Kids and Dads

I guess every kid goes through a time when they want to be "just like Dad" and then they go through a period when they do not.  For me Dad was something more than cool, he was my example.  When I was very young I just wanted to be able to take as big of steps as he did and stay up with him as he moved so fast.  As I got older I wanted to be liked by everyone just like Dad.  He never seemed to have any enemies although I do remember a few times he sure got POed (Put Out for some and something else for the rest of us).  The only times I remember him being angry with someone was when he had helped a person out and they did not say "thank you".  He just never got over those kind of things.  The other funny thing is when he got mad it was at things, like machinery or a tractor or a hammer or a cow or bull but he never seemed to get angry with me or any particular person.  Now he would get disappointed with a bad behavior like the time I got in big trouble with the law (read back through the old stories and you will know what I am talking about).  Well anyway what I wanted to say about Dad was that he was a great example not by what he said but how he lived.

Every day of every week I believe he woke up with a list of things to do and a passion to get them done.  He could get ready to go to work faster than about anyone right up until the day before he went into the hospital at 87 which was the beginning of the end of a great life.  Now I could speculate that the reason he got up and out so fast was that he wanted to get his list done because Mom was one of the best at making a list of things to get done as well and if he hung around he would be working on her list rather than his, but who knows?  He did not ask for help from us kids, he assumed it as fact.  If I was not out of bed quickly in the morning I could be assured that in the spring a new baby cat or a few new puppies were going to wind up in my bed with me.  If there was nothing alive then he would bring me some ice and put it on me, then he would laugh and walk away.  He was my mentor.

Well that brings me to what drove me to write this story about my Dad's legacy.  His grandson, Richard Crow (Debbie's son), is about 90% like him.  Richard who lives in Perry, Oklahoma and has built GroundZero Storm Shelters to be the largest tornado shelter company in America is so much like him it blows my mind.  Richard gets up every morning around 4:30 and by about 10 or 11 he has done more work than most will get done in a day, just like Dad.  I would also want you to know he can be found loving his family and still working late into most evenings.  One big difference from dad is Richard is bigger by about 30 to 50 pounds but about the same height.  If I were in a fight I would have wanted Dad at my back although Richard would be a great backup.  Richard would also sweep dirt just to make it look neat and clean, just like Dad.  Now that I think about it Richard's brother Clifford is a great worker and just like Dad as well.  He is a fireman in Kingfisher and he wants everything to be done right, fast and now.  And another thought about Dad's legacy.  Chase, my oldest son, is a fireman in Edmond and in fact his picture is on the front of the Metro section of the Daily Oklahoman today 5/15/14, is also just like Dad in many ways.  He can figure things out like an engineer and fix about anything, just like Dad.  He works diligently everyday and purposes to get things done and quickly, just like Dad.

So what do we learn in the Osage?

• watch what you do because someone will repeat it and that will be your legacy, protect it
• your actions really do speak louder than words
• love can be seen by those you duplicate, think about it

Thanks for your time,

gary@thepioneerman.com

Clyde and Margie

Clyde and Margie Jackson were some pretty cool folks who lived on the hill west of Grainola where my mom and all the Lane sisters grew up plus two brothers, Uncle Bill and Uncle Don.  Now that I think about it we should write a few stories about those brothers.  Anyway, Clyde and Margie never seemed to get rich in money but they were rich in life.  I guess I am getting old because I cannot remember how many kids they had but off hand I remember Bob and Linda and as far as I know they turned out OK.  I know they did and Little Bob was the County Commissioner as I recall and Linda lives in Ark City (I think).

What I remember most is Clyde always had Farmall tractors and he could keep them running longer and better than anyone and he never needed a fancy bigger tractor or at least he was not willing to step out and buy one as his Farmalls worked just fine.  They raised cattle, chickens and hogs and I think they even had a few sheep.  Margie was a fine cook and she always took care of us when mom needed a baby sitter.  I will have to say that she made me mad one time and I don't remember why but I ran away.  The driveway was about a half mile long and I took off down the road and she caught me at the end of the driveway.  Maybe it was just because I was a growing boy but I remember she could really cook and it was fried chicken that I loved the most with the exception of her pies.

