My first plane ride

The world has gotten a lot smaller these days but back in the Osage when I was about 17 I enjoyed my first plane ride thanks to Paul Jones, father of David, Debbie, and Paula and husband to Billy.  Paul was one of those guys when you are young you think he hung the moon.  I was always amazed at the things he did.  For instance, he had this small Ford Bronco (I think it was a bronco) that he put a huge engine in just to see how fast it would go.  The story that I cannot confirm is he was on his way to Pawhuska and a HIPO stopped him for speeding.  Paul, being the friendly guy he was, talked him out of getting a ticket and in fact talked him into clocking his vehicle to see how fast it would go.  The story was that Paul passed him going over 140 miles per hour.  Now where else could you get such great service from the Highway Patrol than in the Osage?  Anyway the other thing was that Paul raised greyhound dogs, lots of them, for coyote hunting.  This was a great sport in Grainola as there were lots of coyotes, too many, and in fact there were so many that the government paid you $4 for a pair of coyote ears as bounty just to get rid of them.  Personally I loved sitting on the porch at night and listening at the coyotes calling back and forth and then watching them run across the grass lands to find each other.  But now Paul took coyote hunting as a serious sport and in fact he flew his airplane watching the dogs and looking for coyotes.  It really was a dangerous sport but Paul could do about anything with that plane.  I remember him landing in downtown Grainola on Highway 18 and I heard but never saw him fly his plane underneath the high line wires or telephone line.

Paul Jones

Another great thing about Paul was that he was a kidder.  That means he dished out a lot of ribbing or remarks to be ornery.  He told me many times he was going to take me up in his airplane but I was required to carry a bucket so I would not mess up his plane when I threw up.  That means blowing chunks or tossing up my lunch or whatever you need to get the picture.  Well I always tried to get him back by making jokes about all the hair he did not have.  Finally one day during the end of the summer we were working over by Copan hauling hay for the Mulendore Family (read the book about the Cross Bell Murders or Mullendore Murder Case) and I had worked to the last day possible before football practice started.  Paul was going to fly me home for football my junior year in high school.  Well Paul was really looking forward to getting me shook up.  He tried everything before we got in the plane but after we got in the plane was amazing for my first ride.

Paul cranked up the engine (prop job) and I would bet you he did not go 100 yards and he started going straight up.  He delighted in watching me get scared.  With all the blood in the back of my head he started to level out the plane and then he turned it hard to one side then to the next so that I thought we were going to go upside down.  He scared the crap out of me but this is not the worst.  Next he turned off the engine, yes turned it off and the prop stood still.  He explained how you could glide along for a while.  But then he said,".. and the way to start it back up is to turn the switch and DIVE", yes DIVE.  This time the blood was gone from my body and my eyes were in the back of my head and the ground was getting closer FAST.  Of course he pulled it out and leveled the plane and we flew on into home.  It was an amazing ride, especially for my FIRST ride in an airplane and I never missplaced my breakfast or lunch or whatever I had eaten.

So what do you learn in the Osage?

• Don't make fun of the pilots bald head!
• Memories make a wonderful life, not a lot of money
• Sometimes we need to get outside of our box and take on a little adventure
• I wish everyone could experience the joy of living in the Osage

Now part of why I told this story today is that Paula Jones, Paul's daughter, is going to write some stories and publish them here with me.  So please look forward to hearing from Paula.  

And by the way who is from Sweden that is following this blog everyday?  Write a letter and let me know your connection to the pioneer man, the Osage or if you just like the stories.  In fact I would love to hear from anyone about your connection and what are your favorites.

Thanks for your time,

gary@thepioneerman.com  

The art of skipping rocks

I am sure there is not a person alive who has not tried to skip rocks on the water.  If you have never tried it you have lived a sheltered life and need to get out doors.  It takes virtually no imagination and just a little practice and you can master a skill that is with you for life.  Here is how it works.

