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Ever wonder on a cold, snowy winter day what fish are doing under the ice? The short answer is: about the same as the rest of the year. They breathe, eat and try to avoid being eaten. There are, however, some differences in winter. First, it's important to remember that freshwater fish like reptiles and amphibians are coldblooded. (Scientists prefer the more precise word, poikilotherms, but we'll forgive them.) That means their body temperatures are controlled through...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, it’s fascinating when friends share a picture of sunsets, sunrises, and intriguing cloud shapes that they have seen and enjoyed, especially when they entitle it, “View from a front porch rocking chair.” Sharing the photos with a friend, she wondered if the world would be different if every one of us gazed at the lovely evening skies. Now that is a thought, right, Lord? How many of us have seen a shooting star? A few friends have. One gal mentioned that maybe we could have world p...
In winter one main job is to keep the home warm, whether with coal or wood fires or later with gas or electricity. There is nothing warmer than sitting in front of a blazing wood fire, but that warmth doesn’t travel far; the rest of the house remains cold. The same is true of propane heaters, and electricity. You need a furnace or electric heaters in several rooms. We don’t have room in our crawl space for the necessary ductwork. We resort to electric heaters throughout the house. We have a pellet stove with a fan that cir...
Hello, If you watch the news every day, you begin to think that the world is becoming more and more hateful. You don’t see much good news. It seems that “love thy neighbor” has pretty much gone out the window. If we disagree with someone, it becomes personal. That is too bad. But sometimes, adversity can bring out the best of this wonderful world. A fire. A tornado. A flood. A hurricane. Natural disasters seem to bring people together. There are often memes on social media with the line, “Why do I live where the weather...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, sometimes it just happens that there is a special day, a day when we notice a couple dozen wonderful things to cherish and treasure and enjoy. If we borrow an ingenious word, we can call that list, LIFE SAVERS. Then up pops a list to share with You, Lord. Are You ready or the list? Here we go! Letter from faraway special cousins… a drive on the prairie… blue sky above… this winter months weather like a clam before a storm… awe-inspiring cloud cover… about a ‘thousand’ cattle on the h...
Here is part three of my four-part series of articles dedicated to providing the you, the community, with information regarding basic estate planning documents, forms, and what to do with the information. In this article, I talk about Powers of Attorney. POWERS OF ATTORNEY A Power of Attorney form is a written authorization for a person to handle property or financial matters for another individual. The person signing the Power of Attorney form and giving someone power over his or her assets is called the "principal." The...
In days gone by, people would take a team and wagon and travel cross country to Miles City twice a year for supplies - twice a year in good weather. Brice travels to Baker every 10 to 14 days for bananas for me. If you buy too many, they just get black and squishy, too few and you run out. So he’s on the road in winter if driving conditions are favorable. Reviewing road conditions and weather forecasts, he chooses the best day to travel and makes the 35 mile trip. Everyone does that now, since Ekalaka’s grocery store burned d...
Hello, I always wanted to be a cowboy. And for a time, I thought maybe I had made it. I was riding saddle broncs, albeit poorly, roping a bit, riding on roundups and chasing cows through the willows. I was breaking a colt to ride once in awhile and could do a c-section on a cow tied to a tree. I had spurs that jingle, jangle, jingle (actually that is an old song) as I go riding merrily along (that’s the rest of the song, hum it, you’ll like it). But back to my story. Whenever you think you are good at something, or maybe one...
Hello, I’m not the biggest football fan around. I very seldom watch an entire game. That is unless it’s the Harding County Ranchers junior high team. Then I pack up Gramma and travel across two states to watch future NFL stars. I sit on hard bleachers in wind, rain, and snow and sip poor coffee and spit sunflower seeds out. And dang, it is fun. But this past weekend was a little different. The Bison were playing in Texas for their seventh championship in eight years. I attended NDSU, albeit briefly. It was in the late six...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, we’re already into January but have any of us made resolutions? If that word means to make “a firm decision on something,” how come we frail humans break our resolutions as fast as we make them? Maybe we should choose more wisely? We could all stand to gain some control over our health. Your Word says in Psalms 90:10, “The days of our lives are seventy years; and if reason to strength they are eighty years, yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off and we fly aw...
I have never and will never make New Year’s resolutions. New Year’s resolutions are a matter of promising yourself to change habits. No promises will be made by me, just a best effort to change. By not making any promises, no promises will be broken. I once heard it takes two weeks to change a habit: two weeks of a changed behavior. That’s hard to do. No use of tobacco can easily be eliminated. When dealing with addiction, whether to chew or smoke, requires something akin to tears and exhaustion. Men are not likely to cry ...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, many precious friends and loved ones have been called Home in recent months – it’s almost like we’re missing the party but each departed friend is a magnet that attracts us to the next world. When a loved one who knew Jesus passes away, our thoughts often wander to “the other side” as we wonder what they might be experiencing right now. With our limited knowledge and brief glimpses given in Scripture, we try to imagine the glories of a Heavenly realm. Heaven. Our parents and grandpa...
I still have a couple of wonderful neighbors to remember and write about, which I will continue in this article. Across the street and up the hill from us were Francis B. and Alma Freese. Shifting Scenes Vol. III, page 80, has a very short article about them written by Nellie Guyer Dean. For some years they boarded individuals who went to high school at CCHS. Some of you reading this might be among them. Here is the history about this couple and their family. Francis Barnett Freese was born on June 26, 1889 at Tea, South...
