Charlie Finds a Family ~ EPOTM: Pink, OK

August 24, 2015 Red Dirt Kelly 1 Comment

Two years ago a man who was approximately mid-life-aged married a mid-life aged woman whose self-described “second litter” of children were still in middle school. Not only did they form a new family, but they began a quest to enrich their lives.

_DSC0202 — David Lindsey sets on his newly constructed stoop, under the canopy constructed over an old farmhouse basement floor. Breezes blow across the porch and melt your worries away.

After searching in Crescent, Luther, and a few other places within a reasonable distance of their home, they received a call from a realtor who was driving to Pink, Oklahoma the next day. She needed to put her signs up at a newly listed 40-acre section of land and thought it might be just the place they were looking for. Continue reading Charlie Finds a Family ~ EPOTM: Pink, OK →

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Every Point on the Map

“When in Doubt, Hit the Gas” ~ EPOTM Hwy 9 Run: Tecumseh

August 22, 2015 Red Dirt Kelly 10 Comments

_DSC0008 — Terry’s Laundry oozes retro-vibe. 419 E. Walnut, Tecumseh, OK. All photos by Rachel J Apple.

Note to readers: This post contains moderately detailed descriptions of two graphic themes. We suggest the appropriate reading age is for those over 12 years of age.

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I spied Donald on our first pass down the main drag in Tecumseh on an early Sunday morning. Leaning against the west wall outside Terry’s laundromat, something made me double-take his silouette.

Perhaps it was the care he took with his smoke, the brightly printed bandana tightly securing his blond hair, or maybe the miniscule glimpse of his soulful eyes as we cruised by. All I know was that the end of main street came quickly, followed by our thousandth U-turn, and we were soon making our way into the overly beige space. Continue reading “When in Doubt, Hit the Gas” ~ EPOTM Hwy 9 Run: Tecumseh →

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RDC News & Updates

Happy Birthday to Us. We’re FIVE Years Old!

August 11, 2015 Red Dirt Kelly

Day 28: It Was So Loud, I Couldn't Hear Myself Praying — A quote written in the UK that answered a need I had at the time. Now, I’m finding stillness in rural, suburban and metropolitan Oklahoma…one discussion at a time.

In July of 2010, I left for a 40 day educational trip to Oxford and other parts of the United Kingdom. Having never traveled abroad other than to Canada and Mexico, I began researching the world of blogs. I warmed up my writing skills with a Google “Blogger” based platform entitled “Red Dirt Kelly.”

A week or so later, I left for my journey and began what was basically an online journaling exercise to document my trip. This series, entitled 40 Days in the UK, helped me realize the benefits of daily writing and perspective sharing.

Women on hand cart treks in NE OK pulling carts back up the ridge to safety.

In the past five years, bloggers have been called out for their lack of journalism credentials, heralded for their insightful research and posts, and been in the courts for cases involving informational sources and classifications. And while the days of online journaling still exist, the All American Blog has certainly developed in its own right.

Case in point: The Red Dirt Chronicles (RDC). A month post Oxford, I began to think about whether to keep my blog or evolve the project into something I still cared about now that I had returned to Oklahoma. These dreams eventually carried me to recruit eight content authors and for almost three years they wrote on a regular basis covering their area of expertise with an Oklahoma perspective. At that time I moved to a WordPress (WP) platform and although the RDC has had four different “faces,” all our history is stored on very large WP servers and for that I’m grateful.

At the point when I began toward the homestretch in my doctoral program, I raised the issue of “slowing down” the RDC production and almost simultaneously all authors agreed they, too, would like a break. For another year while I dug deep into my dissertation research, Alisa Hines at Oklahoma Horizon TV deployed video posts covering their work with either her notes, or the notes of other journalists. I am grateful for our former authors, and for Oklahoma Horizon producing Oklahoma cultural content deployed through the RDC.

August prairie grasses. Photo by Rachel Apple

Our RDC content is now much more focused on revealing Oklahomans and their cultural diversity. Most of this work is done through our Every Point on the Map (EPOTM) posts. In some ways, EPOTM is like a ten-year ethnography. The work of our team feeds my social research side as well as my love for Oklahomans and all they encompass.

To our readers who have continued to check in with us through the past five years, I wish to say “thank you.” To those who have joined along the way, I appreciate your presence and thoughtfulness. And, to the work we have yet to produce, I can only say, “We’re ready. Whomever we meet, and whatever they say…it’s our pleasure to hear their stories and share them with our readers.”

Happy five year birthday, RDC!

