Pecans

Another Grainola graduate --  guess who?

I love pecans and it is not with a long e so you say it like pecans.  Anyway every year we use to sit around the television (black and white and I don't mean the color of the TV but the lack of color on the picture) at night during the winter months and pick out pecans.  We usually watched "the Beverly Hillbilly's" and not "Dick Van Dyke" at our house while picking.  I think Jed Clampit was hilarious but Granny was the best.  In fact I think Granny looked like my dad.  Here is a picture and what do you think?

Well we would sit there and with hand crackers until we got automated and bought one of those manual lever cracking devices.  It cracked one at a time but it saved your fingers from getting pinched and having blood blisters.  When you pick out pecans the shells are very hard and your fingers get eaten up and tender after hours and hours of picking.  Generally we picked out about 100 lbs. per year.  Mom loved pecans and actually we all did.  Does anyone remember how if you put your finger in your mouth after picking pecans it seemed like yo put lime on your lips?  The dust from pecan shells would make you pucker.

Another aspect of pecan picking is we always went down to the Oolagah and Claremore area to pick pecans where Jess and Annie Lane moved to from Grainola.  Their original house and farm down there is in the middle of Lake Oolagah.  Uncle Don Lane had a pecan orchard and he paid us $7 per hundred to pick pecans up off the ground.  That is right, on your hands and knees for hours, all day long picking up pecans.  Actually for an 8 to 14 year old boy that was pretty good money.  Grandma Annie who was always old could out pick everyone.  I think she weighed about 90 lbs. sopping wet.  She could pick with both hands and generally she would pick 3 to 5 - 100 lb. sacks a day.  Envision this, how long could you be on your knees dragging around a gunny sack filling with pecans?  This may seem strange but I always wanted to have a pecan orchard.

Now that I look back those were great times sitting as a family watching the ONE TV show together while doing something productive that we all enjoyed later.  Just to explain the "later", my mom and sister made the best cookies and candies WITH PECANS in the world.  If you don't believe me find Jon Tanny and ask if he liked my mom's cookies.

So what do you learn in the Osage?

• a little work and a little play make for great memories
• $7 is $7 and when you don't have any money $7 dollars is a lot
• My folks would have killed me if I did not work, there never was an option for me to get something for nothing even from the government

Thanks for your time,

gary@thepioneerman.com

Indian Arrowheads

Cardinal not on the creek but in my back yard... too great of a pic to not add

I use to love walking up and down the creek, Beaver Creek, looking for Indian arrowheads.  On Beaver Creek there were sand bars or really gravel bars fairly often and there would be all kinds of rocks rounded off by rolling around in the creek for hundreds of years.  The great thing is occasionally you would find some old flint rock which was used to make arrowheads.  And of course if you were really careful you could find an arrowhead or two.

I spent hundreds of hours walking up and down the creek looking primarily for those arrowheads or other instruments made by the Indians.  I remember finding what was thought to be a hammer which was a rock that was fairly round on one end and a little sharper on the other but made so you could tie leather strapping around it and fasten it to a heavy piece of wood.  These items became prized possessions which could be traded between our peers for other valuables.  Billy Snyder had a particularly great selection and I believe it was Kenny Kelsey who had another really good collection.  But no one ever came close to what Aunt Helen Conner had.

Now I have to tell you Aunt Helen was not really my aunt but she was extremely close to our family and we farmed her land for years and years.  Aunt Helen had (at least this is what was told but never verified as far as I knew) the largest collection of arrowheads and other artifacts.  She had them framed in large glass covered panels and later she donated them to the Pawhuska Museum.  She always seemed like an elegant lady to me and she had a keen interest in painting as well.  In fact before she passed away she gave me one of her paintings which hangs in our house.  She inspired me to collect arrowheads and to be interested in painting.  It was because of her that I found myself visiting art museums over the years and taking art classes in college and again just a year or so ago I took water color and oil painting classes. And if you think I am a sissy for painting I want you to know Ray Vaughn was there with me but he has talent.