Friendly and unpretentious folks is what I liked about Clyde and Margie.  They were just nice to be around and they always had time to sit and talk or as I got older have a cup of coffee with.  Wouldn't it be nice if we could just show up at someones house and they had time to sit and visit and life was not so busy?  What happened?  TOO MUCH technology maybe?  Too many activities?  Too much stuff?

I don't know about you but I have learned one thing from not being in the Osage.  I have learned that the more stuff you have the more "stuff controls you".  We build bigger houses to hold more stuff and then we rent or build storage sheds to hold more stuff and we have bigger attics to store more stuff.  We even go to garage sales or to the malls to buy more stuff that we hardly ever use.  I guess I long for folks like Clyde and Margie who valued folks/friends/family more than stuff.

So what do you learn in the Osage?

• stuff takes time and people take time but people are more important than stuff
• if we stop buying stuff we will have more time to help people
• time is more valuable than stuff

Thanks for your time,

gary@thepioneerman.com

Drivers Education and Coach Smith

Travis Eaton wrote a Facebook note asking about Drivers Ed and it reminded me of Coach Smith and my experiences with driving.

First off I cannot remember when I first drove because I drove a tractor and worked the fields when I was about 9 years old and probably drove the pickup to feed cattle even earlier.  I was always too big for my age so reaching the peddles was never a problem.  I was taller than Miss Shumate in the third grade and taller than Mrs. Casselman in the second.  Miss Shumate was about 5 foot tall, max.  Mrs. Casselman was about 5'1".  OK, back to the point.  Driving was a necessity and I remember Jon Tanny and Eddie always were driving just like me and no one cared and in fact folks tried to hire me to drive their tractors long before I was 16 years old.

So what about drivers education.  Coach Smith was my teacher and I don't really think he had a single thing to teach most of us so mostly we just drove around for an hour and stopped by the Dixie Dog for a refreshment or got out on the streets about town and practiced parking.  Really it was not much of an adventure except for the day I took my test.

That day I went down to the city hall as I recall to take the test which was no big deal but then I had to have someone go with me for a test drive in my car.  It was my red '62 Chevy which I had already owned and was driving to school each day from Grainola to Shidler (house to school of about 15 miles) that I took my test in.  I was really nervous about this part since I had never been in the situation before.  The testing person told me to back out of the angled parking place and lets go for a drive.  Well that was when things got a little sticky.  I was having to give the car a lot of gas to get it to back up and it was a three speed manual transmission with the gear shift on the steering shaft.  The testing person suggested that I might want to take off the emergency brake so it would not burn up my brakes.  "Good Idea", I said as my body broke out into a heavy sweat.  We took the car for a spin and about another 10 minutes went by and he told me to try a parallel park event.  Luckily I had read the book and knew how to pull up correctly to start the parallel parking but when I turned my wheels and started in reverse I wound up just about perpendicular to the curb in between two cars.  He suggested that I should just go on.  I was sure at this point I was in deep do-do and would not pass.  Luckily he gave me 2 points for pulling up correctly and I made a perfect score!  I made a 70! And it took a 70 to pass, therefore a perfect score.

Now that all was good news but let me tell you about the second time I tried to parallel park.  For some reason I decided to enter a state wide driving contest held at OSU each year during the annual 4-H convention.  Not only did I park parallel 100% correctly but I had literally never tried it since the day of my driving test.  And on top of that I drove the course in a record time dodging between markers and tennis balls because I was in a hurry to get to my next event which was a speech contest doing a demonstration.  Guess what?  I placed second in the state competition.

Just for funnies, the demonstration contest was a contest I had to qualify on the county and regional basis to be in the state finals.  I had not prepared a speech so the day of the speech I took a book I had read "The Five Fundamentals of Gold" by Ben Hogan and outlined the five points on a poster board, grabbed a golf club and went to the contest.  Much to my amazement I won the contest and the regional and then the state.  I practiced it ALL three times.  Pretty funny, huh?

Well I don't know about you but growing up in the Osage cannot be beaten by any class 5, 4, 3, or whatever class school.  I am a proud Shidler Tiger and a proud Osage and it don't get any better than that.  Yes, I meant to say don't.

What do you learn in the Osage?

• Learning is a journey and it is your choice what you want to get out of it
• The only limit on your potential is put on by you, it is a decision not your circumstance
• Today is the beginning of a new adventure and I expect to take part in it with a good attitude

Thanks for sharing your time with me,

gary@thepioneerman.com