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

Spring is co

One year we had about 13 inches of snow and everyone was trapped except the mailman, my dad.  It always amazed me how Dad would always manage to get out to carry the mail in Grainola.  That year or day was next to impossible but Dad got out the old Alice Chalmers tractor.  It was a WD model as I recall with narrow front tires vs. spread front tires.  He took that tractor and cut a path to Vea Harris's house so he could get the pickup out and carry the mail.  Now you might be wondering why I say "carry the mail" vs. deliver the mail.  Truth is I don't know why except that Dad always said "carry the mail".  Anyway Cac Harrington who ran the road grader and Dad would coordinate clearing the roads and they worked as long as it took.   The funny thing is Cac and Dad went way beyond what was reasonable but they would check on everyone to make sure they were OK and if they needed something Dad and/or Cac would get it for them and deliver.

Dad had a sense of pride about everything he did and he wanted it done right and on time.  I think Cac was the same way about his roads.  You see almost 100% of the roads besides highway 18 to Shidler were made of gravel.  You should probably know that Cac and Sylvia were Harvey Harrington's parents.  Harvey became the barber in Tonkawa and passed away several years ago. Harvey was most noted for playing catcher on the baseball team and a pretty good one at that.


It is no wonder that during Christmas time an awful lot of those mailboxes were loaded with goodies for Dad.  It was really fun for us kids and I am sure Mom as well because we received lots of presents from neighbors because Dad was such a humble servant willing to deliver to the door if someone needed it.  He did not leave a notice at the door telling you to come to the post office.  In fact he would look for you in the barn or field to make sure a registered letter was delivered timely.

Thinking back about all this reminds me of Mom and Debbie as well.  They were and are two of the most servant folks I ever knew.  Debbie would clean an elderly persons house or fix food for them what seemed like every week.  Mom was one of those folks you could depend on to be at the hospital to stay all night with someone sick or dying even when they were not close friends.  I have to admit I never was quit the servant as any of these.   They are great examples but I just never followed in their footsteps.  OK, maybe a little.

Debbie is the consumat servant as she is always making candy or cookies or fixing something for somebody.  She makes and decorates cakes for weddings to parties for any occasion and overall she is just a giver.  Of course if she reads this she is going to get aggrivated as she does not like to get the attention which she justly deserves.  She is the best sister I have, go figure.

Oh well, what do you learn in the Osage?

• serving is a greater reward than being served, try it and you will like it
• doing things right for the right reason is reason enough
• You can say you love someone but when you take action like doing the dishes or planning the details of a date are worth far more than words.  I tried it and it works.

Thanks for listening,

gary@thepioneerman.com

A little bit of history

I am setting here listening to and watching a film of an interview with Mom and Dad in 1999 at Christmas in Perkins, Oklahoma.  It is amazing what you learn if you sit down and listen and ask questions.  In summary before I start, what I am saying is you need to take the time to film and interview your folks before it is too late.  And yes Mom and Dad moved to Perkins after living in Grainola for most of 65 years.

Mom and Dad met when Mom was babysitting for Vea and Gordon Harris.  Just for fun that would be Bobby (Bob), David, Janis and Eddy.  Dad was working for Tanny Olsen but spent about a third of his time working at the ranch where Vea and Gordon lived.  Dad and Gordon were very close friends and since Mom worked there it was logical they would meet.  I would have to say that we have never gotten any details about this but Mom was 16 and dad was 27 or 28 when they got married.  Today that might be illegal but it was not back then.  In fact back then it was relatively common for a big age difference.  I will make the point that they had their first child, Larry Wayne, when Mom was 20.  Now I am not saying Larry was their favorite but I am saying ...... anyway.

