Category: Stories

Katy Carr Peterson

Aunt Katy Gives an Anatomy Lesson

steer-grill_48-150x150It was summer, and we were in Oklahoma again. Back from the east coast, and our urban life style.

It was early in the morning, and I was at Aunt Katy’s house. I was not very old, I’m thinking 3rd or 4th grade. She asked me if I wanted to go out to the ranch that day; they were going to make steers. That caught my interest as I thought steers came into the world the usual way; I did not know they were manufactured. Being an inquisitive child I asked her, “How do you make steers?”

She replied, “Well you know, they cut off their #%$”. I looked at her perplexed not understanding what #%$ meant. She proceeded to go through a list of slang terms for that portion of the male anatomy, with me looking puzzled the whole time. Finally, in desperation, she said, “They cut off their testicles.”

“Oh”, I said. There was a word I finally understood and being not only an inquisitive child but precocious I quickly cross referenced all the previous attempts back to this word. I learned several words that day for which my mother would have grabbed the soap bar had she heard me saying them.

I did not go watch steers being manufactured that day. I don’t remember if that was my decision or Aunt Katy’s decision, I suspect the later.

Mama Carr

A Bit of Wisdom from Ole Heart

cowMy grandmother had an old milk cow she called Ole Heart. Ole Heart helped my grandmother make ends meet. She would sell excess milk and butter to various folks around town that preferred their milk straight from the cow rather than the supermarket.  She would get a calf from Ole Heart once a year that she raised for beef and put in her freezer.  She and the cow had been together many years.

During the day Ole Heart roamed in the pasture doing her cow thing. My grandmother milked her twice a day best as I can remember.  She had Ole Heart trained to come to call, (more…)

Stories

A Bit of Wisdom from My Father

railroad_tracks418-150x150A cat was napping on the railroad tracks.  A train came along and chopped off his tail.  He turned around to see what had happened to his tail.  While he was inspecting the damage another train came along from  the other direction.  It chopped off his head.

Know what the moral of this story is?

Don’t lose your head over a piece of tail.

I have no idea why he told that story to the 17 year old me!

Stories

A Bit of Wisdom from Don Lorsbach

As told to the 22 year old me…mule-150x150

An old farmer had a mule.  The mule worked hard 3 seasons of the year, but in the winter time the mule just lazed around the barn.  Kicker was the mule still had to be cared for and fed.

The farmer devised a plan whereby he would train the mule not eat.

Just about the time he got the mule trained it died.

Don told me that story, and I just looked at him waiting for the punch line.  He was laughing like it was too funny for words.

I have thought of that story over the years.  There is a lot of wisdom in it.

Juanita Carr Rush

Steak and Kidney Pie

steak-and-kidney-pieOne of my favorite stories about my mother involves Agatha Christie. When I was in high school she really enjoyed reading these mystery novels by the famed English author. Apparently, a popular dish in England and Agatha Christie’s novels is steak and kidney pie. My mother decided it sounded delicious, and one evening when my father was not going to be home for dinner she decided to make the dish. The fact that she waited until her husband was not going to be there will give the reader a clue as to what is coming next.

She found a recipe, and bought all the ingredients. I’m sure the steak and kidney were not cheap. She prepared the dish and put it before us unsuspecting guinea pigs, oops I mean boys. After a bite or two, none of us would eat anymore, and remember we were teenage boys aka bottomless pits. My mother became very upset, and began to cry. The funny part is after a
bite or two of Agatha’s dish, she decide she did not want anymore either.

We never saw steak and kidney pie again.

Juanita Carr Rush

LET’S MAKE A STAND, SHALL WE?

My mother, Juanita Carr Rush, told me a story once about being back home in Checotah, Oklahoma. It was one of the Carr-Fests wherein the Carr Sisters would take advantage of the opportunity of Juanita bringing her boys to have a family reunion. Juanita would have still been in her twenties, with at least one, possibly two, three, or four children

After the kids have gone down for the night (more…)

Mama Carr

Mama Carr – Apple Peddler

I had read on a genealogy site a comment about Mama Carr pedding apples from a buggy.  I asked my mother(Juanita Rush) about that, and this is her response:

This is quite true. She drove two horses (a team) and a wagon, not a buggy. We never owned a buggy. Buggies cost more than we had. A wagon was used on the farm for all sorts of work and also for transportation if you could not afford a car. (more…)

Lisa Boswell Lakotish

Small World

Lisa Boswell Lakotish meets former USS Carr crew member.

I was waiting at a favorite restaurant in Bernalillo, NM Sunday when I saw a man warring a USS CARR hat.

I spoke with him and found out he was on the ship a few years ago.  He knew the history of the ship. I told him how I was related to Paul Carr. It was a nice conversation.

Lisa Boswell Lakotish

David S. Rush

Skinning Rats

It was the fall of 1978,  my son was five years old and my daughter 8.  They were “knee high to a grasshopper” as they say in Arklahoma.  I was attending Central State University, since renamed to the University of Central Oklahoma.  I was majoring in Biology.

Why Biology?  First I had a real love for the science.  Secondly, I had always done well in this branch of the sciences.  I had basically been forced into a business degree program my first year of college and (more…)