CAPITOLETTER

August 5, 2024

This has been another terribly hot week at Capitol and on Tie Creek. Finally, early on Sunday, we got about an eighth of an inch of rain, that instantly soaked up. The grasshoppers have tamed down a little, and we are lucky to have only a few mosquitoes.

Erma Albert had an appointment at the clinic in Buffalo, on Monday. She spent the week recovering from the flu. Dick went to church on Sunday, and brought home lunch for Erma afterward.

Alvin Cordell had finished haying, a couple of weeks ago. He had two wells drilled this week. Matt Herdrickson finished some dirt work at the Horton place, on Monday, and stopped by on Tuesday, for a visit. Padden round bales had been blown by the big storm, and they rolled for over a mile through two fences. Each bale made a new hole so, now there is lots of fencing to do. Water tanks seemed to gather from someplace, too, but most of the ones they found were not usable. Cade Pearson came out to help Marlee. He is lots of help for his grandmother. Alvin had some skin surgery done, on Wednesday in Spearfish. On Saturday, Alvin and Marlee went to the Colter Stradinger funeral, in Camp Crook.

Bruce and Lynn Gustafson finally got their air conditioner fixed, on Wednesday. Every day had been above one-hundred degrees, but they kept their house fairly cool by getting it closed up in the morning. On Saturday, they went to the Colter Stradinger funeral in Camp Crook. It was much cooler on Sunday, and they went to the Ladner Ice Cream social. Lynn was happy to get her garden fenced in, to keep out deer and antelope. Now her potatoes and carrots are looking healthier.

Junior and Shirley Melum are avoiding the hot weather, and staying in their cool basement. Shirley learned there will be a family wedding, in August in Kansas City. Her granddaughter, Lauren, will be married. Ernie and Rachel Melum went to the Colter Stradinger funeral on Saturday. That night, there was lots of lightening, and many people were up watching for fires. It was a relief when the rain started. Capitol got over and quarter of an inch. Ernie’s family went to church in Baker, on Sunday.

Ronda Cordell had made a trip to Rapid City to visit her son, Curt Zolnoski. Curt spent a terrible week trying to get help for extreme back pain. He was shuffled around and given medication that did not help, and after a week, finally got to talk to a surgeon that knew right away he needed surgery. This week he had the surgery, and he could use your continuing prayers.

Karen Odell and Hywel worked outside early each morning. The above one-hundred degree weather was predicted each day, and by eleven o’clock things were way too hot to stay outside. Inside, Karen completed her physical therapy and, one day, made Welsh cakes early before the house was too hot. Karen went Camp Crook, early on Saturday. She went to the Colter Stradinger funeral online. Hywel is a cool weather dog with very thick fur, so each day he sought a cool place in the house, until evening, when things finally cooled down. In Iowa, Jeff and Amanda Odell’s garden is flourishing, Karen finally put the rest of her plants outside, but even with fewer grasshoppers, the plants were soon gone. Jesse and Rowan Hinds spent the week in Alaska. That sounds like an exceptionally good idea. In Tacoma, Micki and Murphy enjoyed the cooler weather. The Smiths in Minnesota and Odells in eastern South Dakota had humidity that made things feel extremely hot. It was a good week for swimming if you had a pool. Karen watched the Olympics, read, sewed, and practiced piano and violin during the heat of the day. Karen visited with her kids, a high school classmate in Ohio, and a cousin in Tulsa. On Sunday, she went to the Methodist Church in Camp Crook, and the Presbyterian Church online in Georgia.

If chocolate comes from a bean, shouldn’t it be classified as a vegetable that should fill half your plate?