Oklahoma Sunrise, Going West & Getting Hitched

A glowing orange ball is on the horizon, the land flat and expansive.  Here’s the sunrise from our hotel window along with the United States Flag, and a pickup truck. The Hotel is located on Garth Brooks Boulevard.  It’s good to be out west, but there’s loneliness in the distance.

Oklahoma Sunrise Sep 2014

View from our hotel window: sun, flag, & truck

Our nephew married his High School sweetheart and they ride off in the sunset today, to their honeymoon and then to his station in Fort Leavenworth where he is a K9 dog handler in the U.S. Army. The bride wore a simple dress and boots to her rehearsal dinner and my daughters were so taken with the look, they got their own boots.

Stockyard City, "Real boots don't come from Bloomingdale's"

Stockyard City where “Real boots don’t come from Bloomingdale’s”

My teen played the song Never Been to Spain and the verse is stuck on replay for my husband; he belts out the Oklahoma lines much to our children’s dismay.  “Well I’ve never been to heaven, but I’ve been to Oklahoma.”

I like the space here.

We visited a tea room in Yukon where we sat around a parlor, put up our feet, and drank Boba Tea. Then we made our first visit to Hobby Lobby, a place I had to see after all the news and Supreme Court ruling.  It was a massive building with wide open aisles, organized and well stocked.  Imagine a crossroads of Home Goods, Michael’s and Jo-Ann’s Fabric.

On our way out one morning, a man stepped into our elevator and asked, “How are y’all today?”

We answered him and asked how he was.  He hadn’t slept well.  The exchange was refreshing for us, coming from a suburban and urban life in the northeast, because when he asked how we were doing, he really wanted to know.

“Never Been To Spain”

by Hoyt Wayne Axton

Covered by Three Dog Night & Elvis

Well, I’ve never been to Spain
But I kinda like the music
Say the ladies are insane there
And they sure know how to use it

They don’t abuse it
Never gonna lose it
I can’t refuse it

Well, I’ve never been to England
But I kinda like the Beatles
Well, I headed for Las Vegas
Only made it out to NeedlesCan you feel it

Must be near it
Feels so good
Oh, it feels so good

Well, I’ve never been to heaven
But I’ve been to Oklahoma

Oh, they tell me I was born there
But I really don’t remember

In Oklahoma, not Arizona
What does it matter?
What does it matter?

Oh, I’ve never been to Spain
But I kinda like the music
Say the ladies are insane there
And they sure know how to use it

They don’t abuse it
Never gonna lose it
I can’t refuse it, oh, oh

Well, I’ve never been to heaven
But I’ve been to Oklahoma
Well, they tell me I was born there
But I really don’t remember

In Oklahoma, not Arizona
What does it matter?
What does it matter?

Sep 28, 2014

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About the Author

Mylinh Shattan is a writer who has lived on three continents, served in the Army, worked in corporate America, and taught in college. She loves adventures, in the world and in the mind. Literature is relevant and learning is a lifelong pursuit, so you might as well have a bit of fun along the way.

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