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It has been a long, long cold spell starting long before Christmas and lasting into January. Finally, though it is the middle of January and a January thaw seems to be taking place. It is fine with me. By Friday I could tell it was close to the end of the cold spell but was the coldest day yet. I figured that my dog was really hurting from the cold. I knew I was not doing my car any favors by starting it several times a day just so it would go when I needed it to. The boiler in my house seemed never to shut down. I would turn it down at night...
My wife often says that I collect hobbies. I discover something new, begin to learn about it after my interest is sparked, achieve a level of proficiency or learning in my new area of interest, and move on to a new interest. It drives my wife a little nuts, but has resulted in me developing an eclectic skill set. Recently, I was reading a book on the psychology of motivation when I came across a bit of an explanation for my odd tendency to jump from hobby to hobby. The book talked about...
The weather bureau was wrong. They predicted a nice January. We printed their prediction in “The Mountaineer” and ended up looking like we knew not much of anything to trust them in the first place. Just as we were recovering from that mistake, I was driving to Big Sandy early one morning before dawn. I was listening to a radio station in Great Falls and, as it had been cold, the station announcer had weather on his mind. Here is what got to me. All the stations from Cutbank to Chinook and south to Helena and Lewistown reported above zero rea...
I have given this recipe for scalloped potatoes to many people. Most of them have raved about it. I cooked it for Christmas Day and proclaimed it to be the best scalloped potatoes I have ever eaten. Part of it is the fact that it has plenty of ham in it. It also has plenty of whipping cream in it, lots of onions, lots of cheese and just plain old dry mustard. But the single most important ingredient of all is the brown sugar and while the recipe calls for a cup and a half, I think that two cups is not too much. Anyway here is what you will...
With the new year upon us, resolutions may be on your mind. Have you found how easy they are to make them but not as easy to keep? People who make new year’s resolutions are 10 times more likely to accomplish the changes than those who do not formally make resolutions. You have taken the first step by making the resolution. Here are some pointers in keeping it. 1. Plan the resolution out in steps, small increments. Rather than say you are going to save money, review your budget and designate a realistic amount of how much you can dedicate to p...
This morning, I read an article on the most returned or regifted Christmas gifts every holiday season. According to the article, clothing is the most returned Christmas gift, usually because of issues with the article not being liked, not being needed, or not fitting correctly. In the arena of gifts that are given away again as gifts to others, the list is a little more expansive. It included candles, gift cards, picture frames, perfume, cookbooks, and fruitcakes. The reason I researched the...
Master Gardener Level 1 Class in Fort Benton (Pre-Registration Begins Today) MSU Extension level 1 Master Gardener classes will take place in Fort Benton in February pending pre-registration numbers. Now is your chance to participate in an excellent educational opportunity. If fifteen people pre-register, we will have the class, which traditionally begins the third week in February. Please contact the MSU Chouteau County Extension office at 622-3751 to pre-register. The Level 1 Master Gardener course requires 16 hours of class time, and is...
The neatest scene I ever saw regarding Christmas Trees in the Bear Paw Mountains would have meant little or nothing if I hadn’t been an English teacher and loved to teach Macbeth. During those days a friend or two and I would go up to the tops of mountains and cut down several trees that would barely fit into our living rooms. But they were so beautiful and after all, I always had the huge Christmas trees of Francis and Laened Black as patterns. If they could have a Griswold Christmas tree, why couldn’t I? What we always wanted was the top twe...
The philosopher Soren Kierkegaard wrote a parable about a king, who was very wealthy and powerful. He was so wealthy and influential that other kings came from all around to kneel before him. Everything he saw was his and there was nothing he could not have. That is, until one day, this king sees a peasant woman working just outside of the castle. He is struck by her beauty and grace. He begins to make up excuses to watch her. The more he watches, the more in love he becomes. He decides that he...
Q: We want to make this a better Christmas, so we’ve decided to read some Bible passages together about Christmas. Where can we find them? A: I’m thankful you want to do this; could anything be more important than turning our hearts and minds toward Jesus, whose birth we celebrate at Christmas? Let me simply repeat some suggestions I’ve made before. Centuries before Jesus’ birth, God promised that He would send His Savior into the world. This week, therefore, I suggest you concentrate on prophecies from the Old Testament. You might begin w...
I had a strange Thanksgiving. It all started when I picked out a Thanksgiving turkey. I wanted around a 16 pound turkey because I think they taste better and actually had a Butterball in the shopping cart at a grocery store that will remain nameless. Then I noticed a strange brand and the grocery seemed to have a million of them priced very inexpensively. A sixteen pound unheard of brand was $14.00 and a sixteen brand Butterball was $25.00. So in a moment of cheapness I bought the unknown brand. I did notice as I hauled the turkey home that it...
I’m reading a book by David Platt, a Christian minister who traveled and taught throughout Asia. In it, he shares an interesting exchange he had while in Indonesia. While visiting a Buddhist temple complex, he had a conversation with the leaders of the local Muslim and Buddhist communities. The two leaders were discussing how they thought all religions were essentially the same. Both the Buddhist and the Muslim agreed that all paths lead to God. They then asked Platt what he thought on the m...
