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Hello, Last week I told you about a few of the bucking horses and how many of them were given their names. I had a lot of comments, well two, from readers. One from my daughter and one from my current wife, Shirley. So with that kind of response I’d like to visit with you about a couple others. Oh, and by the way, if you are calling to buy my donkey or my mules, you are too late. They are gone. No, they didn’t run away. Shirley and her sister, Rose, delivered them to Montana over the weekend. All I had to do was spread the...
Hello, They had a bucking horse contest in Watford a couple of days ago. I wasn’t there. I wish I had been. They bucked nearly a hundred young horses out. Putting a dummy on them. No, a real dummy. It’s a deal rigged up to come off a young horse after a few seconds. Gives you a chance to see how these colts are going to perform as they get older. It’s a contest between stock contractors and bucking horse breeders. I’ve always had a soft spot for bucking horses. Unless they are saddle horses that buck. Over the years I’ve go...
Sorry it has been a long time since I have written a “memories” article, but it has been a busy fall with lots of activities. A short “rabbit trail” before I get back to writing about those old time special neighbors. The Days of ‘85 have come and gone, but in my last article I mentioned our graduating class of 1948 was hoping to get together during that time. I also remember that during the days several other CCHS year classes did. Those years were 1953, 1955, 1958, 1968, 1988 and 2008, and I so enjoyed seeing and having a...
Hello, I am writing this at 4 in the morning. On Monday. A snowy Monday. It’s not that I like to get up and write at 4 in the morning. It’s just that I can’t sleep. Maybe that is because I went to bed at 7:30. Shirley says that is why I can’t sleep in the morning. I always tell her that you should go to bed when you are tired, not at a certain time. Anyway, after going to bed early the past few nights, I now find myself getting up around three. By the time it is light enough to work, I’m ready for a nap. Or maybe it is the...
I’m not accustomed to making excuses, but the dog didn’t exactly eat my homework. I was busy wrestling with jaw pain. I did learn how to work through pain, but it wasn’t fun. My meals were liquid or soft, taken only on the left side of my mouth. If my husband weren’t such a marvelous chef, we might have opened more cans of Campbell’s Soup. As it was, we only opened one and added fresh mushroom slices to it: cream of mushroom soup. We had smooth cream of tomato bisque made with ripe, homegrown tomatoes. There was cream of...
Hello, We were working calves over the weekend. Giving fall vaccinations. I suppose it is a lot like the H1N1 flu shot. Some people give them. Some don’t. Everyone argues whether it is worth it or not. Except the calves. They don’t seem to like it, but they never say anything. Now Shirley is about as good of help as you can get. She doesn’t need to look at the numbers to know if a calf belongs to a certain cow. She can ride a pretty big circle and pen up a pretty spooky cow. But the amazing thing is dinner. I don’t miss ma...
Feeling strong? Recently, I watched a Cooper's hawk take off from a rural, gravel road, clutching a dead meadowlark in its talons. An adult Cooper's hawk might weigh one pound. An adult meadowlark probably tips the scale at 3 ounces. To compare that to a human, a 200-pound person would have to lift almost 40 pounds, then run away. Extra points if you can fly. Perhaps you are physically fit. Maybe you are the strongest at the gym, ran a marathon recently or reupped for advanced...
Hello, I can’t recall a fall with so many beautiful days. I know I will not have my fall work done when the first snows hit, but it dang sure won’t be Mother Nature’s fault. She is giving me plenty of opportunity. I’m a believer in climate change. And I’m thinking again this morning that maybe for our part of the country that is not all bad. Please remind me of this again this winter when Shirley’s face is frostbitten and the tractor won’t start. On Saturday we moved a bunch of cows to the harvested cornfields. My ideas of b...
It’s that time of year… time to get your flu shot! Influenza is a highly contagious respiratory illness caused by the influenza virus. Respiratory means it’s an issue with lungs and breathing. Influenza (sometimes called the Flu) symptoms can be mild or severe. Symptoms start abruptly, not gradually. A person infected with the influenza virus could experience fever, cough, sore throat, runny nose, severe body or muscle aches, headache, and extreme fatigue. Some people may experience vomiting and diarrhea, this is more common...
Hello, You know, I am not a real big radio person. Oh, I listen to the markets, maybe listen to the news once a day, catch part of a ball game once in awhile, but mostly I just drive and think. Don’t ask me what I think about. I can’t recall most of the time. When I was a hotshot driver I could go to Houston and back and maybe listen to the radio an hour a day. Get the morning news, catch the game scores, and listen to a song or two. Sometimes I can get public radio and let classical music play while my mind drifts, but tha...
I like to sleep with the window open in our bedroom. Fresh air, right? It can also bring in cold air. And our bedroom window opens just behind my head. If my husband slept on my side of the bed, he’d need a bed cap to protect his bald head! I have thick hair on one side of my head and thinner hair on the other side, so I like to pull the quilt over my head and keep it warm all night. Unlike cities with all their paved streets and tall buildings, our outdoor temperature can get very cool, even in summer. I remember many y...
In 2016 suicide was the 8th leading cause of death in Montana; 267 deaths were attributed to suicide, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This ranks Montana FIRST out of all the United States in suicide rates (25.9 suicide deaths out of 100,000 people)! This is one time where we DO NOT want to come in first. Alaska and Wyoming are 2nd and 3rd; whereas New Jersey comes in last at 7.2 deaths out of 100,000 people. Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States! Suicide is defined as the...
