Your Community Builder
Your Community Builder
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 86
When our son was in junior high, his English teacher asked the students to write about someone they admired. Any mother would be flattered to think her adolescent son admired her. She might not be so flattered by the title of his essay. In bold print it read, “She Just Sits on Her Butt.” In a humorous way he was telling people about his mother who used a wheelchair. The reason I have spent over half a year now in a hospital is trying to heal those pressure sores that resulted from a bony bottom in a wheelchair. Instead of sitting, I have now...
This article is not about marijuana, often called “grass”, no, it’s about ground covers. Town property owners are required to maintain their lawns with grass mowed to acceptable levels. And most try to do that, mowing between rains sometimes. We have more weeds than grass in some areas, but at least it’s green. But how long have residents been mowing properties, didn’t they have animals grazing close to cabins? Was it only in town people were required to clear areas or keep ground cover short? And what were those native ground covers? T...
We’ve all been waiting too long for spring to arrive, for overnight lows to stay above freezing, for lilacs to bloom and fruit bearing bushes to flower, be pollinated, with the promise of wonderful tastes to come. Luckily that held off long enough to avoid May 28 frost, where everything was covered with a delicate white blanket in the early morning. Rain continued to fall, three inches in a five day stretch. Farmers couldn’t get into their fields; my gardener couldn’t till his garden. All anyone could do was wait, patiently or not. And then...
Monday was Memorial Day, or Decoration Day as it was originally known, meant to honor soldiers lost in the Civil War. But when the country found itself in another war, World War I, the holiday was changed to honor all fallen soldiers. Memorials to soldiers and family graves are decorated with flowers. Here, early in the morning on Memorial Day, local veterans placed small American flags on the graves of deceased veterans at Beaver Lodge cemetery. At 11 a.m. a special military service was held where VFW and American Legion Auxiliary members...
We have waited for weeks for our garden to dry enough to till, only to have more rainfall. Lawns were mowed quickly between showers. Yes, it is nice to have the moisture, but when can we plant? Our forecast for the week was warmer and drier. On a Monday, Brice planned to till the garden; he cleaned the tiller, getting it ready to go to work. He pulled the rope to start the engine and it remained silent. Additional pulls did nothing. After nearly thirty years of reliable service, it deserved retirement. Brice purchased a replacement tiller and t...
I bought calendars late in December for my husband and a friend featuring hot peppers. What would I get for myself? I decided on herbs, assuming they would be familiar herbs we grow outside our back door. Some were: rosemary, sage, chives, oregano, thyme, and garlic. Some of these have appeared, but I was surprised by others. The month of April featured dandelions. My grandmother collected tender leaves from first dandelions of the season. Of course she was teased mercilessly, but that didn’t phase her. The recipe the calendar included was c...
Sunday was Cinco de Mayo (May 5), a holiday meant to commemorate the Battle of Puebla, fought between the Mexican and French armies in 1862. In Mexico’s history, it’s generally considered a minor event. But a century and a half later, it is still celebrated in the United States (even when people don’t know why they’re celebrating). I just think it’s a good day to eat our version of Mexican food! One thing my husband does is make chorizo, Mexican sausage. I remember being in Kansas years ago, at my aunt’s house, when the answer came on Jeopardy....
I’ve been thinking about this article for weeks, watching the grass green up everywhere I looked. Brice reported seeing the beginning of buds on our old apple tree. I hope it doesn’t bloom too early, only to have blossoms frozen leaving us with no apples yet another year. We only have one unopened jar of applesauce, made in 2015. Brice and our neighbor mowed lawns last week, wanting to get ahead of any precipitation. Some of the grass was very thick and long, requiring slow mowing and frequent stops to clean out the accumulation. The daf...
It wasn’t too long ago that Brice spotted a robin sitting in our apple tree. It wasn’t much longer before he saw another. Where are the chickadees that used to come before the robins? Maybe they will be coming soon. Robins are nice. They make nests, mate, and lay little blue eggs in those nests. I don’t remember seeing juvenile robins, but I’ve seen lots of pieces of those eggs. Shortly after the robins came the grackles, the black bird with iridescent heads that look green or blue as they turn their heads. I don’t like grackles; they chas...
In 1789, Benjamin Franklin wrote his famous quote, saying the only things true in life were death and taxes. If you were alive on Monday, April 15, 2019, your taxes were due. When we lived in Billings, I did our taxes one year and decided we were due a refund. Armed with that information, we attended an art auction. There was a small watercolor painting I wanted: The Flat Cat, by a Miles City artist. I decided on a bidding limit and was out bid. Lucky thing; we actually owed taxes. Brice has done the taxes ever since. He doesn’t fill in the num...
I missed the deadline for last week’s paper, and I apologize to people who read my articles. I have a medical excuse, but not the normal one. This time I had pneumonia, but not a bad case. I was having trouble driving my wheelchair in the house. I was lethargic, and when Brice checked, I had a slight fever. That was unusual; my temperature usually runs a little below normal. My husband called the clinic and they sent the phlebotomist to our house to draw blood. When that showed infection, I took the Carter Charter one block to Dahl M...
I never considered myself a “Feminist.” I was just always instructed by my parents to do my best. That often meant excelling past male students. It was appalling to me to learn some of my fellow, very bright female classmates, might choose to score lower than their boyfriends on tests. Maybe I was lucky not to have a boyfriend. In the United States, we have countless opportunities and few, if any, liabilities because of our gender. We are free to pursue any future we choose. Politics never interested me when I was younger. It’s lucky that...
