Tuesday Travels – watercress words by Dr Aletha

The University of Oklahoma Sooners

updated August 14, 2025

The Players

From the Big 8, to the Big 12, and now the SEC, the University of Oklahoma football and other sports teams set and maintain a high standard of excellence, on and off the field.

In Oklahoma, September means football season from youth to college.

We don’t have a pro football team in the state but many of our schools’ alumni play professionally, like Heisman trophy winner Baker Mayfield.

Almost everyone here either follows college football or lives with someone who does. In my home, both my husband and I avidly support our alma mater, the University of Oklahoma, also known as OU.

The OU Sooners football program has won 7 national championships and 7 players have received Heisman trophies.

More importantly, the team consistently delivers exciting, hard-fought games to its fans. Even when they lose, they do so with plays that keep us guessing what’s going to happen next and wondering how such talented athletes can end up with the losing score. No wonder their motto is “Boomer Sooner”.

The Place-Norman, Oklahoma

The OU campus in Norman Oklahoma has a state-of-the-art stadium and houses the Barry Switzer Center. The center was named after OU’s all-time winningest head football coach, who led his Sooner teams to three national championships, 12 Big Eight Conference championships and eight bowl wins in 13 appearances. ( He went on to coach the Dallas Cowboys, winning a Super Bowl championship. )

At the center is the Legends Lobby, a museum of OU football memorabilia. If you visit the center in Norman Oklahoma, here are a few things you will see. (Due to an NCAA regulation, the center is not open on game days.)

a mural of football coaches at the University of Oklahoma — a life-size mural depicting the past and current coaches of the OU Sooners
(my husband posing for my photo)

a mural with football team of the University of Oklahoma

1974 national college football championship trophy — 1974 championship trophy

And a visit to Norman would not be complete without eating at Ray’s BBQ owned by former OU player and New York Jet Darrol Ray.

Eat at Ray's and tell them I sent you. — Eat at Ray’s and tell them we sent you.

Darrol Ray talked about school in an interview-

“Stay in your books. If you have even a glimmer of a dream of what you want to do later in life, don’t be afraid … if you want to do X, don’t let somebody tell you you should do A, B and C,”
Darrol Ray, retired professional football player

The Coaches

Brent Venables now coaches the Sooner football team, but his predecessors Barry Switzer and Bob Stoops left him a legacy to follow.

Bootlegger’s Boy

Barry Switzer’s autobiography is an interesting read.

What It Means To Be A Sooner

” Taking a decade-by-decade approach to the University of Oklahoma football tradition, this collection brings together over 40 stories from the most outstanding voices of the program.

The spirit of Sooners football is not captured by just one phrase, one season, or one particular game; instead, the student-athletes and coaches who made the magic happen over the decades blend their experiences to capture the true essence of their beloved school.

Sooners fans will relish the intimate stories told by the figures they have come to cherish.” Amazon

If you buy at these links, with our thanks, this blog can earn a small commission for support.

The University

The University of Oklahoma is not just about sports. The school excels in the fine arts and has a first-class medical school, among other disciplines. See more of what the campus offers –

statue of a dancing lady — “The Dance” statue at the University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma

where my medical journey began- Tuesday Travels

University of Oklahoma campus library — plaque in front of the Bizzell Library, at the University of Oklahoma

Exploring the HEART of health

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And please, always

PLAY LIKE A CHAMPION TODAY — This sign once hung in the OU football locker room. I think it’s good advice for anyone.

Dr. Aletha

RoboForm Password Manager

a sketch of various electronic devices — RoboForm Everywhere to manage your passwords

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updated July 14, 2025

Several years ago my husband and I visited Michigan for the first time and stayed in a charming little town, Boyne City.

a man and woman standing by a sign "harbormaster

Raymond and I at the marina

Old City Park

“where life meets lake”

hardware, art, and dancing

While visiting friends there, we learned that Ernest Hemingway’s family owned a cottage on nearby Walloon Lake. Unlike his home in Key West Florida, the Michigan property is a private home now.

It has been renovated into a beautiful modern structure, which still preserves the spirit of the original home, where Ernest’s mother Grace, lived.

Here is a link to an article about the new house with photos that show how beautifully the new owner has honored the Hemingway family.

New Home on Walloon Lake

Working with local builders, the new owners “set out to modernize the cottage” while making every attempt to take it back visually to the early 20th century, when Grace Hemingway summered there.

Her son Ernest would row over from Windemere, the family cottage across Walloon Lake to work on the farm. For recreation, he’d hike down Sumner Road to the tiny hamlet of Horton Bay where he became friends with the Dilworth family.

