Christmas in Mississippi

Since this Christmas was to be only Erleen and Warren, we decided to tak a road trip. We traveled through some 17 states during our two weeks on the road. We stopped in St. Louis to take the tram to the top of the Arch (some 620 feet up). Christmas day was spent driving the length of Mississippi.

After touring St. Augustine, Florida, we spent five days in a beautiful condo in Orlando.

While in Orlando we enjoyed a dinner show called Arabian Nights. It consisted of a large cast of Arabian horses, actors and acrobats.

We spent an afternoon on the beach at Clearwater, Florida on the Gulf coast. It was 85 degrees.

In Branson we took the "Tour of Lights". It was a 45 minute drive through an amazing display of lights.

Branson, Missouri is a family-oriented Las Vegas. We saw two great shows and visited a theme park where we were incarcerated.

During our trip the weather was perfect everywhere we went. Upon returning home, we found that Hannaford had received its first snow.

After four or five inches of snow, I finally got to use my snow blower.

Turkey & Fleece

We enjoyed a great feast on Thanksgiving provided by John and Lorraine Curtis (see the chefs at left). With John's kids, Lorraine's brother, sister-in-law and their family along with several friends, we had quite a crowd. There was turkey, ham and all the trimmings. Hospitality seems to run in the Curtis family!

Erleen has been busy making fleece scarves and robes for friends and family. Notice the beautiful sky-blue robe on the lazy guy relaxing in his easy chair. Everyone at the senior center wanted a scarf. One lady ordered 30.

All the locals are raving about the beautiful weather. On Thanksgiving the mercury hit 60 degrees. We were all sun-bathing in our swimsuits (not really). We still have only had a half-inch of snow.

Fashion and Meadow Muffins

Erleen is ready for cold weather and looks SO GOOD! Although so far we have had beautiful weather. Lots of sunshine and for North Dakota, moderate temperatures. The thermometer actually rose to 33 today!








On Sunday, I helped my friend, Nathan feed his cattle. He had just weened the calves. They have to be separated from the cows for several weeks. He has them in a pen away from the pasture with the cows. The challenge is to get the tractor into the pen without any of the calves escaping. When he feeds them alone, he has to go into a small entry, get down from the tractor, close the first gate, open the second gate, enter the pen and again, close the second gate. After feeding, the reverse process must be followed. With help, he simply goes in while I hold the gate and use a whip to keep the calves from escaping. It was fun even in the face of a 15 mile per hour wind which made the 21 degree temp feel like 5 degrees. Then, of course there is the chore of relieving the soles of my boots of their disgusting load.

We also connected with a dentist in Valley City. It's no fun having to change doctors and dentists.
Beside feeding cattle and modelling winter fashions, on Sunday we had four friends over for dinner and went into Valley City for Bible study with John, Lorraine and Dan. Wow, busy times.
Please make a note of our new phone numbers: Erleen (701) 269-7188 and Warren (701) 269-7187.

Cathedrals & Crows

We just returned from a four-day trip to Minneapolis. I attended a tax conference sponsored by the Minnesota Society of CPAs. This was our first venture into downtown Minneapolis. We were amazed by the beauty of the downtown area. Here is a picture we we took from the window of our sixth floor room in the Hilton. On the left is an incredible Lutheran cathedral. Beyond it is the city conference center. More about that later.

This is another picture from our room. The black spots are crows - thousands of them. Downtown Minneapolis is clogged with crows. We were stumped trying to understand what they found to eat. The downtown area was very clean, no McDonald's bags laying around to attract a crow.

The conference center is impressive. It covers approximately three city blocks and has six levels. It is beautiful and huge. There are elevated walkways covering several blocks and leading to and through several hotels, parking garages and other facilities.

As we were leaving Hannaford, we discovered a water leak in our cellar. It was in the pipe coming in from the city. We told Ed Everson, who handles the water system. He had the leak fixed by the time we came home.

There were approximatly 1,700 participants in the tax conference. The speakers were high profile CPAs, lawyers and political characters.

We returned home mid-afternoon Wednesday to a sunny, balmy 19 degrees and strong winds. There was an inch of snow on the ground as well.

