8/25/08

Lake Vincent reveals...

Lake Vincent's about 25 miles from us, is fed by a natural spring and is a popular fishing and boating venue. They are currently draining it in order to clean it up and then re-stock it. Draining it is proving challenging in view of our recent and unexpected rainfall!

However it is now getting pretty low and as it does, it is revealing some interesting sights. The lake's surrounded by attractive open countryside and topped by huge Oklahoma skies, which still never fail to stun me with their beauty. Another local feature I love is the wonderful contrast of the red dirt against the surprisingly green grass.

In order to drain the lake, the valve below was opened on the dam to allow the water to flow out into the surrounding countryside. A good friend of ours is the local Game Ranger and he is overseeing the whole procedure, which at times has proved challenging.

One of the most interesting things to come out of it's depths, has been the appearance of cars from the 1950's period. When I first saw the pictures in the local paper I thought they had all been dumped or worse still driven in! But in fact they were placed against the dam to shore it up and in other area's that needed support.

It is an amazing sight to see these old cars in plain view and also a photographers dream. We took a walk along the beach and I took many pictures to be played with when I have time with Photoshop.

I also decided a few shots in black and white were essential considering the antique nature of the subjects!

The hubster went up and rubbed across the bumper on an old Plymouth and immediately the still perfect chrome glinted in the sun, reappearing from under the many years of silt.

We were also surprised at the thousands of shells covering the sand, especially the large Clam shells. We brought a few home to clean up and put in our 'beach' guest room, I never thought I'd find local shells for it where we live!

Finally we ended our visit with a drive to another area which has revealed petrified tree's that have long been submerged. They looked so stark standing out against the surrounding sand and stream of remaining water.

If you'd like to see more pictures head over to my photography blog here

18 comments:

Mary (Bookfan) said...

Wow, amazing pics!

Mare said...

Thank you for sharing about Lake Vincent. It was great to read and so much more rewarding to learn about than regular news articles. [which are always bad news].I particularly enjoyed the surprising old car 'find'. Cool!!

Tess Kincaid said...

These old cars are incredible! Terrific photo studies, Sarah!

Pam said...

Sarah these are fantastic shots! What a story to go with them also. I hope someone is writing this up for a magazine somewhere. Ahem. Cough. Cough. YOU? maybe???

Pam said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Janet said...

An interesting post, and great photos.

Daryl said...

Oh Sarah those are indeed a treasure trove of fabulous images .. well done .. I like that shell photo with the little blade of grass ..

And I LOVE the shot of the old car ...

:-Daryl

Kay said...

Your first photos look terrific for Sky Watch. I love your artistic car 'wreck' photos.

Snippety Gibbet said...

What an amazing and bizarre sight!

Sandi McBride said...

I fully expected to see the wraiths of Bonnie and Clyde emerge from that old roadster! A bit spooky...
hope work is still going great fun for you!
hugs
Sandi

Sherri said...

Sarah, thanks so much for sharing these wonderful pictures with us. It is really amazing what treasures you find when you drain a lake isn't it!!

Anonymous said...

Wow, what a find. I love mysteries that get unearthed once in a while revealing all manner of interesting and unexpected deads of times gone by.

Linda Jennings said...

Your photos are fantastic! What a great photo op!

Pamela Terry and Edward said...

Oklahoma has such a different terrain than we do here. And, I didn't know you had a photography blog...I'm off to enjoy it now!

Unknown said...

Thank you for the comments everyone. It really was an interesting sight and yes a little spooky too Sandi!

Janet said...

I absolutely LOVE the old car photos - especially those in B&W. VERY artistic, Sarah!

Janet

Anonymous said...

Hi Sarah - what an amazing find! I have lots of fond memories of Lake Vincent! My grandparents owned a "bait barn" on the road leading from the highway to the lake and my parents would help them run it every weekend for several years (I grew up in Woodward). My wife (who's from Sharon) and I really enjoy reading your blog, especially we are now living in Europe - 5 years in paris and now 3 in amsterdam. It's great to hear your perpsective on life where we grew up! My wife also writes a blog you might be interested in: www.antiquesdiva.blogspot.com
Thanks for the memories!
BJ

Unknown said...

BJ!

How nice to hear from you and I actuallysaw the old bait barn on the way in there. I commented to the hubster on it in fact, it's a little rundown now but next time I'm out that way I'll take a piccie for you and post it.

Lovely to hear froma local expat!