CAPITOLETTER

April 29, 2024

Capitol and Tie Creek were forecast to have 100 percent chance of rain on one day this week, but suddenly that was changed to 20 percent, and in reality I believe there wasn’t even one drop that day. Then the middle of the country got some mean tornadoes, that they could have done without. On Sunday, we woke to a ground fog, but that didn’t seem to wet the ground either.

Diane Wear came from Ekalaka to Ronda Cordell’s, on Monday. She checked through the cow/calf pairs, to see if there were any issues with health that need attention. Ronda and Diane drove the Can-Am up to the Bergstrom place, that afternoon. On the way home, a gravel truck about put them in the ditch, as it came up out of Ida Brewer’s dip. Later in the evening, Diane found a newborn calf over east, that was born a few weeks early, and was unable to get up. It was getting dark, so they went back to the draw to load the calf and take it to the barn. Ronda tubed it for several days, before it did get to sucking his mom.

Tuesday was a day neither Ronda, nor Diane, will ever forget. Diane and the dogs had gone below the mailbox to put out mineral. They stopped at the Peach Orchard hay-yard to pick up net wrap. When she realized a gravel truck was coming, she called for the dogs to get in the cab of the Can-Am. One jumped in. When she turned to see where my Smiley was, she saw his body scattered in pieces near the gate. She frantically came flying to the house to tell me, so we could get down to gather the pieces up before more trucks came and smashed his body worse. To say the least, a dark cloud has hung over the rest of the week. Smiley would have turned two on August 8th. Since he came on December 2, 2022, he’d been quite a character. Old Newt had taught Smiley to bring cows in to the head catch, for Ronda, before Newt went totally blind. When the blindness took over, Smiley became Newt’s ‘seeing eye dog.’ I miss the smile I got each morning when I went to let him out. I miss his daily hug when he slid over to me as we Cam-Am’ed.

I phoned his previous owner to ask if she happened to have another one like him. Her response was, “He’ll be hard to replace.” He was the most personable dog she’d ever seen. When I saw Smiley on Facebook, that December morning, I instantly knew he needed to be here. It was those intelligent eyes and his coloring, the same as my little Jack’s. To replace him is going to be hard if not impossible. His coloring will not easily be found. He was three-fourths Border Collie, and one-fourth Heeler. As Ronda was working at making a wedding cake, she glanced out the kitchen window to see three heifers standing at her deck steps. Smiley’s not here to keep them away, and blind Newt is unable now. And some people think, ‘they’re just dogs.’

Dell Dague stopped by at Ronda’s on Wednesday afternoon. Dell has begun hauling some hay in the past couple days. Jake Reynolds and Jason Berg came for a visit, and had lunch, on Thursday. They were out from Wisconsin to see the Reynolds family in the Chalk Buttes. On Friday, Ronda decorated a wedding cake for the Justin Kerr wedding reception, that was held Saturday in Ekalaka. Diane Wear came to the ranch to do chores, and Ronda attended the wedding and reception.

Erma Albert had physical therapy on Tuesday and saw the chiropractor on Wednesday, in Buffalo. She and Dick went to the Hills for shopping, the next day, and brought back some things for Bobbie Wahlfeldt. They heard about some excitement in town while they were gone. On Friday, they both went to the Senior Citizen chicken dinner. Erma took a dinner over to Delores Sperle, on her way home. Sunday was the celebration of First Communion for five students at the Catholic Church. There were many people there to celebrate with the kids. Dick and Erma stayed for the pot luck lunch afterward.

A guy came to Alvin Cordell’s to spread fertilizer, on Tuesday, but he was hindered with some trouble, so Alvin made a trip to Buffalo for parts, that day. Then on Thursday, Alvin and Marlee Cordell went to Belle Fourche to watch their grandson, Gavin, play baseball. Marlee stayed over to go to the track meet at Custer, but the track meet was canceled.

On Saturday, Ryan’s family and Alvin went to Ekalaka for the Justin Kerr wedding at the Cantina. On Sunday, Alvin and Marlee went to two more baseball games in Belle Fourche, and both games were close and exciting. Their calving is winding down, now. Alvin is ready to plant some barley. He is hoping the alfalfa weevils are not so prevalent this year.

Bruce and Lynn Gustafson took a sad trip to Alabama over Easter. We, at Capitol, were so sorry to hear that Lynn’s mother had passed away. They returned home on Thursday. On Sunday, they went to church at the Little Missouri Church. In the afternoon, Colin and Elizabeth Wilcox, and their girls, came over for a visit.

Ernie and Rachel Melum got some of the branding done this week. They have lots of little calves on the ground, but still lots of heifers to calve. It has been good to have Daniel Kalbach to help out. He will soon be married. Junior and Shirley Melum got to meet Emily, Daniel’s fiance, when she visited recently. They will be married in Baker at the Baptist Church.

Dorothy Padden must be living-it-up on her trip to Colorado. She usually is not content to be gone so long, but Bryce and Dawn are receiving lots of pictures of her and the newest great-grandchild. Dawn was happily planning to go to a high school track meet, this week, but again, it was canceled, so Dorothy didn’t miss a thing.

Karen Odell made a couple of trips to Spearfish this week to take and retrieve a few cats. She was happy to talk to her cousin, Ralph Anderson, who had just returned to Ohio from his winter in Florida. It seems that tornadoes are also returning, so he will have to watch out for that. Karen also had a visit with her classmate, Bill Foulkes. Bill keeps Karen informed about the news from Ohio. Cody Odell and Micki Odell also called to visit. Grandson Murphy, also keeps Grandma informed.

Jeff and Amanda Odell and niece, Keely Lovgren’s family, were in the tornado warning area, also, but everything was ok.

We all must admit that we’ve made a mistake, but we cannot be a mistake, because God doesn’t make mistakes.