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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...
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...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, as the season rapidly changes into Autumn, we notice that the birds are preparing to leave. A friend reminded me of a story she had heard about a bird’s nest under the railroad tracks. She remembered in the story that the mother bird was sitting peacefully on her eggs and appeared undisturbed by the roar of the fast trains above and around her. Friend D. L. then recited the little verse she recalled that had gone along with this ‘story’; author is unknown. “Said the robin to the sp...
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...
Editor's note: The following is the first 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. May 30, 2019 - "We are now several hundred miles within the bosom...
Sorry it has been so long since I have written a memory article, but the summer has been filled with unexpected activities. I will not bore you with them. This article will be about two early Carter County homesteaders, their families, places of residence, raising livestock, cattle trailing, winter storms, etc. My information is taken from “Shifting Scenes Vol.1” and was written by Harold Beltz who has a couple of pages about his dad’s family, his life, and other family activities. I will start with his dad. Frank Beltz...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: It’s back to school for young and old, a happy day for some! Buy needed things, supplies and clothes, which is the rule of ‘thumb.’ They tackle fear which some kids have but most know school is fun! Good thoughts – good sleep; take it easy – then you’ll know that you’ve won! School buses came to help parents, ‘round ‘bout 1915. Bright yellow was the ‘color’ choice, and ‘Keep the busses clean’. Imagine keeping cars off roads, some ‘millions’ every year! That sure saves folks some ‘bucks’ on gas – you...
Hello, I'm not sure how this will go. I'm writing on a borrowed computer and sitting on a box. So if somewhere in the middle of this article, I drift off and don't get it finished, so be it. I'm not very techy. If that is even a word. I never was a real techy guy. When I was much, much younger my friends were a lot handier than I. They would talk about car stuff. They would talk about 4 barrels and dual exhaust. They would talk rpm and gear ratios. I could drive a 4 speed pickup or a 2 ton truck with a load of grain. And I...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, sometimes the wind moans and groans and whistles as it gently flaps the curtains at the open window which we like to have open a bit during this Summer Season. We know some older folks who in fact seem to know how to read the moods and moans and sighs of the wind – but for sure, that talent didn’t get to all of us. Uneven heating of the atmosphere by sun energy causes wind or air, which makes for circulation – that’s what one ‘guy’ in the know mentioned. That was most interesting!...
Hello, If you’ve been reading my column over the years, you know how I appreciate county fairs. Not the big State Fairs. The little county fairs where you can see who in the neighborhood has the nicest garden, the best welder, the coolest photographs, and which 4-H club has put in the most work. The two county fairs I still love to attend are the Harding County Fair in Camp Crook, SD., and the Slope County Fair in Amidon, ND. We attended the Harding County Fair this past weekend. And I have to brag a little. Our grandkids d...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, it was surprising to discover that some of us have incorrect blinking habits. There are even exercises designed to develop correct blinking so that the fluid movement of the eyelids prevents dry eyes. That’s when ‘time’ or seconds become real. One learns correct blinking as in: relax, close eyes, count three seconds, open eyes, count two seconds, repeat. Another exercise is: shut eyes, flutter the lids but don’t OPEN your eyes, flutter and count slowly to 100. The Devotiona...
Hello, You can feel Fall is in the air. Oh, I know we’ve had some hot days. And the summer thundershowers have been rolling through the Dakotas at a pretty steady pace. But the nights have been cool and we had one morning in the forties this past week. It will get hot again, but you can see fall is getting close. Now, with fall getting close, you have kids getting ready for school. I think football was invented to make young boys more anxious to go back to school. Especially if you live in Harding County, South Dakota. The R...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, now and then ‘things’ just happen that are very pleasing to the eyes – well, maybe pleasing to all of our senses. One can’t help but pause and simply stand in wonderment about Your creation. It really is a shame we don’t notice the happenings daily, or even hourly, but we don’t. We take things for granted; as though they were our ‘due’, and are ‘there’, specifically for our well-being. Lately, several such days and special events passed before us; let’s call them actions or special...
Depending on your point of view, the summer is either beginning, half over or nearly done. Recent graduates of both high school and college probably wish summer would never end and people would stop asking them what's next. Neither will happen, of course. A graduate's next step is getting a career, a job or a clue. The following is a tutorial for anyone who has thought working in the fish, wildlife and parks field would be just swell. Coulees don't look steep until you are at...
