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
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