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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 God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, there are as many ideas and thoughts about anything as there are unique individuals! If ten people were discussing firecrackers, 4th of July, picnics, America, freedom of speech, war, you name it, and there would be ten different strong feelings about any one of those topics. Your word, (1 Peter 2:17) tell us to ‘…Fear God and honor the government (king, ruler, emperor).’ May America continue to be a country in which everyone has an equal opportunity to be what they desire to become....
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...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, some time ago, Ivan Doig wrote: “These strange beings, ourselves, need the night but sometimes are entirely at odds with it.” We could ‘name’ a few of us who may also have times when we are at odds with the night, so to expand on that thought, did You, Lord, want our attention? Is there a matter that we need to bring to You? Did we forget to pray for another, or are You trying to get our attention so You can talk with us? It seems there is a trough in the dark (as well as in the bed!)...
Hello, Lynn is my brother in law. He’s getting a little long in the tooth and has been down in the dumps a little lately. That got me thinking about some of the things we’ve done together over the years. Some I can write about. Some I had better wait. I’m not sure about that statute of limitations-thing. Years ago we were looking at a barn a guy had for sale. It had to be moved. They also had a house for sale. Now this house was a big thing. And pretty new. It was huge. With a big rock fireplace and rock wall down the middle....
Hello God, it's me, Mara: You know, Lord, here’s a thought about the Wilderness, the Boondocks, and the Backcountry. While we’re all busy traveling life’s demanding way, we can’t help but notice where the forest fires have ravaged the countryside; we notice that there are no lovely flowers, we see dead pine and fir trees, we also see a few other trees that are just standing there with lifeless limbs outstretched for help. However, we look around – there is no help – no birds – no green grass, it’s all been consumed, all t...
I think that I might have written before about my mother’s garden when we were growing up in Ekalaka. In a recent Eagle, I saw Lois Lambert’s story about their garden and how it was so late getting in so I decided to write something else. I am sure that in the years we were there we had late springs and early springs. I do remember snow in May, June and even on July 3rd on one occasion. It didn’t amount to much as I recall. It seems as if they talked about getting potatoes in on Washington’s birthday Isn’t that awful ear...
Hello, We started cutting hay over the weekend. I believe we are the first ones in the field again this year. I just do it to upset Russ, one of my neighbors. The forecast is for rain later in the week. Most ranchers are going to wait until this weather “event” is past. I figure if it rains, it won’t hurt the hay. We need to rake it before we bale anyway. And when I feed in the winter, the cows eat what I put out, whether it has been rained on or not. I’ve often said that North Dakota has only two seasons. “Feeding hay seaso...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, spiritually significant men in our lives bless us in countless ways. First, is my father; because of his type of work, we were able to begin our day together at breakfast as he led in our family altar. We weren’t SENT to church; we went as a family. My father’s life bears testimony to You, Lord. Grandpa lived out of state, but the few times he came to visit, he told a little girl wonderful stories of heaven, streets of purest gold, many mansions, and of Grandma waiting up there for hi...
This article is not about marijuana, often called “grass”, no, it’s about ground covers. Town property owners are required to maintain their lawns with grass mowed to acceptable levels. And most try to do that, mowing between rains sometimes. We have more weeds than grass in some areas, but at least it’s green. But how long have residents been mowing properties, didn’t they have animals grazing close to cabins? Was it only in town people were required to clear areas or keep ground cover short? And what were those native gr...
Hello, I suppose you’ve learned over the years that I like kids and horses. I grew up in a family that liked kids and horses. We would trim horses up and go to the races in Kenmare, or the Fourth of July parade in Berthold. We went to play days in Stanley or Blaisdell. You learned to saddle up and check cows after school and to leave a horse tied up during calving. You learned that you had chores to do in the morning and in the evening. And you had chores to do tomorrow. And the next day. And the day after that. You l...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, here’s a cute one on Love and Marriage – as it seems that June is sometimes THE month couples pick to marry, right? So – here’s’ some ’Food for Thought’! Man: How much is this sparkling diamond? Jeweler: That one is $1,000.00. Man: (Whistles) And this one? Jeweler: that one is two whistles. Our June calendar is filled with birthdays and anniversaries of family, friends and loved ones. As we think about dear ones, how about some ‘gardening thoughts’, which was a poem written for a Vale...
Hello, We branded a few days ago. Branding is one of the jobs that you kind of dread, but you kind of love. The two hardest parts of a branding bee are preparing food, and lining up the day. It begins with lining up a crew. You need several people. But not too many. And not too few. I don’t know which is worse. First off you need cowboys and cowgirls that can gather the herd and get them in the working pens. You need people that can read a cow or calf’s mind, know when to push them, and know when to ease them along. When you...
We’ve all been waiting too long for spring to arrive, for overnight lows to stay above freezing, for lilacs to bloom and fruit bearing bushes to flower, be pollinated, with the promise of wonderful tastes to come. Luckily that held off long enough to avoid May 28 frost, where everything was covered with a delicate white blanket in the early morning. Rain continued to fall, three inches in a five day stretch. Farmers couldn’t get into their fields; my gardener couldn’t till his garden. All anyone could do was wait, patie...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, an occasion arose recently where ‘people watching’ was the order of the day. Sitting in the waiting room we were waiting for our friend to be called in to see her doctor. You know, Lord, one really can combine knitting with waiting and watching: knit one, purl one, knit two together. One patient is called in to see the doctor as a lady re-enters the waiting room, having just seen the doctor. Her head is bowed as if she has a heavy heart. Oops – a mistake made in knitting; now it must...
Hello, I learned many decades ago to never complain about the rain. And we’ve had our fair share of it lately. Rains for a day or two. Then dries for a day. Then rain again. Now for Memorial Day weekend it is more of the same. Writing this on Friday morning. Didn’t rain yesterday. Half inch last night and raining good this morning. Forecast is dry tomorrow. Then rain Sunday and Monday. I suppose we’ve had two to three inches past couple weeks. My son in South Dakota has had over 4 the last week. This, my friends, will make a...
Monday was Memorial Day, or Decoration Day as it was originally known, meant to honor soldiers lost in the Civil War. But when the country found itself in another war, World War I, the holiday was changed to honor all fallen soldiers. Memorials to soldiers and family graves are decorated with flowers. Here, early in the morning on Memorial Day, local veterans placed small American flags on the graves of deceased veterans at Beaver Lodge cemetery. At 11 a.m. a special military service was held where VFW and American Legion...
