Blog #7: The Parts of Home I Love

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Oklahoma: It Isn't As Bad As I Make It Sound

Look at this precious birdhouse on this oak tree!

 I've realized that I've spoken poorly of Oklahoma while in this course. The remarks and quips often have come from a place of honesty, speaking from experience and not just opinion. While there are many things about the Red Man state I could critique, there are an equal amount of things I could praise Oklahoma's landscape for doing well. This blog post will be a combination of those two things. 

Oklahoma has famously red dirt, hence why it's called Oklahoma the Choctaw word for "Red Man." In the picture below, you can see the clay-enriched dirt, tilled by construction equipment in suburbia. There's a fascinating absence of nature despite it just being dirt. Until I moved to Texas, I did not consider how dirt could not be anything but my cherished port silt loam (yes, I did look this up to fact-check myself). 

The red dirt, thanks to the abundance of clay in the soil.

While I was researching Oklahoma for this blog, I encountered a wholly irrelevant statistic that I cannot help but mention. Oklahoma happens to be the prison capital of the whole United States, not exactly the most glowing statistic. The incarceration rate is so high, that in 2018, it outpaced any country in the world. The obesity rate also adds to this list of grievances. Oklahoma is ranked 5th highest in the nation for obesity. Isn't that rough?

I digress. Oklahoma is clearly not the most incredible place on the earth, but what we lack in human capital is somewhat recovered in natural beauty. Despite its identity as a part of the Heartland and the plains, Oklahoma indeed has some slopes. The area around my house is quite sloped. Although these hills may not be as steep, nor as gorgeous as those of Arkansas, they are significant to my enjoyment of Oklahoma. They break up the monotony of the flat plains. As I may have mentioned previously, the hill/dirt mound that I would walk to during COVID is one of the natural wonders of the world, in my opinion. Although Oklahoma may not be truly as beautiful as many other places on this earth, the nostalgic value it's landscape has for me is significantly higher than most.

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