The first warm day of spring

What happens on that first warm spring day right after that last cold snap?  Life bursts forth!  The new calves are running and the mother cows (obviously that is redundant but city folks say it that way or at least they understand it better) are trying to keep up with them.  Just in case you did not know it cows are females and bulls are males and calves are babies, steers are castrated and females and heifers are young females that have not been bread, and all together they are cattle.  It is especially refreshing to watch the young calves and their moms in the wheat fields along the creek side lined with trees which are popping with new life and plush green.  If you get lucky you will even see a deer or now days a turkey eating in the wheat fields.  The air is fresh with spring clouds and a few rains coupled with the new heat from the spring sun making things grow really fast.  The oaks are beginning to bloom and wild flowers are everywhere.  The best of times are spring.

One of my favorite things is when its starts warming up is to go out in the wheat fields and lay down in the cool green wheat grass.  If you try it just watch out for those cow piles but it doesn't getting any better.  Another thing I use to do in the spring wheat fields was take out my bow and arrows and set up a few targets while it was still easy to find the arrows that missed the mark.  Now I never promised I was the sharpest arrow in the quiver but I thought it was a lot of fun seeing how far up I could shoot those arrows and see how close they came down to where I was standing.  On occasion it was scary but not too often as the wind would drift the arrow over.  Another fun thing we did was build kites and attach them to a Zebco rod and reel and see how long and how far we could get it to go.  We use to buy our kites for 10 cents at the Otasco store in Shidler or sometimes at the grocery store.  Back in those days at the check out at Lawrence Dehl's grocery store there would be displays of kites and not those trashy magazines of sexual encounters of the rich and famous. At least that is what I remember.

Spring was my time of year because I could plant flowers and other garden items.  I thought it was pretty cool watching the potatoes we had planted about a month earlier popping out of the ground plus the rhubarb was coming up pretty good at that time.  Fresh green beans picked and snapped plus   those small new potatoes put in a pot with a little water, salt and pepper then cooked until the potatoes are soft to the fork then add a LOT of butter (real not fake) and you had a meal that you will never forget.  OK, back to the flowers, Zenia's and marigolds were the most common back then and the colors would just burst out at you.  Flags, commonly known as irises, were in every yard, along the roadside and around the trees or the propane tank.  The old fashioned rose bushes climbed up the fences and hung over the wires and there were those bushes covered with white blooms that I literally never knew what they were but every yard had at least one.

If you have never seen or experienced what I am talking about just go to a small town right now and drive up and down the streets.  And when you are done find out where all the small cemeteries are and go drive through them.  Every cemetery had those same flowers planted by loved ones to honor those who went before us.

I know this sounds crazy but I have a friend who I don't see very often but he suggested if i wanted to know history I should visit old cemeteries   He was right.  At an old cemetery you will see all the old plants and flowers but you will also see that there were a lot of children that died early and many times you will find entire families who died from a disease and you will find a lot of folks who fought for our freedom long before WW I and WW II.  The ornate statues and the writing on the stones will amaze you.

OK, will I have meandered a lot here but warm days of spring are a delight so GO and enjoy the outdoors and get a little exercise.

What do you learn in the Osage?

• There is no way this happened by chance.  I  feel sorry for those who believe it was totally by a BIG Bang.  Now that I think about it why would they believe in the big bang theory and not believe in using guns that go BANG?  I never was good at humor.
• Honor those who worked to preserve our freedom, not those who restrict it(politicians).
• Do your part and plant some flowers!

Thanks for your time,

gary@thepioneerman.com