The lakes and ponds around us are nearly frozen over and ice is forming along the banks of the creek. Winter seems to be here. Although the prediction for tomorrow's high is 46 degrees.

It's good to be back to our "little house on the prairie". We are all ready for winter.

Robes and Snowblowers

Erleen has been busy sewing. She made herself and me new robes for the winter. They are beautiful and so warm

I finally finished my snowblower project. After many hours assembling and installing here it is ready for winter snows.

Our seniors club had its annual Thanksgiving dinner today at the cafe here in Hannaford. There were twenty-three of us for turkey, dressing, potatoes, gravy, peas and pumpkin pie.

Erleen is making 25 fleece scarves for the members of our club. We will go into Fargo tomorrow to buy the material.It is a beautiful sunny afternoon here.

The temperature is 38 degrees and there is no wind. So far no snow, but there is plenty of frost.

Winter, Harvest & Snowblowers

It's beginning to feel like winter. The prairie winds are blowing with gusto. They make the daytime high temperatures in the high forties feel like the high twenties. At night, the low thirties feel like the teens.


We enjoyed our church's harvest festival last night. In a church made up of farmers, this festival takes on new meaning. The collection amounted to $12,000 - pretty generous for a gathering of only 50 or so people.


The wheat, barley, flax and soy bean harvests were okay, but not as boutiful as last year. The corn harvest was good, but the sunflowers tanked this year due to the heavy rains and hail. I will help my friend, Nathan Lunde, move his cattle to their winter pasture next week.


My last few days have been consumed with assembling and attaching the snow-blower to the garden tractor. The blower comes in 75 different pieces. The instructions are comprised of some 50 steps. After removing the mower from the tractor and making a workable space in the shed, I have fininshed step 5.


Erleen has brough her herb garden into the washroom for the winter. She has two large tubs filled with rich soil crowded with her herb plants. We will continue to have tasty meals all winter.


Erleen and her sister-in-law, Lorraine spent yesterday in Fargo. They shopped, ate and visited.


There is a chance of snow flurries today, but so far it doesn't look likely.


We love our new life here on the northern prairies.

Home Again

After a wonderful afternoon with our friends, Jim and Astrid in Longview, Washington,

and an outstanding salmon goodbye dinner by Matt and Grace, we finally came home to Hannaford.

We turned in the rental car and boarded our plane at the Portland airport Sunday morning. After a short layover in Denver we arrived at Fargo Sunday evening. Erleen's cousin, Nadine and her husband, Darrell met us at the airport with our car. What a blessing to have their help!

All was well at our house except for a foul odor in the hot water. After emptying the tank, the smell abated.

We went to see Erleen's uncle Dennis Anundson. He is doing well in the nursing home in Cooperstown for a 94 year old.

Return to Humbolt

We're still on the West Coast! We spent an afternoon in Ferndale with our friends Brooke and Larry Fox. Somehow they managed to put up with us in their home for five days. What a blessing they were to us.

We watched Andrew's football team lose to St. Bernard's. Even though the team did not win, Andrew's performance was stellar. With only seconds left he ran 60 yards for a touchdown to end the game and the season. Skip, Theresa and her folks were all there.

We had a good dinner with Keith and family. The kids have grown at least two years since we left four months ago.

Ginny and Tom had us over twice for great meals. Mark came both times. We had a great visit with him.

We also spent time with friends, Anne & Craig Titchener, John & Jeanne Grobey and Peggy Murray.

We decided that we do not miss Humbildt County at all. We do miss our family and friends though.

On the way back we stopped to see Erleen's sister, Bonnie and her husban Lon. While there we helped package a batch of salsa.

We are back in Portland for a few days. We will fly back to Hannaford Sunday.

Onward to Oregon

Here we are in Portland with Grace and the kids. Matt is in Israel for two weeks doing research for his doctorate. There are so many things to do with the kids here. Here is Grandma with Eva Rae at the mall having a hot chocolate. Brendan, Eva and I are enjoying a donut and hot cider at a pumpkin farm. As Erleen is fond of saying, "if we had known how much fun grandkids are, we would have had them first!"

