|
Christmas Letter 2021 Merry Christmask! We hope this Christmas time finds everyone hale and hearty and looking forward to a better more normal 2022! Weatherwise it has been unusual. We had a cold winter with lots of snow and we almost set a record for the number of days continuously below freezing. Winter was followed by a very damp spring. It didn't rain that much in total; it just seemed to be a constant drizzle, which made gardening difficult -- everything rotted in the ground. Summer was probably milder than normal. Now we're enjoying a warm fall and early winter. We had a brief cold snap followed by a long Indian summer that's still going on and on. 70 degree days in December. It's predicted to be 74° on Christmas Eve. Wow! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The big news of the year is that Tinseltown came to Pawhuska for the on location shooting (more or less) of the movie, "Killers of the Flower Moon." (Based on the book by David Grann describing the Osage "Reign of Terror.") For several months, the heart of modern Pawhuska was tranformed into 1920s Fairfax. [Fairfax is a small town about 20 miles from Pawhuska and is but a ghost of its former self. Evidently it was easier to put a false front on Pawhuska than to completely rebuild Fairfax.] Going downtown was a treat: cowboys, Indians, scoundrels of every description, wagons, horses and horseless carriages, flappers, muddy mud streets, etc. I can't remember that last time I saw a working steam engine train. I felt like I was Sherman traveling with Mr. Peabody in the Wayback Machine! And then the magic was gone. Hollywood left taking everything with them. Some people thought they should have left everything in place and turned Pawhuska into a 1920s theme town. But the powers that be said no. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Little news: We got three chicks in the spring. It's always fun watching them grow. Trish and Jami took their usual girls' trip late in the fall. Due to lingering covid concerns it was an abbreviated jaunt to Bricktown in Oklahoma City. Trish and I traveled to Stillwater to see her grand nephew perform in the annual "Freshman Follies." Definitely Greek culture at its best! We did a modest number of gigs and pickings, and were treated? to one of our irregular and thankfully brief enormous invasions of blackbirds late in the year. |
Farm ReportWe currently have nine head of chicken. We got three chicks this spring. Trish says she never imagined having nine chickens. We were expecting the older ones (now well over six) to be passing on. But they refuse! Lots of blackberries this year. Hay crop was decent. I still run the garden year around and am still eating fresh picked kale and spinach. Late in the year we were invaded by the birds: blackbirds to be precise. An enormous sky covering horde. Looked like black holes punched into thin air. Makes one wonder if Alfred H ever had such an experience. Might have inspired him to make a movie. Construction ReportWe've gone from construction to repair. There's always something. Music ReportWe did several gigs this year: An art benefit at the Constantine Theater, Trish's cousin's family reunion, and a street festival in Vinita. Later in the fall Trish got to play with the famous Oklahoma Mike at a posh bison shindig. Just before Christmas she joined a group of friends and played real "Olde Tyme" music at a contra dance. We also did a few pickings during the course of the year. Musically, things are slowly returning to normal.
Anyone passing this way is always welcome to drop in and sit a spell. Hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a wonderful holiday season and we wish you all the best for the coming year. |