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?
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
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