Wednesday, October 9, 2013

The Ever Lasting Keyton


Sheilah Bright’s “The Last of Kenton” not only was well written but brought back my moments of memory about Keyton. http://thislandpress.com/09/19/2012/the-last-of-kenton/?read=complete

I visited Keyton this past summer with the Oklahoma Alliance for Geographic Education (OKAGE) and made a stop at the community center and the museum.  The lady in the museum showered us with a lovely local treats: beef jerky from Perkins, Oklahoma and I sat on the steps by The Merc. store sign and ate a homemade sandwich prepared by Vicki and Monty Jo.  I was there before I read anything about this westernmost town in Oklahoma – consequently, did not embrace the town geographically and culturally as I could have. I remember the quietness, the bright sunlight, and the empty streets surrounded by mountains; I remember that it was a comfortable place to make my own moments of being. I also wish I had known more about the only funeral home in Cimarron County that is run by the Axtell couple and their Rockin’ A café.  I, as a person who does not have an anchor to any place, or anything in my bones (Tulsa? Oklahoma? Brooklyn? New York? Taiwanese? Chinese? American?), it is a luxury to think of having a cemetery in a place I love to bury myself with my family.  By the way, I hate to be a tourist.

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