Opa Reads: Recent Episodes
Opa Hous
Seabiscuit’s recuperation lasts several months and then the decision is made to bring both him and Red out of retirement.
Owners, trainers, and jockeys meet together at Pimlico track for the race of the century.
This chapter chronicles the ups and downs of Seabiscuit’s East Coast attempt to run against War Admiral.
Seabiscuit doesn’t race for nearly all the weeks leading up to the Santa Anita race because of owner disagreements and Red’s injury. Two jockeys are tried and it is Sonny who rides in the Classic.
Seabiscuit finishes his wins in California, then head east to set track records and become the winner of the largest total prize money for a season.
Seabiscuit loses his run at Santa Anita, but redeems his reputation immediately after in a smaller stakes race but with a stunning performance.
Seabiscuit heals, gets stronger, and starts winning races—beginning in the East and then out West in California.
Seabiscuit is bought, slowly healed, and given the chance to change from irritable to grateful.
Seabiscuit’s birth and trials during his early years are chronicled up to the point in his life when an old cowboy, Tom Smith, recognizes a horse with “real stuff.”
Robert is beset by an illness of some sort, and she is cared for by family and friends.
Robert does not receive the attention she is used to receiving at dinner time, so she makes a mess of the food items to gain the attention of adults at the table.
Robert ignores the mating instinct as well as the attention of a male quail, she lays 13 eggs, and she swallows a diamond stone.
The author is hosted by NBC which allows her and the Kienzle’s to discover other people who had adopted quail.
Robert enjoys playing chase/tag, she knows how to get attention, and her body proved able to digest even a red cloth ribbon. Three months of vacation came to a happy ending for the Kienzle’s as they returned to a healthy Robert.
Many people visited Robert every week, some who were ornithologists, some artists, and some simply captivated by a bird who loved to make people feel welcome.
Robert demonstrates God-given instinct regarding food, drinking water, fear of birds overhead, and her love of dirt baths.
The Kienzle’s make a good hand off to get Robert into new surroundings, then they leave on their trip. Robert settles into a new routine with Margaret and the three month visit commences.
The Kienzle’s plan a trip to Europe, so the author begins to plan how to care for Robert in their absence.
Robert discovers the joy of the crèche (nativity), a Christmas tree, and the excitement of opening gifts.
Roberts is introduced to snow, he shows a love of warmth from his lamp or from fire, and he survives a bleeding toe injury.
We learn of Robert’s routines, beginning with morning practices, and also of phone conversations, his keen sense of order, and of his head injury from falling while asleep.
Robert, a quail born in Cape Cod, appears out of the last egg found in an abandoned nest and he quickly becomes an attached and social bird in the Kienzle home.
Ralph hosts a celebration dinner for his closest friends in order to share good news regarding his debts, his health, and his engagement.
Ralph discovers a new diet that adds weight to his body, Dr. DeMay hypothesizes the cause for his diabetes, and Ralph once again pursues the love of his life.
Ralph makes a good profit in the butcher and railroad contract business, in his shipping business, and in a two second sheep trading business.
Effie advises Ralph on how to package and sell his meat and products, then takes the orders for him. Mr Donovan arrives to inspect the excellently built and maintained business, then introduces Ralph to the railroad steward/head cook.
Ralph and Nick implement the building plans for slaughter house and meat packing business. The hogs get set to ship in Saturday and Ralph is barely keeping up with so much to do.
Ralph and the bankers reach an agreement, Effie gets the line call out for mortgaged hogs to show up and be bought, and then he and George Miner grade the hogs as they get dropped off.
Ralph meets with success in Omaha, both in selling hogs and in getting the meat contract. Nick is hired to butcher the animals and Ralph negotiates the financing of his operation.
Ralph takes his hogs to Omaha and meets the railroad commissary agent to make a bid to provide meat to construction crews.
Ralph determined to recreate his mother’s Colorado sausage recipe, and he comes up with a plan to bid on the railroad’s butcher contract.
