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Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, lots of folks have heaps of thoughts and ideas about the secret of how to have happiness. How about Christmas gifts – just think of all the items, all these special gifts are given because of the happiness and love we share. With Easter coming up, here is a good thought to embrace, in a poem by Sper: “Because of love God sent His Son From heaven’s throne to earth To rescue us from sin and death – a Gift of priceless worth!” An unknown author wrote: “The secret of happiness is...
I was sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee on the morning of March 5, 2020 when the cruise ship The Grand Princess came across the screen. Somehow I knew that was the ship my friends, Judy Vidack and Theresa Hopkins were on. The report said that a passenger on the ship on a cruise to Mexico prior to their Hawaii cruise had tested positive for Coronavirus so they were going to do testing on the ship. By noon that day, the passengers were sequestered in their rooms and a Coast Guard helicopter was delivering testing sup...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, recently, we ran across some interesting truths. When a friend stated that You, Lord, are like an ‘eyelid’, we were like “What? What are you talking about?” Amazingly, we discovered some interesting and surprising pictures in the Bible, things like You, Lord God, as a laboring mother (ISA 42:14) or as a beekeeper (7:18); now that surely was all news to those of us listening! We read in Deuteronomy 32 where Moses praises the way You took care of Your people, and in verse 10 how You s...
Depression and anxiety are the two most common mental health disorders, and every person will experience one or both at some point in their life. Some people experience depression or anxiety over a short period, while others have a lifelong diagnosis. Occasional anxiety is a normal part of life. We all experience anxiety at some point, like before a big test, a job interview, or before making a big decision. However, anxiety disorders involve more than temporary fear. Those with anxiety disorders experience anxiety lifelong,...
A virus is an infectious microscopic organism which invades a living organism, such as humans, animals, bacteria, and plants, and uses those host to replicate. There are a multitude of different viruses. Many viruses cause diseases in humans, such as influenza, the common cold, chicken pox, AIDS, and rabies. Fortunately, for many common viruses there are vaccines available that humans can get to prevent infections. However, there are not vaccines available for all viruses, especially new ones, like the one that causes the...
I would like to end my articles about the family of Joe and Marj Schallenberger this week - they brought back many memories to me and hopefully to you readers. I will share a few statistics and information on the family and then I would like to share some of my recollections of this couple. Marjorie Opal Powell was born 11-20-1916 in Ekalaka to James and Effie Oberlin Powell and had a brother, Harry and a sister, Maxine Lilletvedt. At an early age, Marj lost her father and her...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, having just visited with a couple of near neighbors who are Moms of small kids, sharing some nighttime incidents, it brought back memories from long ago – but – things like ‘back then’ probably still transpire today. Back then when we were little kids, we’d go to bed and all would be hushed in our house, except for some normal night noises; one of which might awaken one of us from first sleep. Pusillanimously or nervously, we’d call out, “Mommy.” If there was no answer, we’d call...
For those of you who are stuck at home self quarantining, I have a bit of reading material for you this week. This tale by Mark Silverstein, who ranches north of Big Timber, Montana came to my inbox with the following comment, "Your Dr. Seuss tribute poem (loved that Seussan Metcalf) inspired me to write a "Fairy Tale" of my own with similar subject matter." Thanks for submitting this fairy tale, Mark! It takes our mind off of Covid-19 for a few minutes! A FAIRY TALE --by Mark Silverstein Once upon a time, millions of...
Joe and Marj Schallenberger Joe continues his Shifting Scenes article with the statement: “in 1933 Mother passed away and with Floyd and Mildred married and Clyde working outside, he, his dad, and Etola stayed on the ranch.” Hard, tough years: “1934 caught us out of feed both in the stack and on the ground and we along with the majority were forced to sell our stock to the Government. Good cows brought $20.00 each and the poorer ones $16.00. They had to be delivered to the railroad at Marmarth, North Dakota — about seventy...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: A while back we had the privilege to read a grade school kid’s speech on STAYING ACTIVE/FIT. That brought back some childhood memories. As a farm/ranch kid, whoever thought about anorexia or obesity? We didn’t have time for that and we certainly never heard of all the electronics that folks have at their fingertips today. Most of those items weren’t even invented, way back then. We had chores to do outside in the fresh air – all four seasons: winter COLD, summer HEAT and delightful days of spring an...
When our son was in junior high, his English teacher asked the students to write about someone they admired. Any mother would be flattered to think her adolescent son admired her. She might not be so flattered by the title of his essay. In bold print it read, “She Just Sits on Her Butt.” In a humorous way he was telling people about his mother who used a wheelchair. The reason I have spent over half a year now in a hospital is trying to heal those pressure sores that resulted from a bony bottom in a wheelchair. Instead of...
My County School Superintendent's office is in the Sweet Grass County Annex, which used to be the old county hospital and medical clinic. Many of my colleagues are sure the Annex is haunted, but in all my years there, I have never seen a ghost. However, recently I did have two disconcerting experiences with my garbage can that have me wondering about the possibility of paranormal activity. My garbage can sits right beside my desk, but one day a few weeks back, I returned from the copy room to find my garbage can sitting right...
