I spent the hottest 4th of July of my life in Ada, Oklahoma on July 17th, 2010. For the second straight year, Ada's 4th of July celebration was postponed due to rain; this year, it was actually postponed two weekends in a row for the same reason. This is good for us because we get a double dose of fireworks--once in the Metroplex and once closer to home (or as Nina might view it, we are forced to suffer a double dose of loud, scary popping noises).
This year we thought we might try to ride the Wintersmith Express before settling down for the show, but the lines at the concession line/ticket booth were outrageously long. Fortunately, though, I was able to use back door methods (and ECU connections) to get the conductor to let us ride sans tickets (we are frequent fliers). After our round trip excursion, we claimed prime lakeside real estate for the explosions. We thought the works would not be as noisy as they had been at John Dan's house on the 4th (Nina was the only one who cared), but we were more up close and personal, but we were wrong. Nina spent the show in my lap, head on my shoulder, and refused to look up at the sky.
The night concluded with our first Ada traffic jam.
Two years ago, I published a shout outto the New Seven Wonders of the World, as determined by the Swiss-based New Open World Corporation. To that list of seven, I added my own lists: Seven Wonders of the World That I Have Seen and Seven Wonders I'd like to See Before I Turn in My Passport. Since then, the New Open World Corporation (NOWC) has published its Seven Wonders of the Natural World:
1. The Aurora Borealis (perhaps best seen in Alaska and northern Canada; I'd like to see it, but only if you could guarantee me that I wouldn't have to brave the colds to do it)
2. The Grand Canyon (the only one on this list that I have seen)
3. Paricutin (a cinder cone volcano in Michoacán, Mexico--200 miles West of Mexico City. It's the youngest volcano in America--and the only wonder on this list I'd never heard of.) 4. Victoria Falls (a waterfall in southern Africa on the borders of Zambia and Zimbabwe, described as the world’s largest sheet of falling water)
5. Mount Everest
6. The Great Barrier Reef and
7. The Harbor of Rio de Janeiro (this seems like a case of Brazilian ballot-box stuffing, but what do I know? I'd love to see it.)
Because the list is based on a world-wide vote, and therefore vulnerable to ballot box stuffing by large countries interested in promoting tourism to their countries, it may be somewhat bogus.
Looking over a longer list of candidates, of those I've seen, a list of Seven Natural Wonders That I Have Seen would include: 1. The Grand Canyon
2. Sequoia National Park (not on the NOWC list of candidates from North America)
3. Yellowstone National Park
4. The Guilin Mountains in China
5. Perito Moreno Glacier in Argentina
6. Niagara Falls and
7. The Sahara Desert
Other Natural Wonders on the candidate list that I've seen include the Blue Grotto of Capri, the Dead Sea, the Everglades, Redwood National Forest, Yosemite National Park, and the White Cliffs of Dover. Not included, but should have been, in my opinion: Monument Valley, Blanchard Springs Caverns in Arkansas, and Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico.
Here's a list of Seven Natural Wonders I'd Like to See Before I Turn in My Passport
1. The Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania (we'll be traveling here vicariously with Aunt Carolyn in October, 2012).
2. Canaima National Park (includes Angel Falls), Venezuela (inspiration for Up! and Arthur Conan Doyle's Lost World)
3. Iguazu Falls, Argentina
4. Glacier National Park, Montana
5. Ischigualasto / Talampaya Natural Parks, Argentina (amazingly, my Argentine in-laws hadn't heard of it)
6. Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, Uganda (Mountain Gorillas)
7. Devil's Pool, Victoria Falls, Zambia (would I dare take a dip in the Devil's Pool? Perhaps. Would I let my kids? That's a much tougher call.)
The above list is very fluid. I also considered: Tsingy de Bemaraha, Madagascar; Kaziranga National Park, India; Bandhavgarh National Park, India; Wulingyuan Scenic and Historic Interest Area, Hunan (China); and Royal Chitwan National Park, Nepal.
Next up: imagining an around-the-world trip from the Ruiz-Benton 5 in which we visit all these places!
Today's Ada Evening News reports that the sports teams of East Central and two of her Oklahoma sister schools (Southwestern Oklahoma State--the Bulldogs Weatherford and Southeastern--the Savage Storm from Durant) are trading in their Lone Star Conference badges to join an as-yet-unnamed conference with six Arkansas schools, including: the University of Arkansas at Monticello (the Boll Weevils--see image at left), Arkansas Tech (the Wonderboys from Russellville), Harding (the Church of Christ Bisons from Searcy), Henderson State (the Reddies from Arkadelphia), Ouachita Baptist (the Southern Baptist Tigers from Arkadelphia), and Southern Arkansas (the Muleriders from Magnolia). All these Arkansas schools were formerly members of the Gulf South Conference along with teams from Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, George and Florida.
We will, then, be leaving behind Abilene Christian (the Wildcats), Angelo State (the Rams), Midwestern State (the Mustangs of Wichita Falls), Tarleton State (the Texans from Stephenville), Texas A&M-Commerce (the Lions), Texas A&M—Kingsville (the Javelinas--formerly the Hoggies), West Texas A&M (the Buffalos from Canyon), Cameron (the Aggies of Lawton, OK), Northeastern (the Riverhawks from Tahlequah, OK), and Central Oklahoma (the Bronchos of Edmond, OK) a bunch that has collectively beaten up the Tigers on the football field in recent years (we were winless last year).
