Being Related

..."Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you."  Mark 5:19

We took a trip to Portland, Oregon over the summer.  I was amazed at their greenness.  I was wowed by snow in July.  I was aghast when I returned home to 111 degree temperature.  But, what has stuck with me, besides a secret longing to move there and never have 100 degree summers again, was how me and my distant cousins were definitely all RELATED.

My great-aunt Norma (my mom’s dad’s sister) had come to Oklahoma to visit several times throughout my life, as had my great-uncle Don, my cousin Kari, and my cousin Erik.  But, they have another “kid” I’d never met.  His name is Mark, and he’s 50, so he’s hardly a kid, but the last time he’d stepped foot in Oklahoma was in 1973 before I was born.

He told stories of putting a toad in my grandma’s drinking water and how she was going to beat his butt.  We exchanged grandma stories and related quite well, right off the bat.

Did I mention that I run a small toad farm here, and that my kids love toads?

Mark’s family and mine took a trip out to Multnomah Falls and hiked all the way to the top.  On the way through the pedestrian tunnel we bought bags of rainier cherries that we stowed away in the minivan and then returned to after our hike.  We all sat out in the parking lot with the windows down blowing seeds out our mouths like uncouth cannons into the parking lot the exact same way.  I said it was like we were all related or something!

And then he said those fateful words that led me to believe that some ties must be genetic.  He told my kids, “You betta check yourself, before you wreck yourself.”  I tell my kids this all the time, but I hadn’t yet said it in front of the Oregon folks.  I told Mark that I tell them that all the time.  He said, “Those exact same words?” and I said yes.  Funny how an affinity for Ice Cube quotes could be common halfway across the country.  Coincidence?  I think not!

So then the other day, I was out rinsing off the crystals we got at the Great Salt Plain with the hub and I wondered if they’d lost their saltiness.  So I licked one.  Yep.  Tasted just like a rock.  My husband looked at me like I was nuts. 

A few weeks later, I was sitting out at the picnic table with the hub going through the crystals and our youngest son came over to see what we were doing.  He picked up one of the crystals and licked it.  Again my husband rolled his eyes and looked at us both like we were nuts. 

Then a couple of weeks ago, my dad came to visit.  We were sitting at my kitchen table showing him the crystals we’d dug up when he picked one up and licked it!  I died laughing because that made three generations of rock lickers!  Good grief!  My stepmother was quick to note that SHE did not lick the rock.  I said it must be a Taylor thing.

So the next time you’re thinking “why did I do that?” you might look no further than the people you’re related to. 

And for the record, I don’t lick ALL rocks.  I think that’s an entirely different syndrome altogether and I am (so far) undiagnosed.

Hug your family today.  You’ll need them to blame later!

The Great Salt Plains

"You are the salt of the earth.  But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?  It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men."  Matthew 5:13

After driving approximately 267 miles from home, with a detour to Ponca City to see the Marland Mansion, and another stop in Enid to see Leonardo's Discovery Warehouse, and find a hotel room since the Little League World Series was in town, we finally made it to the Great Salt Plains of Oklahoma.  Unfortunately, we had no idea where we were going and went east when we should have went west and ended up on the east side of the lake where there is actually water.  There wasn't a whole lot of scenery in the area.  Apparently the wheat harvest is just getting started. 

We asked several people where to dig crystals by the lake, but they'd only heard of it and had never been there themselves.  Okay, we drove 267 miles and these people had never been there?  Anyway, we found a bathroom and vowed to press on and find the salt plains before sundown.  We also conveniently found a water hydrant outside the bathroom with a hose so we filled up our two water containers with lids that we had in my trunk. 

Things you need to know #1 - you'll need jugs for transporting water, possibly long distances, so you'd better have a lid for it unless you want a wet trunk. 

The outside of the bathroom also had a map of the lake area, so we figured out we were on the wrong side of the lake.  We were approximately 20 miles from where we needed to be.  And we were burning daylight! 

Thing you need to know #2 - The digging area is located on the west side of the lake, west of Jet, Oklahoma.  There is a dirt road cutoff that we took that takes you to the salt plains.  There is a large sign on the right-hand side of the road for the cutoff.  3 miles on dirt road, 1 mile on pavement.  My car can take it!

