Oklahoma

Oklahoma, originally uploaded by sulustumoses.

Rhonda and I traveled to Oklahoma City over the weekend as a direct result of my blog.

My blog began simply as a means to communicate with family members living out of state. From time to time, I sent pictures of the kids when they performed in a play or took part in some other community event. I never expected non-family to notice my blog, much less to follow anything I say.

As it turns out, several individuals from Oklahoma did take notice and began to leave comments on my blog. From comments and emails, to Skype calls, human relationships began to emerge.

But this isn't how I generally build relationships. I never intentionally sought friends online through email or chat. If anything, the idea frightens me just a little. Everything about my newfound blog friendships drove me toward uncharted waters.

Things took a massive leap into the unknown when one of my Oklahoma friends invited Rhonda and I to visit. Once I worked through my own misgivings, the thought of visiting excited me. On the other hand, Rhonda worked through issue in her own time. "How do we know who these people are?"

A few close family members reminded us of negative news reports involving online dating gone bad, or deviants who lure away minors for immoral purposes. But we weren't dating, and we're not minors. What's more, we made connections with several people over a long period of time.

We were simply a group of bloggers joined by a common thread, so we made the leap and traveled to Oklahoma. Our trip was very rewarding. In fact, we made connections far more meaningful than I would have expected in such a short time. In many ways encounter felt like an act of destiny.

In blog posts to come, I plan to highlight the connections we made.

The photograph above was taken at the Chickasaw National Recreation Area near Sulphur, Oklahoma.