Oklahoma Vignettes (Enid, May: loan, trip , work)

[Goodpasture]

I'll get around to it one of these days soon......I spent the day cleaning a house that we bought a couple of weeks ago. We had a dumpster brought in for the trash.......one of those big 30 yard ones. Abandoned clothes, dishes, toys, photos, food, etc.....FILLED it to the top. So I am tired, just had a shower and supper, and am going to take a nap till about 9 tomorrow morning.

[Goodpasture]

What the hell..........

My fathers fathers family (the Goodpasture's) was originally Swiss. One man came from Switzerland to Virginia in the early 1700's and began a family. On the other side of the pond, we believe his name was Wollenwieder. When he arrived in Virginia (by way of Wales) his name had changed. So if you meet another Goodpasture (regardless of spelling) you wil find that we are related at some point.

But my great grandpa was a lot like me (rather, I am a lot like he was). Hard working, hard to get along with, pretty easy to take offense but with a righteous sense of fair play.

He never told anyone why he got mad at his neighbor.....granddad was just a boy at the time........but one winter night when it was bitter bitter cold wind sweeping down the plains, he decided he was going to whip his neighbors behind, and settle things once and for all. The neighbor had a wife and two boys. So great grandpa took his wife and two of his 11 sons with him, "just to keep things fair."

[redbird4848]

GP, I love that story. I'd rep you a hundred times, but can't even rep you once. I owe you one.

My parents both grew up living far from any town.

Back in the mid-thirties, my dad said his father was driving a tractor-plowing all nite. He was a small boy and wanted to ride the tractor all nite with his dad. Sometime in the middle of the night, a couple of wolves came out and tried to get at them. He said he remembers the light of the tractor flashing off the wolves eyes and his dad pulling out an old rifle and taking a couple of pot shots at them.

Another time when he was a boy, he awoke in the middle of the night and he could hear his father and uncles outside talking in Kiowa about a mountain lion that had come in close to the house. They said the mountain lion could shriek like a baby or woman crying. And sometimes it would make sounds like the lion was getting further away, when in fact it was getting closer. That night the dogs had chased the lions and they heard the lion shriek as it killed one of the dogs.

[jessaka]

I have used a washboard, and I own one now. You never know when you may need one. I also own a manuel egg beater, because you never know when you may need one, only problem is, if I do I won't have the electricity to turn on the oven to bake. but you can scramble eggs and cook on the wood stove that we don't own yet.

What is a vignette?

Great you got a new house Goodpasture. Your cleanup sounds like what I had to do and am still doing after a year.

I do not like mountainlion stories. Those critters frighten me. Some people have been killed by them in California in recnt years. I was out gardening and heard a strange cat cry. A friend called me off the hill, and when I looked up there was a mountain lion checking things out. It had been 50 feet from my DH and me and was still. I waved my arms and it left. It used to hang out around our place, so I never went out at night. Scary.

I don't like bear, wolf, or coyotes stories either, but I always read them.

-

[TheComputerGuy]

Originally Posted by Goodpasture

I'll get around to it one of these days soon......I spent the day cleaning a house that we bought a couple of weeks ago. We had a dumpster brought in for the trash.......one of those big 30 yard ones. Abandoned clothes, dishes, toys, photos, food, etc.....FILLED it to the top. So I am tired, just had a shower and supper, and am going to take a nap till about 9 tomorrow morning.

I figured a smart guy like you would have schousse doing all that stuff.

M.

[Goodpasture]

Originally Posted by TheComputerGuy

I figured a smart guy like you would have schousse doing all that stuff.

M.

Nah, she was there, along with a couple of friends (one is part of our investment group), but..........

A nearby town has a pretty good FFA. I know, underage boys aren't supposed to work. But I like farm boys. So when I need labor, instead of going to Lowe's or Home Depot for illegal immigrants, I call the FFA barn and tell the instructor we need four boys on Saturday. He knows which boys perform and which don't, cause he knows how they handle their livestock. So early Saturday morning I have four boys....from 14 to 17 years old......show up. They are like the energizer battery, they just keep on going. A few hours later they have an extra $50/$60 in their pocket and the house is swept out.

In a few weeks (after the first of the year, when the ice is gone) I am going to have 50 or so fence posts to put in. FFA will get another call.

I try to go to their calf fry fund raiser every year ($3.00 for a fresh calf fry dinner.....or hamburger for the squeamish) and I buy Blue and Gold Sausage every year and am always contribute an extra $50 to their trip fund when they are getting ready to go to nationals.

But for the work, the good will, and the good kids......FFA is the best casual labor resource in the region.

[peggydavis]

I think we will try that in the future. The problem is that much of our work would be in the hazardous category, so we only hire 18+.

FFA is a great program. Kids in town can raise animals too, at the school's barn. It really teaches them a lot.

We bought some packages of chicken fajita meat from the FFA. It was really very good.

[jessaka]

List of Mountain Lion Attacks On People in California oops, off topic

Newkirk Herald Journal Front Page News (broken link)

Mountain Lion Attacks from 2001 to Now

[Synopsis]

Back when I was growing up we called that class "Ag." The students in that class all belonged to the FFA, but the class itself was called Ag. I never was into Ag, as I saw alot of pretty disgusting stuff they had to do, like birthing cows and such. I was pretty squeamish growing up but now realize that was probably one of the most beneficial classes in our school for people wanting to grow up and be farmers and ranchers.

[TheComputerGuy]

Originally Posted by Goodpasture

Nah, she was there, along with a couple of friends (one is part of our investment group), but..........

A nearby town has a pretty good FFA. I know, underage boys aren't supposed to work. But I like farm boys. So when I need labor, instead of going to Lowe's or Home Depot for illegal immigrants, I call the FFA barn and tell the instructor we need four boys on Saturday. He knows which boys perform and which don't, cause he knows how they handle their livestock. So early Saturday morning I have four boys....from 14 to 17 years old......show up. They are like the energizer battery, they just keep on going. A few hours later they have an extra $50/$60 in their pocket and the house is swept out.

In a few weeks (after the first of the year, when the ice is gone) I am going to have 50 or so fence posts to put in. FFA will get another call.

I try to go to their calf fry fund raiser every year ($3.00 for a fresh calf fry dinner.....or hamburger for the squeamish) and I buy Blue and Gold Sausage every year and am always contribute an extra $50 to their trip fund when they are getting ready to go to nationals.

But for the work, the good will, and the good kids......FFA is the best casual labor resource in the region.

What's FFA? (Is that like 4H?)

In my day, it seemed there was a lot more work available to kids...
That sure seems to have changed...
How's a kid supposed to learn or earn without being able to get job?
I worked Summers and after school since I was 12.

M.