







A few months ago I asked my grandmother whether or not she would be willing to sit down with me, allowing me to conduct interviews with her about her life. She surprised me by saying she had already written down many of her memories; her son had asked her to do that some time ago. Weeks later, I saw her at a family dinner and she had a yellow Spiral Mead notebook with her. On the cover written in ink was, “1988, The Life of Emma Lee Coward Bomgardner, Bennett – Tuttle, Oklahoma.” She told me she had to look a little while for it, but had found her work.
I took the notebook and let her know I would transcribe what she had written, clean it up a bit, then send it to her for review. The goal was to then send it out to the family.
Last night I began the task of reading her handwritten notes. I was surprised at how much information was there and appreciated that her narrative echoed her true voice. Not many periods, quite a few commas, and no erasing…just, freestyle.
This job is going to take quite a bit of time, but I’ve already decided the rewards will be much greater than the investment. She began writing at age sixty-six. Her first memory penned was how her mother took her and her siblings to visit their grandparent’s home. She said they had to cross a bridge in order to reach their destination and the horse balked at the idea of making the pass. She recalls being terribly frightened as her mother wrestled with managing the horse, eventually coaxing him across the bridge.
I know that adrenaline helps embed memories, and from reading through these pages I can see how and why she might have recalled and written the stories she did. I’m about fifteen percent through the transcription, but today after reading the struggles manifested by the Great Depression…I’m very grateful for what we have.
We are certainly a blessed nation and a blessed family. May God continue to richly bless you and yours.
~Red Dirt Kelly
**1/16/11 Note: “One Voice of the Oklahoma Prairie: My Grandmother’s Memoirs” is now being published. Check THIS LINK to see the posts each week until they’re finished.
Here we are, nine games into this college football season and Mike Gundy has a better record than Bob Stoops. Raise your hand if you predicted this before the season. Anyone? If you do have your hand up, I’m calling you a liar or a massive OSU homer.
I guess I still find it funny that a coach with one loss can be considered brilliant and “having a great year,” but a coach with two losses has suddenly lost his way. Fans are fickle creatures, and the media only seems to add fuel to the fire.
Maybe we’re all in need of a little perspective, and as they say in politics, a move to the middle. A move away from the fringes of the fan bases who either view their coach as the second coming of Vince Lombardi or a no good bum who is slowly ruining their beloved football program all because a national title is out of reach.
What some fans simply cannot grasp is the impact of players on coaches. When a team loses or plays poorly, the coach takes the brunt of the criticism. Does he deserve blame? Absolutely. But a coach’s job is to put his players in a position to succeed. Then, it’s up to those players to execute as they’ve been taught.
Take the Sooners for example. Is it Bob Stoops’ fault when Landry Jones can’t catch a snap that hits him in the hands? Is Stoops on the hook for Jones’ overthrow of Kenny Stills on what could have been an easy six for Oklahoma? Didn’t Stoops dial up the perfect fake field goal call? Should James Hanna’s inability to catch a perfectly thrown football come back to Stoops? Of the course the answer is no on all accounts. I think sometimes we shy away from criticizing college athletes because they aren’t paid and these coaches are making millions. I know these kids are playing their hearts out and I would never question their will to win. But let’s remember, most of the coach’s job takes place Sunday through Friday, and when Saturday rolls around, it’s time for the players to do their job.
Two years ago Oklahoma offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson was the man behind one of the greatest offensive juggernauts in school history. The Sooners put up 50 or more points in nine games and led the country in scoring offense. Sam Bradford was number one in the nation in passing efficiency and OU scored touchdowns on 85-percent of its trips to the red zone.
Was Kevin Wilson a genius two years ago who suddenly forgot how to coach? It sounds that way if you listen to the Sooner Nation. To some clad in crimson, Wilson is predictable, unimaginative, and washed up. Yes, I agree Wilson could have shown some creativity down near the goal line in OU’s loss to Texas A&M. But is it a bad play call to hand the ball to Demarco Murray inside the one yard line? How many times has that play resulted in a touchdown for the Sooners? It just so happens that this time around, the offensive line got no push and got blown off the ball by the Aggies defensive front. Is that Wilson’s fault?
I’m pleading for some perspective here, please. When are fans going to wake up and realize, “You know what, maybe this team just isn’t as talented as we thought before the season started.” DING! DING! DING! Congratulations on entering the world of sanity!
