Your Community Builder
Your Community Builder
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Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, it might be fun to go back in time (but only for a short time) when life moved at a slower pace. We’ll leave behind: high speed internet, cell phones, telephones, T. V., GPS and electricity. Daily chores, back then, were milking cows, gathering eggs, cleaning coop and barn, slopping pigs, feeding bucket calves, cooking meals from scratch, and in Autumn, making jams, jellies, canning fruits, vegetables and meat, making soap, making some of our clothes or remaking hand-me-downs. Ah – a...
While looking through “Shifting Scenes” to write an article, I came across an article written by Sandi Kirkwood on the family of James and Inga C. Senrud Johnstone. As I read through those I said to myself: “What interesting people, times and events.” You readers be the judges. Like a lot of individuals, they came across the water to the U.S.A. James (Jimmy) was born on January 27, 1883 in Creetown, Kircubrightshire, Scotland. He was one of seven children as he had three brothers and three sisters. Inga Senrud was born Ju...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, sometimes we wonder when we should read Your Word? Is there a certain time to read? Pondering the question of ‘when’: should it be morning, evening, mealtime, bedtime, or maybe in time of conflict and confusion, or when we are sick or lonely, or maybe even angry? Should we read Your Word when we are serene, peaceful and contemplative? Should we read only when we have ‘time’, or, maybe we should just ‘squeeze’ You in, Lord? When is the best time to read Your Word? Then – someone sha...
Hello, You know there is a saying I often heard about cowboys. “Everyone wants to be a cowboy, until they have to do cowboy ….” You can fill in the blanks. The editor doesn’t let me say it. I guess that was never truer than a deal last week. My make believe friend Shannon and I were at the local livestock sale. You know Shannon. He’s the guy I partnered on the dollar bull with. He’s the guy that, when we partnered on a couple bulls, we played poker for the best bull. I won and then when we were branding his, it kicked him...
In 1939 the Donald family moved to Ekalaka with Mrs. Donald and the children consisting of Mary, Charlie, Jessie May, Helen and Lola with George Donald coming later. The beloved horse, Kernal was brought by George and was pastured at the Downey place close to Ekalaka and lived to be 26 years old. “We tried to take our dog with us, but he wouldn’t get in the truck,” a “Shifting Scenes” article reads. “Three days after we moved to Ekalaka, our dog was on the doorstep, footsore, but as happy to see us as we were to see him.” I...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, sometimes when we’re just plain tired out, we might think: ‘Rest time?” What is that? How is that going to happen when there are still so many chores waiting to get done? A friend reminded us that we need to take time out for ourselves, to take care of ourselves, that we need to back up a bit and let You, Lord, refresh us. Another friend told about an interesting thing that she’d heard, which is/was called FOB. Like, what is that? She smiled as she told us that at her house, th...
Hello, This is the time of the year that I miss Pat. Pat O’Brien. He passed away several years ago after a lifetime in the cattle industry. I knew him mostly as an auctioneer. You have to understand that this is the time of the year that most ranchers are marketing their calf crop. It is a time that you have actually been laying plans for, for more than a year. It started when you were selecting replacement heifers a few years ago and buying a battery of bulls that you hoped would improve your herd. And for most of us, it e...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: Fall is fast approaching us; we feel it in the air. Its signs are all around us, too, we see them everywhere! Leaves are turning to orange and gold, they’re such a lovely sight. They don’t stay long as orange and gold, they change fast overnight. Autumn has many clear crisp days, bright colored foliage, too. We’re ‘game’ to tackle outdoor jobs, it’s something we all do. Before the Winter settles in, we’ll work and spread good cheer, with willingness we’ll work ‘til we’re done, we do that every year...
Hello, We were lucky. Real lucky. I’m sure you have seen the stories and pictures of last week's snow storm in North Dakota. For an October storm, it was a doozy. Up to two or three feet of snow and strong winds. But we missed it here in the west. I guess by about fifty miles. Two days before the storm, we decided to bring cows home from a pasture we had rented over in Kidder county. A hundred and sixty miles east of here. I know, I know, you say I must be crazy. Don’t tell me. Shirley has made that abundantly clear. Thanks t...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, some girl friends had gathered together and were having a great time chit chatting about when their kids were just little tots. Nearly every one of the gals had some amusing and enjoyable things to share about things that had happened, maybe some years ago. One gal told this story: “I’d been busy pulling weeds, then I noticed that my son who was then just three years old was observing the sky, clearly watching as the jet kept leaving its trail of smoke and suddenly, he excla...
Hello, You can read lots of economic forecasts. And many of them tell of an impending recession. I suppose you can put the blame wherever you want, but it seems we have recessions every ten years or so. It happens. I don’t need to read of an oncoming recession. If you are in agriculture, the recession has been here for years. Maybe it is a depression. I guess it is a fine line. But the easiest way for me to forecast the economy it is how I deal with many purchases. Sometimes we revert to one of the oldest, truest forms of c...
My last article told of the Donald family building two houses to accommodate the growing family which now amounted to twelve children. The second house had four rooms built in an "L" shape, built out of hewed logs. Jessie May (daughter) gives information and "highlights" of the Donald life on the homestead in the Ridge community which i would like to share. "My dad enjoyed farming and working with horses. He planted feed crops, oats, and corn. He would tell of the first time...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, a little blurb told how a Grandpa developed a delicious jelly using a powdered grape drink. He even won some blue ribbons at the country fair. He sat at the table spreading a half-inch thick serving of jelly on his toast when his wife asked him if he didn’t think that was a little much, to which he replied, “I made it. I guess I can have as much as I want.” Hummmm, we thought, what about those little crabapples out there on that tree, just begging to be made into ‘someth...
