Western States 2012 - Day 4

June 8, 2012 - Friday

Most mornings Martha doesn’t need an alarm clock because the cat starts meowing and the dogs whining for their breakfast at the sight of daylight. That seems to come earlier out here in the Central Time Zone. The bedroom has dark shades, but not the living area, so Julie was tuned up pretty early. Martha says she doesn’t really mind because she enjoys the early morning when it is quiet. Byron doesn’t mind because he helps keep it quiet by staying in bed, allowing the dogs to join him after they’ve finished with eating.


Red Earth Festival

We started out not knowing what the entire day would be like. We knew that our first activity would be to go into the city and watch the Red Earth parade. The Red Earth Native American Cultural Festival is held every year in Oklahoma City. More than 1200 American Indian artists and dancers from across North America gather here to celebrate the rich diversity of the heritage. The festival begins with a parade. There is also a Red Earth Market as well as dance demonstrations and competitions over the three-day festival. We were both impressed that the Navajo Nation was represented by a marching band that was composed of 60 members of all ages including a couple of baton twirlers that were over 30 years of age.

Oklahoma City National Memorial

After watching the parade, we made our way north a few blocks to the Oklahoma City National Memorial which is where the bombed out Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building once stood. As we traversed the plaza reading the plaques, Martha was not prepared for the emotion that washed over her as we approached the glass rail above the memorial area. Lying before us was the reflecting pool in place of 5th Street where the bomber drove his truck that morning, April 19, 1995. On the lawn below you see markers that are vacant chairs, one for each person who lost their life that day. On closer inspection you see that there are small chairs for the children who also lost their lives. The base of each chair is made of glass on which a name is etched. The bases are lit at night.

The reflecting pool covers what was a street. At one end is a large, steel structure with 9:01 embossed. At the west end of the pool is an identical structure with 9:03 on it. These are called The Gates of Time. In between what was chaos for those first few hours following the deadly blast is the scene of peace and tranquility. It is truly a tribute to those who died, those who survived, and those of us that should learn from the experience.

The museum, which is housed in an adjacent building, retells the story of that day. Some of the displays present articles that were used as evidence in trials. There are other displays that show what the interior of some of the building was like. You are reminded of the chaos of the day and the way many people worked together to as first responders giving aid or looking for survivors. 168 people (including 19 children) died as a result of the violent act and over 800 were injured.

As we meandered through the memorial there was a quiet hush to all who where present with us. As we were leaving, we had the pleasure of talking to a lady who is a retired OKC teacher. She had her children on the playground before school started that morning and heard the explosion. She thought the new radiology department at the hospital had blown up and later learned it was the federal building. She said she has visited the memorial many times and that the emotions are still fresh and new each time. A woman expecting her first child two weeks from that date of April 19 was killed along with the baby. She said it was like losing one of their own and that two lives were lost that day. She was a member of their church.

One the east side of the area is a prayer chapel erected by First Methodist Church that sat to the east of the federal building. St. Patrick’s Cathedral, on a corner to the west, built a small memorial featuring a statue of Jesus with his back to the bombing site. At the base the words inscribed are “And Jesus Wept.” The circular wall the statue faces has a niche for each life lost.

The Rest of the Afternoon

Later in the day we returned to the city to visit the Myriad Botanical Garden, a beautiful place no doubt.  From there we walked to the Bricktown District for dinner at the Spaghetti Warehouse.

We also took a boat ride on the canal through the Bricktown District. We learned a lot of about the history of Oklahoma City. On the south end of the canal is a park where 46 large, bronze statues are in the process of being placed depicting the land runs that are a part of Oklahoma history.

It was a beautiful day. Though warm, the sky was bright blue with a nice breeze blowing wherever we went.