In August of 2011, we moved to Lawton, Oklahoma for what we knew would be an 8 month stay. My husband had orders to attend a course at Fort Sill, originally a cavalry fort dating back to 1869, and where you can now hear artillery fire booming across the southern plains at all hours. Our hotel didn’t allow dogs, so our 120 pound Labrador Retriever got to stay on a sprawling farm for a few days that served as a dog boarding facility.
As the woman checked us in and took the leash, she asked the typical questions. She was a fellow military spouse, her husband had retired and they decided to stay on the prairie farmland they had made their home.
I showed her my map, which was on the back of a brochure from the hotel. “We are looking at houses today,” I told her. She nodded importantly and took the map from my hands. “We have been here for 25 years. Let me show you where you DON’T want to live,” and she began to circle areas on the map while making a don’t-even-think-about-it face.
Later, when I asked for directions to sign the lease for house, the woman on the phone said it was behind Starbucks and started to hang up the phone. I said, “Wait, wait I don’t know which Starbucks you’re talking about.”
“Oh honey,” she said in a sympathetic tone. “We only have one Starbucks here in Lawton.”
Another woman I met in Lawton wanted to tell me about the selection of Walmarts in the town. “There are two,” she said. “The Black Walmart, and the White Walmart.” I cringed and made a mental note to try and forget which was which. How was I going to fit into this town with its one Starbucks and lingering racism?
I recently listened to a TED talk by Devdutt Pattanaik who spoke of the differences in cultures that seem to be always at odds, never understanding the other’s point of view. “They are cultural creations, not natural phenomena. And so the next time you meet someone, a stranger, one request: Understand that you live in the subjective truth, and so does he. Understand it. And when you understand it you will discover something spectacular. You will discover that within infinite myths lies the eternal truth.”
There’s a beautiful park in Lawton where hundreds of prairie dogs have been relocated to enjoy the acres of hills and the pond. They have become accustomed to the presence of humans and pop up every few feet along the mile long loop through the park, only ducking their heads down into their holes just as you pass by. I spent many Autumn afternoons walking that loop under the watchful eyes of the prairie dogs – their cool gaze unmoved by mine. According to David Spurr, there exists a strong sense of entitlement for the one that is overseeing, because he alone has the whole picture, especially when he himself has the ability to be hidden from view. “For the observer, sight confers power; for the observed, visibility is a trap” (16).
Because Fort Sill is a training post, many of the people I know have been stationed there for a time, especially among the Artillery community. Many will go back. Friends who are about to move there often ask me how I liked it. How do you sum up a town? That’s where we were when we found out that Kris, a close friend of my husband’s, was killed in Afghanistan, and our spirits were crushed. That’s where we had to pack up and leave after 8 short months of making it our home, leaving me with a feeling of complete emptiness.
Casey Blanton says, “As every travel writer knows, maps and books can tell only part of the truth. By what process, using what models, does the traveler presume to describe, to interpret, to represent people and places who are other to him? What encounter included, what person omitted?”
And so I tell them about the prairie dog park and the nearby buffalo at the wildlife refuge. I explain what part of town we lived in and how the local grocery store doubles coupons up to a dollar. I share the parts that became synonymous with the town in my eyes: making my first batch of homemade chocolate chip cookies, driving up and down the main road with my 4 month old baby in the car while he slept, and hanging cloth diapers to dry on a clothes line under that big Oklahoma sky.
Teresa says
Jamie,
I can see those prairie dogs “pop” and “duck” at the park in Lawton as you stroll around it. I can hear the “booming” of the artillery fire of Fort Sill. And, I can feel a tinge of the loss that is associated with the place because of the loss of your husband’s friend. The one time I was in Oklahoma for a few days, we stayed in Oklahoma City for an event my husband participated in, whenever I tried to go outside it felt like I was walking into a furnace. The air was heavily saturated with moisture, almost suffocating. Is the humidity in Lawton any different from Oklahoma City during the summer? I noticed that it is located near the Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge and assume it may be a slightly drier climate and higher in elevation than Oklahoma City.
Jamie says
Teresa,
Thank you for the comment! Yes it did feel like a furnace out in the heat of August. Luckily we moved there as Autumn was starting and only had a few weeks of that heat. If I remember correctly we were only about an hour and a half from Oklahoma City and yes quite close to the wildlife refuge. As for humidity, I might not have noticed, because I prefer it to dry heat. My times visiting Phoenix I had to sleep with a humidifier!
Jamie
Kelly says
Jamie, I really appreciate that your blog stands out from the others this week because it covers some of your experiences as a military wife, a lifestyle I can identify with in many ways!
Your writing style portrays the quirky discoveries of only one Starbucks, and the humbling revelation that there were two Walmarts – based on race. While interesting to the reader, no doubt these were emotional situations at the time.
By working in quotes from both Pattanaik and Blanton and tying them together with your own story of the prairie dog park and the story about Kris being KIA, you have effectively pulled your reader into your time at Fort Sill.
Michelle Szetela says
Jamie,
You incorporated the quotation about “subjective truth” quite well; it seems that nearly any one of us could commit something akin to perjury merely by trying to describe our own individual travel experiences, but in this third week’s readings, one of the points that had come up had been that since there are multiple narratives, there is some overlap. There will always be holes in individual narratives, but the more we can get folks to share their experiences, the better the picture will be. I wonder how your erstwhile neighbors’ narratives would compare – it would be interesting. :-)
–M.
Jamie says
Hey Michelle!
I think you’re right about each of us having vastly different travel experiences. It seems like people either love or hate Lawton, OK. I wouldn’t mind going back actually, at least at this point it would be a familiar place!
Liz Gaona says
Your post was wonderful. You so accurately captured the beauty and simpleness of this small time and made it come alive to the reader. You were able to map it out in my head, where I could imagine where each place was and what it was like. I can’t wait to read more of your posts!
Jamie says
Thanks Liz!
Well now if you ever visit Lawton you will be able to find your way around. They even have a Target now :)
Atmos Rx says
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Mai Tran says
In the Army Now is a 1994 movie filmed in Fort Sill, near Lawton. This movie makes me want to visit Oklahoma some day.