Christmas Mornings

Not too often did I ever wake up to a white Christmas but this year , 2012, the snow was gently falling as we sat by the kitchen table looking out the window.  The bird feeders were up and red birds were in full force with five male and two female.  There were also spotted wood peckers on the suite feeder and a red headed wood pecker close by.  There were chickadees and a pair of brown thrushes.  Of course most of the trees were bare except for a few oaks that held onto some brown leaves.  The grasses were brown and some shrubs had bright red berries which really showed due to the contrasting snow.  WOW!  What a sight. Our oldest son even commented that it was about the prettiest Christmas he remembered.

To top all of that off all my children and their spouses were sitting at the table drinking coffee and tea and relaxing after a late breakfast.  Now from my perspective even if there were no snow it was a beautiful Christmas.  With in-laws and out-laws and job pressure it is just difficult to get everyone together at one time and especially when no one is in a hurry to run to the next event.  Can it get any better than this?  I don't believe it can.  Yes we opened gifts later and went to the movies and ate again just like we do every year.  Traditions is what we call it and there is just something wonderful about tradition.  It is something you can depend on without change.

When growing up in the Osage one of my fondest traditions was getting up and going quail hunting.  Typically it was just Larry and I and whatever dog we had.  Now I will have to tell you we never had a bird dog but just a mutt of some kind. In fact many times we had to leave the dog at home because he or she was not trained to hunt birds and that can be a really big problem when a dog runs ahead of you jumping the birds before you get close enough.  Larry and I would walk for miles up and down Beaver Creek occasionally jumping a covey of birds.  One of my favorites was when we saw a covey  all bundled up in an area about the size of the bottom of a five gallon bucket just below the top of a creek bed where there was no snow but snow all around them.  Of course as we located them their heads perked up and they began to get nervous when suddenly they burst into flight.  Quail are very interesting in how they fly.  When they take off the pounding of their wings make a noise I cannot describe but then as they get airborne they cup their wings and glide while dipping and diving and banking left and right as they coast through the trees and brush.  Typically they only fly about 40 or 50 yards then hit the ground running.  They run extremely fast and are very difficult to track without a dog.  One of the most exciting things is when you almost step on one and they burst into flight scaring the dickens out of you.  I don't know what that means precisely but Mom and Dad always used the term.

Probably the best part of those hunting trips was just being with my brother and then arriving back at the house where your jeans were frozen and covered with snow.  At that point we would peel off our coats and shoes and run to the fireplace which dad would always have roaring with fire to greet us with its warmth.  Mom would have coffee (always) and many times hot chocolate waiting for us plus a breakfast spread like no other.  Wonderful memories!

Well what do you learn in the Osage?

• There is no place like home (kinda like in the Wizard of Oz)
• Home is where your family is
• Share your memories with your kids

Thanks for your time,

gary@thepioneerman.com

Peanuts make cashews special

Life is like cashews without peanuts, that is the bad times make the good times special.

 If you had only cashews to eat how good would they taste?  If you had only peanuts to eat would peanuts taste great?  The idea here is that the more peanuts you have the more special cashews become.  Here are three examples to prove my point.

There was once a story about the Indians living in Oklahoma during a long drought.  It had gone on so long that there was almost nothing to eat.  So the chief decided to send out one of his braves to search for food.   In a couple of days the Indian brave came back to report what he found.  The chief was excited and asked him what he found.  The brave said well, "I have good news and bad news".  So the chief said, "give me the bad news" at which the brave said, "the bad news is all there is to eat is buffalo chips".  The chief was disappointed and said, "well, what is the good news?" to which the brave replied, "there are plenty of buffalo chips".  So perhaps you can see that even buffalo chips could taste good if you were hungry or they might taste good if there were some cashews to go with them.

So if you are not convinced yet how would you enjoy winter if not for the summer?  If not for hot weather would ice cream taste so good?  If not for thirst would a nice cold ice water taste great?

My life is like a cashew surrounded with a special peanut.  Today (21st of December) my wife and I have been married 38 wonderful years.  Why is that so special?  I believe it is because we have gone through thick and thin together.  We have shared successes with big time failures.  We have shared exhilaration with disappointment   A particularly good example of  this was when our third child was born and we were so excited that we called all our friends and family to tell them the good news.  A few hours later the doctor told us our son had down syndrome and we were scared and confused.  But when we held Preston in our arms there was no difference between him and our NORMAL children.  He was a new NUT added to our collection.  He was another cashew.  A few months later the doctors told us he was dangerously ill with infintile spasms and he had an 80% of not making it.  Six months later he was past it.   To say the least we have cried together and laughed together.  We enjoy Preston even more because he is special.

Now it is your turn, try some peanuts with your cashews.

I feel like a cashew surrounded by one wonderful peanut, Shouna Darla Olson, my wife of 38 years.