We finally arrived about 8:00pm, but I'd forgotten my camera at the hotel and so there is no photographic evidence of our maiden entrance into the great salt plain.  I will tell you, it looked a lot like this.  Only I was totally freaked out driving out into it.  There were no other people there.  The bathroom and "scenic" overlook greeted us at the gate and then let us out into the white plains ahead.  It was probably a quarter-mile to the parking area from the gate/bathrooms and it was completely white and sandy.  To me, it felt like we were driving out onto ice, or snow, or water, none of which I am a fan of driving out onto.  I felt a bit claustrophobic or something. 

Then we arrived at the designated digging site and our excitement was only briefly squelched when all four doors of my car were nearly ripped off their hinges from the constant wind gust we experienced while we were there.  I instructed the children to "hang onto your doors" and then we tried again.  This time, no doors were nearly damaged.  Unfortunately, I had to pop my trunk and the wind tried to take off with it too.  It bent the hinges of the trunk so that it closed funny until we got home and my husband took a board to it.  Now it is as good as new.  Well, close.

Things you need to know #3 - It may be quite windy out on the salt plain.  Hang onto your doors, even if it doesn't sound windy to you from inside the car.

We dug about 30 minutes before the sun turned a deep red color that was warning me to get the heck out of there before it was pitch black.  So we heeded its warning and vowed to return in the morning.

The hub was so excited.  He said he'd never done anything like this in his life.  I told him that made sense since this was the only place in the world you could do anything like this.     

  

  

This is us the next morning.  We arrived at 8:00am.  We were the last ones out on Saturday night, and the first ones in on Sunday morning.  We began to wonder if very many people visit here or not?  Anyway, that's the hub and children up there with visual examples of our water jugs, and our digging gear.  We wore pool shoes and brought along regular shoes to change into after the digging was over.

Things to know #4 - you'll need a shovel, and possibly a change of clothes/shoes.  Oh, and sunscreen, definitely going to need sunscreen!    

Yes, the wind was blowing 999 mph on Sunday too!  

  

Obviously people had been here before, but it really is quite deserted.  We felt like we were at the end of the earth or the surface of the moon.  I wonder why more Hollywood Armageddon movies aren't filmed here?  Apparently the military used it as a test bombing site during WWII.  There is a sign when you first go in instructing you what to do if you find any leftover bomb paraphernalia.  *Call 911!!*

  

The salt plain is also home to the Least Tern, whom we saw several times.  Kind of like a killdeer, but smaller and faster and tougher.  Most killdeers I know make there homes in cemeteries, where there is at least grass.  These guys have NOTHING!  I don't know how they do it. 

  

 It goes without saying, but it is very salty - hence the name, I suppose.  Salt crystals actually form at the top of the abandoned holes after the water evaporates.  I was apparently the only one in the family that was fascinated by this because.... 

...  the "boys" all headed straight to work.  I told the kids, "Stay where we can see you" which by all accounts was approximately 10 miles in any direction.

Here they are digging the hole.  It is just sand, so it goes pretty quickly.  The hub decided the best bet was to find the clay "bottom" and start there.  He had quite a bit of luck with this theory. 

  

After digging the hole, we filled it up with water and then started scooping through the sandy soup with our hands.  If you find something hard that almost cuts your finger off, then you've found a crystal.  We worked for about 2 1/2 hours this day and finally..... 

More people showed up!  Some were ill-equipped.  Some dropped their buckets and they immediately flew right to Kansas.  Some probably had their doors ripped off like I did.

  

And this is what we found.  Singles, clusters, all shapes and sizes.  Selenite crystals!  And no fingers were even lost in the process. 

When we got back in the car and began to dry out.  Even my jeans began to crystallize from all the salt on the ground.  I was glad that I'd asked for a late check-out from the hotel and that we could all go back and take a shower before we headed home. 

Things you need to know, #5 - You're going to need a shower.  Sand is not my friend. 

