Things I Miss About Oklahoma

A couple of posts ago, I put together a list of things I will miss about Colorado when I leave. In the interest of being fair and balanced (and just because I want to talk about it), I'm devoting this post to a list of things I miss about Oklahoma. Note that these are in no particular order; it really wouldn't be possible for me to prioritize these things.

1. A good thunderstorm. We get some storms from time to time here in Denver, but never with the raw beauty or ferocity of a storm in Oklahoma. I don't know about further east, out on the Colorado plains, but here in Denver, the rainstorms are usually pretty week. Seeing those thunderheads roll in...catching the scent of rain as the wind blows it in to you..hearing the distant thunder and seeing the lightning as it's veiled and carried by the gathering clouds...and then the storm hits. And even better, they happen with incredible regularity in spring and summer. It's an incredible experience, that's all I can say. I can only remember one or two storms in my 8 years here that came close. I really miss those storms.

2. College football season. Everyone raves about the Broncos here, and I've seen a game or two at Mile High Stadium, but there's nothing...NOTHING...like Owen Field on a mid-autumn Saturday, when the Sooners are playing. The atmosphere, the crowd, the Ruf/Neks, the Sooner Schooner...WOW!!! And then the Sooners win, and you get to talk about it for a week with al the true Sooner fans. The radio people talk about it, the newspapers are filled with it, the TV has coach's shows and highlight shows. Even the weather forecasts for every Saturday are delivered with an eye to the upcoming game. The very air from September to early January buzzes with Sooner Magic. It drips from everything and everyone...I really miss that.

3. Long, slow sunsets. Sunsets in Oklahoma turn the sky into a rainbow, every day; wondrous hues of subtle golds and pinks and reds and purples, painted onto the dark blue of the sky and blended by the hand of God. When I visit my parents' house, their back deck faces west, and I love to just sit out there and soak it in. I never get enough of those sunsets, and I never will.

4. Endless green. I remember a few years back, when Colorado was in the worst of its most recent drout, and everything was so brown and gray...then I went to visit my family. The thing that struck me, that I'd never noticed before, was how green everything was. All the trees, all the grass, all the plants...completely, beautifully green in a way that was so stark and obvious that I had taken it for granted. (Of course, this is also a testament to how bad the drought was in Colorado.) Oklahoma in the spring and summer is just an incredible sight. Remember all those storms I mentioned in item #1? Cause and effect.

5. Water sports on big lakes. Lakes in Oklahoma are big and plentiful and so many people have boats. And you basically can start swimming in late April most years, and it doesn't stop until September and sometimes early October. That gives you 5-6 months of quality time in the water, boating, sailing, skiing, canoing, sea dooing. Throw in a nice party on the beach, grilling burgers and dogs. Extra points if it's 4th of July, so you can shoot off fireworks from the beach. In the summer, there's nothing better...it's heaven.

That's enough for tonight. It's alreayd midnight, and I could write on this for hours. Thanks for reading along.