Tulsa Woodward Park and Conservatory

Back in August, Tyler and I visited Tulsa while he had a work conference.  So it was more like I visited Tulsa by myself and then ate dinner with Tyler after he worked.  I made a draft for this blog post in August and forgot about it (we've been really busy these past few months), so it is going to be posted in November.  Lucky for you me hubby is working this Saturday, so I have some time to do some things for myself and with the blog!

Although I've lived in Oklahoma all my life, Tulsa was usually a bit far for my family to travel since we've always been in the central part, so I haven't been there many times.  I went to the renowned venue Cain's Ballroom for my first concert when I was 15, another concert at the BOK Center in college (do you get my drift that Tulsa has all the good venues, OKC is trying to catch up but not quite there yet).  I went to the art museums while in high school, but otherwise I have not been there besides trips that were for very specific purposes or that were under close supervision.  

This trip I discovered that Tulsa has some very amazing recreational areas and parks - Woodward Park reminded me much of some of the large parks I saw when I visited the U.K.  This particular post I'm going to focus on this beautiful conservatory.

Near the historical society there is the Lord & Burnham Conservatory with some very beautiful cacti, ferns, orchids, and other exotic plants.  It has separate rooms, all with their own climate to accommodate certain species of plants.

From the Cactus Room:

I really can't get over the webbing on these.  I think they are so beautiful. 

The gardener there said he had just watched this flower open up about 45 minutes before I came there.  The flower emits a smell to draw the flies, which in turn pollinate it.  

The Tropical Room - has palms, ferns, etc.  

I just love the white infrastructure - it was built in 1924.

I enjoyed at least a good hour walking through the conservatory observing the different plants.  The gardener was also happy to walk me around and show me some plants that were particularly special or difficult to care for.  There's just something about this old structure that is also pleasant.

Hopefully I'll have some time now to share a little more often on the blog what we've been up to and maybe some projects here and there.

OKC National Memorial at Night

A few weeks ago, Tyler and I visited the Oklahoma City National Memorial at night.  Since I've been an adult, I've been to the memorial in the day time, but have not visited after dark.  

For my readers who are unaware about the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, here is a little back story.  On April 19, 1995, two men planned a bombing using a truck and explosives parked near the building, and set it off in the morning by the Murrah federal building.  The explosion and collapsed building resulted in the loss of 168 lives, including 19 children who were in a daycare on the second floor.

The memorial is in the place of the former Murrah building.  It consists of two walls representing the moments before and after the explosion, and a reflecting pool between the walls that represents the moment the explosion happened.  Off to the side of the reflecting pool are 168 chairs representing each life lost.

The 19 children are represented by smaller chairs, and each chair's location is determined by which floor each person was in the building.

Although Tyler and I were only five years old when this occurred, it is something that all Oklahoma children our age can recall.  Not only can we remember the images of the building and rescue crews from the news, but for many subsequent years at school each student was asked to bring 168 pennies to help fund building the OKC National Memorial.  Each anniversary I remember bringing my 168 pennies to school and we would take a moment of silence to remember their lives prior to turning the pennies in to our teachers.  

When I was older, probably middle school or high school, I went with classmates to the museum inside the national memorial.  The museum has pieces of the original building, as well as video interviews with survivors, family members, and rescue crews.  One entire exhibit is dedicated to each child who lost their life, which is particularly moving.  Their families donated a few toys or belongings of each child - I remember it felt strange that I often had some of the same toys as these children.

I believe this was the first time I saw and understood what we now know as the Oklahoma Standard - when the community comes together in moments of crisis with great generosity.  I continued to see this throughout my life as Oklahoman's responded to various towns and neighborhoods destroyed by tornadoes, and Oklahoma's response to other catastrophic events in the state and nation.  

Do you recall any major events that shaped the culture you grew up in, or an event in your childhood that changed you?  

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!