Honored Guests - Betty’s Boys
Last night I (Jan Verhoeff) received an email from Oris, telling me that he was going to have some honored guests at his house, and he probably wouldn’t be on the Internet much. So, today, I get an email from Betty, telling me who these boys are.
Betty says:
Those two boys did not tell OG and Patsy they were coming. They made an overnight road trip from Albuquerque to surprise “the ole man”… (with a giggle in his voice) Oris called a little while ago to tell me once again how special my two red headed boys are to them.
Travis was fixing his computer. (and truth be told “just checkin up”) It was hard for OG to leave here and leave my boys; it was just as much, if not more, difficult for the boys to not have OG at their beck and call. Oris has been their surrogate wise uncle/pal/older advisor/grandfather role model since they were born some thirty plus and thirty five years ago. He is their HONORED mentor and his mirrors that respect back to them.
He also said baby boy Braxton was with Patsy playing, so well behaved, credit to his mother Elisabeth.
So, YES, OG was entertaining VERY honored guests.
His “adopted” boys…. and believe me, as the Mom/g-mother. …Oris has more weight with them than any thing I might say. Oris always holds the upper hand. quote “OG says…”
and i don’t think they brought chocolate cake..their presence is present enough
PSS: Travs was a fledgling artist when he was in high school. Oris was a fledling author.
They paired up for OG’s first donkey book. Maybe he still has it.
I just recently found the “art portfolio” with the original mule/donkey drawings.
I swear there were tears in that boys eyes when I gave it to him.
I was just then getting my BAFA so I’m equally proud of them both.
Mountain Lion - A note from Tanya
Hey Oris,
Last night, a mountain lion came in to Kelley’s place, she has the little red mule baby by Idaho named Henry?? She’s the one who was working with Molly Sitala. She lives on the end of K, right before 115 on the north end of Penrose. The mountain lion, came in I think for the chickens, but couldn’t get them, and maybe saw the mule baby. Henry is fine, not a scratch, Cinnamon, his mom, has scratches the whole way down her left side, and a bite mark on her left foreleg. Happened sometime between 4 am and 7 am. Luckily, Cinnamon is ok, and Henry is safe. I think it must be the drought, for one to come in that close. Although, we did have a bear come in next to us a few years ago. We may be taking turns sitting in her pasture with the rifle tonight. I know, I know, but at least I can scare the mountain lion to death!! Even if I can’t hit it!!! LOL! Plus, it’ll be the rifle with a scope, so my aim is alot better!! Don’t wander into Penrose tonight!
Tanya
colorado
http://www.geocities.com/eeyore81240/Mammoth_Jackstock.html
All animals should have:
Freedom from thirst, hunger and malnutrition
Freedom from discomfort
Freedom from pain, injury and disease
Freedom to express normal behavior
Freedom from fear and distress
Another “Mom Remembers”
Oris: Mom. Do you remember Old Buck?
Mom: Yes, I remember that darn mule and your little brother. In the event your dad had a hurried need for a saddle mule, he kept Buck in the small pasture behind the barn. Buck was so afraid his urine would splatter on his legs, horse mules are nasty that way, he’d find a soft spot on which to urinate and make a mess that stunk to high heaven. Eddie was five then. He came up with the idea he needed a special place in which to pee like Buck had. He started using the corner of the step by the kitchen door. And, that got to stinking! I put a stop to that real quick!
Oris: Do you remember how Eddie liked the Roosevelt Monument?
Mom: Heavens to Betsy! I do remember. The WPA went throught the county installing those outdoor toilets. They became known as Roosevelt Monuments. Those toilets put a stop to the summer complaint altogether. They were screened at the vents and totally fly-proof.
The summer complaint, as it was called, was a serious–bloody diarrhea, carried by flies. Many people died as a result of it every summer. From the first warm day when the flies started laying their eggs, until after the first killing frost which did away with flies, people contracted and died with the summer complaint. The Roosevelt Monumnet was a godsend to rural America.
