Don and Dorothy

This is Don and Dorothy Kelsey, two lives that made a big impact on me.  Don was a fun boss who worked hard and made Kenny (their son) and I work hard. 
We hauled hay for three summers with our primary customers being Paul Jones of Grainola who had a contract with Boots Adams (K.S. Adams), Chairman of the Board of Phillips Petroleum who had purchased the old Lohman Ranch.  Interestingly enough Ben Johnson worked cattle for Bill Lohman before becoming famous.  And another trivia piece of information is that Bill Lohman was the last person my Dad (Cliff) every remembering who carried pistols like the old cowboy movies.  Our other primary customers were E. C. Mullendore of the Mullendore Ranch and many other local ranchers. 
Of course all the locals remember the Mullendore murder case but if you are not familiar you should read the book, "The Mullendore Murder Case".  Of course I enjoyed it as I knew personally most of the characters.  Anyway after all of that let me tell you our hay crew averaged over 1100 bails of hay per day as we worked from daylight to after dark every day the weather permitted during the summer and after school during the spring and fall.
One of the toughest gigs was moving all of the hay from one gambrel barn at Codding Cattle Ranch to the other loft in another barn.  It was July and August and the temperatures were about 100 degrees every day and you could fry an egg on the roof.  I bet the temperature was well above 120 degrees in those barns and I drank water continuously but still lost weight.  In fact that summer I was in the best shape of my life.  Some day I will tell you more about flying in an airplane the first time and going back to school. 
Don kept us working and we ate and drank while driving from the barns to the fields to get another load of hay to save time.  Very seldom did we stop to rest and lay under a tree or the truck to get relief from the hot sun.
But here is the last story about hauling hay before I end the day.  Kenny and I were waiting on a bail of hay to come up on the truck to be stacked when a bail came up and Kenny grabbed one string and I grabbed another.  The problem occured when a RATTLE SNAKE that was half bailed into the hay came over the edge and struck at Kenny getting one of its fangs stuck in Kenny's leather glove.  Kenny was very fast and we were both shocked and scared.  Kenny grabbed a boom (a big piece of metal used to tie down the load before heading to the barn) and he beat that snake to a pulp.  I think it took about 10 minutes for him (Kenny, not the snake) to start breathing again and for the excitement to settle down.Great memories of a great family from Grainola and yes I will tell you about the hellicopter someday.
Thanks for listening,Gary