...where the wind comes crashing through the planes! (or something like that)
Why was I in Oklahoma you ask?
ACDA!! That is, American Choral Directors Association. My non-school choir was one of 36 accepted to preform at the conference. It was a really great experience, and all too short to be enjoyed. The first day, I woke up at 3:00 AM and went to the airport. Then I spent four hours on a plane and from the Oklahoma airport we all got on a bus and went to the concert hall where we did the sound check. About half of the group was sick, and coughing up a storm when we weren't singing. When that was over we all went to the hotel and rested for a bit, because damn, traveling makes a person tired. Also, waking up at three in the morning may have had something to do with it.

Anyways, at five we all went to the Oklahoma memorial. It was very serene and very, very moving. We approached it from the wrong end, so we walked up through the little seating area above before actually seeing it. We were confused for a second before walking forward and seeing the view of 168 empty chairs. Everyone was dead silent.
After a few minutes we went on. There was a little patch of grass blocked off with some chain link fence. It was part of the playground of the daycare center that got destroyed in the bombing.

We went down to the field to get a closer look at the chairs.There were two gates on either side of the field, one labled 9:01 and the other 9:03. The space between represented the minute that changed everything.
All of the chairs were lined up on one side. They were organized in a way to represent where in the building each of the people died. I counted the littler chairs as I walked along it and got 17. I must have missed two, because 19 died in the bombing.

On the other side of the second gate there was an ordinary chain link fence. It had been put there to protect the grounds, and became another part of the memorial. On the fence, there were flowers, wreaths, portraits, poems, stuffed animals, crosses, bits of string...All comemorating the people who died in the bombing. There was one picture that really got to me. There was a picture of a little boy, Chase Dalton Smith, 1992-1995. He was three. He would be my age by now. He was my age then.

We were singing 'Lux Eterna' in the concert as our way of comemerating the bombing. Some girls wanted to sing it at the site, but we decided to save it. The preformance the next day was amazing. When we finished that song, the auditorium was dead silent for a good two seconds after Mia lowered her arms.

We preformed again later that day, and then everyone went home. I stayed along with my mother for another day. We were able to see several concerts. It was really great. All but one of the groups were totally awesome.

So. Oklahoma. It is...

LARGE:
Longest city in America! Unlike us Portlanders who build upwards to conserve space, they build OUTwards. Our hotel was a half an hour away from downtown.

FLAT:
I could see downtown from the airport, which was several miles away.

WINDY:
I'm glad I don't have very long hair....My scarf got blown around quite a bit when I wore it, but it was mostly rather warm while we were there.

MINE:
The Devon building, the Devon bridge, and the Devon mosaic. I'll forgive them for spelling it with an 'o' instead of an 'i' because everyone gets it wrong anyways.



Yay! Airport food!!