CAPITOLETTER

January 12, 2025

Winter snow has covered Capitol and Tie Creek. We had a couple of days of wind along with the snow, but the moisture was nice that cleaned the air.

Dick and Erma Albert stayed close to home this week. The snow had drifted up, and Dick's pick-up was still in the shop, so they didn't get out until Friday, for the Senior Citizen Dinner. Erma stayed to play cards, and then got a ride home, later. They got someone to plow them out, so on Sunday they went to church. They joined the Helms, and Erk families, and Father Brian, for lunch at Saloon Number Three. In the afternoon, Erma talked to her sister in Texas, who had snow even down there. Her sister had to find a heater when her electricity went off, but by morning the electricity was back on again.

Wade Pearson came out to Alvin and Marlee Cordell's, on Tuesday. Ryan Cordell and Charlie Selting helped him sort and ship calves to personal buyers. Will Sacrison brought out a snowmobile for Alvin, on Wednesday. Then, on Thursday, Alvin made a trip to Buffalo. On Saturday, Charlie helped Alvin finish the corral project at the Horton place. It has been taking lots of time to feed hay each day, and may be a long winter. On Saturday evening, Alvin and Marlee went in to Camp Crook for supper at the Corner Cafe.

Lynn Gustafson went in to Camp Crook, on Wednesday, for the Diligent Doers Extension Club Christmas meeting. Their usual Christmas gathering had been delayed due to the weather. The meeting was held at the new City Hall. Services at the Little Missouri Church were cancelled again, due to the blizzard conditions.

Julia Davis had gotten the flu last Sunday, and it lingered a couple of days, but by the end of the week she was back to work at the courthouse in Buffalo. They went to the Stock Growers' Meeting in Buffalo, and heard some interesting speakers in the afternoon. A load of cake was delivered to the ranch, and that afternoon Doug made a trip to the Hills for parts and supplies. Morgan Buck had caught the flu, so they encouraged him to stay home and not share it at the ranch. The wind had come up in the night, early Sunday, like a real blizzard. When they talked to Travis and Amanda, they learned that Rory and Oliver were out playing in the snow in Alabama. Good thing they took home their winter snowsuits.

Ernie, Rachel and Tommy Melum made a trip to town, on Friday, to stock up on groceries. They got supplies for Junior and Shirley, too, so they are all prepared for the long haul.

Dorothy and Dawn Padden had been to Buffalo, on Tuesday, for the girls' basketball games against Hettinger-Scranton. Then, on Wednesday, they both went to the Camp Crook City Hall for the Diligent Doers Extension Club meeting. On Friday and Saturday, Brandon and Ashley Padden were coaching wrestlers. Brandon, Brenton and Brylen went to Hettinger, North Dakota for a boys' meet, while Ashley and Kanyn went to Douglas, Wyoming for a girls' meet, only a couple of states apart. On Saturday the wind average was measured at 25 mph for the day, and Bryce and Dawn had fun at home trying to keep from being stuck in drifts. Dawn got herself out, a couple of times, but had to have help once, when Bryce had bales on the tractor and loader. Bryce just lowered the loader bale and pushed her out on his way past. One time, someone had gotten three-fourths of the way up to the main house, and then had to back all that way back out to the road. Taking out across the pasture, and avoiding the big drifts, proved to be a better choice than taking on the piled snow that had been plowed before. By Sunday, the wind had calmed to let feeding be a little less exciting.

Karen Odell had a quiet week. About a foot of snow covered everything, so she stayed home until Wednesday, when Chancey Odell came over and plowed her out. She got her mail and went to Camp Crook to mail some letters. Hywel has such thick fur, that he loved the snow even when the temperature reached down to zero. There was snow flurries during part of nearly every day this week, and on Saturday the wind came up again, blowing things into big long snow drifts. On Sunday, things were still below ten degrees all day, but the wind had died down and the sun shone in the windows so that the inside cats could take a sun bath. Chancey came over again to plow Karen's road, and to clear the vehicles. We may have some needed moisture out of this snow.

It's bad enough for politicians to use my hard-earned money to go on trips to Europe, Africa, and tropical islands, but it's totally unfair for them to come back.