You must say this for East Central's new as-yet-unnamed conference: our mascot names (Boll Weevils, Wonderboys, Reddies, Muleriders, the Savage Storm) are far more interesting than those of most larger football conferences as well as those of the Lone Star (with apologies to the Javelinas and the Riverhawks).
If I were driving you around Ada on your first visit to the town, I might comment on these attractions as we passed them:
1. The Rocket Ship Motel (officially: The Economy Inn). I am told that in one of its reincarnations, it was a restaurant.
2. Southfork, Ada Branch. Remember Dallas? The TV show that was popular in the 80s? I never saw a single episode, but I have seen the opening montage and as I recall, it featured mansions like this one. One of the most remarkable things about this rural community of 16,000 that we call home is the great number of house like this one. The cost of real estate here is not cheap, either. Why? I don't know.
3.The Innocent Man House. Have you read John Grisham's account of true crime in Ada? I can see the site of the instigating event from the window in my living room.
4. La Boca. This is an inside joke for Argentines. There is a working class barrio in Buenos Aires at the mouth of the Riachuelo that is famous for its colorful, brightly painted houses. Another unique thing about Ada are the number of extremely tiny, one-room houses.
5. The Geodesic Dome (officially: Kerr Dome--named for Robert S. Kerr, an Ada native who was elected to the U.S. Senate three different times--as a Democrat!--in 1948, '54, and '60). At the bottom of the campus hill, across from the football stadium, this is where the graduations happen twice a year and, I am told, basketball games take place here as well, though I have yet to see one. I'm a thick-and-thin football fan (and have seen ECU lose many times on the football field), but I'm a bandwagon basketball guy. If they get really good, or if I get to know a player, maybe I'll go to a game. I probably wouldn't comment on the dome if we were driving by it, but I would make mental note of its resemblance to the Casa Mañana theater in Fort Worth, which used to be a great place for theater (mid-70s), before they abandoned its theater-in-the-round structure. Independent of the dome, ECU has a nice campus.
6. The Water Boy I am told on good authority that there is a convenience store with a drive-up window in Stuttgart, Arkansas, where I graduated from high school. I am also told that there are drive-thru liquor stores all over Ft. Worth. I believe this. But I do not remember seeing these things in either of these places or anywhere else for that matter, so this is a wonder to me: "The Waterboy," a convenience store with a street running through it. The purpose, I suspect, is not to distribute water, unless you want to make allowances for "firewater." Maybe if I spent more time seeking firewater, I would notice things like this more often. 7. The Wintersmith Express. This magical conveyance moves at incredible speed. It will take you anywhere you want to go--and back--in about five minutes. Price of a ticket: 50 cents.
Recipe for a great 43rd: sleep in late (woo hoo!); birthday-song bed-serenade; hearty hugs from the r-b four before my feet can touch the floor; a carefully chosen (by Emilio) talking birthday card ("te quiero" from the r-b 3); the book I've been wanting (Hitchcock: 52 weeks with the Master of Suspense); an objet d'emi (a hand-painted wooden tiger); a german pancake breakfast at the Ol' South Pancake House (thanks, Aunt Carolyn!); a romp at Tillery Park; quality time with a rehabbing Mom (go Mom!); free shopping time (I get 5 pairs of black socks and one pair of sunglasses whose temples will not leave dents in the sides of my head--now I can be old and undented, woo hoo!); Aunt C's pear cake with candles ("Something's burning!"--see bowling video below); circulation-threatening birthday hats; a living room bowl; Popeye's red beans and rice; take-home chips, hot sauce, and guacamole from Mi Charrito Ray; a four-generation pooling experience (thanks for the company, the card, the cash and the Dad, Grandmom!); calls, e-mail and Facebook shout-outs from New Mexico, Spain, Qatar, Chicago, Wichita Falls and parts unknown from sibs, cousins, in-laws, friends, a niece and an old flame; and a safe drive back to Ada. Thanks to all who cooked this up (especially Mari, the top chef)!
It's the Fourth of July and the men are playing with fire!
The fireworks were a little much for Nina, who opted to play indoors when given that option (she declared Grandmom's bed to be "cozy"). Pablo and Emi enjoyed wearing headphones.
The last thing I remember before I fell asleep in the park West of the Sonic on Sycamore School Road is that the children were playing together happily (I took some pictures of them, which you can see here). When I awoke from my short nap, I was informed that a hungry, growling monster had appeared out of nowhere. Mistaking our children for dumplings, he captured Nina and Pablo and took them to the merry-go-round, which he believed to be a soup pot, and begin to spin them, thinking that he was cooking them in the process. Fortunately, Mari was able to get some footage of the beast before he disappeared (just seconds before I woke up from my nap), lest you think we made him up. You can see this frightening clip at the bottom of this post. After looking at the clip, we have all noted a strange, disturbing coincidence: his shirt was the same color as mine!
I spent the hottest 4th of July of my life in Ada, Oklahoma on July 17th, 2010. For the second straight year, Ada's 4th of July celebration was postponed due to rain; this year, it was actually postponed two weekends in a row for the same reason. This is good for us because we get a double dose of fireworks--once in the Metroplex and once closer to home (or as Nina might view it, we are forced to suffer a double dose of loud, scary popping noises).