Mom and Dad's first house was on Beaver Creek 1 mile north and three West about 2 feet south of the house that sits there today which Dad built and I helped (I was about 5 years old).  They purchased the farm and original house from the Almon family who moved to Washington State to work in the defense business.  When they bought the house they purchased the house and lland plus for $100 extra they got the furniture, harness for the horses and all the machinery to run the farm.  Dad said the dining table was a library table about 1 foot wide and 5 foot long.  Don't get wired up about 5 foot and not 5 feet.  Dad said it and I quoted it.  For a kitchen cabinet they took a dresser and turned it upside down, flipped the drawers over and had a kitchen cabinet until later on when they could afford something different.  A little history on that house is it was picked up and moved to Grainola where Mrs. Heath (postmaster of Grainola) made it into her house and the front porch became the Grainola Post Office (74639 or 73649 or 76349 as I recall).  It was funny in that we use to not have zip codes and everyone thought it was a big deal when we got zip codes.  When I lived in Holland during 1970 I use to mail letters to Mom and Dad and would address it:
Mom and Dad
Grainola, OK 74639
and everyone one of those letters got home.

Another important piece of trivia I learned from listening to those tapes is that Gordon Harris could drink a case of bear and not have to go pee.  Now that seems like a bit of trivia that I and you don't need to know but it bares the question, what was Dad doing?  and why would he need to know that?  As I began thinking about all the stories about Tanny Olsen liking a drink now and then I began to wonder how much my dad drank when he was young before he got married.  The one thing I do know is that Mom never let alcohol in the house except for one bottle that was for treating a cold.  That bottle lasted for years and I never did try it except when I had a cold.  Mom would put about a tablespoon in a cup of hot water and give to me to drink.  Burn, burn, burn - a ring of fire.  No wonder I was never interested in drinking.  I suppose I just don't need to know everything.

Also from that video I learned that Mom and Dad liked to dance.  They would go to Big Beaver or to Arkansas City, Kansas and they particularly liked Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys.  Mom and Dad's best friend during part of that time was the base fiddle player and his wife.  Now for some reason I never can quite picture Mom and Dad dancing but they were young once.

Some of my most favorite stories are about when Dad, Tanny and a bunch of cowboys would go to Louisiana and round up steers and fill up a trainload of steers and heifers to bring to the Osage to fatten up and then on to Kansas City to market.  I absolutely cannot imagine riding horses through the swamps with all those snakes and alligators to get steers and heifers.

Well, what do you learn in the Osage?

• The whole story is not always told
• Some stories should never be told
• Some stories are not worth telling
• The truth can be lost over time

Thanks for listening,

gary@thepioneerman.com

Three big oak trees on Beaver Creek

When I was living on Beaver Creek, one mile north and three west of Grainola and one mile west of Eddie's house there were three of the biggest oak trees with the giant acorns on them every year across the creek from our house.  That was a mouthful.  Anyway, they were so big you could not get your arms around any one of those trees especially when I was young and growing.  Even when I was full grown at the ripe old age of 12 when I was 6 ft. 2 inches and 205 lbs I still could not put my arms around those trees.  Now I will tell you I am still 6'2" but the 205 lbs. has rounded over to 262.  In fact you might say I have the chest-of-drawers disease.  That is where your chest drops into your drawers.  Back to those trees:  I cannot tell you how many times I snuck away to lay under those trees to enjoy the thick green cool grass and breeze drifting through the leaves blocking the warm sun.  I can feel it now.  I took a few naps there and dreamed that I would build a house by those trees some day.

We had those giant red squirrels living in those oaks and during the winter there would be huge nests of leaves and sticks built by the squirrels to live in.  Larry and I hunted all up and down Beaver Creek for squirrels during the winter and in those trees especially.  We had Dad's old bolt action 20 gauge shotgun and I generally used a 410 gauge or a 22 rifle.  Larry and I would leave out of the house at daylight and walk for hours up and down Beaver Creek all the way from Chuck Kelley's to the Shumate's which is now David and Jan Harris to the McConaghy's at the old Beaver Creek bridge.   It really did not matter what the weather or distance was but as long as we got the chores done which included feeding the cattle and in winter chopping ice we were free to hunt.  Many of those times we would wind up hunting quail which was loads of fun.

