Your Community Builder
Your Community Builder
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I will continue to share information about the Tie Creek community with an article by Wesley Brewer who told about the company that came to the area to cut trees, made railroad ties, built dams, and in the spring of 1884 with high water and blown dams started the ties down Tie Creek to the Little Missouri River with a destination of Medora. What was the result? Wesley gives us the answer. “The trees were to be stopped at Medora and about half of them reached their destination. Some of the others were gathered up and hauled t...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, the way ‘things’ are going on right now with ‘Sheltering In’, etc. a friend suggested a ‘Joy Box. ‘A joy box? What is a Joy Box?’ “Oh, everyone should have one,” our friend exclaimed. “They are SO easy to make, an old shoe box will do. Wrap it pretty with lovely paper and decorate it so it’s eye-catching. We listened while she told what goes inside: “Put into it selected cards, letters, notes and your favorite Bible Verses; scrapes of wee notes from special folks, little children, f...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, it never seems to fail, once it is Summertime, detours seem to be opened and “Road Construction Ahead” signs are woven into the scenery along busy roadways. With friends, this last week, we sure did come across some of those very signs in our travels, beginning with “Rough Road” and “Watch For Flagman”. These signs gave us fair warning as we traveled along. “Caution – Abrupt Edge” signs also warned of impending danger. We joined the lineup of vehicles sitting and waiting for the “Pi...
Several years ago, Ernest Tooke wrote a story about all the business, present time or not, that had been in Ekalaka. It was fairly complete, but I am going to tell you about one business that he didn't mention and tell you about one that I know practically nothing about. Then I will tell you about a kind of business that my Dad engaged in. There used to be a creamery in Ekalaka. It was in a great big building close to where the Fairgrounds are now. They made butter and sold it. I don't know what else they made. I remember it...
Robert and Pat Talkington’s daughter, Gloria Dawn, and her daughter came for a short visit to Ekalaka. We stayed with some friends and former neighbors, Chester and Rona Meyer, and had a great visit. We really enjoyed Ches and Jordan and all of the family. Our trip was too short to get to visit with all our friends and loved ones. Next trip, Gloria H....
School bells are about to ring for the first time since March, and many college students are headed off to campus. My thoughts turn to those parents ushering their kids off to college and kindergarten with high hopes, a few hidden tears, and a whole lot of fear of how Coronavirus will affect face to face school. The college bound cars in 2020 are packed with masks, face shields, hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes, extra toilet paper, and several spray bottles of disinfectant. Digging in the archives, I found this column I...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, now and then friends share with us things that are special to them. One gal shared that a long while ago, Pastor ‘Phil’ [name changed] was telling them that: “Listening is not hearing. Touching is not feeling. Looking is not seeing. There is the sense and the sensibility. The former is our body’s proper functioning. The latter is our ‘will to awareness.’” Then she went on to explain that we involuntarily might listen, but we all know that we hear only by intention; she then gave a...
A big thing as we were growing up in and around Ekalaka was the water supply. People out in the country or on the edges of Ekalaka had wells. You usually could find ground water at 10 or 15 feet but they would go on through that and go to another vein of water at 60 or even 100 or more feet. The deeper the well the harder pumping it was and I know that because I did a lot of pumping for the livestock. At our second house in Ekalaka, we had a windmill which, of course, pumped water when the wind was blowing. This was very...
In a normal year, we look forward to the end of the haying season, because there might be a little opportunity to take a short vacation before school starts. This year the hay equipment is about to get parked in the shed, but prospects of a vacation are pretty slim due to COVID-19. It is starting to look like our family vacation will be donning masks and braving a couple stores in Billings to purchase school supplies and school clothes in the hopes that no impending Covid meteor will fall from the CDC and prevent our schools...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, it has been a while ago, but we did appreciate the thoughts expressed by a chap who was telling a group of us that there are backbiters out there, haters of You, Lord, proud braggarts, those who are disobedient to their parents, and heartless; and not only that, but that they also encourage others to DO those same things, too! Don’t they realize that there is a death penalty for these crimes as spoken of in Romans, 1:32, “.… that those who practice such things are deserving of deat...
The 4-H Fair, which is this week in our county, is going to look a lot different because of COVID. Spectators are being asked to stay home and watch the fair on live feeds. Perhaps that will make fair a bit less dramatic and more relaxed. I have been asked to run this column about 4-H Moms again, because even though spectators are discouraged, the moms will still be doing their 4-H mom thing. I hope all moms remember there is a fine line between extremely supportive and downright crazy! Having been a 4-H mom, I can tell you...
This article will be a little different as it will be about a community and some of its history that was unknown to me. The information is taken from “Shifting Scenes Vol. II,” was written by Wesley Brewer and is entitled “Tie Creek Community.” Wesley has an article about his life and family and other articles, and in some instances gives very detailed reports of life and history. He does a great job. I am going to quote most of his articles which I feel you as readers will enjoy. “One cloudy afternoon in 1882, a buffalo hunt...
