it was ok picture post

[amw]

It's been so long since my last non-food picture post, i was thinking of rolling Oklahoma and Texas together in one bumper edition, but looking back now i want to give Oklahoma its own entry. I didn't take a lot of photos cycling through the state, but i hope this gives you a bit of an idea of what i came across.

Comments

[geminiwench]

The walmart decorations..... same, same, same..... people even want it *because* it is the same... because it's what everyone else has. It doesn't make much sense to me

[amw]

I don't mind that people get a Walmart decoration. I imagine perhaps they want to provide something fun for the kids in their neighborhood (or their own kids), but perhaps they are too busy with work, or not super creative, so just buy something off the shelf, it's fine

[geminiwench]

In NYC, they're big enough to know that chain restaurants are bullshit, and its the local cuisine of 1,000 different cultures made by 100,000 families that makes for *good food*.

Chicago and San Francisco seem to have a line on that, too.

But every other city in the U.S. is about homogenization... they want to know they're 'big enough' to have a [insert any chain franchise here]... or 'special enough'. The smallest towns rely on having a McDonalds and otherwise its all local mom 'n'pops... but because its THEIR mom'n'pop... they don't think its special, or different. Everyone loves PF Changs or Applebees.. so THAT is what is "good".
Mom and pop restaurants are just.. mom and pop.. cooking, and they don't recognize how that is special.

Small places that are already so homogeneous are bored by what they have... they want the glitz and glamor of the big cities, but they don't realize the big cities... want small town cooking.

[amw]

I feel like this is close, but also there is more complexity too. For example, i lived in Toronto which is over 50% first generation immigrants, a fabulously diverse city, but there were still lots of people - especially in the suburbs - who were thrilled to get American chains or even local Canadian chains opening in their neighborhood. So it's not just a big city, small town thing... There is also some aspect of... maybe of FOMO? Like people who blew their savings buying a house and now they're stuck in a boring suburb for the rest of their lives want to "keep up with the Joneses" where the Joneses are the people living in a New York or Chicago suburb? I'm not sure.

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[carriea31]

Some of this does look more hilly than I had imagined.

[sweetmeow]

Google "Roadside America" to find many other interesting and creative landmarks along the highways - maybe like that torpedo, although I looked it up and I'm not sure it's considered "roadside art." There's the "Big Chicken" in Georgia, and the Big Duck right here on Long Island where I live.

I love that spider! So clever. I wish I had that kind of creativity to create stuff like that!

[amw]

This was a great spider because the legs actually moved around in the wind. It kinda freaked me out a bit when i first spotted it, so i think that makes it a success! I found another spider at a different ranch in Texas that i'll include in the next picture post.

Roadside America is a great resource! Another good one is Atlas Obscura. The one trouble i find with both of those sites is they often have too many things in there! It makes it a bit overwhelming, because you get 20 pins in the area "nearby" and maybe only one or two of them are something you might be interested to see.

I do love big things. In Kansas i saw the world's biggest ball of twine and the world's biggest Czech egg, both by accident. In Manitoba there was a Big Catfish, which i took a photo of but it wasn't a great one so i didn't post it. I think every town should have at least one big thing.