Country Livin' Remembering Dad

I am thinking of my Dad today.  He was an Engineer by profession  but his younger days were spent on his family ranch and he was a cowboy at heart.  He was also a "Cowboy Poet".  Looking through his writings, I found one that I did't remember having.  It was written the year before he passed away.  I loved reading it and it is written just how he talked and wrote it.

Country Livin'         By R.C. "Pat" Richard    March 4, 1997

It's quiet an' it's peaceful at out home

here in the country

and when the evenin' sunset's slowly

fadin' from the sky.

We can hear wild turkeys gobble from

their roost down in the Oak trees-

and watch the timid white tails

come to graze upon the Rye.

In the meadow Bobwhites callin' as

they covey up for nighttime

then the Lonesome Hooty owls begin to

sing their mournful tune-

and from out beyond the Ridge there comes

some mighty purty music-

From the "Local Coyote Trio" sayin'

howdy to the moon.

There's always somethin' doin' but there

ain't no need to hurry-

cause there ain't nobody worrin' 'bout

when it'e gettin done.

There's nothin' that I'm doin' that 

can't wait until tomorrow

so I work some, an' I loaf some, an'

 I take time out for fun.

Now town life is excitin' with its

hustle an' its bustle-

and the heaps of noisy people an'

a myriad of lights.

But there just ain't no comparin' it

to Livin' in the county

Where wild birds sing the live long day

an' coyotes sing all night.

So let me play my hand out in this

Quiet peaceful setting-

among the Lord's creations , Let me

Live and Let me die.

And when I ride that Last Long trail

just plant me 'neath the Oak trees

an' let me Rest forever underneath

God's clear blue sky.

I can just hear him saying all of this.  He loved living on "Retirement Ranch" and loved his cattle, horses and the wild life around him.  Mom probably would have enjoyed more time at the "town house" but she was happy wherever Dad was.  I miss them but they left so many happy memories.

TORNADO ALLEY

 TORNADO ALLEY....  it is where I live.  It is in the heartland of the country and also includes a good part of the South.  I grew up having a great respect for storms and spent many nights in the storm shelter.  In my early years, there was a killer tornado that struck in our area at Woodward.  The storm happened on April 9,1947.  Ironically there was another storm 65 years later on April 15 that hit the same city.  This is the town that I visit, if I want to do shopping at WalMart, Dollar Tree, Braums, or Mcdonalds and other places not located in the smaller towns. It is the town where my daughter and her family live.  We have a host of friends there and extended family members that live there, it is our neighboring community. 

Tornado's are not particular where they touch down or what damage they do.  They come out of the clouds in the daytime and night.  Unfortunately this one came at night. The storms were set off in the afternoon of the day and I watched the storm chasers and trackers on TV from early afternoon until 3 A,M,  It was a long day.

I have a son-in-law that is a storm tracker.  He and grandson Elvis were a part of this chase.  They drove hundreds miles on their adventure.  They saw a lot of activity.  This is one of the storms that they watched form and dance across Oklahoma.  I would not want to be in the path of this.  This particular one was in open country and did not do much damage.  Well, I didn't intend for these pictures to be stacked on top of each other but being the technical brain  dummy  that I am, it just happened. Yea,  I got it changed.  

The storms of the day came into our state from the Texas Panhandle and worked across into Kansas.  I have heard it said that there were over 100 tornado's that day in Oklahoma and Kansas.   There were 6 lives lost and many injuries that are critical.  Our hearts and prayers go out to the families who have experienced this tragedy. May God give them comfort and healing.  

Fred and Cecil

Do you ever read or do something that triggers a memory?  Well, I had that experience while listening to a conversation concerning ladders.  Remember, I came from a tiny village where everyone knew everyone else's business.  I am sure that it wasn't always appreciated, but being the nosy caring people that we were, it just happened that way.  Some of our information came from the postmistress who saw everyone in town at least once a day and some of it came from the family who operated the central phone office.  Yes, we still had a switch board phone system in the town where I grew up and everyone had a phone with a crank on it to ring the operator.  

You could always call the phone office if you wanted to know the correct time, where the fire was or what was happening at the school.  I really don't know how they knew the correct time as that was the days before cell phones or computers and that is how I find out the correct time today.  I guess they just looked at their clock which was probably fairly accurate and gave that as the correct time.  As for the other things that went on, I am guessing that they just learned a lot with their job.  You know how Sarah was on the Andy Griffith Show, well I imagine most phone operators who lived in small towns were pretty much  the same.  

I have gotten off the subject a little bit haven't I?  Oh well, you needed to know all of this too, I am sure. I will tell you about Fred and Cecil.  Fred was a carpenter in the community.  I am not sure if he was a full timer or just knew more than the other guys, who were mostly farmers or worked at the institution in the neighboring town.  (The institution was for mental patients, and that is another story)  Anyhow, Cecil and his wife decided to build a new house in town.  Their larger two story farm house was all the way out in the country, across the highway. ( I never did know why they wanted a different house, unless it was to downsize.) 

