How did you get to school?

I was talking to my 86 year old mom today and I asked her how she got to school when she was young.  Of course I have always said she walked to school up hill both ways and barefoot.  She was born in 1928 so I assumed they might have a car, they did not.  She said they either walked to school or road a horse.  Now think about that for a second.  If she walked it was about 2 miles to school approaching 3 as I recall.  Can you imagine walking that far as a child to school on a gravel road?  The good thing is she was the youngest girl and therefore there were 5 walking together, Gladys, Peggy, Magnolia (Maggie), Erlene, and of course Opal (Mom).

Now let's take this another direction which I had never considered before.  When they road a horse obviously they typically had 2 or 3 on one horse and when they got to school what happened to the horse the rest of the day?  Believe it or not there was a horse barn at school for the kids to put their horse in while they were being taught.  Also that means they had to feed and water the horses plus take off the saddle and harness before school and then put it back on before the ride home.  The school had to have a horse barn just like today they have a bus barn.

Then let's talk about what they did during the day.  First of all they did not have kindergarten.  They started with the first grade and you could flunk a grade or be held back and in very few cases you could actually skip a grade.  For lunch they brought their lunch.  The school had no air conditioner and the heat was from a coal burning stove.  If you were disruptive in class or did not respect authority you were in BIG trouble and a paddling on the bottom was on the agenda at school and especially when you got home.  I think they call that consequences for bad behavior.  They were expected to perform to their individual best at all times.  High expectations by teacher and parent.  What a novel idea.

And teachers in those days had to love teaching because there was no money to pay that well.  Now today we still have a similar problem.  I think it is about time we paid teachers a lot more but we do need some adjustments in the system.  Teaching is a high stress job when children don't behave and especially when adults/parents don't behave and adults do not respect the needed discipline of the child in the system.  Top that off with a shortage of teachers and too many children in a class room and how have we tried to fix things over the last 50 years?  We have added overhead, more counselors, more administrators and more overseers (is that a word) to solve a problem that could have been fixed in my opinion by adding more teachers and paying teachers better to keep the best teachers.  Also we need to stop the lawyer required for every situation to slice and dice every situation when what is needed is common sense and level headed leadership plus some faith in people doing the right thing.  That is probably hoping for too much.  Now I know this gets everyone charged up but I am for the teacher and for efficiency and not more testing which is another solution and/or symptom of the problem.  I am probably too old and too prejudiced by the great teachers and administrators we had when I grew up like Mr. Treadway and Mr. Morris and Miss Shumate and Aunt Gladys Snyder and Coach Cotham and Brewer plus Pablo Alverado and Mrs Head and Mrs. Himbury and Coach Smith and the list goes on and on.  I really don't care what political party or what union anyone belongs to but I do care about our kids and our teachers.  The teachers need paid so they can make a living and they need benefits that match private enterprise not exceed and there needs to be a bit of protection so they cannot get fired by some political leader of the school but get fired if it is warranted without a bunch of legal garbage going on.  I got carried away, sorry.  In summary let's pay the teachers a lot more in dollars every month and lighten up on the benefits and make them similar to private enterprise benefits.

Back to the topic.  I was a lot more lucky in that I road the bus everyday and it was driven by Bob Scott or Don Conner.  Bob always had a chew in his jaw and Don always chewed on a cigar but they were good to us and made us stay seated and in control.  The only bad thing I remember about riding the bus was I was first one on and the last one off making my ride very long.  Everyone road the bus and it was every grade mixed together which sometimes was a bit of a challenge when some of the older guys picked on us younger kids.  I am sure glad I did not have to walk or ride a horse to school and at Grainola Lizzy fixed a great lunch everyday and we did not have to take our lunch to school.  Once I went to Shidler I was amazed in that there was a whole bunch of ladies who prepared lunch everyday and for a lot more kids.  Just to give you an example:  Grainola had about 40 to 45 students and 3 teachers including the principal while Shidler had about 400 to 500 students with at least one teacher for each grade.  WOW!  It was crowded when we had 56 in my class graduating in 1971.  I figured it was a big city school.

So with all that what do you learn in the Osage?

• things change
• teachers need paid better and more and now
• common sense and strong leadership should make the decisions in schools

Thanks for your time,

gary@thepioneerman.com

The good old days, how did we survive?

