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This last week of moisture came as a blessing and a curse. There were undoubtedly large death losses of young livestock in the areas that were hit by days of blizzard conditions, but in some areas like here in our neck of the woods, the moisture was such a blessing that it outweighed the curse part. With this moisture boost, many ranchers will be trying to slip some farming in instead of sleep and between calving, feeding, branding, fencing, and all the other spring work. Farming is often a high-speed, high-stress form of div...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know Lord, we hunger for sacred space and yearn for quiet time. We know that You are always ready and willing to meet us in that space. We must study, meditate, praise, and pray so that divine space becomes the highlight of our daily journey so that we can experience pure peace in Your loving presence. A friend shared this poem, credit was given to the American Presbyterian Clergywomen in 2001 entitled: “Quiet time with the Lord: I have often stopped to wonder, why am I always in a hurry? Can...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, William D. Longstaff (in 1882) paraphrasing Hebrews 12:14 wrote the song, “Take Time to Be Holy.” In those four verses he tells us to make friends of God’s children, help those who are weak, spending time with the Lord, and lead by His Spirit, our friends, in our conduct, Your likeness they shall see. That is an Easter message that is just as powerful and significant today as it was when it was written. Here is a poem that emphasizes those thoughts: WHAT IS THE GOSPEL ACCORDI...
Many readers know the Story family and might remember that Chance Story, from Martinsdale, Montana (formerly of Big Timber and Ennis, Montana) won a $3000 Academic All-around rodeo scholarship last spring in part for his essay that I ran in this column last spring. Chance, who is a freshman rodeoing for the MSU Northern Rodeo Team in Havre realized a rodeo family's worst fear when he was kicked in the face by a bucking horse on April 1, 2022 at the Bigger Better Barn in...
submitted by Carter County Public Health We have partnered again with Smiles Across Montana to make a return visit to our community in the later part of May. This is a dental care opportunity for parents of students in Ekalaka Public School districts (K-12). Keep an eye out for more information and by visiting our Facebook page - CarterCountyPublicHealth. Smiles Across Montana (SAM) mission is to improve the oral health outcomes of Montanans and believe that everyone deserves access to equitable preventive services. SAM has...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know Lord, another friend slipped off to You, and then this ‘piece’ showed up, author unknown. Just sharing as we grieve, knowing our dear one has gone on ahead: “Grief like a mantel covers me. We kissed goodbye – then astonishment and shock. Who knew you’d soon fly away? Sorrow like the sky – over everything. Tears engulf me – their release is healing. You, dear one, breathed in, breathed out - then breathed no more. Grief like a black hole paralyzes – loneliness and depression attend...
One of the advantages of writing a weekly column for 27 years is that I have a scrapbook of my life saved on my computer. This week, my grandson Alex turned 12, so I thought I would type "Alex" in the search bar to see what stories came up about Alex in columns. The first one that came up was this one that I wrote right after he was born, and twelve years later I can still remember how it felt to become a grandmother for the first time. . . I have crossed another threshold in my life's journey by becoming a grandmother, and...
I was very happy to see the article in the Eagle about the meat processing plant near Belltower called OCC Legacy Cuts. Probably nobody remembers but I wrote an article for the Eagle a few years ago suggesting this very thing. It is a little surprising to me it would be located in Belltower and not closer to Ekalaka, but that is probably closer to the center of the county. It is also surprising that they would be located in such a sparsely populated place. I really wish them all the best. A number of years ago, I was...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, dear Lord, Red Velvet cake is colorful to make. Mix white frosting to spread on top, once cake’s put in to bake. Friends love to share their recipes, then share with neighbors, too. Some soup, biscuits and cookies, too; sharing is fun to do. When the weather’s cold, turn the oven on, let’s make Biscuits today! Make large or small – they’re all yummy; we’ll share with neighbor Kay. ‘Sue’ made some soup – so colorful- she’d wanted to stop in. Soup tasted good, so we asked its name; ‘Clean out...
Spring is officially here, and that signals a shift in my world. I have to shift from physical fitness activities like power walking to the break room for a snack and lifting paperclips to doing things like lugging newborn calves into a sled from the snowbank they were born in or crawling through brush behind cows or in some cases in front of cows--depending upon their prenatal or postpartum moods. Calving season can be a painful transition into fitness that requires a lot of sweat and, therefore, deodorant. The worst part...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know Lord, some days one awakens with a song in their heart, a smile on their lips and feel “in love” and it doesn’t even have to be Valentine’s Day or JUNE! We might just have our heart in tune. Some favorite things might be hot soup on a cold day or a cold soup made of raw, blended vegetables on a hot day. Also, how about a good book to read? A friend suggested a few things she loved: the American flag, our country, nature, her home, her dear family and she loved sunny days and remembere...
submitted by Carter County Public Health Did you know in Montana drowning is the second leading cause of death in children through 17 years of age. Here are just a few Montana stats: 29 children drowned in Montana ranging from infants up through 17 years of age (2013 through 2020). Fifty-two percent died in open water such as rivers, lakes, creeks; 28% died in other types of water: irrigation ditches, canals, etc.; and 17% died in bathtubs. Join Carter County Public Health and Fallon County Public Health for Water Safety Day...
There is a health care crisis in America that has nothing to do with Covid. My personal health care crisis involves trying not to put myself in the position of requiring health care despite my husband's ideas. I have health insurance, but I hate to use it--especially for a case of chronic stupidity. Chronic stupidity is a malady that many people who work around cattle and horses suffer--especially during calving season. As I have grown older, I have grown more cautious. If we are driving on bad roads, I will dig my medical in...
