Social Security

I remember my mom and dad talking about having to make a choice to participate in Social Security.  Now that seemed like a pretty cool idea.  It was a choice.  Kinda like free enterprise and freedom of speech.  But somewhere along the way it became a mandate to almost everyone in America.  There are exceptions which I will not go into.  Anyway it amazes me how many folks and especially politicians talk like it is a government program or benefit.  It seems to me that when you pay for something every month of your working life that it is NOT a benefit but getting back what you paid for.  I suppose using the word benefit is OK but SSN is like an insurance policy in that if you don't use it you will lose it and typically that happens if you die.

Well here is my point for writing about SSN.  Some folks need it and use it because they lost a spouse and it helps financially to take care of the kids and of course the surviving spouse.  Sometimes it is used if a child or adult person is handicapped to help them make it financially.  But what the normal idea is that it is a retirement income source to give a person or couple a minimum amount of income they can depend on.  But and I do mean a big BUT not BUTT is that you need to know the options.  That is kind of like in poker you need to know when to show-em and you need to know when to fold-em.  I was talking to someone the other day who was getting ready to retire at 62 years old and start taking SSN.  He was going to get another job with less stress for about $36,000 per year.  The problem is that if he takes his SSN at 62 he gets about 70% of what he would get if he waited until normal retirement age.  The second issue is for every dollar over $18,000 per year he makes he loses 50 cents in SSN.  What that means is if he makes $18,000 more than the base of 18,000 he loses $9,000 in SSN.  Third, in his case he could defer SSN until he is 67 or even later and since his wife is 62 she can draw half of his SSN and his SSN will still grow to 100%  at normal retirement age and an extra 8%  for each year after retirement age while his wife still receives half of his SSN.  And there is no loss for how much money he makes at another job or if he keeps the same job he was doing.

Well there are a lot of options and we all need to know our options.   What frustrates the heck out of me is that it is so complex it is hard to find a government employee who understands it or you have to hire someone who can interpret it for you.  If it is such a great deal then why doesn't every politician have to participate and every government employee have to participate like all the rest of us?  I think that is a good question to ask our representative.

So what do you learn in the Osage?

• if it is good for the goose it is good for the gander
• if it is too hard to explain then it would be best if it was changed or eliminated
• life is simplier if the government does not touch it

Thanks for listening,

gary@thepioneerman.com

The Beatles

Well here are are on the anniversary of the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show and I have to think about how they changed the world.  For one thing Steve Cannon grew his hair out and he looked like one of the Beatles.  At least in my mind and the worst part of it, The Beatles made it cool for the girls to like those with talent which left me out.  Of course at the time  I was too young but it never changed.  Steve Chrisco, Nate Bonham, Wiley Smith, and the list goes on and on could sing and and had that cool smooth looking long hair and the girls just were crazy about them.  The Beatles won the hearts of all the girls especially Susie Snyder who probably still has all the Beatles memorabilia and every album they every sold.  She even has them on VINYL (we called it records but now it is cool to say VINYL).
Speaking of vinyl The Beatles are also the beginning of cool for everything Vinyl or Plastic.  It became the rage to have Noggahide (vinyl or plastic) chairs and cushions.  There use to be a million jokes about all the little NOGGAs who got killed to make the Noggahide.  This absolutely proves that marketing can overcome common sense.  Everyone bought Noggahide in everything from car seats to couches.  The funny thing is Noggahide made your butt sweat as in hot.  And if you were in your pickup your back sweat as well, such a good feeling, not really.  It was so very uncomfortable but everyone loved it.  Sorry about that.

Back to the Beatles.  They may not have been bugs as in beatles but they did infest everything in America.  That Sunday night everyone (it seemed) must have been watching Ed Sullivan and it forever changed us.  I even let my burr haircut grow out although it was not until college that you could say it was long.  But let me tell you how it affected us.  One of the biggest things was it polarized people against long hair or for long hair.  I really do think the women liked it but the adult men thought you were a hoodlum or beatnik.  Does anyone remember what a beatnik was?  I dont' think I knew at the time but it seemed to fit.  Some guys who grew their hair out got free haircuts from law abiding citizens.  Just to be clear, they were forced to get a hair cut and there were no consequences or law suits. Schools developed policies to kick you out of school for hair over your ear or sideburns below your ear.  Hair on your collar could also get you kicked out of school.  Now the funny thing is we could carry our pocket knives to school and even clean your fingernails in class with a pocket knife and you could have your gun displayed in your pickup but you ABSOLUTELY COULD NOT HAVE HAIR OVER THE TOP OF YOUR EAR.  This is not directly related but it was illegal for an 18 year old person to drink or buy beer but you could be drafted to go to the Vietnam War and kill folks and the government would give you free beer.  Another thing that came out of this situation was girls started cutting off the bottom of their dresses.  In case you don't know it girls almost always wore dresses to school, not pants and never shorts as that would get you kicked out as well.  At first the skirts or dresses could just be above the knee cap.  But I will not name names or at least last names but Cindy, Shirley, Terry, Jeri, Jenni, Marsha, Denise, Chris, Diane and now that I think about it EVERY girl just kept cutting the bottoms off their dresses.  Now I will have to tell you none of us boys minded and did not understood all the fuss but Mr. Treadway and all the school board sure made it rough on those girls.  GO GIRLS was our motto.