I heard it on the news, “People who play tennis live nine years longer.” I tried playing tennis once with three Australian women who claimed these outings were just to “hit and giggle.” First, I made myself a white tennis outfit, and we bought a cheap tennis racket. It didn’t take long to realize my poor playing was dragging down the levity of the outings, and I threatened to be depressed by the experience. I excused myself and abandoned the sport. But I enjoy watching the sport. My mother-in-law also enjoyed watching...
Hello, Football season is here. I’m not real excited about it. I suffer from attention disorder, or however you say it. I can’t watch an entire game. Unless is involves the Ranchers, or maybe the Bison. I am what many would consider elderly. And football tires me out. Especially when you have grandchildren involved. Because for them, football isn’t just for Friday nights, it’s a 24-hour deal. Two of the boys play junior high football. It’s a big deal. Getting your own helmet, your own pads and a jersey with a number on it. Ga...
It comes as no surprise to local residents that my husband enjoys his vegetable garden. It is fenced to protect from hungry deer, although we haven’t seen many deer this year. His rows are straight, and rain keeps the plants watered, or we have a well when rain needs to be supplemented. While seed catalogs arrive in January and February, Brice forgot to order seeds this year; he was forced to use seeds left over for a year or two. They all produced in spite of age. We have been enjoying the tastes of garden plants, the f...
Hello, I don’t know why we celebrate Labor Day. We should have a day to celebrate not working. Maybe it’s because if you are involved in animal agriculture, every day is labor day. Oh, sometimes you can sneak away for a few days. If you have family or friends that will come over and let the dog out, feed the bum calves, grain the saddle horses, check the water tanks, put out a little hay, go around the fences, repair the fence the bulls tore down, give the sick pen a little medicated feed, feed the fat cattle, pick up the...
I have just completed a three week medically imposed restriction from my wheelchair and days in my bed. I had two problems: A return of jaw pain and an open pressure sore on my bottom. Let’s tackle the jaw pain first. I had slowly been reducing pain medicine since the May 11 radiological treatment of jaw pain. One pain reliever requires abstinence from alcohol. In my case, that means wine. The last Monday of every month during the school year is book club where conversations about books are accompanied with snacks and w...
Hello, Sometimes things are much more difficult than they appear on TV. I don’t care if you are solving crimes, cleaning the oven, curing a cold, dieting or anything else. Take a suicide for instance. Now, on TV, if you want to commit suicide, it is a relatively simple deal. Grab a hose, put it over your exhaust pipe, in the window, and bam! Now, I’m not encouraging suicide. It’s the hose part that bothers me. How can this person find a hose that easy in an apartment in a city? One time we had a water tank froze up for about...
Hello, Those of you that have been following this column over the years know this is one of my favorite times of the year. It’s fair time! Now I don’t get too excited for the State Fair in Minot. Oh, fifty or sixty years ago I would. I loved the rides. I loved the livestock barns. I loved the food and the crowds. As I’ve aged, I started to hate the crowds. I got sick on the rides. I hated waiting in line for cotton candy or a pig on a stick. We were providing livestock for the rodeo there and it was too hot and too conge...
Here's nothing new: It's been hot recently. How hot? So hot, I saw a dog chasing a cat and they were both walking. So hot I'm being forced to use passive verbs. Okay, for those who suffer from the heat, extreme temperatures are no joke. However, maybe nature can teach us a few tricks to cope. In late summer, prairie amphibians, like the Great Plains toad are underground, waiting out the heat wave. All amphibians begin their lives in water, developing from eggs to swimming...
A few years ago Nelson stole a colt. Nelson was our mule. He’s a small mule. Like a Shetland pony. We’d had him about twenty years. I thought he was a mule colt when I bought him. I don’t know a lot about mules. He wasn’t a colt. He was a small mule. A kicking mule. We named him after the kicker for the Vikings. For twenty years Nelson has guarded the bucking mares. He kept coyotes, wolves, bear and gypsies away from the mares. He fought wild stallions, goblins and werewolves. And he always followed the pickup when you wan...
The next set of legal tips for you will be a four-part series of articles dedicated to providing the community with information regarding specific estate planning documents, forms, and what to do with the information. This article provides you with basic information regarding Wills. PART I: THE IMPORTANCE OF HAVING A WILL What Is A Will? A Will is a legal document that allows you to designate who you want to receive your property upon your death. If you die without a Will, State statutes will control the distribution of your...
Hello, Farming and ranching has lots of challenges. And I’m not real good at challenges. Many of those challenges involve repairing equipment. This is something I’m really bad at. That is worse than being “not real good at”. So you would think that I would take something into the implement dealer or the pickup dealer if I have a problem. You would think so. But you are wrong. You see, they charge about $10,000 per hour to work on your pickup, tractor, or baler. You have to improvise. Shirley says that no one will ever st...
One of the things that I enjoyed the most while growing up and going to school in Ekalaka was engaging in snowball fights. New snow did not hold together well enough to make a snowball so you had to wait for awhile. Of course, you couldn't walk on new snow either, but had to wait until it hardened. Once when I was very young, probably 8 or so, I went over to Mr. Taylor’s house to do his chores. It was April 6th, Easter Sunday, and it had snowed up to my upper chest the night before so I had to make my way through this new s...
Depression is a common but serious mood disorder. It affects over 19 million teens and adults in the United States! Depression can cause severe symptoms that affect how you think, feel, and handle daily activities. However, depression and other mental health illnesses often have a negative stigma attached to them. Those with mental health illnesses are often afraid to talk to others about their illness because they fear you may view them differently, be afraid of them, or distance yourself from them. This can lead people...