Hello, Shirley said to write a Christmas story. And when Shirley says, I write. I think Christmas is over by the time you get this, but I’m writing it before Christmas so just bare with me. And that happens because, unlike ranches, newspapers adjust their schedule for printing on holidays. Christmas time is a time for friends and families. Kids and grandkids are coming home for Christmas. Neighbors are stopping by to drop off a gift or share a cup of coffee and wish each other well for the season. Santa is greasing up the s...
Hello, I enjoy looking at pictures. Whether they are in an album, on a smartphone, or in book on the coffee table. I enjoy seeing the pictures of families that come on the Christmas cards we receive. If you haven’t gotten our card yet, don’t worry, for the 48th, or maybe 49th year in a row, they are lost in the mail. I often wonder how many marriages get off to a rocky start because of pictures. You know. It’s 115 above. Hot and humid. The bride and groom are dressed in the most uncomfortable attire. The father of the bride...
When I was a very young child I remember my mom wrapping dozens of packages at Christmas. A big box filled with them went to Kansas where sisters and parents lived. Her brothers moved around with their families before settling in Texas. The presents were never large; men would often get socks, and women received gloves. But everyone received a gift, especially children. One year my mother worked part time at a five and ten cent store, wrapping packages. Those were the years before packaged bows. She learned to make beautiful...
It seems to take a while after sunrise now for birds to gather at the bird feeder by the kitchen window. On winter mornings like those recently, when the temperature struggled to rise much above zero, the chickadees, house finches and English house sparrows didn't show up until half an hour after sunrise. I don't blame them; winter mornings are meant for sleeping in. All animals that spend at least part of their lives in Montana, inside those man-made boundaries we call state...
I haven’t written a story for the Eagle recently and I thought some of you might want to know what I have been up to. My daughter Brenda, recently got a job in Sacramento in the field that she was in before she came up here to help me with her mother’s health. After Joanne’s death, Brenda and I threw our lots in together and we will live together, probably for the rest of my life. She was trying hard, but her online business, dyeing and selling yarn, was not doing as well as it used to so she went back to work. It is hard...
When we lived on the farm, my dad would always cut our tree from a forested hillside. The sizes varied with the years. Our old farmhouse had 10 ft. ceilings, and one year the tree he harvested touched the ceiling. Mom and dad started stringing the lights; they ended up using the larger, outdoor lights closer to the bottom. It took every ornament we had. We only put up the tree on Christmas Eve, and it stayed up well into the new year. By waiting until Christmas Eve, the kids had something to do while their Christmas...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, here’s an interesting Bible Verse for this season from Psalm 62:5: “My soul waits silently for God alone, for my expectations are from Him.” As we practice Your Presence, Lord, we can expect. A story is told of a mother who expects: she expects it’s going to be a bright day; she expects to hear from a family member; she expects her lima beans are sprouting and that it will be an early spring; she expects her children to be good. This mother expects the best. June Masters Bacher wrote:...
Hello, I’m too young to remember the good old days. I guess they were in the early 1900s. When you didn’t have snow plows and four-wheel drive tractors. You didn’t have snow blowers and insulated underwear. You didn’t have front-end loaders and sanded highways to drive on. If you wanted to get to your neighbors on a morning when it is –27, you harnessed a team up, threw a scoop shovel on the sled in case the team played out in a drift, wrapped a towel around your face and headed out. Those were the good old days! I am old en...
Here is part two of my four-part series of articles dedicated to providing you, the community, with information regarding basic estate planning documents, forms, and what to do with the information. In this article I talk about Living Trusts and the ways they can benefit you. WHAT IS A LIVING TRUST? A Living Trust is a legal document by which you can transfer your assets to yourself or another person as "trustee," to manage your assets for your benefit, or for the benefit of any person you direct. In most cases, you will...
On Wednesday, December 5, I turned 68. It will be the first year since I was in my early 20s when I won’t get a check, worth one dollar for every year I have lived. (It got better the older I turned). My mother started the tradition when I was 25, and we lived in Australia. First of all, you’re not supposed to send checks to another country, where the bank has to deal with the exchange rate. And if that weren’t enough, she made the check to me, using my maiden name! I explained her errors to the local bank where we had a che...
Yes, I know I haven’t had a “Memories” article since Nov. 2, but let me explain. On Oct. 27 we received a telephone call that our daughter Arlene and her husband were cleaning the eve troughs on their house. The ladder tipped and she fell 12-14 feet onto the basement cement entry. She was taken to the Twin Falls emergency room where they found a head injury with some bleeding that required seven stitches. She was airlifted to Boise, Idaho for more treatment. The head bleeding stopped, but she had two broken vertebrates in her...
Hello, I’ve always been pretty lucky. At least that’s what Dad says. And I realize that more than ever today. On Friday, I had one of those phone calls that you dream of. I was a winner! A big winner. I had a phone call from, listen to this, a phone call from Publishers Clearing House! I was their grand prizewinner! I was a little skeptical at first. But I’m sure it was a legitimate call. The accent definitely was not from North Dakota. And I know their headquarters is not in either North or South Dakota. The caller asked...