Hemingway readers will remember the Dilworths from the Nick Adams stories that Hemingway penned in Paris where he and his new wife, Hadley, moved after their wedding in Horton Bay. And after they’d spent their first night as newlyweds in Grace Cottage. ” (from the article by Lissa Edwards)

The discovery was interesting none the less, and we understand why his family enjoyed living in the area. The towns are old and historic, the architecture quaint , the landscaping beautifully tended, and the lakes and boats beckon even land lubbers like us.

Here are a few photos from this recent trip, followed by a past post where I explain what I learned from visiting Hemingway’s Key West home.

Hemingway’s Study- Chaos and Creativity

Ernest Hemingway wrote some of his popular novels, including To Have and Have Not, in the study of his Key West, Florida home.

The house, on the National Register of Historic Places, has been preserved as it was when he and his wife Pauline, lived there and is open to visitors, like myself.

the study of Ernest Hemingway, with a cat sleeping on the floor

Chaos

This entire house, and especially the narrative of his life (as related to us by our verbose tour guide), is itself a study of a man whose life and career were largely shaped by mental illness.

Ernest Hemingway displayed mood swings and abused drugs and alcohol. Despite numerous psychiatric hospital stays where he was treated with ECT, electroconvulsive therapy, he struggled with chronic depression.

He died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head in 1961.

Creativity

While dealing with mental illness and traumatic brain injuries, he continued to write prolifically and successfully, winning the Nobel Prize for literature in 1954 for The Old Man and the Sea.

photos of Ernest Hemingway displayed at his Key West home

He wrote acclaimed novels, several of which became major movies. His personal life was not so successful; three of his four marriages ended in divorce.

movie poster for THE SNOWS OF KILIMANJARO

Ernest Hemingway’s novels and movies

(an affiliate link, if you use it, at no additional cost, this blog will earn funding.)

The Challenge of Mental Illness

Mental illness often runs in families. Ernest’s father, Dr. Clarence Hemingway, a gynecologist, suffered from manic-depression and died by suicide. Ernest and his siblings likely inherited it from their father.

Sadly, it did not end with him. His granddaughter, Margaux Hemingway, a fashion model and actress, dealt with depression, alcoholism, and bulimia.

She died from an apparent intentional drug overdose at age 42.

“A lonely life”

Ernest Hemingway could not attend the ceremony to receive his Nobel Prize. He wrote a short speech, read by John C. Cabot, the Ambassador to Sweden.

“Writing, at its best, is a lonely life. Organizations for writers palliate the writer’s loneliness but I doubt if they improve his writing. He grows in public stature as he sheds his loneliness and often his work deteriorates. For he does his work alone and if he is a good enough writer he must face eternity, or the lack of it, each day.”

Ernest Hemington

Hemingway’s Cats

At least 40 to 50 cats live on the grounds of the Hemingway House; many of them are descendants of Ernest Hemingway’s cats. They live peaceful, serene lives, far different from the people who lived there long ago.

a dozing cat sitting on a big rock — This cat is named Humphrey Bogart, after an actor who played in one of Hemingway’s movies

What you should know about suicide from the NIH: National Institute of Mental Health

Suicide is the tenth most common cause of death in the United States.
People may consider suicide when they are hopeless and can’t see any other solution to their problems.
Suicide may occur with serious depression, alcohol or substance abuse, or a major stressful event.
People who have the highest risk of suicide are white men.
Women and teens report more suicide attempts.
Therapy and medicines can help most people who have suicidal thoughts. Treating mental illnesses and substance abuse can reduce the risk of suicide.
If someone talks about suicide, you should take it seriously.
Urge them to get help from their doctor or the emergency room, or call the

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at

1-800-273-TALK (8255).

It is available 24/7.

Understanding Mental Illness

I hope you will use the following links to resources to help you, your family, or anyone you know who does or may suffer from mental illness. There is help and most importantly, there is hope.

Warning signs of mental illness

“Major mental illnesses such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder rarely appear “out of the blue.” Most often family, friends, teachers or individuals themselves begin to recognize small changes or a feeling that “something is not quite right” about their thinking, feelings or behavior before one of these illnesses appears in its full-blown form.”

Technology and the future of mental health treatment

“Excitement about the huge range of opportunities has led to a burst of app development. There are thousands of mental health apps available in iTunes and Android app stores, and the number is growing every year.

However, this new technology frontier includes a lot of uncertainty. There is very little industry regulation and very little information on app effectiveness, which can lead consumers to wonder which apps they should trust.” (affiliate link used)

Suicide prevention

“The most important thing to remember about suicidal thoughts is that they are symptoms of a treatable illness associated with fluctuations in the body’s and brain’s chemistry. They are not character flaws or signs of personal weakness, nor are they conditions that will just go away on their own. “