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I would like to continue with my memories of our early and special neighbors, but first I want to share about the reminiscing section from the Eagle dated December 15, 2017. In that section, there was an article from 70 years ago headlined "BAKER MEETS BULLDOGS IN OPENER HERE TONITE." It listed the names of the basketball players, all a part of my high school years, and very special friends of mine over the years. Yes, I have a couple pictures of that team, and yes it was a...
December, 2017 - December 1st fell on a Friday and the morning activity was group exercise lead by Virginia Rychner. Group exercises are scheduled three times a week with very good participation. Later that afternoon, a going away party was held for Debbie Reynolds. Debbie made the decision to move away from our little town and seek new employment. Wishing you the very best Debbie! Monday afternoon, a "Paint and Sip" party took place in the dining room. The supplies; canvas,...
Hello, The wind chill is minus 45 again this morning. And Shirley is home to help with chores! That makes it so much easier when I don’t have to get out of that warm cab on the tractor to open gates. In fact, I only wear a light jacket. I gave her a new knife for Christmas to cut the twine off bales! What a wonderful country we live in. I suppose you are tired of hearing about the Vikings game. I know, I know. It has been overdone. And I am not a real big sports fan. I enjoy watching and listening to Twins baseball, R...
Hello, I was bitter last week. Bitter cold that is. Talk about ringing in the New Year in style. It was too cold to even go to the dance and supper at New Hradec. I hate missing that. We had a low of –35. That is cold. Even here in North Dakota. But that wasn’t the worst around. The national weather service had Hettinger as the coldest place on the planet! Not in the nation. Not on the continent. On the entire planet Earth! That includes the poles! Well, shortly after that was posted on social media, corrections came in. Som...
Hello, I hope you had a Merry Christmas! And I hope you will have a Happy New Year! And as long as I’m hoping, I hope we have warm, gentle rains next spring. And I hope the winter is mild, there are very few storms, and cattle prices go up. You can always hope. Hope is good. I am glad the Christmas season is over. You know that I am somewhat of a Scrooge when it comes to the Christmas season. I’m hoping to be better. There’s that word again. Hope is good. Shopping frustrates me. Shirley does it for the kids and grand...
Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas! I hope yours went as well as mine. Well, I’m writing this the week before Christmas, so I’m just figuring that mine went well. Over the years, Christmas has gotten easier. I think that year I bought Shirley the “Buttmaster” was the low point of our marriage! Suzanne Sommers made it sound like it would be the perfect gift. I guess maybe Suzanne wasn’t married to an Irish woman. Oh, if I could just write well enough to describe the look on her face as she tore the wrapping open on that last...
I know my husband worked until he was 69; I am only 67 but I have health issues. Bright Ideas will disappear for a while or forever. I’m not sure which. I have medical issues I haven’t mentioned. Are they the result of MS or just bad luck? I’ll have two appointments in January with Doctors in Billings to end jaw pain, and in Miles City to slow the progression of MS. If Bright Ideas disappears forever, I will miss all of you. If this is just a medical leave, I’ll be back. Even I don’t know if this is good bye, I hope you...
Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house was such a loud racket; dad was snoring with his mouth open wide, and I just couldn’t hack it… Snoring can be funny or really annoying, but it can also be a symptom of an underlying health condition: Sleep Apnea. Sleep apnea is a common disorder in which you have one or more pauses in breathing or shallow breaths while you sleep. The pauses may only last a couple of seconds, but can be frequent. When your breathing pauses or becomes shallow, most often you move fro...
To continue on with my memories of our early neighbors including, Frank (Bun) and Margaret (Peggy) Castleberry, who had a home built up the road from us up to the north. Again, Bud Heckman and his crew were the builders, and I was included in a little part of it. Shifting Scenes has some very interesting articles about the Castleberry families, including the Frank and Ida Castleberry family. It was written by Marshall Lambert (Volume I, pages 136-139). Frank (Bun’s dad) came to Montana from Texas in 1885 at the age of 15 a...
Hello, Over the years you hear lots of stories. Stories of jokes that guys have played on one another. I’ve written about them in the past. About Johnny putting the dead calf in Clarence’s pasture. And Clarence buying a pail calf and then unable to find the mother of the dead calf. I’ve written of the night they hauled Terry’s bulls home, and then returned his pickup to where it was parked behind the Buckskin, and left the endgate open. But I don’t think I ever told you the pig story. Oh, I know I’ve told the tale of my...