I may be wrong about all this but I have to attribute short skirts and long hair to the Beatles.  It was a great time to grow up in America and we saw some of the most amazing changes in social norms but it was not all good and it was not all bad.

One last thing which I have told you before.  I did get to meet Ed Sullivan and it was pretty dog-gone-cool.  He was shorter than I thought and had a very dark complexion which I never realized from TV and that might be from the fact that there was no color on his show.  It was only black and white.  He was very nice and talked to me for a few minutes asking where I was from and what I was doing in New York.

So what do you learn in the Osage?

• You can influence a lot of folks in good and bad ways
• It is your choice how you look back at the past and how You  chose to use it
• Aim to improve in something everyday

God Bless America

Thanks for listening,

gary@thepioneerman.com

A pocket knife for Christmas

Do you remember when every boy wanted a knife for Christmas?  For some reason that was almost an annual request when I was young and Grandma Annie and Popie Jess came through every year.

Just getting side tracked hear for a second I don't think there was ever a correct spelling for their names so I just did the best I could based on how we use to say their names.  Grandma Annie and Popie Jess Lane lived in Grainola in the old house on the hill straight west of Grainola like you are going to Newkirk or Tanny and Nanny Olsen's house.  Bob Jackson lives there now.  They raised six girls and two boys on that hill.  In fact I have always wondered how they all walked to school in Grainola which is over one mile from their house up hill both ways and many times bare foot.  Go figure?

Well today I still have one of those knives which always seemed to have a white pearl side and two blades.  It was a handy thing and small enough in the pocket that it did not leave a faded mark in your jeans.  I bet I sharpened it at least once a week but I was always a little jealous of Jon Tanny Olsen and AJ Jacques who seemed to be able to cut a blade better than anyone else.  Both of them could shave their arms with their knives.  And in fact I would say that is one of those things we did often at SCHOOL was compare our knives.  Isn't it amazing how we have to regulate everyone in America because of ONE stupid and undisciplined child who does something to harm another person because they are a bully!  I guess I got on my soap box with that one.

Now that I think about it a boy's knife was a symbol of pride.  Yes size does matter, and it was a cool thing if you had a really big knife.  And in fact I think it was David Howell who even had a leather holster where he carried a Bowie Knife on his belt and yes to school.  I am certain that a lot of folks wonder about the wisdom of letting us carry knives to school and I don't believe we ever had one bit of violence where a knife was used.  Although I do remember AJ getting a knife stuck through his boot one time when we were playing chicken.  That is a game where you throw your knife at another person's feet with the hopes of getting it closest to their boot without hitting or sticking in their foot.  It really is a pretty good game and outside of that one time no one got hurt and even then it just bled a little.  Besides a little blood letting was probably good for a person.  Just kidding.

My dad always carried a Case knife which had a nice horn cover on both sides and two blades.  I tried to get one for Dad each Christmas if his old one was worn out.  Being farmers and ranchers we used them almost daily.  Every morning during the winter we had to feed the cattle hay and we always used twine(string for city folks) to keep the bales of hay together.  Nowadays they use wire on hay bales.  Also if we were feeding cattle cake you need a knife because it was faster than messing with the strings.  Now that I think about it we used to always have what we called gunny sacks which were sacks made of burlap.  Those burlap sacks were pretty handy for a lot of reasons and we always tried to preserve/recycle them as a source of spending money.

Looking back it is very interesting how we recycled almost everything.  We did it because it saved money and if you recycled that meant nothing was wasted or thrown in the trash.  Isn't it amazing how much trash we have each week these days?  Thinking back we milked our own cows, made our own butter, raised our own chickens, hogs and cattle, raised our own vegetables and stored them for winter and of course we had chickens for eggs.  About the only thing we went to the store for was seasonings like salt and pepper, flour and toilet paper.

Well it has been fun talking to you.

What did you learn in the Osage?

• a knife is a boy's best friend
• if your mom says she walked up hill both ways to school it must be true
• a little common sense goes a long way

Thanks for listening,

gary@thepioneerman.com

Cannin - Canning if you spell it vs. saying it(reprint from 2011, my second story)

Tonight I sit at Barnes and Noble in Oklahoma City near Quail Springs Mall waiting on my youngest son Preston (that will be another story) to finish basketball practice.  But this gives me time to write a few more notes about the Osage and living on the creek near Grainola.

