Wild West Tall Tale

Grunt: "Oh, you’re not a heathen, Mindful… But that Oklahoma thing…"

Well, I have been informed by some Christians that I'm not a Christian, when I express some quibbles with their Christian Fundamentals. However, I seem to myself a heathen, "informally" speaking, the uncultured or uncivilized person. It's the Wild West upbringing. Muddy barn boots on the white shag carpet. (Don't mind me, I'm just rambling.)

Wild West upbringing … recalls this story:

Dad & my older brother & I took a station-wagon vacation to points East, end destination New York (where we met Mom and our sisters who flew in) for the '64 World's Fair. At some restaurant stop in Pennsylvania, my brother ended up regaling some local kids with a big Oklahoma-style put-on (the stuff you find out in the cow pastures). He told them about how we were moving to New York, how we'd barely escaped the state, fleeing from the burning fort with wild Indians shooting arrows at us, how we'd lost our mom & sisters in the attack. The kids were big-eyed, but some harbored doubts, until he showed them our Oklahoma license plates. Then they were convinced.

:D