Until last week, here in Sweet Grass County, we had no COVID cases, but as of my deadline time, we now have two cases. We do not fall under the Governor’s mask mandate yet, but it might be unlikely that we will stay under four cases in our county. If we have four cases in our county, we will be required to mask up; however, even the mandate is confusing because as stated on the Montana.Gov site, it reads, “The directive does not require face coverings in counties with three or fewer active cases or for children under 5, tho...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, sometimes while looking for one thing, one finds something else, like a snippet from a longer article, called “A Quote for Today” – how about that? Then up popped the first quote: “What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, God calls a butterfly!” How about the second one – that’s pretty ‘right on’! “So, just do the very best you can, and leave the rest to God. After all, that IS what He is there for!” The article continued (author unknown), ‘Here are some quotes about taking li...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: Oh, Lord, You know the good and bad about every single one of us, and after reading this passage in Psalms, it seems like, here we go again. We read: “What fools the nations are to rage against the Lord! How strange that men should try to outwit God!” Psalm 2:1 If we’d just give it some thought, we’d know that our deception is useless; for You, oh Lord, have made us. You know our beginning from our end. You know our very hearts, our deepest thoughts; You know our hearts and our dreams. You know the...
Western movies often portrayed the camp cook as a cranky drunk. I think this stereotype evolved for a darn good reason, they had to be cranky and/or drunk to survive! Camp cooking is such a fine and pleasant misery that I'd probably do it free gratis just for the adventure. However, that does not prohibit me from complaining about the job--especially now that I have pretty much retired from wilderness camp cooking. The only job description for a back country camp cook I was ever given came from a packer/guide, whom I will ref...
by Eric Dietrich and Brad Tyer People have been parsing the human lifespan into a taxonomy of ages forever. Aristotle proposed three categories: youthful, prime of life, and elderly. Two thousand years later, Shakespeare's Seven Ages of Man carved human chronology into seven slices, with the body's final frailty circling back to the original oblivion of infancy. And in the 1980's, British historian Peter Laslett proposed a revised map of three ages, with a caveat for the...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You now, Lord, each day that You give us, is a ‘room of time’. We can use that time or we can abuse it, we can spend it or waste it, we can fill our time with recollections of past failures and moan all the ‘what if’s,’ if only,’ ‘woe is me.’ We can have our own “pity party” with just us as the honored guest, for who, pray tell, would want to come to such a party! Or, woo-hoo - we can fill our ‘room of time’ with peace and happiness, joy and satisfaction. We can be about as glad or as sad as we choo...
As the COVID numbers rise, so do the fears that we may have to go back to more restrictions. It is hard to put a cork back in an open bottle, so it will be interesting to see if we are faced with trying to do so. Most families are concerned about reopening of schools in the fall. Schools are making plans to open and trying to determine what that will look like. School closures caused a tremendous hardship for working parents. Being a working mother is no picnic. I know this, because I was one for 21 years. Even though it has...
Hi Ekalaka! It is definitely been a while since I’ve been able to write an article for you, but I know that today I’m going to be talking about a very important topic. It is come to my attention that there are several scams going around town affecting our citizens. I needed to write this article, so everyone is aware of how to verify any mailings, phone calls, or other methods you receive about prize winnings. The most common kind of scams are: phone calls; emails; computer support scams; imposter scams; fake checks; dem...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, on the 1st day of July, there is a list of some Special and Wacky Days. One special day is Canada Day/Dominion Day, plus National Postal Worker Day. Then, how about a creative Ice Cream Flavor Day. Now that summer is in full swing, we might need something to help us cool off a bit, so how about some creative Ice Cream flavors for today. A friend asked IF we were old enough to remember just how many flavors of ice cream there were, and could we name all 28 flavors? She thought that s...
Many readers know the poetry from Sandy Seaton Sallee even if they don't know Sandy or her husband Scott. Sandy and Scott own Black Mountain Outfitters in the Paradise Valley, and they need some prayers and love right now. Just as their busy summer season was starting, the mare Scott was packing to camp spooked hard, ran over his mule, and he landed on a big rock. He was having trouble breathing. Fortunately there was cell service even though they were several miles up a trail, and Sandy's brother was able to call her to...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: Respect, what is respect, Lord? It seems like our idea of respect has really changed in the last decade or two, wouldn’t You say so, too, Lord? Perchance, do any of us even remember that, in essence, respect might be admiration, consideration, deference, honor, reverence, regard, or even value. In this day and age, psychedelic shorts and a cap are worn in church – we pause a moment to wonder, where is respect for the house of God? Calling the Pastor by his given name in public, where there is respe...
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 called "Throwin' It Out." I love her style of...
As Father’s Day approaches, the rivers and creeks are running high and muddy, which makes all of us happy--except those planning a Father’s Day fishing trip. This summer of social distancing makes camping and fishing the ideal pastime, especially because the fly fisherman has been glamourized and romanticized almost as much as the Gary Cooper/Marlboro cowboy image. Movies like A River Runs Through It have made fly fishing a huge industry in our part of the country, and I am glad because it provides me with a lot of sum...
