The first 100 of a nearly 630-piece commission for LaGrange, Georgia, potter Genna Grushevenko.

My pal Genna Gruchevenko has been unbelievably fired up lately. Sorry, I couldn't help myself. Potters call forth so many good wordplays. But seriously, the Ukrainian-born potter was recently asked to do a 630-pot job for Kia, the big new employer in Troup County, and he's nearly finished. It's a pretty huge mountain to climb, and, though I haven't yet checked with him, likely a once-in-a-career type gig. Well-deserved, I might add.

So it's my first time in Tulsa and I'm driving past the fairgrounds and suddenly I see this giant. Nearly wrecked the rental car. Giants make me nervous, for some reason.

This one, however, has been standing in the same place since about 1966, reminding folks that Oklahoma was once the largest oil field in the country. Apparently, in all that time, the oilman has never made a threatening move, even to protest America's dependance on foreign oil, lament falling oil prices, or to make his views known on the state of the industry. He's been a silent guardian at the fair standing up equally to Oklahoma twisters and the winds of time.

There's something to be said for that.