Ralph gets a vision for going into the butchering business when the railroad asks for bids to feed its crews.
Ralph went to trial and ended up owing over $13,000. Effie became his advocate and the neighbors all showed him great support at auction.
Beaver Creek is hit by such a flood that Ralph and Bob lose all their hogs and the entire property gets covered in water.
Ralph gets brought to court by the new bank owners, and he shared how he and Bob’s family worked hard to pull in the same direction.
Bob overextends himself with a new Buick and is exposed to his wife as irresponsible. Ralph helps the family through this trial and then he helps the township by honoring both his commitment to the bank and by his care for his neighbor’s need to retain good stock.
Ralph experiences panic and loss alongside most farmers in his part of the country because cattle and hog prices fell drastically. His shipment went out on Christmas Day 1920 and his work ethic continued to diverge from Bob’s.
Ralph sees the arrival of automobiles and trucks as spelling an end to his wheat hauling business, so he sold out by auction. He and Bob takes on more cattle and hogs, and Bones’ bank is sold to new management.
Bob goes to Kansas City with Ralph to sell cattle and hogs, and it is a good sale because they only lose $500 when the rest of the market is down 30%. George Miner explains his theory on the hog market cycle, and leaves Ralph to extrapolate his own conclusions about whether to put more cattle or hogs into the feed lot.
Ralph puts up with Bob’s fake back pain since Bob has the knowledge and skill to run a cattle and hog feed lot. Their business venture meant many cold days and nights for both of them.
Effie at the switchboard warns Ralph that she thinks any work alongside Bob Wilson is foolish. Bob and Ralph go on to buy all the steers and hogs they wish to buy, and Christmas Day is spent with the Wilson family.
Bob Wilson proves his poor character once again, and Ralph is willing to stand by him yet again…because of his little girl and wife.
Ralph has to hold the line in order to not go into business with a dishonest Bob Wilson. Ralph admits by the end of the chapter that he wasn’t 21 years old when he did his other work with the bank.
Bob Wilson’s poor work ethic and discipline is called out, and only George Miner is clever enough to find a way to lighten the scales so that Bob can’t profit from dishonesty.
Ralph learns the most by listening to George advise friends and farmers regarding cattle and hogs. Practical advice that Ralph will use to start his own herd.
Ralph learns about the shipping business from Bob Wilson, and he enjoys the hospitality of the Wilson family by staying with them during a week of culling out older animals.
Ralph and Judy end their wheat hauling business and begin a cattle trading business. Only Paco will remain with Ralph through the winter, so all the hands leave for Denver.
Just and the crew figure out how to surprise Ralph with a renovated house and bunk room. Mrs Hudson has enough profit from the wheat harvest to move to town and into a house of her own.
The wheat hauling business gets into action as two different properties get managed by Ralph and Judy. The celebration on the first day could be heard a mile away.
Ornery mustangs are brought in from the field, hitched to the wagons, and then each driver gets to practice running down the gulch and up the opposite hill.
Doc is cured of his medicine man ways, the wagons are repaired and made ready for business, and paint is added by Martha and Judy.
Ralph and his team figure out how to build a forge, repair the wagons, drive the hills with light horse teams, and then Judy helped Ralph determine which hauling orders could be accepted.
Ralph and Judy work together to haggle for horses, harness, and wagons to ensure a successful hauling operation.
Ralph does the arithmetic required for a profit analysis of hauling wheat in order to convince the banker to back his venture. The crew enjoys a day in town, but Doc reverts to old habits.
Bones makes a visit to Ralph’s fields in order to assess the quality and value of the crops. Ralph develops his first ideas of hauling crops to the elevator.
The entire crew gets their jobs sorted out, Myron’s family joins the meal, and the muscles adapt to new labor.
Ralph and his crew repair the machinery, learn their new roles, and make an initial practice run. Good good for the crew and good feed for the horses.