First you have to pick out the right kind of rock.  The rock has to be as flat as possible on one side and small enough to fit in one hand where you wrap your finger next to your thumb around the edge with the flat side (of the rock) down and the rock resting on the slightly folded second finger.  Next you lower your arm so that when you fling the rock your arm is level or parallel with the water.  You can start close to the water or far away and it does not matter as long as you can fling the rock with enough speed and velocity to just hit the water with the flat  bottom of the rock so that you do not break the surface tension of the water and sink.  If you do it just right the rock will skip across the water.  Now to measure success, because it is almost always a competition especially when there are boys, you have to count the number of skips before the rock sinks or gets to the other side of the water assuming the body of water is that narrow.  As I recall if you were able to get 9 skips you were likely to win the competition.  Four or five and you are doing fairly well.  One or two skips you really need to work on your skills.

Now the other concept in rock skipping is to show off to a girl your extraordinary talents in which case it is not a competition unless it is one of those more competitive girls like Becky Sharp.  This particular talent is generally more successful at impressing the girls when you are in the 7th and 8th grade and it loses its attraction as you get older.  Now I am not saying that boys don't like it as much but for some reason the girls don't seem as impressed.  In fact I personally like to go back to the Osage and walk down the creek or find a pond and reminisce by selecting a few choice rocks and giving it a try.

I spent a lot of time chasing after my big brother and always trying to out perform him.  Larry was talented at everything and I was always impressed especially when it came to skipping rocks.

Well, what did you learn in the Osage?

• science and physics while on the job - re-read it and you find out what I mean
• practical and applied science
• life skills
• love and appreciation for nature and what God gave to us

Thanks for your time,

gary@thepioneerman.com

Three hills to see Eddy

Now I know y'all (short for you all) know about Eddy and how we enjoyed a little mischief but you did not know there was one mile of dirt and rock and three hills that separated us.  About once a month Cack Harrington would grade the roads which basically spread the rock that had worked its way to the side of the road back onto the road.  And that is precisely what made it more difficult to ride a bicycle to Eddy's house especially since there were three hills included in that one mile of rock and dust.  In fact I remember when Larry Wayne had a terrible bicycle wreck and he has scun-up something pretty bad.  In fact there was gravel buried into his hide/skin.  It seemed to take forever for him to heal and I also remember Debbie Sue had a wreck but not as bad as Larry's.  Bye the way Debbie and Larry are my sister and brother which you should have known by now.  I never did figure out why we used their middle names so much since no one else carried the same name.  Anyway the typical avenue of transportation was by bicycle for Eddy and I.

Since Larry Wayne and cousin Bill Snyder, Kenny Kelsey, Glen Jones, Larry Stephens, and Billy Don Head all had bicycles it drove me to want to ride as well.  So being the family we were mom and dad told me that if I would save up the money I could buy a bicycle and then would have to learn to ride.  Actually Larry did not want me to ride his and Debbie's bike was a girls bike and that just could not do.  So once I saved up the money and bought a bike Dad proceeded to teach me how to bike.  Now part of the problem for me was that my body was growing faster than most and by the time I was in the 3rd grade I was over 5 foot 2 inches and taller than Miss Shumate, my teacher.  I hated being so much bigger than everyone else for my age.  They even brought in a high school type chair for me in the first grade because I was so big.  OK, OK, so the problem was I had to have a large bike and in fact it was the same bike I needed when I was in high school.  If you cannot figure it out there is a physics problem here in that my center of gravity was much higher and it made it much more difficult to learn to ride.  Luckily dad figured out a way to help.  He put two large fence posts in the ground about 3 or 4 inches apart so i could stand my bike up by placing the back wheel between the posts.  This allowed me to crawl on the bike and get my balance then take off.  I ate a lot of gravel and dust once I got off the grass where the posts were but after many many tries I was successful.

Once I learned to ride the bike the next challenge was getting over those hills to Eddy's.  There was always a reward for making the trip because Vea (Eddy's mom) would generally have something to eat and Eddy and I could figure out something to do, always.  You may think it is easy to get up those hills but the first one from my house was a long slow climb and the second one had a really steep grade on the west side going up.  Coming off the first hill I would get it going as fast as possible going down the hill so that my momentum would carry me as far as possible up the next hill.  The scary part was the gravel was large and you could easily get off course and into the ditch.  I was pretty strong and learned to make it every time without stopping and walking my bike up the hill.  I can definitely say I never had as bad an accident as Larry and Debbie.

My favorite time on those hills was the time I spotted four bald eagles in one tree just to the north of the road.  It was such an amazing sight.