 The other thing she was my inspiration for was when I was in college (1971-1975) I decided to make a study of "why I was a Methodist".  There was also another person totally unrelated to her that helped push me over the edge on this course of action and it was a guy named Norman Voss who was a student at Oklahoma Christian in Edmond, Oklahoma.  Just a side note but Norman and I sold books together in Kentucky one summer and he just made me mad because he challenged me to know what I believed in.  So between the two of them I set out on a study to figure out why I was a Methodist and what I discovered was that "I was raised that way".  I want you to know that is not a bad answer but I do believe that on something so important a person  should do a little thinking on their own.  It was also during that time I was trying to figure out what I was going to do in life and who I was going to be with and it was NOT an easy time.  I know I am way off the subject but college was the best of times and the worst of times for me.  School was not hard for me but girls and relationships and who you run around with was changing about as often as the semester changed so coming to know Christ on a personal basis relieved me of a lot of pressure. I invite you to take a look like I did.  "Evidence that demands a verdict" was the book that helped me the most at that time.

OK, back to the creek.  The creek was the center of a lot of my activities growing up like: fishing, hunting, arrowhead hunting, day dreaming, shooting turtles which included taking my buddy David Goldenberg from New York City to enjoy the sport, carp hunting, seining for minnows to fish, building a damn just for fun (Eddy Harris and me), and sometimes just walking and thinking.  Don't you just wish you could go to the creek?

What do you learn from the Osage?

• One lady and one example can change a life 
• Don't underestimate who or how many are watching YOU
• Know what you believe in - take time to figure it out
• The difference between the best and worst of times is what you are looking for
• Look for the best in everybody and everything - forget the rest

Thanks for your time,
gary@thepioneerman.com

Quiche - men don't eat Quiche

It can't be good cause my Momma did not make it, at least back in the days I lived in the Osage.  But I have to say I have branched out and my wife makes a pretty good Quiche.  I know it sounds french or something but it really is pretty good and Shouna, my wife of 37 years, made me try it.  Actually mom made me try it as well but not when I lived in the Osage.  We did not mix things up that did not normally belong together on a plate.

 I don't know what has gotten into me but I have been writing a bunch of stories of late, anyway here is the recipe.

Here goes:
1 lb. Hot sausage, cooked and drained
8 eggs beaten to a pulp
1 teaspoon salt, the real stuff
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup shredded cheese (sharp)
2 cups croutons
2 cups milk
refrigerate 12 hours then bake at 350 for 40 minutes

Well this is my mom's recipe and not my wife's but it is pretty good eat'n.

So what do you learn from the eat'n Quiche in the Osage?

• breakfast, dinner and supper (get it?)
• Try something new sometimes and it might work out
• It can't kill you

Thanks for your time,

gary@thepioneerman.com

Christmas in the Osage

Christmas took forever to get here every year but it was such a big time of year.

My favorite thing was driving up to Silverdale, Kansas as they decorated To the hilt. By the way I never did know where the word "hilt" came from but it sounds good. In case you don't know it Silverdale is a town built around a limestone rock quarry. If you go through Newkirk,Ark City, or Winfeld you will see lots of buildings and houses made with Silverdale Limestone. if you go to Clifford Farms in Edmond, Oklahoma you will see the same. And yes I did name the addition after my dad, not Cliff Smith or Greg Clifford even though they are great friends of mine. Sure hope they think so also. Anyway, back to Silverdale, they had lights all over their roofs and special setups or scenes like where they had an ice skating rink that had skaters and it turned and music played! It was the best! They really cared about the season.

Another of my favorite events was at the Grainola United Methodist Church. We had Christmas carols and decorations and Santa every year. Maggie Olsen played the piano which was a delight to me even though she kicked me out of the choir. Now as a side note she should have kicked Jon Tanny out to and throw in Eddy Harris for the principle of it. I guess the real fact is you can't kick out your own kid. Strangely enough I loved choir even though to this day I can't really sing. In fact I married Shouna so there would be a little musical talent in the family. Actually I fell in love with her because she was just a great person and loved the Lord. Just another detour in my story but I do have to tell you that December 21st we will be married 37 wonderful years, 33 for her and 4 for me. Just kidding.

