PHOTO<br /><br />Oklahoma is a hotbed of musical talent. Artists like Reba McEntire, Carrie Underwood, the Hanson brothers and Toby Keith all head to the Sooner State when home starts calling. <br /><br />Country superstar Garth Brooks was born here, too. In fact, he still lives here, north of Tulsa near Owasso. <br /><br />My in-laws live in Owasso, too. And every now and then, they see Garth and his wife Trisha Yearwood, a country superstar in her own right, at Cracker Barrel. Or at the gas station. Or at the grocery store. <br /><br />According to my father-in-law, he and Garth are buds. Garth always stops to chat, and, one day in the check-out line, my FIL pimped this silly little blog to Trisha, who I'm sure wondered who this man thought he was, pitching some naughty sex site to the voice of She's In Love With a Boy. <br /><br />Needless to say, I've haven't heard from her. But we did get this: <br /><br />PHOTO<br /><br />This is when having a father-in-law on speaking terms with Garth Brooks comes in handy. <br /><br />PHOTO<br /><br />Neat, man. Neat. <br /><br />See, I have special feelings about Garth Brooks, and no, not <i>those</i> kinds of feelings. Garth's popularity peaked when I was in grade school, back when I'd line dance with all the other girls before the morning bell rang in homeroom. <br /><br />Yes, how to line dance is need-to-know information if you mean to attend grade school in far west Tulsa, Oklahoma.<br /><br />When I hear a Garth Brooks song, I'm transported back to another time. Same place, yeah, since I was born and raised here in this 40th largest city in the country, but a different time. When I hear Shameless, I remember that ride home in the car after a day of cursive practice and kickball when the family friend who drove me and her daughter home told us to never sing that song again. Why? Because it wasn't lady-like to be "shameless." <br /><br />Needless to say, she didn't listen to much country music. I don't think she knew what the song was about any more than my friend and I.