CAPITOLETTER

July 29, 2024

At Ronda Cordell's, the power was out for a day and half, after the storm. Clint had brought her a generator, on Sunday, to keep the freezers from thawing in the hundred-degree weather. Ronda had seen the TV's severe storm warning of a storm coming from the Jordan, Montana area. Ronda drove up the hill to be able to see the storm clouds to the west. The sun was going down, and the cloud build-up was quite picturesque, with massive, dark, bluish-purple clouds that appeared to have several wind shafts sticking out from the upper edge. When the wind hit, Ronda turned on the porch light, and the leaves and branches seemed to be spinning in circles. Ronda's west pasture was badly hailed, but they were lucky not to have had any building damage. Cattle were scattered among neighbors' cattle, and fences were destroyed in places. Their field of planted millet was plastered into mud, and hail drifts were three feet deep in many areas and covered with what looked like peat moss. Sage brush was leafless and de-barked. Some birds (killdeer, meadowlarks, sage hens, and an eagle) had been killed. One dry dam was holding water. No cattle were badly injured, but one heifer had two-inches skinned from her ankle, and a bull may have hurt his hip. It took a few days to get cattle back in, and fences repaired. They are feeding cake and hay to yearlings, until they can be moved. The next major project is to cut hundreds of pine trees from fences in the Long Pines. That will take weeks to finish.

On Monday, Ronda went to Ekalaka to get an oil change. She had lunch at the Wagon Wheel, and then Diane Wear gave her a tour of the town's storm damage. Ronda went to the Camp Crook School Reunion, on Saturday, and joined a large crowd that had gathered. She stopped by at Karen Odell's to drop off some pictures, and then went to the Bullock Hall, to attend Becky Holsti's seventieth birthday party. On Sunday, Joey Douglas came from North Dakota, to get Bill Dingfelder's old Chevy pickup to renovate.

Clint, Denise, Darby and Abby Zolnoski went to Rapid City on Thursday for Darby's pre-op appointment to have her tonsils taken out. They went to the Buffalo, and the Camp Crook School Reunions, and the Wickham Gulch Fish Fry on Saturday. On Sunday, they went to Dickinson, where Darby played in basketball games.

Dick and Erma Albert got to the Hills for a day on Monday. Erma caught a cough on Thursday and didn't get out again during the week. Dick went to the Senior Citizen chicken dinner on Friday and brought their dinners home. On Sunday, Dick went to church, and Erma watched the service at home on the computer. Then Dick went to Saloon Number Three to pick up lunch and a fried chicken burrito for Erma.

Doug and Julia Davis have been fighting the heat this week. The above one-hundred degrees limited activities. On Saturday, they got to attend the wedding of Mackenzie Buck and Aislinn in Camp Crook. Darren and Lori Buck's yard was beautifully decorated, and the shade and breeze made the afternoon wedding very nice. Pastor Mike conducted the ceremony, and family enjoyed the wedding and lunch afterward. Calli and the boys had come out from Belle Fourche that day, and the boys are staying for a few days, to help their grandpa.

Bruce and Lynn Gustafson had survived the storm with little damage, but this week, with the temperatures over one-hundred each day, their air conditioner quit. They have borrowed a window air conditioner until the other one can be fixed. Last Saturday, Lynn went to the Bullock hall to join in a party for Becky Holsti's birthday. This Saturday Bruce and Lynn took a relaxing drive to the Hills and got some ice cream. On Sunday they went to church at Little Missouri, where they got to see Cameron Wilcox baptized.

Ernie Melum is starting to build another greenhouse to replace Rachel's that had blown away in the storm. Rachel discovered that many of her plants will survive, so the new greenhouse will be better than the one that blew away. Rachel's corn had been blown over, but it is resilient, and is now straightening up again. Tommy Melum spent the week at camp at Four Corners, Wyoming. Ernie's sister, Andrea, had visited a few days, and went to the Camp Crook School reunion on Saturday.

Karen Odell has had a great summer. Even the terrible storm that tore down trees and sheds and damaged things did not ruin her summer. Mollie and Kyia Smith came at the end of June, and kept things exciting. They were painting, decorating, raking, and taming kittens. Karen had gotten a mini barn from Big Sky Mini Barns in Baker, and they had a great time working and decorating it. Just after the big storm, Micki, Jesse, Rowan, Murphy and Chris Hinds and Ed Farroe came from Tacoma. Right away they began clearing debris and fixing things. Ed and Chris, who live on Puget Sound, loved the country, and got to use the new Mini Barn for a couple of days. Cody, Kellan, Kenna, and Carson came to visit with everyone for four days, and they joined in the tree sawing, hauling, and repairing. When Kellan took a break and went fishing on the river, he caught and released a huge Channel Catfish. Micki, Jesse, Rowan and Murphy stayed another week, and were busy repairing and working most of the time. Last Sunday they took Karen to Ekalaka, where they all had lunch at the Wagon Wheel. They all showed Ed and Chris the museum, and then Ed and Chris went on toward Miles City, while the others came back to the ranch. Micki and Jesse's dog, Bruno, became good friends with Hywel. Bruno learned that cats can defend themselves. Rowan has become a good pianist, and Grandma enjoyed listening as he gave concerts on her piano. Murphy tried to tame kittens.

Each day this week, the temperature was above one-hundred degrees, but they all could work late into the night, and they even put a new porch floor on the old cabin, and finished other jobs. Karen and Hywel will both be lonesome for a while when they leave again, but the visit was lots of fun.

You don't really have to remember your mistakes, because there are always those who spend their lifetime lying-in-wait, just so they can find something to blame you for.