Howdy

Yes we are still alive. It's been two weeks since we posted anything on the blog. I'll try to bring you up to date on our doings.

The brilliant fall colors are here. The picture is of the trees across the road from our house. Fall is beautiful, but all of those leaves have to go somewhere. As you can see, most end up on our lawn.

Our days begin with a trip to the gym. every morning we walk to the gym and workout. Soon Erleen will have the figure of a 20 year-old and I will be as buff as I always thought I was.

The other innovation is bowling. We have joined a league. Our team is known as the Gutter Busters. I'm afraid that is a good description of my abilities. My handicap is 95. That qualifies me as a paraplegic.

Erleen has been studying night and day for her real estate exam. Somehow she still finds time to teach some local girls to make sushi (see picture). Today she had eight of our friends over for dinner after church. This evening she is having supper for our family bible study group. I don't know how she does it.

I am also including a picture of downtown Hannaford at rush hour. The road is North Dakota Highway 1. It is one of the busiest arteries in ND.

Ah Fall...

It's Fall on the prairie! The small grains are in (wheat, barley, flax have been harvested). The corn and soy beans are brown and will be harvested before long. The wheat harvest was much diminished from last year so expect to pay more for pasta.

The weather has turned cold as well. Nighttime temperatures in the mid-thirties and daytime highs in the mid-forties with 20 mph winds.

The big news here is that Erleen has left me. She is taking real estate classes in Fargo and staying with her cousin, Nadine Nelson. She left Thursday and returns Sunday evening. Those of you who know my culinary skills know that if she were gone more than four days, I would begin losing weight. Our friends, Ron & Ruth Berge had pity on me and invited me for a lovely roast beef dinner this evening. Actually Erleen left me with tons of good food microwave ready. I'm just lonely. Keeping busy helps.

Today I did some work for a client on the computer and phone. Then went into Cooperstown (20 minutes away) to get a trailer for hauling our generator to Vernon Fugelstad's repair shop. I changed the filter on the heater in the basement, put a switch on Erleen's bedside lamp and installed a shop light in my little shop (see picture behind the trees).

I am also cutting up a water heater. Our basement has three water heaters. One that works and two that do not. Bit by bit I am cutting one up in order to get it up the narrow, dog-leg stairway and out. The City will pick up old appliances for free on October 7th so hope to have it out by then.

Steak on a Pitchfork? - The Gold Rush - Blue Laws

We decided to leave Thursday for Medora. For those of you not in the know, Medora is North Dakota's best kept secret tourist destination. It is a small cowboy town in western ND - on the ND/Montana border. There is a huge outdoor amphitheater which seats several thousand. There is a nightly musical extravaganza. The music and dance are outstanding. We always have supper at the Pitchfork Steak Fondue. Yes, they really do use ordinary pitchforks from the hardware store to impale several steaks. These are plunged into several huge vats of boiling oil. A live band plays while we sit over-looking the North Dakota badlands. The view is breathtaking. We drafted a passerby to take this picture of us just before supper.

After the picture, our camera died with a sigh and the cryptic message: "recharge battery". Unfortunately we had neglected to bring the unique battery charger for the camera, so no more pictures.

Friday morning we looked at each other and said: "We're having too much fun to go home yet". So, being retired, we extended our two-day trip to a five-day trip.

We decided to explore the northwest quarter of ND. We called our favorite motel chain in Williston, ND. They were completely booked for the next several years! But they gave us the number of a brand-new motel. We called and sure enough, they had one room available. It seems they keep the handicap room available and we were able to rent it (for an exorbitant price).

Intrigued we began to explore the region. The gold rush (actually oil) has brought sixty thousand new residents into a town of 14,000 residents in a few short months. Huge tracts of temporary housing could be seen throughout the region. Motels, office buildings, shop buildings and manufacturing plants were under construction everywhere. A small two-bedroom apartment goes for $2,500 per month. A year ago it would have gone for $300 (if you could find someone to rent it). The price of everything was outrageous. We paid $4.15 a gallon for gas. That may not sound like much to you in Humboldt County, but here in ND it is scandalous.

