Farming on cow/calf operations gets slipped in instead of sleep between calving, feeding, branding, fencing, and all the other spring work. It is often a high-speed, high-stress form of diversification that causes a lot of laundry problems. Anyway...

Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, this was an interesting ‘find’; reading about someone who dreamed they were receiving a bouquet of flowers from God. A little girl, long ago, shared that she had received a beautiful bouquet of tiny...

Cattle producers have two options as I see it. One is to bury our heads in the sand and keep doing what we have been doing and expecting a better result “next year,” and the other is to educate ourselves and do something proactively with the...

Hello God, it’s me, Mara: March has ‘marched off’ - with a bit of snow, and now – woo-hoo! It’s SPRING! The Birds came back, flocks of them, it’s great to hear them sing. Cows graze on hills not far from here, it’s fun to watch...

This is the end of my project. I rounded off the twenty eight students up two more. There were others I went to school with in those eight years in Ekalaka. A boy with the last name Black who was the doctor’s son for example. But my memory of...

Several years back, I inadvertently stumbled upon a new method of calving--the homeopathic method. This like the discovery of all great things such as fire and disposable diapers came about quite by accident. Calving season was winding down, so many...

Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, as the days simply seem to zip on by, glancing out, we notice that it is almost Spring; the March winds are blowing less, cattle are resting after feeding, birds swoop here and there and we can see many...

I wrote some of the following from a building at the University of Montana where I go to write sometimes. The sight of the studious young people are an inspiration. And I did attend one quarter here in 1974, although I graduated from MSU, so I am a...

Many people try to be very careful prior to going on a big trip, so they don't fall and hurt themselves badly enough that they could not travel. Ranch people try to be extra careful prior to calving season, because that is probably the worst time of...

Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, a friend of mine shared this special/interesting letter: author unknown. So here we go, also sharing this letter entitled; From A Friend: Dear Friend, How are you? I just had to send a note to tell you how...

Some more thoughts about past classmates, from the CCHS class of 1974. Giggles, Integrity, Lovably Snide, Competitor and Respect Again a look at some from our small class, Yearbook thoughts, help me in my chosen chore, Photos forty eight years, back...

I love blogs that are honest and authentic, so I was elated when I stumbled upon a really entertaining blog written by Lindsey Habets of Conrad, Montana. Lindsey wrote a series of blogs from both of her toddlers' points of view that are humorous...

Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, occasionally one reads something that needs to be shared. Such is the case with an article by Dr. A. Purnell Bailer from his column, ‘Bread of Life,’ which he wrote February 10, 1970. Quoting from that...

Some more of my pseudo-sonnets for my class of 1974 in the old white high school building, for this week. I haven’t gotten bogged down yet within writer’s block gumbo. When you write what you know, or at least what you think you know, the words f...

by Susan Metcalf This year we spent most of the high school basketball season huddled around our television watching the games on the NFHS app because of Covid restrictions. Now that restrictions have been lifted, we find ourselves in the bleachers...

Part II or Barnett’s Blue Bike Broke Badly Five more from seventy four, my thoughts, I’m trying to retrieve from my account, Some old coins covered thick in dust and fraught, My memory rabbit hole caved, no doubt. But enough cream rises it...

Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, a rancher friend recently shared an interesting article which had been printed in 1966, noting that the author was unknown. Since it’s about calving time around in these parts; we all know that ranchers...

My favorite holiday of the year is Dr. Seuss's birthday, which was March 2. Yes, Theodor Seuss Geisel would have been 117 years old this week. He and his 60 plus books have inspired young readers since 1937 when “To Think I Saw It All on Mulberry...

Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, March is a glorious month, actually, it’s one of the most beautiful times of the year. This year it arrived as a lamb. Thank You, Lord. All we need do is look out our windows and see snow drifts melting...

The following is my first of five poems of twenty-eight I’ll write for all members of my Carter County High School class of 1974. I’m writing in alphabetical order. One must write when the faculties still exist. The poems are entirely from my...

Hello God, it’s me, Mara: The days slip by as ‘time’ flies on, it’s wintertime and cold. Just thinking ‘bout some cute stories that our dear friends have told. Pictures do fly across our mind, when we were kids, years back; we crossed...

As I look outside today and think about the last couple of days of below zero temperatures, I am reminded that sometimes it is not so bad to have a job where I can work indoors with the heat on. It also makes me think of all our livestock and...

Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, it was entertaining and enjoyable checking out a ‘saved’ article about having fun. Sharing with others, we did have to chuckle as sure enough, some of what we read already was ‘us’! So, thought...

Winter has been fairly kind to us up until this past weekend when we suddenly plunged into the deep freeze. We do not start calving until mid-March, but my heart goes out to the people who are calving and lambing in this cold snowy weather. It...