Today's travels took me to Kingfisher, Oklahoma, and the Chisholm Trail. The plaque below the statue reads:

THE CHISHOLM TRAIL

This trade route from southern Texas to Kansas was used to drive an estimated five million head of cattle north to the railroads in Abilene, Kansas from 1867 to 1884.

Named from a man of Scottish-Cherokee descent who built several trading posts in what is now western Oklahoma, Jesse Chisholm wasn't a cattleman at all. He was a trader, guide and interpreter, who spoke over 14 Native American dialects, possessed a natural instinct for direction, and died without ever knowing that the famous trail was named after him.

From astride his hourse, Chisholm directs his reflective gaze towards the Kingfisher portion of the Trail, offering a traditional peace pipe, symbolizing his role as "Ambassador of the Plains."

Tonight we topped off Drew's first reconciliation with a little CherryBerry!

Will and Drew got free tickets at school to the Tulsa Oilers hockey game tonight which was additionally free kid's jersey night...so how could we pass that up! Mama and Landon stayed home while Daddy and the big boys took in the game along with 10,032 other fans.

There was plenty of great hockey to watch. The boys really enjoyed themselves. Unfortunately, Tulsa lost 5 to 2 despite the Tulsa oilers beating the Allen Americans the first three times they had met this year.

Unfortunately, there were too many plays like this. Notice the hockey puck just above the tip of the hockey stick...it was on its way into the net. (#33 Ian Keserich)

And, not enough plays like this. Tulsa goalie #33, Ian Keserich, making a save.

Later in the game, newcomer #35, Steve Christie, was put in as Tulsa's goalie.

The Allen Americans goalie #32, Rejean Beauchemin.

It was nice of everyone to line up like they did so that I could get a good photo. Notice the puck just dropped between the referee's legs.

If my memory serves me correct, the Tulsa Driller had just been needlessly checked hard into the wall and had simply had enough of the opposing players crap. How do you fight with gloved-hands, with an elbow to the head of course. I explained quite well a few years back my opinions on fighting in hockey.

During the game I noticed the opposing team appearing to take a number of cheap shots at the Oilers and attempting to goad them on to escalate into something more. For the most part, our boys refused to take the bait. My photos (700+) really showed this to have been the case. Time and time again a series of high speed shots would show an American going after an Oiler and not once do my photos show the reverse to be true. I could have posted any one of several photos/series but take the above as an example.

Notice how every player is looking down at the puck. Well, all except one guy. One guy who no longer cares about the puck right in front of his own goal.

You see, Mr. D'Apostrophe has stopped playing hockey. Despite no one doing him any physical harm whatsoever, he's gotten it in his mind that he has the right to put the hurt on someone because...ummm...[I've got no words to put here since there is no logical reasoning behind this guy's actions].

My very next photo shows D'Apostrophe making a cheap head shot against a player who wasn't even looking at him let alone doing anything warranting a return of physical aggression. In short, this gentleman is what is known as an ass. It is really sad that this type of behavior and the fighting that often follows is tolerated, if not promoted.

I hadn't looked back at the post I linked to above until I started to write this after the game tonight. In the post I pondered the fact that I had no answer to the question: "Dad, why are they letting them fight?" It was rather prophetic given this exchange that occurred tonight:

Drew: What are they doing?
Daddy: They're fighting.
Drew: Why are they fighting?
Daddy: Well in other sports they don't let the players fight at all, but in hockey they let them fight a little bit.
Drew: Why?
Daddy: I don't know.
Drew: That's just stupid.
Daddy: Yes, it is.

Professional hockey...meah.

Landon enjoyed the lights more this year than last when he was still being wheeled around in his stroller.

Will taking a break from the Rhema Christmas lights.

Drew striking a pose to satisfy Daddy's picture request.

The family taking a quick break. It wasn't as cold as last year and a lot less crowded on New Year's day (the last day the lights are on), than during the Christmas season.

A water reflection shot.

Another reflection shot.

The centerpiece of Rhema's Christmas lights is their lighted bridge.

I still have never seen a picture (let alone one of mine) which conveys how truly beautiful the display is that they put on each year.

The lights change color, flash and move along the length of the bridge all synced to Christmas music play over speakers on the bridge.

It really is quite a phenomenal display.

This is just a small taste of the infinite varieties of lights the bridge displays.