Buck always went to a corner of the corral to move his bowels. He’d stand all humped up, moan and groan and moan like he was dying. Nothing ever wrong with him. He lived to be 32 years old.
The second day we had the new toilet, I was hanging cloths on the line and heard your little brother Eddie, who was five, inside the toilet moaning and making all kinds of noises. I thought he was sick. He had the door fastened on the inside. I knocked. He said, “What you want” I’s busy.”
“Are you sick of something?” I asked. “What’s all the moaning and grunting about?”
He said, “I’s playin’ like Buck when he dumps.”
(Mom and I shared a couple of good laughs about the body functions of mules and men.)
A Starling (by hizzelf)
There is birdsong in the area this morning and a faint scent of “feed lot” easing in on a slight breeze
A lone Starling standing atop the power pole. I opened the window and hollered, “What the heck you doing on my pole?”
He answered, “I don’t know for sure. Just trying to make sense out of stuff I know nothing about.”
“That, my feathered friend is called life. Now remove yourself from my pole.” He left.
Phone conversation with my mother on her 98th birthday
Oris: Happy birthday, Mom.
Mom: Thank you son. What are you doing today?
Oris: Not much. Just calling to wish you a happy birthday. how does it feel to be 98 years old?
Mom: I don’t feel much different that I did when I was 97. However, I’m having trouble with my mirror. The darn thing needs a tune-up.
Oris: Why does it need tuned up?
Mom: I don’t remember dropping it, but then, too, I can’t remember what I had for breakfast this morning. I must have dropped and rattled it good because it shows me to be as old and wrinkled as a twenty year old prune.
Oris: My mirror is playing the same tricks on me.
Mom: You can’t be that old. It seems like yesterday when you put in your appearance. We were overjoyed at your arrival. Times were tough then.
Oris: What do you remember most about those days?
Mom: More than I care to remember. When you were two months, Uncle Ira came to visit. He and your dad spent two days complaining about everything under the sun. They both loved mules and talked a lot about them. Ira was getting ready to sell his four big draft mules because he was buying a tractor. Your dad tried to talk him out of selling those mules. I told them tractors were a godsend to horses and mules. When I was young I saw men who worked their mules and horses until they were skin and bones. Others didn’t fit the harness right and the mules or horses had all kinds of sores. I remember Dave Hardy hauling rock for the county. He pulled the guts out of his teams. There were a lot of farmers who cared for and treated their animals well. But there were others who abused and underfed and didn’t take good care. I use to get so upset when I’d see people running their horses up hill or pulling their guts out in the fields.
Can you imagine this? If we still drove horses, as many people as there are now, think what the fly problem in town would be like and the amount of manure that would have to be moved. Every time I go by the bank, I want to hold my nose because I can almost smell the manure. Where the bank sits was the livery stable. Three huge screen flytraps were in the front of the building on Main Street. Sometimes they would be full of flies, buckest full of buzzing flies.
Oris: Do you miss those days?
Mom: Hell no! I don’t miss those days. No one in their right mind would want to live then. Often people will say to me, “I sure wish I could go back to those days when you were young. Bl-Bla-Bla!” I tell them I’d like to go back, but no further back that the microwave oven.
Ol’ Sam, a mule
“Charles. If you had a lick of sense, you‘d have sold that cussed mule years ago. Here we are in the middle of haying season. Now, you’re going to be laid up for a while.” Mom said. Her skirts snapped as she left the room.
After sixty-seven years, those were words my memory returned to me this morning.
I was seven years old that muggy summer of 1940.
Mr. Meadow Lark Has Moved
after driving me crazy every morning , by announcing the golden gong of the rising sun, with calls and trills that drove my gate post to drink, Mr. Meadow Lark has moved. I posted an ad at the local hardware store. For rent: The top of one power pole with breath taking view of the river. First month’s rent free. Starlings and Blackbirds need not apply.
Tanya, This Could Be Fun -
Oris lost his password and can’t get in here - we can do all sorts of stuff in his blog without him being able to adjust, edit, or delete us!
