May/June 2013

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Storm Watch
Oklahomans know the signs that this is severe weather country—dark clouds roll in, gust fronts shake the trees, and lightning splits the sky. In these parts, spring thunderstorms are as familiar as the updrafts and downdrafts that blow them in and out, and these thirteen tempestuous photographs are a preview of the roiling and churching skies coming soon to a porch near you.
Photography by Brad Hurley, Mark W. Nault, and Brett Roberts

Rolling in the Deep
Those who poke their appendages where they don’t belong in search of mammoth catfish may seem crazy, but the practice known as noodling has become a cultural and tourism phenomenon, with television shows, movies, and a Pauls Valley tournament drawing thousands of participants and curiosity-seekers to the Sooner State.
By Nathan Gunter

Sway
An immortal wound recalled in the Vermont hills brings one writer home to Oklahoma with a renewed sense of the importance of family, place, and connection.
By Liz Blood

If This Hall Could Talk
It’s a seventy-five-year story in three acts. Again and again, Oklahoma City’s commitment to the fine arts—and its desire for a world-class facility in which to showcase them—has rejuvenated downtown’s grande dame, the Civic Center Music Hall.
By Brooke Adcox
Photography by John Jernigan
 

Routes
A hip downtown happening and Frank & Lola’s Neighborhood Restaurant & Bar in Bartlesville; Debby Kaspari paints the Cimarron Bluffs; prairie fun at The Canyon Inn at Medicine Rock Ranch near Lookeba; an homage to the past at Grandad’s Bar in Oklahoma City; and roots music up close and audible at the New Harmonies exhibit.

Roots
Oklahoma is a butterfly crossroads, and butterfly counts hosted by the Oklahoma chapter of the Nature Conservancy are the way to see them; Carlton Landing, a new planned community on Lake Eufaula, offers a slower pace of life to those tired of the urban hustle; and Oklahoma State Parks director Kris Marek on why parks matter.  

Food & Drink
Start with a corn tortilla. Add meat, cheese, vegetables, onions, jalapeños, and fresh salsa to top it off. These twelve restaurants—from Pickup Taco in Altus to El Fogon in Owasso—offer enough Mexican goodness to draw customers back again and again.