Different multi-colored mixes flash and zip along the bridge to the beat of the music.

Or, single colors are displayed as well such as this red.

Or, this green which, if you look carefully, appears to be preceded and followed by a mix of colors.

No trip to the Rhema Christmas lights would be complete without a photograph in front of the American Flag.

Happy birthday Jesus! The true reason for the season. Merry Christmas to all of our friends and family.

Will, Landon and Drew visiting Santa Claus earlier this holiday season.

I woke up early this morning after Santa Claus had come and snapped this picture of our Christmas tree all decorated with presents and gifts from Santa Claus in front of it.

Finally, the picture for our Christmas card this year. Merry Christmas!

When we came home from church this evening, we took a moment for some Christmas Eve pictures. Landon is very excited about Ho-Ho coming!

Will looking sharp.

Drew was a great helper again this year putting up our lights, inside and out.

Aunt Donelda joined her nephews in some matching sweater Christmas spirit.

Drew, Landon and Will are very excited about Christmas tomorrow.

They have a lot of little boy energy and are determined to find a way to burn it off, so a little friendly wrestling and whatever this is.

The fist step in decorating our Christmas tree is putting the star on top. Mama's been reading to Landon a little cardboard page Sesame Street book entitled, "Baby Brother's Christmas." In the book, baby brother is too little to help with any of the Christmas activities until the end:

"Baby brother, you have the most important job of all," says Daddy. "You get to put the star on top of the Christmas tree!"

As a result of the story, Landon was very excited to help put the start on top of our Christmas tree. Please realize that I am perilously standing on a chair in this picture. I don't know how many years we'll be able to repeat this act.

Drew and Landon both helped putting the lights on the Christmas tree. One helped more than the other, but I'm not telling which. We put on a total of 1660 lights, a new record I think.

Our Elf on the Shelf, Ralph, chose to keep an eye on our boys for a day from a perch high atop our Christmas tree.

Landon putting on the first ornament.

Will was next putting an ornament on the Christmas tree.

Finally, Drew got his turn to put an ornament on the Christmas tree.

While hanging ornaments, Mama laid down to hang an ornament on a bottom branch. Landon immediately saw this as an opportunity to lay down on Mama. Will followed while Drew wasn't about to be left out. Daddy joined in and Aunt Donelda grabbed the camera just in time to catch a spontaneous family moment. Woe is Mama having to deal with her four boys.

The final result, one fully decorated Christmas tree.

The sky was really clear tonight and Jupiter stood plainly out above us. I've never tried to take pictures of any of the planets before and suggested to Drew that maybe we should try tonight. He was really excited, so we I took my camera out and set it on the tripod along with our relatively measly 200mm zoom and started shooting. To our amazement, we were able to capture 3 of Jupiter's 4 Galilean moons discovered by Galileo in 1610 (the fourth is no doubt in front or behind Jupiter). All totaled, Jupiter has 64 moons with about half being so small they were only discovered in the last ten years.

This is a 100% crop and the moons are only 5 or 6 pixels wide. I had no idea you could see another planet's moons with an average zoom lens the equivalent of a good pair of binoculars. I think they'll be more planetary photography in the future. I'm interested to see if I can resolve some surface detail. Saturn will definitely be a future subject.

[Update:]

After further research and review of the photos I took of Jupiter and its moons, I've changed my opinion on what I originally thought was just a background star. I now think we did in fact capture all four of Jupiter's Galilean moons. I think the displacement of the fourth moon is exaggerated because the other three moons just happen to be closer to Jupiter in their current orbits. If the moons were a little more spread out, the displacement would appear less and the fourth moon would appear to be more where I've seen it in other photos. All this combined with this moon being less bright than its siblings caused me to miss it the first time around. This photos is another 100% crop which clearly shows four moons! (Jupiter is not bigger, or more zoomed in, in this photo, rather it is just overexposed.)

This afternoon we all went to pick out our Christmas tree. In keeping with tradition, Mama took what has become one of my favorite photos that of me and our boys at the Christmas tree lot.

Getting ready to net our tree...not too hard this year.

All wrapped up and ready to take home.

The tree looks smaller on top of the truck.

All set up and ready to have lights strung and ornaments hung. A foot or more away from the ceiling...gotta get a bigger one next year.

I still believe we have the best automatic tree waterer in the world!

