- Easing on down the road

Retrospective (5/1/2016)

As envisioned in the original post below, Patch #100 is a riff on the Chickasaw Cultural Center logo ...

Original Post

Twelve hours ago we pulled out of the driveway and headed northbound on I-35. Now we are ensconced (ha) in an Oklahoma City Holiday Inn Express ...

Our ultimate destination is St Louis, but today we finally made time to stop along the way at the Chickasaw Cultural Center http://www.chickasawculturalcenter.com/ in Sulphur, Oklahoma (sorry, I'm using a mobile app, so I can't easily embed links in the post).

I was thoroughly entranced by the logo that ended the orientation film ...

so I asked someone about it as we looked at Native American beadwork (on loan from another institution, so sadly, no pictures allowed). She pointed to a fellow who had overheard my question and was practically running to a library shelf at the other end of the room to show me this ...

It turned out that he was the staff archeologist and we had a wonderful conversation about iconography and his role at the Cultural Center caring for the artifacts. Come to find out, he was originally from New Mexico and strongly recommended a visit to the Chaco Culture National Historic Park in northwest New Mexico https://www.nps.gov/chcu/index.htm. Add that to the bucket list (and bring hiking boots).

With closing time fast approaching, we flew through the exhibit hall, where many of the displays were contemporary renditions of historic artifacts ...

a very responsible museum practice which protects fragile originals from damage and enables viewers to see things as they might have looked when originally created ...

But there was also contemporary art, including this wall mural that caught Don's eye ...

I couldn't get the entire image, but notice there are thirteen large white orbs. 

We reluctantly left at 5:00, but the good news is that we travel I-35 several times a year, making a return visit to the Chickasaw site more than likely. 

So, the decaf coffee and desserts from La Baguette in Norman, Oklahoma are now yet another memory and it's about time for bed since we have a long day on the road ahead of us tomorrow. At least I know that I can add a retrospective patch to this post sometime soon ... most likely a riff on the Chickasaw logo with its circle of life, eye, and sun.