We also visited several historical sites. Fort Union on the confluence of the Yellowstone and Missouri rivers made John Jacob Astor rich by trading for furs. A nearby Cavalry fort kept the Native Americans more or less subservient. We stood in the room where Sitting Bull finally surrendered on behalf of the Souix nation in 1881. It made me feel old to realize that Grandma Curtis was a teenager when that surrender took place.

We went to buy a bottle of water on Sunday morning only to discover that North Dakota still has a blue law. It is illegal to operate a retail establishment between midnight and noon on Sunday. Somehow I had not run up against this impediment before.

While in Bismarck, Erleen took some paperwork into the Real Estate Commissioner's office. The office was a couple of rooms above an insurance agency. The Commissioner was at lunch, but Erleen was able to do her business with the secretary/receptionist.

Yellow Polka-dot Bikini

Sunday afternoon, after the potluck at church, Erleen's brother, John called to say that his family was to sing at a gathering in Page, ND. We decided to go so drove for 40 minutes and joined about 5o people at the Page community center. It was a bible study group. Supper was provided. There were hot dogs and hamburgers. The person who was to bring the condiments dropped the ball so no catsup, mustard, relish, etc.



John, Lorraine, Jared and Angele sang beautifully (I was impressed). Toward the end John announced that Warren & Erleen Staley were going to join their quartet for the last song. It was actually fun.


Then Curtis family plus Erleen sang "Yellow Polka-dot Bikini" in turkey talk. If you have never heard turkey talk, you should ask Erleen for a demo.

We have reset the options for this blog. You should be able to write comments now. You can sign in as "anonymus". But sign your name so we know who commented.

Where's the Rocking Chair?

Last weekend we spent two nights in Fargo. We visited Bonanzaville in West Fargo. Bonanzaville consists of several old buildings which have been moved onto a field and arranged like an old town. There is a church, a school, several homes and other buildings. There are antique cars and aircraft on display as well. The was an event called Pioneer Days happening so there were several bands and a parade.

We also visited a heritage center in Moorhead (with a Norwegian name I can neither pronounce or spell). It houses a replica of a Viking ship built by a retired teacher near Moorhead. His vision was to sale it to Norway. He died before he could complete his dream, but his children finished it and sailed it to Norway. There is also a replica of an eighth or ninth century Norwegian church. We enjoyed a guided tour of that church.

Our friends, John and Peggy Murray spent last night with us. We enjoyed their visit thoroughly. The lived a couple of miles east of us in Humbolt County.

Erleen received her North Dakota notary certificate this week. She is going to advertise her services at the Post Office and the Store.

My friend, Nathan Lunde, dropped by this morning. I rode with him to his 80 acres east of Hannaford to check on his cattle. I haven't quite earned the right to wear bib overalls yet, but I am working on it.

Erleen's sister, Rachel made us a great fish dinner (croppy) in Cooperstown. We visited uncle Denny while we were there.

Then it was off to Valley City for a birthday party for Erleen's neice, Angele.

It has been a very busy day. What ever happened to the idea of sitting in a rocking chair on the porch?

The Crick, Shingles and Songs

We're coming, Lord willing and the crick don't rise (crick is North Dakotan for creek). Well the crick did rise. Niagra Falls on the left is cascading down into the crick in a normally dry gully. Notice the hay bales in the other picuture and also the grand stands used for tractor pulls and other events. What looks like the crick on the right is actually a road under normal circumstances.

The good news is that we just found a sump pump in our basement. It sucks a substantial amount of water in a short period of time. It's definitely better the the wet/dry vacuum we were using. Everyone's basements have turned into wells. The water table is very close to the surface. Fortunately, we have gone three days with no rain. Thank you God!

In related news in the picture above I'm frantically nailing shingles to our shed in an attempt to keep it from raining as hard inside as outside.

Sunday evening we drove with our friends, Nathan and Marybeth Lunde to a farm an hour and a half from home. The farmer had set up two large tents. One was used for the food we brought (it was a potluck). The other had a stage and sound equipment. A small band led about 200 of us in a "singsperation". It was a super-sized worship service. We had a great time. Never a dull moment here.