At the church every year we got a brown paper (not plastic) sack filled with pretty rock candy made in Dexter, Kansas. Also in each sack (not a bag like in yankee land)was an apple or orange and a couple of chocolate covered candies called sugar tits. Don't blame me I did not name them. Also there were a few nuts and if you were real unlucky you got orange slices. If you don't know what I mean go read my story on orange slices.

Well after church we would start the ride home to the house, 1 mile north and 3 west, past Vea's house. When traveling west you crossed the old Midland Valley Railroad tracks and I remember dad stopping the car and telling us to look up and listen. I swear I heard bells on Santa's sleigh and I thought I saw Santa up in the stars streaking across the bright sky mixed into the Milky Way. The stars were magnificent in the Osage. Fact is I bet they are still there today, go take a look. When we got home every year I was amazed that Santa had already been to our house. We opened presents and had a delightful family time.

What do you learn in the Osage?
1. If you look around it is obvious God exists whether you believe it or not.
2. Take time and make it an event, not for you but for others
3. Your efforts impact other people's lives even if you don't know it
4. Look up at the stars and you will see the eyes of God.

Have a great Christmas season and prepare your heart during Thanksgiving,
Gary@thepioneerman.com

Family - it's that time of year

 This is my family a few years ago but it reminded me of Thanksgiving in the Osage.  Every year there was always a lot of anticipation to the activities for the day, Thanksgiving Day.

At our house Larry Wayne and I would take out at daylight hunting quail.  There were lots of quail up and down Beaver Creek in those days.  You hardly ever saw a deer or a turkey.  Larry and I never had a bird dog or at least I never had one because I was Larry's bird dog in that I would walk up and down the rough terrain and try to jump the birds while Larry walked up on top.  One of the attractive aspects about the hunting up and down the creek is that there were small water holes where you could not cross and then sand bars every now and then where you could and I loved the beauty of Beaver Creek.  We had big red squirrels up in all the trees with nests made of leaves and twigs.  The nests were visible once the autumn leaves fell.  Another great thing is we had lots of red birds or cardinals and an occasion a Baltimore Oriel. There were lots of trees and the animal life was always bustling until they saw you and then it would quieten down for a moment until they trusted you.  Anyway we hunting up until our stomachs could wait no more and then we would head to the house (on foot, never by vehicle) to dig into a table filled with good holiday fixins.

Mom cooked ham a lot of times and turkey and dressing seemed to be standard issue.  Mom made her dressing with corn meal and sometimes with bread but it was always great.  Debbie was always in the kitchen and she was a great cook as well.  Now the ham was not the type you get today but it was from one of our hogs and smoked and put in the freezer until Mom took it out.  Those hams were huge and they were not perfectly shaped like in a can or plastic wrap.  As dad always said, "that is good eaten".  Mom liked to spoil dad and make sweet potatoes with kind of a syrupy topping and marshmallows melted on top of that.  I never did like that particular dish but I would put my mom's cranberry sauce up against anyone's.  Every year she would get out the grinder that you would attach to the side of the cabinet and grind those cranberries.  Now you would not know it but it was a hand grinder meaning it took muscle not pushing a button. If you want to go green then you should get you a manual grinder and grind your own cranberries and apples or whatever you want ground.  It is probably obvious but that was my favorite dish and it went with turkey extremely well.  I liked the dark meat more than the white.

Another great thing about Thanksgiving dinner is the home made bread.  I can smell it now!  Mom started the day before making the dough which would be set next to the fireplace so it would be warm and rise.  Probably a lot of folks don't even know about the process but there was yeast in the bread which caused it to rise and every now and then you would have to need the dough to get it back down to size as it filled up with air and got really large.  After several hours and I never knew what finally caused her stop stop letting the bread rise she would take the dough and form it into balls and place three balls of dough in each dough cup (I am not going to explain that).  But somehow she managed to always have the dough ready just in time to put it in the over and have HOT fresh bread for Thanksgiving.  Put some fresh home grown butter on that and you would think you had died and gone to heaven.  Wow!  Of course we always had home grown and canned green beans and corn taken out of the cellar or freezer depending on the year (pre-freezer bags or post  freezer bags).  This may not make sense to everyone but we had SMASHED POTATOES (white) which were fresh out of the cellar then cooked and smashed with a little salt and pepper and again a chunk of butter on top.  Incredible!

