Julie at the Ranch | Red Dirt Chronicles

Last week I was in the dark digging around in my t-shirt drawer, and my hand landed on a shirt that was softer than the rest. I pulled it out and flipped on the light. It was my RDC T! I realized that I had only worn it a handful of times, so I made the commitment to wear it every day of my spring break. What a week it’s been!

These little egg shakers are fun to play! I'm listening to all of Bryan's CD's so I can be ready to perform next time.

Day One: Saturday night my husband, Greg, and I attended one of Bryan’s (He’s Home) shows at his Farmhouse Studio. It’s always a good time, but this night I discovered egg shakers, and Bryan called me up to the stage to play. Later I advanced to the tambourine. Was it the t-shirt that gave me rhythm? I don’t know for sure, but there is audio of me singing. The audio will remain locked in a vault, but I am happy to share this picture with my fans. I mean “fan.” (me)

Day Two: It’s hard being a rock star. I woke up with a sore throat and a sore leg (from the tambourine), but a quick glance at the weather report (rain tomorrow) was the signal I needed to get me up and moving. Armed with a shovel and compost material from my kitchen, I headed to the compost pile to do some turning. It was cloudy, but the temperature was perfect for my RDC T. I wondered how I was going to do everything I wanted to do today. Then I got a call. A parent of one of my 7th grade students called to see if they could come out to see the goats. The dad chatted with Greg as he worked on the barn, and the mom and three boys were eager to brush and pamper the horses. The boys left covered in dirt from corn stalk wars and if I was covered in dirt, you’d never know it. My RDC T is brown. Perfect.

Day Three: It was cold and rainy, but I was multi-tasking. The rain was drenching my compost pile and I was getting my car serviced. I had chocolate meringue pie for dinner. It melted in my mouth. How did Mrs. Wagner know that my mind and body deserved that melt-in-your-mouth pie and coffee? My RDC T was hidden under a sweater. She must have had x-ray eyes.

Day Four: Three girls (okay, four if you count my dog, Mae) and two sets of mattresses made for a nice day and lunch at the local diner. My RDC T and I were happy to give away a queen mattress to our friend Katherine. She and her mom brought their full size mattress to exchange and bought us lunch. I saw even more friends later! I didn’t let the cold tempt me from not wearing my RDC T. It looks great with an orange long-sleeved shirt underneath! Continue reading Meanwhile, Back at The Ranch: My RDC T & Me →

In the 1970s, George Salter of the Atlanta Journal began a trek that would evolve into his blip on the radar of American History. He would pick any small town in the state of Georgia, travel there and begin to ask around. Eventually, he would find a story worth telling. And then he’d tell it. I wasn’t even aware of this work when I began to mull over traveling around our great state this past summer and taking roads not well traveled. I wanted to meet the people at the very ends of the trails…those who had lived lives I would never experience unless I somehow came in touch with them. It was then that one of my friends commented to me during our discourse, “Yeah, like the Georgia Rambler!” After researching his work, I thought to myself… “Yeah, like the Georgia Rambler. Exactly.”

But this is 2011, and my state is Oklahoma, and I’m a girl who was born some time after the Georgia Rambler so it can’t be ‘exactly.’ It might not even be ‘nearly.’ And, to begin this series I had targeted areas I wanted to learn about (as opposed to randomly just beginning to look around) – as well as wishing for a traveling companion the first time out. Perhaps I should tell you about both of those wishes before I begin to share about the people we met and places we visited over a period of about 40 hours last week.

First…my companion: I had as my ride-along none other than our Homestead and Garden writer, Julie at the Ranch. A back story about her and I includes the fact that we are third cousins who never got to know each other until this past year, and that’s only because of the social networking phenomenon we now take for granted. Julie packed her bags, loaded up her vehicle and headed toward Oklahoma last Monday morning. Her first stop was Collinsville to see friends from her college days at OSU. Monday night they greeted, ate, laughed and got caught up from the time they saw each other last. The next morning, she headed to Edmond and by 10:00 we were on the road driving toward Norman. Our agenda was loose, flexible and neither of us were highly committed to any of the ideas we were bandying about betwixt us. In the end, however, a journey was made. People were met. Things were learned. And somewhere along the way Julie and I found out just how connected our lives had been while growing up even though we never formerly spent time together.

Continue reading Red Dirt Ramblers ~ Intro, Kick-Off, and a Road Map… →

Showcasing Red Dirt culture ~ authored and managed by contributors with connections to the great state of Oklahoma.