December 27, 2005


Just another holiday post

And, I'm spent.

Please note that I didn't make my last post until the afternoon of the 24th. That is because at 2pm on Friday December 23rd I fell asleep, and aside from an hour to eat, I slept straight until 10am on the 24th. So much for that whole staying up all night thing.

The afternoon of the 24th I drove 169S down to Tulsa and dropped Keaton off with his family and then hauled ass down to Tahlequah to embrace the insanity that is the Sams family. Note to self, never try to teach a 9 year old how to say "Soviet Russia". Also, never her let have free reign over your digital camera. I ended up with about 10 short movies of her running up to various people asking them to say something funny.

Then I slept and it was off to see the other side of my family; the Johnston side. There was excitement over wild animals outside, and handmade walking canes. It was good to see my Grandma Rosie again, as I never saw her enough when I lived in Tahlequah. My uncle Ted answered the door and said Hello, which was about one word more than I've ever heard him speak before. My little cousins, man, they're not so little anymore as it seems Trent is about to start high school and Quinton is around 9.

We won't get into the part where I was asked if I was dating a white boy or an Indian boy. Yowza.

My sister had some plans of her own, so we had to leave after only a couple hours, but I sidetracked and put her behind schedule when I found out she had never seen something we always referred to as the "Hydraulics." See, my grandma lives in an area known as, well, to use the proper pronunciation, "Punkin Holler." Trust me, you'll never hear me say it out loud. But, it's an area just East of the Illinois River with various creeks running through it. One such place actually flows over the westbound road. And immediately where it flows down from where the road is it has carved out the rocks and consistently moves through it during the year.

I was more so amazed that she had never seen the area. It's about a mile or so from my Grandma's house, though, it's hard to tell on the curvy 2 lane country road there. We had to stop at one point to let chickens cross the road. We had the windows down. We were listening to Dino as loud as possible. Much to her surprise, I suddenly parked on the side of the road, and we were climbing around on large rocks. I don't doubt that it'll be a place she visits from time to time, if for no other reason it's a place to go where you're feeling familiar, but a place no one will think to look for you.

Again, more sleep then my sister and I set off for dinner and a movie. Which meant Denny's 30 mins away in Muskogee and The Family Stone at some shitty Carmike nearby. All 3 things were mediocre.

This morning, it was up back to Tulsa to visit with Keaton's mom and pick him up and gallivant around the town. God, I miss Tulsa. A lot. We visited the new Riverwalk Crossing area off 93rd and Riverside. We drove down the length of Riverside drive with the windows down and Death Cab's Plans playing. We ate lunch at Full Moon. It was just like it always was before. And that was perfect in itself.

And now I am home. And there's not much left to say after that.

::Digital photos of the rocks
::::Specific shot: My Sister, Caitlan, and I.

::Mobile photos of the trip to Tahlequah and to the Riverwalk Crossing in Tulsa


Posted by Courtney at December 27, 2005 12:28 AM
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