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Lessons and life as kid at the old Helmville School
The old Helmville school house was an imposing structure. It was two stories high, with a bell tower, and sat on the highest point in town. It was probably built in the late 1800's, and still serves...
In Brazil a reminder of the toils of old fashioned motherhood
When I was in Brazil this last time I was reminded of what our mothers, grandmothers, and those before them must have gone through before running water and electricity. I don't know how they did it....
The Magic of Birds
If this Universe has a Creator, she must have been having a good day when she created birds. They are colorful and dull, helpful and ruinous. They eat bird seed, harmful insects, even our garbage. They will also ruin your clean car and carry off...
Mountaintop Musings
Last Saturday morning we were blessed to be able to sit around our kitchen table and talk with some dear friends from Tennessee who have come to assist us with Bible camp. We first met Doyle and Susan in the winter of 1994-95 when we started...
The days of loose hay and stripped nuts
During the loose hay era it was this time of year that most ranches got their haying equipment ready for the summer's work. In those days the machinery, except for the tractors, were home fabricated...
Return, recovery and independent smoking
The trip from Sao Paulo to Orlando, Fla. was the ultimate misery. My feet were swollen and wept and burned the entire ten hours of the trip. Every seat on the plane had a TV screen where the...
Dick Geary: Recovering from pneumonia and a few other things, and thankful for help
For most of my life I've considered myself to be a misanthrope, harboring a soft contempt for my fellow humans. I think that philosophy was a contrivance to protect my own fragile and shallow ego....
Mountaintop Musings
When I arrived at church this past Sunday, there were some there whose faith and emotions had been terribly upended. They had found out about the couple who had lived in Lincoln that had many struggles which resulted in their lives being shortened...
My Smart Mouth
Today is my sweetheart’s birthday. He was born exactly three weeks before me, which puts us both under the astrological sign of Gemini – a personality pairing that astrology assures me is either brilliant, or disastrous. Whether or not you set...
Montana Tales & Trails
You don't have to be an ancient mariner to see we have plenty of water around us. People are filling sandbags, checking flood insurance policies or waiting for fields to dry up so they can plant....
Mountaintop Musings
Investing money for retirement is a good and noble goal. After all, who does not want to have a bit of a nest egg to retire on? Social security is ok; it will help you some. But it was not intended to be the main source of one’s retirement fund....
This is Montana
Authors' Note: This piece is excerpted from a report Clyde Fickes wrote in May 1944. It appeared in "Volume 1 – Early Days In The Forest Service." His words are excerpted with light editing. Fickes...
This is Montana
At a recent book signing, a gentleman who knew quite a bit about the Judith Basin country explained how Utica, a small town in the basin on the road into the Little Belt Mountains, received its name....
Mountaitop Musings
As we move through the month of May there are many things worth celebrating. If you are being inundated with water right now, you will be celebrating the lowering of the run-off, and assistance from neighbors and friends. Speaking of which, please...
This is Montana
Call it 670 miles – or perhaps more precisely 674 miles – but either way, the Yellowstone River remains the nation's longest undammed waterway. It's a great river that meanders through some of...
Change & Choices
My last “Musing” was titled “A New Beginning” and in it I shared some thoughts on being in community, and also on a new chapter in life as pastor of the Community Bible Church of Lincoln. I am very excited about that! But then again we are...
Mountaintop Musings
The calendar says that spring has come to Montana, but it does not seem like it has come to the high country. I must say that I was spoiled last week as Lisa and I travelled to Cannon Beach, Ore. to attend our mission’s annual conference. We...
Rocky Mountain Front's First Ranger (Part 2 OF 3)
Authors' Note: This piece is excerpted from a report Clyde Fickes wrote in May 1944. It appeared in "Volume 1 – Early Days In The Forest Service." His words are excerpted with light editing. Fickes...
No more blind faith
It's like this. I'm now bankrupt in one country and stone broke in another. That takes some work. I've written about Beré. She works in the restaurant on the weekends and occasionally other...
Surviving the seasonal hazards of the hayfields
Looking back, it’s surprising to realize how hazardous our ranch childhoods were. We had scores of attractive dangers to lure us into difficult situations. We had horses, defensive cows with new...
My Smart Mouth: April Shut-ins
Normally, I’m not one for complaining about the weather. Several times this winter I was heard to remind my better half that he chooses to live in the mountains and thus snow and cold weather are to be expected and besides, isn’t it beautiful? I...
Bits of Montana Wisdom
Do you sometimes think the state is being inundated with new ways, and we are losing the real Montana? In some places perhaps yes, but most of the state is still the Montana we have always known and...