Just thinking back on the things we did and survived makes me wonder.  I was probably around 9 or 10 when I started hunting with a gun.  When I was about that same age I started driving the pickup to feed the cattle.  I drove a tractor and helped in farming although I did not drive as straight as my dad wished.  I went to the creek to fish by myself or with Larry and we seined for minnows so we could have bait to fish.  As I got older it got more dangerous or at least I got in more trouble.

In the first grade I grabbed Jim Heath and Jon Tanny Olsen by the back of their heads and rammed their heads together because they were talking and I was standing between them.  Sometime during the 3rd, 4th or 5th grade we shot pencils with rubber bands like arrows.  The main thing we were doing (we meaning Jim Heath, Jon Tanny Olsen and Hugh Allen Jones) was attempting to stick our pencils and pens in the tile ceilings.  The ceilings were probably 14 or 16 feet tall and made for greater targets.  We would chew up paper and make spit balls and try to stick them to the ceilings as well.  If that were not enough we would throw the spit balls at other folks in the room with the hope of not getting caught.  We took soda and vinegar and mixed together to create a mess and to accelerate a cork into the air.  I will not explain that any further.

Then there was the time Eddy and I dipped every tool in the barn into orange Alice Chalmers paint and boy did we get in trouble for that.  Then there was the time we took (don't get mad we were just children and I did feel bad later) a cat of Eddy's and tied it to a rock and threw it in the pond.  Luckily there was no evidence so we never got in trouble.  And then of course there was the time Eddy and I procured a small stick of dynamite from the old freezer and went fishing.  We caught them all.  Then there was the time ( I think we were about 6 years old) Eddy and I buried some of our toy trucks in Vea's garden as we wanted to grow more trucks.  It did not work.  Then there was the time Eddy and I stole all the little mint candy from the Home Demonstration Club meeting at Vea's house and buried it in the garden so we could grow more candy.  It did not work.  Then there was the time we chased all the white geese so we could steel their eggs.  Boy! that was scary as those geese came after us.  We fried up a few of those and some had double yolks.  It was worth the adventure.  Then there were the many times Eddy and I would gather the eggs in the chicken house and throw them at the walls to see them brake only to accidentally hit Dad in the head, actually hit his hat.  It was not a pretty sight as we paid a price, for that one.  

Then there was building extensive tunnels in the hay barns where we could hide.  Then there was the time we went hunting with a 30 30 rifle and shot a few ducks.  Or there was the time we went prairie chicken hunting trying to shoot from the back of a moving pickup going about 50 miles an hour over the prairie grass fields covered with rocks.  We were lucky no one got hurt.  By the way we did not hit any birds.  Then there was the time we (most likely this included Jon Tanny, Hugh Allen, Eddy and probably Glen McConaghy, Dee Johnson, and any number of potential Grainola Grubbers as we called them) turned over Dale and Goldie's out house (toilet) by the store or the time we moved it to the middle of the street or the time we took their sign and moved it to block the street.   Some people might have said we were Turds, Terrorists, Thugs, juvenile delinquents, gang members and we probably deserved about any of those but the fact is we really were not mean we were just trying to make a little fun and sometimes it did cost some folks some aggravation.  Can't forget the time Jon Tanny and I tried to see how fast we could get a pickup to run on ice without moving.  The list does go on.  

Now as we got older we learned from a lot of our predecessors and I am not sure who to attribute these ideas to but here is a list of fun loving times.  Some of the local boys put dynamite in (not sure but I think  it was Ernie Eaton's) a mail box and blew it up.  There were several young men about 3 to 4 years older who shot all the glass insulators off the telephone poles north of Grainola so that the telephones stopped working until repaired.  I will admit I did a few of those as well with Billy Snyder using his new 22 rifle.  There were some boys 3 years older that took all the posts with reflectors on them along highway 18 south of Grainola and tossed them in a pond.  I am not sure but I believe it was Glen Jones who shot a skunk right outside the boys bathroom at the Grainola School.  It stunk so bad it was almost impossible to go.  Then there was the sneaking in the school house to play basketball at all hours of the day and night.  

Halloween was always a lot of fun and I think it started long before Bob and David Harris but as I recall they use to cut down trees and block the roads getting to the school and in particular blocking the school bus from getting out so we could not have school or at least start on time.  Poor Bob Scott had to deal with that almost every year.  In fact we tried to carry on the traditions of Halloween and blocking the roads.  One time we took all of Mr and Mrs. Casselman's firewood and carried it out to the streets and blocked the roads.  

