You ever get the sense that you “missed something”? Especially with an entry? Or a shirt?
I’m a businessman, in reality. What I do, travel from town to town, it’s about business. Last July, I added a pressed, white shirt folded and in its little cleaners’ bag, to my rolling stock of items that get switched into whatever suitcase is being used for the trip.
Back at the museum: One of big Ray Benson’s stage out fit. A “Sharp Dressed Man” (Billy Gibbons) ZZ Top outfit. A Patsy Cline outfit. Buck Owen’s famous coat. One of them, anyway. All there.
With American Music making a big comeback, it was nice to see a lot of the roots – literally roots – with a small portion of Gene Autry’s boot collection. That stretched further than my trailer is long.
I do love me some Western Wear. It included a grievous angel bit, too, one of Gram Parson’s shirts.
From western wear to cowboys & indians, it was downtown. Heart of Oklahoma City, Interstate 35 and Interstate 40 intersect. Tucked in the northwest corner of that intersection, at the edge of the downtown entertainment district, there’s the latest Bass Pro shop. Shop and “outdoor world,” although, my Taurus from Tulsa was a more than a little disappointed at the lack of handguns, “Man, they don’t even have any decent air-pistols. I need one of those.”
I’m not sure I want to know why.
I found a huge stash of lures on sale, and then, when I started reading the fine print, I figured out why those were on sale, Those lures would dive deeper than the creek beds I fish.
But I did pick up some of the baits I like, and I did snag a Rattle Trap Lure, with patented diamond-backed tread-pattern. Get your groove on?
And pink worms. Can never have too many pink worms on hand.
This morning, before the Sagittarius Sun had risen, I was in the Tulsa International Airport, my saddlebags over one shoulder, and a little overnight bag with those new lures and jigheads plus a few dirty clothes. And that one shirt.
“Hey, I’ve got some fishing lures in here, do I need to check this or will it go through security?”
“Oh no, you have to check that. It’s the ‘sharp things’ that gets them up there (at security).”
Which then led to a conversation about fishing, and the gate agent (his name was Kevin), allowed ass how he usually fished in one tournament every year, and considering it was over 600 boats, the fact that he weighed in at #110 was pretty good.
I asked about area lakes, and for the life of me, I can’t remember any of the names.
So the guy was talking about fishing while I checked my little carry-on with sharp items in it.
I got home, thought about tossing a new lure in the lake, looked at the wind, recalled previous misadventures with such activities, and I opted for a nap instead. As I unpacked, I picked up that one shirt, and marveled at how well-traveled it is.
Went to El Paso, then England, then back to El Paso, and from there, out to Left Coast – and now? Up to Tulsa and back as well. Still haven’t had a cause to wear a nice, starched, white oxford-cloth button-down.
Tossed it into the suitcase bound for – I think – the Left Coast again, in time for Xmas with the fam.
Take me back to Tulsa pt. 1
National Cowboy Hall of Fame is in OKC. So is the latest Bass Pro Shop.
Decisions, decisions. Which one’s more important?
As we pulled into OKC, the National Cowboy Hall of Fame was right there. It was the obvious first stop.
My personal interest leans towards the romantic art, and a detailed exhibit about how Hollywood and subsequent media, has fictionalized “The West.”
The “West” on TV and in films isn’t exactly the way the real west is-was. There were numerous TV shows from the 1950’s and even into the 1960’s that had plenty of memorabilia displayed.
Imagine a Black and White show from the early 1960’s, about a then-current pro-rodeo circuit rider.
I got several pictures of the trail of tears statue, but the backlight, the winter morning sunlight in the museum, while it made for a good image in person, it didn’t translate to my digital imaging well.
Seemed like the museum dealt fairly evenly with the topics. Then there was the exhibit, “How the West was Worn.” Me, wearing cowboy boots, boot-cut jeans, western belt (belt was hand-tooled in Alpine, TX – silver fittings from Mexico), and so on. Might’ve been the black leather jacket, though. I need to get a new one of those, too. Motorcycle “cut.” Didn’t exactly fit in. Not that it’s ever bothered me, though.
