Your Community Builder
Your Community Builder
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Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, there’s a cute story about a young couple shopping in a Second Hand Store. The gal was looking for a frying pan like her grandmother had used. They passed several departments. As the gal passed the stuffed animals, she said, “Oh, Titus, look at that cute little bear. He’s wearing a heart on his front.” Then she hurried on to the cooking ware department. Titus quickly grabbed up the bear, plus a few things that he wanted, paid for them, had the clerk tuck the items into a larger sa...
After Mainstreet Market burned down, people were suddenly forced to drive the 35 miles to Baker, or farther if they lived out of town, to get most groceries. We relied on lists and hoped not to forget anything. If we missed anything, we generally lived without it, or asked someone to pick up our forgotten treasure when they were shopping. A local woman who worked in Baker even offered to pick up orders people would make from Reynolds when she returned home most days of the week. Now, with the new Branson Grocery open just dow...
Hello, It’s cold. But it’s been colder. I’m willing to bet that you won’t find a farmer or rancher who would hesitate to tell you that this cold spell is nothing like the ones we’ve weathered in the past. But we dang sure got spoiled by the winter so far. And those forty below wind chills seem colder because of those nice days. I’m taking off for a cattle sale for a couple days and I dang sure hope Shirley doesn’t freeze her face while doing chores. Now, I know many of you watch the news. And I also know that many of you don...
I am going to shift from good old neighbors with this article to another family who I knew, but each family member was older than me at the time. This came about when my wife (who loves poetry) came across a poem written by “Cub” Welch. To my surprise, I didn’t remember that Cub wrote any poetry. These poems will be presented later. For my memories I am once again returning to Shifting Scenes Vol. II, pages 918 and 919 with articles by Lucile Welch Venhaus. She has information about the Welch family beginning with her grand...
This article is about another neighbor, Bonnie Peabody, who also lived across the street and up the hill from us. I would like to share some information about Bonnie, but first I need to go back a generation on the Peabody family. Charles and Mary Peabody Charles was born in Vermont and moved to Iowa where he met his future wife, Mary Hite. They were married on July 4, 1879. In the summer of 1884 they moved to Rapid City, South Dakota coming overland in a covered wagon, drawn by four horses, trailing their cows and milking...
I watch too much television where I see lots of ads for things we don’t need, starting with Home Security systems. Do we need cameras at our front doors to guard against intruders or thieves where we would see them and tell the potential thieves we are calling the police and sending their picture to our neighbors? I’m always at home, and if I’m sleeping, I appreciate deliveries placed inside my house. Vince, our UPS driver, knew I was handicapped and couldn’t open my door. He had my permission to open my front door and put de...
Hello, Maybe I’m just old fashioned, but I will say that the halftime show at this Year’s Super Bowl was the worst I have ever seen. And that is an accomplishment that is hard to achieve. And that is all I’m going to say about that. As I said before, I didn’t have a dog in the fight, so I didn’t care much about the outcome of the game. My main concern yesterday was a mouse. Yes, a mouse. I had been to a bull sale in Nebraska with a friend. I went along to assist on the drive home, since it would be a long day and night dea...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, many folks get depressed during the cold winter months. But here’s a good word: did we know that Praise combats depression? It’s been suggested that we count our blessings; let’s give it a try. Following is a list of just a few LIFESAVERS: Electric blanket… bread hot from the oven… letter from favorite niece… watching animal antics especially as they are playing in the snow… no wind today, hooray… a good book to read from the library… call from oldest brother… stiffly starched shir...
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: The deer stopped in, they nosed about, we’d not seen deer for weeks! They check the trees because they know, Crabs aren’t on Mountain Peaks. They spied water in near birdbath, they all needed a drink. Twelve deer drank fast, bumping their heads, ‘bath’ emptied in a ‘wink’! They were thirsty; they ‘slurped’ it all - then checked out Mountain Ash. Fallen berries they gobbled up, then to the Crabs they dash. Wind blew Crabs down; deer gobbled them - then leaped to snag more Crabs. The tallest deer saw l...
The government of the United States opened up last week (for three more weeks) to solve the problem of border security and the President’s preference for a border wall. Federal employees should get paid. The government had been shut down for over a month. Why? Because the Democratic controlled House of Representatives won’t give the President a border wall, a wall along the border with Mexico. That border is long and the wall not feasible in certain areas. So the President closed federal offices. We have one of those in Eka...
Good Morning, To a rancher, this is a great time of year. The mailbox is filled with catalogs for bull sales. You know how your mailbox fills up around Christmas with catalogs from every place you ever dropped a dollar, or in the spring as the ground starts to thaw a little, the seed catalogs come out with the garden supplies. Well, this time of year is like that for a rancher. You peruse papers to see what the sales are averaging across the nation. You compare the breed averages and market statistics. It takes some...
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...