I suspect that our ease and success of finding so many crystals in such a short period of time was based on the fact that we were there relatively early in the season.  The Great Salt Plains open on April 1st and I suspect are quite picked over by October when they close.  So, if you're planning a road trip, here's my advice:

• Secure a hotel room in advance (just in case the World Series is going on or something).
• Take bags for dirty clothes.
• Take large sealable containers for water.
• Take small containers for rinsing/transporting crystals.
• Don't forget your shovel and spade.
• Wear clothes you don't mind ruining (although miraculously it appears everything came out of the clothes we wore) .
• Take extra shoes, sunscreen, and water to drink.
• Make sure you go to the west side of the lake instead of the east, unless you need water and don't want to drive all the way back to Jet. 
• Fuel up before that last strip of highway through Nash and Jet.  Gas was 30 cents higher there per gallon than in Enid!     
• Get ready to get dirty!!   

The kids are already asking when we can go back.  I am not a road warrior by any means, but I suspect we'll visit again.  Probably not this season, but perhaps when we run out of crystals. 

Now, what to do with them all??? 

Summer Travels

“… but no stranger had to spend the night in the street, for my door was always open to the traveler…” Job 31:32

We’ve had quite the travels in the past two weeks!


We’ve seen the road to Damascus (Maryland).


We’ve been to two Mount Vernons (Missouri and Virginia).

We’ve seen the road to Cabool (which I think sounds a lot like Kabul).


We’ve been in two mountain ranges (the Ozarks and the Appalachians).


We’ve crossed Turnback Creek and didn’t turn around.


We’ve been to the Potomac (or Potomatic if you’re talking to my kids).


We’ve been in at least six states and the District of Columbia.

We’ve traveled more miles together than ever before.

We’ve been on strange roads in a strange car traveling 60 miles an hour while the rest of the non-HOV-laners stood still.

We’ve had to pry our fingers from the steering wheel.

We’ve been thankful for GPS and the destination of “home”, which really wasn’t our home, but we didn’t care.

We’ve seen history, and gluttony, and mutiny, and revelry.

We’ve been thankful for on-time flights, little traffic, speeding metros, and the Tourmobile that would pick us up when our legs threatened giving out.

We’ve been glad for water rides when it was 105.

And we’ve been glad to return home to our own beds and dream about when we’ll do it all over again!

But we think we'll stay home the rest of the summer.  

Maybe. 

Star Cash Grocery

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven."  Ecclesiastes 3:1

I got the call last Thursday. 

Ok, actually I read it on Facebook, the source of all my knowledge. 

Star Cash Grocery in Commerce, Oklahoma was closing its doors forever at the end of the day. 

"So what?" you say. 

Well, Star Cash Grocery was right down the street from my Nanna's, about 2 1/2 blocks away.  It was where Nanna shopped.  It was the source off all my candy bars and cans of Dr. Pepper.  And it was my last chance to take my kids there. 

And so, a road trip ensued that took us to Main Street Commerce and of course I took along my camera to have a final Kodak (actually Canon) moment with a grocery store I'd visited a gazillion times as a kid. 

Here's my Star Cash Grocery pictorial, kids included.
 

This is the front of the store with the original sign.  You'd probably have to be looking for it or know where it was. 

This is the back of the store where my Nanna always parked her gigantic car.  I parked my car there, like I owned the place, right in her spot.  Picture a giant brown Buick Century and you'll have my childhood memory. 

The Nutrena sign stems from when the store first opened 74 years ago and was a grocery/feed store.  A one stop shop.

This is Janet working the meat counter at the back of the store.  Well, really it is the middle, if you count the back store room, but it was the back of the store to me for years since the public isn't usually invited to the back room.  Janet worked at the store for 28 years according to the Miami News Record, but I'll just say she worked there my entire life.  I used to babysit for her when her oldest was a baby.

The meat couter was always run by Junior Geren.  He was always bald, always wore glasses, and most always wore a white apron that would have some kind of blood stain on it from cutting meat.  He made sandwiches at lunchtime and wrapped everything in white butcher paper with masking tape and hand wrote with a pencil the price of the item.  Janet would ring you up at the cash register up front, which is where I remember her most. 

Here's Junior's butcher block behind the meat counter.  I was always told not to touch it because there might be worms on it.  Or maybe it was germs.  I think I heard worms. 

