Republican State Legislatures Assume Leadership of Insurrection.

[leaningright]

I'm still trying to figure out if Rev is pulling my leg about actually eating squirrels.

He's not the type for the long rib, and yet, at the same time, am I supposed to believe that he actually eats rodents?

To my knowledge, the only person from Oklahoma living in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is Elizabeth Warren,
and my imagination cannot stretch to picturing the great senator eating squirrels.

If Rev is using me as a mark, he's far too into it to come clean now.
The internet says that people do indeed eat squirrel, and that it tastes similar to rabbit--actually a little less gamey--but I can't imagine people eating rabbit either.

Of course, you know the faith that I have in the internet.
Eats squirrels. Serves it at family reunions as if it were baked ziti and braciole.
No, I think I've been a mark.

Lol... I ain't lying, Mr. Niblick. To understand our eating squirrels you have to know something about the history of people from here. Most, like my family, grew up very poor and used squirrels and rabbits to supplement their food budget. Hunting deer, at least by the letter of the law, was much too expensive for my ancestors. I'm not saying some of my relatives didn't violate the law and slay the occasional deer without the necessary paperwork in hand, but subsistence hunting was common and the most common game taken was squirrel and rabbit. I like them both but squirrel is definitely my favorite. I like it fried like chicken.

Both sides of my family, my dad's hillbilly side and my mom's Choctaw side, survived by hiring out to landowners working in the cotton or broom straw fields. They scratced out a living the best they could before my time. My Choctaw grandmother was born on the trail from Mississippi to Oklahoma, was given a land allotment which subsequently was taken because of her being in arears of a $50 grocery bill. This took place before I was born and her story is not uncommon. My dad's folks bounced around Arkansas and Oklahoma from farm to farm, sharecropping and helping in the fields. I remember my dad saying that my grandpa would give him 5 twenty-two bullets and admonish him to come home with 5 squirrels or rabbits. That's a common story from folks who are from here. My grandma could take those 5 squirrels and 10 cents worth of flour and feed the family of 9 a really good meal.

My dad and uncles taught all of us cousins to hunt and I went a step further and made sure I learned from my mom what to do to get the finished product to the table. She had a deal with us boys. She said that if we killed it and cleaned it she would cook it for us. In my younger days I have eaten, in addition to game birds, squirrels, rabbits and deer, also armadillo, bobcat, beaver, rattlesnake and turtle. Nowadays I just keep squirrel, rabbit and venison in the freezer. I'm quite a bit better off than my parents were at this stage of the game. My son will not likely continue the tradition unless this nation falls upon hard times. He will go off to be a city boy.

I continue to hunt squirrels and rabbits because I love training dogs. I keep a tree dog (I actually have two right now) for squirrel hunting and a beagle or two for running rabbits. I love working with dogs and find great satisfaction when they finally reach their potential.

My older relatives really appreciate the squirrel and dumplings, fried okra and sliced garden tomatoes at the reunion. They are scattered from Arizona to Ohio to Florida. Hardley any of them or their families hunt much, and certainly don't hunt squirrels. But when they come to SE Oklahoma and have the same stuff they ate when they were younger (and it really is good food) they think back to their childhood, appreciate their upbringing. It is a bit nostalgic for them albeit normal for me.

So, Mr. Niblick, you haven't been a "mark." It is really true. But I do love a baked ziti on occasion and I also make a dish like braciole using venison. It's all good stuff.

Here is a link to my youtube instructional video should you ever want to clean a squirrel for eating :



My (now deceased) dog, Dixie is waiting for the parts as I clean the squirrel. I sure miss her as she was a great dog. A good squirrel dog but a better pet.

[Blackwater Lunchbreak]

Lol... I ain't lying, Mr. Niblick. To understand our eating squirrels you have to know something about the history of people from here. Most, like my family, grew up very poor and used squirrels and rabbits to supplement their food budget. Hunting deer, at least by the letter of the law, was much too expensive for my ancestors. I'm not saying some of my relatives didn't violate the law and slay the occasional deer without the necessary paperwork in hand, but subsistence hunting was common and the most common game taken was squirrel and rabbit. I like them both but squirrel is definitely my favorite. I like it fried like chicken.

Both sides of my family, my dad's hillbilly side and my mom's Choctaw side, survived by hiring out to landowners working in the cotton or broom straw fields. They scratced out a living the best they could before my time. My Choctaw grandmother was born on the trail from Mississippi to Oklahoma, was given a land allotment which subsequently was taken because of her being in arears of a $50 grocery bill. This took place before I was born and her story is not uncommon. My dad's folks bounced around Arkansas and Oklahoma from farm to farm, sharecropping and helping in the fields. I remember my dad saying that my grandpa would give him 5 twenty-two bullets and admonish him to come home with 5 squirrels or rabbits. That's a common story from folks who are from here. My grandma could take those 5 squirrels and 10 cents worth of flour and feed the family of 9 a really good meal.

