Tag Archives: weather

Oklahoma Horizon TV

On the Horizon: Severe Weather

I still remember the day quite vividly. I was young and had been away at a summer camp and my dad was on a trip in Washington, D.C., which left my mom home alone to take care of livestock and our house. I remember that year being an exceptionally wet year and I remember this due to a particular event that I will never forget. Our house flooded.

We’re not talking about a basement flood or that the carpet in our house was wet and soggy due to a water leak, we are talking about the fact that there was so much rain that water slowly rose to a point that it crept in through our doors and filled our house to a point where water was up to your knees. Granted the water only rose as fast as it rained which allowed us to save most all of our belongings but as I mentioned earlier, my mom was home alone and pregnant at the time so we considered ourselves lucky to be from a small rural community that pulled together to help save what they could. It was one of those times that you find out who your friends are and consider yourself blessed to have said friends and family.

Our natural disaster was mild compared to some of the other stories we have seen and heard over the years but in this week’s video blog, you see how weather can affect not only lives but can also be big business. I also mention in the show a top 10 weather disaster list where Oklahoma was mentioned more than once and that list can be viewed at the link provided below.

http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/curiosity/topics/10-costly-weather-disasters.htm
Kela Kelln

Oklahoma Horizon TV

On the Horizon: What happens next?

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Hot, dry. Hot, dry. Hot, dry. It’s the same day after day and has been all Summer. Now they’re saying the La Nina that we thought was gone is coming back. Which means warmer than normal temperatures and dry weather will continue. Now normally headed into Winter, I’d be really happy with that but not this year. We are desperate for rain in much of the state so a wet Winter would have been a blessing. Now that blessing will take a miracle. And what climatologist are saying it will take to break the drought is something like a really bad hurricane.

You know, it’s really a shame when you have to pray for one natural disaster to help break another natural disaster but that’s what I’m doing. And the sooner the better because the results of this drought are adding up. See how in this week’s video blog.

Alisa Hines

 

On the Horizon: What Happens Next? from Alisa Hines on Vimeo.

Oklahoma culture

I Hate Snow

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My Grandma, in her dress and tennis shoes.

by Joey Rodman

I grew up in a pretty straight-laced family. My mother would put my hair in pin-curls and make me wear the whole puffy dress, tights, patent leather Mary Janes getup for every school picture. She would claim that it was the one day a year I looked “like a normal little girl.”

My friends and in laws have often asked me how someone like me came out of the family I did. One of my friends was a little unnerved at the idea that I even had parents, much less that they were very conservative and did things the “socially acceptable” way. I have an explanation though. Recently I got some old pictures of my grandmother in the mail. The first one in the stack? Grandma in a dress and tennis shoes. It was then that I remembered her telling me as a child “never wear shoes you can’t run away in,” and I never do.  Maybe quirkiness skips a generation.

I really try to be normal. It’s hard. Sometimes my abnormality is cute, and other times it makes me the social pariah.  In elementary school I was more interested in architecture than Barbies. I remember being at my friend’s birthday party and she received a beautiful doll house. All the girls gathered around exclaiming, “Oh, it’s got a baby bed!” and “Lookit! The oven opens!”…my contribution to the conversation? “The dormer windows are nice!” Dead silence. Everyone in the room stopped and looked at me. My friend rolled her eyes and said “Joey, stop saying nerdy things,” and everyone uncomfortably picked up their chatter again. I wasn’t invited to any parties for a while.

I tell you this because I have a confession to make and I hope you don’t shun me for it.  I hate snow. I don’t think it’s pretty or magical or fun or exciting. I hate it. While most of my friends are taking their kids out sledding, making snow ice cream, building snowmen, or having snowball fights, I’m huddled up in the house praying for it all to go away. Snow is cold, messy, boring and a big inconvenience if you ask me. If it never snowed again I would be happy.

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