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We are so lucky to have Katie, Clayton and their children here in Ekalaka. Gage, their older son helped stir the gravy, he dug the dressing from the turkey and carried food to the table. Without a dishwasher, Clayton and Katie washed all the dirty dishes brought up. They were back before supper for some left-over stuffing; we could have given them gravy that will be boiled and added to turkey broth that boils out of the bird bones. Maybe Brice can make home-made noodles. Those make the soup wonderful. They were back for...
Our dishwasher “died” a couple months ago. It had been ailing for many weeks, complaining each night when Brice turned it on. He did that at bedtime because I would have ear plugs keeping the sound away from me. Brice can sleep through anything; I would remain awake without the ear plugs. Eventually the complaints ended and it was silent. Instead of replacing it, Brice just washed the dishes every morning. We don’t use many dishes, both eating off the same plate. When I was growing up, my friend Kaye’s father sold appliances,...
I apologize for not having a Bright Idea last week; one finished article rested in the computer, but no one knew about it and I was “out of it” enough not to mention it. I might add it next week. This week is already covered. I don’t like to mention my medical problems; you can’t fix them, and I don’t want you to worry. But I’ve been dealing with a nasty nerve pain in my right lower jaw — just where it hinges. Its medical name is trigeminal nerve pain. I’ve tried drugs to quiet the pain, and I landed in the hospital last S...
I tend to think of myself as I was at 27 or 30, full-voiced, opinionated, the sort of person you either liked or didn’t. I never was big, but I tried to stand tall. I was a Democrat, but there were a few other Democrats in this mostly Republican county. Certain established Republican women had a hard time enduring me, but I brought a local boy home after a 17 year absence. My husband didn’t choose to attend Chamber of Commerce meetings; he took care of kids. I became a member of the organization. When a former president of...
The core of our house went up in the 1950s. It consisted of a very small bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen — just enough room for an old bachelor to settle at the end of the day. The outside walls were split logs, revealed in later modifications. Whole families lived in equally tiny homes in early days. A young married couple moved into the house we now own, and the groom’s father helped him go to work. When the groom had the expertise to build by himself, a total of three rooms had been added, enough space to raise three dau...
This year we were lucky to harvest plenty of tomatoes to eat, freeze, and share. We had enough apples to can applesauce and make a pie and crumble. Brice still picks the occasional apple off the tree. A small pepper crop turns colors in our house; cayenne peppers ripen in the shop. Now the task of dismantling begins. Three short rows of corn stalks were pulled out; the birds took the last kernels from the garden. Twelve tomato plants were pulled off cages and metal fence posts used to hold them up. When they were taken down t...
When I was buying magazine subscriptions for my Grandsons, I purchased a year of National Geographic for Kids. Did I want the magazine subscription for adults? Sure, why not? First I received three back issues. This month’s magazine features Jane Goodall’s picture, taken when she was 29. She’s 83 today; you do the math. Magazines languish forever in doctor’s offices. I first saw Jane Goodall’s picture on the front of National Geographic when I was nearly 20. That would have been 1970, when I had a physical before starting...
When I was thinking about retiring, the Prairie Singer told me not to do that. Her ideas and mine were rarely the same, but she said it was all right to “shake things up” (her words, not mine) every once in a while. Thinking of you, Celia. There have been numerous statements of agreement for retaliating against athletes who choose to kneel during the National Anthem. Is it disrespect for the flag? Is it disrespect for our beliefs? Or is it recognizing the ease of taking black lives without punishment? Are we black? Do we kno...
When we first bought the Eagle, we had to drive the paper “paste-ups” to the printer. The pages were photographed, then cleaning up the negatives, then making plates and printing. This was before computers. The process never went fast enough. When papers had been printed, in early afternoons on Wednesdays, I would drive them home from Bowman. We raced to put on labels and deliver papers to the post office, and to Emerson Pharmacy in downtown Ekalaka. Everyone was eager to see the weekly newspaper. The mail took longer, especi...
The first day of our Canning Season was September 1, 2017. The head cook (and only cook) began boiling seven quart jars in the large water bath. He cut generously donated cucumbers into long spears, and little rings. We have our own dill, so you probably guessed the kind of pickles he made. I love dill spears; they “crunch” when you bite them. The dill in our garden is a volunteer from a crop we planted years ago. They are a weed if they grow where you don’t want them, and Brice pulls them out and pitches them in the pile...
Texas and Louisiana have received too much wind and rain, as much as 51 inches from hurricane Harvey. It left whole flooded communities that are now trying to move back, clean up, and begin reconstruction. Another hurricane, Irma, flattened the Virgin Islands, Bahamas and then did heavy damage in Florida. The Eagle used to have a subscriber in the Virgin Islands; is she still there? Did flood waters leave mold, bacteria, or dangerous substances requiring masks and suits to protect skin — the kind of suits used for handling h...
Labor Day 1986 was not a long weekend for Brice or me. We rationalized that by saying, Agnes Quam, our employee, was Labor, and Brice and I were Management. With no mail, there was no news except what came in on Saturday. We worked on other things. The year 1987 found us at home, with our daughter, enjoying an extra day off! People who labor in factories deserve a three day weekend. Do people involved in telephone solicitation, or Internet solicitation get an extra day off? I doubt it, especially if they’re in India, or s...
August 21, 2017, showed the sky get darker, and the sun falling behind the shadow of the moon in partial or total darkness. Viewers were wearing special glasses, or looking through a pin-hole camera that shows the image of the shadow of the moon over the sun. Carter County saw it in 90% totality. In February of 1979, I witnessed the same thing in Billings. It was my first day at the Vo-Tech, studying drafting. We left the classroom and witnessed the solar eclipse on the sidewalk. My father-in-law journeyed north to take...