Where's the Post Office?

We are back from a three-day trip to Forest Lake, MN (near the Wisconsin border). We attended the funeral of Erleen's uncle Donald Lende. Donald was a very colorful character and his funeral was equally colorful.

The most recent crisis is the proposed closing of our post office. The Posatal Service wants to close about 3,700 offices, mostly rural. They say they can save $200 million by doing so. This is only one-third of one percent of the Service's budget and 2.5 percent of its projected deficit. The post office in Hannaford has 2 full-time and 1 parttime employees. This represents probably 5 percent of our entire work force. The post office is an iconic part of rural life. Since there is no home delivery here, we see our neighbors several times a week at the PO. The Post-mistress has all the local news about the weather, the crops and who died or is getting married. We attended a meeting last night to decide how to best fight this tragedy. I don't know how much we can do, but we will make an effort.

Kids & Lawns

Bed never looked so good - even at 8:30! Six hours of 65 kids aged 4 to 11 is enough to put us old folk "six-feet under". Erleen and I helped with Vacation Bible School in Cooperstown this week. It was good fun and in some small way advanced God's kingdom.

Yes, that's me in the bathrobe and towel. No, I did not just get out of the shower. I had just called down fire from heaven on Mt. Carmel. All to convince kids that God listens to us.

Thanks to the sale of our little gray Mercury (the car we have kept here for several years) and my old lawn tractor in Humboldt, I am now mowing in splendor on a bright red lawn tractor here in Hannaford. I mowed the lawns today in less than an hour and wasn't even tired afterward.



Erleen's last uncle, Donald Lende, died today. He made peace with his family and with God, then fell "asleep" We will attend the funeral near St. Paul, Minnesota next week.

Water, Water Everywhere

If Minnesota is the land of 10,000 lakes, North Dakota must the land of 100,000 lakes. Another thuderstorm just passed over us. It dropped some rain on Hannaford, but mostly just BOOMED. ND is near record rainfall. There is water standing everywhere. Many roads are under water. The swimming hole below our home is twice its normal size. The dock is completely under water. The creek is so swollen that it is running along the road.

Our friend, Nathan Lunde stopped by yesterday. We are praying for him to be able to gather in the hay before any more rain makes it impossible. He is a cattle rancher and registered nurse. Interesting combination!

Oh well, at least the temperature is mild (around 70 degrees).

Today we travel into Fargo. Nadine & Darrell Nelson (Erleen's cousin) are hosting a reception for some second cousins from Louisana. There will probably be 70 or 80 family members there. I love these get-togethers. It reinforces the sense of family.

Hannaford is having a parade, picnic and dance this evening. We hope to be back in time.

Our friend, Shewanna, has her two grandaughters for an indefinite period of time. Erleen and a friend took a couple of bicycles into Coopstown for the girls to ride.

I went to a meeting at the Cooperstown Medical Center yesterday. It is the hospital and nursing home for Griggs County. It is nearly impossible to get doctors to locate here. Fortunately the federal government offers foreign doctors a shortened path to citizenship for serving a rural community for three years. I always wondered why our doctors spoke only minimal English. Ah the joys of life on the prairie!

I am trying to get our senior center's nonprofit status reinstated. It was revoked for failure to file returns. I am also embroiled in a battle with the Oregon Department of Revenue on behalf of one of my former clients. And I though I was retiring. When am I going to have time to put the new roof on the shed?

Somehow it seems we are always busy. At least we don 't have to be in the office at 9:00 am.

HOLLYHOCKS, HERBS, LILIES AND MEMORIES

We are forever greatful to our children and friends for the beautiful, fun retirement party you blessed us with before leaving CA. It helped give closure to our lives as we knew it in CA and hello to the new beginning on the ND prairie.