Now that we’re all feeling liberated, maybe we can also admit that Oklahoma State has far more talent than anyone realized. Mike Gundy is a very good football coach and he’s doing a fantastic job in Stillwater, but guess what? His players are making plays at crucial moments of every ballgame. Gundy and his staff have recruited well, and they’ve put their players in a position to win. Right now, the Cowboys are executing better than the Sooners. Brandon Weeden is already mature because he’s 83 years old (actually 27), but with every game, he’s growing up as a quarterback. No Dez Bryant? No big deal. Justin Blackmon is filling his shoes rather nicely. Kendall Hunter is the back he’s always been, and the unsung heroes of this OSU season are the big boys on the offensive line. They’re creating space for Hunter and time for Weeden. So is Gundy all of a sudden some kind of genius? No, but his players are making him look like one.
Justin Gent forced a fumble in the last minute against Troy to preserve a 41-38 OSU victory. With Texas A&M driving for the winning score, Shaun Lewis intercepted a pass to set up Dan Bailey’s game winning field goal. Johnny Thomas returned a pick for a touchdown in the fourth quarter at K-State, a play that blew the game wide open and allowed the Pokes to earn another road win. The right plays at the right time. OSU is getting them, OU isn’t.
For a heavier dose of perspective, consider the fact that the Sooners and Cowboys can still play for a conference championship. Both teams have the chance to end up in a BCS bowl. No, it’s not a national title, but it’s still better than 95-percent of the programs in the country.
Stoops and Gundy will accept the criticism and they will also deflect blame away from the players because that’s just the kind of men they are. Both will admit they don’t do everything right. Stoops desperately needs to find someone who can kick a 30-yard field goal, and he needs to find a way to inspire passion in his team when it leaves the confines of Memorial Stadium. Gundy must find a way to keep his team improving on the defensive side of the ball, and turn this recent success into lasting success. Both men are outstanding football coaches even if their stock seems to be heading in different directions. So before we go thinking that a loss makes a coach an idiot and win makes a coach infallible, let’s realize that the truth is probably somewhere in the middle.
Norman-based Old Hat (OH) Creative is a sports ad agency. Their mission is to tell the stories of their clients, and tell them well. And if you visit their OH website, you could probably park your hiney in a chair for the next few hours because they’ve created enough cool content to keep anyone entertained for a good long while.
But there is a difference when you see their story in person.
If you review their website, you get the impression of energy, humor, sharp and creative individuals who take their work very seriously. Okay – maybe there are similarities between the online and in-person story.
If you review their website you get the impression that the team is cohesive, that they really care about their clients, their craft, about learning and growing…and about performing together as a well-oiled and evolving system, willing to take risks and think without boundaries. Okay, this is getting silly…those messages are clear when you visit them in person as well. Those who are also planning to build a new website for their business or organization may hire a memphis web design expert to achieve a design that represents their brand.
Damn, their website is pretty good at telling their story!
So what can we add for you this morning? Perhaps a third dimension of warmth, of genuine regard for each other as a team. And of the dichotomy between a screaming football stadium of fans where their ads may be running on the big screen compared to the pristine quiet when you walk into their office – all their professionals working on iMacs with headphones on, completely focused on their task at hand.
I spoke to Tracie Hitz, their Director of Business Development, this week and she talked about why she moved from Illinois to Oklahoma in order to join OH. She said that the Chicago area is filled with ad agencies, and a sub-group of sports ad agencies…that it’s a fast paced and challenging life, and fits the image of what you might hope to have working in their industry. At the same time, however, she related that working for the Northwestern University athletic department was – in a sense – an established system with very little room for creative influence in terms of their mission or direction. They already were how they were going to be.
When Tracie moved here, she got two things. The ability to contribute and influence the way OH was developing – she said that founder Zac Logsdon listens to her ideas, considers them and frequently she’ll see them implemented. And, she got “settled down,” a sense of stability and permanence of community. When I listened to her “two things,” I thought… “Well, that’s Oklahoma. Creative and homey.” But it’s certainly OH as well.
And perhaps that’s the thing we can tell you about when wrapping up our shout out this morning. When you walk into the OH “living room,” it feels comfortable. When you talk with their staff, they are friendly and inviting…and funny. And when you think about their website information as a whole, you get the sense that the team is a family.
I spoke to a Norman resident Wednesday night and mentioned I had visited OH and he perked up, “Yeah, they’re making waves around town!”
“Good waves?” I asked, “What kind of waves?”
“They’re well-respected, over-achievers…a really good thing,” he replied.
