Oklahoma and the Tulsa Sound

We pass farms, fields and creeks. I roll down my window and feel a hot breeze fill the car. I thought St.Louis was hot, but here I feel like a bun in a big oven, left behind in a giant field of grass, without a tree to shadow me. I get some cover in Disney, near a lake.
It's hard to believe that in the 30s, this land was choking in dust storms, together with some parts of Kansas, Texas and New Mexico. The land was a desert of sand and pale dirt. Steinbeck described the 'Okies' trip to California, the land of milk and honey, in his book, The Grapes of Wrath. The Dust Bowl lasted for years...

Nowadays, Oklahoma is covered in big green plaines of tender grass, trees and lakes. I seek refreshment under some maple trees but can't resist to move to the sound of the guitar of Little Joe McLerran, a young man that is - according to musician Mike Peace - 'a 80-year old black man stuck in the body of a 26-year old white boy.'
Tulsa is the home of many great musicians, and we got a taste of the 'Tulsa Sound' - a very diverse musical blend that's so special because not one song is ever played the same.
The city has also been called 'The Buckle of the Bible Belt', as it is the start of a very conservative area that extends all the way to Texas. Although I must say times are changing, we met some very non-conservative people, almost in an European sort of way ;-)
I wonder if playing the harmonica encourages this new mentality...

"Many months have come and gone
Since I wandered from my home
In the Oklahoma Hills where I was born
Though a page of life has turned
And a lesson I have learned
Yet I feel like in those hills I still belong"
- Woody Guthrie