we fall asleep to the sound of wind whipping around the house many days of late.
- The best chicken strips we've found are surprisingly at Crest in Edmond. Bill had told me about this, and I can happily confirm that thus far in our study it is quite true. I know they are there on Mondays, but not sure when else and heartily recommend them.
- In the DC metro there were clearly Virginia-people and Maryland-people. Even though not far apart the two oddly did not socialize that much as compared to people living in the same state. Here there are Tulsa and OKC people. They are only 1.5 hours apart or so, but very often we talk to people from one or the other that admit they almost never venture to the state's other large city. It is a little odd to me and we're trying to be more flexible about it as our pool of Tulsa connections increases and I'd like to learn more about Tulsa as I am from the OKC centered part of the state both originally and now.
- To make a "festival" you basically need a theme (herbs, art, chocolate or whatever) + fair food + music + venue with no traffic. This week we went to the Oklahoma Arts Festival with Tracie and talked with Sarah about the herb festival in Tulsa. It seems to be festival time here as there is at least one somewhere pretty much every week. They are fun and we enjoy the food, but sometimes remember we don't really like being crowded in with that many people. Next up is the Edmond Arts Festival which we may try next weekend just for fun.
- A much larger portion of people here are obsessed with lawn care. I remember talking to Dwight (a friend from TX) about this when we lived in DC. Our lawn, grass, weeds, gardens and lawn treatments are a strangely common topic of conversation. This is mildly problematic as we really don't feel as strongly about our weeds as our colleagues. I have given up and hired someone to spray/fertilize the lawn periodically as I don't want to talk about the weeds with nearly every male that comes to visit. (Yes, we could do this ourselves, but just wasn't happening) Oddly, discussing our poor weed control bothered me more than the weeds themselves so I've decided to join them in the maintenance world. So far, we still have weeds, but at least I can say we're doing something.
- Last, but definitely not least, I love storms. I have always loved storms. I missed storms all the time. I was the weirdo in my office who would peer out at the rain sweeping down Pennsylvania Avenue from other people's offices while they worried about the storm. This is because I was raised in true Oklahoma fashion to run outside when the storm breaks, feel the wind, watch the lightening, get wet with slashing rain and thrill in the smell of rain. Lucky me those storms are now a frequent occurrence and so much more fun than drizzly, more peaceful rain we usually had in DC. It stormed here Sunday and we sat with the office windows open and soaked up the experience.
There are many other interesting lessons, but thought we'd start with these and share others as we go. Am excited to be moving into Snow Cone season, for instance. That is an Oklahoma past-time I can really buy into!
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