Well what do you learn in the Osage?

• How to ride a bicycle silly
• Physics
• Common sense
• Competition
• Think ahead
• Nothing is risk free and nothing worth doing does not have challenges
• Go for it just like The Little Red Engine Who Could

Thanks for your time,

gary@thepioneerman.com

Fine Dining

I don't know about you but my mom use to read that book about manners to me when I was young but she never took the time to tell me what to do if you have more than one fork, knife and spoon at the table.  And that is the beginning of my story.

When I was in 4-H and about 13 years old I was already about 6'2" and 205 lbs. and everyone thought I was 18 and treated me like that even though I assure you I did not always act older.  Anyway that came in handy when I went to 4-H events at OSU every spring and there was a plethera of girls which mightily intrigued me.  I remember one time I took this girl who was 18 years old bowling and for a walk around the campus and for all practical thinking I had died and gone to heaven.  She was great looking and I could not believe what was happening.  At that age I certainly had not kissed a girl and holding hands was enough to make the goose bumps pop out.  In fact the closest I had ever been to a girl was Becky Sharp (an old Shidler girl) who was "to die for" and I don't ever remember holding her hand but she held my heart.  Anyway to say the least when the girl at OSU figured out, because I was stupid enough to tell her, how old I was she was thoroughly embarrased.  To say the least she wanted this "kinda of a date" to end quickly.  About the only great thing that happened about this short engagement is that my old brother Larry and his friends saw us walking across campus and they were really empressed.  I was too.

OK back to "fine dining".  Another great thing about 4-H was that if you qualified you were chosen to go on trips.  One of the trips I was fortunate enough to go on was one to Kansas City for the American Royal which is a national 4-H round-up where there is a livestock show and other competition.  We took a bus which was my first bus ride and my first trip to the big city of Kansas City.  While there they treated us to banquets and other trips to company headquarters etc.  It was a great time.

So here comes the problem with "fine dining".  At the first banquet which was held at the Cattlemen's Restaurant (as I recall) and there was a ton of hardware and glasses next to my plate.  I had absolutely no idea what all this stuff was for.  The forks and spoons were different sizes and I was "just a country boy" and had no idea what to do.  But being resourceful there was a very attractive young girl (new to me) sitting across the table from me named Joyce Thomas from Copan, Oklahoma.  God was watching over me and every time she picked up a fork or spoon I followed suit.  Oh ya, and she was pleasant to look at and talk to.   Luckily she was there and we soon became good friends and that is another story.  But over the years I did learn how to act a little sophisticated except for the time I was at Bob and Nancy Scott's house in Naperville, Illinois (he worked at EDS with me) and they had this very formal dinner with lots of hardware and glasses.  Nancy served a salad with those cherry tomatoes and I personally had never had one of those so I just popped it in my mouth.  Well I have to tell you as I bit down on that darn thing it popped wide open and flew out my mouth completely across the table.  Oh well, you win a few and lose a few.

What do you  learn in the Osage?

• If you don't know what you are doing look for experienced people
• Doing what others do can be good a lot of the time
• Watch what you bite into, it might blow up on you

Thanks for your time,

gary@thepioneerman.com

Friends are friends forever in the Osage

This morning I was pleasantly surprised to find myself visiting with someone who seems to love the Osage just like me.  He was a man at McDonald's (the one with the arches) who was wearing a hat that had writing on it about "The National Field Trials" which is a competition focused on dogs and in particular hunting dogs.  Just growing up in the Osage makes it easy for me to just say hello to a stranger and that is what I did only to find myself engaged in a discussion about the country and people I love.

The conversation was about how quail and prairie chicken hunting was so prevalent in the 40's and up into the 70's.  He had hunted the Grainola - Foraker area many times and even remembered the family names like:  Reids, Drummond's, Coddings, Boots Adams, Olson's and Olsen's, Earnie Eaton, Gean and E.C. Mullendor, Mitchel, SEA or Noble Ranch's, and he personally knew Ben Johnson Jr., Holton Payne and of course "The One Armed Bandit" and more.  He was at the very first show Johnny Payne did and he was talking to Clem McSpaden who stated that if John Payne did not win the entertainer of the year act with that act something must be wrong.   He is 85 years old and still looking healthy and actively training dogs.  His name is Delmar Smith and one of the nationally known dog trainers and a delightful man.  I just wish I could remember half the stories he remembered.  