Hello, I don’t often make mistakes. Well, actually I do. I’ve been making mistakes for seventy years. Some grievous, some not so bad. I made a mistake a week ago. I figured I was done haying. I’ve been haying for several weeks. I put some hay up too wet. I put some hay up too dry. In between I baled up a few bales that were probably just right. I don’t know which ones they were, but I’ll bet the cows eat every bale I feed next winter. They aren’t fussy when it is twenty below and a brisk wind blowing. I mentioned to a friend...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, if we’re not getting our share of happiness and success out of life, maybe we ought to try these on for size: [source unknown – just sharing]. FIRST: Realize that we’re put on earth for a purpose. We’re not just born, we can find our purpose, Faith in Self, and work toward the mastery of it; then we’ll find happiness and success. We need to learn the purpose for our life as early as we possibly can. SECOND: Adopt a positive attitude in our daily living, always believing that the be...
Hello, Well, after the fiasco at the airport we did make it to Alaska. Flew into Juneau, then on a floatplane to the fishing lodge. Missed most of the days fishing, but dang sure caught enough fish to get us excited about the next four days! Now, you know I don’t care to travel much. Medora is thirty miles and I hate to venture that far. Reva is 105 miles and that really tests me. I used to be a hotshot driver you know. But the trip to Alaska was a once in a lifetime, at least at my age, trip with my son, three grandsons, a...
Hello, You know I don’t fly a lot. I used to. Once in awhile to a legislative deal, or on an annual vacation. But I don’t really get excited about amassing airline miles on my credit card. Because when you get a lot of miles, you are tempted to use them on an airline ticket. But a week ago, I went. I saw. I conquered. Never mind, different story. A week ago, I had the opportunity to spend five days fishing with three of my grandsons and one of their cousins in Alaska. I couldn’t pass this opportunity up. To get to Alask...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, it is entertaining and amusing to look up bizarre and unique holidays. July does have some interesting ones. For instance, last week was Peach Ice Cream Day. Not everyone has tried that flavor, right, Sister Sal? Oh, maybe you and yours have, tee hee – since you live in a big city. This week we have a Cousin’s Day on the 24th - so Happy Day, Cousins! That day is also ‘Tell an Old Joke Day’; we probably all KNOW a few old jokes. Coming up the 25th is ‘Threading the Needle Day’. We we...
Hello, I’ve got a friend that’s a heck of a good cowboy. He can pick up a rodeo, calve a bunch of heifers, get his hay put up, and put a good handle on a broncy colt. When he was younger he followed the big rodeo and also rode bucking bulls. He raised a couple of great young men and is raising some wonderful grandkids. We ran cattle together on Fort Berthold for a few years. Now I’m old and fat and scared of horses, so he did most of the work. I just kind of tagged along. He had a saying I heard an awful lot. You could be ri...
Rattlesnakes were a definite fact of life in and around Ekalaka. At that time we killed every rattlesnake we encountered immediately. I am not so sure that I would do that now, in fact, if they were not in a position to harm me or mine I would go about my business and let them live their little rattlesnakey lives. A lot of my encounters with snakes were with my Grandpa Coons. He was fearless with them. He would be riding along, encounter a rattlesnake and he would leisurely get off his horse, Snooks. He would then nudge the s...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, while ‘riffling’ [or thumbing] through some papers, up popped a prayer for vacations. There should be a prayer for everything; absolutely everything should be bathed in prayers, so with that in mind, here we go: A Prayer for Vacations Loving Father, who didst make this earth so fair; open our eyes to see its wonder and our hearts to feel its beauty. In our days of refreshments and recreation, draw us nearer to Thee through the things which Thou hast made. May the joy of Thy sunsh...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: The first fold of our flag is a symbol of life. The second fold is a symbol of our belief in eternal life. The third fold is made in honor and remembrance of the veterans departing our ranks who gave a portion of their lives for the defense of our country to attain peace throughout the world. The fourth fold represents our weaker nature, for as American citizens trusting in God, it is to Him we turn in times of peace as well as in times of war for His divine guidance. The fifth fold is a tribute t...
Hello, I know many of you will find this hard to believe, but once upon a time, far, far away, I was a jockey. Really! A real jockey. Now that was not only many years ago, it was many pounds ago. Many, many pounds. The reason I am bringing this up is I want you to be aware that horse racing is alive and well in North Dakota. Belcourt just finished their race meet, and the next two weekends the horses will be running at the North Dakota Horse Park in Fargo. Now, I didn’t set out in life with a goal to be a jockey. But when I...
Hello, I don’t care much for fireworks. I don’t know if I ever really did. Seems like a lot of money to put up in smoke. And besides that, living just a couple miles out of town makes it a lot worse. You see, most cities, especially if it is dry, outlaw fireworks within the city limits. That makes a lot of sense. If you live in that city and don’t want your house burnt down. I can sympathize with that. But if you live just outside the city limits, it’s not a real good idea. We live a couple miles beyond the firewall. And it...