So what do you learn in the Osage?

• Variety is the spice of life
• Be thankful for the challenges in life
• Celebrate the victories

Thanks for your time,

gary@thepioneerman.com

Some folks just know how to take care of folks

It was the summer of 1975 right after I graduated from Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford, Oklahoma while I was working for EDS.  Now most of you don't even know what that is so let me update you.  There was a company founded by Ross Perot called Electronic Data Systems which basically founded the service bureau business in data processing.  Ross started with $2,000 and a lot of tenacity.  OK, back to the story.  I had been working for EDS about 2 months when I got one of those calls from home (MOM) saying that Dad was having surgery for what they thought was a tumor.  It was probably the first time I had experienced such a traumatic blow or at least it was the first one of this magnitude.  I think you could call it an earthquake of my soul.  All I could think about was what was going to happen to Dad.

I assume you are a lot like me in that the first thing you do is assume the worst and not assume that doctors know what they are doing or that all tumors are not fatal.  I was scared and it shook me up just having the thought that dad might not be around forever.

Well I was a rookie in a new job and very focused on my work but that next day when I got to the office I was not my usual self.  I remember wondering later how anyone knew something was bothering me but it seemed everyone noticed.   Charlie Vieth was my manager and Phil Sutphin was his and then there was a guy named Jerry Welch who was over him.  In that situation there were about 15 of us working in one big room with one office and Jerry got it so it was like working in a fish bowl in that everyone saw everything.  It was a fun environment to me in that everyone was about 10 to 20 years older than me and they were all military veterans that were focused on a mission called work.  Just as a side note and for a later date what we worked on was due diligence / proposals for large accounts around the world.  The most famous one was the Bank of Iran contract where we ultimately had two employees become prisoners of the new regime in Iran led by Iatola Kohamenia (I am sure I miss-spelled this but I tried to look it up on the web).  Ultimately there was a book and movie written about the ordeal.  Alright back to the story.  As I was sitting there working on the financial spreadsheets for the contract Charlie and Phil came up to me and asked, almost demanding, "what is going on?".  I told them nothing but they insisted   I shared that dad was having surgery this morning and I was concerned.  I have to tell you that even right now as I recall the situation I become teary eyed.  They told me to get out of there and go see my dad as he needed me more than they needed me.  They literally handed me my coat and everyone in the office rallied around me saying, "get out of here".  I called Shouna and told her we were going to Oklahoma to see dad.

By the time we got to the hospital in Oklahoma City there were flowers there and a card and I knew I had a great set of new friends who would do whatever it took when times got tough.  If this story does not resonate with you then let me share a few more and there are hundreds.

When I was in SE school at EDS (systems engineering) literally working 16 to 18 hours a day 7 days a week getting ready for some intense systems work Ross sent flowers with a thank you card to my wife for her sacrifice.  Ross use to go to the houses of all employees to thank spouses for their support and sacrifice but there got to be too many employees for that.  Ross understood that people were more important than work.  He understood that the TEAM of people were stronger than an individual.

I suppose you wonder how this relates to the Osage and quit frankly it is obvious to me.  So, what did I learn in the Osage?

• People are more important than houses and cars and stuff
• Tenacity is more important than skill or brain power
• Pride and knowing who you can depend on come from home (invest in your home and friends)
• No one person can stand up to pressure but when you know you have folks who support you hard times are just times of adjustment

Thanks for your time,

gary@thepioneerman.com

You would be proud of Steve, even maybe jealous.

Now here is a day that will stick in my head for a long time.  I visited Steve on December 5, yesterday, and he was a delight.  HE brightened my day.  I don't know how you count your blessings but let me tell you how:

First off when I arrived Steve invited me immediately to come over and give him a hug.  He immediately made me welcome and introduced me to a bunch of friends who were standing around including Virginia (his sister) and Bill her husband.  The door on this place should have been one of those revolving doors like at the bank or big downtown building in the city, kinda like the door in ELF when the elf went round and round in the door until he was drunk acting.  Within the two hours I was there at least 50 folks came through to say high and see how he was doing.  He continually called everyone by name as they walked in the door and immediately introduced me as his high school buddy.  NO WONDER he had so many friends, he could remember everyone's name and was excited to introduce someone as his home town friend.  There were a few things I learned from Steve:

• Pride in your roots, the Osage and Shidler
• Friends have names, remember them.  I wished I could recall names so quickly.
• Based on a positive attitude and cheerful demeanor it was hard to tell Steve was the one with cancer. 

On Monday they said there were over 100 people visiting Steve.  Steve was blessed with friends.  There were several folks who came to visit about spiritual things like eternity but frankly there was so much activity it was difficult for anyone to have that type of conversation.  Steve was great even when one of the guys coming in who had a Bible under his arm.  Steve's immediate response was, " .. we are not ready for that yet", which I am certain meant it was not time for reading his last rights.  Typical Steve, always one step ahead. Sharp as ever.  

