Outdoor Corner - Providing a little hee haw from the outdoors

Gene Plihal
Special to the Express

With the drought in full swing in the peace country, I thought this week the farm community would like to read a lighthearted item that I recently came across.

I know it doesn’t have a whole lot to do with the outdoors except to emphasize what robust children farm kids often turn out to be because of the nature of their work, or at least this was the case before GPS driven machinery and hydrostatic drive.

Whatever happened to the old M and H Farmalls that required both feet of a young lad to push in the clutch and all of the power one could muster to turn the steering wheel which took a lot of “power to steer” instead of the power steering and air conditioning standard on lots of machinery now? Maybe hunting and outdoor activities are going the way of agriculture, mechanized, and fully comfortable. Do hunters walk much anymore and drag their game out by hand? Anyway, enjoy:

A letter from a farm kid, now at San Diego Marine Corps recruit depot:

Dear Ma and Pa:

I am well. Hope you are too. Tell Brother Walt and Brother Elmer the Marine Corps beats working for old man Minch by a mile.

Tell them to join up quick before maybe all of the places are filled.

I was restless at first because you got to stay in bed till nearly 6 a.m., but I’m starting to like sleeping in.

Tell Walt and Elmer all you do before breakfast is smooth your cot and shine some things. No feed to pitch, calves to castrate, water to pump, or wood to split.

Breakfast is strong on trimmings like fruit juice, cereal, eggs, bacon, but kind of weak on chops, potatoes, ham, steak and other regular food, but tell Walt and Elmer you can always sit by the two city boys that live on coffee. Their food plus yours holds you until noon when you get fed again.

It’s no wonder these city boys can’t walk much. We go on “route marches”, which the platoon sergeant says are long walks to harden us. If he thinks so, it’s not my place to tell him different. A “route march” is about as far as to our mailbox at home. Then the city guys get sore feet and we all ride back in trucks. The country is nice but awful flat.

This next will kill Walt and Elmer with laughing. I keep getting medals for shooting. I don’t know why. The bull’s-eye is as big as a gopher’s head and doesn’t move. All you got to do is lie there all comfortable and hit it. You don’t even make your own bullets. They come in boxes.

Then we have what they call hand-to-hand combat training. Basically, you get to wrestle with them city boys. I have to be real careful though, because they break real easy. It’s not like fighting with that old bull at home. I’m about the best they got in this except for that Tug Jordan from over in Silver Lake. I only beat him once. He joined the same time as me, but I’m only 5’6” and 160 lbs., and he’s 6’8” and weighs near 300 lbs., dry.

Be sure to tell Walt and Elmer to hurry and join before other fellers get onto this setup and come stampeding in.

Your loving daughter,Gail

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