Hudson gets killed in his wrath and his wife Clara trusts Ralph to continue the harvest on her behalf.
Ralph makes a successful business pitch to Bones, the local banker. That allows him to get the entire crew to remain willing to stay in the job while Ralph takes over the wheat harvesting operation.
Ralph and the crew learn about the skills of each person, how to work in the field under the oversight of a tyrant boss, and Ralph shares the painful burden carried by the horses under Hudson’s lash.
Ralph learns how Myron Hudson came to be so ornery and thinks of a way to help the crew ensure they get their wages.
Hudson is running a very poor operation with bad equipment, wild animals, and using fear to keep his house and crew together. Ralph ends up the focus of Hudson’s wrath and manages to survive a wild bareback ride.
Ralph gets thrown off the train with a dime in his pocket, then transitions to his next job as a wheat stacker.
Lonnie recovers his self-control and departs Kansas City in a hurry, leaving Ralph chasing $700.
Lonnie does not change his wasteful habits and Ralph enjoys sending a large check home.
Ralph and Lonnie head to El Paso with the intent of doing a bust for an attorney, but it sets them back two suits, luggage, and a hotel suite.
The business goes into full swing as Mabel brings customers to Ralph, and as Ralph learns to keep Lonnie busy and out of the way.
Lonnie’s enthusiastic embrace of being an artist leaves Ralph with the trouble of setting boundaries for Lonnie to stay busy within while not simultaneously ruining the artwork.
The banker approves Ralph’s clay bust, Mabel gets more orders for Ralph, and a visit to the nearby town provides the makings for plaster of Paris. Lonnie’s enthusiasm for Shiftless continues.
Ralph and Lonnie have no luck finding ranch jobs, then their car breaks down, so Ralph takes on the new enterprise of making busts of leading men in the city. He hasn’t actually made one yet, but he has his first contract with a banker.
Christmas dinner developed over the course of an entire day—from fixing the flat tire to milking a wild cow.
Ralph creates an Indian pony from clay, and they camp beside the road to make a Christmas Eve dinner…with a flat tire.
Ralph and Lonnie have a tough time getting even a few miles along the road before the limitations of vehicular travel become apparent.
Lots of work was required to put Shiftless into working condition, and that was not possible without the Larsen’s help. Ralph and Lonnie left town blessed by them!
Ralph reconnects with Lonnie, then enters into hours of wrangling over a price for the car and two saddle outfits.
We learn how Ralph became proficient in Clay modeling, and of its joy to his life while healing in Phoenix.
Ralph reconnects with his friendly train conductor after he leaves the set, and his return to Phoenix brings news about the state of his personal health.
Ralph receives good advice from Ted that gives him insight into how the horses fall, what the obstacles on the set are made out of, and even s bit of pay advice.
Ralph gets on and off trains in the wrong way until he gets away from Lonnie long enough to ask permission to ride broke, then he checks into a Hollywood movie outfit.
The strawberries ripen, tomatoes go to market, corn is canned, potatoes get harvested, and the barn is raised. A great culmination of a full year’s work.
The strawberries plants get ordered, potatoes and sweet corn go into the field, and Uncle Levi figures out how to get a few strawberries to fruit in the first year.
Ralph and Grandfather clear out the chestnut grove and the joy of grandfather’s new personality blesses everyone.
Ralph helps with the road crew and then the removal of stumps us done with the help of dynamite…with grandfather’s blessing and to his great joy.
Annie gets red ribbon and Grandfather “finds” Millie all before Uncle Levi repairs the spreader for the new strawberry and tomato Field
Uncle Levi shows up to help take care of Grandfather, and his main concern is to get good food into him. That is where Annie Littlehale comes in—she cooks a full days worth of food for them and then disappears.
Grandfather and Ralph can’t get the butter to set until Annie is called in to help. The rest of the day is spent picking apples and then topped off by Ralph receiving a used manure spreader.