My dad and uncles taught all of us cousins to hunt and I went a step further and made sure I learned from my mom what to do to get the finished product to the table. She had a deal with us boys. She said that if we killed it and cleaned it she would cook it for us. In my younger days I have eaten, in addition to game birds, squirrels, rabbits and deer, also armadillo, bobcat, beaver, rattlesnake and turtle. Nowadays I just keep squirrel, rabbit and venison in the freezer. I'm quite a bit better off than my parents were at this stage of the game. My son will not likely continue the tradition unless this nation falls upon hard times. He will go off to be a city boy.

I continue to hunt squirrels and rabbits because I love training dogs. I keep a tree dog (I actually have two right now) for squirrel hunting and a beagle or two for running rabbits. I love working with dogs and find great satisfaction when they finally reach their potential.

My older relatives really appreciate the squirrel and dumplings, fried okra and sliced garden tomatoes at the reunion. They are scattered from Arizona to Ohio to Florida. Hardley any of them or their families hunt much, and certainly don't hunt squirrels. But when they come to SE Oklahoma and have the same stuff they ate when they were younger (and it really is good food) they think back to their childhood, appreciate their upbringing. It is a bit nostalgic for them albeit normal for me.

So, Mr. Niblick, you haven't been a "mark." It is really true. But I do love a baked ziti on occasion and I also make a dish like braciole using venison. It's all good stuff.

Here is a link to my youtube instructional video should you ever want to clean a squirrel for eating :



My (now deceased) dog, Dixie is waiting for the parts as I clean the squirrel. I sure miss her as she was a great dog. A good squirrel dog but a better pet.

my dad ate squirrel and had a victory garden. in rural illinois, in the 40s.

my dad was actually born in chicago and his dad left the family to be with the mafia.

its had tragic familial consequences up to this very day.

so.... a little about me.

[NiftyNiblick]

Lol...

So, Mr. Niblick, you haven't been a "mark." It is really true. But I do love a baked ziti on occasion and I also make a dish like braciole using venison. It's all good stuff.

Here is a link to my youtube instructional video should you ever want to clean a squirrel for eating :



My (now deceased) dog, Dixie is waiting for the parts as I clean the squirrel. I sure miss her as she was a great dog. A good squirrel dog but a better pet.

Thank you Rev, and also thank you for taking my ribbing in good spirits if I'm not actually a mark.
One related question, though.

You're an educated man.

If your background was as difficult as you suggest, and I of course believe you, how did you manage to educate yourself so well?

Without parents writing checks for my education, I can't guess where I'd be now.
Well, that's not true. I'd be right where I am now because my parents left me a modest inheritance as well.
Absent that, however, I just don't know.

The thought is sobering enough to make me as liberal as I am. Some people obviously need help.

Oh, and one more thing; I could me wrong, but I don't think my avatar above or her predecessors would eat squirrel either!

Your dogs hunt. Mine lounge on furniture. How perfectly appropriate--we're role models!!!

[leaningright]

Thank you Rev, and also thank you for taking my ribbing in good spirits if I'm not actually a mark.
One related question, though.

You're an educated man.

If your background was as difficult as you suggest, and I of course believe you, how did you manage to educate yourself so well?

Without parents writing checks for my education, I can't guess where I'd be now.
Well, that's not true. I'd be right where I am now because my parents left me a modest inheritance as well.
Absent that, however, I just don't know.

The thought is sobering enough to make me as liberal as I am. Some people obviously need help.

Oh, and one more thing; I could me wrong, but I don't think my avatar above or her predecessors would eat squirrel either!

Your dogs hunt. Mine lounge on furniture. How perfectly appropriate--we're role models!!!

To be clear, my childhood and background didn’t seem so rough. It was my parents who had it rough when they were kids.

The Army was dad's saving grace. It provided needed security, steady income and it allowed him to marry, raise us 5 kids and help his mom and dad to own a place of their own. He retired after 25 years and then in a couple of years went to work for the postal service. He retired from there in the mid 90’s. So my raising was pretty much middle class, and by the time I graduated high school dad was doing ok.

He always told us that if we’d go to college he’d pay for it. I’m the youngest and the first to take him up on it. I graduated high school in ‘84, got my BS in Mathematics with a minor in education in ‘88. I was able to live at home the whole time and ended up owing dad $26,840 for my degree. I paid for the rest of my education from there on out. I went to work at the high school (still teach there) in August of ‘88 and had dad paid back by ‘92. My masters completed a couple of years later. That’s the story of my education.