Hello, Every once in awhile I run across something that makes me smile. Actually, I run across a lot of stuff that makes me smile. And smiling is good for one’s soul. A weasel walks into a bar. The bartender had never served a weasel before, and he says as much. “I’ve never served a weasel before,” the bartender says to the waiting weasel. “What would you like?” “Pop,” goes the weasel. Admit it. It made you smile. And there was this. But if you don’t live in an area where many Ukrainians settled, you may not get it. This...
Hello, Shirley has been happily married for well over forty years. I know a lot of you realize that she is a lucky woman, but I have to remind her once in awhile. We started producing rodeos the day after our wedding. And we produced rodeos for many years. Amateur, high school, college rodeos, and lots of jackpots. But all things must come to an end. So a number of years ago, we decided to hang it up. We had lost all the money we could. But we had to keep a few of the best old mares around. Then we bought a bucking stud and...
This article is about a couple and family that a few of you knew and maybe a few will remember. I decided to write about George and Elizabeth Donald after he was mentioned in the recent Beltz article. “Shifting Scenes Vol. I” has an interesting and informative article about them written by Jessie May Donald Burns, a daughter, who was married to Richard (Dick) Burns. I feel you will enjoy the history and life of this couple and family. There is enough information for two or three articles so bear with me. Jessie writes: “Georg...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know Lord, it’s time to dig out the comforters tucked away when summer arrived; we’ll fluff them up, air them out and put them on the beds so that we’ll be nice and warm and comfortable. When we were kids at home, Mom made comforters; she pieced tops into lovely designs. Sometimes she used a pattern; sometimes she’d just sew material pieces together. Daddy made a quilting ‘frame’ consisting of four, one by fours on which he tacked narrow canvas strips. These four wooden boards were then placed o...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, a long time ago there was a ‘story’ about the local economy in a small-town having troubles so they invited a successful businessman to come speak to them. Picture the scene: the ‘speaker’ places a large piece of white paper on an easel and makes a red dot in the center of it; then asked the group of folks, “What do you see?” One person responds, “I see a red dot.” The speaker said, “Fine, but what else do you see?” Others chimed in, “A red dot.” The speaker asked, “Don’t you see any...
Hello, Did I ever tell you about my military career? If I did, I’m sorry, because you are going to hear about it again. You see, I was in the Guard. The National Guard. A long, long time ago. Back in the day. As cowboys say, “Back when the chutes were wood, and the men were steel.” Bob was, and is, a close friend of mine. Since we were both farm and ranch guys, we often partook in events following drill that made us a bit slow in the morning. I apologize, but it happens. One Sunday morning we were a bit tardy for roll call. N...
Editor's note: The following is the second of a multi-part column written by Thomas J. Elpel, the founder of Green University® LLC in Pony, Montana and the author of seven books. His video "Dugout Canoe Carving: The Story of Belladonna Beaver" has had more than one million views on YouTube. Go to www.Elpel.info to learn more about the expedition and the fundraising effort for the Jefferson River Canoe Trail. June 5, 2019 - "This little fleet altho' not quite so...
Harold reports on some of the winter and spring snowstorms that sheep ranching and other activities can experience. They are remembered forever. I will share a couple of them. “On May 1, 1967 we had a terrible storm. There were 32 inches of snow on the level, I had ewes and lambs scattered all over. Some made it to the shed and some were covered up. A horse couldn’t travel at all. I finally fixed up a pair of skis and wrapped them with baler twine and that way I could get around some. I saved a lot of them and a lot of the...
Hello, Do you remember when that elderly lady from Grand Forks that became an international star because she wrote columns about restaurants? She was a wonderful writer and a delight to listen to. I’ve always enjoyed eating. You know that. And to me, there is no meal that is complete without meat. Usually beef. But sometimes I’ll eat a pig or a chicken. Drummies are good at happy hour. Bacon is for breakfast. But most of the time, it’s beef. In southwest North Dakota, there are not a lot of steakhouses. You can visit the C...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, it seems like just about everyone knows that this month and the next three months all end with a ‘brr’ and our friend shivered when she mentioned it. We all know that our weather will soon be getting colder as the days/weeks slip away. It’s great to know that our ‘time’ of days, nights, weeks, months and years are Your invention, Lord, and that the seventh day is for rest. Oh - and the moon - one advent and exit and we could call it the silvery moon circuit. Full moon is coming up a...
Hello, It’s September. September mind you. You put up hay in June and July. Not September. In September, if you farm, you combine. If you ranch, you give calves fall shots. You clean your pens out. You weld up broken gates and line up feed bunks. You pull your bulls from the pasture and practice swearing at them. You don’t hay. Not normally. I’m not a religious person. Oh, I was an alter boy for a lot of years when I was a kid. I still maintain that if it hadn’t been for Schlitz beer and girls, I may have gone into the pri...
Continuing on with memories on the Frank, Harold, and Ken Beltz families In 1928 Harold went into the ranching business for himself when he leased the Red Porter place next to his dad, bought four work horses and put in a crop of oats for hay. Shortly after he went to work for J.O. Brownfield building fences. Yes, as you would guess, it was all by hand labor digging holes and whatever was needed. He went home to put up his hay but returned and worked for Brownfield until fall. This brought about buying 20 head of calves from...
