Humor & Satire

My grandfather, Ran Akin, was a wonderful country old-timer born in Rogers, AR in 1875, who came to Oklahoma soon after the Sooner rush of 1907.  He farmed and saved his hard-earned money until he could buy his own 40-acre farm, which he did near Norman, where I had the great good fortune to grow up during my earliest years with him and my grandmother Nan, who was a very dear sweet lady.  They both worked harder and longer than many if not most people are required to in order to make a living and have a modestly good life.  In addition to working harder than almost anyone else (our little farm hired work hands during the harvest season) my grandfather Ran almost always had more fun than anyone else while doing so.  So, this category is dedicated to him as an inspiration to me and all the many other people he often made laugh, whether in the milk barn early in the morning, walking behind a willful team of horses in the hot afternoon, standing in line at the feed store on a late Saturday morning or, my favorite, sitting on our closed-in back porch with a bag of pecans and a sack of oranges on a winter afternoon, telling and hearing stories–often very funny ones from a long time ago–when there finally wasn’t so much to do before dark.