Black Mesa from the porch at Black Mesa B&B The B&B is run by Vicki and Monty Joe Roberts.

Vicki is a hoot. Smiles, kindness and God's friend. I am sure people have said, "With Vicki what you see is what you get," one than once. What a smile.

Monty Joe is an artist with an exceptional eye for nature photography. Monty's family prayer at breakfast was comfortable and comforting.

Breakfast was great! I mentioned the Prickly Pear Jelly homemade by Vicki in another page. Worth asking for more.
The room clean, comfortable and in American West decor.

Cacti and Hearing

Cactus, Cactus and more Cactus These pictures were taken at the Black Mesa State Park near Kenton, OK.




Prickly Pear cactus makes great jelly. For breakfast Vicki at the Black Mesa B&B served it with home made biscuits. Oh! So! Good!






I might have spent all day taking pictures of cacti if the light had not gone bad. Not for everyone -- but fun.





Dry, desolate? Yes. Tenacious, adapted, designed? Absolutely. There was enough contrast here in the park to allow me to sit hear, talk, listen, rest, and get a little sunburned.

The hearing and listening had much to do with God's perfect will. That is the joy of this trip -- a two way conversation with God providing the illustrations everywhere I looked.

Speaking of listening, there was a barbed wire fence about 40 feet way and the wind blew so hard the wires moaned. At first I thought an animal might be hurt. The three wires each had a different pitch and together they made a cord that had to be in a minor key for it evoked sadness. After listening for a while, I took a stone and held it against one of the wires. The pitched changed. I laughed thinking This could be a new music type -- fencing. (You could do better? Leave a comment.)

This is Dorthy Gale's house in Liberal, KS. Dorothy is a little stuck-up but the fat guy in the background seems nice.






Sometimes these friends leave me flat and it would be hard to say much for the makeup job on Dorothy but at least the Tin-Man, Scarecrow, and Cowardly Lion look real.

Things I saw today,

• Yellow Brick Road
• Dorothy Gale's House
• Hooker Point
• Santa Fe Trail Crossing the Cimaron River
• Tumble weeds so numerous they seemed to attack the car
• Open Spaces, three states at once
  
• Roads with so much traffic that another car passed by every 20 minutes or so
• Cactus, Yuka, and many other pointy plants
• White Tail Deer
• Black Mesa
  

Each day God seems to give me a new person to enjoy. I marvel at the amount of love there is available just for the enjoyment. To be sure more than one person has touched my life today. I went to see the Yellow Brick Road and Dorothy's house this morning. There is a gift shop close by and a woman named Joy who was most helpful in finding items for the grandchildren. While I was there Joy took the time to tell me of some of the places a local person might go. She mentioned Black Mesa, Oklahoma.

She explained that Black Mesa is near a little town, Kenton, she enjoyed going to because, "At the Mercantile they serve the best hamburgers." Now those of you who know me well know this was like setting a hook in a fish. Since I had planned to go to Clayton, NM this was just a short jog up the road to Kenton. More about Kenton later.

Joy gave me several suggestions and also informed me that the hotel at which I planned on staying was now a senior citizen meeting house. I went to Hooker, OK anyway and enjoyed looking the town over. Then on up the trail.

Out of Boise City, OK the road heads north then takes a left and for the next 60 miles it is arrow straight. After the town square there is a 90 degree turn to the north and with the wind at my back gas mileage was great.

My next stop was in Black Mesa State Park where I spent the afternoon walking the canyons. The ranger was kind enough to point me in the right direction and after a mile or so I was overlooking Lake Etling. Now I have seen lakes and I have seen mud holes. Lake Etling was closer to the latter rather than the former. And then I turned around. The wind was hollowing across the mesa ridge, blowing directly into my face. It was strong enough that when I tilted my head back a little and opened my mouth the wind forced its way into my lungs. In that moment the prayer of my heart was, "God be like this wind to me, fill me, fill me to more than I can hold. Puff into my spiritual lungs more life, more love and Your holy presence. I stood there enraptured for many minutes and knew God was answering.

