Author: DrillerAA

Aww…some Monday’s Music Moves Me

I had some doubts about getting this post completed on time. I am writing this on Saturday and I had a complete knee replacement last Tuesday. I won’t bore you with photos of staples and scars, but let’s just say that all is going well and the pain is not as bad as most people would describe. I will probably have the other knee done after the first of the year. Okay, that’s enough of public service announcements.

Aww…some Mondays

If you spend much time watching Food Network and you watch Pioneer Woman, you will know that this is “The Mercantile” in downtown Pawhuska, Oklahoma. Recently we took a day trip to visit this place and drive out to “The Lodge” where all of the cooking magic happens. I will say that the food here is awesome.

Pawhuska is a small oil and cattle town about 40 miles north of Tulsa and about a three hour drive from our home. The Lodge is about twelve miles outside of town. The ranch is approximately 120,000 acres and managed by seven families.

This is what part of 120,000 acres looks like from the deck of the lodge. I can only imagine watching the sun rise from here.

I am standing in the entry that Pioneer Woman’s family often enters the lodge from when they come on to the show. That counter in background is where most of the food eventually sits at the end of each episode.

The lodge is approximately 3200 square feet and contain a huge pantry, production room, and several bedrooms that I am sure staff occupies during taping of the shows. It is a very simple exterior but the interior is beautiful.

Of course no trip to the lodge would be complete without a photo of my own favorite Pioneer Woman. I guarantee, she can cook with the best of them. All in all, it was a great day and I would make the trip again once my knee heals.

Monday’s Music Moves Me

Our guest host at 4M for the month is Mr. John Holton from The Sound of One Hand Typing. This week is songs in honor of the annual Eurovision song contest. I have to admit, I have no idea what that is, but I will post something appropriate, none the less. Here is the 2013 winner.

And this is the 2010 winner. That’s all I got. Have a blessed week.

Aww…some Monday’s Music Moves Me

Final Meet

Even though our youngest granddaughter is now in college, I still like going to the local high school track meets. With a few facility exceptions, I can get to the locations that give me some of my better images. Recently, the state championship track meet was held at a local school so I grabbed the camera and headed out. Here are a few images.

Relays are always fun to watch and often provide some of the most exciting moments in the meet. Here, two true local rival schools head down the home stretch in search of the gold medal.

I was a long jumper in high school, so the event holds a special place in my heart. Timing is just as important as speed in this event if you’re going to maximize your distance.

Monday’s Music Moves Me

This week at 4M is a free choice week. I think I will wander back into inspirational music. Hymns of the faith and Contemporary Christian music have been a part of my life as long as I can remember. These songs can soothe our souls, bring us to our knees in prayer or make us ready to charge the gates of hell with a water pistol.

The Bible tells us that no one is righteous by his own works. In fact, scripture says the there is none righteous, no, not one (Romans 3:10). The Good Book also tells us that when we accept Christ as our Savior, we are a new creation and have a new nature, however, our old sinful nature never completely leaves us, but sets up a position of rebellion in our souls. God has provided a suit of spiritual armor for this battle, but we have to put it on and use it daily. Living a life committed to Christ is not easy and failure on some level is a daily occurrence.

Still, I cannot begin to count the blessings that God has sent my way. He has allowed me to be born and raised in the greatest country on earth during what will surely be considered the golden age of America. He has blessed me with a loving wife, daughter, son-in-law, four grand children and endless memories of my family. The Lord has healed me of two different types of cancer. He has allowed me to choose and work at a career that I loved and retire in a beautiful part of our great nation. God did not shower me with great wealth, but he has given me a life that is comfortable in retirement. There is not enough time or space to list the ways that God has shown His love for me, even when I was less than lovable. Every time I think about how much God loves me, a song of praise and worship comes to mind.