One of my earliest memories is all the mothers getting together for Home Demonstration Club. Now for the younger set that is a club for women where they talk about things you have no clue about (few exceptions for those who are getting defensive) like sewing, canning, and baking. Now I suppose I have to explain that.

Sewing is where a person cuts out material and makes a dress.  Whoops, when was the last time I
saw a young person in a dress, surely I don’t have to define that as I know there are formal parties where a dress is required.  Anyway they make clothes, like shirts and pants. 

Now canning might be more difficult to understand.  First it does not have anything to do with a can or a cancan.  Do you have any idea what a cancan is?  Well look it up on wikopedia.  Canning is a process where folks took things from a garden (will explain what that is next) and put it in a jar, heat it up and then put a lid on it which seals so that the bacteria are dead and the goods inside are preserved for later use during the winter.  The canned goods are stored  in a celler (dadgumit – now I have to define what a celler is).  Anyway the types of things most likely canned are green beans, corn, okra, cabbage, and whatever is grown in the elusive garden.  There are a few exceptions like when we dug potatoes we did not can them but let them dry and stored them in the celler.

For goodness sake lets define celler.  A celler is not a seller which sells things at a store etc.  A celler is a hole in the ground then bricked up the sides and over the top then covered in cement on
top. Now there is a door and steps to get into the cellar.   So now you are probably asking WHY?  Well I will tell you.  A cellar is in the ground because it stays cool during the summer and warm (above freezing) during the winter.  The potatoes are laid on the floor but not too deep as that will cause rot and not covering the entire floor as this is also where we stored the canned goods on shelves placed in the celler.  Now if that did not cause you enough frustration let me tell you the primary but confusing thing about a cellar.  It is what farmers call a storm shelter or tornado shelter.  Now that makes since because Gary England has told all you youngsters to get in a safe place during the tornado warnings.  Here is where it gets confusing.  We DID NOT get tornado warnings as we/dad looked up at the sky and spotted the commotion.  Anyway here is the strange part.  If you went to any farm house there was a cellar in the yard but during a storm everyone pulled out their fancy folding lawn chairs and watched!  I never knew of anyone getting killed but we saw plenty of tornados over the years.

Before we leave the topic here is one last tornado story.  It was after school and Bob Scott
was driving the buss delivering the kids to their homes when we lost a tire on the bus.  By the way Bob was Lizzie’s husband, the cook at Grainola Grade School, he did everything Lizzie did not do
at the school including driving the bus.  We were out in the pasture about a half mile from the Custer’s house, where Leb lived.  Now I have to add there were other Custers but Leb was a little older than me and Leon was a lot older than leb.  Anyway while most of us stayed with the bus others took off to the Custers to get help.  Soon after the tire came off we were looking toward the north toward Aunt Hellen’s house (explained later) and there was the longest tornado I have ever seen.  It looked like it was about 2 to 4 miles north of us.  That evening when I got home I was telling
Dad (Cliff Olson) about it and he told me they were outside (farmers) looking at the sky and they saw a tornado about 2 to 4 miles south of them.  He was at Aunt Helen’s and that was about 1.5 miles north of where we were.  For the younger folks get out your HP calculators or Ipad and figure it out.  For those older folks you can see immediately there is a problem.

Well thanks for the time.

So long, farewell,  alfrederzane (I never was good at German even though I did take the
class).  Someone remind me the German teacher's name,  he was great. (Mr. Lambert)

Gary Olson

Glolson21@gmail.com

http://thepioneerman.blogspot.com/

The Beginning ( a reprint from January 2011)

January 2011 - The beginning   reprint from 2011

Last week I found myself in Shidler, Oklahoma  wondering around and discovered a passion for

my roots in Osage County, Shidler and of course Grainola.  I stopped by the Review Office and discovered it now belonged to Shelly’s daughter. Now I know everyone has a name but what was important was that Shelly (Rowe) Wilhelm had a daughter who was very pleasant and she now owned the Review.  Shelly was one of the most pleasant classmates and I still think of her as a high school girl with pretty hair and a pretty smile.  It warmed my heart just to think about our friendship back then and how time has crept away.  But the most alarming thing to me is how much I wanted to just remember all the good times and good friends and to just start writing them down.

Before I do that I should also tell you the reason I was in Shidler, Kaw City and Grainola was to celebrate the life of Don Kelsey.  Don was my first boss outside of mom and dad.  Don and his son, Kenny, and I hauled hay for all of three summers.  Don was a WW II veteran of the European

front.  Anyway there are a lot of stories to tell about Don,  Dorthy, and Kenny but
I will save that for another day.  Right now I just want to say that Don was a great man and we will all miss him.  Keep an eye out in my writings because someday I will tell you about Don’s helicopter – home made.