At our house pecan pie was top dog and pumpkin was second but we generally always had both.  Mom was the best at those pies!  The pecans generally came from Uncle Don Lane's pecan grove where every year we would go and pick pecans off the ground and then bring them home to crack and clean the old fashioned way, by hand.  Really outside of the turkey I think about everything came from our own hard work but it was greatly appreciated and created some of the best memories.  Oh ya, lets don't forget the iced tea made the old fashioned way, boiled and strained.

After all the eating everyone laid around and watched football, generally OU and Nebraska and or Dallas Cowboys and the Washington Redskins or slept.  Late in the day if the football got boring it was time to go hunting some more.  I don't know why but Mom never really made Larry and I help that much with the clean  up or preparing but it made for special memories.

What do you learn from the Osage?

• Family time is more important than work but lots of work makes you appreciate family time
• Great cooks come from the Osage or live there (thepioneerwoman.com)
• When you get older, you are not going to look back and think, "I wished I spent more time working"
• Be thankful and take care of what God gave us

Thanks for your time,

gary@thepioneerman.com

What a great look.....

  Now I don't know if you recognize these folks but they are pretty sharp folks from the Osage.  The lady was born and raised in the Osage near Grainola and in fact graduated in the top 10 in her class. I believe there were 8 in the class.  The other guy grew up in Anoka, Minnesota then graduated from high school in Womega, Kansas where he played football.

As memory has it that old man built the house they are standing in front of and sold their old house which was about 18 inches away, eve to eve Mrs. Heath who turned it into her personal house and the US Post Office in Grainola.  And yes they moved the house on a truck four miles, three east plus one south into the big town of Grainola.  Anyway, He went to school at night to learn to carpenter so he could build that house and later earn money to pay for the farm and ranch.  Come to think of it most farmers and ranchers have second jobs to pay for the bad habit of farming and ranching.  I once heard a farmer from western Oklahoma say, "I make my money the old fashioned way, I have an oil well".  Another famous quote I heard from the old man pictured above was, "if the government would get out of the farming business by subsidizing bad farmers a good farmer could make a living".  Does that sound like free enterprise?  Hard work, long hours, and no government subsidies sounds like free enterprise to me.

Now about that older lady, who still claims she is only 29 years old even though she has one child that is 61 years old, was rumored to have a giant soft spot in her heart.  In fact I will tell you a story about just that.  Once there was a lady who had a broken clothes washing machine and that little old lady sent the little old man (at that time around 70 years old) out to fix it.  He made three trips and put in multiple parts and the little old lady charged her $30.  The young mother could not afford to pay the older lady all at one time so she paid $10 and promised to pay the rest in payments (around 1990 when this happened).  Well the little old lady saw the kids did not have much and went and bought Christmas presents for the 3 kids and something for their mom.  She spent around $80 and then forgave the $20 owed.  Now that sounds to me like someone who has lost their mind.

Those folks were Cliff and Opal Olson and I am proud to call them Dad and Mom.  Dad passed the day before my 50th birthday and we buried him the day after.  Mom was and is a great mom.

What do you learn in the Osage?

• Character first
• People count
• Caring for the poor is a personal responsibility of everyone, not the government
• Hard work makes for good luck

Thanks for listening,

gary@thepioneerman.com

Prejudice in the Osage

Now you are probably wondering where there was prejudice in the Osage and for the most part I did not know it existed.  Primarily the reason I never thought it existed in the Osage is because I was either too busy doing something or it was because it did not matter to me what color you were.  I guess there might be another reason and that is I am part Indian just like about everyone else I grew up with and no one in our family talked about folks in terms of their color.

