Friday, the first of June, I made the long drive from Tulsa, OK to Kansas City, MO, a 578.92 mile round-trip journey. I almost always drive up and back the same day, choosing to spend the price of a room on a new filter instead. And of course, I am always tempted to explore whatever photo op that happens to present itself along the way.
That photo op yesterday turned out to be the Public Service Company of Oklahoma, PSO as it is commonly called. It is a huge plant just outside of Nowata, and I drive by it in the dark on my way north as I make these journeys once or twice a year. I always eyeball the vantage points for making a photo of the labyrinth, all lit up and belching tons of smoke into the dark sky, but so far could see none. Yesterday I was traveling mid-day, and decided to leave the highway and see how close I could get to the plant. I drove down several roads and through a couple of check points with no one working inside. There were signs cautioning about safety on the job but not one sign against trespassing, so I continued and parked in the visitor's lot. The plant is really large and surrounded by high grass and flowers. I had just started shooting, working the subject, when security drove right through the grass up to me. He asked who I was with. I admitted that I had no permission or authority to take pictures, I was just a photographer admiring the plant. And the flowers. He was very nice, but asked me to leave. In fact, when I saw that he was talking on his walkie-talkie about me, I took one last shot of the prairie clover , which he reluctantly allowed, and made all haste to pack up and leave. He followed me out.
My bad. I should have continued into the building and asked permission. I will definitely not do that again. The complex looks harmless during the daytime anyway, not anything like what I had expected. I was left with only a few pictures of the clover.
About eleven hours later, I was driving south down the long, dark, two lane Hwy 11, watching intermittent lightning illuminate the flat expanse of empty fields -- when off in the distance, maybe 5K away, I see what appears to be a tiny city, emitting white light and sending plumes of smoke up to meet the clouds. I hit the brakes and jumped out. Running across the road, I finally got my shot. As the big-rig trucks hurled by doing ninety, I stood patiently on the shoulder of Hwy 11 making my photograph of PSO. It was worth the wait.