Every year we open gifts for kids and gifts from kids, Katie and Clayton, on Christmas Eve. We did that when I was a kid. We’d go to Grandma and Grandpa’s house, have a meal, and open presents. One year my uncle Donnie had gotten a present for the girl he was going to marry. It disappeared. Grandma probably threw it away. Her sons never made good choices of wives; Grandma never liked them for at least for 15 years. The same was not true of her mother. Mom wanted to stay with her and her husband, my Great Grandparents, until t...
As we snuggle into our homes during the winter season, Southeast Electric Cooperative shares some safety tips. Use your space heater safely Many people turn to space heaters as a convenient source of warmth in winter months. However, space heaters can be dangerous if not used properly. • Keep the heater at least three feet from flammable items such as curtains, furniture or bedspreads. • Select a space heater with a guard around the heating element. • Read and follow the m...
Ready for winter? Snow shovel out, snow blower gassed up? If you are a bear, you eat a lot, then sleep for six months. If you are a bird, you may either head to the sunny south or hunker down for a winter of birdfeeder visits. But if you are a fish, then what? Ah fish, the forgotten animals. Fish of Montana don't go anywhere exotic in winter and don't hibernate. Their behavior, however, may change with the seasonal changes in their habitat and food supply. We tend to focus...
Hello, Some years ago I was at a horse sale. Seth brought in a cute little pony. A real small pony. About thirty inches tall. It was a beauty. And well broke. But not for kids. That last line kind of hurt the sale. I don’t suppose any of you need a pony? Or a whole bunch of ponies. Ponies are bad. They are evil. I remember from when I was young. I think my pony’s name was Laurie or something like that. And then she was followed by Scratch, my brothers pony. A pony is a real small horse that should be ridden by adults. Mea...
Monday was my 67th birthday. I remember my 7th birthday. The dining room table was surrounded by friends: Kaye, my age, her brother Gary, I always had a crush on Gary; he was two years older than we, another Gary (Cassidy), his younger brother, Steve something, he lived in the house next to ours, a girl who lived up the hill, Sue Biggerstaff, and my uncle Donnie! Gary Cassidy’s father was CEO of the $.05 and $.10 store. That’s where the kids bought Christmas presents. I remember one year my brother bought me the largest bot...
Hello, Shirley says I am “Scrooge”. I’m not much into early Christmas. I don’t shop. I don’t decorate. I am critical of those that do. I know I shouldn’t be this way. I have grandkids that really look forward to this season. So I am trying to be better. But I still don’t think Black Friday should be a holiday. I am thinking that I shouldn’t have to write a column on “Cyber Monday”, whatever the heck that is. It has been close to thirty years since I was in the legislature. If I were back I would introduce a bill that no deco...
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...
V. E. Figg and crew built our present house at its location of 521 North Central Ave in the summer of 1956. We added an addition in 1984-85. The agreement was that Phyl., and I would finish all the sheet rock and paint the house inside and stain the siding outside. The house was small but had several small rooms which made for lots of per-fa-taping and “mud” work. Material and tools were a little different at the time – a powder mixed with water for “mud” and a product called Dramax used for texture finish. Sorry no textur...
In providing legal services to Eastern Montana, I find that it is essential to keep the public up-to-date on the legal trends in the area and some of the basic information about the legal system. This first article includes general information about what a lawyer is, when you should contact a lawyer, and why you need a lawyer. What is a lawyer? A lawyer is a licensed professional who advises and represents people and businesses in legal matters. Lawyers are specifically trained on how to interpret statutes, analyze case law,...
Hello, Saturday morning dawned cold and windy. The forecast was for warming by noon, but the brisk wind was dang sure cold early. We were on our way down to Will and Jen’s ranch to preg check cows. As usual, the drive down was pretty uneventful. I always enjoy the drive across SW North Dakota and NW South Dakota. You don’t meet a lot of traffic, and you can see for miles and miles. A herd of mule deer, including one nice buck, were oblivious to the fact that we are in the middle of deer season. They were grazing on the sho...
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,...
Hello, I know some of my readers are suffering through the same thing I am. I am starting to forget stuff. I used to forget simple things. Things like ‘take the garbage out” or “swing by and pick up a gallon of milk”. But now it has been getting worse. I’ve always been poor at names. I just nod and say “Hi”. Especially if you run into someone who shouldn’t be there. Like if you see someone from Bismarck at the grocery store, or maybe a bar, in Dickinson. But lately it has been getting worse. I forgot how to write. I can st...
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...
Hello, They are forecasting single digit lows for tonight. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. It happens every year about this time. So today we will start winterizing tanks, rolling up garden hoses, and insulating the pumphouse doors. Maybe. At least we will talk about it. We usually don’t do that stuff until the hoses are covered and the water lines have frozen. Because someone will call and need help weaning calves today. Or someone will text me that they need a partner in pinochle. In all my trips around the sun that is...
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...