On occasion Larry or I would shoot a squirrel and it would run to its nest which meant we could not retrieve the squirrel.  But Dad always had the answer, cut firewood.  That meant if we killed a squirrel we were not allowed to let it die and not retrieve it somehow.  Dad would instruct us to get the old Homelite chain saw running and spend the day cutting firewood to heat the house.  Actually I kind of liked cutting firewood and watching the tree fall.  In particular I liked taking the steel wedge and splitting that fresh green oak using the wedges and a sledge hammer.   At our house a sledge hammer was 16 ounces and most of the time it was a railroad sledge of 20 ounces.  Let me tell you it was not an easy task swinging a sledge hammer like that hitting the wedge just right and splitting those logs.  As Dad would say, "it will make a man out of you".  Dad always seemed to have a good eye for falling a tree.  He could make it drop in the perfect spot almost every time.  I should also tell you about that chain saw.  It was not like these cheap chain saws today made with plastic.  Everything about it said it was heavy.  It would vibrate your teeth and you sure better watch out for a kickback because it would take a leg or arm off quickly.

Once we got back home we had to clean those squirrels which was not an easy task.  Skinning a squirrel was hard work but Dad made us a special tool to make it easier.  It was a board that we could tie the legs to and hang on a nail at the barn just west of the house.  Just for you who have read my stories that is where I saved Denise Logue's life when she and I were about 5 years old.  There was a dirt devil coming and I told her it was a tornado and I took her to that barn for safety where she held my hand until she was safe.  I guess I was her hero from that day forward.  Anyway, once we got the squirrels cleaned and washed Mom would fry them with a little bit of Crisco and flour then she would make gravy with the grease.  Boy that was some good eat'n!  Gravy over home made mashed potatoes from the cellar and fried squirrel.  It just don't get any better than that.

Well I had better go.  So what do you learn in the Osage?

• It is your choice on what you make of your time and opportunities just like when you kill a squirrel and it dies in a nest you get to cut wood.
• If you stack up all the bad on the left side of a paper and then on the right side write down all the things you were able to do because of that bad you will find the good is better to live with
• I always wanted to be a hero

Thanks for your time,

gary@thepioneerman.com

Now I don't know about you but there are a few people who make a big difference in our lives that just never got a lot of recognition and certainly not a lot of money for their efforts.  Gladys Snyder was certainly one of those but I would also say she loved what she did and she did not sit around and grip about her situation.  I would consider Mrs. Snyder one of the greatest all time teachers, encourager's, patriots, and Shidlerites ever to darken the door of a high school or any school.  She had a passion for learning and teaching.  Every year and I do mean every year she would chose one topic and study it for a year.  

One year she studied bugs while taking classes at OSU on the subject.  Do I need to get sophisticated and call it entomology?    Another year she studied fossils and another was Oklahoma History then there was archeology and the list went on and on for somewhere over 50 years.  She was not much for TV or even the Beatles (not the bug) which Susie was crazy about.  Now that I think about it Susie was the same as her mother, she studied bugs.  

Mrs. Snyder (Aunt Gladys to me) was absolutely amazing.  She had the most active of minds and could remember everything.  There was not a bug or leaf of a tree or plant that she could not identify.  She had every National Geographic since I don't know when and she read every one of them.  One year she came out to the farm many times to catch bugs during the day and at night.  She had all kinds of nets and then Dad even made her a net of screen wire on the end of a very long pole so she could catch bugs.  I bet you she had hundreds of bugs that she preserved and put in giant cases with glass fronts and special pins to hold the bugs in position and then she named each one.  The challenge about all this stuff she learned is that she would then take it to dear old Shidler High School and expect us children to learn all this stuff.  It was actually very fun and interesting.  She brought education to life.  