Do you know how many slices of sandwich meat I watched that man slice as a kid?  Me neither, but it was a lot.  Years later I would be very familiar with a similar machine while doing my stint at Arby's. 

Not sure what happened to the old scale, but here's the white butcher paper I was talking about.

See that handled door there to the right of the butcher block?  That's where I got my Dr. Pepper.  Notice the funny signs.  One says "Bald is Beautiful" and the other says "Oklahoma Motorcycle: Cowasocky" and has a picture of a cow wearing socks. 

This is the door to the cooler space behind the meat counter.  There used to be cow carcasses hanging in there waiting for Junior to cut.  I also remember him saving big bones in there for one customer's LION!  I guess it was true.  Could have just been for a big dog.  I was a gullible child. 

That's probably a 74 year old collection of stuff, right there.  There may even be something I gave Junior up there.  Who knows?

One fateful day, I had to use the restroom while I was at the store and was ushered into the backroom.  There was a small closet of a restroom there and I remember it being scary and thrilling to get to use the bathroom at the store.  I didn't get out much.  The door barely opened wide enough for a person to enter.  I tried to take a tasteful picture of the bathroom, but couldn't so I took a picture of the toilet paper holder to show you its luxuriousness. 

While we were back there I found this.  I think it or a smaller one like it used to sit up front by the cash register, right inside the front door.  It used to contain popsicles, if memory serves me right.  I believe the wearing on the finish is from butts sitting on it.  My memories.  My story.  And I'm sticking to it. 

Ok, continuing our grand tour.  You see the meat counter there in the back?  Then there was the left aisle, the center aisle, and the right aisle.  Left aisle had cereal.  Center aisle was home to pecan pies, donuts, and bottles of pop and bags of chips, right aisle was produce and soup. 

I picked out cereal here.

Bananas and potatoes and such here. 

And here's where we weighed them.  Still works.   

Here's where cold stuff was found.  I seem to recall hotdogs and perhaps packaged cheese, but I'm having a hard time visualizing contents here. 

And the soup was here.  And dog and cat food, I think. 

Moving forward...  Hey, who's that yay hoo coming in through the door?  Looks like a relative.  Grandpa EB.  He's the snazzy dresser in the family.  He acted like he didn't know me...  to the other four people in the store who knew darn good and well who he was to me.  I'll steal his sweat band later.

Here's where you would push your little shopping cart up under so that Janet could ring you up and bag your groceries.  I can remember hanging by my fingertips and swinging under there.  I was probably like three.  (The legs belong to Janet's brother, Charles.)

And see that candy shelf there in the background.  When I was too tall to swing, I would stoop under the cart thing and then pick out a candy bar before returning to the customer side of the counter. 

A safe was always part of the front counter.  There used to be a second cash register set up on the safe for particularly busy days.  Junior's wife, Margaret, used to put things in the safe.  Probably money, but whatever it was, it was exciting when she had to open the safe.  Margaret also kept houseplants in the front of the store.  I think she had a cactus bloom once that smelled like rotten meat. 

And this is where I always remember Margaret sitting in between customers.  Maybe not this exact chair, but in this spot, over by the shopping carts.  She would answer a big black rotary phone with a curly cue cord.  Margaret passed away many, many years ago, but this will always be her spot. 

I never thought I'd get choked up over an old grocery store, but this place held so many memories of Nanna and childhood and good times that I found my throat closing off. 

Now find one person who gets teary eyed over the SuperCenter! 

This concludes our tour of childhood and Star Cash Grocery.  Please watch your step.  I hope you've enjoyed my trip down memory lane! 

Trotting Down Memory Lane

“I thank my God every time I remember you.” Philippians 1:3

While we were out gallivanting around while we skipped school, I had a little trip down memory lane.


We’d looked up some Russians on the internet that we used to visit, but then they moved and we lost contact, and it had been ten years since we’d seen them, and hoped to see them on our way home from Branson. But alas, it was not meant to be, because they were gone. We found their house though, got their phone numbers from their son who now lives in San Antonio, and talked to them like it had only been yesterday. Isn’t the internet wonderful? It is a veritable smorgasbord for stalkers and private investigators alike, I’m sure.


