The Ekalaka Eagle - Your Community Builder

Hello, It’s been quite awhile since I’ve let you know how Shirley and I are doing. We are both healthy and hope that you are too. In fact, I’m so healthy it is bordering on obese, but that’s another story. I’ve often told you how Shirley cleans up re...

Hello, I’ll start this week by wishing all of you a Merry Christmas. And probably a Happy New Year! Twas two nights before Christmas as I write this. It is with some regret, and also some relief, that I am letting you know that I am going to r...

Hello, Maybe you noticed that I didn’t get a column in last week. I apologize. It’s not my fault. Well, in a way it is. You see, I was in Las Vegas. Sin City. The city that never sleeps. Or is that New York? I get mixed up. Two things you will nev...

Hello, December is a tough month for me. My notes are due at the bank. My calves are just weaning and usually I have to doctor a few that catch a cold after weaning. The snow is starting to accumulate and I have to dig through the drifts to find...

Hello, Shirley says to, “Tell everyone Happy Thanksgiving!” So there, that is from both of us. I hope you had a great day, or several days with family and friends. The diet after Thanksgiving begins now. Many of my friends from years ago rem...

Hello, Well, the storm that was forecast for opening day of deer season wasn’t as bad as was anticipated. Although in many parts of North Dakota, it was wet enough that the trails a farmer or rancher has to drive on all winter, are full of ruts and h...

Hello, Over the years you hear lots of stories. Stories of jokes that guys have played on one another. I’ve written about them in the past. About Johnny putting the dead calf in Clarence’s pasture. And Clarence buying a pail calf and then unable to...

Hello, I’m not a real good fencer. You can ask my neighbors. But yesterday I was forced to build a quarter mile of four barbed-wire fence. It happened because on Saturday evening, I was rudely taken from a pinochle game to get cattle off the road. A...

Hello, You know there is a saying I often heard about cowboys. “Everyone wants to be a cowboy, until they have to do cowboy ….” You can fill in the blanks. The editor doesn’t let me say it. I guess that was never truer than a deal last week. My make...

Hello, This is the time of the year that I miss Pat. Pat O’Brien. He passed away several years ago after a lifetime in the cattle industry. I knew him mostly as an auctioneer. You have to understand that this is the time of the year that most r...

Hello, We were lucky. Real lucky. I’m sure you have seen the stories and pictures of last week's snow storm in North Dakota. For an October storm, it was a doozy. Up to two or three feet of snow and strong winds. But we missed it here in the west. I...

Hello, You can read lots of economic forecasts. And many of them tell of an impending recession. I suppose you can put the blame wherever you want, but it seems we have recessions every ten years or so. It happens. I don’t need to read of an o...

Hello, Every once in awhile I run across something that makes me smile. Actually, I run across a lot of stuff that makes me smile. And smiling is good for one’s soul. A weasel walks into a bar. The bartender had never served a weasel before, and h...

Hello, Shirley has been happily married for well over forty years. I know a lot of you realize that she is a lucky woman, but I have to remind her once in awhile. We started producing rodeos the day after our wedding. And we produced rodeos for many...

Hello, Did I ever tell you about my military career? If I did, I’m sorry, because you are going to hear about it again. You see, I was in the Guard. The National Guard. A long, long time ago. Back in the day. As cowboys say, “Back when the chutes wer...

Hello, Do you remember when that elderly lady from Grand Forks that became an international star because she wrote columns about restaurants? She was a wonderful writer and a delight to listen to. I’ve always enjoyed eating. You know that. And to m...

Hello, It’s September. September mind you. You put up hay in June and July. Not September. In September, if you farm, you combine. If you ranch, you give calves fall shots. You clean your pens out. You weld up broken gates and line up feed bunks. Y...

Hello, I'm not sure how this will go. I'm writing on a borrowed computer and sitting on a box. So if somewhere in the middle of this article, I drift off and don't get it finished, so be it. I'm not very techy. If that is even a word. I never was a...

Hello, If you’ve been reading my column over the years, you know how I appreciate county fairs. Not the big State Fairs. The little county fairs where you can see who in the neighborhood has the nicest garden, the best welder, the coolest p...

Hello, You can feel Fall is in the air. Oh, I know we’ve had some hot days. And the summer thundershowers have been rolling through the Dakotas at a pretty steady pace. But the nights have been cool and we had one morning in the forties this past w...

Hello, I don’t often make mistakes. Well, actually I do. I’ve been making mistakes for seventy years. Some grievous, some not so bad. I made a mistake a week ago. I figured I was done haying. I’ve been haying for several weeks. I put some hay up to...

Hello, Well, after the fiasco at the airport we did make it to Alaska. Flew into Juneau, then on a floatplane to the fishing lodge. Missed most of the days fishing, but dang sure caught enough fish to get us excited about the next four days! Now,...

Hello, You know I don’t fly a lot. I used to. Once in awhile to a legislative deal, or on an annual vacation. But I don’t really get excited about amassing airline miles on my credit card. Because when you get a lot of miles, you are tempted to use...

Hello, I’ve got a friend that’s a heck of a good cowboy. He can pick up a rodeo, calve a bunch of heifers, get his hay put up, and put a good handle on a broncy colt. When he was younger he followed the big rodeo and also rode bucking bulls. He rai...

Hello, I know many of you will find this hard to believe, but once upon a time, far, far away, I was a jockey. Really! A real jockey. Now that was not only many years ago, it was many pounds ago. Many, many pounds. The reason I am bringing this up...