It is time to get the Christmas lights out and up. It is a little early for them to be on but it is so much easier to get them up when it is warm. When Mother and I moved into our Sixth Street home in Havre I knew I wanted to have some privacy at the front of the house so that if I wanted to go outside and drink a martini on a Friday night I would not be seen. So we made a wide sidewalk, almost a terrace running from the front door to the driveway. Then we made a high berm and planted blue spruces all the way along the front of the house....
I had heard about my father, Bee Lucke’s troubles with draft boards for years. As a matter of fact it was sort of a family joke. It seemed that in 1944 and early 1945 the local draft board was short of draftable men so they started taking married men with one child. Bee Lucke fit that bill perfectly. I was the one child. As mother told the story, every time he went to Butte to take his physical he was told that he was going to be drafted so when he got back home to Havre, some of his friends wou...
While looking through old papers reading the different Christmas stories, I stumbled across one which I could agree with and relate to. Mrs. Lillian Weaver, of Davenport, Idaho wrote in December of 1965 her version of Christmas. I pulled just a few things she stated and gave my opinion. In her article she wrote, “Christmas is the thrill of an old fashioned sleigh ride on a white stretching road glistening with “snow” diamonds on a moonlight night.” When I was eight years old we had a team and a sleigh. Dad hooked up our gelding, Blaze, and too...
Grain storage inspections should begin close to Thanksgiving Inspecting grain bins for pests on or before Thanksgiving is a great rule of thumb for Chouteau County producers. The Lesser grain borer Rhyzopertha dominica is one of the most injurious beetles known to attack stored grain. The Lesser grain borer belongs to the Bostrichidae family of beetles, which are mostly wood boring insects. R. dominica causes major physical and off-odor damage to grain in storage. Identifying Characteristics: Adults are dark reddish-brown to black in color,...
Around 75 Thanksgivings have passed me by and still I am excited about the day, the eats and getting with kith and kin to celebrate family, faith and friends. For years it was the food for me. Maybe it still is. If I could not have turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy for Thanksgiving dinner, it would not be much of a dinner. I know many people who take their whole families and go to a place and help out with cooking or serving or washing dishes afterward. And that is fine, although in my family, it has always been a little more...
Several years ago, my wife and I returned home from work to find that our house had been burglarized. We didn’t lose much, but were pretty angry about the incident. My pastor at the time told me a story about John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church. One day while Wesley was traveling, he was robbed by a highwayman. When he arrived home, he wrote in his journal that he prayed to thank God after the ordeal had ended. Specifically, he thanked God for three things. First, he thanked the L...
We live in an amazing world. You can almost buy anything you want from far away and it will be shipped to you ASAP and be of a great quality. I am talking about everything from clothing, to food, to shoes, and even cotton socks, if you find you need cotton socks. With me it is cooking. I used to be able to lay a complete turkey dinner out on the table just by doing it the morning of the dinner. I can’t do it anymore. Old age has set in and I find I do less and less of what I used to do. Matter of fact this fall, I did a practice turkey just t...
Vaccination Tips on Beef Cattle Information for this article was taken from the October issue of the Cow Sense Chronicle written by Rachel Endecott, MSU Extension Beef Cattle Specialist. Successful vaccination depends on three critical factors: an effective vaccine, a functioning immune system, and administration of the vaccine before exposure to the disease. Some tips for effective vaccination include: • Read and follow label directions. If you are unsure, consult your veterinarian or call the vaccine company directly before using the p...
I love Christmas music of all kinds. I am playing it in the car as I drive down the highway to Big Sandy. I am playing it in my living room on Friday and Saturday during happy hour and I am listening eagerly to hear it being played around town. I love the old hymns maybe the best and I love it when they are sung by old choirs from England and sung accompanied by the pipe organ and sound crisp, and cold and let so very beautiful. They remind me of when I had a cabin up Alkali Springs on Beaver Creek. I used to love to spend Christmas at that cab...
I read 5 books last week. Typically, I have been reading 1 or 2 books a week this year, but last week I set a personal record. I’m not a speed reader; in fact, I read embarrassingly slowly. I don’t have a lot of free time. With the church’s annual Halloween party happening last week, I was especially busy. I managed to increase my reading time by eliminating two things from my habits: I stopped reading, listening, or watching most news (the Mountaineer excluded, of course) and I deleted Faceb...
It is the beginning of the month and since it is November, a Thanksgiving recipe would be in order but you know most of my Thanksgiving recipes anyway so how about a new way to cook an old favorite, Shepherd’s Pie. The meat in the Shepherd’s pie can be ground up lamb but I have always used a hamburger mixture. It seems more like me. To make a Shepherd’s pie you need to do three separate things. First, you need to get some good root vegetables cooked. Then you need to get your meat mixture prepared and then you need to cook enough mashed potat...
Radon is the leading cause of lung cancer among non-smokers in the United States. Radon enters our bodies as we inhale. Children are more susceptible to the effects of radon because of the developmental stages their bodies are going through. Pound for pound, children are eating, drinking and breathing more than adults. Therefore, if radon is in the air they are breathing or water they are drinking, their body is receiving a higher concentration of radon than an adult. What is radon? It is naturally occurring radioactive gas that is odorless...
I recently read a book about the dozens of strange ways most people naturally think about the world around them, which result in mistakes or misunderstandings. A lot of the book dealt with logic, patterns of thinking about things, and ways that peopledeal with information. Some of them were obvious, like wanting simple explanations for situations, even very complex ones. Or the fact that people are generally more trusting toward and think more highly of physically attractive folks. Others were...