Notice dads way out of poverty, his help, if you will, was by taking government jobs. First the Army and then the postal service. I’ve had a government job (teaching) all of my working career. Contrary to popular belief, I’m not an anti government, abolish all government programs type of conservative. I believe education is the most consistent contributor to one’s rising above poverty. That’s why I’m clinging (foolishly, some say) to my Democratic Party status. Anyway, didn’t mean to wax too political here.

Oh, I would venture that you are correct about the good looking gal in your avatar. She’d probably turn her nose up at squirrel…unless you cooked it first. Then I suspect she really like it.

I like dogs. Dogs that hunt and dogs that lounge. One of the older couples I visit who are no longer able to attend church have Dachshunds. I go visit and both dogs lounge with me on the couch. Of course they expect to be pettet. The couple starts telling the dogs to get down but I assure them it’s ok. I like dogs. I’ll be a role model for either group.

[leaningright]

Lost a colleague yesterday. Cancer. Tough to lose a guy you work with but doubly so in a school setting. Have to help his students, who are also my students, cope with losing a teacher. Also I have his daughter in my 8th grade math class. It will be hard for me to hold her as accountable as I would normally, going forward this year. I have visited with the kids who needed to talk, prayed with the kids who wanted to pray. Being in a small school is a double edged sword in that losing someone is like losing a family member but when you lose someone we are essentially a big family helping one another cope.

Like I said, I’m not helping with baseball this year. But one of my Junior players came by this morning with his fielder’s mitt for me to repair. I gladly restitched it for him during my planning period. I do miss working with the baseball kids.

But school is progressing. We are on a 5 day week schedule until December when we will revert to a 4 day schedule. We will be moving my son to his college apartment in Norman tomorrow. He’s got 3 buddies he’ll be renting with. The apartments are very nice, 4 bedroom, 4 bath, full kitchen, grill, community pool. He’s reading move-in instructions out loud to his mom and me as I’m typing this. He’s just a bit excited. I’m happy for him and encouraging him to make the most of getting his education.

[NiftyNiblick]

This morning I got to play someplace different--I was invited to play at a friend's club, reciprocity for my having invited him.
I'd still be there socializing but he got a call over some minor emergency at home.
Had a lot of fun though, enjoyed the course, but my game will never again be what it was, obviously. That's somewhat disturbing. "Golden years" is a very odd term.
I guess it just means that I don't have to work anymore!

[NiftyNiblick]

Here's a thought for you, Rev.
You're a math guy and I'm not.
This morning, it occurred to me why.

I took my SAT tests in 1963 and didn't bother to re-take them in my senior year of high school the next year.
I got a half-decent 685 on the comprehension part but a very pedestrian 535 on the math half.

Now I know why.

(Hits + Bases on Balls + Hit by Pitch) / (At Bats + Bases on Balls + Hit by Pitch + Sacrifice Flies) = On Base Average. Sacrifice Bunts are not calculated.

(Total Hits + Doubles + 2x Triples + 3x Home Runs) / At Bats = Slugging Average.

On Base Average plus Slugging Average = the On Base + Slugging Performance Index

There it is.

The most critical calculations that we ever have to make in life can be accomplished with no more than long division.
Hell, we can do our golf and bowling scores with just addition!

[leaningright]

Here's a thought for you, Rev.
You're a math guy and I'm not.
This morning, it occurred to me why.

I took my SAT tests in 1963 and didn't bother to re-take them in my senior year of high school the next year.
I got a half-decent 685 on the comprehension part but a very pedestrian 535 on the math half.

Now I know why.

(Hits + Bases on Balls + Hit by Pitch) / (At Bats + Bases on Balls + Hit by Pitch + Sacrifice Flies) = On Base Average. Sacrifice Bunts are not calculated.

(Total Hits + Doubles + 2x Triples + 3x Home Runs) / At Bats = Slugging Average.

On Base Average plus Slugging Average = the On Base + Slugging Performance Index

There it is.

The most critical calculations that we ever have to make in life can be accomplished with no more than long division.
Hell, we can do our golf and bowling scores with just addition!

So true, so true. Simple math gets everything of importance to normal, everyday life done. I use golf to teach my 7th graders about positive and negative numbers. I actually had beginning bowling in college. Our final was calculating the score for three marked games. The first day of class I bowled a 235 and the instructor asked my buddies (a couple of other math majors) and me why we were in there. We just needed a HPER credit and liked to bowl so we took bowling.

On a serious note, it seems we like to herd every High School student down the college pathway. At least that's the way it is in Oklahoma. I am agianst that. I think more focus on basic math skills would be much more beneficial to most kids that I teach than trying to get them to learn about the first derivative of the Quadriatic Formula. They'll never make me the Math Czar of Oklahoma though.