Aww…some Monday’s Music Moves Me

Aww…some Monday

Recently I opened the local high school app to see if there were any sports going on that I could photograph. As we near the end of school, these opportunities are getting scarce. The composite schedule showed that the girls Lacrosse team was playing in a tournament at home. I’ve never been to a Lacrosse match but that won’t stop me from grabbing the camera and heading to the local venue. I still don’t any of the rules of the game but it is apparent that the match is basically hockey on grass. Here are a few images of the home team (in white jerseys) earning a 26-3 victory.

Monday’s Music Moves Me

Our guest host for the month of May is Mr. John Holton from The Sound of One Hand Typing. Today he has challenged us to build a playlist of 1980’s movie music. I thought that might be a real challenge until a little research turned up a gold mine of music.

Linda Ronstadt has always been my favorite female vocalist and surely she has a movie song to her credit. Sure enough Linda and James Ingram teamed up to produce a beautiful ballad from “An American Tail”.

While I am sure this song will appear on more that one playlist today I cannot let an 80’s movie music tribute go by with out the best Navy recruiting video of all time. You are about to enter the “Danger Zone”

It seems that quite a few of the 80’s “Hair Bands” contributed to movie soundtracks. Journey contributed their biggest hit to the movie “Heavy Metal”. Some have called “Open Arms” the greatest ballad of all time. What do you think?

Some movie songs take on a life of their own outside the music industry. This next, and final entry has become our local high school’s fight song. The Bentonville, Arkansas Tigers adopted “Eye of the Tiger’. Have a blessed week.

Aww…some Mondays Music Moves Me

Aww…some Mondays

Recently I went to a softball game that the.daughter of a friend of mine played on one of the teams. As always, I had camera in hand and you can scroll back a few posts to see the results of my efforts. I went back a week later and before the game one of the parents asked me if I would photograph her daughter in the dugout between the games. Her daughter was a senior, multi-sport athlete, so between the games she put on her letter jacket and I snapped a few images. During the game I managed to capture a couple of action images. I love doing this sort of thing. I get to practice sports photography and the parents get images of their kids that they just can’t capture on their cell phones. Here are the results.

If you know me, you know there is probably going to be a black & white image in the mix.

Monday’s Music Moves Me

The musical themes for the month of May are brought to you by the guest host, Mr. John Holton, from The Sound of One Hand Typing. This first Monday of the month is a free choice week, so I am going to start by honoring the game of baseball and softball with a John Fogerty classic.

May signals the graduation of high school and college seniors as well as the onset of summer. After the Covid infected summer of 2020, many citizens are looking forward to a mask free, more casual summer of 2021. Hopefully we will see the return of days on the water, minor league baseball, and short trips to see family and friends that we haven’t seen in nearly two years. What does your summer plans include? What about the sounds of summer? Have a blessed week.

Aww…some Monday’s Music Moves Me

Turning 21

The Family went to Disney World in 2003. While in one of the gift shops I captured this image of our middle granddaughter. I thought, “What could define the American child better than Mickey Mouse ears and a large McDonald’s drink. Well on April 16th this young lady turned 21. She is a senior in college and on target to graduate a semester early. Her interest is in sports medicine.

Monday’s Music Moves Me

Let me thank the admins of 4M for allowing me to host this month, even with my limited coding skills. For my final theme I have chosen to honor the granddaughter featured above and challenge you to pick songs from artists born in April. Let’s hear what you found. Have a blessed week.

First up is American Idol’s first winner and star. Yes, Kelly Clarkson was born in April. The middle granddaughter is a very well balanced young woman. She has never been a drama queen and takes pretty much everything in stride. She is stronger than some people might think.

Of the four grandchildren Em is the “Old Soul” of the bunch and most resembles an only child. Since I am an only child, we get along great and probably understand each other better than others. She likes country and pop music from days gone bye and has taken a liking to “vinyls”. So in honor of her country tastes I have chosen fellow Okie, Vince Gill, for the next tune.

Our birthday girl has a strong Christian faith and is going on a mission trip later this year. It seems only fitting to close this post with a couple of April born Christian artists. First up is Matthew West making a guest appearance in a Casting Crowns video, “Nobody”. As Christians, we are nobody, trying to tell everybody about somebody who saved our soul.