Well this gets me to a point about loving the past and embracing change.  We all love the past and I believe it would be great if somehow we could preserve some of that past history like quail hunting and prairie chicken hunting.  In fact I think it would be great if the LOCAL folks and those from the Osage could embrace preserving and enhancing that history.  What I mean is we don't need another government program but a grass roots effort to preserve our heritage but also we need to embrace the future like the wind energy project coming to the Osage.  It takes both but I believe those local folks and those who love the area can work together to preserve the past and make a great future while preserving the heritage of the Osage.  

Well what do you learn from the Osage?

• God gave it something special
• Memories of the Osage are more important than money
• People make the Osage special 

Thanks to all of those who have gone before us making the Osage special and those who gave their life and service to the military to preserve it.

Thanks for your time,

gary@thepioneerman.com

New Year's Day - what is a holiday on the farm?

I was in church this morning listening to Chris Newkirk and my mind was listening and running at the same time as he reminded me to "labor in the love of the Lord" and of course that meant thinking about growing up in the Osage.

At one time in my life I thought I would never want to live in a small town (that was when I was growing up in a small town and was ready to get out into the big world).  I use to tell mom that I was never going to drive on a country gravel road or chop ice for the cows or pull a calf in winter.  But now and especially today I was thinking about how wonderful it was in the Osage.

 In the city everyone is looking forward to the ball games and a long weekend and watching movies that were DVRed and basically laying around the house for a few days before going back to the grind.  But on the farm a holiday was something very special and full of anticipation but yet there were responsibilities which could not be ignored.

But here is how I remember the Osage holidays:

• No DVR and no drawers full of movies but there was anticipation of what was coming on TV at 8 P.M..  Why 8 P.M., because that is when the movies started if there was one.  And there was NO channel guide and we did not watch enough TV to know much about what was coming so whatever came on was what we watched.  On holidays we typically played 10 point pitch in the evenings and a lot of times it was with friends or family.
• The cows had to be fed everyday just like people meaning there was never a day off and besides who even thought about a day off with nothing to do?  Everyone had to do some work on those holidays and especially Ernie Eaton and family and of course the Kelley's who both had dairy cattle that had to be milked twice a day.  
• Feeding the cattle was one of those things that seemed like a lot of work but looking back I really enjoyed getting those bales of hay out of the barn and watching the cows come as we delivered the goodies.  The Bermuda grass hay was always pretty easy but the Sudan grass hay would be squished down and full of heat no matter how cold it got.  The alfalfa was generally pretty good shape and full of green leafy roughage that the cows seemed to love.  As you drove in the gate the cows would be either standing there waiting or coming at you all at once.  They were happy to see you and luckily they did not know how powerful they could be as they pushed against you.
• Another side note to getting hay out of the barn was watching the mice, rats and opossums who were hiding.  This may sound crude but it became a game of either using a pitch fork or a 22 rifle and seeing who would be most successful.  Do I need to go into detail?
• One of the least favorite things for me which I would gladly do today is chopping ice for the cows to get water.  Thinking back on that activity the fun thing was getting those big chunks of ice out and then putting them on top of the pond ice and treat it like a hockey puck.  It was a contest to see who could shove it the farthest and many times we took sticks and just played hockey.  There was one time when things went bad and that was when I hit Larry in the mouth with my hockey stick and the pond ice started cracking at the same time.  I thought we were going in and Larry was bleeding and it was just not a pretty site.

What was a holiday on the farm?  A day where you got up and fed the cows, chickens and the dogs and took off a little time for a special meal and perhaps a Dallas Cowboys football game and if you were lucky some company (typically relatives or the Shumates which might as well have been kin) which kept Dad from thinking up something to do.

Living in a small town never looked so good as it does today.  I love the Osage and I hope you do too.

What do you learn in the Osage?

• Responsibilities are a good thing and they should be cherished
• Holidays are what YOU decide to make them, focus on what is right with the world
• Farm life is never boring and in fact it makes you appreciate the small stuff
• Give your kids responsibilities and hold them accountable, it will last THEM a lifetime

Thanks for your time,

gary@thepioneerman.com