George beats the odds, still plays in the mud


10/28/07
By Helen Barrett
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Photo 1 Playing in the mud usually results in inedible pies, temporary castles or other childhood things. Mike George, a retired banker, enjoyed transforming red Oklahoma mud into bricks and ultimately a Native American horno (pronounced or-no).

“I just thought it would be fun – a conversation piece in the back yard,” Mike said.

Mike and his wife Marideth spend several weeks each summer in New Mexico where hornos are a common sight.

With one more coat of mud, then a final white coat of a sand mixture to make it look more attractive, the horno will be ready for Mike to try baking homemade bread inside the outdoor oven.

Native American Pueblos refer to hornos’ size by their loaf capability – a 20-loaf, 15-loaf and even huge 30-loaf ovens. Mike’s designed his horno to bake 12 loaves of bread at a time.

Mike dug the dirt for the adobe blocks from his own neighborhood.

“Since I didn’t have any straw to put in, I just put in gra

Photo 2 ss clippings,” Mike explained. He also used 20 percent Portland cement to strengthen the substance.

“We have more humidity and get more rain than they do in New Mexico, so I thought I ought to stabilize it,” he said of the decision to add cement.

Before beginning the baking process, a roaring fire must be built in the egg-shaped oven. After the fire has burned for two or three hours, the coals are scraped from the interior, the bread or turkey or whatever is to be baked goes inside. The door is closed causing the radiant heat to complete the baking process.

“It has real high heat to start with,” Mike explained. “The heat drops gradually so it cooks the outside real quickly and the inside slower.”

Bread baked in an horno gets a hard crust while the inside of the bread remains soft.

“A lot of commercial ovens are designed to try to get that same effect,” Mike said.

Referring to paintings and interior décor of the house Mike said, “We kind of like the southwest style of decorating.”

CONSTRUCTING AN HORNO

To build his horno, Mike used cement blocks filled with dirt to form the base. A layer of bricks were laid around the blocks, and all of it was plastered with a white sand mixture for mortar.

The floor of the oven is made of fire bricks designed to withstand the high temperatures.

Mike built his own adobe block frames out of wood. The mud was placed inside and left to dry in the sun during hot summer days.

A tin can with both ends removed forms the smoke-hole.

The whole process has taken less than six months.

BEATING THE ODDS

Mike’s continuing projects – like blacksmithing and making the beautiful Centennial fence and gate at The Runnymede – are somewhat amazing considering doctors told him more than 10 years ago he only had 18 months to live.

In 1995 Mike was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. The prognosis was grim.

“I’ve been absolutely lucky,” Mike said. “God somehow has let me keep going.”

There many victims develop a fast acting form of the disease. He praises the Muscular Dystrophy Association for its research in trying to find a cure.

He urges everyone to consider donating to the MDA-ALS division.

“Progression has really been slow for me,” Mike said. “I’m having a lot more trouble walking than I did a year ago.”

Mike knows that staying active has helped him maintain his health thus far.

“I think that’s important,” he said. “If you sit down and start waiting to die, you will even if there’s nothing wrong with you.”

And, yes, he has more projects in mind. Currently, they are redoing the front yard with hired help. Workers are removing the old retaining wall, creating terraces down to the street level and modifying it so that Mike can get down there. To enter his house now, Mike must go around to the back yard where ramps were built to assist him

Since the city will soon pave the street in his block, this seemed like the perfect opportunity to work on the front portion of the property, making it as beautiful and accessible as the back.

PHOTO 1: ADOBE MAKING – Mike George built his own wooden mold to make the adobe bricks (L) used in building his Native American horno. Photo by Helen Barrett

PHOTO 2: ALMOST READY TO BAKE – Native Americans used hornos for baking for centuries. Alva's Mike George built an horno in his back yard after seeing them during visits to New Mexico. George plans to bake up to 12 loaves of bread at a time nside the large oven. Photo by Helen Barrett


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