One Nation, Under God
One Nation, Under God
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The smoke in the sky makes for beautiful sunsets and sunrises! The moon has been full this week, so it has had some beautiful colors too! But the clear blue sky is still the best! The temps have been in the 60’s for lows and 90’s for highs. It is pretty hot. The hay is getting brought in to store for the cows this winter. Some places seem to have lots of grasshopper damage while others have escaped the hungry critters. The winter wheat is turning that golden color, and the barley is getting rip...
The weather has been the main topic around Affinity and I’m sure the residents in Loring were talking about the heat, also! I was shocked yesterday when former president Trump had an attempt on his life. Just too many shootings in our country! Pete and Carol Lumsden celebrated their 44th wedding anniversary with their family at the lake this last weekend. Congratulations! I taught a group of residents watercolor painting on Saturday. This time everyone painted a barn, and they turned out very n...
Normally, the northern plains of Montana are considered windy. But the wind has found Billings also. This past week was rainy and windy. This next week the forecast is for hot temps. I have harvested two tomatoes from my small garden already! Some gardens have produced spinach, lettuce, radishes and lots of table onions! The flower gardens are beautiful too! David and Brandie Stordahl hosted a barbecue on Saturday. I enjoyed the ribs and shrimp! Their son Rocco is leaving on a school trip to...
Happy Independence Day! I’m so grateful for our country and the freedoms that we have! Honors go to all the service people who helped our country stay free! Last week, Carol Lumsden attended a memorial service for a classmate, Kip Young. Many of his classmates attended from all over the country. A friend from Affinity, Marcia Webber, brought me greetings from Carol. Keepers of the Faith, a gospel group from Washington, sang at the Whitewater Lutheran Church on Sunday! Cindy Clark and Carol Lumsd...
Wow! The temp on Sunday was 99 degrees. I’m not the ruler of the world, but I say that’s too hot for June! The rest of the week was in the 70’s! Cindy Clark was a guest lay minister at the Malta Lutheran and Whitewater Lutheran Churches on Sunday. Her message was also carried on KMMR-Mustang radio. Lulu Besel invited her for lunch afterward. It’s been raining several times a week and the grass looks beautiful. Crops are growing right along with the weeds! Congratulations to Rennay Watkins...
Kathy Bell, of Glasgow, surprised me on Sunday! She was at Affinity visiting her brother, Bob McInerney, who has lived here for a few years. Two other siblings were visiting him, also. I hosted a Stordahl BBQ here at Affinity on Saturday evening. Tom’s sister Bev Haagenson, and nieces Julie, JoAnn, and nephew Rick and their significant others attended along with great-niece Jenny Haskin and Chris McMullen. Chris was the master flipper of burgers, thank you, Chris! My son Rodney, Jeannie and Z...
June 5, 2024 Oh my gosh! It’s June already! Halfway through 2024! The raised gardens are looking really lush! I have two tomatoes, radishes, and a few flowers. Some gardens are planted in rows that are very close together, but they look like every seed came up! One garden has a bunch of potatoes, one has lots of irises, onions, peas, and mounds of cucumbers! Cindy Clark attended the Montana Synod assembly in Billings this past weekend. It was fun to have a houseguest for a few nights! My s...
May 29: I was so thrilled to be in Loring this last week! Many birds are flying through. Even a Swainson’s thrush which we don’t get every year. Lots of American goldfinches, robins, red-wing blackbirds and yellow-headed blackbirds, Canada geese and ducks galore. My little flycatcher is successful at laying her eggs in the nest on the deck roof! Steven Johannesen had an unfortunate accident and got burned over quite a lot of his body. He is in Salt Lake City at the burn unit, to get skin to reg...
Even though I am not living in Loring anymore, the American goldfinches have stopped to visit, and my friends have reported the “sightings”! The soft little chirping sounds are always a joy! Big weekend for many seniors, as they go from high school on to the next step. Congrats to Paige Wasson, Kendall Scheffelmear, and Ava Hanley as they graduate from Whitewater High School. The month of May is always so busy for students! The track meets and golf meets all are celebrations. It sounds like the...
Happy Mother’s Day to all of you! What an expressive light show the Aurora Borealis put on for practically the whole country! Tina Russel posted pictures of it and her house close to Pensacola, FL. Jana (Wisher) Biddy posted pictures of the lights in Georgia! So, I’m sure they were further south than normal! I did not see them but enjoyed it vicariously through the many pictures posted on Facebook! Congratulations to Casandra and Levi Harms on the birth of their baby boy, Justin Edward. He was...
Happy Cinco de Mayo! What a busy week! The main activity in north Phillips County on Saturday was the Gopher Hunt! Kenny Clark reported there were 54 teams registered and more than 6600 gophers met their demise that day! One badger appeared but scampered way back into his burrow as he reconsidered how hungry he really was! The businesses around the county were very generous with their donations for the prizes. Grilled burgers and fresh fries were served for lunch and for dinner, pulled pork and...
I’m still calling this the Loring News notes but I write about less and less Loring happenings. I guess if you don’t want to know what I’m doing in Billings, you could skip that part. Cindy hosted a tea party on Tuesday as a tribute to Dave and her wedding anniversary. I think it was a wonderful idea and I got to attend via FaceTime! Other tea drinkers were Diana Simanton, Jeanie Green and Lu Besel. The table had beautiful flowers and lots of special treats! My granddaughter, Saige, had a birth...
