You remember how terrified I was last May, hunkered in a dark motel
room, in a fort I had built with flashlight, bed, tables and chairs, as wind howled
outside. I knew that if the tornado hit,
my fort could fall. I rode the train
home a few days later.
I returned to Oklahoma
City a few days ago with new confidence.
These past five days traversing the rest of this state have spawned a
rethink of what seemed like a treacherous state for pedaling on a bicycle. There are no tornadoes this time of year, and
the roads in the eastern part are mostly wider, with paved shoulders. And people are friendly. Maybe these factors come with the end of
tornado season. 
In engineering The Mother Road, it made sense to use existing
roads where possible. Here we see remnants
of a preexisting paved road from Afton to Miami that was only nine feet
wide. If a car came from the other
direction, you had to go off on the shoulder.
Now called “Ribbon Road” or “Sidewalk Highway,” it rested on concrete
base and curbs, with surface of asphalt mixed with crushed rock. These were the first sections of pavement on
Route 66 when it opened in 1926. 
Remnants
of the original Mother road decay into the earth beside remnants of the past
election. We Californians sometimes have
difficulty understanding heartland politics.
These pictures may help or hinder. 
I parked beside a soybean field, better known in Pasadena as edamame.
A peaceful road for riding across Oklahoma.
Michael Angerman is continuing a map of my journey as he did
on the first section when I arrived in Oklahoma City on May 18 this year. Find
it at: Google Map Link for my ride from Pasadena to Chicago When
you first open the map, zoom out to see the overall picture, then zoom in to
any section.
Wow Sharon, those two political photos just took my breath away. Hard to believe, but there it is, in real life in your pictures!
ReplyDeleteEdamame is the Japanese word and has a long history... " The earliest documented reference to the term "edamame" dates from the year 1275, when the Japanese monk Nichiren wrote a note thanking a parishioner for the gift of "edamame" he had left at the temple.[1] In 1406 during the Ming dynasty in China, the leaves of the soybeans were eaten and during outbreaks of famine, it was recommended for citizens to eat the beans whole or use them ground up and added to flour. Years later in China in 1620 they are referred to again, but as Maodou, which translates to the term "hairy bean". They are found in the records of the Runan vegetable gardens and stated as having a medicinal purpose as well as being a snack food.[1] Edamame appeared in haikai verse in Japanese in the Edo period (1603 – 1868), with one example as early as 1638.[2] They were first recognized in the United States in 1855 when a farmer commented on the difficulties he had shelling them after harvest. In March 1923, the immature soy bean is first referred to in text in the United States. In this book[specify] they are first pictured and shown as being eaten out of open shell pods. The first nutritional facts about them are published and some recipes are included as they were a new type of vegetable to the public.[1] The earliest recorded usage in English of the word edamame is in 1951 in the journal Folklore Studies.[3] Edamame appeared as a new term in the Oxford English Dictionary in 2003, and in the Merriam-Webster dictionary in 2008.[4] In 2008, the first soybeans grown in Europe were sold in grocery stores as edamame and eaten as an alternative source of protein.[5]" (Wikipedia)
I hope for dry clear weather and no hurricane rains to come that way!
smiles from home on your new adventure!
love, kathabela
It’s politically different out here, Kathabela. Sentiments like those in the pictures are not uncommon.
DeleteAnd my wishes of Bon Voyage & may you end in Chicago without flat tires... maybe I'll write a musical
ReplyDeleteI'll reach Chicago
Chicago
I'll go with chic
and no flat tires
Really, Alex? Are you coming too?
DeleteAnd here in the U.K. questions about the climate here and the lack of freedom to express ones views independent of party. Striking contrast to my day high upon the Weald with King Henry's residence as a local backdrop. How fascinating we are as a global entity with so many histories and opinions clamoring at once like discordant church bells. ♥️
ReplyDeleteAnd the bells clang louder more and more dissonance. Whatever shall we do?
DeleteVery daring! Informative! "Where wind comes sweeping down the plain, waving wheat can sure smell sweet, when wind comes right behind the rain" Oklahoma OK? Don't get blown away.
ReplyDeleteLee Collins
Yes, Lee, I remember that musical — sang in it in high school.
DeleteLast May Oklahoma did not seem okay,
but October Oklahoma — Yay!