After our daughter, Elizabeth, graduated from high school, I remember not too long into the summer I told her to get a job. My quote was, "Get out and look. No job will come knocking on the back door!" (Father's emphasis added) A little less than a week later, our neighbor, who worked for an international firm in town, came prancing up the steps. "Is Libby here," she inquired. I said, "Sure, she's probably downstairs in front of the TV." Karen said, "Great!" and proceeded to hand Libby a ten dollar an hour job for the summer. Naturally, my credibility shattered like cheap glass at that moment. I relate this story for background because I thought I had pretty good odds that a job offer wouldn't walk up the back door. For fun (My own, I guess), I often joke with my Hunny Bunny that I'm going to trade her in for a redhead as soon as one walks up the back steps and makes an offer (I still think the odds are pretty slim). Judy usually takes the joke well, but every so often she's enjoyed about as much of it as she can stand. This is just to say the same is true when I call her a cheater in cribbage. She's enjoyed about as much of this as she can stand, so even though there are a few calls that have to go "upstairs" for a review, I'll forever now call her wily, or maybe cagey, but never a cheater. Let the judges consider the following: This morning we're playing the deciding game in the Elk City Open, and suddenly the Hunny Bunny reinserts her dealt cards back into the deck and grabs new ones (She said she was confused and thought the hand was over, even though I had just dealt). This was a new technique, one I'd never before seen, although she did use an old standby of moving and re-moving my pegs IN THE SAME GAME! The is muddy, similar to ancient Anabaptist disagreements over Baptism. The question is: "Is it "wily-cagey" behavior if it is an accident, OR is "wily-cagey behavior just wily-cagey behavior, OR is it only cheating if you get caught?. No matter, we laugh until we cry when these things happen, but every so often I need a judge's review before I get the Mauser out. By the way, I snuck the win out using my own wily-cagey behavior. After the game and breakfast, we pulled out and drove through really dense fog to Vinita, Oklahoma. I wish we could have seen the countryside because the rolling hills and what we could see of the farms looked quite pastoral. We reached Vinita just in time to be met at the door of The Holy Ghost Catholic Church by Father Mike Cashion. Mass was traditional, although the prayers were sung in Latin. Maybe that was because it was the first Sunday of Advent, or maybe this particular church holds fast to tradition. Who knows? After church we beat feet to the Clanton Cafe, which met our high expectations and more. The Chicken Fried steak with mashed potatoes, baked squash, a small green salad, two cups of coffee, and two pieces of chocolate cream by came to a grand total of $10.50, and IT WAS GREAT! The chicken-fry was tender and pan fried, the white gravy was creamy and sweet, the squash was scrumptious, and the pie was included. It would have cost less than ten dollars had we not ordered coffee. It was like being placed in Mr. Peabody's swayback machine. Plump tummies aside, we needed no more food until we rolled into Oklahoma City a few hours later. The trip was uneventful, though the traffic was quite heavy. We're here at the Harvest Church in a suburb outside of Oklahoma City where we'll volunteer with the Mennonite Disaster Services group that is helping rebuild low income housing in Shawnee, Oklahoma, which was recently leveled by a series (4) of tornadoes. Midweek we'll try to beat the next cold front as we head for the gulf. In the meantime, Life is good, especially today, and I hope the same is true for all of you redheaded wily-cagey types as well.
As seen on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives: well worth the drive. Also in Saveur magazine
Chicken Fried Steak Dinner. No cost to share, extra roll, extra piece of pie included, no extra charge. Are you kidding me?
I'd eat here often if I have the fortune of living in Vinita, Oklahoma.
A bunch of booths filled with old people like us. Notice the wily-cagey one in the lower right hand corner.
Frac's Oklahoma home. I had to string the power cord over a limb to take the pressure off the outlet, which is less than securely secured. But Hey, the power works, and the rent is reasonable.
A major mission of the Mennonites is to serve others. In this, they have few equals.
Everyone benefits. In this case, MDS is renting this church building for its base of operations, which adds to the Harvest church's coffers.
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