Riddle of America, The - Waldorf Research Institute

equired large amounts of available water as well as food. Although not asingle lake remained after the land dried out, Oklahoma was blessed witha system of rivers to support this abundant life.Like the sacred Ganges springing from an ice cave ten thousand feetup in the Himalayas, the Arkansas River, half‐a‐world away, arises from theglacial ice ten thousand feet up in the Sangre de Christo Range of the RockyMountains. The Arkansas and its tributaries (the Cimarron, the North Canadianand the South Canadian Rivers) all flow eastward across Oklahoma,along with the Red River that forms Oklahoma’s southern border.Life‐giving water also springs up in many places throughout thestate, but nowhere more abundantly or dramatically than near Sulfur. There,some thirty springs burst forth with both fresh and mineral water, accordingto the first written accounts. Although not all of those can be found today,millions of gallons of water still pour daily from those that remain.If the genius of a place abides in a certain architecture that is characterizedby its land formations, mineral deposits and water resources, thenthe temple decor, that is, its qualities of color and warmth, can be felt in itsweather and climatic conditions. Endowed with a rich geologic diversity,Oklahoma is also adorned with weather conditions that can be described asnot only diverse but also volatile and turbulent. Three different air massesfrequently meet over Oklahoma: 1) cold, dry air from the north, 2) warm,moist air from the south, and 3) low pressure storm systems moving eastwardfrom the Pacific. Occasionally, the remnants of a hurricane from theGulf of Mexico or even farther east will move over Oklahoma.Particularly in the spring, these systems can collide with enoughenergy to produce massive storms. These storms can generate tremendouslightning displays, wherein space is rent in two, revealing its ethericlife‐blood, according to Steiner. Because of the frequency of these storms,central Oklahoma has been designated “tornado alley.” These atavistic forceskeep Oklahomans from getting too comfortable.Rainfall amounts diminish rapidly from eastern Oklahoma (averageof fifty inches per year) to western Oklahoma (average of fifteen inches peryear). The 98th meridian, near Oklahoma City (97.3 W), represents the dividingline between the big bluestem of the tall-grass prairie and the buffalograss of the short-grass prairie, or the beginning of what has been classifiedas a “brittle” ecology. This line marks the end of the acid soils of the easternwoodlands and the beginning of the alkaline soils of the West. On a currentmap, interstate highway 35 is in approximately the same location.This is also the approximate location of the ancient Nemaha mountainrange. A significant feature of a different kind marked this line by the70