I went for a walk today. The sun was low in the sky and the shadows of the trees lay long across the highway. There was a brisk cold wind blowing. I  wore just a long sleeved flannel shirt but I was warm from the walking. These Fall afternoons signal the approaching end of another year. It may be the influence of my yearly bout with SAD but I’m always reminded that life ends in the same manner. A slow dimming of the light. The ebbing of potential.

miscellaneous paraphernalia



Last week at breakfast we had this view. The sun was not shining on the trees in the foreground but the ones in the background were bright in the morning light

                            The next morning was foggy and as the sun began to burn off the mist, the foreground trees burst into light leaving the distant trees enshrouded in fog.

Friday night Dorothy, Kelly, Marley and her friend Madison went to a Zac Brown Band concert in Tulsa.  I stayed home with Hunter and Jenna and we ate hot dogs and french fries then watched old Laurel and Hardy movies all evening.

I picked up Jenna and Hunter from school and we stopped at the ice cream parlor for a cone.

Occupy Tahlequah

This morning I drove over to Tahlequah to check out the occupy movement there.  I met with Richard and Ashley Oates and Kate Starr who were occupying the space in front of the local Bank of America. They were distributing fliers urging people to transfer their money from the big banks to local smaller banks and credit unions.  Smaller regional banks are actually sounder than the commercial giants who ran the economy into the ditch and then came to the taxpayers for a bail out.  Credit Unions are owned by the share holders themselves and traditionally loan at lower interest rates and pay higher interest for deposits. Transferring your money is a practical move. If you are in the Tahlequah area stop by and give these people your support.

Richard, Ashley, and Kate

What I'm reading now

Inspired by Kay's list of banned books on Kay's Thinking Cap I decided to read a banned book. Although not on Kay's list Stranger in a Strange Land is a book that I have been intending to read for some time. It's a story of a young man who was born on Mars and is brought back to earth. Having been raised and educated by Martians he is in fact a stranger in a strange land. He has super powers. He finds the earthbound human culture and mindset confusing and eventually creates a new religion. Heinlein received the Hugo award in 1962 for this story that explores human sexuality and religion. Books do not necessarily end up on banned lists because of being sexually explicit or politically incorrect. They are banned because they provoke the reader to think. A thinking citizen is a danger to the status quo enjoyed by political, religious, and economic leaders.

Newspaper coverage of Occupy Tulsa police action

Here is what the Tulsa World had to say about last night's action against Occupy Tulsa.  (includes photos)

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=298&articleid=20111102_298_0_Tulsap195784

Autumn

On my way to Tulsa I took these photos.

Occupy Tulsa

Last night the Tulsa Police Dept. closed in on the Occupy Tulsa site and arrested nine people. They also confiscated several tents. Here is a link to video taken with a cell phone. The video portion is shaky but the audio is very interesting. Those arrested were pepper sprayed before being carried to the police vehicles.

http://www.justin.tv/tulsaslick/b/298959450

Occupy Tulsa

I drove to Tulsa to donate some supplies to the Occupy Tulsa movement. While I was there I took these photos and visited with some of the demonstrators who were holding  a vigil outside the Bank America building.

They pitched their tents in the shadow of Bank America

In some of the media stories Occupy Wall St. demonstrators have been portrayed as homeless or unemployed people.  The people I talked with  were students or people with jobs who gave their time to the cause after work or on their days off.

www.occupytulsa.com