Calving season has begun on many ranches, and although it is an exciting time bringing all those new lives into the world, it is a stressful time of trying to keep the animals and the humans alive and healthy. This year we are calving in two locations, which stretches our resources fairly thin. Consequently, there is a division of labor that was calculated by someone who flunked math. Apparently there is an unwritten rule of calving that once the calf is pulled out of the cow, it becomes the responsibility of the ranch wife...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know Lord, today or maybe even this week, we might just feel like completing some winter projects or we might just pack them away for another day. The urge to clean and plant surges deep within us. No false sense of security here, we know the fickle weather of March as the new season struggles with Spring birth pains. But how about taking a moment to check out a few words for a Day Brightener – especially as we think about Saint Patrick’s Day and Green things, right? “Blue Sky overhead – Snow...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know Lord, it is still March and there is still time in our forecast for some SNOW to come our way! When Snow is falling, we might want to take a minute or two to watch, as falling Snow is rather spellbinding stuff to watch. An unknown author wrote the following about SNOW – so here it is: “A growth process called “coalescence” [combination] is the process of a cloud droplet growing in size [from 1/2500 inch in diameter to 1/125 inch or larger], it is large enough to fall as rain or other for...
After my column about a full brain ran, I received many priceless responses. First of all, several mathematical geniuses noticed that not only has too much information overfilled my brain, but it also made it dyslexic. It seems that I reversed the 1 and 4 in the tenths and hundredths values of pi (3.141592653589793238.. . which never repeats). Now, I realize this reversal would make a big difference in a mathematical computation of the area or circumference of a circle or the volume of a cylinder, but in case I have to...
COVID Vaccine | Following are dates available to make appointments if you are interested in getting an up to date COVID vaccine. We have dates available for adult, adolescent and pediatric individuals. Please call us to schedule an appointment if interested. • Adult Vaccine Moderna and Jannsen (Johnson and Johnson) available Tuesday, March 8th. • Adolescent Vaccine Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine Ages 12yr to 18yr old available Thursday, March 10th. • Pediatric Vaccine Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine Ages 5yr to 11yr old available Thurs...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know Lord, sometimes rereading things from long ago is most interesting. Take for example a remark like, “Do everything without complaining;” a Bible verse from Phil 2:14. We probably all know a few chronic complainers. They are impossible to help and never seem to be satisfied with whatever ‘we’ do to help them, but they won’t let ‘us’ stop trying, so in the end ‘we’ feel trapped. We just need to make sure that WE are not the chronic complainer, as that gives us a reputation, then pe...
I haven’t been stuck in the mud for some time, Yes that old ‘gumbo’, such treacherous stuff, The vehicle would be wrestled with, so rough, When in this slick clay, try avoiding the grime. You might high-center...stuck, it seemed a crime, One may be on foot, without a rebuff, A neighbor, ‘X’ miles away, enough, For a good hike in the mud, damn this slime. But there was a flavor in getting so stuck, To admit that we might not be in control, But what would I tell Dad about the truck, There is much about this business, still to...
My favorite holiday of the year was this week, which was Dr. Seuss’s birthday on March 2. It has become my tradition to do a Whoville poem to celebrate Dr. Seuss and my First Amendment right to freedom of expression. Watching the drastic erosion of freedom in the attempted takeover of Ukraine underscores the need to preserve all of our freedoms and guard against tyranny, socialism, and the complete lack of basic common sense that this country is grappling with. Last year, when I decided to run my Whoville poem, my sister warn...
This last summer I walked the streets where once, I drove a maroon colored Mercury, Up and down Main, it was so endlessly, Good to kids back then, an accepted stunt. Learning to drive on icy street, no fuss, It was as fun as fun might always be, Turning by the “Cop Shop” so carefully, It, as American, as one can trust. Memories bubble, ones not to discuss, Of those nights with the eight-track tape playing, And we’d talk of teenage life gleefully, It’ll always stay in me, a total plus. There are memories one might which t...
The Miles City tournament back then, We students looked forward to it, excite, It, a taste of adult’s freedom, of nights, Where we, as teenagers...no books...nor pens. We’d go to the games, to watch our own men, Playing against Sacred Heart, a tough fight, Or perhaps of ‘State School’, boys of plight, There’s a certain school pride to defend. Those times, lightened winter’s burden for sure, And as a nice break, in a larger town, It’s glamour was not lost on me, its stir, Of the high school routine, of its frowns, Perha...
One of Big Timber, Montana's most renowned residents, Gwen Petersen, closed the gate just 5 days before her 94th birthday last week. I am so thankful that my "Ode to Coveralls" poem that referenced her ran before she passed, and her beloved friend, Elaine Allestad, took it to her bedside so her sidekick in poetry and life, Sandy Sallee, could read it to her. Gwen was a great writer of the western lifestyle and a truly one of a kind character who will be sorely missed, but she will live on through her rhymes and rhetoric. The...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know Lord, when looking out at the starry sky, a song comes to mind: “My Lord! What a Morning!”[1] (From Rev. 6:12-13: … when the stars begin to fall). A glimpse of falling stars is the Perseid Meteor shower, in early August {HEY! – it’s still Feb.!}. When we were kids out on the ranch, we’d locate the North Star with the help of the Big Dipper, among the host of twinkling stars. We just missed seeing the Southern Cross flying home from Australia one year. Both the North Star and the Southern...
