How I Spent My Memorial Day

There's little I love more than walking around outside in the spring and summer. I'm one of those sick, crazy folks who likes the heat -- the humidity I can do without, though that isn't really an option here in roasty-toasty Oklahoma. All the same, I relish any opportunity to roll up my jeans, kick off my shoes, and walk through a patch of clover. OK, so honestly, my favorite thing to do outside is cartwheels. Boy, I do love cartwheels. I'm able to do very little from my brief stint in acrobatics almost 15 years ago, but I am a cartwheel and round-off queen. My boobahs got too big for me to still be an ace walk-over champ or execute a perfect standing back bend, but I can turn a cartwheel -- two- or one-handed -- with the best of them. There is photographic proof of this, but I shan't be sharing it this time round.

Instead, I wanted to share some lovely shots I took yesterday at Woodward Park, a big, beautiful green space in midtown Tulsa. My boyfriend and I decided to take a walk around the place in celebration of No Working Day -- I mean, Memorial Day. It was extra fresh and verdant after recent storms, and the sun darted in and out of cloud coverage, which made the light interesting and varied. I won't bombard you with all the shots, but here's a few of my favorites:

At left, a rose blooms in the Tulsa Municipal Rose Garden. Ahh, such a beautiful place.

At right, a waterlily emerges from a pond in the rose garden. I love this shot because it almost appears to be in motion.

At left is a shot of a tiny branch with leaves of some unknown plant. I just liked the perspective, with the fluffy flowers serving as background to the little guy.

On the right is the walkway up to the part of the Linnaeus Teaching Gardens that was open yesterday.

Yes, that's my beautiful boyfriend contemplating life on the cute little bridge. Such a cutie pie!

That's ittle bittle me on the top of some rock steps on the right. See how nice the light was when we were there?

And here are our new friends from the park, Gladys the turtle and Sylvester the squirrel. Both of these shots emerged from pure luck. I was shooting pictures of some tadpoles in the pond when I spotted the little one on the left. As soon as I clicked, away s/he swam. The little fuzzy guy happened to stop and turn at the moment I poised my camera. I love his little pose. He reminds me of dramatic chipmunk.

I hope to spend a lot more time outside this summer and will certainly share more snaps (that's what my mom used to call 'em) with you again. Without green grass and blossoms a-bloomin', it just isn't summertime.