Well we got to talk about old times and how the girls always thought he was the cutest and I made sure he knew that was back then and not today.  We all had a big laugh.  We talked about how the Intrepids (his band with Nate Bonham, Gene Rash, and Wiley Smith) was formed and how Gene took lessons from someone in Ponca and then Gene would teach Steve how to play.  Steve was naturally a drummer and singer which proved out when he and a bunch of guys as an adult won a singing contest in Tulsa and made the front page of the Tulsa World.  Steve played every instrument and as always he said he had to learn them all because the school was so small he did not have a choice.  In particular I remember he played the tuba which seemed bigger than he was.  Just guessing, I would say he was no more than 135 pounds when he was in high school.

Speaking of the girls I don't think there was a girl that did not like Steve unless they just could not handle his quick wit (some would say, "quick mouth").  I fondly remember Marsha Cannon who was one of the prettiest girls in the class and we had a bunch of good lookers.  She was always dating a certain guy and I think Steve always wanted to date her but she was taken.  He use to give her crap over dating the other guy and he told me that some time after high school he and Marsha dated a little.  Marsha was the first person we lost from our class and as I recall it was cancer and about 25 years ago.  Unlike Steve she was a little more quiet and shy.

Now on sports he had a passion for baseball and could really get loud with the refs but he mostly detested referees in basketball.  The funny thing is he got thrown out at baseball games but never in basketball that I could remember.  He had a way of showing disgust at a bad call and getting away with it.  I was not so lucky and that is another story.  Steve and Ricky Cottle were two folks who could have their back to the rim, jump turn around in mid-air and shoot a goal and make it.  Amazing!

OK, I had better summarize what I intended when I started.

• A great life is not measured by your assets but by your friends and what you did with your assets
• you can drink beer, cuss a little or a lot, love people but in the end there is only one judge you have to stand before and HE is not going to ask you about your cussing or your drinking.  The only question HE is going to ask even though HE knows the answer is, "Why should I let you into heaven?".  And then there is only one answer and the question to that answer is, "Did you love ME and accept MY love by  grace?"  John 3:16
• My sins are no bigger or smaller than anyone else's, I am not perfect and neither are you

Thanks for your time,

gary@thepioneerman.com

Steve Chrisco

Steve had a level of sophistication, courage and blunt talent like no other.  I personally was lucky in that I met Steve even before I moved to Shidler High School.  The first time I ran into Steve was in Peewee baseball at the Shidler ball field during the summer.  Truth is I really did not know him but I knew of him because his pitching was off the charts.  He scared me to death with his fast ball.  In fact Rick Cottle and Steve were hot pitchers.  As a Grainola Grubber I had never seen a ball come at me so fast.  I don't think I ever got a hit off of Steve.  So when I graduated from Grainola and went to Shidler I got to experience "the rest of the story" as Paul Harvey would have said.  By the way do you know that Paul Harvey was from Oklahoma?

The old ball park

The rest of the story is Steve was an Icon in that he could do about anything.  He had the courage to try new things and say things that I would never say.  I remember he could play quarterback and lead the basketball team and make the craziest shots in basketball and pitch a curve or fastball better than anyone and he even played in the band during halftime.  He played Elvis better than Elvis.  He sang and danced like no other.  The girls loved him and I just marveled at the talent.  But there is one thing I know that almost none of you know about Steve and I am going to tell you about it.

Class of 1971 (Steve is in the middle to the right of John Payne in the black hat)

I will have to tell you I saw myself as a shy person who just loved life and enjoyed other folks courage.  Well Steve showed me courage like no other one night when he and a few of my buddies were staying at our house on Beaver Creek.  Steve reached into his pocket late that night and pulled out a cigarette lighter and then proceeded to show us a scientific fact. As a side note, just to let you know we were 8th graders at the time so our level of sophistication was very mature.  As Steve lit the lighter he passed a lot of gas which he lit and I saw something new to me.  A ball of fire exploded and it burnt the hair off his butt!  WOW!  As you can imagine all of us wanted to experience such a feat.  We must have farted for an hour while each took turns with the lighter.  Then Steve taught us that if you take Right Guard, the newest in deodorant at the time, and put the lighter to it you had a torch!  You could say that Steve en LIGHTENED us that evening.

For years to come I watched Steve keep us all entertained.  He had a band called the Roustabouts (I think that was the name) or at least he was part of the band.  At any time he was the star of the party and a joy to watch.  Great memories.

Well I have to say thanks to Steve for being such a big part of our class at dear old Shidler High.  

Thanks for your time,

gary@thepioneerman.com