Birthday Barklahoma!

August 7, 2024

Lynn Hernandez,

Hey Shawty, we gonna party like it’s your BIRFDAY!

59? It can’t be. Yup, today I turn 59.

I have a fundraiser this afternoon that I would love for you to come to. We are raising money for Tulsa SPCA. My 10 year old daughter, Angel, will be there, so you can finally meet one of the kids that I talk about so much in my blog.

Birthday Barklahoma

What: Birthday Barklahoma

When: August 7, 5-7 p.m.

Where: Tails N Ales Dog Park, 1903 S. Boston Ave.

Why: Raise money for Tulsa SPCA

My podcast, Tulsa Rocks, has gotten together with The Barking Lot dog grooming and Tails And Ales Dog Park And Bar for Tulsa SPCA. They are going to be selling raffle tickets for one dollar each, but if you buy one of our limited edition T-shirts for $25, you get five free raffle tickets.

The prizes include some fun gift baskets with a year membership to Tails and Ales ($300 value) and a gift basket from The Barking Lot, which includes a free groom for your dog and a miscellaneous array of dog toys.

And the grand prize is a pair of general admission tickets to Rocklahoma, which is the biggest rock concert festival every year in Oklahoma.

My birthday is more special to me now because my cohost for my podcast and fellow radio DJ on 103 The Eagle, Jill Munroe, has the same birthday as me! I’m quite a few years older than she is, however, August 7 is our birthday. Happy birthday, Jilly!!

If you’ve read my blog before, you may know that I have a twin sister named Lynda. She lives in Austin, and not being together on our birthday is something that twins really find sad. However, she will be in Tulsa for Rocklahoma on Labor Day weekend, so I’m very much looking forward to that.

Happy birthday, Lynda!

This is also the first birthday since my dad passed away. Every year I could count on my dad calling me and singing me “Happy Birthday.” I will very deeply miss that today. However, I feel like dad is in heaven now, smiling that I am so eager to give back to the community as he was his whole adult life.

My dad taught me to always think of others, especially those less fortunate. Jill Munroe is also a big dog lover like I am, so we decided to start an annual fundraiser. I made a few phone calls and called in a couple favors, and hopefully later this afternoon we will get at least one of the dogs adopted. I would love for them all to find forever homes, but if we can just get one furry friend to go home with a loving family, then this will be a success.

Tails and Ales

It will be warm this afternoon. However, the dog park area will be shaded, and for humans, you can go inside Tails and Ales, where it is air-conditioned and grab yourself a iced coffee or choose from a variety of craft beers and cocktails. Mark, the owner, said he would come up with a fun Birthday Barklahoma shot!

Tails and Ales just opened May 1 and has been very welcomed by the community in the 18th & Boston area. People stop by even without a dog just to enjoy craft beer on the patio and watch all these funny furry friends running around and playing with each other. It’s very therapeutic. My knucklehead dog Domino has many TikTok videos of just him and I playing fetch in the backyard. Some of those live TikTok videos get as many as 700 people watching for just a minute or two because who doesn’t love watching a funny dog play with a ball or frisbee?

Remembering Pets of the Past

I would love to hear about your pets at home whether you have a dog, a cat an iguana or a llama. I grew up with dogs most of my childhood, but once I moved out on my own, I never got a dog because I lived in small apartments through my 20s and 30s, and it was only in my 40s when I bought my first house that I got a cat. And then finally, three years ago we ended up getting a dog.

Brandy

My first dog was a collie named Brandy. She was very intelligent and, as collies are known to be, very good with kids. I loved brushing her because she had long soft white and blonde hair. After brushing her, she was super cuddly, and I used to use her as a pillow laying on the floor in the living room of my mom‘s while house watching TV.

Brandy was super smart and believe it or not, even bilingual! You see, my dad got us kids Brandy from Cesar Chavez, the migrant farmworkers activist leader. My dad worked with Cesar in the ’70s in California. He helped the United Farm Workers organize protests and marches along with Joan Baez and Jackson Brown.

Cesar Chavez, of course helped fight for human rights for farm workers all over the country, but few knew that he also raised and trained collies. Cesar Chavez trained the first dog that I ever had which is why she knew two languages. You could tell my dog Brandy to “come”, or you could say “ven aqui ” and she would come and sit right next to you.

Gypsy

My second dog was named Gypsy. I loved Gypsy very much, but she was not trained, and we lost her about five years after she was in a tragic accident. I was in college when she died. I was so torn up that I decided to not get another dog because I was about to graduate and move from Findlay, Ohio, to Austin, Texas, to begin my radio career. I figured I’d be living the apartment life for a while and wanted to wait till I settled down in a house before getting a dog.