[NiftyNiblick]

Teach them how to balance a checkbook, and how to be smart about handling their own money.
The basics.
Everybody needs that.

I had a close friend, now deceased, who was outstanding in college math and absolutely stupid about managing his money.
Plenty of intelligence. Light in wisdom. And like most of us, somewhere in the middle with sanity. Three totally different things.

We need to teach some folks how to split the atom, but we need to teach everybody the math side of life skills.

[leaningright]

Life is pretty boring right now. I go to work and come home. It’s hot. Was 105° today. The weatherman claims that we’ll see a 20 - 30 degree drop on temps after tomorrow and that we should have a cooler than normal August from here on out. Hope he’s right about that. If so I’ll be leaving work at 2 and driving straight to the golf course on most Tuesdays and Thursdays until the time changes in October.

Enjoying the baseball down the stretch. Really enjoying the Yankees collapse of late. They may have gotten out to too big of a lead in the division to be caught but it’s down to single digits as of today. If they mess around and lose the division it would have to be called a monumental collapse.

Cards just walked it off on 3 walks and a hit batsman in the bottom of the night. We’ll take it but what happened to pitchers being able to throw strikes? I may be too old fashioned for the modern brand of baseball. Our kids are having the same problems this year. In 6 games they have over 70 walks and hit batsmen combined. Hard to find a win that way.

[NiftyNiblick]

They have pitch counts in Little League now.
Kids don't get to develop their arms when they're young anymore.
They simply don't throw enough while they're too young to injure their arms.

We used to play ball every day in the spring from when school ended until it got dark.
Once the streetlamps came on (a city thing), it was time to head home for dinner.

Now, they can't throw strikes and they can't throw complete games. They can all throw 95, though.
Maybe in time the circle will go around.

[leaningright]

What a great day. One of the things that came from COVID is having virtual school days. I don’t like them and would much rather teach in person but I am not in administration so I just do what they tell me to do. I teach 4 classes this year so I stayed at school until 6:30 yesterday putting together virtual instruction (YouTube videos) and assignments for a virtual day today.

When there is a virtual day I essentially get to do what I want to as long as I am available to answer questions from 8 to 2. So I grabbed a hotspot and my phone and went to the golf course this morning. The kids had no questions so I wasn’t bothered at all. I was able to get 18 in with a friend then come home and rest a bit

After the missus got home from work we took a watermelon from the garden and some venison summer sausage I had made to a man from church who is battling cancer. We visited with him and his wife for about an hour then we came home and I took her fishing. We fished for a couple hours, enjoyed the peaceful creek which we had to ourselves. We did catch a fish apiece but let them go.

Now I’m watching MLB’s The Big Inning. It’s been a good day. Now if the Cards can just beat the Diamondbacks that’ll be the icing on the cake.

[leaningright]

They have pitch counts in Little League now.
Kids don't get to develop their arms when they're young anymore.
They simply don't throw enough while they're too young to injure their arms.

We used to play ball every day in the spring from when school ended until it got dark.
Once the streetlamps came on (a city thing), it was time to head home for dinner.

Now, they can't throw strikes and they can't throw complete games. They can all throw 95, though.
Maybe in time the circle will go around.

Street lamps. I wanted to respond to this the other day and forgot to. I had street lamps until I was 8…then we moved here and we have security lights. I do remember playing with the neighborhood kids in the yards (except one “get off my grass” guy’s) and in the street until the lights came on. Even then we might play hide and seek until mom or dad called us in.

[leaningright]

Been a while since checking in on this thread. Got to update here every now and then. My teaching schedule is a bit more demanding this year but not helping with baseball keeps my evenings free. I finally gave in and paid a yearly membership to the golf course that I frequent. I get off at 2 pm and meet my friend twice a week for a round.

Getting a few football tickets to a couple of early games so we have an excuse to go see my son. We plan to go watch Kent State if it works with his schedule and I can get someone to fill in to preach for me.

In the meantime I’ve gotten to see my Cards on TV two days in a row. Playing the Braves this weekend. Hoping we can find a way to pull this 3-3 game out tonight. If we could pull this division out it could be a fun Fall.

[NiftyNiblick]

The "best" part about the Red Sox sucking so badly this year is knowing that the Patriots and Bruins are going to suck just as badly.
Boston College is going to suck too. Harvard may be on TV once or twice, tops, but if I want, the tickets are sure easy enough to get.


The Celtics should at least have a winning record, but they play a game that can't usually keep me awake.

Ty Cobb actually called it "niggers running around in their underwear," I've heard, but other than being able to hit really well,
I understand that he was pretty much a complete asshole.

Overt racism aside, Cobb died in the Bill Russell-Bob Cousy era when the game was a bit more watchable.