We left a partial garden in CA for the renters and only had time to plant herbs here. The flowers you see were planted years ago by my aunt Bernice and uncle Dennis who sold us this this lovely little house on the prairie. They took very good care of this home. We planted some of these flowers last fall also. I have spent the last month reflecting and comparing the differences and similarities of the prairie I remembered growing up, and how I see it today. Warren and I have had so many pleasurable memories here in the last 7 years, with family, friends and getting to know the people of our community here.

The weather is phenomenal. Don't ever remember the raging summer storms like we've had this year. It's exciting, scarry and something that is always a topic of conversation with everyone. The prairie winds are hard on the hair and skin. Found lemon juice, white vinegar and soda are the best shampoo for hard water (at least for gray hair -ha keeps it from turning yellow-green).

Warren is in his own little rut. (still) He works in the office upstairs almost every day. Walks to the bank and post office every weekday morning. He is finishing up tax returns for those who are on extension and also those in trouble with the IRS. I keep pulling him away to do fun road trips. We are 20 minutes from the nearest hospital which is in Cooperstown, where uncle Dennis lives in a care home. We live 45 minutes from brother Dan, John, Lorraine and family in Valley City where I used to drive taxi and ambulance as a teenager. I'm praying about being trained to be a 1st responder. We have an EMT here in Hannaford. They need both in order for the City to have an ambulance here. It would take six months of training in Valley City. Don't want to be too tied down though. Too much fun running around with Warren.

We live 18 minutes from my old homestead of 350 acres. The house is not there anymore, but the old Karnak elevator 1/2 mile up the road is still standing. The government purchased the land and put up a Minute Man Missle sight there. It is one of the 100 missles that were aimed at Russia during the Cold War. They bought out all the small farmers to put these 100+missles and 15 command centers so now many of the bigger farms are 10,ooo acres. The creek I used to swim in as a kid is just down the hill from our little town. Warren and I walk down there almost every morning for excercise and up to the top of the next hill. The City of Hannaford has made it into a wonderful parks with RV hookups, showers etc. It has come in very handy for the men and their families who worked here last year on the roads and overpass, and also tourists passing through. The Parks and Recreation crew have been having a battle with the beavers over the beautiful evergreen trees. The creek has turned into a raging river this summer. The water can hardly get under the bridge. The water in ND from all the summer storms is something to behold. There are not very many outlets. I think we are going to surpass Minnesota with their 10,ooo lakes. We are very thankful that Hannaford is not very low land and subject to flooding.

Enough for tonight. I have not finished unpacking and have misplaced all of our addreses and phone numbers. This is a fine way to catch up. Sorry for the long epistle. Thought you should hear from me too.

I love our little home on the prairie. We are reflecting and remembering the good of our past and we miss our family and friends sooooo much. We are enjoying the present very much and looking forward to the future with Jesus and all of you forever. Someday, time and space will not seperate us. Luv n' prayers, Erleen

Sauna

It's 85 degrees and totally humid. The air is so thick you find yourself trying to swim through it. After washing the car (the bugs totally covered the front) coming into the house where the temperature is 70 degrees and reasonably dry feels wonderful.

We went to a musical play last night in New Rockford (about an hour away). It was titled "All Shook Up". It was a spoof on the fifties which some of us remember well if not fondly. The acting was superb. The music and dance were very good as well. We enjoyed it thoroughly.

Last Friday a neighbor invited us to a dinner theater in Devil's Lake, ND (about an hour and a half away). It was a murder mystery and included a great deal of audience participation. There's always something happening here. So far we are not bored.

We are having two older widowers from church over this evening. I think one is a Vigasau and one is a Fugulstad. Everyone at Zion Lutheran is either a Vigasau or a Fugulsad or at least related to them by marriage. Vernon is in his 80's. He was once the County sheriff.

We made the trip into Fargo (about two hours away) Thursday for shopping. Most things we need are available across the road at the the store. Some things require Sam's Club such as parts for a disabled vacuum and cilantro.

A nasty storm passed over us earlier today, but only blew hard - no rain.

I've cooled and dryed off sufficiently now that I suppose I should go out and unclog the rain gutters.

Umm - The Smell of New Mown Grass

It's a buzzing like that of a thousand angry bees. As I look out my second-floor window I see an old tractor being driven by an even older man mowing across the road. I'm just glad I'm not allergic to grass!

