Maybe I'll start taking some time on Sundays to walk Oklahoma's small towns.

This week, Sand Springs. 

<a href="http://www.tashadoestulsa.com/?attachment_id=10940" rel="attachment wp-att-10940"><img src="http://www.tashadoestulsa.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/7035625235_bd5fcc0769_b-500x580.jpg" alt="" title="Bosco" width="500" height="580" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-10940" /></a>

First, I think I should make an introduction. 

<a href="http://www.tashadoestulsa.com/?attachment_id=10941" rel="attachment wp-att-10941"><img src="http://www.tashadoestulsa.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/7035629243_4c04d19f6f_b-1-500x580.jpg" alt="" title="Bosco" width="500" height="580" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-10941" /></a>

This is Bosco. We're in love. 

I'm not one of those people who gets googly-eyed over a dog. I've had exactly one dog in my life who turned me upside down. He was a carefree, naughty little dog—the honey badger of the dog world—the spitting image of Toto on Wizard of Oz. He caused hundreds, maybe event thousands, of dollars in damage to my stuff, other people's stuff, whatever. But even though we had to replace carpets (he ate them) and shoes (he gnawed them), and we got plenty of exercise when we'd have to chase him for entire evenings when he'd wriggle his way through the front door, that dog had my heart. I think I loved him <em>because</em> he started so much shit. Maybe I even wanted to be him a little bit.

And now Bosco has happened. Bosco is old—the vet said he may have 11 years on him, maybe more. His eyes are cloudy and his snout has grayed. He likes to rest his big, square head on my lap while I work, and he stretches his fawn-colored belly across the tops of my feet when I'm at the stove. His lips flap audibly when he sighs. At night, he snores. My mom thinks he looks like Louie Armstrong. 

He's perfect. 

Another of his finer qualities is that he loves to go on walks with me. He gets tired and likes to rest plenty of times along the way. We eventually make it back home, though, him panting, the white buds of what's left of his bottom teeth gleaming like in a picture.

Ridiculous. Don't make fun. Have pity on me instead.

<a href="http://www.tashadoestulsa.com/?attachment_id=10942" rel="attachment wp-att-10942"><img src="http://www.tashadoestulsa.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/6889527780_ee55dbee28_b-500x500.jpg" alt="" title="caterpillar" width="500" height="500" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-10942" /></a>

You want to pet it. 

<a href="http://www.tashadoestulsa.com/?attachment_id=10943" rel="attachment wp-att-10943"><img src="http://www.tashadoestulsa.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/6889532316_2321345876_b-500x500.jpg" alt="" title="helicopters" width="500" height="500" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-10943" /></a>

Helicopters everywhere. Remember how to put the thinnest part between your lips to make a buzzing sound? <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_cRN-78-M29k/SdAyMGZoPMI/AAAAAAAACTc/F0rm-xOfMJ4/s1600-h/Maple-Tree-Seeds.jpg" target="_blank">I love this photo</a>. So much easier to see a pile of insect wings than a bumper crop of maple tree seeds. 

<a href="http://www.tashadoestulsa.com/?attachment_id=10944" rel="attachment wp-att-10944"><img src="http://www.tashadoestulsa.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/6889533972_fd8b5f71c6_b-500x500.jpg" alt="" title="rose downtown sand springs" width="500" height="500" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-10944" /></a>

The little camera on the iPhone 4s ain't bad, y'all. 

<a href="http://www.tashadoestulsa.com/?attachment_id=10945" rel="attachment wp-att-10945"><img src="http://www.tashadoestulsa.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/7035631891_9d4e8d56db_b-500x500.jpg" alt="" title="roses downtown Sand Springs" width="500" height="500" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-10945" /></a>

Makes it hard to justify lugging around my D5000. 

<a href="http://www.tashadoestulsa.com/?attachment_id=10946" rel="attachment wp-att-10946"><img src="http://www.tashadoestulsa.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/6889535408_296424b640_b-500x430.jpg" alt="" title="flowers" width="500" height="430" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-10946" /></a>

Shrubs and plants with that old-fashioned look, like doileys. They're everywhere in Sand Springs. This one can be found in the garden of just about every other house in the old part of town, but I found this one in the little garden downtown, just north of City Hall.

Remember? Where this happened. 

<a href="http://www.tashadoestulsa.com/?attachment_id=10947" rel="attachment wp-att-10947"><img src="http://www.tashadoestulsa.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/DSC04423-1-500x319.jpg" alt="" title="downtown Sand Springs" width="500" height="319" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-10947" /></a>

<a href="http://www.tashadoestulsa.com/2009/04/sand-springs-herbal-affair-2009/" target="_blank">Three years ago</a>. 

<a href="http://www.tashadoestulsa.com/?attachment_id=10948" rel="attachment wp-att-10948"><img src="http://www.tashadoestulsa.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/DSC04417-1-500x666.jpg" alt="" title="downtown Sand Springs" width="500" height="666" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-10948" /></a>

How does this happen?

<a href="http://www.tashadoestulsa.com/?attachment_id=10949" rel="attachment wp-att-10949"><img src="http://www.tashadoestulsa.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/DSC_0366-500x332.jpg" alt="" title="horses" width="500" height="332" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-10949" /></a>

Yes. Really. 

<a href="http://www.tashadoestulsa.com/?attachment_id=10950" rel="attachment wp-att-10950"><img src="http://www.tashadoestulsa.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/7035627451_dcf07fcd77_b-500x430.jpg" alt="" title="trans am" width="500" height="430" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-10950" /></a>

Reminds me of a car a boy I dated in high school drove. It was hot stuff. So was he. I think he's a pilot now, or something. 

