Every farmer and rancher had hay barns. Those are barns where you store hay for the winter. Generally every barn had a Lien-to where the cows could get undercover from the heat or cold and also it was a place where there was always a manger (I called it that so you would know what it was) where you could put feed or hay for the cattle to eat. Also back in the old days we had what we called square bales of hay which we loaded on trucks and stacked into the barns whereas today folks have round bales that they leave outside and then put in hay rings (like the ones made by Joe Payne at http://www.centurylivestockfeeders.com/). Holton and Jane did not raise any dummies if you have not figured it out. Ok, back to the story.
Dad, Cliff Olson, was pretty cool in that he allowed us to play in the hay barns. At the end of the summer the barns were always full but after a few months in the winter the barns had room to play. And believe me there was a lot of fun to be had in those barns. One of the things I loved to do was take some boards and build tunnels in the hay. We would have large rooms where several of my friends could sit and talk or hide from the world. We played hide-and-go-seek hundreds if not thousands of times in every barn, nook and cranny. But the tunnels were great as a lot of folks did not like to go in there for fear of spiders, snakes, opossums and chickens. Yes, chickens.
Another thing we got to do in the hay barn was locate eggs that chickens would lay and then we would have egg fights. Kenny Kelsey was particularly good at this and I think it was Joe Conner who was pretty good with a throw or two. Pat Conwell pealed a rotten one and tossed it into the air only to land on my innocent sister's head. It stunk really bad. In fact Mom was not too pleased and Debbie was down right mad. I don't know what all they put on her head to get rid of the smell but it was pretty bad. I would say egg fights were great fun. Kenny waited for me knowing I was coming to the corner of the barn then splatted me right on the chest with eggs. He was pretty fast and he knew if I caught him I was going to do my best to beat the tar out of him. He was four years older and still is. I can say that I have more hair. He lost his because of his bad behavior.
There was one more game that I really liked that was in the hay barn. During the early spring and summer months I would get a spray tank or sometimes just rocks and do my best to knock down the wasp nests. I am certain there were thousands of wasps and when you knocked them down you had better be on the run. Now that I am older I will admit that a few times I took the single shot 22 rifle with shorts (not shorts like pants but shorts are a type of bullet) and shot wasp nests. It was a lot of fun.
If you don't think I am silly enough another thing I liked to do was kill red ants. We had this huge mound right outside the hay barn where thousands of red ants lived. I spent many an hour there trying to kill those ants as they were pests to me and the cattle. Generally I would just pour diesel fuel on them but on occasion I would pour a little gasoline then light it. Yes, I know that was dangerous and yes there was a danger of burning down the barn and yes I was stupid for doing it but it seemed like a good idea at the time. Besides Larry, my brother, poured gasoline on a pile of wood then bent over and struck a match. He burnt the hair on his forehead and his eyebrows completely off. Personally I thought it was a good look. How could you ever say farm life is boring? We made it fun.
What do you learn in the Osage?
Dad, Cliff Olson, was pretty cool in that he allowed us to play in the hay barns. At the end of the summer the barns were always full but after a few months in the winter the barns had room to play. And believe me there was a lot of fun to be had in those barns. One of the things I loved to do was take some boards and build tunnels in the hay. We would have large rooms where several of my friends could sit and talk or hide from the world. We played hide-and-go-seek hundreds if not thousands of times in every barn, nook and cranny. But the tunnels were great as a lot of folks did not like to go in there for fear of spiders, snakes, opossums and chickens. Yes, chickens.
Another thing we got to do in the hay barn was locate eggs that chickens would lay and then we would have egg fights. Kenny Kelsey was particularly good at this and I think it was Joe Conner who was pretty good with a throw or two. Pat Conwell pealed a rotten one and tossed it into the air only to land on my innocent sister's head. It stunk really bad. In fact Mom was not too pleased and Debbie was down right mad. I don't know what all they put on her head to get rid of the smell but it was pretty bad. I would say egg fights were great fun. Kenny waited for me knowing I was coming to the corner of the barn then splatted me right on the chest with eggs. He was pretty fast and he knew if I caught him I was going to do my best to beat the tar out of him. He was four years older and still is. I can say that I have more hair. He lost his because of his bad behavior.
There was one more game that I really liked that was in the hay barn. During the early spring and summer months I would get a spray tank or sometimes just rocks and do my best to knock down the wasp nests. I am certain there were thousands of wasps and when you knocked them down you had better be on the run. Now that I am older I will admit that a few times I took the single shot 22 rifle with shorts (not shorts like pants but shorts are a type of bullet) and shot wasp nests. It was a lot of fun.
If you don't think I am silly enough another thing I liked to do was kill red ants. We had this huge mound right outside the hay barn where thousands of red ants lived. I spent many an hour there trying to kill those ants as they were pests to me and the cattle. Generally I would just pour diesel fuel on them but on occasion I would pour a little gasoline then light it. Yes, I know that was dangerous and yes there was a danger of burning down the barn and yes I was stupid for doing it but it seemed like a good idea at the time. Besides Larry, my brother, poured gasoline on a pile of wood then bent over and struck a match. He burnt the hair on his forehead and his eyebrows completely off. Personally I thought it was a good look. How could you ever say farm life is boring? We made it fun.
What do you learn in the Osage?
- There is fun everywhere, you just need to find it. Kind of like finding a needle in a hay stack, get it?
- Something about farm life makes people better and small town folks are better and the reason is .... drum roll...... they care about other folks and take time to know them
- Hay is not just for horses
Thanks for your time,
gary@thepioneerman.com
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