Driving through Hughes County, Oklahoma, I passed a tent revival pitched by the side of a two-lane state highway. I whipped a U-ey right there in the middle of the road and circled back to snap a few pictures. It was around 10:30 a.m. and the sun had climbed high...
Monkavel: The Monk in Purple Who Brings Peace Through Piano
In the ambient anxiety of life, it’s rare to encounter someone who is truly ordained by God. Someone whose very presence is a prayer. Monk Abel (also Monkavel or Монах Авель), the Russian Orthodox monk in purple monastic robe and cap, is one of those rare anointed...
Billy Beans Lived Here
Barn Near Luther, Oklahoma | Photo by Jennifer Chronicles | ALL RIGHTS RESERVEDAn earlier version of this post appeared on the Gen-X Substack. 🐙 Billy Beans: Deep Where the Stories Live For the past few summers, I’ve been retracing the steps of my misspent youth,...
Dear Nostalgia: Please Stop Texting Me
To Nostalgia With Love. But Please Stop Texting Me When my best friend Louisa (1970-2024) was still the editor of Oklahoma Today, I showed up to her office in Oklahoma City's First National Center with a 1979 Barbie Dream House. I'd discovered it at a local thrift...
Peculiar Roadside Attractions on Oklahoma Highway 81
There are numerous peculiar attractions along Oklahoma State Highway 81 north of Rush Springs, Oklahoma. I honestly have no idea what's going on in some of these pictures but they're quite entertaining. The glass balls on the pillars behind the crosses in this last...
1970s Red Tights and Yarn Ribbons
My friend in red tights and tennis shoes, circa 1971 This is a picture of my friend and her little brother. It was taken in the early 1970s when she was living in base housing. I first met her in the late 1970s at a church camp in East Texas. In the fall of 1985, I...
Pictures of the AMC Gremlin (Car)
American Motors Corporation introduced the AMC Gremlin in 1970. One of my friend's in high school had one that was a faded purple with white stripes. It looked like a high top tennis shoe. What fun it would be to have one of these rides! 1972 Trailer-Train, Milwaukee...
Bridgy and Her Hoop Baton
How To Trim A Hoop Baton, etc. Check out these beautiful pictures of Bridgy twirling her hoop baton on the sideline at the McGuinness Homecoming game on September 21, 2023. The theme of the game was "gold out" so we trimmed her hoop baton with this amazing gold...
KISS Concert T-shirt and A Metal Lunch Box (Daily Photo)
Back in the 1900s, 😆 we carried metal lunch boxes to school that featured our favorite cartoon characters. We also wore KISS concert T-shirts neatly tucked into our jeans. 👖 We liked to look clean-cut while we listened to bands that spit blood 🩸, played flaming 🔥...
1980s Sunday School Pictures
Portrait of an American Town: Upper Arlington, Ohio Parade (July 4, 1982)
Portrait of an American Town Upper Arlington, Ohio, often referred to by its initials, U.A., is part of the Columbus, Ohio metropolitan region. U.A.'s population is around 36,000. In 1982, the town's annual Fourth of July parade theme was Portrait of an American town....
The Fountain from which flows all my blessings will not be outdone by hell.
[A Journal Entry, 6.2.21] I feel the sense of possibilities I feel the wrench of hard realities The focus is sharp in the city The Camera Eye, Rush, 1981 When it comes to my kids' stuff, I'm a hoarder. There are dozens of bins in the basement filled with all their...