This is the sort of thing that frightens me about living in Oklahoma, but perhaps it's just a life lived in closer proximity to the power of the gods than elsewhere, and that power could inspire as well as terrify. My four days here have not included any sights such as the one you see above, but I have been looking at the sky a lot, and I like the sense of space up there. It's not space in the sense of a void, but rather a three-dimensional space with objects that move in and out of the skin of the sky-dome as actors move in and out of the space of a theater stage. I dread my first T-storm, but, I tell myself, as many Oklahomans seem to say, "Get over it!" However, I aim to be prepared. I will install a storm shelter in my new home. Wouldn't you want to be under the ground when the gods are hurling lightning bolts at the earth?
As I flew into OK City from Minneapolis in the north, much of the land below looked flat and arid, an expanse broken only occasionally by the meander of a streambed. A far cry from the verdant topography of the Northwest! Happily as we neared OK city, there was more green than brown on the canvas, and indeed, Norman is filled with trees, at least in the central part of town. I spent quite a bit of time in the desert when I was young, and arid land holds an attraction for me, but not as an environment to live in. Here, I want some mediation between my fragile human body and those divine celestial powers.
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