CAPITOLETTER

February 5, 2024

February has come around already, with mild weather. The beginning of the week was beautiful, and warm for this time of year, while the last of the week became foggy mist for three days. Some people are figuring 90 days until rain or snow, that may come about the first part of May.

Dick and Erma Albert made a trip to town, so that Erma could have a wisdom tooth removed. It was such a fun time, that she also went on a diet for a few days.

On Wednesday, she went to the chiropractor in the morning, and then got a haircut in the afternoon in Buffalo. Her tooth stitches had come out, so on Friday, they both went to the Senior Center for the group meeting. Then, they had roast beef for lunch, and since it was Sandra Lyons’s birthday, they got cake, too. Erma stayed to play cards for a while. Then she took a meal to Dolores Sperle, and stayed to visit for a short while there. Dick and Erma went to church at the Catholic Church, on Sunday. Then they had lunch at Saloon Number Three with the Erk and Helms families.

Bruce and Lynn Gustafson had a good week. On Wednesday, they went to the Little Missouri Church for their annual congregational meeting, and on Sunday they attended church at Little Missouri, too. The Little Missouri Church will have a soup supper at the Camp Crook Community Center on Sunday, February 18.

Julia Davis got to her work days in Buffalo, this week. The weather was good for travel. She and Doug went to the Annual Congregational Meeting at the Little Missouri Church, on Wednesday, and it included a pot luck supper. On Friday, Julia had a doctor’s appointment in Rapid City, and they also got to visit the Rapid City Stock Show, for a few hours. The Monument Center is now so different, that you can easily get lost in the new addition. Some people might even get lost in the parking lot, and have to navigate by the stars.

Shirley Melum has been completing the tedious work of hand-sewing a black border onto a black quilt. On Friday, Shirley and Junior rode along with Ernie, Rachel, and Tommy Melum to a Norwegian supper that was held at Jesse and Anna LaBree’s. Anna had cooked the lutefisk, and Marlene Waterland had helped with some of the other Norwegian dishes. Of course, they had lefse, too. All of the dishes were delicious, and the fish was especially very good. Even a couple of Scotchmen from Ismay enjoyed the Norwegian food, along with Fulton and BettyJo Castleberry, and Dave and Alice Johnstone. I guess Luther had come along with Marlene, and he enjoyed the supper, too.

Bryce, Dawn, Brandon, and Ashley Padden were busy on Monday with bangs vaccinations. Ashley had gotten most of the meal ready ahead of time, so Dorothy did a little cooking and only had to get most of it warmed, when the others came in from doing the outside work.

On Tuesday, Dawn rode with Kelly and Spring Padden to the Harding County girls’ basketball tournament game at Lemmon. Harding County won the close game, so they then had to play Lemmon again on Saturday, for the Little Moreau Championship. Dorothy decided to drive over to Bryce’s to watch the game on computer. It was good reception, and a really good game for the Harding County girls.

Karen Odell started building her tricycle this week. She decided she might start a business by writing directions to go along with the pictures in the assembly manuals. The manual consisted of pictures, which was better than nothing, but not a lot better. On Tuesday, Karen and Hywel went to Spearfish, so that Hywel could get his toenails trimmed. His toenails on one foot were extremely long. They were so long that he was limping. Karen tried to trim one, but Hywel’s reaction nearly caused Karen a broken finger, and that would be a hindrance to Karen’s ability to play hymns at church. He was very sorry, and Karen knew it was a reaction to some pain, so she forgave him. The Metzger-Heggem Animal clinic was a much better choice, although Hywel had to wear a muzzle during the trimming.

Karen and Hywel went to Wolffy’s in Camp Crook, on Wednesday. Thursday was a nice day to be outside putting a bike together. Friday was sunny, but the wind was cold, and Karen was glad to interrupt her work and go inside, when Rachel, Ernie and Tommy Melum stopped by. Ernie and Tommy ended up finishing the assembly of the bike, and also put a new rail in Karen’s front fence, while Karen and Rachel lounged in the warm house, and discussed some music and the wacko world.

Saturday and Sunday were wet days. The rain was coming from the ground fog, and just seemed to soak into the earth, rather than drop from the sky. It was good moisture. Karen got pictures of granddaughter Kyia Smith, performing ballet. Grandson, Rowan Hinds, had returned from a high school group trip to Nepal. It was a wonderful experience for him, and he was very lucky to be chosen, but Grandma was glad to have him home when he got off the plane in Nepalese clothing.

Karen went to church at the Methodist Church in Camp Crook, on Sunday. Yvonne Yoder was in charge of the service, and Sam Cordell gave the children’s sermon. Karen played piano for the hymns. At home, she went to church again on YouTube, at Marietta, Georgia. Both churches provided very good, and thought provoking services. Then Karen spent more of Sunday, listening to music of many years of Celtic Thunder.

We can see that things are improving. People used to run to catch their plane. Now if they run, they can beat it.