4.4 miles down the road is Kenton, OK -- population 17. I stopped at the Mercantile of which Joy spoke. This was wonderful. I walked inside and was asked by a girl of 10 years old what I might need and could she help. I know she was 10 because in seconds a boy walked up and stated flatly, "I am Conner and I'm 5. My sister Bailey is 10." I explained to Bailey that I had not eaten and it is 1600 hours. She was trying to decide what that ment when her Nana came in. I ordered a hamberger and Bailey affirmed that is her favorite and I made a good choice.

I made a great choise! Bailey and Conner sat with me, at my invitation and Nana's approval. Bailey told me about life in Kenton vs. Denver where they had lived previously. After eating Bailey and Conner shared their lives and made me laugh. I got so tickled I was in pain. During this Bailey mentioned friends who have a Bed and Breakfast. So on the recommendation of a 10 year old I am snuggggggly warped up in a cozy family atmophere in Kenton, OK at the Black Mesa B&B.

As for love, before I left the Merc Bailey and Conner both ran, jumped into my arms and gave me a hug. I am blessed.

(No pictures today due to slow upload speed. I'll catch up tomorrow.)

I met M. T. Liggett in Mullinville, KS today. A crusty old artist whose medium is political welding and painting.

Was driving along and noted some colorful stuff about a half mile off US 54. So, I headed that way. This is what I saw.


There were hundreds of metal images, windmills, political statements (some to racy for my taste) and comic relief. I parked of the road and commenced to picture taking.

It seems nothing is beyond his cutting edge. So much so that the people of the town have tried to get no parking signs. As I took pictures, Mr. Liggett drove by and pulled over. He commenced to tell me about life, religion, political resistance and life in the big world. I enjoyed talking with him about 45 minutes and promised to buy him a cup of coffee on my return trip. He made me laugh and I still have a cheesy grin on my face just thinking about this American Original.

Well worth the time to learn from: M. T. Liggett.

Disclaimer: However, keep your finger close to the bleep button.

Life is such an adventure

Which is the better opening line, 1) Within minutes of getting on the road and in our very first conversation, God started to reveal his plan to me. 2) I left home for this adventure at 0900, I left home again at 0943.

I like to think of myself as willing to be flexible, changes in plans can reap a benefit – let me tell you about a good oops. We can talk about God's answer to prayer toward the end of the journey.

I left home at 0900, armed with the GPS given to me by Wessica, and quickly noted I needed petrol before leaving town. This prompted me to talk to myself. "Self," I said, "You may want – cash, it might be good to have some cash; coffee, it is not possible for me to get far without coffee. So off to the ATM with thee and then get thee to yon petrol station." While pumping the go juice I reviewed the fact that I had everything I needed for the trip. Car, camera, shorts, toothbrush and computer ---- wait, computer! So, back to the house and a quick run in and I'll be on my way. Besides this will give one more chance to tell Erika I love her and maybe get another hug.

When I got home, I retrieved the computer; wrote three checks I had forgotten about; finalized the roof shingle color; reloaded the car with more food items and hugged Erika, Josh, JP, and two kids Erika was babysitting. Of course I then left singing, “On the road again, again, again...”

The first 364 miles have gone well. I saw to many pictures to take them all. A few are included in this note. Unfortunately I spent so much time taking pictures I did not make it to my planned destination. It was dark by the time I got to Liberal, KS so pictures of me on the "Yellow Brick Road" will have to wait 'til morning and the hotel I planned on may be a stop at the end of the trip.

Leaving and leaving again taught me that plan changes are not the problem.

In just a few days or even hours I will be headed to the desert. I look forward to silence and a night sky so clear the stars seem at finger tip. Fun and hearing; head and heart; stillness and growth are friends I now invite for a sit-down.

There is within me an assurance of God's presence on the journey. I like that. His still, small voice whispers trust, commit, delight and rest -- nothing more I want. The fun of heart-silence of being open to any will God expresses for life's next step responds to and affirms His compassion. I rejoice.

Add to this baseball and life could hardly be better.