It is time for another Memories article and this time I have chosen a couple and family who were very close and special to Phyl and I. That couple was Joseph (Joe) and Marjorie (Marj) Schallenberger. “Shifting Scenes Vol. II” has an article written by Joe about his family homestead days, early school days, hardships, good times and bad. I found it interesting and it brought to life the changes that have occurred from his childhood until the present time. Also, I have some more information that was given to me before their pas...
It is Dr. Seuss's birthday this week, and it is celebrated as a major holiday in elementary schools across the nation. Though there are those who accuse him of being racist and sexist and every other "ist" there is, he was an amazing writer whose books have taught simple lessons to at least four generations of children. His simple rhymes contained powerful messages, so I decided to honor this great children's author with a poem that I really hope carries a palatable message to consumers and those in the beef industry....
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, a book of devotions began each month with a three-line verse (author unknown) entitled Gifts of the Season. February’s gift was The Seed. [“Planted in winter’s dark womb, prayer seeds germinate, creating new growth.”] We were to trust You, Lord, working unseen, waiting quietly for answers to our prayers. The Wind is the Gift of the Season for March: (“Touch of Spirit’s breath offers lift to kites and prayers as March winds praise God.”). In March, we’re to pray that this month’s breez...
I heard on the radio the other day that children get their intelligence from their mothers. That might explain what has happened to my brain. Perhaps I drained part of it for the first child and the rest for the second. I can almost buy that theory--except for the fact that I have another theory that makes more sense to me: Susan's Full Brain Theory. I believe my brain is like a computer that has no memory left. My brain is full, and my folders cannot be compacted. In fact, my brain is so full that according to the bathroom...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, loneliness is no respect for persons; a group of us gals know that personally, having just met in a Support Group where we shared our thoughts and feelings. It was kind of surprising that even though we all are grieving, we each have a different feeling about loneliness; we each have a dissimilar point of view, but we all know that You, Lord, are there with us and for each one of us. Yes, ‘grief road’ is difficult, but we’re still traveling on. No matter what, many turn to ‘drink...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, dear Lord, the snow falls fast, Winter is on our mind. Icicles guard, the wind does moan, a warm place the birds can’t find. Sparkle of frost on windowsill recaps our childhood ‘view’; we’d ‘scratch’ frost off to take a peek – we saw a calf, brand new! Sometimes the sky is low and mean, snowflakes might cause a yawn; across the barn or through a rut, debates if it goes on. We’ve all been there, we’ve heard the noise, we know how Winter smells. We’ve seen the ‘look’ and felt the c...
The January 3rd issue of the Eagle had an article about the Montana Greats Project which was recently published in the Billings Gazette. This article invited Ekalaka people to give their opinions on the greatest athletes from Carter County. I contend that this would be very difficult to do correctly because of the different sports and the time differences, I was in Carter County High School from 1952 to 1956. If I had to pick the best five athletes of my era, I would pick, Bob Lasater, Tom McCamish, Buddy Morrison, Milton...
A heart attack is serious business, and time is of the essence. If you think you or someone you know is having symptoms of a heart attack, call 9-1-1 and seek help immediately! The most talked-about symptom of a heart attack is chest pain. On TV, chest pain is often portrayed as an excruciating, crushing pain in the center or left-of-center of the chest. However, chest pain may feel like pressure, squeezing, fullness, pain, or may even feel like heartburn or indigestion, and the pain may come and go. But many people who...
Several years ago, we decided that ranching for fun and not profit was not really working for us, so we decided to lop off a few acres with a view up the creek and down the Yellowstone and make money the old fashioned way--selling the rural lifestyle to folks determined to get out of town and return to their agrarian roots. Believe me, providing that opportunity is easier said than done! In the first year, we spent the $500.00 we had in our life savings account and a whole lot of the bank's money on surveying, consultant...
Since I am not as familiar with the great athletes in all of Carter County, I will focus on the great athletes that were born or raised in the Tie Creek area of the county. In the early years, most every community had a baseball team. For several decades a somewhat organized league of baseball was played. Lute Waterland was a pitcher that played mostly for the Capitol team, I believe. The Waterland family lived near Sheep Mountain. My dad talked about Lute as being the top pitcher of those days. He could put a lot of mustard...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, sometimes friends share interesting things that they’ve found on the ‘net’; take for instance, a penny. Who’d have thought that there was a day to celebrate a Lost Penny, which is the 12th of February. And who among us has not lost a penny or two – let alone found a penny somewhere, even in the grocery store parking lot. That was a special time as the ‘box boy’ was totally amazed when asked to pry it out of the frozen piece of ice. Did he ever smile when he heard: “See a penny – let i...
I share the copy machine at work with the Sweet Grass County Extension Agent, Marc King, so one day I found an interesting email mixed in with my pile of papers off the machine. It was a bulletin from MSU about a biomarker study of the effects of calving operations on osteoarthritis. Even though it wasn't my mail, I decided to read it to see what it was all about. Long story short, you can sign up to have your biomarkers for osteoarthritis checked before and during calving season during an on the ranch visit that tests your...
February is American Heart Month! Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. Every year, the deaths of 1 in 4 men and women are caused by heart disease. The term "heart disease" actually encompasses many different conditions – heart defects you are born with (congenital heart disease), coronary artery disease (plaque buildup in arteries), heart rhythm problems, weak heart muscle, diseases of the heart valves, and others. Heart disease, especially in t...
