Rambling

[jebbypal]

It may seem strange to you that as an Okie, I've always had an affinity for trees and rocks. All I can say is that although 60% of Oklahoma is flat and grassland, there is some diversity in the landscape at the panhandle and then also in the 20% of the Easter part of the state. Remember, Oklahoma butts up against Arkansas which is where the Ozark Mountains are. They actually start in the southeastern portion of Oklahoma itself.

There's a beautiful park that I remember travelling to as a kid with my parents. Turner Falls. It may well be the only waterfall in Oklahoma and is probably not impressive compared to it's larger cousins elsewhere. But to a kid whose never seen true rapids, it's fantabulous. There are 3-5 huge rounded boulders of varying sizes that the water cascades over while the banks are wonderfully rocky and cliffy. I first saw it when I was 7 or 8 and fell in love. Every time back has been just as great.

While I've always loved trees -- I was quite the monkey. We didn't have any trees on the first two properties that I lived in, but my soccer coach had a weeping willow on his property that I would crawl around on for as long as I was let. One of the few trees that I could climb since I was so small (7-10). There's the fun story of me actually making it all the way to the top and then for the first time having trouble finding my footing to get down. My mom couldn't help me because she actually has a fear of heights (and gets wobbly when she stands on a chair), so my soccer coach had to come up after me. Fun times. -- rocks are my second love. Scrabbling up the sides of creeks in Fort Gibson was always much fun, so much so that my mom would lock me in the house when it rained for fear that I might get the bright idea to play in a creek that was flooding (she always thinks I"m more reckless and stupid than I am). but near Turner Falls is also where the Ozarks start and are wonderful rocky hills and boulders and caves and wow. If my family had been so inclined, I probably would have become a champion spelunker. As it was, the idea of meeting up w/ itty bitty spiders is enough to deter me from taking it up in my old age.

But bouldering was much fun and I never tired of running over the red rocks and lichen covered stones. It's some of the rare times that I actually recall letting go and being totally in the moment. It also doesn't hurt that the caves around the area are referred to as Robber's caves and are purported to be where Jesse James and the like hid out at varying times. I so loved Westerns then too.

It's probably not much surprise that on my first trip through Missiouri during which I stayed awake (we did go when I was a kid a couple of times, but then if you put me in a car I promptly fell asleep) when we drove to IL to visit a college, I fell in love. Again, probably not as impressive as some of it's bigger cousins, but the interstates in MO almost all without fail travel in between hills of solid rock (complete with "falling rock signs") or over beautiful gorges of trees and lakes. The only boring drive part is the trip on I-70 from Columbia to Kansas City as that is the flattest areas of the state. (I say this with the caveat that I haven't been much north of Columbia). The Lake of the Ozarks is one of the most beautiful chain of rivers and lakes that I've seen and it's beauty is only marred by the fact that the interstate slows down and merges w/ the summer vacation traffic to add an extra hour at least to any commute through it.

At 17, I remember being upset at imagining how much damage to the fauna and flora must have occured to build the interstates through the rocks and everything, but at the same time, it allowed me a peek at the solid rock and the trickles of water through it that hypnotized me. Outside of Fulton, where I went to college, there was a giant park full of mostly rock but with the odd tree jutting out. Supposedly dropped by glaciers or the result of some long ago earthquake that broke up the boulders into an array of 10-20 giant stones (2-4 stories high in some places), it was something I wished I could just walk around gawking in awe at instead of rock climbing w/ my friend. The view from the top was pretty awesome though.

I find it odd that when I came to Pennsylvania, I still didn't know where I liked to be or what scenery I liked to view. Probably because I hadn't seen enough differences that all I knew were hills and somewhat taller hills. Pennsylvania has trees, areas have rocks and open mountains, but something is different that i've never put my finger on. It's not until recently that I've begun to miss Missouri so much and I never dreamed that I would. Perhaps my small town upbringing is beginning to chafe a little at the constant city life and neverending suburban sprawl. Or maybe I just had to leave home to discover I'd found one.