Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Three big oak trees on Beaver Creek

When I was living on Beaver Creek, one mile north and three west of Grainola and one mile west of Eddie's house there were three of the biggest oak trees with the giant acorns on them every year across the creek from our house.  That was a mouthful.  Anyway, they were so big you could not get your arms around any one of those trees especially when I was young and growing.  Even when I was full grown at the ripe old age of 12 when I was 6 ft. 2 inches and 205 lbs I still could not put my arms around those trees.  Now I will tell you I am still 6'2" but the 205 lbs. has rounded over to 262.  In fact you might say I have the chest-of-drawers disease.  That is where your chest drops into your drawers.  Back to those trees:  I cannot tell you how many times I snuck away to lay under those trees to enjoy the thick green cool grass and breeze drifting through the leaves blocking the warm sun.  I can feel it now.  I took a few naps there and dreamed that I would build a house by those trees some day.

We had those giant red squirrels living in those oaks and during the winter there would be huge nests of leaves and sticks built by the squirrels to live in.  Larry and I hunted all up and down Beaver Creek for squirrels during the winter and in those trees especially.  We had Dad's old bolt action 20 gauge shotgun and I generally used a 410 gauge or a 22 rifle.  Larry and I would leave out of the house at daylight and walk for hours up and down Beaver Creek all the way from Chuck Kelley's to the Shumate's which is now David and Jan Harris to the McConaghy's at the old Beaver Creek bridge.   It really did not matter what the weather or distance was but as long as we got the chores done which included feeding the cattle and in winter chopping ice we were free to hunt.  Many of those times we would wind up hunting quail which was loads of fun.

On occasion Larry or I would shoot a squirrel and it would run to its nest which meant we could not retrieve the squirrel.  But Dad always had the answer, cut firewood.  That meant if we killed a squirrel we were not allowed to let it die and not retrieve it somehow.  Dad would instruct us to get the old Homelite chain saw running and spend the day cutting firewood to heat the house.  Actually I kind of liked cutting firewood and watching the tree fall.  In particular I liked taking the steel wedge and splitting that fresh green oak using the wedges and a sledge hammer.   At our house a sledge hammer was 16 ounces and most of the time it was a railroad sledge of 20 ounces.  Let me tell you it was not an easy task swinging a sledge hammer like that hitting the wedge just right and splitting those logs.  As Dad would say, "it will make a man out of you".  Dad always seemed to have a good eye for falling a tree.  He could make it drop in the perfect spot almost every time.  I should also tell you about that chain saw.  It was not like these cheap chain saws today made with plastic.  Everything about it said it was heavy.  It would vibrate your teeth and you sure better watch out for a kickback because it would take a leg or arm off quickly.

Once we got back home we had to clean those squirrels which was not an easy task.  Skinning a squirrel was hard work but Dad made us a special tool to make it easier.  It was a board that we could tie the legs to and hang on a nail at the barn just west of the house.  Just for you who have read my stories that is where I saved Denise Logue's life when she and I were about 5 years old.  There was a dirt devil coming and I told her it was a tornado and I took her to that barn for safety where she held my hand until she was safe.  I guess I was her hero from that day forward.  Anyway, once we got the squirrels cleaned and washed Mom would fry them with a little bit of Crisco and flour then she would make gravy with the grease.  Boy that was some good eat'n!  Gravy over home made mashed potatoes from the cellar and fried squirrel.  It just don't get any better than that.

Well I had better go.  So what do you learn in the Osage?

  • It is your choice on what you make of your time and opportunities just like when you kill a squirrel and it dies in a nest you get to cut wood.
  • If you stack up all the bad on the left side of a paper and then on the right side write down all the things you were able to do because of that bad you will find the good is better to live with
  • I always wanted to be a hero
Thanks for your time,
gary@thepioneerman.com

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