When the thunder rolls

Thunder

Friday night I was  awakened to the sound of thunder.  I listened and felt like I had experienced “thunder rolling “!  I would start and then roll like a truck rumbling away. Someone in the branch described it as the sound of bowling. I was grateful for the experience.  It was so cool.  After Covid and now being so far outside of town, I sometimes find myself feeling isolated. I have to be cognizant of my groceries as there’s is no store for 25 miles. 

The journey to get to the  Senior Center in Kansas required me to drive 25 miles on dirt roads and make a lot of turns.  I was concerned about finding my way, but I asked Heavenly Father to help me recall the turns. He answered my prayer perfectly. Along the way across many Creeks and saw a blue heron and snapping turtle. The fields are green trees reservoirs and ponds along the way. It was so beautiful I could hardly take it in!

 Yesterday‘s event at the senior center turned out pretty well. The people were very kind. Everyone stood and said the pledge of allegiance and then one of the men offered a prayer over the food After the prayer everyone lined up for the lunch meal which was tater tot casserole. It was delicious!  It was served with a tossed salad and a banana. 

Below are pictures of the outside and the jail that replaced the original one after the fire.

Swinging Bridge

The Pawhuska Swinging Bridge from LINK

There aren't many of them left, but the few swinging bridges that are still around bring back a lot of good memories for many Oklahomans.

It's creaks and squeaks when you walk across.

If the old woods planks on Pawhuska's old swinging bridge could talk, oh, the stories they would tell.

“There's all kinds of stories,” said Pawhuska Resident Frank Curry.

But since the bridge can't talk, Frank Curry will.

“I've seen people cross it on motorcycles before,” Curry stated. “If they'd a got caught, they'd probably be going to jail,” he laughed.  

Curry lives right next to Pawhuska's swinging bridge. He's been using it to cross the creek since he was a kid.

 “We'd come up here and cross the bridge and go up there and practice basketball,” he recalled.

Crossing the bridge isn't for everyone, especially those afraid of heights because when the creek's low, the bridge suspends some 30 feet over the water.

“On a windy, I don't like getting out on it,” said Curry.

A high fence adds a little extra protection, but it wasn't always that way Frank says.

“This fence used to be right here,” he explained. “It wasn't this kind of wire; it was right here. It was kind of scary.”

The bridge was built in 1926 and as the story goes, it was at one time the only way folks could get across Bird Creek and into the town of Pawhuska.

Now folks swing by the bridge just to see it and snap some pictures.

“It's kind of rarity,” said Garrett Hartness of the Osage County Historical Society and Museum. “You're not just gonna go anywhere and find a swinging bridge.”

Hartness says the bridge is a regular stop for tourists these days, and it's still a play place for children or a shortcut across the creek for pets.

But, more than anything, the old swinging bridge is a special piece of Pawhuska history.

I had to hold on tight, as Elder Himle kept rocking the bridge!

Calvalcade

Last night we bought tickets for the Cavalcade.  It's like a roping event for amateurs!  Patriotic!  They began with a prayer and it was so quiet during the prayer you could hear a pin drop.  We find people here extremely polite and respectful.  This event was huge!!

Checkout the clouds above as we walk from the parking lot.  We got a lot of rain at the ranch and woke up to fog and 98% humidity!

Above, the missionaries spent Saturday morning installing a handicap ramp for a ward member.  Top left, the wind generators are in the clouds.  Right:  The movie set included a bakery shop.  This is the window.

Below, is the parade for Cavalcade, which was 90% horses and a couple other things like the bull and stage coach.  While the elders sweated in 78% humidity and heat installing the deck, we went downtown and drank lemonade and ate pastries from the Pioneer Women's store... which were some of the best I have ever eaten--all homemade!   Bottom right are some things from the store including a cast iron skillet in the shape of Oklahoma for only $99.00!  

The Pioneer Women's store is VERY popular.  Sometimes there were 50 people in line for the pastries.

It is very picked over at this point, but what they have is so good.

QUILTING

For those of you who know me, you'll be surprised that I managed to sew some quilt blocks together!  Then the other sisters came over (that live on the ranch where we live) and helped me complete it.  Tomorrow we are holding a quilting get-together (is this a quilting bee?).  Wish me luck!

Yep.  That's a John Deer tractor in the quilt.
Sister Johnson and I

And yes, we are still smiling... taking it one day at a time