Dale Robertson Archives - Jessica Ferguson

Last year for the A to Z Challenge, Y stood for Yukon, Oklahoma. I blogged about the little town and I’ll take the opportunity to blog about it again. After all, we’ve lived here a year now.

Yukon has been a great place for us. It’s small. We can be anywhere in five or ten minutes. We can see Oklahoma City from our apartment complex. I posted last year that Dale Robertson lived here when in fact, he didn’t. He did once. Maybe his family still owns land here–I don’t know. Our senior citizen center is named after him and his picture is in our library. A few weeks ago, Dale passed away in California. I’ve spent a year hoping to spot him in grocery stores, coffee shops, libraries when all the time he’s been in California.

I remember watching Wells Fargo with my dad. Rest in peace, Dale.

I drive up and down Garth Brooks Blvd to shop at Hastings, Target and WalMart and go to Jimmy’s Egg. On Tuesdays, I drive into Mustang (about five minutes away) and meet a friend at the library. We write from 9 am to 2 pm. We take our lunch and sit in the foyer at a table to eat and visit. I wrote my novella at the Mustang Library. I just received the galleys to proof; you can see my cover at the right. The Mustang Library has great writing vibes.

We attend a wonderful church in Yukon. Discovery Church is the friendliest I’ve ever attended. Love and laughter oozes from its members. We visited two other churches before we settled there. Sad that one has to shop around for a church–a good fit. Discovery is the only church I’ve ever attended that I felt people truly liked and cared about us–and not just on Sunday. If I ended up in the hospital, I know without a doubt, people would be praying for me and coming to see me. I’ve never had the comfort of that thought.

Yukon will be a sweet memory when we move back to Louisiana in June. While we’re looking forward to being near our daughter again, being in our home instead of an apartment, Louisiana will be like starting over–searching for a church, getting used to the oppressive weather, settling in … trying to fit in–once again.

We’ve moved a number of times in our married life. Yukon became home fast, and we’ll miss it.

How often have you moved in your life? Any place you’d like to go back to or regret leaving? How do places you’ve lived play into your writing?

. . . because that’s where I am. Yukon was founded by A.N. Spencer in 1891.Spencer was a cattleman from Texas who turned railroad builder. He was working on a line from El Reno to Arkansas when he decided to build the town. Wouldn’t you love to look at your brother and say, “Hey, let’s build a town!” Spencer and his brother, Lewis, named the town after the Yukon Territory of Canada, where a gold rush was booming at the time.

I went to a Friends of the Library book sale yesterday. I’ve been looking forward to this sale for a month–ever since we got here. It took hubby and me three weeks to find the library. I kept pulling up the wrong address on Main Street in downtown Yukon. When I decided to put more effort into it, we finally found it in an old grocery store. This is what it looks like now:

Next door to the library is the Dale Robertson Senior Citizen Center where they play games, exercise, belly dance … among other things. To the right you can see the picture they have of Dale. I thought maybe I’d check it out since I’m a senior citizen now. When I went to the book sale, I peeked inside where a bunch were playing cards. When they say senior citizens, they really mean senior-senior. I’m not there yet. I doubt if Dale attends any of their functions; if he did, I’d do a little hanging out there too.

The book sale was good and very crowded. The parking lot was packed and people brought plastic crates on wheels. I thought, “Serious shoppers in Yukon, Oklahoma.”

I restrained myself and only bought $10.00 worth of books–as if I really need to own one more book. I concentrated on cook books this time and wow! I hit pay dirt. Nothing 100% vegetarian but some very expensive, clean beautiful books. I’m excited. I found two novels by Tabitha King called The Trap and Caretakers. I’ve been wanting to revisit her since I’ve only read one of her books and that was many years ago.

I also found a book on Feng Shui. I’ve always wanted to learn more about Feng Shui since sometimes I feel like I’m sleeping or sitting in an awkward position. Did you know you aren’t supposed to sleep with your feet pointing to the door? That’s called the death position. I probably shouldn’t have bought the Feng Shui book.

I’m excited that I found a little book called The Bean Cookbook. It’s from the Northarvest Bean Growers Association. How about we try this simple recipe called Northarvest Three-Can Chili ?

1 – 15 oz. can pinto beans

1 – 14 oz. can diced tomatoes

1 – 15 oz. can of corn

2-3 tsps. chili powder

Optional:

1/2 tsp. oregano

1/2 tsp. cumin

2 tsps. onion powder or one sauteed onion

My version of the mixing method: throw it in the pot, simmer for 10 minutes, taste, add more chili powder 1/2 tsp. at a time. Serve with corn bread or crackers or your favorite chips. I’ve even been known to wrap it in a soft corn tortilla and add black olives, jalapeno olives, shredded cheese and avocado. Yum!

For more servings than the 4 1/2 just toss in another can of beans! Okay, so now you know what kind of cook I am and what I’m doing in Yukon, OKlahoma.

Y is for Yukon

Y is for Yukon (a little town in Oklahoma)