The City sprayed for mosquitos last night. Erleen was skeptical, but I was euphoric. Three or four days with no mosquitos. I'd much rather die from the poisons than to be eaten alive by mosquitos.

We have decided not to entertain much. So we only had eight over for goodies and fellowship Sunday afternoon.

Right after church we attended a fund-raiser spagetti feed in the little town of Dazey (population 70) just south of us. There were over 500 crowded into the little auditorium. They were raising funds to help with medical expenses for a lady with cancer. I know if Erleen or I were to get some horrible disease and exhaust our insurance, there would be spagetti feeds and bake sales for us. Community is a wonderful thing.

We went into Valley City (45 minutes away) for Bible study (ie. discussion) with the John Curtis's and the Graybills last evening. They will come to our house next week.

Where Am I?

Oh my gosh! It's 7:30 and I'm just waking up. "Erleen! Erleen - wake up, the alarm didn't go off." "Go back to sleep - you're retired.

Retired? How did that happen? For forty years I have always been in the office by 9:00. O, I see. I'm on vacation in our home in Hannaford, North Dakota. No, this is not vacation. I live here now year-round.

Okay, I remember rushing around to vacate my office by May 31, then cramming most of our belongings into a U-haul truck and trekking across the continent to Hannaford. Now that I am here and have time to think about it, I wonder if we did the right thing.

Of course we did the right thing! We sensed God's blessing on our plan to retire. all the myriad of details came together to make the move possible. The accounting practice sold and the house rented. The retirement/farewell party was a huge success. Our family and friends in North Dakota welcomed us with open arms.

But this is a momentous change in life. Isn't life supposed to go on forever without change? No, of course not. But why do I feel so conflicted? I am anticipating a glorious future without deadlines, but still....

I love the prairie with its ever-changing weather. I love the warm evenings. I love the people of Hannaford and Griggs County. I lover the family gatherings. I feel as if I have lived here my entire life, but still....


This is the beginning of a new vignette I am working on. Just thought you might like to see it early.

Mud

It's late afternoon on July 4th. It's 92 degrees and humid. But it is a cool 70 degrees in the house. We just returned from Sanborn, ND where we watched a truck-pull. Different types of trucks compete to see how far they can tow a semi across the prairie dirt.

Then came the destruction derby. Apparently we were a bit too close because one of the cars sprayed mud all over us. Here we are before our baths. That is not a tatoo on my arm.

There Are Fish in ND!

Norm and Judy Ingersoll are visiting from California. Norm and I went fishing this morning. After two hours we both had our limit of three fish each. Here is Norm with his fish.

Nuke the Russians

The cold war was a time I remember well. We lived every day expecting a blinding flash just before a quick trip to heaven. Those who could afford it, build fall-out shelters. We couldn't.

We visited the Ronald Reagan Cold War Museum known as Oscar Zero. It is a state park just north of Cooperstown. Erleen & I have been there several times. But this time we were joined by my brother, Tim and the Ingersolls. Yes, Norm & Judy are here for a few days. They drove our Buick out from California for us.

Oscar Zero is one of fifteen missile command centers in this part of North Dakota that has been decommissioned. It controlled ten inter-continental ballistic missiles once targeted for the Soviet Union. The actual command center is comprised of two vessels buried 80 feet below the peaceful prairie. The walls are four feet thick and the doors weigh several tons each. From here we could incinerate millions of Innocent people in eastern Europe and Asia. Yes, some would be Muslim, but at least as many would be Christians. Happy thought!

North Dakota fun

The banjos were twanging and the fiddles squealing. We took my brother Tim to Fort Ransom for the bluegrass festival. It was very enjoyable. My personal favorite was a band called Monroe Crossing. Fort Ransom is a quaint little town that caters to tourism with several events throughout the summer. It reminds us of Ferndale, California.

This evening we went to Binford for the rodeo. It was an official event on the professional bull riding circuit. Yes, there really are people who ride bulls for a living. Binford has about a population of around 170. There were a few thousand people there at the rodeo.