CAPITOLETTER

April 15, 2024

The eclipse was not total at Capitol and on Tie Creek. It was cloudy all day on Monday, so we didn’t even get a glimpse of the occasion. Karen Odell watched the NASA website, which had very good coverage of various city sightings along the path of the eclipse. She had never thought about the fact that there would be a three-hundred sixty-five degree sunset if you happened to view in line with the total eclipse. One NASA astronomer mentioned the fact that there would be a southern and a northern sunset, too, making a complete circle of sunset. The NASA coverage was very good, and since we were not in a direct path anyway, the cloudy day was not a disappointment.

Erma Albert visited the chiropractor this Wednesday. Then, on Thursday, Dick and Erma went to the Hills to have repairs for their sleep machine. Dick got a haircut, and they did a little shopping. On Friday, they went to the Senior Citizen dinner. Erma stayed to play cards after the dinner. She took supper to Delores Sperle and stayed for a while to visit with her, too, so she had a full day of visiting. On Sunday they both went to church at the Catholic Church. The Women’s Group had a meeting after church. Dick, John Helms and his sister, and Jim Erk went to Saloon Number Three for lunch. Father Brian came, and the ladies, Erma, Carol and Keri, joined them after their meeting.

Julia Davis remembered to look outside at around 12:45 on Monday in Buffalo. Things may have darkened a little, but it wasn’t much of a change. There were too many clouds in the way. She was not outside to see if the wind came up, or if it got cooler. Doug is still busy with calving, and Morgan Buck is helping out. Morgan stayed out at the ranch on Saturday, so that Doug and Julia could go to Gillette for the funeral of their friend Tami Sturgeon. They stopped in Belle Fourche to pick up Doug’s mother, Alfreda, on the way. Morgan went in to Camp Crook to visit family on Sunday.

George Oleson stopped by to visit at Junior and Shirley Melum’s, one day, this week. Ernie, Rachel and Tommy Melum have been enjoying some beautiful weather. They went to the funeral for Marvin Heggem, on Friday in Piedmont. On Saturday, Rachel and Tommy went to Baker for the wedding-shower for Emily Roff. Emily is from Piedmont, and will marry Daniel Kalbach in May. Then Rachel and Tommy stayed overnight, so they could attend church, and stay for Youth Group in the afternoon, on Sunday.

Dorothy Padden has had a quiet week with no sports events. B. J. and his girls stopped by on Saturday, for a visit.

Karen Odell was visited by the flu this week, and it over-stayed its welcome. It was taking a tour of the country, and each day, Karen kept hoping it would move on to Disneyland, or the Great Wall of China, but it did not seem to get the hint. Karen knew that it had visited others in the area, and when she talked to her classmate in Ohio, he had just gotten over it there. He warned her about the sinus infection that it caused him. For Karen, it grew into a terrible sinus pain that you couldn’t even sleep through, but finally and gradually improved a little each day. Still weakness and fever would not leave, but when she woke from a nap on Saturday, feeling week but healthy, she celebrated by making Grandma Anderson’s pumpkin pie (which is designated as the best pumpkin pie in the land, at least by Cody). Mollie Smith texted that she was planting starter garden plants. Micki Odell had just had eye surgery and was surprised at how much she could see. Jesse thanked Karen for the Easter (Christmas) letter that she finally got written, and sent to family and friends. Jeff Odell was already thinking about summer vacation for Karen. Sunday was a great day, to actually feel alive again, but Karen discovered there must have been church in Camp Crook, last Sunday, and she missed it. So she went to church on YouTube again this week, and then enjoyed an afternoon of gospel music on the computer. She learned that the Vaughnsville, Ohio baseball diamond was ready for the opening games, next week. It was the lighted diamond that she, and many, many other baseball players, had learned on since the 1950s.

Failure is like fertilizer. It stinks, but eventually builds better strength and perseverance.