Grandfather gets rid of one ornery cow in trade for a good milker, and then commences to tell Ralph about an oak crop from 1814.
Ralph finds a new and chipper grandfather when he wakes, then during milking grandfather decides he will trade the brindle to ’Bijah.
Ralph invites Annie to teach him how to cook, but trouble follows that good intention. By morning, though, Grandfather catches a vision for the farm.
Ralph arrived home to an empty house, but is grateful to be back with Grandfather, to see Annie, and to work the Yella Colt. The food is burned, the flies overwhelm things, and the calves are skinny.
Uncle Levi finds Ralph at his elevator job, then he wrestles out what has been bothering Grandfather all these years.
Tragedy strikes as Grandfather continues to suffer from anger and has wrongful outbursts. Ralph and Millie both depart the farm after Ralph had finally built Millie her screen door.
Ralph invents another implement, Millie is plagued by flies, and Grandfather goes to auctions.
Ralph takes time away from grandfather’s cross attitude and gets a glimpse of the beauty of Annie Littlehale.
Ralph returns to help grandfather and there comes a change in their relationship when Ralph admits fault.
Ralph and Millie get in trouble for losing bees, but especially for making a dressing spreader.
Grandfather left for his reunion and will be back in a week, but when the bees left for a new home, Ralph and Millie suffered from stings and from the lost days of spreading dressing.
Grandfather vents his fury and ends up sick in bed. Ralph sees an opportunity to get half of the hay in from the field…but he needs to use the horsefork.
Ralph loses his temper and then learns to keep it in the face of grandfather’s verbal attacks. A fine contraption is lost when it breaks and grandfather sends Uncle Levi home
Grandfather makes a powerful good trade which allows Uncle Levi and Ralph to repair the rake uninterrupted. Ralph also learns to let grandfather be the best at hay pitching.
Ralph helps mend the teeth of the hay rake and then he learns to cut hay steadily with Uncle Levi coaching him.
Uncle Levi begins to discern some of the cause for tension with grandfather, and then he places himself squarely in Ralph’s court by helping plan the repair of a rake.
Ralph decides he can’t abide grandfather’s antagonism any longer, so he plans to go to Colorado the same day that Uncle Levi shows up.
Ralph reaches an understanding with the Yella Colt and Millie accepts Ralph a bit more.
Haying begins with a disastrous day and Ralph is ready to leave for Colorado as soon as the hay gets in.
Ralph learns what a snath is and he receives a verbal assault from his grandfather as they begin their first work together.
Ralph makes the transition to grandfather’s farm by realizing that not all is as it seems to be.
The laundry business goes over the hill, and two May baskets are delivered by the Moody boys.
Ralph’s partnership with his siblings, along with the help of the Medford Fire Department, leads to a hopeful outlook for the family finances.
Ralph and his buddies successfully gather and salvage timber and blocks from the mud flats back to their homes.
Ralph and Grace watch a fire on the big river bridge and it turns into an idea of salvaging wood from the planking and blocks that got tumbled into the Mystic River.
Ralph rescued his younger brother and sister from bullies, but his name ends up in the bad boy book once again.
The laundry’s growing business requires new equipment, and the new business eases Ralph’s mother’s concerned mind.
Ralph bumps a girl while matching time in line, yet he does a great job getting good straight boards from the lumberman.
The plan to buy irons and build basement capacity leads to a zealous scrubbing of the downstairs.
Grace takes lessons from Sam Lee and Ralph delivers their first completed load of laundry.
Furnace and plumbing all repaired, but the fledgling laundry service has trials right from the start.
Mother’s first laundry order comes at the expense of frozen pipes and several bags of coal.
It was a good thing that mother decided to try and light the furnace on Sunday since the disaster that followed could not have been dealt with while guests or laundry were in the house.
The trial of learning how to hang wallpaper and get the house cleaned up were worth it as they got to move in before Sunday.
A survey of the new Moody home shows just how much work needs to be done to get it cleaned up.
