This is the last working day of 2007 and for me, I didn't feel like getting out of bed.  It snowed here again last night, a clumpy, wet snow that had mostly already melted when I opened my window this morning.  The window framed a listless landscape of mostly black and white, all color seemingly lost to the inevitable onset of winter, and Mother Nature's cold breath blowing from the ice caps at the top of the world.

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Lustful moments frozen in meaningless time

lodged neath icy borders of meaningful rime

have thus our lost fantasies frought

banned from our hearts but not from our thoughts

Wilder-2007

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Christmas Day, It was 64 degrees in Edmond.  Today, as I hear Patch barking in the back yard, I gaze out the window and notice that it is snowing, the ground already white.

Growing up in the warmer and more predicable climes of Louisiana, it took me a while to get used to the rapid weather changes we have here in Oklahoma.  Those of us that live here joke about it but to our State's weather predictors it must be a nightmare.

They don't wake up in a cold lather worrying about it, though because they are usually already awake, chasing tornados and wild storms, and reporting their impending paths to frightened Okies.

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Downtown OKC has a very special attraction, the Crystal Bridge.  The CB overlooks a beautiful lagoon with several smaller bridges that cross.  Ducks, and various waterfowl abound.

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Last April’s Oklahoma City’s Arts Festival – The Food Court

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Here is a scene from Oklahoma’s recent ice storm, slightly romanticized.

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I awoke this morning to learn that my family and I were not the only ones affected by Oklahoma Ice Storm 2007.  Tonight, 618,000 people are without electric power, hotels and motels filled to capacity.  I drove through much of Oklahoma City today and was surprised at the damage I observed.  Branches from broken trees littered yards and roadways.  What's in store?  A major winter snow storm this Friday.  Okies are tough but it's cold so please say a little prayer for Oklahoma.

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3          cups sugar
3/4       cup milk
3/4       teaspoon vanilla
2          tablespoons butter
2 1/2    cups pecans

Place 2 cups of sugar and milk in a large saucepane.  Cook slowly.  At the same time put other cup of sugar in another saucepan on low heat; stir until melted.  Pour melted sugar slowly into the milk and sugar that should be ready to boil, mixing while adding.  Cook slowly until a firm ball will form when dropped into cold water.  Remove from heat.  Add vanilla and butter and beat until mixture begins to thicken.  Stir in pecans.  Grease counter top with cooking oil and cover with wax paper.  Drop batter by small spoonfuls onto wax paper.  Pralines will set immediately and will come up easily without breaking.

Makes 2 1/2 dozen

Recipe courtesy of Carrie F. Cade in Louisiana Entertains - a complete menu cookbook

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2 cups sugar
1 cup water
16 sprigs mint
4 pounds finely crushed ice
8 1 1/2 jiggers bourbon

Confectioners's sugar and mint for garnish

Mix sugar and water; bring to a boil, stirring. Cool. Place 2 sprigs of mint in each glass; crush to release mint flavor. Add 2 ounces of the sugar syrup, stirring gently. Fill glass with ice. Add 1 jigger of whiskey. Stir until glass frosts. Top with sprig of mint and sprinkling of powdered sugar.

Recipe courtesy of Wilbert Martin in Louisiana Entertains - a complete menu cookbook

I encountered this interesting sign while driving along a lonely country road in Caddo Parish, Louisiana, about a hundred yards from the Cass County, Texas border.

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I awoke two days ago to a beautiful hazy sky.  Here is a pic that I took, and slightly romanticized.

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My pug pup Princess is playing under my feet as I pen these words, and Dusty is playing on my CD player. Yes, and I have had a glass or two of wine.

Outside, the weather is cold, rainy and gloomy. I wish that I could tell you that I have a fire ablaze in the fireplace but I don’t. “This is the first humidity we have had in days,” Marilyn says. “I’m not spoiling it with a fire.”

Hey, life is filled with trade offs.

Anyway, I’m listening to Dusty, a woman with the greatest voice that ever was. She just covered a Young Rascals song “How Can I Be Sure,” and it was better than the original. Now, she is singing Tupelo Honey. Hey, there isn’t a singer greater than Van Morrison, but Dusty equals the legend.

My old brain has pretty much atrophied, but Miss Springfield’s words herald memories, rich memories. She is singing “I Think it’s going to Rain Today.”

Dusty’s words are beautiful. They return me to an earlier time. I think I’m going to cry today.

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I wasn’t born yet on this date in 1941, but those alive at the time remember vividly the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Franklin Roosevelt called it “the day that will live in infamy.”

The “Greatest Generation” gave up its beliefs in isolationism and quickly rose to the occasion. What ensued was the greatest war ever fought in the history of this world.

Today is Pearl Harbor Day and I beg those of you like me - those not around during World War II - to remember your parent’s, and your grandparent’s sacrifices because, truly, without them you would now be living in a third-world country, praying to a strange God and enduring the tyranny of an unsympathetic ruler. Remember their bravery.

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I just finished watching a frustrating day of college football where the top two teams in the nation bit the dust.  Does college football need a playoff?  Hello!!  For those of you that care, here is the Wilder Final Football Poll, at least the top five:

1. Arkansas
2. ULM
3. Appalachian State
4. Pittsburg
5. Texas Tech