I don't know of any awards that Aunt Gladys received for her dedication to learning and teaching but she gets my award for the best and greatest.  She gave of herself and she gave it with a positive spirit and a dedication like no other.  She rooted for the underdog and I suppose that is because she was raised without a lot of money (we call that poor) but she was never poor in spirit or drive or ambition or love for her students.  Could she yell at her students?  You bet!  She expected great behavior and she expected you to learn.  There was something very special about her that was hard to describe or understand and that was a special caring about certain people.  For me it was David Howell who was in my class.  Aunt Gladys always took a special liking to David and I think it was because David's mother had passed away at an early age and she saw something special about David.  She had an eye for people with a special liking of science or a special curiosity and David was one of those.  

Not to get too far off the subject but David was a really cool friend.  In the 8th grade he built his own club house, made a still and even brewed up some beer.  He would read all of his books for all his subjects the first week or so of each semester but then he would put them down and move onto reading everything he could get his hands on.  David could fix about anything and would help about everyone who needed help.  You know I guess I just idolized David.

Anyway, back to Aunt Gladys.  After moving away from Oklahoma for many years when I moved back and after we had our children we called her up and asked her about helping with some fossil hunting and rock hunting.  She was excited to go and she knew of about every place in Oklahoma to go and look for fossils and rocks.  I am not sure how old Aunt Gladys was when she passed but well into her retirement she was still learning and going and going like the ever-ready bunny.  Aunt Gladys collected and documented large volumes of information on each branch of the family going back generations.  She and Beth Shumate (3rd, 4th and 5th grade teacher of mine plus Sally and Janie's mom) traveled all over the United States visiting court houses and cemeteries digging old (a little bit of humor) archives of information about the family.  She traced our family back to John Wesley in England and one of our great (super-great) aunts who ran with Bell Star the outlaw to one woman in the family that was in the early 1900's who was the leader of Women's Rights in America.  One of the items that really surprised me was when Beth Shumate and her visited a commune and sat and asked questions and interviewed them about what they were doing and why they were doing it.  Aunt Gladys just was not intimidated by anything.  In fact I would say she was pretty intimidating at times.

Oh well, it is time to go back to work.  So what do you learn in the Osage?

• The measure of a person and their success is not how much money they make but what they make of their life.
• Leaning is something that never stops but should be embraced as a pleasure of living
• If you keep moving death will be slow to catch you

Thanks for listening,

gary@thepioneerman.com

A kid told me the other day they remembered when cassettes were used and of course I laughed since I go all the way back to the Vinyl days which we call record players / records.  Sure it is nostalgic but remember when telephones were party lines and you only had to dial 2 or 3 numbers to call someone.  Now for you young folks a party line is when multiple houses used one telephone line and only one person could talk at a time amongst several houses.  When I was a kid we had the Harris, Shumate, Murphy and our house on one phone line with separate phone numbers for each house.  In fact I remember Paul and Billie Jones (dad of Debbie, Paula and David) did not have a phone and you would have to call them on a two way radio.  I always thought that was amazing considering Paul was the only person in Grainola to have an airplane.  I guess it was because they lived so far out in the country they could not even get a telephone line and poles installed.  Anyway back to the party line, there was courtesy that was implied to be used at all times because you could pick up the telephone at any time and listen in on conversations.  Pretty crazy things have changed for the better.

