14 inches of Snow

We lived on a gravel road where most of it was going east and west prior to the last turn before heading to the house.  Now what that does when you have a big snow and the land on the north side of the road is a wheat field is it allows all the snow to blow off the wheat field and stop at the first fence line and drift across the road to the next fence line.  the snow drifts could easily reach 6 feet deep.  If you cannot picture that just remember how it looks when you are driving down a road covered with snow and you see those giant snow drifts by the highway.  Well on the farm with a gravel road those drifts just go right on across the road.  Dad, Cliff Olson, was not only a farmer, rancher, builder, but also the Rural US Postal Carrier which means that he is going to deliver the mail regardless of the snow.

One year I remember we had a monster snow around 14 inches and it drifted so bad we were snowed in for days, except for dad.  Dad got the old Allis Chalmers tractor and just marched right through that snow.  I should point out we lived on a dead end road that you had to drive one mile out just to get going somewhere.  Cack Harrington would grade the snow from the roads as fast as possible to help Dad deliver the mail.  Those two seemed to work well together.  Anyway Dad made a path where later he would take the pickup and drive to Grainola to "carry the mail".  Mrs. Heath (Jimmy's and Clarissa's grandma) was the post master and she would have the mail put in the boxes for the locals and then dad would sort the mail for the rural route. Again Cack would grade the streets so the locals could come by and get their mail then stop by Ruby's or Goldie's for a cup of coffee and some gossip.  How did women get the reputation for gossip when it was always the men at the local stores drinking coffee and catching up on the gossip?

I don't know how it works today but back then the Rural Mail Carrier and especially my dad took on several additional duties.  He made sure that everyone was OK and that old folks had heat and he would always carry a log chain to pull folks out of ditches or to be pulled out.  Dad would bundle up with gloves and a spare blanket, lots of socks, extra can of gasoline, and always a glove box filled with his favorite candy bar   .  If you were ever around Dad you knew he always kept a snack with him.  In fact here is a good place to insert a story about Dad.  

When he was about 27 years old and in the Air Force during WWII he got some kind of parasite in his stomach.  Back in those days they operated and took out 90% of his stomach and 28 inches of his small intestines.  Later in life they took out 80% of his colon.  After that surgery the doctor came in and asked what happened because he was expecting to see a stomach and some small intestines (you really could say dad did not have guts).  The funny thing is back in those days all the medical records were not shared and the doctor had no idea all of that was missing.  Dad literally ate about 10 or 12 times a day.  Generally he would get up every night about 12 or 1 and get a small snack.    Well back to the story:  It seemed that everyone had a story about how dad would help them out during a winter storm or he would walk the mail to their door so they would not have to get out and sometimes he would get them things at the store and bring back to their house.  Dad was a great example of a servant.  To say the least every Christmas the mail boxes would be filled with gifts for Dad and family and it was a delight to know you had such great friends who appreciated the little extra efforts.  

One last thing about the giant snows and that was you had to feed the cattle and you could NOT do that within the warmth of a pickup.  You had to hook up a flat bed four wheel trailer and load it with hay and   cattle cake.  Refer to previous stories if you don't know what that is.  The worst part outside of the cold wind was backing up that doggone four wheel trailer.  If you have never tried it then you should and from then on you will know why farmers and ranchers cuss.  Well the last thing you did before pulling out of the barn to head out looking for the cattle was grab an ax to chop ice.  From there we drove "over the river (creek) and through the woods" and across the pastures and hills to feed the cows.  Generally the cattle would be in tight groups painted white from the snow and ice frozen to their hair and backs waiting on you to show up.  They were glad to see you and it was fun watching them enjoying the food.  Of course as you already know the next part was chopping through the ice with the ax so the cows could get water.  I think this was the hardest and most aggravating part of taking care of them.

The best part of all was getting back to the house next to that giant fireplace of ours and mom would make one of her great breakfasts.  Even the dog got to slip into the house and lay by the fireplace and Mom never liked animals in the house but she had a soft heart on those rough winter days.

What do you learn in the Osage?

• Be good to your neighbors and watch out for those in need
• Hard work makes for a great appetite
• Every man needs a tractor and a BARN (how about it Lidya?)

Thanks for your time,

gary@thepioneerman.com