Ooooklahoma, wher the wind comes sweeping down the plaine
By Sara Fig.
3 September 2008
What city do you live in? What neighborhood?
I've lived in a small supburb of Oklahoma City known formally as Choctaw. It's pretty much your average small-town area, with few people and an off cow-to-human ratio. I live on a half-mile street which I suppose you could call my neighborhood. I can tell you are probably already thinking "Oh jeez, she's a hick!" but I think that's what separates my little town from every other one. We may be small, but I've never seen a more varied place. There are every type of people you could possibly fathom, from the country wman in love with horses to the owner of a huge Budweiser franchise. We have movie stars and true-life cowboys all bunched together in a few mile radius. And I would choose no other city to live.
What are some adjectives that describe your neighborhood?
My neighborhood is small, quiet, and beautiful. It has all the perks of rural status, while enjoying a taste of the big-city life as well. It's peaceful, relaxing, and most definitely a breath of fresh air.
How long have you lived there, and what brought you there?
I have lived in this house specifically for five years now. However, I've been in the Oklahoma City area for about ten years. As a very young girl, my father was in the Air Force, and so we did a lot more traveling and "house bouncing" than your average family. A major Air Force base, Tinker, is situated here, where my father was transferred halfway through my kindergarten year. About four years after moving here, my father retired from the military, and we decided we liked ol' OK to stay, and so here I've been since.
What is your favorite thing about this place? Your least favorite?
My favorite thing about OKC and Oklahoma in general is the very same variety and "double personality" it posseses. Where I live, you can go out and look up, and practically count every star in the sky. The air is amazingly clean, and the skies are the bluest you will ever see. From my house you can walk down the street and visit some cows, while still being only a 15 minute drive away from a super urban city, which is smoothly making its way towards becoming one of the "big cities" right up there with Chicago and the likes. My least favortie thing, however, is probably the weather. We have a lot of storms, and while I love rain, the excitement of power loss only lasts a short while. Hot summers with lots of humidity are no fun for my hair, either (excuse my vanity). But honestly, these are petty dislikes, and wouldn't change my overall positive opinion of the area.
Do you feel that you belong there?
This is a tricky one.
The people here are some of the nicest you will ever meet, and there truly are some of the most amazing places here, but I really do feel like I do not actually belong here sometimes. For one, there's my extreme dislike of the heat. I thrive in cold weather and hardcore rainstorms. Also, as stupid as it may seem, there aren't a lot of "my type" of person. Sometimes, I feel out of place being the art-nerd that is completely for throwing herself into the whole "urban" crowd. It's a conflict, but I wrok on fixing that every day. Besides, it makes it all the more exciting for me to meet someone with very smiliar interests as me.
What is the most common misconception about where you live?
The most common misconception wuold very easily be that we're all a bunch of hicks, cowboys, etc. who live on farms or in teepees. Seriously, I have been asked if I've met people whol actually live in teepees. And if I've ever ridden a horse to school. This is all ridiculous information comming from very ignorant people, and is a subject that often angers me. While I may not have been born and raised here, I consider Oklahoma my hometown, and I do not think it cute to associate me with brainless ranch hands who aren't capable of simple mathematics. That is just so rude, I cannot even explain it.
What is a special fact about your city that you have to live there to know?
The shopping cart, parking meter, and the little soda-tabs that you use to open it were all invented here.
What aspect of your city do you secretly love?
hmmm, I secretly love the old run-down-sih part of downtown OKC.
Anything else you'd like to add?
Yeah.
Bishop McGuinness Catholic High School is pretty much the best school in the whole area. *wink wink*
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