As nostalgia takes me back it is fun to think of what is new since I was a kid and here is a list:

• color TV 
• cable TV
• Touch tone phones as they were rotary meaning you had to dial every number, very slow
• FM radio, much less electronic media to play something already recorded
• 8 track tape which was for your car which was before cassette tapes which is before CD players
• Cell phones
• social media
• Internet
• computers which is before laptops and remember the first portable computer which weighed about 30 pounds and was as big as  a medium size piece of luggage with a screen about 6 inches squared
• Electric windows in your car
• my first computer I worked on had 8k memory, yes and it was about 10 feet long and it would only read computer cards called decks.  actually before the cards was a paper tape machine which was a pain in the neck because it had to be perfect.
• We could take our guns to school and show them off to our friends and at lunch we could go out and shoot them
• During recess we could take our knives out of our pockets and create contests
• There were winners and losers in everything 
• There was no air conditioner in the schools and we went to school when it was hot or cold
• If you got in trouble in school it was assumed your were guilty and were punished again when you got home
• Parents were respected and always right or at least you never told them they were wrong
• I had one pair of good shoes for church and one for work which most of the time were used for school as well.  Good shoes were for church and funerals and never to be worn outside to work or play
• If there was a hole in your pants or the elbow of your shirt it was patched the same day and you wore it for what seemed forever.
• plastic bags

Well the list goes on and on but what is interesting is I asked my mom what was new before me that was the first for her and here is her list:

• milk bought at the store
• tennis shoes or basketball shoes with rubber soles rather than leathere
• TV
• Cars
• Telephones
• electricity in the house
• indoor toilets vs. an out house and the indoor toilet was a water closet where there was a bucket under a board with a hole in it where you sat to go to the bathroom.
• Indoor water
• HOT water at the sink that was not heated on a gas stove
• electric stoves
• electric dryers
• electric wash machines
• electric irons for ironing clothes
• indoor bathtubs
• Hot baths indoors from a faucet
• instant potatoes and pancakes mixes and cake mixes or just mixes bought in a store
• heat throughout the house vs. a single pot bellied stove to heat the house
• heated bedrooms

and the list goes on and on.

WOW!  So what made the difference?  Freedom and free enterprise, competition to make life better and a work ethic expecting to work hard then get paid, not getting paid then working harder.   Sure there were bad things that happened that had to be worked through and that is where unions and government intervention really did help to make things fair and safe but let us remember that a good thing can sometimes be too good of a thing.  Sure we would all like there to be no stress and an easy  life but I personally like a system that gives incentives to those who work harder and sometimes people just get lucky with being at the right place at the right time.  I just love America and I like the idea that those who take a risk get rewarded also knowing that risk means they lose everything and there is no bail out.  God bless America and thank you to everyone that came up with new ideas and who took a risk and those who went to war to fight for what is right.  I also have to thank God that he provided a sacrifice for my sin.

So what do you learn in the Osage?

• If you allow man to exercise their minds they can solve almost any problem
• People work hard to make things easier so we should think of stress as a blessing
• The easy way out may not be the best way out 
• If you list the disasters of life (tragedies) on one side and list how each effected your life later I bet you there was a lot of good out of each tragedy.  I know that is true for me.

Thanks for listening,

gary@thepioneerman.com

The preacher came by the other day

The preacher came to call the other day.  He said  at my age I should be thinking about the hereafter.  I told him "oh, I do all the time.  No matter where I am, in the barn, upstairs or in the garage -- I ask myself, "Now, what am I here after?".

Do you ever get down-in-the-mouth about yourself?  Thinking, "what is going on?",  "Am I getting Alzheimer's?",  "Why can't I remember?".

Well here is my answer.  My brain is a certain size, kind of like a table top.  Once it is full and you add something to it, something has to go.  There is only so much room.  I can get down-in-the-mouth if I choose but why waste time.  Like my dad use to say, "let's do something even if it is wrong". Let's get up and go somewhere and do something before we get caught in the squat.  I heard Zig Ziggler say  that and it stuck.  It is kind of like a biscuit that is getting ready to rise but gets caught in the squat.  I hope that makes sense to you.  What I am saying is if you don't keep moving you will get like a frozen motor and it won't turn over anymore.  Another way to say it is, like a house that sits empty.  Have you ever watched an old house rot away after it goes empty?  Why do you think that happens?  It happens because no one cares anymore.  It is not loved.