~ Red Dirt Kelly

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Oklahoma culture

“Alligator” – Sample Sonic ID by Faith Phillips

August 4, 2015 Red Dirt Kelly

Faith Phillps during her time in Afrida — Faith Phillps during her time in Africa

Faith Phillips is an author who resides in Proctor, Oklahoma. An attorney by profession, she left her job and metropolitan life to return home and craft her first novel: Ezekiel’s Wheels (2012).

Faith occasionally pens her thoughts on Facebook and I felt they should be shared with more than her social network.

So there we were, see, one night in a cabin deep in the woods somewhere between Miami and Wyandotte, OK, sitting in the living room recording her anecdotes while the rest of our Every Point team was enjoying the cool night air on the porch. In the middle of our recording session, a whippoorwill got so close we captured its call and added those haunting sounds to her introduction.

All told, there are about thirty recorded musings and we look forward to hearing them on public radio very soon…or perhaps here too.

Enjoy ~~~ Love always, Red Dirt Kelly

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Every Point on the Map, Oklahoma culture

“Legacy Ball”: Every Point Hwy 9 Run – Bethel Acres

July 18, 2015 Red Dirt Kelly

There’s just something about a Little League ballpark filled with players in their earliest years. Innocence, mixed with invested family members, mixed with the sounds of 200 voices having at least 100 different conversations…carried by the wind on a warm day across the grass, sand and past the concession stands. Being there made my muscles relax. I began craving Sour Punch Straws.

Tee ball is the epitome of cool. And so was the family we met at the Bethel Acres ball park on our “Highway 9” Every Point run.

We met Cody Laughlin, his wife and their two boys on the bleachers waiting for their turn to take the field and warm up. They were watching a cousin, “right there – number five…,” finish her softball game as they spoke with us.

The Laughlin family’s life revolves around baseball.

We play baseball…started last weekend, our whole summer is baseball. That’s all they want to do – they just want to play catch and hit balls…

Cody served as the spokesperson for the family and as the coach for the team on which his two sons played. His wife also served as coach, and several times throughout our conversation he relegated his own role and validated her.

She helps…she makes sure who’s up, make sure they have their bats, gloves, it’s the biggest part. If they get out of order, they’re out…and I can’t coach.

Is she an assistant coach? No, she’s more than that – She’s probably the most important coach – I can tell them to run all day, but if I didn’t have her in there, I – we couldn’t play baseball.

And if they “couldn’t play baseball,” there might be a fairly large space in their lives. Cody played for Dale High School, his team garnering several championships. His father also played for Dale High school, also bringing home State.

And his two sons? He coaches because he wants them to learn to play the right way. To learn the life lessons that come along with the game. He described his high school coach as tough, scary, a stickler for excellence. But he wants his children to enjoy the game, perhaps with a better balance.

I played too much – I’d play a baseball tournament, come home, get a horse, and go to a rodeo. I did too much as a kid – I don’t want them to have that. I just want them to be a kid.

When talking with Laughlin you can tell this “let a child be a child” philosophy is deeply ingrained. We asked him what he wished people understood about children and baseball.

Different kids have different abilities. You shouldn’t PUSH a kid to play a sport – if they’re not good at it, let them try something else. It’s like the parents try to live through the kid. Let them be a kid; live their own life.

[Parents] don’t understand athletic abilities are different in different kids…there are kids out there that are unhappy, they don’t want to be there.

Cody didn’t mince words. It might have been the first conversation I talked more than our participant. I asked him if he could share a “funny tee ball” story. He said,

I have a kid that’s four on my team, and he will go out there in the outfield, sit down and pick flowers.

Who’s he give them to?

He throws them in the air…

Do you have a favorite ump?

I don’t like any of them.

While we were still laughing at his umpire stories and all the tee ball rules issues, their field cleared and they began to pack their things.

As we took a different position to watch his team play catch I noticed Cody’s wife quietly set up the dugout. Under the bench she placed a plastic container with each player’s name. Inside was their equipment, perhaps a snack, and other items. By the time we headed to the car the dugout was more organized than my kitchen and ready for the game to begin.

I’m not sure if Cody’s two boys will continue the legacy of another State Championship run at their own school, but I am sure of one thing: their parents will support them, regardless if they like baseball or choose another path.

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Field notes – We’re picking up Rachel’s first set of 4×5 large format processed negatives and scans from a shop in Norman next week. Can’t wait to see them. April is living and breathing wedding season videos right now. And Kelly is celebrating the formation of a non-profit corporation…she has hopes of eventually spreading the expenses of this project around to a few other places than just her own checking account.

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