Editor's letter – 5/15/19

Sunday was Mother’s Day. For those of us whose moms aren’t here, the holiday—like all of them, I guess—is painful. This year, I pedaled through the pain alongside my wife on a 35-mile bike ride to Skiatook and back.

Despite riding to work when I can, and recreationally on weekends, I’m not a bike guy. By this I mean don’t wear special clothes or know anything at all about bikes. (I started riding after my mom died, which I’ll leave to my therapist to unpack.) I don’t go fast. I do not, under any circumstance, push myself to the point of purposeful exercise. I’m more, to borrow from Bill Callahan, “riding for the feeling.”

This was a big ride for me—longer than I’ve ever gone by a lot. It gave me room to think, or not, as miles of Green Country pasture slid out of view. I had room, for example, to consider my throbbing left knee, a new pain of these fast-moving 30s and a grim reminder of death’s unsubtle creep.    

We stopped at a Tex-Mex joint in Skiatook, which was better than it had any right to be. The servers handed out long-stem roses to moms slurping frozen margs and eating sour cream enchiladas. I had almost forgotten about the holiday until seeing these happy smalltown matriarchs decked out with flowers, the bedazzled crosses on their T-shirts catching the light of early afternoon.

There, like a new pain, that dumb slash of grief. But it didn’t last long. We were soon back on our bikes, moving. We were on our way somewhere else.

You’ll find stories about travel in this issue, with destinations more exciting than Osage County. First, Matthew Phipps takes you to a street corner in Bogotá, where you can see incredible things if you stop and look (pg. 28); then Terrie Shipley takes you across the country, from SoCal to NYC, without stepping foot off a Tulsa patio (pg. 24). We’ve also got a European dispatch from our resident columnist Barry Friedman, with the lowdown on where to find the best free porn in Paris and the best country music in Reykjavík (pg. 8).   

We’ve got other stuff, too. Like an interview with the cutest Hanson brother (pg. 36); the case for ending cash bail in Oklahoma (pg. 12); funk history lessons with Verdine White of Earth, Wind & Fire (pg. 38); a look at the Gilcrease Museum’s tearjerker photography show (pg. 30); and your guide to Tulsa Pride 2019 (pg. 26).

Lastly, with Mother’s Day still fresh in our minds, we’ve got ideas from OK Policy about creating a better world for mothers and women right here in Oklahoma. Let’s start by raising the minimum wage, providing affordable childcare, and closing the gender wage gap (pg. 7).

That’s all for now. This issue is on stands an extra week, so read it slow.