That brings me to this. The first installment of Home on the Range, memories of growing up in the Osage and the people who made it special.  So if I can keep it up I am going to share with you my life stories and how it was in the early days and how it effects my life today.  Oh ya, Mrs. Head is not allowed to read this

because she might flunk me.  And Miss Shumate has long passed but she always said my writing and my penmanship was terrible so she will not be allowed to read in Heavan.

My earliest recollection was growing up in Grainola, one mile north and three west on Beaver Creek. This is now the house of Dee Johnson and Jim Heath once lived there as I remember.  Probably no one will remember this but our first house became the Grainola Post Office and Mrs. Heath’s house when it was moved in about 1959 to its current location.  They moved the whole dang house on a truck! By the way if you try to find the house it is down on its luck as it set next to the tennis courts on highway 18 and before Dale’s grocery store which is gone now as well.  For those of you who are local, REMEMBER THE OUTHOUSE behind the grocery store.  Ask David Harris if he ever did anything he was not supposed to relative to that outhouse.  I bet he threw a rope around it a few times and tipped it over and if he did not Bob Harris did and there were a lot of other folks who were guilty as well.  Thank goodness you could not go to jail for those things.

This is where there should be a picture of the old house this is not the old house but Ruby Jackson's Gas Station Anyway back to the farm on Beaver Creek.  Dad and I built the new house (Dee or Jim’s house later) about three feet from the old house.  I never did give Larry or Debbie (bro and sis) credit for helping as they were always in school and I was too young to go to school.  It was a brown house and I remember Mom (Opal) looking so young (she still says she is 29).  It was a great house because it now had that new tile on the floor.  Remember those 12 in by 12 in tile?  We had a huge fireplace which we used to heat the house even though we had one of those brown furnaces in the hallway to heat up the back of the house.  The other interesting thing about that house is that you could crawl under it (crawl space).  That is where all the new puppies were delivered.  In the kitchen we had copper colored appliances which were pretty snazzy in those days.  Dad came up with this idea to have a drawer that would open to the kitchen or to the dining area to make it easy to get silverware both ways,  TECHNOLOGY.

Thinking about technology I remember getting a record player  at that house.  Today most people don’t know what that is or what it looked like but EVERY Beatle recording was on a plastic disc called a vinyl and Suzie Snyder owned everyone of them (Gladys Snyder’s daughter).

We did have telephones then and each was black and as I recall that was the only option on color and everyone was a rotary phone.  Now for the young folks reading this that means when you dialed a 9 you stuck your finger in a hole and drug it in a circular motion back to the little stopper then let it go.  You repeated this step 5 times, yes 5 times,  because that is all the numbers I had to dial to call Eddy Harris, my cousin, up the road.  Today our phones have family shared minutes but in those days we shared the entire line with our neighbors.  As I recall we had the Weavers or was it the Shumates (Mrs. Shumate and her daughters Sally and Janie), Vea Harris (Norma, Bob, David, Janis, and Eddy), John and Linda Murphy plus kids and us (the Olson’s) on one line.  When you wanted to call someone you had to make sure no one else was on the line but if someone was already on the line you could listen in until they caught you and told you to get off. 

I don’t know how much of this you can take at one setting but I will start working on the next segment.

Happy Trails,

Gary Olson

Glolson21@gmail.com

39 years and counting

39 years today, we have lived together twice as long as we were apart. Shouna was 19 when we married . God has blessed us with trials and challenges and three great children and two more married into the family. Shouna got a great report at John Hopkins this week and I am recovering quickly from the broken rib, toe and punctured lung. I am grateful even among all the challenges that God gives me peace and Christmas makes it better as I know that Jesus has my back. He never promised a rose garden but he promised us joy in our faith in Him. I love you all and am thankful for your friendship. I promise as I am lead to continue writing on my blog thepioneerman.blogspot.com and thanks again to all of you have read my many stories.

Merry Christmas
Gary

What is a rib worth?

I am hear to tell you that I have never given enough mercy to anyone who broke a rib.  I remember when dad broke his rib cutting down a tree.  We loaded up and ran to the house where mom promptly wrapped his ribs with one of those Ace Bandages.  He just told her to wrap it tight.  She tried to get him to go to the hospital but dad had "True Grit".  He was tough.  We quickly went back to cutting wood although dad was on the side lines most of the time.  Well, (pause) that brings me to the rest of the story.