So, maybe that’s the rest of the story. A creative family of overachieving professionals who make good waves in their community….but you can get that from their website too. And their Twitter account. And their Facebook page.
And…you can get the chance to win a ‘Lil Duey T-Shirt and an OH hat just by Tweeting this article (see icon below), or visiting the new RDC Twitter account and mentioning us. Just Tweet a message and “@RDChronicles” today, and we’ll enter you in the drawing…and contact you tomorrow if you won.
Here’s to you, Old Hat – we’re “tipping our RDC hat” to you and yours. All the best!
***
Editor’s Note: I was a high school drama teacher for eight years. OH Founder, Zac Logsdon, was one of my former students. He and his wife Jill played the leads (mother and father) in our first off-site play, “Cheaper by the Dozen.” It’s interesting that now it seems they are sort of the mother and father of a dozen or so children at OH, all of whom are very special people...warms my heart to see them doing what they’re doing.
(For “Hitting Bottom – Saddlebags First Entry, go here.) I took it as a good omen. I pulled up to the Oklahoma State University Seretean Wellness Center and standing majestically next to the entrance were trees just bursting with fall color.
I took it as a good omen because I was looking for anything to hold on to, and fall foliage would do just as well as…oh, say…the parking meter I was fumbling with. I was on my way to an appointment I had set with the coordinator of personal training. I already feared this woman and I had never even met her.
As I neared the entrance, I glanced at the wall, paused and then stopped to read:
Okay, fine. Rub it in. Use deep words, philosophically crafted to reach down into my literature loving soul and say to me things that I didn’t want to hear because they were so perfect. Ugh. Wow. Deep breath. Okay. I pulled open the door and went in.
Kip, the student attendant at the front desk, was nice, made a joke and continued to make this horrible visit as pleasant as possible. “What is wrong with you people!?” I thought. “I’m trying to be sullen and all scared here, okay?” I didn’t even have time to sit in the waiting area and get anxious. Within two minutes, Joanna was bounding up the stairs with a smile on her face as well. “Don’t look her in the eye,” I continued to tell myself. “This experience has to be bad because I’ve built it up to be – – do NOT submit to her powers.”
Everything after that moment was a blur. Joanna started asking me what my goals were, what barriers were in my life preventing me from achieving these goals, and writing what I said down. “Stop it – don’t write it down!”…I continued my panicked thinking, “If you write it down then it will be real!” She looked at me and smiled again. [Cripes! Smiles everywhere!] Some external force took over my body and made me answer her questions, made me fill out a form and sign a membership, and made me commit to twelve sessions – to be completed at least twice per week. “…And we’ll reassess your goals then…to see if you’re ready to crank it up another level to three sessions per week. You really need to exercise intensely for 150 minutes per week if you want to burn calories and get in shape….” In addition to exercise, you may also need to make some changes in your diet and eating habits. Incorporating food supplements from NativePath into your diet can provide your nutritional needs without derailing your fitness journey.
150 minutes per week-week-week-week-week. The words were echoing in my head like someone had played around with a sound system in the building intercom system.
I don’t even know what that means. I was looking at her but I was thinking, “Maybe if I run really fast she won’t catch me. Even in these high-heeled boots, I’ll bet I could give her a good run for the money.” Then I looked at her. She was petite, in great physical shape, was wearing one of those stop-clock watches and had a determined set to her jaw. I think her jaw was more determined than mine. I gave in…right there in my head I knew she was living what she was talking about and I needed to listen to her.
“Okay,” I replied. “I guess I’m ready to go ahead and set up my schedule. And, oh – hey, I’m writing about this experience on my blog. Would you mind if I took your picture?”
A very brief but real look of surprise and possible fear crossed her face. “A blog? Um, what kind of blog? Is it – is it local?” She hadn’t agreed to the photo yet, and all of a sudden there was a slight change in that determined jaw.
I relaxed. She was human…just like me. “Well, it’s just a group of friends and we write about different things around Oklahoma and about Red Dirt country. I wrote an entry about how I needed to get in shape and I’m going to be following up with my progress – – how things go. I’m kind of scared about it.” Then, she relaxed.
She and Kip posed, the camera flashed, and I walked out the door.
I had no idea a little tiny Canon camera could be that powerful. And, I start next Tuesday morning.
I looked at the trees as I walked out, re-read the quote on the wall, and smiled. “Okay, this is going to be horrible. And, I guess I’m okay with that,” I said to myself. Then me and my saddlebags walked back to my car and drove back to work.
Next time? I almost puke: “Shaking the Saddlebags, Part #1.