Cecil, couldn't build this house alone as he was also a busy farmer and besides, he just needed help.  Cecil hired Fred to help him.  They were progressing quite well on the house when they got into an argument.  They were putting on the roof and Fred wasn't doing things the way Cecil thought things should be done.  

Fred says, "Cecil, this has to be done this way to give things better support." To this Cecil replied, "This is my house, and I am paying you to do things the way I want them done."  This discussion went on for sometime and could be heard around the neighborhood.    After a time, Cecil told Fred to just take his tools and go home.  Fred obliged and left.  

Later in the day, people noticed that Cecil was still up on the roof, and all alone.  It seems that when Fred left, he also took HIS ladder.  Cecil was too embarrassed to ask for help.  I guess he got some things done and I am sure when he didn't come home, his wife would have went looking for him.  

Fred did go back and help Cecil finish building his new home and I am sure that Cecil even listened to him for advise.  

I am at home alone.  I am soaking in the quiet and being lazy.  I am reading, watching TV, letting the house be a mess. I am  doing my own thing.  Not a soul is here to cook for, do laundry for, pick up after, ooops I am still here and I am a slob.  Oh well, I don't count.  I am here, enjoying my own company.  Tonight, when there is no one to say prayers with and no one to snuggle to, I will probably be lonely, but not now.

I have had two weeks of family.  I have loved every minute of it but as I am sometimes a hermit, I need to recharge my mind and body.  I need rest and laziness.  Sleeping in this morning doesn't count.  I have been doing that for the past two weeks.  When you have extra people around, you tend to stay up too late and visit and and play games until midnight.  It is a wonderful time of sharing. I loved having a one on one time with my daughters when they came and brought their children out.  Usually when they come, everyone is here and I don't get to visit  have a special time with them.  I am sure they were ready to go home and see their husbands but  Dad and I sure enjoyed time with them..

The rain kept us from doing all of the things we planned on doing while our company was here.  Our grandsons enjoyed some fishing but not all that they wanted.  We never got to take the granddaughters to the camp area for a wiener roast as the ground was saturated.  We thank God for all of the moisture He has provided though.  We didn't get to ride the horses as much as planned as one of them was acting ornery and Grandpa was afraid of how she would act on the muddy terrain.  

We kept busy everyday with kids, grandkids, friends, cousins, our dear sweet mother and siblings.  We had a lot of company and went to weddings, Dorothy's house, the lake, the creek, adventure trips, but today I am going nowhere!!!  I am at home and all alone.  Right now, I AM LOVING IT.

Everyone has went home.  The Rancher is on a week end fishing trip.  All is quiet on the home front and I will absorb the peace and quiet until about midnight and then I will be ready for some company.  You see, even if I love the peace and quiet of the day, I like my husband at home at night, but he needs this time too.  I just hope he doesn't bring home too many fish as I brought a beef home from the processing plant this morning and the freezers are full.  

Here Comes the Bride

• Spring is here folks.  Well it is probably a mock spring as I know that it is not too late to freeze in the Oklahoma Panhandle.  The grass is green and the mustard and Chickweed are thriving, thanks to the wonderful rain that God has blessed us with.  We have had 1.90 inches since Sunday morning.  The clouds are still here.  Wayne had to mow over the weekend.  This is a first for us.  I rarely mow the yard    before the last part of April but this has been an exceptionally warm spring and the moisture is here.  

• I have been blessed to have most of my family around sometime during the past two weeks.  We had a wedding in the family .  The beautiful bride is granddaughter Molly and the handsome young man is Josh.  Amid the hustle and bustle we had a wonderful time getting them married.  The days before were spent baking cakes, cookies, quiche, making all of the bouquets, and other flowers, decorating the church and setting up the life center for a "Tea Party" reception for over 300 people.  It was a family event involving all of the families and a lot of fun.  The sad thing was tearing it all apart as soon as it was over.  There was a photo booth at the reception.  The photos from it are of my three lovely daughters and the Ranchers Mother.  Aren't they lovely?  This was at the reception.  The mother of the bride is in the lower left. 
• The sun is trying to shine so I better go see if the girls want to have a wiener roast at their special place tonight.  I think sitting around the campfire sounds like a good idea....If it isn't raining. 