Last Saturday I was up on a ladder with a chain saw cutting limbs off a large oak tree.  I knew I was safe but I did not anticipate the limb taking out the ladder.  It was only about 8 feet so it was not like I was way up high.  At the instance the ladder was being taken out I had to make some decisions.  What do you do with a chain saw that could cut you in half in about two seconds?  Push it AWAY! and then what happens happens.  The other element of science is the acceleration rate of a body falling at 32 feet per second per second.  Thud! as I hit the tree and the ground on my left shoulder.  I knew it was bad but I got up and thought it would go away soon.  I started working and over the next 10 minutes I realized it would not work, I would not work.  As I loaded into my pickup (remember pickups are not trucks unless you are selling them) and took off for the house.  By the time I got to the house I could hardly breath.  I went inside the house only to tell Shouna we had better get to the hospital.  Every bump, even turning a corner, stopping and starting the car hurt.  I have to admit my language suffered with every small element of movement.  Even Shouna asking me questions made those, really it was one word, words slip out.  But let me give you a list of the things you use your ribs for or what you don't want to do:

1. you absolutely cannot cough
2. No laughing
3. I think smiling even hurt
4. hiccups are killers
5. getting up and down in a car, bed, couch, chair, or any movement accept sitting perfectly still
6. you would prefer not to have to take a dump (that represents that one word that slipped out a lot during my ordeal)
7. If you would like an intimate detail - you really don't want to have to clean yourself on the behind
8. choking on a small piece of food that goes down the wrong pipe will make you cry real tears
9. sleeping in your own bed is next to impossible
10. and the list goes on

I have to tell you I had no idea how tough my dad was until this accident.  Perseverance is what made the pioneers in the Osage and I don't know how they were ever so tough.  The pioneers of the past should be revered.

What do you learn in the Osage?

1. tough today is no where near tough in the old days
2. Perseverance is what made Dad and Mom's generation the great generation
3. don't climb trees with chainsaws and ladders without some safety belts
4. Have mercy on those with broken ribs, punctured lungs and a broken toe

Thanks for listening,

Merry CHRISTMAS,

gary@thepioneerman.com

A Sunny day

I just saw where Sunny Holloway passed away and it reminded me of some fond memories.  It was good to hear he had been another who served in the armed forces and in particular WW II.   It really does seem that everyone in that age group were in the war.  I remember Mrs. Shumate telling us how difficult it was with so many men and boys gone to the war.  Well back to Sunny.

I suppose we all know very little about each other and it seems that I knew very little about Sunny other than what my dad said about him and the times I talked to him.  The last time was about a year ago at one of those Shidler events which as I recall was Dorothy Kelsey's funeral.  It sure seems like a lot of wonderful folks have passed away.  Paul Kelly being one of the recent ones.  He was a good guy and a great supporter of Shidler.  Anyway, the last time I talked to Sunny he was just as friendly and jovial as ever.  He spoke about the bull he bought off us and how that was the best bull he ever had.  Just for your information, it was a Hereford bull and one of the longest bulls I ever saw.  The bull must have had an extra rib or two because it was particularly longer than normal.

The first time I remember meeting Sunny was when he pulled up to our farm and ranch with his bulldozer and truck.  He came to clear about 40 or 60 acres of timber so we could put it into bermudagrass on Beaver Creek.  He just knew how to push those big trees and roll them into piles without getting killed.  If you don't know it, it was a very dangerous work when you are pushing down trees that are 40, 60 or even 80 feet tall.  Some were so big that dad would cut them with a chainsaw and then Sunny would dig up the stump.   Some of those stumps laying on their side were taller than me.  It was interesting seeing a transformation of the land so that we could plant grazing material (grass) on it.  In fact I remember our first planting was a bermudagrass sprigger being pulled by the tractor and I would stand in the back of the trailer shoveling bermudagrass sprigs into the planter.  It was a dusty and dirty job as the wind would blow the dirt and trash back in my face.  I actually kind of liked doing this job because it was fun to see the outcome from our work.  We also planted lespedeza and sweet clover to hold the dirt along with turnips until the Bermuda caught on.  It took a lot of faith that all this expense and work would pay off but it did.  I think we had the best bermudagrass in the county because our land was almost entirely bottom land on Beaver Creek.   Now for those city folks, bottom land is land on the bottom, not on the rolling hills.  Typically bottom land would be more fertile and have more moisture as there was generally a creek in those areas.  Land on a hill typically had shallow soil and held less moisture and therefore did not provide as much necessary elements to grow grass.  Sunny was part of all of this and I don't remember how long he worked at our place but it seemed to me he spent the entire summer at our place.  Wouldn't it be interesting to know how much it cost back then to own and run a dozier (bulldozer)?

My dad really liked Sunny and always spoke of Sunny as a good person and good neighbor.   Back to my point about knowing a man and what they were really like.  I cannot say I knew Sunny well but if you took what people said about him plus your own encounters, Sunny must have been a great person and one of those great Osage men who had grit, a great smile and a good heart.

