Because who laughs these days?

It's been another glorious week filled with adventure, laughter, and paint. The weather has been toying with my emotions, dragging my warm-weather loving heart through the dust of Oklahoma. I guess that's what they made winter gear for, right? I probably should have skipped the holiday chocolates. Since October. Maybe I could fit another layer under my gear if I had. C'est la vie, at least the chocolate was good. So last weekend I had the awesome pleasure of riding out to the refuge to go hiking with a happy group. I love happy people! There aren't too many happy people. Have you noticed? Seriously, participate in my little experiment. When ever you're out and about cruising through town, on the highway, in the store, on the beach, wherever, look around at the people you see. Most people have a frown plastered on their face. Wow, that saying "Your face will freeze like that," seems to be true, or maybe it's just a self-fulfilling prophecy. Get ready, get set, observe. Oh, and remember that observing isn't staring or stalking.

The Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge always fascinates me. It doesn't matter where I travel to, I always realize just how special my little corner of Oklahoma is (...In my own little corner, in my own little world...). Not saying that the mountains in Cali or the Alps aren't bad-ass, but the Wichitas have their own special flare. The nice, day-long hike brought us into uncharted territory for me. It's funny, the places one comes across without ever expecting it. A person can look upon an area of land for years and the mind estimates what it's probably like. Finally when one wanders through, it's completely different. Who'da (Who'd a) thunk? Vernacular grammar drives me insane. My obsession of climbing things only got me separated from the group once. Half an hour of seeing no one. No big deal...

The best part was that Blueberry was still standing, dirt parking lot, wind and all. Life is good.

The following day consisted of road tripping. I do love road trips! All the wonderful things one sees when one's just randomly driving about. I had the tip of checking out Freedom, OK from one of my readers. So that's where I happened to find myself, by chance, actually. FYI, if you go to Freedom, eat before since the only diner closes at 2 or 3 pm. Barely made it! The tiny downtown is right out of an old western movie. Saloon and all. The diner is also the town's motel. Warning, don't expect a room during a town festival or travel season; they only have two rooms. Beef, wheat, and salt are what the town was built on. Maybe even literally. My favorite part of visiting Freedom? The old jail! A jail in Freedom. Oh, the irony. The people, however, seem festive, though. Saw two cedar trees decorated for Christmas in the middle of nowhere.


On an unrelated note, I'm completely jealous that the college campus in Alva is 10x nicer than the one in Lawton. Okay, maybe 5.5x nicer.


So I'll stop my ramblings and leave you with a social reflection I've been mulling over this past week:
 A little while ago, I was road tripping with some friends. We were strolling down the streets of a ginormous city late one night (a city that actually has a night life) laughing, conversing, and having a good time. We turned down a side street to check out a mural still laughing and talking. A man passes us. Upon reflection, a perfect case study for the happiness level experiment. We're minding our own business, when he turns around in a huff and asks us what's so funny and why we were laughing at him.

Vain. Table for one.

At the time, I just thought how sad it was that people can be so involved in their own lives to think that the world revolves around them. It's a common human trait, but to such an extent to accuse complete strangers in a confrontational manner, was something else. After explaining to this man that it had absolutely nothing to do with him, I dealt with the idea that such confrontation can often go wrong and how vain people can be.

Today, I find it sad that people are so unhappy that they find laughter and smiling to be strange. The world we have created. Yes, I know, the world is full of sad moments, hate, and crazy,shocking happenings. But, the world is also full of beauty, happiness, and good people. I choose to see the beauty in the world. What do you choose to see in the world? What do you choose to be in this world?
Pictures from the Wichitas, Freedom, and whatever else are on Facebook.
This blog is brought to you by the lovely (biased opinion, we know) Stone Turtle – Lodging, a small family owned and operated hotel / lodging business near Lawton, Oklahoma, Fort Sill,  the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, Meers and Medicine Park. Yeah, that’s right we’re a small lodging business close to all the awesomeness Oklahoma has to offer!!