SCENIC TULSA: THE REDBUD VALLEY NATURE PRESERVE
THE ROAD TO REDBUD VALLEY
Redbud Valley is a good medicine for Dr. Omed. When I can no longer bear the presence of my fellow human beings, solitude and open air are my only friends. I have many haunts where I seek them out. The Redbud Valley is one of them. I'll take the afternoon off from work, leave my windowless cubicle in Hell at the Satanic Mill where I am employed, and drive east and north to the Preserve. The best time to go in late fall or early spring (The photos are from my last visit in April), on a weekday, if you don't like to share, and don't play well with others. But even when I see other cars in the parking lot at the trailheads, indicating other pilgrims on the trails, I hardly ever catch more than a glimpse of them and often see no one at all. It's as if we were ghosts to each other, passing on a breeze. Redbud Valley is rather a misnomer; the Preserve is situated on a classic NE Oklahoma long low wooded hill, a cuesta like Turkey Mountain, only smaller, on the west side of the actual Redbud Valley. The Preserve isn't big, just a mile or two of winding trails. But it is enough.
FALLEN TREE BESIDE THE TRAIL BELOW THE BLUFFS
SPRING FED POND SEEN FROM TRAIL CLIMBING TO THE BLUFFS
THE BROOK THAT FEEDS THE POND
THE SPRING THAT FEEDS THE BROOK WITH MY HAT FOR SCALE
I ritually bath my bald pate three times at the spring, but I wouldn't drink the water.
ON THE TRAIL TO THE RAVINE THAT LEADS TO THE BROAD SLOPE BACK OF THE BLUFFS
COLUMBINE BLOOMING ON THE WALL THE RAVINE
WILDFLOWERS ON THE "PRAIRIE" TRAIL
BACK TO THE BLUFFS
THE GNOME FINDS HIS TRUE HOME
1:33:47 AM 
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