I bought my first house in Oklahoma City in 1992.
The purchase was hastened by a brush with a robbery
behind my apartment in Mesta Park.
The robber was making his getaway and I was in his path.
I thought he was coming after me and
I took off running in my gladiator sandals.
I had an unfortunate meeting that night with a gravel parking lot.
I was scraped up pretty badly.
Do you know how painful it is to scrub scrapes to get gravel out of your skin?
A month later, we moved out of the inner city. Sort of.
The house we bought was an 800 square foot red brick home.
The passage of time has a way of making me idealize it.
There was a pecan and crabapple tree.
I've never stopped missing either one.
Along with peonies, we had a sweet almond bush and wisteria.
We spent every weekend remodeling this place,
hanging Waverly wallpaper and refinishing the hardwood floors.
This house was located around NW 36th between Portland and May Avenues,
and for four years this area of town was my stomping ground.
I made a kazillion trips to Builder's Square -
the forerunner of Lowe's and Home Depot in OKC.
I bought several antiques and
three surviving clay bracelets
at Spivey's on NW 23rd and May.
I ran at the track at Classen High
(for those of you who know me personally, stop laughing).
And, I made many trips to Hancock Fabric Store on NW 23rd and Portland.
Just down from Hancock's was a Barber Shop my father frequented.
This was the barber my father nearly laid flat for scalping his eyebrows.
Looking back, that was kind of the beginning of the
spiral downward into full-blow dementia.
The other day, I passed that familiar corner,
and spotted this adorable BBQ stand.
Then I saw the do-it-yourself paint job on this van.
I wonder if it goes oink-oink instead of honk-honk. ha ha.
While taking the pictures, the owner came out
and offered me a sample rib. Tasty!
He told me he also owned the Barber Shop next door.
He was the nicest man.
I wondered if he was the guy my dad gave a hard time for
trimming his wiry eyebrows.
This looks just like half the cars my dear daddy owned.
You just never know who you're going to run into or
who is going to blog about your business.
And, what a smart business man.
My husband said the sample rib was divine!
The place is called Chisholm BBQ, but it's changing its name soon to OKC BBQ.
7 comments:
Jen,
I LOVE the pig on that van!! And you're absolutely right - in this day of information - the impression we make as a business - it can be lifted up or beat down by so many mediums on the Internet (as well as all forms of other communication). And besides it just being good personal character, running a business in the best manner you can is also good for your reputation that can now spread quickly through so many mediums.
Fun post. Eye-catching always works!
Great shots! The pig van is really something else. & really enjoyed your narrative as well.
You have a great photo eye. I was born in MWC, an airforce brat and we rented one of those 800 sq ft homes when I was just a tot. So your story brings up some mems.
Years before Sweetie and SuperPizzaBoy, in the middle 80's (1980's smart alecks) I lived north of Mesta Park in Edgemere. It seems like a very nice neighborhood now but back then it was on the very edge of teetering. I rented a house there for a little while and had to break my lease and leave. I was getting stolen blind!
So I could see why you wanted to move.
Love that pig, and the car, and bbq joint. I'll have to keep my eye out for it.
Great ribs or I should say half rib. My wife stopped in to get me some, but the kids ate them before they got home. But the half rib and sauce guarranteed I'll make my own trip their.
Is it just me or does the PIG on top of that building look like it is trying to take a poop?
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