Day 50 Count Down to Funky 55

I'm Proud to Be an Okie from Muskogee! Yes, that Merle Haggard song was written about my town! Turns out Merle Haggard's folks were from nearby Chechotah, Oklahoma and migrated to California during the Great Depression after their barn burned. The mighty Merle was actually born in Bakersfield, California and he had a very troubled youth and did several stints in prison. After encounters with two different guys in prison that landed on death row, he turned his life around and became the music legend we know him as today. We can come from any background and climb to greatness. All it takes is motivation and determination.

I'm sure this craze has happened throughout the nation, but here in Oklahoma various towns have themed artistic sculptures scattered about town. In Tulsa about 45 miles away, they have Penguins. In southwestern Oklahoma, they have Buffaloes. Here in Muskogee, we have Guitars after the music legend Merle Haggard and his song about this town I mentioned above, "Okie From Muskogee".

Here I am posed in front of one of the Guitar sculptures which I believe is supposed to represent Merle Haggard himself. It's a Cowboy with red boots playing a guitar. Across the guitar is an American flag and on that flag is a bulldog. Being the wife of a retired Gunny, that smacks Marine Corps to me. :)

Today I have on a robe style dress which is one of several that I bought from eBay a couple of years back with the intent of wearing to public rituals. But since there are no public rituals here and they are too pretty to sit in the back of the closet or to be worn for only a few minutes for Full Moon I broke this one out for regular wear. I will show another one tomorrow and the next day.

I fell in love with the patch work effect of this one and the beautiful stitching. What can I say, I'm a fool for pretty clothes. But this was inexpensive and that makes me a double fool because I LOVE bargains. These robe dresses (abayas is what I think the ebay listing called them) are very comfy and cool despite the long sleeves. I know that seems counter intuitive to wear long sleeves in the summer time, but it keeps me from burning in the sun for one thing and for another, it knocks the chill of the over zealous air conditioning that restaurants and businesses have going on.

My choice of shoes today were my roman sandals with the decorative silver brads up the front. This pair has a zipper up the back to put them on whereas my solid black pair has velcro fasteners on the side.

In my photo, hubs cut the head off the statue. He said he was so focused on getting a good photo of me that he forgot to check if the sculpture was in full frame. Plust he was thinking of the guitar and not the cowboy holding it. So, here is hubs in front of it where you can see it a little better. He is getting all these photos of me and I wasn't getting any photos in kind. Today I changed that and had him indulge me while I snapped away.

This photo is just to share with you how easily amused I am. I always find it quite funny that the side of hubs truck acts like a fun house mirror and squishes me down in size. I love looking like I belong in the cast of Willow. I guess it is one of those things where you just have to be there.

We're headed to the finish line now. Just five more days to Funky 55!

Bright Blessings and Blessed Be!

Rayven Michaels

Wiccan Witch of the Midwest