Not because I think you are stupid but because I think it is hard to put in practice that we all need to keep moving and keep caring for others so we don't focus on our own aches and pains.  If we do we will rot like the empty unloved house.  We will freeze up like the unused engine.  We will get caught in the squat always getting ready to do something but procrastinating why we cannot get going.

So with all that said, did you write down your goals for 2015?  Don't worry you are like 98% of the people.  The question is: Is that what your goal is?

In 2015 my goals are:

• Grow my investment advisory business ( I would tell you more but I don't want to cross the regulatory body rules)
• Share Christ with three people (it seems embarrassing that it is such a small number)
• Sell our house and buy land for Wings (www.wingsok.org) while starting to build a new house for us
• Be the best father and husband that God wants me to be
• Not hesitate to do the right thing

Well I did it.  I told you my goals.  Now I challenge you to write yours down and I would love you to share them with me.

What do you learn in the Osage?

• Inaction is an action
• disbelief is belief
• No goals are goals
• Do something even if it is wrong!

Thanks for your time,

gary@thepioneerman.com

I asked mom a question

I asked mom, "How are you doing?" and here is what she said, keep in mind she is 86 years old.

I have become a little older since I saw you last, and a few changes have come into my life since then.  Frankly, I have become quite a frivolous ol gal.  I am seeing five gentlemen every day.  As soon as I wake up , Will Power helps me get out of bed.  Then I go to see John.  Then Charlie Horse comes along, and when he is here he takes a lot of my time and attention.  When he leaves Arthur Ritis shows up and stays the rest of the day.  He doesn't like to stay in one place very long, so he takes me from joint to joint,.  After such a busy day  I'm really tired and glad to go to bed with Ben Gay.  What a life!

You must know that I found this in a pile of old papers and have no idea where it came from but it sure seems like the truth as I get older.

But now let me tell you about Dr. and Mrs. Williams and what they did after they retired at 84 years old.  They retired from over 40 years on the mission field working and living in huts with dirt floors not realizing the financial potential of those first two letters with a period following them, Dr.  They gave all they could give and gave some more until they were 84.  Not so fast!  At 84 they went on a mission trip to Mexico with us so they could serve the poor folks of Mexico.  I guess they could be accused of being greedy rich Americans who don't pay enough taxes to help the poor, tongue in cheek.  They served every day all day treating the sick for about a week.  We all came home blessed and ready to get back to work.  Dr. and Mrs. Williams took off for northern Iraq to help the Kurds.  YES, at 84 plus.  It has been several years now and I find myself thinking about what am I going to do with my life when I retire.  Shouna and I pray that we will be like Dr. and Mrs. Williams and continue to give of ourselves for the sake of Christ.  I look at these folks and am in amazement how they continued until the very end of their lives to give for the sake of Christ.  I never heard them speak of the five men mentioned in the story above.  I never saw them complain of their circumstances or what they could or could not have had.  Cool folks.

So what did I see in the Osage?  I also saw Larry and Dorothy Olsen (yes cousins who spelled it differently) that gave of themselves as well but also shared with me through their actions that by good works I could not earn a place in heaven but only by trusting in Christ personally.  Yes the Williams also had this gift and they shared it with the world.  I am so blessed and thankful for these good and faithful servants.

So what do you learn in the Osage?

• Givers gain
• Good works alone does not lead to Christ
• Giving is a great gift

Thanks for your time,

gary@thepioneerman.com

Old Folks are worth a fortune

I can't tell you where this came from but only that I like it.

Old Folks are worth a Fortune:

Old folks are worth a fortune, with silver in their hair, gold in their teeth, stones in their kidneys, lead in their feet, and gas in their stomachs.

Now if you add all this up based on an average person's size each old person is worth several thousand dollars.  Now I know we all want to measure a man's worth by his net worth or in other words his or her assets, but that is just not the case.

