Tuesday, January 29, 2013

As long as the wind blows, the grass grows and the water flows

 As Long as The Wind Blows....




...The Grass Grows...




...And the Water Flows...



My mother-in-law and I went to Carnegie, OK today to take care of some business at the Kiowa Tribal Complex.  We decided to take a side trip to Saddle Mountain and check on the property her grandparents used to own and where she grew up.


The creek had flooded, causing the water to flatten the grasses. This is Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweeping down the plains.  The weather in Oklahoma City was stormy when we left, but by the time we outran the rain, Carnegie was sunny and warm with a nice gentle breeze. But, this IS Oklahoma...The saying is, "if you don't like the weather, wait five minutes". By the time we took some back-roads to Saddle Mt, the wind was picking up and the temperature dropped. 

The property has been abandoned for while, it needs restoring. And thankfully the weather was still cool enough to keep the snakes in their hidey holes. The grasses are THICK and padded, and TALL, so I did not want to worry about tangling with a snake. The rattlers LOVE hot weather, so I was not worried about them, I was worried about cottonmouths (water moccasins) . Rattlers warn you, cottonmouths come AT YOU. 

This property was an allotment given by the government when they deeded land to the Kiowas. 

I gathered fallen branches and assorted wild grasses for my bunnies. The whole time, I am looking for cottontails. I found none. I did find evidence of a giant bunny...

GIANT Cecotropes...Just kidding. It's probably scat from some varmint. But it DOES look like a giant cecal cluster, right?

Saddle Mountain Baptist Church (trailer), butts up against the Kiowa Tribal cemetery. By the time we got there, which is about 1/2 a mile up the road from the house, the wind was trying to blow us to OZ and we were freezing!  See that little white bowl almost center of the picture? Under that cluster of weeds is a rabbit warren/den.  It's been there for years. It is nice to see they leave water out for the bunnies!

Found some bleached bones and brought them home for my son. You know boys...I believe they are from a deer, but it could have been a big dog. I am ALMOST CERTAIN (pretty certain...) that they are NOT human! Joshua says I be haunted for sure if they ARE human. My husband was joking with Josh about going  with me and his grandmother to Cutthroat Gap, a place where his relatives were slaughtered, beheaded and their heads put into their water buckets. It is supposed to be haunted. Joshua asked WHY he would want to go to such a place and his dad told him, in his best faked Indian (Native American) accent "To gather Medicine". Sheesh...So...if these bones are human, oh what "medicine" that would be! When my husband's great grandfather Walter became a Christian, he took his "medicine" (his assortment of things, for lack of a better word, 'magical') and buried them in an unknown location.  He was worried about the consequences of any of it getting into the wrong hands. Now THAT has to tell you something! What? Don't mess with the supernatural!

These hills are a part of the Wichita Mountain Range in Southwest Oklahoma, Fort Sill area. 



Lots of these wind turbines all over these hills. 

Grass grass grass, wild wheat, etc. 

Mesquite branches, wild wheat and other wild grasses from the property, picked and served up to happy bunnies. Minnie ate some, then she got great big mouthfuls to carry around. She does that. She is weird. She sure loved the branches!


The bright green in the bowl is Sherwood Forest Natural Rabbit Food. It is VERY green and smells like tea!



Dem Bones Dem Bones Dem Dry Bones...

I couldn't catch them, they were so fast, but Joshua was holding that bone in the pen, and they were going nuts, trying to nibble and bite it and drag it out of his hand.

Dem bones dem bones dem dry bones...

...Now hear the word of the Lord!!!

Oh, man, I DO hope those are NOT human bones! And NO, I only put them in there for the picture. They DID want to keep them, though. Silleh Ebil Bunnehs!

As long as the wind blows, the grass grows and water flows, I will love Rabbits.  I even realized that I want my grave marker to be a rabbit! 


6 comments:

  1. Oklahoma! Maybe I told this story before. Some years ago Oklahoma was one of the few states I had never been in. Some of us were sent to Wichita, Kansas on a Boeing lark. One evening I borrowed our rental car and drove across the Ok border, got out and stood there, and got back in and came back to Wichita. Another Lifer!!!

    Love the Jersey - our special little Benson has been gone for so long now. He was The Princesses only mate.

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    1. He needs another hair cut. In about two more weeks he will look like dryer lint exploded.

      You had to have been in THE flattest region of Oklahoma. The rest is kinda hilly and rolling. Rolling Plains...

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  2. Quite the adventure. It's always so interesting to go back and see what is happening where you came from, and your spot looks to be very beautiful. Do you have any summer pictures?

    Great to see the Buns enjoying the bounty, too. I wonder what it is about the bones that interested them? Do you think wild buns might chew bone for minerals?

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    1. I was wondering about the minerals myself. It could also be that the bones are just the right texture for chewing satisfaction.
      I don't have any summer pictures, we do not get out there too often. But the place is so dilapidated that winter seems to be the perfect background for a photo. lol.
      It might even look worse in summer, with the scrub and the trees and grasses crazy high. I got lost once in that area and my husband called me asking if I found my way back to a familiar highway, and I told him I was not sure, I keep passing the same Texas Chainsaw Massacre house over and over! It is a lonely area out that way...

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  3. How cute! Those bunnies sure look like they are having fun with those dry bones!!

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  4. For what it's worth, I don't believe those are human bones... no ball or sockets. Enjoyed the tour.

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