My Latest Article-Ken & Shelley Umezawa

The Umezawa’s found their way into my email inbox via a friend of a friend of a friend. After a few back and forth conversations, they were soon being interviewed in my home and photographed in my backyard.

Their story is remarkable, as she is a cancer survivor and he-her support system.
Here’s an excerpt from the article:

Shelley assumed the lump seen in the mirror was nothing more than a cyst and was shocked when the doctor told her otherwise. She remembers allowing a few tears to slip onto the exam table, and then slowly walking to the lobby where her husband, Ken, had been waiting.
“The look on her face distracted me from what I was thinking,” recalled Ken. “She looked shocked and terrified, which isn’t a look you see from her very often. That made it real.”

You can read the rest of my article about Ken & Shelley Umezawa here, at This Land Press.

The Chicken Man

I shared with you just a few days back about The Chicken Lady that I met while doing research for the article I wrote called, Urban Chicken Farming, for This Land Press. I met several urban chicken farmers inside of Tulsa’s city limits and began to understand the movement to raise one’s own chickens within the city.

This man lives just a few blocks from me, so I biked over to interview and photograph him. He thought I was “pretty green” for doing so. In reality, I felt like a little exercise and I hate driving if I don’t have to.

The hens roamed the entirety of the back yard, but escaped to the coop at night to steer clear of any potential predator’s mouths. What are they-chicken or something? Heh heh.

The chicks clucked around, avoiding surly confrontations with the cats, the dogs, bees or anything else this man had going on in his backyard. It was a real zoo.

Raisins treats allowed me to get up close and personal with this golden lady. So pretty. So clucky. So demanding of the raisins.

After a couple minutes interviewing the Chicken Man, he offered me some eggs to go. I cooked a couple up for lunch, shocked by the color deep orange color of the yolks. These backyard eggs were different than any store-bought-even the organic, cage-free eggs. And they were tasty. Very tasty.
The odds are that I will be housing some chickens next year. I am slowly becoming more and more a fan of this idea. Now, to I just have to get the neighbor’s dogs on board with this idea….

The Chicken Lady

I recently wrote an article entitled, Urban Chicken Farming, for This Land Press. I met the most amazing urban chicken farmers and discovered why there seemed to be a movement to raise chickens within city limits.

This lovely lady resides in a neighborhood I could only dream of affording, and yet we are connected by a strange love of chickens. She’s named each of her little feathery friends, feeds them treats each day when she gets off work and knows their personalities.

 

She loves to hold her chickens as if they were pets. In fact, they’re so used to being handled, this little chicken lady wasn’t upset that I was all up in her biz-ness.

 

I love how the reptilian claws are attached to the feathered hen. It’s always been a dichotomy of fluffy and scaly to me.

 

According to the chicken’s owner, this is the most photogenic of the hens. I have a feeling this wasn’t the chicken’s first photo shoot…
After a couple of hours spent talking about the benefits and the superior taste of one’s own fresh eggs, along with the companionship the brood provides, it’s no wonder this chicken owner is enthusiastic about her pet of choice. She’s embraced the title of “Urban Chicken Farmer”.
Who knows-I may just be next.

The Latest Couple

I have a column called Together in Tulsa in the regional Oklahoma paper, “This Land Press”-which is both online and in print.

Writing this column is really the coolest job.

I get to invite strangers into my home, ask them all sorts of probing questions, dress them up in weird costumes and then photograph the incident. Later, when they’re gone, I sit around in my jammies and sip on a glass of red wine while I sort out all the information in order to write a story about them.

And, I get paid to do this.

So, here’s the latest couple that I wrote about, Aaron and Jessica.
 

And there’s plenty more where that came from. But, I’ll let you in on a secret. I do have my favorite couples. Here are a couple of my favorites couples, coupled:

Jeff and Amber Whitlatch

And Stephen and Esther Hill.

If you have a few or more than a few minutes, read Together in Tulsa-I recommend sipping a glass of wine and wearing jammies as you do so.