Your Community Builder
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One of the nicest compliments I receive is when readers tell me that they have hung my column on their refrigerator or mailed it to someone (often anonymously) to try to make a point humorously and semi-tactfully. Since we are going into the holiday feast season, and since several readers have asked me to rerun my code of conduct for the holidays column, I am sending out this list of Grandma's house rules that might serve as a gentle reminder for family dinner etiquette....
This week we will vote in a Presidential election that has the potential to change the course of our country. By the time this column runs, we will likely know the outcome of the 2024 election. Regardless of whom we chose to vote for, we have Veterans to thank for preserving our right to vote and our right to freedoms that we cannot take for granted. As Veteran's Day approaches, my heartfelt gratitude goes out to all Veterans, but I especially feel deep sadness for those who s...
I remember well the winter of 1978-79. I was a sophomore in college, and it had been a beautiful fall like this one right up until winter hit on November 9. It was brutal, and it stayed until mid-March. I personally hope this year's predictions of an extreme winter are wrong, but we will know for sure next spring. I wrote this diary one year when the fall had been balmy in the back country, and then Mother Nature unleashed winter on us. Diary of a Hunting Camp Cook Day #1: It...
I am writing this column as a public educator who has served my community as a teacher and administrator for 44 years. I care deeply about our public schools, but I know that there are many who seek to undermine public education even further this legislative session than they did during the last few sessions. Now is the time to get ahead of a snowball headed for public education hell--the introduction of the voucher system. In Montana, we have always had school choice-public,...
Heaven gained an angel last week when my friend, Linda Story, lost her battle with cancer. Her obituary is so beautiful, I want to share it, but I also had to write a little tribute to her, because she was such an amazing woman. Ride On Ahead Thirty years ago, Steve and Linda hired on to run the Hobble Diamond across the Yellowstone. They left their home in Colorado to run the place flawlessly and tirelessly as if it were their own. Linda worked with Steve as a team, and they...
Hurricane Helene, which has killed at least 227 people, has been declared the deadliest hurricane since Katrina. FEMA has fallen under extreme criticism for their lukewarm response to the thousands of victims. Time alone will tell whether the victims will receive more aid than the $750.00 Serious Needs Assistance that has been available so far. While allegations of misappropriation of FEMA funding abound, the victims have lost everything. We have firsthand knowledge of dealing...
Susan Metcalf Columnist I really am not a Tweeter. In fact, I did not have a Twitter account nor do I have an X account, since it has been rebranded by Elon Musk. However, I do love to write fake Tweets. In fact, with the explosion of Artificial Intelligence, it is pretty much impossible to know what is real and what is fake. We have one long month to go before the 2024 elections, and I think everyone who isn't off the grid is sick of political ads, texts, surveys, and robo...
As a mother of both a son and daughter who loved sports, I can honestly say I don't think there is anything that tests the bonds of motherhood more than high school football! It has been beautiful weather for the boys of fall this year, but there is one game that many Big Timber Herder fans will never forget. It was a game that tested my mental and physical endurance as a mother, and it took place when our son Bret was a junior in high school. While looking through his...
My heart goes out to those affected by the Remington Fire that burned up 190,000 acres in eastern Montana and Wyoming. 224,000 head of cattle were affected by the fire on countless ranches. Miles of fence have been destroyed, I have evacuated from six fires and a three floods, so I know the indescribable feeling of fear and helplessness natural disasters evoke. The good part is that years later, I can look back on those experiences and see the silver lining. We have had four...
Owning a ranch and a restaurant does not leave much time for family vacations. Our oldest grandson will graduate from high school this spring, and we are realizing that we have not taken him very many places. In fact, the last place we took him was to Disney World in November of 2019, and the most memorable thing about the trip was that we came home with Coronavirus before it was even fashionable in the United Sates. It had been rumored in Wuhan, China, but it sure traveled...
When September rolls around, our thoughts turn to wondering what kind of winter we are facing. For our region, which is region 12 that stretches from the Canadian border down into Texas, the “Old Farmer’s Almanac” predicts the following: Winter will be warmer than normal in the north and colder than normal in the south, with the coldest periods in early and mid-January and early and late February. Precipitation will be near normal, with near- to above-normal snowfall. The s...
A fear that almost every ranch mother has felt is when she discovers her child is "missing." Tami Jo Arvik Blake was a former editor of the Western Ag Reporter who recently had that harrowing experience that turned out to have a happy ending. Her story reminded me of when my grandson Alex was four and being "watched" by his grandfather and his uncle. They left him napping after lunch while they went out to quickly tag a few calves. No one is sure how long that took, but when...
The most challenging cooking jobs I have ever had were in my many year of cooking in the Scapegoat Wilderness for Brett and Julie Todd. Every time I rode out of camp, I would marvel that I had kept all those people fed under extreme conditions for a week with no opportunity to restock supplies. You see, at home I am one of those people who goes to the grocery store every day. One morning while I was cooking biscuits and gravy in the Meadow Creek Camp, one of the guides...
