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Sunday, October 5, 2008
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Photo © Jerrianne Lowther
Autumn fruit: red Mountain Ash berries, black Amur Chokecherries.

Updates -


Photos © Don & Patty Anderson
"Quaint outbuilding" now houses Red Chair Antiques shop.

Update -- Red Chair Antiques opens for business
by Don and Patty Anderson
Isanti, MN

The pictures are of our new endeavor -- Red Chair Antiques. We opened for the first time ever last Thursday-Sunday and will be open again this weekend from 8-4 (Thursday-Sunday again) as part of the "Unique Boutique and Antiques Tour" in the Cambridge/ Isanti area. We were inspired last spring after finding a brochure and touring the shops in it ourselves -- many open only a few weekends a year in quaint outbuildings.

We said, "Hey, we could do that ... and maybe we could even justify our antique shopping habit!" (Patty has been on yellow bowl probation for several years now.)

We started by replacing the drafty old windows in the house this spring (the gas prices were killing us last winter) and when Don stacked the large picture windows he removed against the side of the garage, we could at once see that there was potential for "quaint" in our outbuilding too. We just needed to install the cast off windows, antique door, a few scavenged light fixtures and add lots of Don's creative carpentry to get there.

We won't be able to quit our day jobs -- ever -- but we had steady traffic most days, sold organic pumpkins, apples, vegetables and fresh cinnamon chip pecan or blueberry and white chocolate scones, along with many antiques and collectables. We even sold a banjo for just about what we paid for it (after throwing in the finger picks and the $20 instruction book with CD for free). We never said we were good at business!


Photo © Don & Patty Anderson
We even sold a banjo for just about what we paid for it...

We offered complimentary toasted southern pecan coffee to sip on (excellent with the scones, if we do say so ourselves!) and played music by a campfire when we weren't too busy with customers. We met lots of neighbors for the first time and many folks said they'll be back next weekend with friends in tow.

We're looking forward to another weekend in our little shop and would love to see any of you in the mood for a lovely fall drive in the country. We'll be handing out maps of the tour with all 10 participating shops and a few coupons for local businesses, too.

We will be open again on the spring tour for two weekends around Mother's Day and possibly a Saturday or two yet this fall. Hope to see you soon!


Photos © Don & Patty Anderson
All sorts of treasures & pleasures for antiques shoppers.


Update -- Rachel answers Judy's questions about Ecuador
by Judy Riesenberg & Rachel Henderson
Great Falls, MT & Quito, Ecuador

Please relay a "thank you" to Rachel Henderson for sharing about Quito, Ecuador.

That city, etc, is of special interest to me since we hosted an AFS daughter, Sammya Cahuenas, from Quito in 94-95 when my daughter, Jeana Rude, was a senior. I have been planning to go to Quito some day to visit her and others, but it hasn't worked out thus far. So I love to read, see or glean any news about that city and its country. Thanks to Rachel in advance for any answers to these questions:

How large is the population of Quito?

Quito is the second largest city in Ecuador, with about 1,800,000 people. Guayaqil, the main port city in the country, has a population of about 2,100,000. I think Ecuador as a whole may have just over 13,000,000. I should probably check to make sure...

What is the best way to get around? Is there a good bus, taxi, subway or what system?

This depends on who you are, where you're going and how much money you have. I take a bus almost everywhere and do a lot of walking. A lot of people who live here have cars, which is sometimes more convenient, but parking can be difficult. The bus system is pretty good, and at only 25 cents for most rides, is incredibly economical.

There aren't a lot of bikers, save those that do it for exercise. As there is a high poverty rate, many people walk and, if they can, grab a bus.

The difficult thing for foreigners is that there is no real bus route map. It takes a while to get it all figured out, but if you have some good friends, you can usually get some directions...

Another option, of course, is to take a taxi. As college students, we tend to avoid this if possible, simply because we're always looking for the best deal. The taxis really aren't that expensive though, and I feel more comfortable calling a reputable company when it's dark out, rather than taking a bus, which feels more risky as a younger female.

How about for someone who doesn't speak Spanish?

Ecuador is starting to work on catering to tourists, as the country has a ton to offer. As a result, non-Spanish speakers have a lot of options when looking for hotels that offer services in English. Just recently Ashley and I spent time with a couple from England, who had no Spanish at all. They seemed pretty comfortable, and didn't have too many problems -- you can always point at menus, speak with your hands, or pull out a Spanish phrase book and have them read it...

What foods are you trying and what do you like/dislike, etc?

