What does a septic servicer, an art gallery, and an auto shop all have in common? Aside from each of them being in the top three locations to film a low-budget porno, these are all local businesses that have the common denominator of being named after the reason my mom never let me own white shoes as a kid: red dirt. Oklahomans have an obsession with our soil. And it ain’t right.
So why is red dirt so red and dirty? Well for those of you who weren’t forced to go through 3 consecutive years of 4-H camp in junior high, red dirt is iron-rich and colored by the presence of clay that has been weathered down. This soil paints the landscape across the state, giving inspiration to generations of artists like Oscar Brousse Jacobson to create immaculate paintings of colorful terrain. It also gives every female I went to high school with something to slap an Instagram filter on and pair with their vague quote about Jesus.