Norman, OK
11 June 2007
90 deg, 55% hum, early afternoon cumulus, light breeze

Friends of Charlie and Barbara ..

While waiting for Barbara at the dentist (some months ago she lost a big chunk of a tooth in the back), Charlie is holed up in a Starbucks using their wifi. So he has encouraged me to write up a quick update for the where-we-be blog.

We have arrived at the end of your 95 trek, Norman, OK, 35 miles south of Oklahoma City. This is old stomping grounds for B/C; for 10 years, 1975-1985, they lived here while Charlie taught at the University of Oklahoma (OU) and Barbara was nursing, mostly at the community mental health center. Elizabeth was born here so she is the real Okie in the family.

The house we built in 1975 is still looking good; my how the trees have grown. In 1975 the house was quite a departure from conventional homes in the area. It was a great house. By the way, all of the landscape here is a very lush green as is all of western Oklahoma that we’ve come through.

The house is on five acres with a horse barn in which Barbara kept her Arabian horses. This shot through pear trees that we planted that haven’t been pruned since we left.

Here is a Google of the property. The house is in the lower center with the curved drive; the property ran down to the road on the left. The house was built on a hill with a view of Oklahoma City 25 miles to the north. The push pin in the upper left is were we’re staying at the moment at the old Spor homestead, close friends from our Oklahoma days and since. Lisa, their daughter, who we’ve know since she was 10, lives there now in a completely remodeled home with her young family.

This is the current extent of Norman with the University in the center, all focused on the football stadium.

Over the past 20 years Norman has seen considerable development and gentrification with an influx of shopping centers and chain department stores. The University has been booming also. The area is a popular place for university faculty to return to to retire.

Once everyone has had a chance to catch their breath and to acclimate to the humidity, we’ll write again soon. Later this week we will be off to southern Oklahoma to a lake-side state park with our friends the Spors for a family gathering.


… Humphrey for Charlie and Barbara