I still haven't gotten the chance to try anything too outrageous, such as cuy, a.k.a. guinea pig. I really enjoy the typical Ecuadorian food, where a meal starts off with a soup, a main plate of rice, some sort of meat, and either a vegetable or fried plantains. The desserts are not especially unusual to a North American, either, but tend to be less sweet.

I absolutely love the amazing choices of fresh fruit -- it's always in season, and they make use of it. Every morning I come downstairs to find fresh fruit juice waiting and some sort of fresh fruit on my plate. Wonderful.

Have you had empanadas? Sammya made those for us.

Empanadas. Mmm. My host mother is a wonderful cook, and has made them multiple times. There are multiple kinds ... empanadas de verde, made from what we would call large, green bananas, empanadas made from wheat, from yucca, and although I haven't seen them, there must be more.

Empanadas are a sort of pastry with either meat, cheese, or another filling folded and fried ... not especially healthy for the heart, but definitely delicious!

What is the student population at the University?

I think there are about 5,000 students per semester. Universidad San Francisco de Quito is trying to uphold U.S. and European standards. As a result, they have a higher percentage of foreign students than many of the schools around here -- about 15% are international, I believe.

How long will you be there?

I'm currently enrolled at the university for one semester, with a return ticket January 4th. I'm still unsure what's up after this semester is over, as I don't have any real classes to take in order to graduate; meaning, there would be the option to stay if something came up to keep me down here ... besides the wonderful weather and countryside and people and food, that is!

*Disclaimer: I don't guarantee that all the "facts" are perfectly true. This is my take on Ecuador one month into my stay. If there are any Ecuadorians in the crowd, any corrections would be welcome.



Photo © Wyatt Johnson
Brooklynn with aquarium and fish.

Update -- Brooklynn's birthday
by Wyatt Johnson
Moorhead, MN

We have a new Super Wal-Mart near our house, and each time we go there, Brooklynn begs to go look at the fish. So for her birthday, we surprised her with her very own 5-gallon fish tank, and five White Cloud Mountain Minnows, which are essentially a tiny carp (and therefore theoretically, harder to kill than most other aquarium fish).

At Brooklynn's request, she got to come visit me at work today, then for supper, we went to Space Aliens, played some games, and ate some great food!



Photo © Heather Henderson
Logan & Mason Henderson

Update -- Ben and Heather relocate to Minnetrista
by Heather Henderson
Minnetrista, MN

We've been pretty busy as of late with moving and then house renovations, trips to Fargo for various occasions, visiting baby Abby, and just life with a 2-1/2 year old and 9 month old is enough to keep you on your toes.

We're very much enjoying ourselves here in Minnetrista. It's nice to be on 2-1/2 acres so that Mason has room to run around. We have a huge garden that unfortunately hasn't had the care it deserves, but I did get a lot of beans, beets, lettuce, onions, peas, cucumbers, tomatoes and now pumpkins and squash!

It's so nice be to closer to family ... we're only 4-1/2 miles from Dan, Gina and Abby and around 6 miles from Curt and Patty.

Now if you want to come visit this way, you can hit 3 in 1! Hope to see you soon!

Ben, Heather, Mason & Logan



Photo © Ken Carson
Oreo, clean and dry again, plays with "Mr. Squid."

Update -- how cats get their baths at our house
by Miss Kitty
Anchorage, AK

We got a letter from Miss Betty, via Miss Hetty, after she read about Oreo's unplanned bath ....

Will you pass on this little letter to Miss Kitty for me?

When I couldn't get to sleep, for some reason it came to me to wonder just how Miss Jerrianne manages to give two cats a bath. I wonder if you get put in your cages and hosed off?

We need a picture and a story. It may take awhile for you to get access to the keyboard, but we can wait.

Thanks, Miss Betty

Well, I just had to laugh because Miss Jerrianne NEVER gives us cats a bath. Doesn't need to. We stay fresh and sweet smelling at all times because we take care of that all by ourselves, as Mai Tai demonstrates, below:


Photo © Jerrianne Lowther
Mai Tai washes behind his ears before he takes his nap.


Day to Day R
With Donna Mae
Ashby, MN


Photos © Donna Johnson
Uncle Jim Miller, left, stopped by with Duane, for an afternoon of visiting. We all enjoyed having them here! Ashlee Miller & Jayce Chap, right.


Photo © Donna Johnson
McKenna getting her request to go and see the cows, with Grandpa Beaver. She LOVES animals!