I sure would like to hear some details about these events and stories as they have become somewhat fuzzy but hopefully the stories are getting better over time.

So what do you learn in the Osage?

• fun is what you make of the situation
• fun can hurt others so be very careful
• The "good old days" really were pretty dog-gone fun

Thanks for your time,

gary@thepioneerman.com

Class of 46 from Grainola

front row

Clarence Kennedy
Roy Richardson
Carl McConaghy
Pete Kitterman
Opal Lane Olson
"Corky" Gene Mains

back row
Warren Custer
Charles Austin



Now I would have to say this group (many of who are already gone) could really tell some stories.  I really don't know how many but I believe all of these were in the same or very close to the same class as they all grew up together in Grainola.  Of course Warren Custer and Carl McConaghy never got too far away from home.  Warney as we always called him stopped by now and then to say hi and Carl lived right down the creek from us on Beaver.

The persons I knew the best was Carl and Aladayne (bet I spelled that wrong) and what I always remember best was what a hard working bunch they were and that Carl played the fiddle.  Alidane was a darn good cook and I liked going over there to hang/play with Glen and Marvin.  Neal was about 3 years older and of course he was not too interested in playing with us kids.  Now the youngest was Carla, the only girl, and she wanted to play with us but that was not in the cards too often.  She was a lot cuter (is that a word?  - definition: cute and if you are better looking you would be cuter) than the boys.  I am not sure but I think all the boys had hair like Carl, real thick and dark.  Just kidding as you can see.

Now Glen was one year older and he was in the same class as Dee Johnson, Debbie Jones, my sister Debbie, and Eddie Harris.  But Glen and I hung around now and then but most of all we worked on our respective farms.  I would have to admit that Glen was not a trouble maker or mischievous like Eddie and I but he was a easy going guy.

Of course basketball was king in Grainola and all 8 grades played.  The 7th and 8th had a team and the 4th, 5th and 6th grade had a team.  So you can see I was on the team with Glen about 3 out of 5 years.  I hate to say it but we were never a great team as we lost a lot of games over the years.  In fact I would bet we never had a winning season while I was at Grainola.  We basically had one strategy and that was to shoot it or get it to the tallest guy on the court which was me.  The problem is I could neither make successful shots or jump.  I will have to say that I was so tall during those years I never really had to jump but the fact is I never could jump, even in high school.  In fact I was never a good shot.  The only thing I was good at in basketball was rebounding and defense.  Defense was really good for me because I could push anyone around and I liked it.  Honestly we probably would have had a better team if the coach, Mr. Lewis Morris, would have let someone faster and a better shot than me to play.  That was sure off the subject, Huh?

Since we did not win much you might ask why I liked the sport.  Well I liked the intensity of the game running up and down the court and I liked being part of a team with guys I liked.  I also believe it kept me out of a lot of trouble and probably most of my friends would say the same thing.  I really don't think Glen had ADD (attention deficit) but I am sure Eddie, Jon Tanny, Hugh Allen and I all had ADD and it might have been times two.  So the moral of the situation is that we ran off so much of that loose energy that we stayed out of trouble, most of the time.  Off the subject again.

Well, back to the class of 1945.  Have you ever wondered about what they were like when they were kids?  Have you ever asked what they did for fun?  Did they ever get in trouble?  What was it like when they were young?  Did they just work like we were led to believe?  NOT!  The real story is not really known.  I have heard a few stories.  My guess is they got in plenty of mischief as well.

I asked my Mom these questions and it was quit fun.  She told me about going to ball games and piling all the team into one vehicle or two and traveling to games.  She said that all of them worked hard at home so going to school was a relief in many ways.  They did not bring homework home because there was work to do at home.  When they did get together they played games and they were not electronic games.  They played checkers, cards and outdoor games.  They fished and hunted together and the girls many times would sew clothes or cook.  But when the boys and girls were together there was music but not on the radio but mostly what they made themselves or it was card games.  There always seemed to be a real closeness amongst this group when they got together.

So what do we learn in the Osage?

