Storms

I don't remember storms like we have today when I was growing up but we did have some interesting weather.  They say when a farmer hears there is a tornado coming, he goes outside to see it rather than hide.  Well the fact is we did go out on the porch and as long as it was not raining where we would get wet, we watched the storm and the tornadoes.  Now we did have a "fraidie hole" which is a storm cellar which we used on occasion when it got really bad.  It was a good thing we did not have much light in the storm cellar as that is where we stored the jars of food for winter and the potatoes which I have written about many times.  Now I know that is confusing but the sentence just got a little long and what I wanted to say is that there were other things in the storm cellar like snakes and mice or spiders.

Dad would always stand at the opening and watch for what was going on outside.  Only one time did I think there was a real danger and that was when dad shut the door like in the Wizard of Oz and the wind was so strong it would hardly close and dad was struggling to keep it closed when it was down.  Also the wind sounded like a freight train which was supposed to mean a tornado was overhead.  We never lost a roof or barn but we had plenty of storms.  Fact is we saw plenty of tornadoes but they were generally on the plains and not down by the creek where we lived.

Ford F150 Supper dented cab

2013 Hail storm April 

My favorite was watching those giant clouds before sun down where the sun shown on the tops and the black bottoms seemed imminently close.  The lightening was snapping all around and the sound was sooooo close.  We use to say that once you saw the lightening strike you could could count seconds and for each second the lightening was 1/10th mile away.  I don't know if that is right but it was fun and kept us watching and counting.  It was absolutely beautiful to watch.

This weekend was one of those storms that we did not know was coming and it was on us before we could put the pickup in hiding.  We got hail and rain like I have not seen before, at least not this big and hard.  Our roof was totaled and my pickup was destroyed.

Every tree was stripped

 The hail was about 3 inches across for the biggest and it did crack the window of my pickup.  Every flower was leveled.  I was amazed at the iris collection that was just destroyed.  But Shouna said it best, "it all belongs to HIM and HE can take it in an instant".  I do believe that it will be for the best as it always comes back better than before.

The trees were stripped of all their new leaves and there were not hardly any large limbs but thousands of small sticks everywhere.  Just Amazing!

This entire experience reminded me of when we burnt off the prairie grass.  It would kill the weeds and allow the new fresh growth to pop out of the black charred ground.  The underbrush in the trees would be gone and again new life would emerge better than before.  I think it is pretty easy to see God has a good plan and it is much better than mine.

So what do you learn in the Osage?

• Don't get your underwear in a wad it just makes you uncomfortable
• A little pruning or burning is good for the land and trees and the soul.  It keeps your priorities and thinking right.
• Adversity is what you make of it not what it makes you

Thanks for your time,

gary@thepioneerman.com

Have things really changed?

• 
  Today we hear about bombings in Boston against innocent folks and disasters in West, Texas and killings in Baghdad over elections and I just cannot help but think back about the "good old days" but were they really different?
  
  The names and faces and topics change but there is still problems and they are always from the same place, THE HEART OF MAN and the lack of respect for THE RULE OF LAW.  Sure we had discipline and a common purpose in the Osage of raising children to be God fearing adults and we had lots of differences of opinion and just in case you don't remember let me remind you of a few things that got folks really angry.
  
  
  