The 2024 Olympics are wrapped up, which is good, because watching them makes us normal people feel inadequate and unworthy. We like to believe we have achieved some level of greatness, and then we compare ourselves to those amazing athletes and feel substandard. I am reminded of a conversation I had back when the Olympics were in Japan. It went like this: "What are you doing here? I thought you would be in Sochi," my friend Judy Vidack greeted me. "Are you worried about...
Seeing all the county fair posts on Facebook brings back a flood of fond memories of my own 4-H years and those of my children. One of my not so fond 4-H memories was Brooke's 4-H cat project. She had already signed up for a horse project and a breeding heifer, so what harm could come from signing up for a cat project? Right! Brooke's herd of cats had grown from the original seed stock cats, Max and Macho, who were both females regardless of their obviously masculine names....
It is a tough year in Montana with heat, drought, grasshoppers, and wildfires. My heart breaks for the affected landowners, because I have been there several times. We have had four major fires burn through our Musselshell ranch in 1996, 1998, 2000, and 2012. I encourage anyone who is able to donate time or money or needed supplies or even food, because that is the most important thing at this time. The only way survivors of natural disasters keep getting up every morning is...
It is county fair season. My hope is that all moms and dads remember there is a fine line between extremely supportive and downright crazy! Having been both a 4-H member and a 4-H mom, I can tell you that fairs are a huge success every year due to the hard work of the Extension staff, the FFA advisors, the kids, the parents, the grandparents, and a lot of supportive volunteers. I must admit that I enjoy the fair more now than I used to when my kids were in 4-H. As a 4-H'er, I...
The best job I ever had was working as a camp cook for Brett and Julie Todd of the K Lazy 3. This time of year I get very homesick for those mountain trips, but I also remember how difficult it could be at times. It was a truly fine and pleasant misery at times, but mostly it was an amazing experience that I feel lucky to have had. The only job description I ever received was from Guy Gravert, one of the guides, who told me, "The cook rides in the back and gets two buckets of...
Julie Kinsey was one of my teaching colleagues for 25 of the 30 years she taught at Big Timber Grade School. She and her husband Don were known for raising Columbia sheep on their place north of Big Timber, Montana. Julie lost her second battle with cancer on April 25, 2024. She was a good friend, remarkable teacher, and she loved to card, spin, and knit fleeces from their flock into beautiful creations. One of her many community services was knitting soft hats for cancer vict...
One of the unsung heroes of the horse world is the horse packer. He has to understand horse anatomy and mule psychology, spend long days in the saddle, have nerves of steel, a strong back, and it helps if he ends up in one piece at the other end of the trail. Jerry Yoder was one of the packers for the K Lazy 3 when it was owned by Brett and Julie Todd, and I was always really nice to Jerry (just ask him), because he was responsible for the eggs and other valuables that I...
We live on a beary creek under a big beary hill, so we often see black bears wandering through the yard. The other night we decided to have bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches for dinner. Of course I overcooked--well, technically burned--the bacon, so I threw the sliding glass door in the kitchen wide open. A few minutes later as we sat down to eat our slightly smoky crunchy sandwiches in our smoke hazed kitchen, one of our resident black bears wandered past our porch.. The...
If you live along a creek, you have to co-exist with beavers, and that is not always easy. It seems that they do not share the same vision for property management as most landowners do. Living with beavers, who are remarkably persistent, focused, and motivated, is a constant struggle that is not funny, What is funny is this (allegedly) actual letter sent by the Pennsylvania DEQ to Ryan DeVries regarding a pond on his property and Ryan's ingenius response to the letter: Dear...
This week marks the third anniversary of the grand opening of our main street boutique that uniquely sells food. Honestly, it does not seem that long, perhaps because we have been too busy to count the days. Owning a restaurant that sells gifts has been fun and exhausting. To make it even more interesting, we also cater special events, so there is literally not a dull moment. However, there is something I need to get off my chest. I decided to look back on this column that I...
Summer is the time when I decide to roll up my sleeves and clean out some junk. However, my parents were children of the Great Depression, so I can still hear their voices ringing in my ears when I think about pitching stuff that could potentially have some use in the future--even though it has received no usage within the last 25 years. Marilee Robinson of Billings, Montana sent me her delightful book East Meets West, and one of her essays, which I have abridged this week is...
School wrapped up this week, and I am proud to say I survived my first year of teaching Family Consumer Science at the high school level. Fortunately, all of my culinary students survived, and no one got cut, burned, or came down with a foodborne illness. In case anyone is wondering, I did not get fired, but I will be leaving the position in Debbie Hathaway's capable hands and returning to my County Superintendent position to embark on my 43rd year in education. What is wrong...
