Oakie from Penokee Success Story

I often think about the great depression and how difficult those years were for many Americans. But the most inspiring story I have read from that era came from Oklahoma and the survival spirit of their farmers. Millions of acres of farmlands due to three years of drought were turned into fields of dust. Not even a blade of grass or weed could survive. Rather than lay back and starve, five hundred thousand farmers and their families piled their belongings onto pickup trucks and the roofs of cars.With hope in their hearts and a desire to survive they headed west. There they found work harvesting the grape crops of California, they were called the "Oakies". Today they own much of the land in California. It is the greatest American success story, and they did it without a dime or any help from the government.

Times have changed and most of us have become dependent on help from the government. Help has become available to even our illegal immigrants. I am now looking forward to a new administration that promises us relief from the high costs of health care and energy. Lets hope that those promises will be kept. If those hard to believe promises are not kept I will have no choice except to hit the road. But I have no money, car or pickup truck available for transportation, and hitchhiking is against the law. Also no American grape field workers are wanted for the harvesting. Sometimes I wish that I was an Oakie from Penokee in the days of the dust bowl. In those times of trouble I would hop on a pickup truck and go west. Harvesting grapes is a better way of earning a paycheck than praying for a government handout that might never come.
Melpol