Welcome to the Vortex!

Long, long ago, I introduced readers to one of my favorite places in the entire world: The Vortex in Oklahoma. This place is one of the energy centers of the world - stepping onto the grounds I immediately feel a deep sense of peace and calm. The modern world falls away and I'm transported to a world of home-cooked meals, wood stoves, and digging in the garden. Today, I thought I'd share with you the Vortex during the winter. All photos were taken several years ago - but I'm sure this winter will be very similar.

This is the entrance to the Vortex. As you may be able to tell from the snow piled up at the gate, it is very rarely used (at least by corporeal beings...) Directly to the left of the gate is a huge wrought-iron gate. That is how most people gain entrance to the Vortex. After entering, you'll see a number of statues. At this time of year they are all covered in snow and icicles which makes the entire property feel as if it is in storage, simply waiting for the spring to come to shake off the snow and welcome the growing things.

Underneath all the Portland cement you'll find rebar which helps functions as the skeleton of the statues. Most of the statues get a fresh coat of paint every 4-5 years. Embedded in some of the statues you can find everything from broken pottery to the kitchen sink (literally)!

Here you can see the beginnings of a new sculpture. While the head is completed and painted already, the body is still in the works. If you look closely you can see a bed frame, car parts, and various other pieces of strong metal. All these things will eventually be covered with Portland cement to form the skeleton on which the sculpture rests.

The head of this sculpture has been completed for quite some time, but building the body is a slow process as it requires a great amount of raw material in order to complete. In the meantime, the body will keep growing. Let's see how large this one will get before finally being covered!

This sculpture is practically buried in all the snow and icicles. It may be tough to tell under all the snow, but this one functions as a light house for little birdies! In the spring, it can be filled with bird seed to make all our flighty friends happy. In the summer time, you can see a bird house high up on a pole - probably 25 feet up! The birds love it and can be seen swooping in and out all day long. The squirrels seem to respect the birds around here, maybe because it's a special place, and they leave the bird feeders alone.

Here you can see the Alien Bus Stop. Slightly left of center you'll see a UFO sculpture. This lets any aliens in the neighborhood know they are welcome here. Just to the right of center you'll see a little green alien waiting patiently for his ride. Some people call him Frank, but his real name is unknown.

Here's a better picture of Frank in case you couldn't see him in the last one. He has been waiting for his bus for quite some time. Wouldn't it be quite the surprise to come out and find him gone one day?

Here's one more image of Buddha Bob. He is the affectionate care taker of the property and has been there for at least 25 years. He gets a new outfit every so often, but this pink dress is my favorite of all time. He's got a few planters next to him that are overloaded with beautiful flowers during the summer months, but in the winter he tends to hide under his snow blanket.

Thank you for joining me on this walk through the Vortex of Oklahoma. Perhaps next time I'll take you into the castle itself.

And for @zord189 - here is a Vortex Christmas tree because I know you don't have one.

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*Many thanks to @zord189 for his generous delegation

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