Brothers

 

This past holiday season I got to visit with both my Dad's brothers. It was the first time in two years that I had seen them together at the same time. They always looked very much like my Dad and had similar mannerisms so it was a special time. Gotta hold on to family despite distance, covid and busy schedules. 

Tennis New Year

 

My son and I spent the first morning of the New Year 2022 playing tennis. We figured we better get some time on the courts since a cold front was rolling in later that afternoon.

The Grass is Greener on the other side of the Red River

 

It has amazed me how quickly CBD and cannabis dispensaries have spread in Oklahoma. Twenty years ago I was similarly amazed by the rapid growth of the casino industry in Oklahoma. But every time I drive across the Red River I'm surprised by the Sooner State's fast embrace of "medical" marijuana. Ironically, while we were in Oklahoma last week, the New York Times featured an article about Oklahoma's new marijuana economy. The rapid rise of this industry has created some serious issues in the state.

Personally, I believe that if alcohol is legal it's hard to argue against pot legalization. I personally believe it's a dangerous habit to start, associated with all kinds of negative physical issues but pot seems no more dangerous than alcohol. I could be wrong. Still, it seems you can find a cannabis shop on every block in Oklahoma. That didn't surprise me when I saw that phenomenon in Fort Collins, Colorado 15 years ago. But in a red, law and order, conservative state like Oklahoma? Very surprising.

The Outsiders

 

 

 

So during the Holiday Break we went up to Tulsa to visit family. While there we stopped at "The Outsider House" where they filmed the movie adaptation of S.E. Hinton's novel The Outsiders. The house was rescued from demolition a couple of years ago and turned into a museum. 

 

 

 

The Outsiders is a beloved novel read in junior highs and high schools across the country. But I always felt a deeper connection because my Dad actually went to high school with Hinton. My Mom lived just a couple of miles from the neighborhood depicted in the book and movie. They both went to Will Rogers High School where the characters in the novel went. The movie was filmed in Tulsa and I grew up visiting many of the film's sites whenever we came to visit both sets of my grandparents and uncles and aunts who lived in Tulsa.  

So it was pretty cool to see this place. The museum is only open on the weekends and were there in the middle of the week so we didn't get to inside the Outsiders House. But it was still pretty cool to see the place.