Photo © Donna Johnson
Lori, McKenna, Shawn & Beaver try out the new soon-to-be sunroom.


Just Our Pictures of Roses
www.justourpictures.com/

A rose is a rose is a rose is a good description of today's feature. Here's a site that will allow you to view just about any rose by name, some by color, some in their natural settings in the gardens that have been photographed. Just Our Pictures features an ever-growing collection of named pictures of roses from traveling photographers and rosarians, Christine and Susan. The rose pictures are taken in public and private rose gardens in both the US and New Zealand. Christine and Susan have done an excellent job. The pictures are exquisite so please take your own private journey through these rose gardens. If you weren't already, you're sure to be a rose lover upon your return.


The Matriarch Speaks W
by Dorothy (Dake) Anderson
Alexandria, MN

Who Is This?

Let's Play a Guessing Game: Whenever it is handy to do so, we will run a picture of someone of the subscribers or staff members of our e-magazine. Tell us who you think it is -- we will let you know who was the first to guess it right -- and the correct guess -- in the following week's Bulletin.

(Send us some to run; we will line them up in our staging area to take their turn. Ginny McCorkell supplied last week's mystery photo.


How many can you identify?

Answers to last week's mystery pictures (click here to review them):

Editors' Note: Correct guesses appear in bold face type and incorrect guesses in normal type ... generally in the order we receive them, so the first guess received is on top.

The GUESS picture is a mystery, that's for sure. I thought Cap'n Jack was the only guitar player, but this surely can't be him. I don't recognize any features, even when I enlarge and lighten that picture. So, once again, I pass.

Betty Weiland Droel
MoundsView, MN


Well this is a farfetched stab at the guess picture but could it possibly be Captain Jack Adair with maybe one of his first guitars?

Rich Weiland
Coon Rapids, MN


I studied the mystery picture ... to no avail ... I simply have no idea who it could be.

Shari Larson
Litchfield Park, AZ

A second guess from Shari:

The only person I can think of that plays guitar from The Bulletin is "Captain Jack" ... would that be the mystery person?

Shari Larson
Litchfield Park, AZ


We thought it might be Larry Dake ... Now isn't THAT a wild guess!

Verlaine Weiland
Coon Rapids, MN



Larry McCorkell sent us a manuscript he transcribed from his father's tape recorded memories and made it available to The Bulletin for a series of excerpts. These stories were originally tape recorded by Bruce McCorkell of his growing up days on the homestead near Effie in northern Minnesota. They were recorded from a period of the mid 1980's until the early 2000's. These are Bruce's words of happy, sad, funny, good, and hard times.

BEAR KILLING PIGS

There wasn't so many bear, but if you had a pig or you had a few sheep, the rascals would get in there and they sure loved pork. We generally tried to shoot every bear that came in sight. One time the neighbor down the road by the name of Burl had a couple of pigs in a pen, actually in the barn, but they had a little pen outside about 12 feet square made out of big heavy 2 by 8 planks. That old bear came one night and just pulled one plank off there like it was nothing, I guess, and went in and killed one pig.

The next night my dad and Uncle Walt went down there and stayed on the roof of the barn. When the old bear came back they shot him. So bear were a nuisance in those days. They weren't thick like they are in recent years, but they sure were shot when they came in sight of anybody. They're still nuisances, as far as that goes.

BEAR RUNNING BESIDE CAR

My dad had an old '27 Chevrolet that had running boards. They had an accordion type of luggage carrier you clamped on the running board there that was probably 18 inches high made out of pretty heavy metal. They'd fold up to any size. If you wanted it along the entire length of the running board, you could pull it out that far and clamp it on.

So my dad was coming along between Effie and Craig there, going home. Before you turned off to go east he looked down and here was a bear running alongside of the car, on his side, with his head pressed right up against that luggage carrier, just like he wanted to get on. He was running along there. He just galloped right along there real tight up against the car for a long ways.

My dad speeded up and that old bear just chugged along there for quite a while. I don't know how long. He didn't really say, but it was quite a little bit. You can imagine maybe a couple of minutes or so. That's quite a while running at a pretty good speed. I don't know how fast he was going. I know my dad always wondered what possessed the bear to do that or what he wanted, if he was angry or what the reason was. He wanted to climb on and have a ride anyway.

My dad never trusted bears. They're temperamental things. Now the bear around our country and even the wolves are more domesticated. They'll sit and come right out in the yard and ignore you, just about.


