Thinks happen: Today In Oklahoma

Things ain't what they used to be. (In fact, they never was.)
The Profile (more than you really wanted to know) is here.

Today In Oklahoma, originally uploaded by anyjazz65

yannbry says: Don't know usual weather in Oklahoma but looks as if the ocean was coming from above

anyjazz65 says: Well, the weather is commonly hot and dry, sometimes months on end. This year...well, this year has been "different" to say the least.

art_es_anna says: Excellent capture !!

anyjazz65 says: Thanks Anna

meagain625 says: It has been unusual weather. I spent the day fanning myself, and this evening, we get fat slow drops of rain. Wonderful for us. I've never seen it this green around here. At least not in recent memory!

freeparking says: a churning ocean....like when they film underwater the waves breaking...

anyjazz65 says:
@meagain625: I still meet people who think "Global Warming" means the temperature is going up everywhere. It means drastic and probably deadly Climate Change.

@freeparking: Good observation!

jim270 says: Great shot!

Hawk914 says: Holy Cats! Superb!!!
Fade to Black...

anyjazz65 says: Jim and Hawk: Thanks much!

soozika says: Oh wow - good capture! Something's cookin' up there, methinks.

(Talking about climate change - we've had dull skies, temps in their low 50s and some 20 hours non-stop rain lately, after ridiculously sunny (for May) days with temps up in the 80s ... in Bavaria. I'm curious about the outcome of the climate change discussion at the G8 summit in Heiligendamm next week ...)

The Dust Bowl, 1930's

anyjazz65 says: Thanks, soozika. We have had almost steady rains and flash floods since mid March. And we live in what is generally regarded as the Great Southwest Desert. We have had weather patterns previously unknown in Oklahoma. This area is the “dust bowl” depicted by John Steinbeck in “The Grapes of Wrath.”

Yes, the G8 meeting is a ray of light. My hope is that our representatives, apparently owned outright by oil companies, auto makers and other special interest groups, do not screw it up…again.

We installed a flagpole on our front lawn when we moved here 3 years ago. It has flown Margaret Meade’s Earth Day Flag every day since then. So far, only one of our neighbors has been brave enough to ask us what it means. And I think it was only to make sure it was not some sinister symbol contrary to the mainstream Bible Belt mindset that prevails here.

In recent weeks we have seen the emergence of the catch-phrase “going green” and the twinge of conservation creeping into radio/television dramas and advertising: Hybrid, Ecologically Friendly, Biodegradable, Clean Energy and Hydrocarbon Free. There are big displays of the new florescent energy saving light bulbs at the super markets. Newspapers are running (still on the back pages) disconcerting stories of glaciers and clear cutting and endangered species like polar bears and heroic individual efforts to make a contribution to the longevity of our earth.

There seems a growing awareness to our certain fate, but it is sadly, probably too little, too slow and too late.

Our wonderful earth will survive as it apparently has many times before, but it will probably be without the annoying parasites that currently infest it.