Okesa Votive

Fragrance: Honeysuckle, Hibiscus, Tulip, and more. (All flowers that grow around our home.) 

Okesa means "halfway" in the Osage language. It is settled exactly halfway between Bartlesville and Pawhuska, Oklahoma. It's actually also the same distance to Barnsdall. We are 12 miles from anywhere. 

I used to think that anyone who lives this far out in the country is either hiding something or is hiding from something. Maybe both are true. Okesa is a hidden gem that I would rather not share with the rest of the world, lest we be overrun with sightseers. So maybe I like to stay hidden away, and maybe I would like Okesa to stay hidden from the rest of the world.

Although, we did have a lot of traffic go by when they were filming Killers of the Flower Moon in Pawhuska. I enjoyed knowing that Dicaprio, De Niro, and Mr. Scorsese were likely in some of the SUV's we saw go by our house on a daily basis. 

My husband and I have lived in Okesa for almost 20 years. He used to live here before he met me. He moved to town before we got engaged, but town-life did not suit him. I was a city girl. I was from the Ft. Smith area and moved here in 1999. Not long after we were married, we were out driving the backroads as we often did in the evenings. We passed by a house in Okesa that was for sale. We stopped and looked, and he said to me, "If you ever loved me, you'll let me buy this." Well, of course I loved him and still do. And I met him halfway, so to speak, since Okesa means halfway in Osage. So here we are, still in Okesa. And I have never regretted it or missed city life since. Not even when I have to fix fences, climb fences, or chase a calf that found itself on the wrong side of the fence. 

As a matter of fact, I would never want to live anywhere else. I was raised in southeast Oklahoma. I was a country girl, but my family moved to Louisiana, halfway between Baton Rouge and New Orleans when I started high school. From there to Arkansas, and back to Oklahoma. And in the last 15 years or so, I've been to Beijing, Guangzhou, Islamabad, and Monterrey.  None of the places I have ever been compares to Okesa. Okesa is home. 

I've made friends that have become family here. We're no longer newbies or outsiders. I've been jokingly told that you have to live in Okesa at least 12 years to be officially accepted. I think we've made it. We've had fun times and a lot of happiness here. We have contentment and peace here. And I've found God here. It's very hard to look around at all of this beauty and not see God everywhere. 

I guess you could say we have a big back yard. We have cows and goats. They get fed twice a day plus hay in the winter. I spend a lot of time outside no matter what the weather is. I walk around in the evenings and check everyone one last time for the day, and that is also my prayer time. And I look around at everything I see and thank God for it with genuine heartfelt gratitude. I pray outside because I feel closer to Him there than anywhere else.  

To me, Heaven is surely like sitting on our porch and watching the hummingbirds with my husband. Like watching him mow the grass in the summer and how happy it makes him. Like being a city slicker but having to learn real quick how to be a midwife to a goat in labor. Like the breeze blowing in the back door, along with the smell of brisket or ribs when my husband is smoking on the grill. Like walking outside at night before bed and looking at the stars while listening to the frogs and crickets. Like waking up with him in the morning and being grateful to get to do it all over again.