Greetings from the Netherlands
by Ary Ommert, Jr.
Maassluis, The Netherlands


Photo © Ary Ommert, Jr.
Ary sitting on the edge of his working counter next to a pot filled with Hoya Carnosa.

Hello, Readers from The Bulletin,

This time an article from the garden center in a period where we change from summer to fall and Christmas. In the house plants, we see that many plants we had in summer are no longer available. From now till the end of December we have many seasonal plants, mostly in the blooming house -- plants such as Rhododendron, Cyclamen, Schlumbergia and Euphorbia Pulcherrima. These are typical plants for Christmas in the Netherlands.

We also change our displays. Colors for coming period are gold, silver, copper and black and white. You see these colors not only in the pots but in all interior decorations. The number of tables with blooming plants is getting bigger and the green plants get fewer tables.

This year so far we sold 10% more blooming and 20% more green house plants as the same period last year.

If you have any questions, contact me.

Greetings from the Netherlands,

Ary Ommert, Jr.


Inside the working counter making arrangements.

Display with arrangements in black and white.

Display with plants in copper colored pots.

White Orchids & Spathiphyllum in gold colored pots.

A new plant, Tacca, with almost black flowers.

Silver pots with plants.

One of the Christmas displays, still empty.

Boxes with new articles for the empty tables.

Click here or on a photo for a web gallery with links to enlargements.

Travelogue t


Photo © Sheldon Swenson
Mitzi & Kjirsten check out giant lupine.

Huayhuash Trek Of Peru
by Sheldon and Mitzi Swenson
Dickinson, ND

Mitzi's Journal

We started hiking so early in the cold morning that there was ice on my hiking poles. We weren't really warm until the sun finally rose high enough to warm the steep valley below where we were hiking. The view from the top of the pass was spectacular and we stopped for lunch on a steep hillside with gorgeous lupine everywhere.

We had rehydrated a black bean/ corn/ cilantro salad in a Ziploc as we hiked, and I chopped a bruised tomato and cucumber into it. Delicious -- lunch with a view!

Nicol had our tent set up and a little girl came to watch us unpack the rest of our gear. A local woman was selling soda and beer, cooled in the river. Soon a large mule train came running down the hill. Nicol enthusiastically greeted the men, who were his friends. He helped them set up several tents around us and we spent the afternoon watching a group of Germans doing laundry, washing their hair, cleaning mountain climbing gear and fishing.


Photos © Mitzi Swenson
Drying clothes, left; girl, right, watches us set up our tent.

We were camping here two nights so we had time to test our backpacking oven. In Huaraz we had created mixes for cornbread and biscuits that only needed oil and water added and then about 15 minutes to bake. The cornbread was fantastic.

Nicol day hiked with us up a pass where we had a great view. He shared some delicious fresh cheese and roasted corn with us for lunch. We returned and baked biscuits which were tasty with jelly. We went to bed early in anticipation of getting on the trail at 4 a.m. the next morning to return to Pocpa in time to catch the bus back to Huaraz.

To be continued...


Photos © Sheldon Swenson
Germans fishing in the stream from Laguna Jahuacocha. They caught some tiny trout.


$  A Long Time Ago   !


Photo © Jerrianne Lowther
Mic Lowther, epiphany on Saddleback Mountain in Maine.

Appalachian Trail Trek: September 1973
by Jerrianne Lowther
Anchorage, AK

After traversing a hundred miles of Maine's famous bogs, it was actually a relief to climb into the mountains again. Autumn colors were coming on strong now and autumn breezes blew the grasses and scattered yellow, red and orange leaves in our path. And Mic's mood brightened...

"The forest had turned. Fields of gold and orange glowed on sunlit slopes. Yellow-leafed trees dotted valleys like dandelions in a lawn. Wind had driven out the haze. I saw a patchwork of mountains, lakes, and colorful forests on to the horizon, mottled by free-form shadows of clouds blowing fast across the sky. Pretty ... but I sought something more.

"Something ... I looked closer at hand.

"I stood in a rocky place where scrub spruce grew short and low along the ground. Heath plants clutched fast among stone slabs, forming a dense red-brown mat that covered the summit.

"Tiny flowers and tufts of yellow grass grew at my feet. The gusting wind blew them, bent them, this way and that.

"I felt it bend me, too ...

"Sunlight shone on each blade and leaf, then vanished in a passing cloud.

"I felt the shadow come and go ...

"The sequence repeated ... I watched and listened ... feeling I could almost touch the answer ... and then I knew. Standing rooted to the spot like those tufts of grass, wind-blown and sun-struck in those same eternal patterns, I knew what I'd come to find in the woods, what my walk of two thousand miles had come to mean.