 But there is one prejudice that I have found myself talking about over the years and now I want to bring it out in the open. Larry Wayne, the little boy in the real cool cub scout uniform sitting in the picture, also known as my older brother was favored by my mom and dad.  Now this is the one reason that I have such a complex today and  am unsure of myself (just kidding).  You see my mom was the scout leader for Larry, Kenny Kelsey, Joe Conner (later to become the only Eagle Scout out of Grainola), Neal McConaghy, Larry Joe Stephens, Glen Jones, and who knows who all else.  Don't forget Pat Conwell who was the one that threw the rotten egg at the barn roof only to come down on my favorite sister's head (Debbie Schaefer).  From my perspective it was one of the coolest clubs you can imagine.  Dad would cut down trees and build giant bonfires for cub scout parties and he even built a cub scout house just for the boys to meet in.  They had a deer head in the club house and all kinds of stuff they made and they would meet there every week to work on getting new badges.  Also about once a month we would go to Webb City (that is where Uncle Bill Heath was principal for one year) and meet at the Phillips Men's Club for presentation of badges and awards.  Too say the least I always wanted to be a Boy Scout.  Did you know that Boy Scouts of America was founded in Pawhuska?

Can you see why I loved it?  It was the recognition of accomplishment and the disappointment of not getting a badge when someone else was getting one that attracted me to the scouts.  Does this sound a little like FREE ENTERPRISE and why America is great and why scouting is a great thing?  Watching what these guys did made me competitive and ambitious.   Now that I think about it the things that have made me better in life are the things I had to work harder for to achieve and the defeats that I had to overcome.  You see I was never in scouts but I WATCHED and LEARNED.  Those guys and the way they achieved influenced me.  Hopefully we all learn that the things we do and say influence those who WATCH us.

Well I love to tell folks that Mom and Dad loved Larry more than me and that is why they led scouting until I was old enough to be one.  But you know what I have learned?  I have learned that as I get older I would like someone else to step up and lead but there are just a lot more folks who would rather not.  I am just extremely proud that my parents stood up and led the charge and made things happen including leading cub scouts and boy scouts for my brother.  They (my parents) were an example of what I want to be and hopefully of what I have become.  For that, I want to say thanks to God for two of the greatest parents I could ever ask for and an older brother and sister who were good examples to follow.  Just a side note:  Debbie was always a servant and loved helping folks and Larry was about the most focused and deliberate person I have ever seen.  They both took after my parents, our parents and they were great examples.

Well, what do you learn in the Osage?

• If you cannot lead, serve, or do something!
• Prejudice is for those who don't have enough to do
• Defeat is an opportunity to learn
• Getting down is normal but getting up EVERY time is what is important
• Be careful, YOU are always an example to someone, even those you don't know

Thanks for your time,

gary@thepioneerman.com

 I had better first tell you that this is a tongue-in-cheek story meaning I have always made a joke of this and there really is no prejudice.  OK, so here goes.

4-H Spring Livestock Shows (I will try harder next time)

Now I know most folks are not like me but when I was at dear old Shidler High I loved getting out of class to go to the 4-H Spring Livestock Show and in fact now that I think about it, I just loved getting out of class.  I am not saying that I did not like school because actually I loved it.  What! you say, how could that be.  Well if you are from a farm or ranch you know precisely what I mean.  Let me explain.

You see if you grow up in the country and you have time at home, you have time to do some work and there is always something to do.  If my dad could not think of anything to do we would sweep the dirt floors of the barn, go figure.  If it was not sweep dirt floors it was clean out the barn which always had straw and manure or fly droppings or something which needed cleaned.  Or you could clean out the empty part of the hay barn for the next hay crop or clean out a grain bin for the next crop of maize or corn or whatever.   Do I need to go on?  Well Sure!  You could go grease the plow sheers or other equipment or go through the junk pile and separate out parts that might be useful vs. those parts which could be sold for junk.  How about clean out the pig barns? Does that make sense to anyone?  Well we did.  Periodically you got the opportunity to walk or ride a horse and check fences and never with an ipod hung around your neck and in your pocket.

