The Regional Dilemma

The Oklahoma flag.

I was born, and have lived pretty much my entire life in Oklahoma.  

Sure, I've 'stayed' in other places, but I have never been somewhere without the knowledge that as soon as that period of time was over that I'd be once again home in Oklahoma.

With that being said, it is interesting to me that I've lived in this state for 25 years, but have difficulty determining in which region my home state lies.

The Oklahoma State Capitol.

Some say Midwestern.  Others say Southern.  Some even say Southwestern, which seems to me to be the furthest fetched story of all.

I never really put it together how much of a controversy this topic was until I started trying to describe my state here on this blog over the past couple years, and I could never figure out if my state was technically "southern" or "midwestern."  I don't identify myself at all as "southwestern" so the thought never went through my mind.

With all these U.S. regional maps found on a quick google search, one might easily see why we 'Okies' might be confused.  

Why are there so many differing maps?!  And who's great idea was it to list Oklahoma and Arkansas as part of the "Gulf Coast?"  Do we look like coastal states to you?!?  Um, even our lakes had to be manmade.

So, am I a southern girl?  Or am I a Midwestern girl?  I'm certainly not a Southwestern girl, although it certainly seems a variety of maps seem to think I am.

Everyone appears to have their own opinion about this, and not many people can really agree.  Other southerners are very against the idea that Oklahoma could be considered "southern."  We don't host the capital of country and bluegrass music, we were one of the later states to join the United States, and we just aren't Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi, or Louisiana.  In some ways, the easiest conclusion is to say that we're a Midwestern state since we host so much farmland, however, few of us could truly identity  ourselves as a "midwesterner."  If I had to guess for how most people in this state identify themselves, I would say we identify most southerners.

Oklahoma's state rock, the Barite Rose Rock

It is almost as if we are in a crossroads, though.  Perhaps those in the North-Eastern part of the state identify more as midwesterners, and those in the West as southwesterners.  My family is mostly from the Southeast, and I feel we identify as southerners.  
In some of my research, I found THIS ARTICLE one day that really explains well how I feel, plus someone else's personal study about our regional crossroads.  It is an interesting read if you have the time!

Do you strongly identify with a particular region where you're from?



P.S.  Many of my personal photos posted in this blog post are photos I took for the Oklahoma Women Blogger's March instagram scavenger hunt!  Search the hashtag #okwbscavengergram to see more fun pictures from Oklahoma!

Blue Whale of Catoosa - OKLA Route 66

One roadside attraction on Route 66 I've really wanted to see for a while was the Blue Whale.

What attracted me to it is how it is just so odd, colorful, and one-of-a-kind.

Plus we don't have whales in Oklahoma, which just makes this so funky and fun.

This was our last 66 stop for the day before dark, and the sun was beginning to set, which made for incredible skies and great reflections in the pond.

I never realized the whale was actually a dock that you can walk out on, as well as a retired swimming hole playground.  Can't you imagine the bliss of sliding into the water off a giant blue whale fin?

Tyler is just about to enter the belly of the whale!  

The whale is constructed of concrete and steel, with chicken wire holding things together on the inside.

There are all kinds of places that could have been used to jump in the pond when this was still a water park.  

The whale tail doubles as a great jumping location - although the pond is now shallow from drought and swimming hasn't been allowed here since the '80s.

The dock's construction.

This is the view toward the whale's mouth from inside the whale.  You can see several pipes and hoses that must have been used to run water down the slides.

The whale fins on each side are slides into the pond.

There is a second deck up above!  It looked pretty cool...but we didn't go up there.

But Tyler may have taken a peek...

Me with the blue whale!

This is the only picture of me Tyler took, and we forgot to check it very closely - my face is distorted!  Oops!  Oh well, I'm using it anyway.

What are some unique or odd roadside attractions near you?

Friday Morning's Sunrise

Yesterday morning, I realized at the very hint of dawn that it was going to be a spectacular sunrise.

I had just gotten home from work a few minutes before, but headed back out to the car with my camera and drove to a nearby river trail in Oklahoma City.

The colors in this sunrise were probably the most vibrant I've ever seen.  

As the day set in, the colors started to fade more, but still beautiful.

The colors of the sunrise were all but gone by the time I reached a good viewing distance of downtown.  But the morning haze and clouds still made the city look outstanding.

I probably ended up walking a couple miles just enjoying the sunrise.   When was the last time you had to stop what you were doing just to admire something too beautiful to not miss?

Will Roger's Memorial Museum - OK Route 66

Our second main stop on the Route 66 roadtrip we took to visit the sites between Arcadia and Claremore Oklahoma included the Will Roger's Memorial Museum.

Let me just say, there's a backstory.

Stained glass windows on the exterior of the Will Roger's Memorial Museum depicting Roger's many identities.

Here's a little on the background of this stop.  I'm a little behind when it comes to knowing celebrities, popular movies, popular culture, and in general cultural things that most people assume that everyone knows about.  

Up until December, I'd never seen Star Wars.  It was in college when I first saw any of the Lord of the Rings movies.  Until recently, I'd never seen Gone With the Wind.  I've still never seen but a few episodes of Friends, and have still not seen Greece, the Sound of Music, and probably other classics that people usually gasp about when they hear.

Okay, let's get the shock and awe over with.  Take a gasp, scorn me in your mind.  

Now let's move on.

*SPOILER ALERT*

Although I'd never seen Star Wars until recently, I've known for years that Darth Vader is Luke's Father.  I knew that Yoda used weird sentences, and was a wise little old...thing.  Culturally, I can pick up on these things, but when it boils down to it I just simply haven't seen all the big movies or know the big names.

If you were wondering, yes, I get made fun of and frowned upon quite often for this.

So a few months prior to visiting, Tyler and I had a discussion about Will Rogers.  I mean, here in Oklahoma we have all kinds of streets, buildings, parks, schools, the largest room in my alma mater's student union, and the largest airport in Oklahoma - all named in honor of Will Rogers.

Culturally, I knew he was important to Oklahoma - obviously since his name is everywhere - but I really didn't know who he was or what he did.  I honestly figured he was one of the oilmen from the old days who must have donated to all these places.

That is why Tyler insisted that we visit the museum - to "educate" me on my own culture and history.

I'll admit, maybe I should have known more about Will Rogers, but it wasn't in my Oklahoma history class, and no one ever bothered to tell me, and I simply never bothered to find out.  

We spent several hours going through the museum.  I now have a good grasp with who Will Roger's was, and why Oklahoma takes so much pride in him.  He was a good old southern cowboy, who retained family values, was famous and in films, a world traveler, and also very involved in the nations politics.

I didn't bring my camera into the museum (although it turns out I could have), so I didn't take pictures inside.  However one of my favorite parts as a nerdy Asian Studies major was a saddle Will obtained in Mongolia with traditional ornamentation.  So unique to see the differences in saddles across the world.

Tyler had a look of satisfaction that he had finally educated me on important Oklahoma history where I was still lacking.

When was the last time you learned something new about your country, state, or hometown?