I was looking forward to the Firemen’s Barbecue, an annual event that brings people together from near and far. Brice sees one man who graduated a few years ahead of him, but looks younger! He always introduces himself to me; he doesn’t need to, I’d recognize him anywhere! I see people at the Firemen’s Barbecue once a year. They remember me, and I remember them, but not always their names. A more informed person fills in the blanks. I was to be at the table selling VFW Aux. quilt raffle tickets, but I was late. I travel in a...
My husband had just edited my Bright Idea for August 11 and sent it to the Eagle when a flock of grackles descended on our front yard and began pecking. We knew it would be only minutes before they moved to our heavily fruited Harrelson apple tree. The apples aren’t ready to pick until late September, but already show red on a side, especially apples on top, exposed to more sun. They’re also the largest, especially if only single apples cling to a branch. These birds were on apples everywhere on the tree. Our small Fro...
After fencing, putting a pickup load of sterilized beef manure on the garden, marking new rows, tilling, and eventually planting, we waited for green plants to shoot up. We waited, and waited. Volunteer lettuce was first up and first garden crop we harvested. The green and yellow beans came up; they have big leaves and looked impressive. The corn came up. It’s short and already has ears; we just hope they fill out. We didn’t have anything to put in our salads then, so we started using sliced water chestnuts. When we had radis...
Last week I couldn’t remember if I’d sent the Eagle a Bright Idea! If I had, my computer didn’t show it; if I didn’t I was busy trying to write a caption for the VFW Auxiliary raffle quilt. I didn’t do a very good job, trying to beat a deadline. I should do better in the Aux. ad. Memory is the first sign of dementia; could that be beginning? Medicines I take could lead to that, experts tell me. Replacement medicines are recommended. I’ll see what our PAs, or my pharmacist says. Todd would know. MS itself could lead to dem...
Ekalaka was named after a Sioux girl, Ijkalaka Russell, the wife of David Harrison Russell, the first white settler in the area. When Ijkalaka met Russell, a scout and frontiersman, she was 16. The daughter of Wombalee We-Chosh (Eagle Man) Ijkalaka (Restless or Moving About) was born in 1858, living on Powder River. She lived with a cousin, Hi Kelly, on a ranch on Chugwater Creek, near present day Laramie, Wyoming. Her name is featured in the center of the VFW Aux. raffle quil...
I have written about our need for a fence to keep the deer out. Many “urban" Ekalaka gardeners face the same problem, and even some fences don’t work. We’ll have ours tested, I’m sure. The body of the fence had been in place over a month, maybe closer to two months. One deer meandered in one 10’ space where a gate would be placed, munching on one potato plant, while making its way out the other gate opening. Brice saw its footprints. That may have worked once, but as of July 10, it will no longer work without an 82” leap,...
June is historically our rainiest month. So, where was the rain? What does this mean, if anything? Is this an effect of global warming? Is it just another dry period like we have experienced before? How many months or years will we be dry? Will summer or fall showers replace the current lack of precipitation? On our way home from Miles City, June 28, we drove through two heavy showers that could have totaled half an inch. When we got home, Brice checked the rain gauge, and it was just a trace. That’s a lot of question m...
I have written my story about fish and seafood being my favorite protein. That is a bold statement to make in beef country, but people used to feel sorry for me, so I could get away with it. I’ll see if that still works. My mother loved to fish and bring the catch to the house. We had catfish and bass, never trout, and they were delicious. I remember one particular time when Mom’s relatives were visiting: her parents, Aunt Betty, Uncle Merle, and infant daughter, Melanie. I didn’t know anything about babies, but they left...
I don’t know how I ate as an infant or small child. My weight was over eight pounds at birth. My father’s weight had been over nine pounds; it was genetic. Katie’s weight was also over eight pounds. From birth through the year I turned eight, my family would drive to the Dairy Queen on summer Saturday nights and order. When I was a baby, they bought me an ice cream cone and my dad had a malt. Mom didn’t have anything; she claimed not to have a “sweet tooth.” My folks didn’t know a baby can’t digest or use ice cream. Anyway, m...
I don’t usually write articles about recent deaths, but I hope you don’t object to my words. The first recent death was Gary Brower. He was welcomed to the Beaver Lodge Cemetery Board about the time I resigned. He quickly became president and made important changes to the cemetery, and at the same time or soon after began cleaning, removing and remodeling one old home in our neighborhood. With help from his wife, Birgit, the couple changed their old home and worked together on the finishing touches in our neighborhood. Oth...
In the 19th century, the Pony Express carried the mail 1860-1861. It was very expensive with a one-page letter costing the equivalent of $19.00. That was too expensive for the general population. The telegraph went into service then, and the Pony Express became a romantic memory. For all it’s flaws, the U.S. Postal Service does its best to serve the general public. When the Postal Service wanted to establish a Post Office here, they thought it was a good idea to name it after a Sioux girl, Ijkalaka, the wife of David H...
When we turned over the last page on the calendar, we asked ourselves that very question. Wasn’t it just April? Time goes so quickly. School dismissed for summer and the grade school children are running free; older students have jobs in the country or in town. Gardeners ran the risk of frost damage so long. It briefly fell to 29 degrees Memorial Day morning. Tomatoes were delayed, while fruit trees and bushes were left susceptible to early morning lows. Did your plants, trees and bushes survive? Brice did weather readings a...