What cha say girlfriend, shall we rile up the natives?
Tanya Writes about Meeting Oris George - 1st Segment
After much thought, I figured I’d write down the story of how we met Oris George. This will be in a few segments, as I have too much info on Oris George to fit in only one story. Stay tuned for the continuing saga.
Jon and I did lots of research into owning mammoth donkeys before we purchased any. We’ve been on the Yahoo donkey’s lists for years now, learning all we can about mules and donkeys, studying, wanting to give them a good home and take care of them in the right way. For a few years, I had heard about, and “talked” to Oris thru the internet. He always cracked us up, and we awaited the day that we’d finally get to meet him. He eventually moved to Lamar, Colorado, and we thought great, we’d get to meet this wonderful man in person (there are still people on the Yahoo Mammoth’s list who think we all made Oris up and he’s not a real person!!). I don’t know if you guys know this, but a few years ago, Oris had the privilege of taking his mules and driving them in the Rose Bowl Parade in California. We also wanted to give him a small donation to help his expenses for his Rose Bowl fund.
Granada, Colorado used to have a mule and donkey show, so Jon and I geared up and drove the almost four hours to meet the great man, and see the Mule and Donkey show. Oris told me beforehand, that he’d be wearing the “Gus” hat, and we couldn’t miss him. Well crud, half the people there were wearing Gus hats, and at that time, we didn’t even know what a gosh darn Gus hat was. We felt like spies, hanging around, watching the show, wondering which person was this character, Oris. There was a particularly loud group of spectators at the show, and we finally realized one of them had to be “him”!! One of the fellows got up and left, but went around us and we weren’t able to stop him and ask him who he was.
Eventually another guy got up and walked past us. We stopped him and asked him if he knew who Oris George was. He laughed (I didn’t know why he laughed at the time, but now, after having met Oris and known him for a few years, I understand) and said that was “him that jus’ left” and was walking around the arena. I looked at the man who had left a few minutes before, and wondered why any person on earth would wear a Gus hat???!!! Anyway, Jon and I proceeded to catch up with Oris to introduce ourselves. We finally caught up with him, and timidly approached the gentleman, trying not to laugh at his “Gus” hat (I didn’t know at the time that it really was a Gus hat, they really existed, and Oris wasn’t just making it up so he could wear a funny hat), or his suspenders, and we asked if he was, indeed, Oris? The man eyed us, made us turn around and patted us down for weapons, then asked why we wanted to know?? We explained who we were, and that we had talked to Oris thru the Yahoo list, and we just wanted to give him a small donation for the Rose Bowl Parade and meet him. The man eyed us some more, and asked if we had a chocolate cake. We told him no, and he said he wasn’t Oris and started to walk away. Jon laughed and the man turned around and asked if he was Charles Atlas’ younger brother?? He eyed us some more, a bit intimidated by Jon’s startling blue eyes. Oris finally decided we were on the up and up, and said that yes, he was Oris!! He said he just was afraid we were assassins, out to get him (I still haven’t figured out why anyone but his mom or Patsy would be out to get him, and if either of them would have wanted to, they’d have done him in years ago). He immediately asked again if we had brought him chocolate cake, which we hadn’t, and he said that was rule #1, to always have chocolate cake ready for him. We said we wanted to give him some money for the Rose Bowl Parade, so he stopped and graciously took the money from Jon’s hand. He thanked us and told us next time, to make sure we have chocolate cake too!! That was our entire, exciting first meeting, the honest truth. We learned a few things that day from Oris George:
#1-Always bring chocolate cake
#2-Never, ever turn your back on Oris George, especially if he has a camera
#3-If needed, a stud chain over his nose helps
tanya
Oris George has a daughter?
I heard it through the grapevine and had to investigate. I’ve heard Marcia is a wonder writer and not so far away.
I hope she’s keeping August 23rd open for the Publishing Conference - Fall into Publishing in La Junta, Colorado.
Here she is: