Busy Saturday

I was supposed to be up at 4:30 this morning to see my daughter off to her volunteer work in Tulsa. But I snoozed too long, and by the time I woke up at 5:40, she was gone. So I loaded up the camera bag and went out for a wander around town.

First, though, I stopped at Panera for a coffee. This next bit has me genuinely puzzled. There were no more than 6 customers in the shop, 3 of them drinking frou-frou coffees, yet the dark roast urn was already empty! I had to make do with a medium roast.

Bands of showers moved through like this all day. It was chilly and wet with a steady south wind.

Owasso was having its annual Harvest Festival complete with a chili competition, actually the International Chili Society Oklahoma Championship. Honestly, I wonder how 'international' it really is since I didn't hear any language other than English.

But I managed some photos.


Owasso is a largely suburban community, so I was fascinated to see this hulking 4WD diesel tractor on display. It really took me back. When I lived in farm country in Pennsylvania, the big event at the local fair was the tractor pull. We had two competing dealerships, a Ford and a John Deere. People watched intently when they squared off. It wasn't just bragging rights. There was big money tied up in those tractors because when harvest time arrived, they ran 24/7 until the crops were safely stored. If they pulled more weight, they could stay in the fields longer. I remember driving home from work and seeing them all lit up in a corn field, looking like a UFO invasion.

I was on my feet for 7 or 8 hours. In the afternoon, Mary wanted to go down to a bookstore in Tulsa. I drove her there, and then fell asleep in the car out in the parking lot. Somebody in the car kept snoring and startling me awake! Imagine that.