  • Politics - I remember family getting so angry about their opinion they would shake with anger. In particular I remember my dad getting really angry because Aunt Gladys Snyder (teacher - Miss Snyder) was not being paid as much as male teachers because men had to support their families.  Dad was never a confrontation orientated person but this one got him in an uproar.   In the good old days Democrats outnumbered republicans and probably rightfully so based on the past prejudices toward women and blacks.  Even in the Osage folks thought women should make less than men for the same job.  Before my time people even thought women should not vote.  Lots of folks thought blacks were not equal.  Unions were needed to get things made to be fair.  But guess what happened over time.  Free enterprise and common sense made some changes and it did take some government intervention like civil rights and equal pay legislation to get some corrections made.  But extreme measures were needed and over time they were not needed and I would have to say some folks did not adjust well to those changes.  In other words those extreme views needed modified as well.
  • LONG HAIR - I don't think any one thing brought more frustration for old folks than long hair.  Of course it was more of a symbol for rejection of standards that had been set in stone for years.  I remember when Mr. Treadway (Shidler High Principal) suggested I should either get my side burns cut or get to miss school.  Of course that was back when it was dishonorable to miss school or  be kicked out.  Although I do remember there were a certain set of girls in my class who thought it was a badge of honor to get kicked out of school.  During this adjustment time there were those who would give you  a hair cut for free without you volunteering.  We use to say that Don of Don's barber shop only gave two haircuts, burr or flat top.  
  • Short skirts - Now I would have to say this did not bother me in the least but it sure got the adults in a wad.  As I recall Terry Hustead and a bazillion girls tried to push this issue as far up (get it, UP as in shorter) as possible.  Either the girls in the 60's and 70's had longer legs or the skirts were shorter and they did not wear 6 INCH heels like today.
  • Short Shorts - There was no way that we ever got to see short shorts on high school campuses but at college it was amazing.  We had girls burning their bra's and wearing shorts so short that their butts were hanging out.  At that time I have to say I did enjoy the situation and I certainly was not a Christian at the time.  I would also say after I accepted Christ as my personal savior I still enjoyed seeing the girls on campus at Weatherford, Oklahoma, SWOSU.  Anyway, short shorts were too short and honestly just did not look that good especially on the girl you were dating at the time and wanted to take home to visit the folks, get it?
  Of course these issues are not that big of a deal but folks can get pretty wound up about them.  We get so caught up in single events that we pass laws because of 1 in a million who is an idiot or terrorist.  
  
  
  An easy example of politics and common sense that don't mix is gun control.  Obviously criminals are not going to register their guns and quit frankly are going to steel them or buy them on the black market.  Obviously we should have back ground checks on folks buying guns at stores and gun shows which are stores.  And obviously there are problems with how do you keep guns from getting in the hands of a nut like in the Connecticut shooting or Columbine or the movie theatre in Colorado.  Keeping politics out of this, is there really any law that will stop a nut or criminal from getting their hands on guns or explosives or knives?  
  
  
  One last thing, how long does it take to prosecute a killer caught on film and who admits guilt when in the US court system?  Tim McVeigh took about four years and MILLIONS of dollars.  The Boston boys is a split decision.  The first one was cheap and he is dead.  The second one will cost millions and even though he told the cab driver he was responsible may get away with the murders on technical problems and for sure it will take years and millions of dollars to prosecute.  In the Osage before so many federal and state laws got in the way there were quicker remedies.  Even if you are not for the death penalty what about having all those inmates walking along the roads in chains cleaning up the trash?  I really like that one.
  
  
  Well I best stop as I could go for a while on this one.  
  
  
  What do you learn in the Osage?
  • Common sense prevails and there will never be enough laws to fix everything 
  • Sometimes we need more democrats and sometimes we need more republicans and right now we need more republicans.  I could not pass that one up.
  • Killers who are repeat offenders NEVER repeat offending if taken behind the wood shed and don't return.

  Thanks for spending a little time with me,
  gary@thepioneerman.com
  
  

Pond Scum

Normally I would have to tell you that lawyers are pond scum but there are a few that are not, only a few.   Nothing much better than a good lawyer joke keeps me satisfied.  So what about pond scum that resonates a memory of the Osage?

Well if you were a fisherman and I see that Shidler is now the bass fishing capital of Oklahoma you would know that a good pond has lots of pond scum along the edges.  Growing up in the country we had lots of ponds scattered across every farm and ranch and any pond worth fishing had pond scum along the edges.  Now most of the time we called it pond moss but it is more fun calling it pond scum since lawyers need something to identify with.  You see just about the time a pond is ready to fish in the spring and the sun starts to stay up a little longer meaning the days are longer the MOSS starts coming to the top and it plays havoc with the fishing.  You see the fish and especially the bass like to hang out right along the edge where the pond scum ends.  Generally speaking there was also about a foot from the shore before the scum would start then it could go out as far as about 20 to 30 feet.  If it was early spring and momma bass was setting her eggs she would be hanging out close to the shore where the water was shallow.  The reason for this is so the  eggs would stay warmer from the heat of the sun and of course they would incubate there until they hatched.  Once that happened there were literally thousands of baby fish and they would hide in the weeds and moss to keep other fish from eating them.  A smart fisherman knew that you would not have to cast (meaning throw your lure) out past the moss but simply watch for  movement in the water along the edge then sneak up and toss the lure right along the edge of the water before the moss.  If that did not work the only choice was to cast  the line and lure  out past the moss which was pretty hard when you only had a cane pole.