What better way to be remembered.
Thanks for sharing your time with me,
gary@thepioneerman.com

What happened to Our Home

I saw today an investment that I really liked and then I realized the reason I like it is the same reason I am frustrated all the time with our political system.  In my home, The Osage, it was so wonderful and free of government intervention.  People were proud and people did not care who was rich or poor, or at least I never noticed.  People cared for each other and if someone had a need they did something about it.  No complaining or pointing or telling others to do it but just plain old Osage Do It Now kind of do-en.

The only complaint I ever heard was my Dad saying if the government would stay out of farming then he could make a living.  Now you may not know much about farming but the government has been involved for years.  As far as I know it started back during the dust bowl when the federal government helped folks to plant trees along their fields to stop erosion due to the drought.  This is one time I am sure it made some sense but I would have to say I was not there either.  The government then started paying farmers to not plant crops and it made sense (CRP) so all land would not be converted to planting wheat and create the dust bowls again.  The government then started limiting production of milk because there was an oversupply and then the government started paying peanut farmers (not in the Osage) to not plant and then limiting the amount of peanuts that could be planted.  This was the beginning as far as I know of the politicians killing free enterprise.  I will not attempt to go into the details of these programs but there are probably hundreds.  But what started out to be a good thing has now turned into a system where farmers are dependent on government programs.  The government has insurance to protect a farmer against crop failures and quit frankly I would have to say I agree with this one.  But I don't agree that the farmer who doesn't purchase the insurance should get bailed out by the tax payer.

Another injustice happened to a fellow Osage person who lost their house in a tornado.  They had insurance and when they showed up at the FEMA office they told him and her they could not help them because they had INSURANCE.   ARE YOU KIDDING ME!  What happened to responsibility of buying insurance?  Why  buy insurance if the government (make no mistake here and assume the government is paying because it is the tax payers not the government) is going bail out those who do not take responsibility.  I thought FEMA  was to help folks get back on their feet and have always been a supporter until I heard this story.  If you own a business and you take the risk you lose it unless the government (tax payers) bail you out like GM, CITIbank and AGI.    Where did we go wrong?  What did I do or not do that allowed free enterprise to start a slow death?

Bad things do happen to good people but why is MY HOME / YOUR HOME / OUR HOME seem so different today?  Change is good and you can ask my mom and she will tell you the "good old days" were pretty rough and she is glad they are gone.  But what happened to pride?  What happened to caring?  I remember it never took a committee to figure out if something needed fixed at the old Grainola Methodist Church.  If something needed fixed you just fix it and NOW.  It was the same way at home.  If something needed paint we painted and we did not wait nor procrastinate.  I think that is my Mom and Dad's strongest attribute, they did things NOW.

I remember when I was a kid, if a neighbors yard needed mowed (neighbor was measured in miles) we loaded up and got it done.  My sister cleaned and cooked for every old person in Grainola for years without being paid or asked to help.  She did it because it was the right thing to do.

I was just telling my nephew, Richard Crow of Groundzero fame, that I want more every day to be like my dad and that is to be a friend to everyone and help folks when they needed help.    

Well I guess I should stop but I am not perfect and not even close but I would like to experience some of that Osage Pride but most of all that Osage Do It Now stuff.

Thanks for listening,
gary@thepioneerman.com
                                

Teaching and not knowing

I found myself thinking about how often I was being taught by my parents, friends and neighbors during my growing up years in the Osage.  Did you ever consider that when you asked your parents if it was alright to go fishing or hunting that they were teaching you?

Many times over the years when Dad and Mom did not have a list of things to do or at least felt like giving us a little freedom Larry and I would ask if it was alright to go fishing or hunting and they would just say, "sure".  No questions asked, no warnings given, no hurry back, no "be careful" remarks, just questions like, "will you be back for lunch?".  Actually that was a question never ever needed as we were boys and lunch was always on the agenda.  By the way it was DINNER not lunch and SUPPER not dinner.  We never packed a meal that I remember but we were late getting back many a time.

Think about it.  They let us go somewhere without a cell phone or any other ability to contact us.  They allowed us to be responsible and quite frankly they expected it.  They expected us to follow the laws and be smart about what we were doing.  They taught us to be responsible by EXPECTING us to be responsible. They allowed us to make decisions and do things and they knew there were consequences and consequences were the responsibility of US and our family.  We were responsible for preparing, going and then clean up.  Let me break that down.

