The Evenin' Shadders

WILBURTON, Okla. — The roads which take you to Southeastern Oklahoma twist, turn and wind all over the landscape. Driving them is difficult. Driving them during a pouring rain, along side of a huge truck filled with logs the size of ship’s mast is worse. Add three bickering kids and a very pregnant wife to the equation and you should probably consider yourself insane, or a candidate for sainthood. For the record: I’m not going to be sainted anytime soon. Instead, the trip was a dad-inspired idea — a weekend camp out at Robber’s Cave State Park. The result was somewhat different: A rain-soaked, three-day weekend that actually turned out to be fun and muddy at the same time. And despite the trucks, and the fighting kids, it was well worth the drive. Because, to put it simply, the Robber’s Cave is beautiful. Nestled in the heart of the San Bois Mountains (yes, Oklahoma does have mountains, they might not be big ones, but they’re mountains, just the same) the park is considered a favorite ...

“…and then something went bump, and that bump made us jump. We looked and we saw him step in on the mat. We looked as we saw him, the Cat in the Hat…” — The Cat in the Hat In the annals of American History March 2nd is not the most noticeable of dates. It can be claimed as the birthday of both Desi Arnaz and Mikhail Gorbachev and, for those whose tastes run somewhat darker, it’s the day cowboy actor Randolph Scott died. Of course, if we Americans were truly students of history, March 2nd would have more meaning: In 1923 the first issue of Time Magazine rolled off the presses. On that same date in 1927, Babe Ruth was listed as the highest paid player in baseball (he earned $70,000 that year) in 1933, King Kong premiered at the Radio City Music Hall. In 1950 Silly Putty was invented. Fourteen years later, the Beatles would film “A Hard Day’s Night” and in 1974 a federal grand jury would conclude President Nixon was involved in Watergate. Still, even these events don’t accurately portray...

Dear Mom: It seems like only yesterday that I was 12 and you were at home; I remember walking back from school, shuffling my feet through the crayon colored leaves. The sky was a bright, periwinkle blue and inside our house it smelled like cinnamon and spices. That memory — the aroma of your baking, coupled with the crisp, fall air — is forever burned into my brain; something I won’t forget. I love you. I remember snuggling in your lap, listening to you read Dr. Suess. And even though I racked up thousands of dollars in library fines, you just smiled, paid the bill, and helped me pick out another book. They could have named the library after us. You’ve always been there. Even when I tried to run. The years have passed quickly, too quickly. And now, so much has changed. Karen and I struggle with the same issues that you and Dad did. I look for guidance. I pray for wisdom and I hope. And I wonder if I’ll be half as good a parent as you and Dad are. This Sunday is Mother’s Day and the kee...

If you travel far enough on Oklahoma City’s Northwest Expressway, past the restaurants, the banks, and the struggling strip malls, you’ll eventually wind up in Warr Acres. Warr Acres — a short hop away from Bethany — is a nice, sleepy little community. It’s a good place to raise a family. And, it really doesn’t take long to get there, either. Oh, you’ll know you’ve arrived when you see those stupid signs informing you about how you’ve entered Oklahoma’s version of low-tax Nirvana. These signs — large ones — sit along side the road and proudly inform drivers they are now in the hamlet which offers the area’s lowest sales tax rate, and how, if you dare to travel out of this glorious little community, you’ll be faced with, God forbid, higher taxes. Of course, there’s a little more to the story. And it’s a story that I doubt the Warr Acres city council or the city’s mayor, Marietta Tardibono, will spend much time promoting. But for you folks that follow city government, and for the loyal r...

Oklahoma minister Dr. Robin Meyers is sure to make people mad with this book, Why the Christian Right is Wrong. But somehow, I don’t think that will bother him. Meyers, a progressive Oklahoma minister, lays out his issues and his criticisms of the Christian Right in his latest work — and it’s a tough, critical look. Based on a speech given at a peace rally on the University of Oklahoma campus, Meyers books gives the reader an unvarnished, unapologetic critique of the “moral values” of the Christian right. Written in a spunky, almost H.L. Menken style, Meyers isn’t big on hypocrisy. He’s mad. He’s passionate. He’s indignant. And he wants to make sure you understand exactly what he’s believes. “Granted, thinking is hard work, and thinking about moral and ethical issues is particularly hard work,” he writes. “Although the phrase ‘situational ethics’ rolls off the tongue of the Christian Right with disdain, the fact is there is no other kind. Jesus proved this when he forgave the woman cau...

In case you're wondering I don't listen to Don Imus. I don't tune into Howard Stern, (the shock-jock, somehow my television can't seem to avoid the attorney) either. I don't listen to Rush, and I guess you could say I'm not that big of a talk radio fan at all. So, in my opinion, that makes me the perfect guy to comment on Imus' national example of foot-in-mouth disease. It sucked. For years Imus has made a very lucrative living insulting the rest of us with his version of "humor." And yeah, once in a while, he was even funny. But he went to far. Calling a group of black women "hos" on a nationally syndicated talk show went beyond poor taste. It was mean, bigoted and just plain stupid. And the gals from Rutgers didn't deserve it. The fallout was quick: People raised hell, critics complained, and then advertisers pulled their ads. Imus fell. And he fell hard. As a member of the Fourth Estate and someone who will almost always stand behi...