About two weeks ago a friend (Kevin McAfee) had a stroke and until that day I bet he did just like I do and that is add up my assets and subtract my liabilities to find out a net worth.  But today I know for a fact he counts his assets like this:

1. Do I know for certain if I were to die today I would go to heaven? YES
2. I have a wife who is willing to take care of me when I cannot take care of myself. YES
3. How many friends have called or tried to call or texted or mailed me just to know how I was doing? LOTS
4. I can still communicate with my mouth, think with my brain, eat by myself but I cannot get up on my feet or much less walk and I cannot hardly get to the bathroom and on the toilet by myself.  I cannot get dressed by myself.  

The list of questions and answers go on and on.  How do you count your balance sheet?

The one thing I do know for certain is that God does not do this or any disaster of life or other disease to hurt us.  It just happens as a part of this world.  What I also know is He uses all the little things and big things that go good and bad in our lives to bring us to be more like Him.  In another way of saying it I learned from David Howell of Edmond, Look for the Fruit Hidden in Adversity.  All things work together for those who love the Lord.  I cannot explain it but as we say in the Osage, Shit Happens.  I guess I am not as eloquent as my friends.

I am as guilty as anyone in wanting to be financially successful with lots of friends and lots of assets and experiences.  But the one thing I have learned is that OLD FOLKS are worth a fortune.

So what do you learn in the Osage?

• Everyone has a chance to succeed at something but it depends on what each of us chooses to do with our chances
• Success is measured not by others but by the realization I did my best with what God gave me
• In the end I will not have to worry will Christ know who I am because when He sees me I know He will recognize me by my faith.

Thanks for your time,

gary@thepioneerman.com

4-H

This week I have been scanning old articles and pictures that mom collected over the years.  A couple of things I have to point out are: 1) they are almost entirely of Larry because he is the first child and 2) scanning does not mean looking over like the old days but means taking a picture and storing on magnetic media which also is a new term since my childhood.  Anyway, what I found was that my brother was a lot more accomplished or recognized as a leader when he was in high school.  He was president of the 4-H club, the Junior Hereford Association and many other clubs and organizations as he moved on up to college at OSU.  It included recognition as a smart guy by being on different honor rolls in college, the college judging team, Block and Bridle Club and some fraternal organization for being smart.  Me?, I was just a kid trying to do my best and trying to do everything that was available.  I am not saying I never wanted to be class president or most popular or president of the different clubs because I did.

In fact when I went to Shidler the only thing I had going for myself was I was BIG for my age.  I suffered from not knowing where or how I fit in the crowd.  Living in Grainola and having only 5 in my class did not exactly make me a social animal.  I guess you could say I was the guy who watched everyone and just wanted to fit in.  But what helped me out were those teachers who saw a glimpse of ability and praised me for it.  Coach Gilbreth was the first coach to ever tell me he wanted me on his team.  Coach Brewer made me feel successful when I would run into those tackling dummies and drive them for several yards.  Pablo Alverado complimented me for being good at Algebra and of course Gladys Snyder (Aunt Gladys) encouraged me when she would say that she had seniors who could not do the problems I was solving.  Mrs. Himbury was friendly to a giant kid with a child's mind and gave me some value.  Helen Head told me I was very well dressed and handsome which brightened my day and encouraged me to always look my best.  Even the girls in my class surprised me by telling me another girl liked me when I could not even spell girl.  I was just naive and excited to be there with lots of kids and lots of teachers and coaches.  The guys like Steve Chrisco, AJ, PeeWee, Joe, Ricky, Jim Whitt and many more welcomed me to the school and to the sports teams. Believe it or not David Howell was one of my new favorites in that I loved his humor and Larry York who was always there to cover your backside.  Everywhere I turned I was encouraged to do my best and look my best.