Early this morning, just before sunrise, this year's second total eclipse occurred. There will not be another total lunar eclipse until April 15, 2014. I took this shot about 5:46 am, about an hour before the one below.

Unfortunately, here in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the eclipse was only partial...very partial. I shot this photo about 6:49 am as the moon was getting roof-top low on the horizon and the sun was just thinking about coming up.

The West Coast of the United States had the rare opportunity to observe the unusual effect known as a "selenelion," where both the sun and the eclipsed moon can be seen in the sky at the same time.

The next partial lunar eclipse will occur on June 4, 2012, and should be visible across most of North America.

When contacted to review a Hickory Farms gift basket, I immediately jumped at the opportunity. Who doesn't love Hickory Farms gift baskets? They're a holiday institution! There are few other gifts which are as universally well received as one of their baskets. They're like the anti-fruitcake. Everyone hates fruitcake, but everyone loves Hickory Farms. The only complaint I've ever heard over the years is that people always want more!

This is my Orchard's Bounty Gift Basket with the cellophane removed. The one and only thing that is unique to my review sample is the inclusion of a 4GB USB thumb-drive in the white box on the right containing company and product information. (Photographing the basket with our wooden floor as the background was just stupid, it looks horrible.)

This is the official Hickory Farms promotional shot for the Orchard's Bounty Gift Basket.

This is my own shot of the contents of the Orchard's Bounty Gift Basket, minus the basket of course. I like my shot better, but then I'm incredibly biased. The fruit was aesthetically flawless in quality. You could ponder for hours over your local market's fruit bins and not pick out better.

The basket contains:

• 2 "Signature" Beef Summer Sausages (5 oz.)
• 1 "Signature" Farmhouse Cheddar (4 oz.)
• 2 Crown Comice Pears
• 2 Red D'Anjou Pears
• 3 Fuji Apples
• 5 Mandarin Oranges
• 1 Berry Nut Bounty (4 oz.)
• 1 Olive Oil & Rosemary Crackers (1.5 oz.)
• 1 Hand made in the USA Peterboro Basket

After church today, we all enjoyed our fresh to the door bounty all cut up and ready for the five of us to graze on for lunch! Everything was incredible. The sausage and cheese naturally compliment each other but when combined with the variety of fresh fruit...it was a palate party sensation.

We particularly liked the two types of pears. The Crown Comice pears were delicious but the Red D'Anjou pears had twice the pear flavor! I don't think I had every tasted them before. We had a great time blindly taste testing pieces of each but it was easy to pick out the more flavorful Red D'Anjou.

The sausage, the cheese, the crackers, the pears, the apples, the oranges; Mary, all three boys and I loved everything!

In addition to the terrific food, you get a high quality, hand made in the USA basket. We've got a dozen or more Longaberger baskets around the house and, while I'm no basket expert, I can't tell any difference in quality between the Hickory Farms Peterboro basket and our Longabergers.

Finally, all Hickory Farms gift baskets can be ordered online or by telephone with expedited $3 dollar/3 day shipping.

I wrote this review while participating in a campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Hickory Farms and received a product sample to facilitate my review.

Earlier this month we had our dictaphones* replaced at work. We upgraded from old bulky tape based dictaphones to modern svelte fully electronic handhelds which automatically connect up to our secretarial stations. More specifically, we went from the Sony BM-850 Microcassette Dictator/Transcriber (right) to the Olympus DS-5000 Digital Voice Recorder (left). No more broken, stretched or lost tapes.

* "Dictaphone" is actually the name of a company that made dictation machines and, technically, should be capitalized much like "Kleenex" and "Xerox."

Today I noticed the above reflection while walking next door to get my lunch. I was absolutely amazed by the reflection and couldn't understand what was making it. So...

...I walked up the grass, turned around, stood in the light and took a picture of what was causing the amazing reflection. However, the answer caused even more confusion. I simply don't see how the uniform geometric pattern of glass can create the above irregular curving reflection pattern. I am amazed. In a hundred years, if given the light source and the reflective surface, I could not have come up with the pattern above.

Our Thanksgiving cartoons from years past:

2010 - He Seems Nice
2009 - Ralph is Done
2008 - Mooing Turkeys
2007 - Ulterior Motive
2006 - The Truth About Turducken
2005 - Sesame Street Surprise