Mural in Ardmore, Oklahoma

     Sometimes, while driving through a town, finding oneself lost may lead to the discovery of something grand. Turning into a side street, just to gather my maps, in GPS or paper formats, I parked in front of a mural painted in 2016 on the side of the local newspaper's building.

     The mural honors the military past of the city of Ardmore. The base, which closed in 1945, brought to town military personnel, some of whom remained in Ardmore, raising their families and continuing to serve the community.

     An informative Website, Ardmore Army Air Field, provides more information about the base, its history, and about the mural pictured above, giving a description of the art work, panel by panel (between the unpainted columns), and includes many links (to my delight).

Vultures Kettling Before a Cloud Build Up and Subsequent Sunset

From Blooming Purple to Green

One Wine Cup

Air Tractor Fire Bomber

Spider's Split at Bat Mountain

A hike in the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge.

 View from the road of a large rock outcrop called Bat Mountain, our destination.

View of a part of the Wichita Mountains from inside Spider's Split, Bat Mountain.

My favorite thing to do, low-light photography. 

Photography artist Ben Jacobi sits by his camera as it takes several exposures. 

See his image at bjdphoto.

A large, large boulder sits on the side of Bat Mountain. This photo shows us sitting underneath it.

Spring and Blooms on Harrison and Speedway

Post Oak Falls, Little and Big

The "big" Post Oak Falls.

Little Post Oak Falls.

Update: The Post Oak Falls, "little" and "big," are found in the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge. As an honor for me, I tagged along behind artist Ben Jacobi as he led me to them, all the while teaching me about the park, its history, the names of the mountains, and how to hike safely across the wet streams over which we hopped. All the while, too, I learned more about how to become a better photographer as I watched him set up his tripod and camera to capture a moment of time in the mountains. Before these captures, he took a long time to plan them by studying routes, the time of day for best light, which light he wanted in the image, the composition of each image. The photographs I composed myself of the wonderful scenes in the park serve as a reminder to me of the education and inspiration I received that day.

Cowboy Hard at Work

The Little Park at Eighth and Scott

Walking on Ice

Sky Over Willys

T-34 on Final

J D Daniels arrives in N9JD at Kickapoo Airport. 

Neighbor’s Horse

Iwo Jima Reunion Fly-over

     The thing about being airport bums on a Saturday morning, in addition to sipping coffee and munching popcorn that Loretta made, is that we have the opportunity to watch what the wind blows in. 

     On occasion of the Iwo Jima Reunion, four pilots landed at Kickapoo Airport in their T-34s. We had the honor to meet three of them, Mr John Vance, Mr Tom Nichols, and Mr J D Daniels. 

     Later in the day, we watched them fly the Missing Man Formation.

     Mr Vance asked me to send him high resolution images to include in an article that he will write about the fly over. That adds to my honor.

Canada Geese and Some White-fronted Geese

Coopers Hawk on Pecan Branch

In the Distance, Sandhill Cranes

Red-tailed Hawk Standing on Roof

Geese Taking Off from the Pond