If going fishing we had to  not only think about what to wear but we had to gather our equipment and think about what to use for bait.  Back in those days bait was not man made.  If we wanted worms we had to go dig them and we had to figure out how to find where the best worms were.  If we wanted grasshoppers we had to figure out how to catch them and store them.  If we wanted to use minnows we would take a seine and catch them.  We learned to think ahead, anticipate what might be the need or obstacle along our trip.  No one told us where to go so we had to decide to go pond fishing, creek fishing or even lake fishing.  We never had a boat so it was always about how far do we have to walk and do we need shoes for mudding.  My entire point is we were forced to think, reason and anticipate.  Once again my parents taught us not only how to think but how to raise children all in simple things.

My parents taught me how to fail and how not to want to fail  but desire to get ahead.  They provided me an opportunity.  OK let me say it one more time but in an example.  They taught me HOW TO FISH and they never gave me the fish.

Well what do you learn in the Osage?

• Teaching and learning is not always hearing and regurgitating information
• Teaching can sneak up on  a person and learning happens even when you do not try
• If it is free somebody else paid for it.
• and one last point that will surprise you.  I think Obamacare is a great idea because now everyone knows someone is paying for it even if it is only the 50% who pay taxes.  
• Nothing is free - freedom is expensive, capitalism is expensive, socialism is expensive and communism is expensive

Thanks for reading,

gary@thepioneerman.com

Swimming in the old pond

Nowadays (that has to be a word) folks just don't swim unless they can see the bottom of the pool but in the days growing up in the Osage we swam with the fishes.  In particular I remember in the heat of summer mom would rally the troops and we took off through the pasture to the pond east of the house.  It was a catfish pond because it was too muddy for a bass pond and when you walked into the pond you could feel the mud squeeze up between your toes.  In fact I bet the mud was over a foot deep because when you would take a step there was a suction around your feet making it hard to walk much less run into the water.  This is the same pond I wrote about where Larry and I went to play hockey during the winter.  Anyway generally Debbie, Larry, Mom and I would go but it seemed more often than not another family would be with us or at least their kids.  I can remember Mom would always be wearing a brown swim suit and Dad never went swimming.  Many times you could feel the fish bumping into your legs and occasionally trying to nip at your toes and fingers.  Maybe we were noodlers and did not know it, HUM?  The other great part of the swim was the water was soooooooo cool but the cool water was generally about 1 to 2 feet below the surface.  The surface water was quit warm like bath water and the air temperature was normally in the 90's.  Isn't  is interesting how water just a few feet below the surface can be so cold to down right cold?  I don't know why but I guess it was just that I trusted my folks judgement but I never had a fear of swimming in that muddy water and I gave little thought to when I saw a water moccasin (snake) in the pond.  

Now back to Dad, it was interesting that he never learned to swim but what folks did not know is Dad's oldest brother (Arvin as I recall) had drown when he was about 18 years old and my grandad was so torn up about it that he never let the boys go swimming again and the young ones never even got a chance to learn.  I guess it might have been Grandma Olson that stopped the swimming but after losing one son they were not going to take a chance again..  Tragedy can change a families life.  Speaking of being over protective there were five sons still living and all five were in WWII at the same time.  Now that is what I would call stressful.

Back to swimming.  We also would go swimming in the creek behind the house (west of the house) but generally it was too shallow of water to swim in but you certainly could go wading and there were a few small pools of water but not enough room to swim in.  Now that was true for Beaver Creek but the old Salt Creek had plenty of places to swim and when in high school we boys found ourselves in the creek often.  In fact there was always a contest to see who would go swimming first after the new year.  As I recall it was either Rick Cottle or Steve Chrisco who generally would win this one.  If I had to pick the most daring person it would have to be Hugh Allen Jones as he could never risk a dare and in fact if you wanted to suck him into some deal all you would have to do is challenge him by suggesting that he was chicken (scared).  He always had guts and again that is why he was a Marine.

Oh well, I gotta go as I am on the way to Texas for a little work.  Yes I still work and if you want to know more look at www.garylolson.net.  

So what do you learn in the Osage?

• Fear exists if someone around you teaches you fear - 
• Sometimes there is a snake in the grass metaphorically speaking 
• Tragedy is not what defines you/me but how you react is what defines a person

Thanks for listening,

Gary@thepioneerman.com

T-Ball and how it changed my life

I have told many a story about Preston, our son with Down Syndrome, but there is a story I would love to share because it will show you how you can make a big difference in more than one person's life.

When Preston was about 7 years old and really behind kids his age in physical and mental ability there was a lot going on in our lives raising two other children and trying to make a living.  We had noticed that Preston did not get some of the luxuries other children got like playing T-ball and thinking about playing football and wrestling with his buddies and getting into fights with his big sister and big brother.  He did not get some of the independence other children get automatically in life.  He especially missed out on having "buddies", friends who asked him to play.  Now of course Wynter and Chase his sister and brother played with him but he did not have that pier group of friends at school and church.  He was not invited over to kids houses to play nor was he invited to their birthday parties and especially he was not wanted on the regular kids sports teams.  But there was one exception which will resonate in my entire being for the rest of my life.