Now if you just don't have an appreciation for riding fence it is something along the line of watching paint dry.  There actually are some good aspects of riding fence.  For example, no one was giving you a list of other things to do (kinda like a wife, just kidding) or you could carry a gun with you and hunt for something to shoot at.  By the way did you know it was a standard for every young person to shoot those glass insulators on the electric and phone line poles?  Of course I would never do that but I saw a few shot at to the point the lines were laying on the ground which hacked a lot of folks off when the phones did not work or the electricity got shut off for a while.  Some folks just could not take a joke or roll with the punches, so-to-speak.  Should I explain "so-to-speak", well that means kinda-like or perhaps, did you get it?  Ok back to riding fence.  Another good aspect is if the weather was good you might get an opportunity to catch a little rest under a big shade tree.  If you worked it just right and did not get caught you could do a little fishing.

Ok, let's discuss fishing.  Fishing was not with some piece of plastic on a sophisticated hook.  Do you remember the meaning of sophisticated?  MORE MONEY.  Fishing was with a worm which you dug up next to the barn under a board.  Well we are off track so let's skip fishing and get back to 4-H.

Since we got so far off track I think we will have to reserve the 4-H livestock Show story for next time and then fishing after that.

So what did you learn from the Osage?

• Riding fence was a way to get out of work
• School was a way to get out of work 
• Getting out of school for 4-H was a great way to get out of work 
• I think what we are finding here is a linear equation of getting out of work which tells me that "THE GRASS IS ALWAYS GREENER ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FENCE", so stop complaining and get your work done.

Thanks for your time,

gary@thepioneerman.com

 

Folks from the Osage know more folks than anyone

Today I was at Cafe 7 by Quail Springs Mall eating lunch with Randy Scott and right next to us came a lady carrying 3 cupcakes.  Now being the quiet types Randy and I, actually me, told the lady thanks for getting 3 cup cakes since there were two of us and one of her.  She laughed and said, "sure".  We had a little small talk and then she went to get her drink.  Well in just a minute an older lady came and sat down at that table and behind her was the first girl plus one new one.  Now I am not tacky enough to ask her age or say anything about her age but she said she was 73 and the two girls were her daughters.  They were 29ish, politically speaking.

Now Randy and I were done eating and Randy reached over and tapped the "new girl" on the shoulder and asked her to pass the cup cakes.  They laughed and "did not pass the cupcakes" but we got into a conversation.  I suggested I was a country boy and when I was young I liked the little paper cup the cupcake was cooked in because I liked to take my teeth and scrape out the cake left on the bottom of the paper cup.  The older lady, we will just call her "mom", said or asked, "where were you a country boy?" and suggested she was from the country as well.  I of course said proudly, "the Osage".  She informed me she was from Bartlesville.

Mom began to tell stories about who she knew and who she grew up with in Bartlesville.  She knew E.C. Mullendore and her mom, the Johnstones, and more.  I shared that I use to work for the Mullendores and my boss was Don Kelsey and Paul Jones and that Paul was mentioned in the book.  Her girls got a kick out of hearing the stories and Randy made a joke about if she kept digging she would find that I owed her money.  In just a few (minutes) she handed me over the paper cup from the cupcake with the remaining cake attached to the paper.  We all laughed and Randy and I got up to fill our drinks and leave.

Well on the way back by their table on the way out the door I handed Mom my card, The Pioneer Man.  Well that opened another can of worms.  She began to tell me how she was a friend and sorority mate of Peggy Olsen when she was at OSU.  She was thinking that Peggy had married Chuck Drummond (father in law of Ree Drummond) and I of course corrected her.  But the buzz was on as her daughters started telling me how they loved THE PIONEER WOMAN.  I told them I did not know her and had never met her but that her mother in law was a distant cousin to me even thought we spell our names different.  It gets way too complicated so I just told her the difference between The Pioneer Woman and The Pioneer Man is that Ree gets 30,000,000 hits a month and I get 30.  She writes about things all folks like to read about and I write about the Osage and the People I love and admire there.

What do you learn from the Osage?

• It is a very small world 
• If you are from the Osage you know someone who knows everybody
• The dust of the Osage can never be shaken from your boots and I love it
• God bless America and the Osage

Thanks for your time,

gary@thepioneerman.com