But I remember when Mr. Curnutt who owned the local Otasco store in Shidler started carrying Zebco rod and reels which would allow you to cast out past the moss.  Now before Zebco (made in Tulsa) came around there were Johnson reels (green like John Deere) and other brands I don't remember which were open reels.  You may not know it but those reels were next to impossible for me to cast without getting what was called a 'back lash'.  For a long time I did not know it was called a back lash because when dad or Larry (my brother who has a birthday today the 19th) would experience one they would not say 'back lash'  rather they would call it 'shit' or 'damn'.  For years I thought a lot of things were 'damn' or 'shit'.  I guess I was just a slow learner but those were two of my first words.  Anyway I never did get the hang of those so Zebco was one of the greatest inventions for me.  Funny but as I look back those original reels were even better than the ones you get today.  Well fishing was just a lot more fun with a Zebco.  Strangely enough my brother is still an avid fisherman and has multiple open faced reels which cost a heck of a lot more money than a good old Zebco.  I will have to admit he catches more fish and bigger fish than I do but I don't think it has anything to do with the expensive equipment he buys.

One last thing about pond scum and that is if you just don't want to fight it there are two solutions.  The first is to get a boat, which we never had, and get out in the middle of the pond and fish back to the edge of the moss.  The second solution which was my favorite is to go fish in the creek which never had a pond scum problem.

So what do you learn in the Osage?

• Not all lawyers are as bad as pond scum, but most
• If you want to catch fish you have to adapt to the pond scum
• Shit and Damn are not nouns in most cases when they are used, ask Helen Head (the mother of HEAD COUNTRY BAR-B-QUE Sauce)
• Head Country is not from Ponca City, it was born in Grainola by Tom Head and raised in Shidler by Danny

Thanks for your time and Damn those were good points!

gary@thepioneerman.com

Responsibility

When a kid grows up there is always (hopefully) an event that changes their actions forever.  I remember one year about this time of year when the cows were calving (that means they were having babies) and we had a cow that was having some trouble calving.  Dad sent me out to check on her and she was across the creek and about 1/4 to 1/2 mile from the house.  He gave me a pretty good description of where she was I was supposed to make sure she did not need any help.

Well you may not know it but it seemed that every year there were a few cows that just struggled having a calf and we needed to assist.  Let me explain how it is a little different than being in a hospital with a doctor and a staff of nurses and everyone knows the nurses do the work and the doctor gets paid.  That is another story.  Anyway there were many a time where the calf was being born and the cow just could not get it done on her own.  So we would tie a rope around the calf legs and feet and tie that to a fence puller or wench, see picture.

Then we would either have the wench attached to the pickup or the cattle pens/shut.  At that time we would start cranking and pretty soon the calf would pop out.  Now there were other times when the calf was in backwards (breach) and you would have to put your arm, I mean ALL of it, inside the cow to grab the calf's head and turn them around.  I considered that a little gross but it was necessary and it worked.  Anyway back to the cow who was calving.



I went off reluctantly not really wanting to look for that cow and not committed fully to finding her.  It was late and about to get dark so I needed to move quickly.  I ran across the creek and through the woods (like the song) looking for the cow to no avail.  I don't remember for sure but I was probably worried about missing one of my favorite shows like the Beverly Hillbillies or Green Acres.  Did you know that Zeb of Green Acres was from PaulsValley, Oklahoma?  Well not only did I not look thoroughly but when I got back to the house I told dad I found her and she was OK.

The next day Dad went to check on her just to find that the calf had died and the cow was crippled from giving birth.  He confronted me and I lied again.  Dad was sick about it as when you lost a calf you not only lost the income off the cow for the year but you also had to feed the cow for another year and not get paid.  This sounds like free enterprise doesn't it unless you let the government get involved and then they guarantee you income and no risk.  Dad never did like the government getting involved in farming, ranching and dairying.  He always said it made good farmers become lazy and not good farmers.

Well I wish I could tell you that I felt so bad that I went and corrected y error but that never happened.  I did feel bad about it and still do about 50 years later.

Well what do you learn in the Osage?

• lying never feels good
• lying never goes away
• everyone suffers when you lie
• Depending on the government creates dependency on others to bail you out
• The counter to that is a government that depends on your taxes and not on being a good steward with discipline is a government out of control

Thanks for your time,

gary@thepioneerman.com