Anyway, while we were just kind of hanging around waiting for them to call us, I told my husband we should go to the park where I used to show my horse and just see what it all looked like.


King Jack Park, Webb City, Missouri.


We turned by the water tower, just like I remembered. It was just a few blocks from there. I swore they’d moved the pond and there weren’t any Muscovy ducks like the ones we used to ride our horses over to feed bread we’d brought for them special.


There is a bridge that I don’t remember being there.  But I doubt my horse would have crossed it. 


There is also a softball field, and a soccer field, and concrete block bathrooms complete with running water. 


Running water could have come in handy on numerous occasions.


The double-holed outhouse had been removed. Too bad.


But the arena was just like I remember it.

Well, with the exception of growing over and the addition of giant bleachers with a cover over them and wheelchair access.

That cover could have come in handy during our summer shows when it was 999 degrees.  And dusty.   

These were the kind of bleachers we had when I was showing:

They were butt-breakers!


Oh, and the trashcans haven’t changed either. I think we used to use them for barrel racing too.  Georgie's dad used to roll them out. 

(Sorry about the slant.  Apparently I can't climb a fence straight anymore.) 

I showed my horse with the 4-State Arabian Horse Association from the time I was 14 until I turned 18. My first year was my glory year as I was just getting started and knew absolutely nothing. A boy named Georgie was the man to beat in halter and showmanship.


I still remember his skinny legs.


I had a 23YO Appaloosa mare, named Missy, who could not compete in halter against his giant grey gelding, but I managed to qualify for the championship show that year and came in second to old Georgie in showmanship.


The following year, after a lot of washing dishes at the nursing home, I got a decent horse. One that didn’t squat and use the bathroom everywhere when in close proximity to another horse. One that didn’t have to be ridden until frothy, just to take the edge off so it wouldn’t buck me off in the arena. One that actually wanted to go home at the end of the day and would willingly get into the trailer without us being the last ones to leave.


I taught myself to ride English around a corn field because the way these shows were scheduled put halter and showmanship first, then English classes (which took a couple of hours), and then Western and timed events. I could compete all day long.  I think entry fees were $2.00 per class. 

Here's the gate we used to start at:

I remember the announcer's stand used to freak out my horse.

(Again, kind of slanted.  I assure you this is a level arena.)


I used to do wardrobe changes in the back of my one horse trailer.


Always had to watch out for yuck on the floor.


Then we bought the hippie wagon. It was a Chevy RV of some sort. It had once been blue, but someone had painted it with a roller a yellow color, so the overall effect was something close to neon green. It had a small kitchenette, a tweed covered bench/couch in the back, and shag carpeting.


It was horrible!


And it smelled funny.


It is also the vehicle that I first learned to drive. I can still hear the motor. Tick-tick-tick-tick-tick… it always went. And it always had bald tires that eventually went flat at the most inopportune time.


It had curtains so I was able to change my clothes inside it and didn’t have to worry about horse poop.


We used to pull up in the hippie wagon right underneath these trees:

Well, maybe not exactly these trees, but a younger version of such. I hadn’t stepped foot on this property in almost 20 years!


My, how time flies when you’re living!


I took a picture of the kids on one of the trees I was just sure I had probably tied my horse to on several occasions.


The concession/signup building was just as I’d remembered it too. The restroom sign now points to nothing, but I think we used to have port-o-potties for our shows. That was only after the first show I attended where the double-holer was still in action.


I didn’t remember the concession stand having a ride-up window. I must have always gotten my candy bars on foot.

I don’t know if the 4-State Arabians are still in action or not, but their monthly shows from April to September (if I remember right) were some of the greatest times of my life. My mom still houses countless ribbons, medals, and trophies from this organization which I was so proud to earn. I think I even won a saddle pad one year. It was red, white, and black – my preferred show colors.


I hope that someday my little children can attend a horse show just like these used to be, where no matter if you rolled up in a hippie wagon or a six-horse slant with a dressing room and semi to boot, we all had the same chance based on ability.


Now get out there and recapture some of your youth today!