Back to 4-H.  It seemed like we were out of school all the time for special events like judging contests and Spring Livestock Shows and then contests of all kinds.  I know my brother and sister were outstanding 4-Hers and everyone had an expectation for me to follow in their footsteps.  I wanted to but Larry and Debbie were hard acts to follow.  They were both in the 4-H Hall of Fame and 4-Her of the year and traveled on many trips they earned through giving speeches and showing livestock to keeping records.  Debbie could cook and sew like no other and Larry was the most well studied cattle person for his age.  I remember Dr. Totaschek (miss-spelled) at OSU saying Larry knew more than the professors about blood lines and genetics.  I guess that is why he became Dr. Olson from studying genetics in cattle.  Well this is note complaining but I did not win the awards my two siblings did but I enjoyed 4-H.  One of my proudest moments was when Larry and I won the Grand and Reserve Grand Champion at the livestock show in Pawhuska.  I suppose you know Larry was the Grand Champion and I was second.  The Pawhuska paper had a story about us saying "the Olson brothers are not a rock group but ....".

Another great time was going to contests to earn a trip to the 4-H roundup which was right after school was out at OSU and thousands of kids came to Stillwater to compete in all kinds of events for the state championship in each event.  It was there I was in the multiple contests:  tractor driving, speech contests, judging contest and my favorite was the contest to get a girl to hang out with you.  So here goes my favorite about that issue.  Being 6 feet 2 inches tall in the 8th grade was sometimes a really good thing especially if you looked older like I did.  This really good looking senior was introduced to me and we went bowling and out for a date during the 4-H Roundup.  My brother and his buddies were there and saw me with this girl.  They were not so lucky and this is probably the only time I out performed my brother.  Their mouths dropped as they knew she was 18 and I was 14 or 15 but she did not.  Later that evening I told her and she dropped me like a hot rock.  She was nice about it but embarrassed.  Me?, I had never been out with a girl and was pretty proud of myself.

4-H was also where I learned to play poker and where I got in serious trouble for cutting Cathy Eaton's hair with some sheep sheers.  Now I had an excuse!  She had pushed me.  I got roasted over that one.  It was during this time that I saw Harold Codding eat a piece of pie in one bite, yes one bite.  He had a bet with his mom that for each bite of desert they had to put a dollar in the jar.  I guess they were trying to control their weight.  Now I don't know about you but Harold Codding and his mom never had over 1 oz. of fat on their bodies in their lives.  In fact Harold (Chuckles was his nickname) had muscles in his ears, still does.  I think Harold even had muscles in his teeth.  He could run faster with two braces on his legs than I could with none.  4-H was also where I learned to stand up in front of folks and give a speech.  Strange enough, even today I still get extremely nervous when speaking to a crowd.  It just makes me sweat.  About that poker remark:  I think I played more poker while in 4-H than in my entire life as of today.  I was pretty good until I had some little kid from Fairfax who cleaned me out one day during the Spring Livestock show.

Well I better go but I have to say one thing.  Those Grainola Five and sometimes six if Joy came were and are great friends and memories forever.  Jim Heath taught me to laugh and love reading, Jon Tanny Olsen taught me how to compete, Hugh Allen Jones taught me how to be tough, and Denise Logue taught me to be humble and kind to everyone.  And lastly I only had a handful of teachers but they were great:  Aunt Geneva Snyder who died after just a couple of months in the first grade, Mrs. Casselman who just loved us and was patient, Mrs. Shumate who made great cherry pie and taught me for 3 years, Mr. Lewis Morris who taught me to love learning.  You got it: Mrs. Casselman taught 1st and 2nd, Mrs. Shumate taught 3rd, 4th and 5th, Mr. Morris taught 6th 7th and 8th although i went to Shidler for the 8th grade.

So what do you learn in the Osage?

• Literally everything
• A persons self esteem is a hidden and fragile and important element of life
• Big people are fragile so love'em 
• The little things in life mean the most

Thanks for your time,

gary@thepioneerman.com

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