Ralph will never try a chew of tobacco again, and Mother gets a whole houseful of furniture.
Ralph scrubs the store ceiling, Uncle Levi visits, Mother improves at the laundry, and a potential house for rent comes to their attention.
Mrs Moody gets a business idea in her head and won’t let the prospect of running a hand laundry seem too hard.
Ralph, Grace, and Mother carry out their final pieces of work in order to depart Littleton without suspicion.
Mother is brought before the Grand Jury and then must decide how to save Mr. Loediker’s life.
Mr. Loediker’s secret is told for the first time, and a little bit of insight is seen in the type of men who settled the west.
Moving thirteen cows from the home ranch to Littleton took many days longer than planned!
Ralph makes a final visit to Cooper’s Ranch and gets hired by Mr. Batchlett to herd and trade cows for the summer
Ralph found that ice skating is hard, but also that he had a lovely sister. Both of them accidentally discovered what fermented berry juice does to good judgement.
Chopping down Christmas trees gave Ralph money to spend on presents and his sister, Grace, gave him good ideas.
The lace curtains are delivered back to the hotel with noticeable craftsmanship, and the hotel manager commended Grace for her skill in repairs and to Ralph he speaks of his ability to invent.
Ralph and mother have a family meeting, all debts get paid off, and Ralph has a successful Carly drive through town.
Another Terrifying Railroad Crossing. Ralph and his siblings learn to get the ties out of the gully and delivered for pay.
Mrs Moody shows great wisdom, compassion, and respect for her son and for his friend, Hi.
Ralph makes Grace a type of partner by confiding in her, and Hi once again runs interference.
Ralph gets Lady back along with a new saddle and hat. About that time he and Grace miss obvious signs until they are introduced to their new sister.
Ralph, Grace, and Philip face a large business loss, but mother is gentle with her response. Mother is also growing wider around the middle.
Ralph, Grace, Muriel, and Philip all earn their way into the berry picking world through ingenuity and a great work ethic.
Ralph modifies a baby carriage for delivering baked goods, and the family is blessed by loving friends throughout the town.
Ralph faces life without a horse. He took mother to town, then borrowed an untried horse to herd cattle.
Ralph goes door to door taking orders for food and milk, and he learns not to raise his voice to mother.
Ralph plows the ground at the house for a garden and then loses Lady in an exchange for a Jersey cow.
Ralph meets the foreman of a cattle outfit and offers to keep cattle out of cross streets when they went through town—for a fee of ten dollars.
Ralph tried to get out of going to school, but settled for deciding to do a good days work in addition to school.
Father gets in a bad accident, takes on pneumonia, and mother’s hand gets surgeon’s blood-poisoning.
Father’s skill at house work promotes him to “boss carpenter,” and Ralph get a principal whipping for standing up and telling the truth. His father says he’ll never spank him again.
Father lost his crops, got shot at, had to sell off the stock, and then go to work on building houses. Ralph remember the best Christmases were when they were poorest.
The Fourth of July and Labor Day roundups were Ralph’s opportunity to show off the horses and his new clothes.
Water Fights result in burned crops and Ralph feels the stress of not being home to see it happen.
Sky High learns to keep the rope tight and his eye on the bull, and he also learns to stand ground tied.
Work as a water boy onMr Cooper’s ranch isn’t bad and Father dispenses wisdom for a boy writing in the midst of cowboys.
And old friendship and a lot of whisky caused Siegfried to end all hopes of being the circuit veterinarian.
James sees himself as the only superfluous object during Siegfried’s interview at the racecourse.
The money scare of 1908 meant some people went hungry, but the Moody house had provisions and warmth.
Three blasts on the whistle and the horses took off. Ralph recuperates well and learns from Father about honest and dishonest men.
The gold panic sets in and the family finds it a blessing to have skills over lots of cash.
Father and Ralph separated beans and peas everyday, and Ralph caught a pheasant every day to help protect the harvest.