If I remember correctly, 1935-36, the year Camp Needmore was being built by the Civilian Conservation Corps, (CCC), February was a cold and very snowy month. In fact it was the coldest February on record, a miserable month where their bulldozer was kept running 24 hours a day, to avoid its freezing up. In September of 1935, a snow storm closed highways across the state. The whole year of 1936 was colder and snowier than usual. Records were set. We haven’t set any records this year, but that doesn’t warm anything. We’ve been cold and colde...
I remember an old picture I saw of a pioneer woman positioned next to a large cauldron, surrounded by fire — a nineteenth century hot water heater! It was laundry day. There was no wringer to squeeze water from clothes. There were no rinse tubs in sight. Things got better with time: electricity was harnessed, inventions were made, and eventually, even a teenager could handle most of wash day (my daughter did). As I remember from my youth, wash day was always Monday, that was in the ‘50s and early ‘60s, before most women had jobs outside the h...
When the price of DNA analysis had fallen enough for me to purchase it, I did so for my husband and me. I already knew my mother’s family were German, and my father’s maternal grandmother had filled me in on his family history. I’m 48 percent German and 45 percent England, Wales, etc. I am 3 percent Scottish and Irish. Not enough to go crazy on St. Patrick’s Day. My mother’s family were very German, but Catholic, not Lutheran. Explain that. So I didn’t really learn anything new, not for free with only my DNA results. I need to pay for further...
After Mainstreet Market burned down, people were suddenly forced to drive the 35 miles to Baker, or farther if they lived out of town, to get most groceries. We relied on lists and hoped not to forget anything. If we missed anything, we generally lived without it, or asked someone to pick up our forgotten treasure when they were shopping. A local woman who worked in Baker even offered to pick up orders people would make from Reynolds when she returned home most days of the week. Now, with the new Branson Grocery open just down the street from u...
I watch too much television where I see lots of ads for things we don’t need, starting with Home Security systems. Do we need cameras at our front doors to guard against intruders or thieves where we would see them and tell the potential thieves we are calling the police and sending their picture to our neighbors? I’m always at home, and if I’m sleeping, I appreciate deliveries placed inside my house. Vince, our UPS driver, knew I was handicapped and couldn’t open my door. He had my permission to open my front door and put deliveries inside the...
The government of the United States opened up last week (for three more weeks) to solve the problem of border security and the President’s preference for a border wall. Federal employees should get paid. The government had been shut down for over a month. Why? Because the Democratic controlled House of Representatives won’t give the President a border wall, a wall along the border with Mexico. That border is long and the wall not feasible in certain areas. So the President closed federal offices. We have one of those in Ekalaka, the FSA, Far...
In winter one main job is to keep the home warm, whether with coal or wood fires or later with gas or electricity. There is nothing warmer than sitting in front of a blazing wood fire, but that warmth doesn’t travel far; the rest of the house remains cold. The same is true of propane heaters, and electricity. You need a furnace or electric heaters in several rooms. We don’t have room in our crawl space for the necessary ductwork. We resort to electric heaters throughout the house. We have a pellet stove with a fan that circulated heat, at lea...
In days gone by, people would take a team and wagon and travel cross country to Miles City twice a year for supplies - twice a year in good weather. Brice travels to Baker every 10 to 14 days for bananas for me. If you buy too many, they just get black and squishy, too few and you run out. So he’s on the road in winter if driving conditions are favorable. Reviewing road conditions and weather forecasts, he chooses the best day to travel and makes the 35 mile trip. Everyone does that now, since Ekalaka’s grocery store burned down, everyone with...
I have never and will never make New Year’s resolutions. New Year’s resolutions are a matter of promising yourself to change habits. No promises will be made by me, just a best effort to change. By not making any promises, no promises will be broken. I once heard it takes two weeks to change a habit: two weeks of a changed behavior. That’s hard to do. No use of tobacco can easily be eliminated. When dealing with addiction, whether to chew or smoke, requires something akin to tears and exhaustion. Men are not likely to cry — women would....
When I was a very young child I remember my mom wrapping dozens of packages at Christmas. A big box filled with them went to Kansas where sisters and parents lived. Her brothers moved around with their families before settling in Texas. The presents were never large; men would often get socks, and women received gloves. But everyone received a gift, especially children. One year my mother worked part time at a five and ten cent store, wrapping packages. Those were the years before packaged bows. She learned to make beautiful bows and used that...
When we lived on the farm, my dad would always cut our tree from a forested hillside. The sizes varied with the years. Our old farmhouse had 10 ft. ceilings, and one year the tree he harvested touched the ceiling. Mom and dad started stringing the lights; they ended up using the larger, outdoor lights closer to the bottom. It took every ornament we had. We only put up the tree on Christmas Eve, and it stayed up well into the new year. By waiting until Christmas Eve, the kids had something to do while their Christmas enthusiasm crescendoed. I...
On Wednesday, December 5, I turned 68. It will be the first year since I was in my early 20s when I won’t get a check, worth one dollar for every year I have lived. (It got better the older I turned). My mother started the tradition when I was 25, and we lived in Australia. First of all, you’re not supposed to send checks to another country, where the bank has to deal with the exchange rate. And if that weren’t enough, she made the check to me, using my maiden name! I explained her errors to the local bank where we had a checking accou...
This morning, Brice and I were remembering a particular Thanksgiving 32 or 33 years ago. In Billings I had been able to buy a fresh turkey, delivered to my door by a turkey farmer. The birds were very tender. In Ekalaka, Doug Bonsell raised turkeys. I ordered a small one, 12-15 pounds. When it came to the house it had grown, grown to 21 pounds! It had to be washed in the bathtub! Would it even fit in the roaster or the oven? It got wedged in the roaster, and with all the other racks removed, set on the lowest rack in the oven. That rack was...