One evening I got a call from a friend from church named Dennis Hale (wife Shelly).  They had a son who was about 5 years old and Dennis was one of those dads who had a passion for life and a passion for sports.  Dennis loved to hunt and fish and do about anything for his wife and son.  He had and has an enthusiasm for life that is tremendous.  I remember when it was time for trick or treat, he was one of those who really got out there and decorated and got ready to have a great time.  But this one time he did something that just brought me literally to tears.  He asked me if Preston could play on his baseball team!  I was speechless and of course we said yes.  But that is not the end of the story.

Dennis worked with Preston over and over again.  Preston would hit the ball and take off running and you could not be sure which direction he would go but he knew to go somewhere.  Everyone would be yelling and Preston would smile and run but he might run to 3rd then home or to 2nd then first.  It was wild.  And when Preston was playing in the field (always the outfield) Dennis would stand proudly with Preston even though there was tremendous lack of understanding on both of their parts on what the other was thinking.  Somehow Dennis's expectations were not to score runs or catch the ball but his was about including a kid who was never asked to be friends with normal kids.  Dennis talked to the other kids about encouraging and helping Preston.  The game was about the person and not the rules.  It was not about winning the game but winning the game of life.

Again the story does not end there.  When we played other teams I saw kids intentionally not tag Preston out or intentionally drop the ball and I saw opposing coaches go to the umpire and tell them Preston was not struck out or tagged on a base.  Did you hear me?  The coaches of the OTHER team.  On top of that I saw fans who typically would be screaming at their children or their own coaches cheer for Preston.  I saw stands full of folks standing and cheering as Preston would cross home plate.  Preston is now 26 and it still makes my eyes water as I recall the stories of heroism of the fans, coaches, umpires, and players from the OTHER teams cheer for the success of a 7 year old boy with down syndrome.

I wish I could say it has always been that encouraging and no one ever hurt our feelings on how they treated our son but I can say that Dennis Hale got his Angels Wings a little early and that God blessed him in a special way that no other person can replace.  I doubt that Dennis will ever see this as we have lost touch with them but there will always be a special place in my heart for a guy that filled my son with joy.  I could say it another way and that is Preston might not realize what a special deal this was but Dennis blessed my family like no other.

So what do you learn in the Osage?

• An act of total unselfish love is absolutely unmeasurable
• An act of kindness resonates far beyond the one simple act
• Do something for somebody without any selfish motive and you might earn your Angels Wings a little before it is time

Thanks for listening,

gary@thepioneerman.com

Mrs. Whitt

Mrs. Whitt was always very nice to me and I never had her in class but she really had class.  She cared about people and you could feel it when you were around her.  She would always ask questions of you and speak like you were important.  But most of all I have to give Mrs. Whitt and "A" for her legacy and that would be her boys Jim and Mark.  Of course there was another brother which I never really knew and then Mr. Whitt who always garnered your respect but Mrs. Whitt was something very special.

She had class both figuratively and literally meaning she was a lady of ladies.  I really liked what Virginia Chrisco Springer said, "I learned so much from the woman she was. She taught me how to be a liberated woman without being a women libber. You could have your independence and still be a wonderful Christian, mother and wife."   When Mrs. Whitt found out about my blogging she began to write me and send me her kind thoughts of encouragement and material which I might give thought to and write about.  You will find sprinkles of her inspiration in my writings (only the good ones).  She was a teacher to the very end and what I would call a REAL teacher because she taught you/me by mentoring not criticism.  The interesting thing is she was never my teacher in school but by her example and by her most recent mentoring.  She taught you even through her boys.

If you have never met Jim or Mark you are really missing out.  Jim is a motivational writer and speaker and if you don't have his books you should find them or contact me and I will tell you how to find them.  Mark is a decorated and retired servant of the America we love, he was and is always a Green Beret (I stand corrected) who served until just a couple of years ago when he finally retired after serving in Iraq a number of times.

Finally if you have to ask, "what did Mrs. Whitt accomplish in life?"  The answers are easy.

• She was a lady
• A teacher 
• A mentor
• An example
• A wife
• A servant
• A mother
• She raised two successful young men  and when I say successful I am speaking of men of character and principle and honor

I suggest each of us ask ourselves, "what matters most?"  and each of us will come up with answers that describe the life of Mrs. Peggy Whitt Asher and her legacy.

Thanks to you for listening but most of all thanks to, as Jim Gaskell says, Mrs. Whitt!

A life well lived, by Mrs. Whitt.

gary@thepioneerman.com