A trapped pheasant brings Ralph to Fort Logan to meet the sheriff lest he end up in the hoosegow.
James finds that a simple and safe date to the cinema was a disaster... until he found out Helen was looking forward to the next time!
The family gets a borrowed colt from Fred. Ralph’s parents calculate the value of their bean and pea crop, then Ralph gets poles from the mountains with his father, and the family gets a cellar built.
The end of herding milk cows, a new start at school, and a splinter in the bottom makes for a few fun stories.
The contrast of two houses with very different father-daughter relationships causes James to realize which he would pick.
Ralph’s father enters into the water ditch wars, but later prevails with an idea for an 80% compromise.
Ralph gets invited to the auction because he helped earn some of the money, and the family comes home two cows richer.
An amazing journey to find Two Dog in the hopes that he can help the family horse, Bill, ends by finding a wolf and the shack of Mr. Thompson.
Father invented an improvement for the stacker, noontime meals were great, but the stories told after lunch were even better.
Herding cows takes some learning, Grace makes it exciting, and a quarter makes a man-sized salary.
Mrs. Corcoran’s cows get into everything they’re not supposed to, but Ralph earns his first quarter.
Hi Beckmann shows off, Family Time at the creek, and Ralph goes for the milk on Fanny’s back.
Father finds out the reality of plowing and planting land at the end of the water ditch.
Father has to go to bed for three whole days after the family loses much of the property.
Ralph’s name changes from Molly to Spikes, and he learns about preserving character from his father’s discipline.
The Moody family moves west to Colorado and buy a ranch. Tragedy strikes when Bill and Nig Fall through the trestle.
Ralph gets a bit more insight to why Hazel challenged him to pick the string he did. Oh, and it’s a boy!
Blueboy proves his stamina and Ralph’s memory for landmarks delivers a critical telegram.
Siegfried comes up with a scheme for Dennis to pay his bills, but there is more than failure.
Strawberry is given up for dead and the Rudd’s invite James to their Anniversary dinner.
Ralph and Mr Bendt learn tricks together so that Hazel and her Dad can do them together.
The resilience and contentment of the Dales farmers were represented in Dick’s being faced with a sick prize heifer on which he hoped to build his herd.
Ralph and Mr Batchlett rejoice at the end of the dust storm and then return from trading.
Ralph and Mr Batchlett survive their first day and night pushing cows south and looking for water.
The new hand caused trouble from the time he showed up, and Zeb’s faithful friendship alongside Mr. Batchlett’s leadership made all the difference.
Ralph and Hazel accomplish the perfect trick, Ralph delights in riding Blueboy, and Sid is spied talking to Jenny Wren very nice like.
Ralph hears the bosses talking about his growing up, and remains thankful for getting lost in the mountains.
Ralph demonstrates the somerset and Hazel’s first success is an accident, but intentional after that.
James takes on the noble task of going out in the snow to care for an animal and ends up getting lost.
Ralph used biscuits to spend time with his horses, and Hazel had him weigh-in to show he has gained good health back.
Ralph finally gets the hang of riding Clay, and staying loose allows him to survive a charging bull.
Ralph has to face Mr Bendt in order to get permission to teach Helen tricks, and it turns out to be like facing his own father.
Ralph makes too many bets, and when he can’t find cows and calves, he is humbled to the point of making a new friend.
Ralph has to stay in bed longer than he wished and Hank is much sicker, so he takes a long time to get going again.
The Sidlow farm was a discouragement, but when James glimpsed an opportunity to bet on the races he missed out on a big win.
Ralph and Hank wander in the fog, cold, and rain. Zeb found Ralph and rescued him from going to California.
Ralph’s temper and pride repeatedly get the best of him, and he ends up assigned to cut poles with Hank.
James was behind schedule the entire day, and his final test was to grab the bag of a bull—accidentally!
Integrity in the face of pressure—it was heart disease and not lightning that killed the cow.