• Parents were kids once and they have stories to tell if you will sit down and listen
• ADD (attention deficit) is not such a bad thing and in fact I contend it is a good thing in the long run.  Please forgive me if you  are a teacher and have to manage some kids like me.
• The great thing about Shidler and Grainola and probably any small school is that you are friends with everyone and everyone gets a better shot at participating in sports.

Thanks for your time,

gary@thepioneerman.com

Snow Tracking

I know that many folks just don't want to venture out in the snow but I have to tell you I thoroughly love it now and way back then in the Osage.  Larry and I as I have told you in the past loved to hunt up and down Beaver Creek.  Just for clarity that means back and forth or up and down whichever suits you.  But during times of a snow covering the hunting was a lot of fun.  Why?  The tracks in the snow told you where to find a rabbit hidden under a clump of grass or a covey of quail hiding or where a coon had been or a coyote or an occasional deer.  Some animals seemed just like humans and did not want to venture out but most had to just to get food and water.

Quail would hold tight to the ground until you were right on top of them and then they would burst into flight and spread all over the place and most of the time it would startle you at first.  But with those tracks showing in the snow it was much easier to be prepared for that burst of flight.  I don't think I can explain it but when you saw a covey of quail take off there was a particular sound of their wings hitting their side in thumping kind of noise and then they would get to a high speed and stop flapping their wings and glide dogging left and right for long distances until they found where they wanted to land.  Once they land they typically would take off running to another clump of grass to hide out.  At that point we would stop looking for coveys of quail and would seek out finding those singles hidden all around us.

Knowing about where they landed was no guarantee you would ever find them even when there was snow.  Quail know how to hide and they are masters of deception plus they can run extremely fast.  Since we never had a bird dog and basically I was the bird dog for Larry we could hunt for hours and not get our limit on birds.  Larry was a great shot even with Dad's old bolt action 20 gauge shot gun.

I loved the fresh air and the crisp coldness of it.  It was a joy to walk along listening for the snapping of a dry twig by a squirrel or rabbit and then tracking them for long distances to most of the time being what we called skunked.  Skunked meaning we lost their tracks and could not find them.  but sometimes we got lucky and found our kill and what would be our lunch or dinner and many times we would clean our game and put them in the freezer for a meal on a later day.

During the snowy weather hunting was just a lot more fun.  My senses were more alert to the slightest movement of just a bit of snow falling from a tree because a squirrel moved and knocked it off or a movement of a tuft of grass moving as a rabbit situated itself for a rest and some warmth.  Of course we were competing with the occasional coyote looking for the same rabbit but luckily coyotes are pretty easily spooked by a human being.  I never saw a coyote go after a person.  However one time I did have a raccoon come after me.  It scared the dickens out of me.  I have no idea where that statement comes from but I have heard it all my life.  I suppose it comes from one of the Charles Dickens stories.  Did I ever tell you about the time I got to hold and read a little out of a Charles Dickens first addition book signed by Charles Dickens and with a letter from Charles Dickens to the original owner of the book?  I guess you are jealous.  Anyway, back to the story.  On that raccoon coming after me I emptied my gun on it to only slow it enough to where I reloaded and emptied it again.  That had to be one of the toughest raccoons ever.  I should clear up another point.  We never called them raccoons.  We called them coons and when you went coon hunting you typically had coon dogs which are beagles.  My grandpa Jess Lane was a big time coon hunter although I never got to go hunting with him as he lived down by Oologah close to Claremore, home of Will Rogers.  For some reason I never asked the Lane family left Grainola and moved to Oolagah when I was about knee high to a plow.  That does not make sense either but that is just one of those sayings I use but never understood.

Diversion.  Just the other day I heard a new saying from a new friend.  He was describing someone by saying they were like a monkey on a football.  It seemed pretty funny to me.

Well I sit here today looking at the snow out my window watching a squirrel eating at my bird feeder which is next to my trailer, next to my old manure spreader, next to the cottage in my backyard where I spend a lot of time.  I really do not appreciate that squirrel but am amazed at how smart and capable they are.  I have that bird feeder hanging about 5 feet in the air from a steel rod that is slick and about 1/4 inch in diameter.  A squirrel should not be able to climb it but they do.

Oh well, it is time to go.
What do you learn in the Osage:

• Snow is what you make of it
• don't eat yellow snow (call if you don't get it)
• God made it all for us to enjoy and take care of, so do your best

Thanks for your time,

gary@thepioneerman.com