Random Thoughts

What a day it was yesterday.  It started out to be a lovely day as we left Tulsa and headed north to look at some implement that the Rancher had seen in one of the many magazines and catalogs that he gets.  Did I say that he bought a GPS.  He wanted to know the best way to get around all of the construction and get to the Implement dealer.  I would like to know how that thing knows so much.  I have often said that I am not technical minded and that really proved it.  However, it proved to be just a little too smart.  The Rancher wanted to take the scenic route home and that didn't happen.  I thought about unplugging the darn thing.  It kept telling us we missed our corner we finally gave in and made a turn and headed home on the old familiar route that we always take.  As we left the area of the implement dealer, I wondered if this wasn't the area of the famous Pioneer Woman.  Not 2 miles down the road, a sign declared we had drove past part of the Ranch owned by that family.  I really don't keep up with her that much but she is a favorite of my daughters  She just has a much too busy of a life for me.  Good for her though for being so energetic.  I really can relate to a lot of her stories as I was a not accustomed to all of the things that go with being a Rancher's Wife 48 years ago. I have learned a lot.

We drove through rain, sunshine and DIRT.  The closer we got to our area, the more dirt in the air.  It was such an eerie looking thing.  The sun appeared white in the dirt and there were places that it was had to see for the blowing dirt across the roadway from the blowing pastures and fields.  We are in need of a lot of rain .  I am concerned about the guys getting the fields ready for planting a spring crop and if there will be a spring crop. We have had to buy so much hay for our cattle this year.  A first for us.  The Rancher sold 2/3 of his cows and didn't keep all of the yearlings as he usually does.  I am thankful that we are older and not just trying to start out in this business as our Son is.  It has been a hard year.  We always pray for and look forward to a better Next Year though.  

Today is Leap Day.  Are you going to get paid for working this extra day.  I don't have to worry about that any more.  I worked on a salary for the most part but one job I worked by the hour.  Did you think about that...You get paid for that extra day where salaried workers don't.  Thought you might like to know.  

I have a friend who turned 21 today.  I wondered if she would get out of the nursing home and go celebrate.  I remember when she turned 16.  We had a good laugh at that too.  Happy Birthday to all of you who have a true birthday today.  In truth, you always celebrate your birthday the day after February 28th.  Some years you just get to have an extra special day.

The carpenters are still working and I can see that they will be out of hear before I can say Happy Easter.  Hope it is sooner that that.  I think it is really winding down.  I will take a picture if I can find my camera.  I am so ashamed.  How did my girls become such picture buffs and I just don't get excited.  Well, I guess that is probably the reason.  They want to make up for all of the pictures that I didn't take.  

We were Just Kids

Today, I am going to continue with some of the story about growing up in a Village. It was a time when kids were kids but knew when to show respect for their elders.  We were a rowdy bunch and some people who didn't really know us might say we ran wild.  We didn't though.  We might leave the house in the morning and head for the river and not come home until we were hungry, but we weren't wild.  I often wondered how our mothers put up with this.  In later years my Mom told me that we were always in a group and she knew if something happened, someone would high tail it back to town.  This was before cell phones.  Heck, we didn't even have dial-up.  We had an operator at the switchboard.  If we would have used the phone, everyone in a 20 mile radius would have known what happened.  You know, it was sort of like Sarah in Mayberry. My first paying job was working at the phone office.  The job was quite rewarding, as if you were real quiet, you could learn all of what was going on.  

Anyhow, enough of that and back to the wild bunch from my youth.   

On Sunday evenings we had a youth group in one of the churches.  All of the kids my age went and we had it early on Sunday evening.  This only lasted for an hour.  In the long days of Summer, there was still a lot of sunlight left after church was dismissed.  Not being ready to call it an evening, we would walk to the river, taking the road that ran through town.  The group was made up of young teens and we probably had a lot of things to talk about as we walked the few blocks to the bridge where we would hang out.

This road was not a traveled road.  The bridge was an obsolete wooden structure that was used for one way traffic.  It was a great place to carve our names on the railing, dance to a new tune or drag your car across, if you were older and had one.  As we were walking to the bridge one evening we were singing out the words to the new hit of the day called  Stagger lee.  I can't even remember the words today but I know we were belting out...

      "Stagger Lee, called Billie, I just can't let you go with that,"

       You have won all of my money and my brand new Stetson Hat.

As we sang this song, we passed the last two houses at the edge of town.  The proprietors of of one such place were sitting on there porch and informed us that "It was a nice quiet Sunday evening and they didn't appreciate us making all of that noise as we traipsed all over town.  That was the wrong thing to say.  We continued to belt out songs at the top of our voices all the way to the river and of course this became a Sunday night habit.  

The old  "Sour Puss" continued to complain to us, our parents and even to the County Sheriff. I never did know what the deal was about walking down the road singing.  Maybe she couldn't sing, maybe she didn't like kids, maybe she just wanted to show us she could control things.  In truth, she couldn't.  We were a crew and we would not let her get the best of us.  I am sure we made her life miserable at times.  I got tired of the game and eventually the younger kids took on the job of tormenting her.  She complained about us disturbing the peace more than once but nothing ever became of it.  I think for the most part, everyone thought she was the one with the problem. . I did have a respect for my elders but for this one person.  I am sorry today that we delighted in getting her dander up  but to kid in a small village, it was just part of the excitement of the day.  And yes, it takes a Village, except for Edna of course.