Happy Earth Day! I was in college when the first Earth Day was celebrated. I remember some students rode horses to school instead of driving their cars. I mostly picked trash! Congratulations to the musicians from Whitewater School who earned one’s at the District Music Festival! They have earned a trip to the State competition in Billings! I might get to see some of them when they come down. If you are outside in the night, you might have seen a few meteorites from the Leonids showers. It's a...
The meadowlarks were in high form this weekend while I was up at Loring! Their song is a favorite of mine, and the concert was fabulous! I was surprised to see a flycatcher also. They are early this year! The trees are blooming, and the crocuses are beautiful on the hillsides! The frogs sang loud and strong down at the slough! I visited with Cindy Clark and saw how the reconstruction was going along. Debbie Richau drove with me to Loring on Friday. On Saturday we attended the fundraiser for the...
Big excitement tomorrow morning, the eclipse of the sun is happening from Maine to Texas! We’ll have about 50% covered! It is a natural phenomenon but still special since it doesn’t happen very often. My dad would make sure we kids saw the eclipses, whether solar or lunar. He always wanted us to witness the unusual beauty of Mother Nature. Do not look at the eclipse without special glasses! Cindy Clark reported that Loring has an unusually large amount of robins right now. They are on their mig...
It’s true, it’s not an April Fools' Joke. I came down with a sore throat and cough. It is not fun! I think that wild animals must be adapted to the colder weather. I had dinner with Dave Menshew on Monday and Friday. He filled me in on the class that he was in about prepping the fossils. Sympathy is extended to the Steve Schumacher family on his death. Steve has been our Loring Lutheran lay pastor for the last few months. I saw a few robins this week! I heard them a few weeks ago but this tim...
Happy spring to you all! We just got a nice layer of snow in Billings, but I know that Loring has had several days of snowfall this week! With the snow cover the gophers are easy to see playing on a snowbank! On the hills, little blades of green are showing up, and the birds are coming back slowly. Almost every farm has a few calves playing around! The temperatures in Billings hit 71 before the wintery storm on the weekend. I spotted some blooming crocuses, and some trees blooming just before...
Editors Note: The March 6 Loring News was inadvertently left out of the PCN. We are sorry for the inconvenience. March 6: One way to realize how fast time is marching on is when the month changes numbers! We are already on month three! Congrats to the North Country Mavericks and the Malta M-ette’s! Both are Champions in the divisional tournaments! Repping Phillips County! Good luck to both teams in the next tournament! I’ll be cheering and listening from Billings! I did something today that was...
Congratulations to the North Country Lady Mavericks on their second state championship in Class C Basketball! What awesome athletes those girls are! The tourney was in Great Falls. The Class B tournament was in Billings. Many people from Phillips County were down to take in the games. Malta had really close games and the girls played well. Bring on the track season! Brandie Stordahl and Debbie Richau were lunch guests of Dixie Stordahl to celebrate Spring Forward Day! The weather has been really...
As I said last week, Rodney drove me up to Loring and the weather was fantastic. We saw two bald eagles and about 50 hawks, which happens at this time of year. We did not see any newborn calves, but I’m sure they will be coming soon! I had a wonderful time up North! Cindy Clark, Carol Lumsden and I made an international journey on Tuesday to Val Marie. I asked to get a stamp for my passport when we crossed into Canada. It’s my first use of the passport, and I’ve had it for 5 years! We ate lunch...
Congrats to the North Country Lady Mavericks and the M-ettes and Mustangs on their championships at their individual District tournaments! Also, congrats to the North Country Mavericks on their 3rd place finish and the right to go to divisional! I made the trip north on Sunday and we saw about 50 hawks on the power poles! It is a sign of spring! We also saw two bald eagles! Jeanie Green reported that she heard a meadowlark already! And I’m assuming that the geese are in at the Austin place. I...
Happy Valentines Day! Have you gotten over the total excitement of the Super Bowl? We even had a tail gate party here at Affinity! The football game was playing at the theater, so it was on a big screen! One of the refineries had a fire which really put a huge amount of smoke into the air. Since David, my son, works at a refinery I was worried. But he works at Exxon and the fire was at Phillips 66, I heard that everyone was ok over there too! Good luck to the North Country Mavericks, both girls...
Since I’ve been living in Billings for three months now, I have been keeping track of weather at Loring through my friends in Loring. They have told me about the thick fog for about a week or so and posted pictures of the beautiful frost on the trees, etc. but now I can report to them that Billings has very thick fog this morning! The other wing of the building is barely visible to me! Nancy Murdock was down on Friday. We had such a fun visit and lunch at City Vineyard! On Thursday a...
The weather is very spring like! It’s a great change from the subzero weather from a few weeks ago! The frozen pipes are all fixed, thank goodness! Remember, I’m writing the Loring news from the west side of Billings and the high temps this week are in the 50’s! There are a lot of pigeons around here, making a mess as we know they do around the granaries at Loring. Etta Blunt took 3rd place in wrestling in Glasgow on a Saturday and on Sunday she took 3rd in Malta where she wrestled up in weight...
The weather changed and it is warmer which makes most of us happier! The chores are easier and the equipment starts better! But we also know that this won’t last too long! The pool here at Affinity had a broken pipe which in turn broke a piece on the furnace. It was only down for a week so I think the repair people really got to work! I took Zoey, my granddaughter, over for a swim on Saturday. Rita Frasure and I went to the symphony dress rehearsal on Friday. It was a wonderful treat! The Ahn T...