"We were one. The grass, the flowers, the trees, the natural world and I were one. I was a creature there just like those growing at my feet. We were each a part of the same whole. The sun shone on me, the wind blew on me, the rain fell on me even as on the world about me. I was part of it. I belonged there. I was home.

"I'd felt like a guest there all that time. A stranger, a visitor, someone in the woods who did not belong. I'd come from tenderfoot to woodsman in the months that had passed ... but I'd been walking, living, surviving in the woods, not as part of them. I felt suddenly different. Not 'master of all I surveyed,' Not 'insignificant in the cosmos.' I felt one with the world, and welcomed as a friend. And I knew that was why we had come ... to see, to enjoy, to be one with the land, and to feel welcome.

"This understanding had eluded me since those very first days in Georgia. I'd looked for it, tried to see it from mountain summits, tried to shape and hammer it into familiar forms: Achieving, Reaching the Goal, Witnessing Mountain Majesty. Each time I'd come up short. Each time I'd seen the parts but not the whole. Yet here the answer was, in flowers and tufts of grass warmed by the sun, soaked by the rain, beat by the wind just as I had been all this time. Here the answer was, free for the finding.

"And then it didn't matter whether we walked north or south, climbed Katahdin first or last, or at all. What mattered was being wherever we were, seeing whatever we saw, feeling part of the world we all shared. I felt flooded with thought and emotion. I wanted to walk back to Georgia and see all that country through new eyes. Not as miles, schedules, or obstacles to cross ... but as the forests and mountains of my home.

"I walked down off Saddleback Mountain and caught up with the others who'd gone on. Should I tell them? I wondered. Should I describe what had happened? No need, really. They'd understood it from the beginning..." --from Walking North, by Mic Lowther.


Celebrations & Observances
From the Files of
5
Hetty Hooper

This Week's Birthdays
October 5---Leona Anderson
October 5---Steven Miller
October 7---Steven Anderson
October 10---Hannah Aydelotte (7 years)
October 10---Greta Veronica Shockey (1 year)
October 10---Cody Printz
October 11---Jay Smith
Happy Birthday!

More October Birthdays
' 
October 1---Brooklynn Ann Johnson (4 years)
October 1---Carolyn Amy Horne (4 years)
October 4---Wesley Sigman
October 4---Anita Pfingsten Weiland

October 12---Muriel Wold Rodriguez
October 12---Tami Anderson Hunt
October 14---Douglas Anderson
October 14---Candice Miller Jordt
October 14---Verlaine Weiland
October 18---Lori Anderson
October 18--- Adriana Stahlecker Brown
October 18---Dan Mellon
October 20---Wade Morgan Printz (9 years)
October 22---Rich Johnson (from MN)
October 24---Eric Shockey
October 24---Ken Kitto
October 26---Ardis Sigman Quick
October 27---Marlene Anderson Johnson
October 27---Rich Weiland
October 28---Derrick McNeill
October 29---Sami Larson
October 29---Tom Miller
October 30---Anne Mellon Montford

More October Anniversaries
Z
October 1---Keith Mason and Lori Anderson (3 years)
October 4---Don and Patty Bratten Anderson (11 years)

October 17---Troy and Marlee Anderson Freesemann (14 years)
October 27---Don and Gert Dake Pettit (18 years)

October Special Days
O
October 13---Columbus Day (observed)
October 31---Hallowe'en

Miss Hetty's Mailbox:

Dear Miss Hetty,

Keith and I want to thank you for the anniversary greetings. We can't believe how fast the past three years have gone by. We were excited to celebrate it today. We both took the day off work. We started things off with a bike ride to the lake near our home and had lunch at a nearby café. It was nice to do something so leisurely on a Wednesday afternoon!

We followed that up by sprucing the house up for Fall--a couple of pumpkins and scarecrows made their way from storage in the garage to our front porch.

And last but not least, we had dinner at Orange Hill Restaurant, the same place we dined last year. The waiter surprised us with a slice of chocolate cake for dessert. I thought it was worthy of a photo. Unfortunately, our little camera doesn't do well in low-light situations, but I still wanted to share.

Thanks again!
Lori Anderson
Irvine, CA


Photo © Lori Anderson
Keith Mason and his wife, Lori Anderson.


(Shhhhh ... don't mention it to Betty -- it was the 64th class reunion. What's one year at this stage!) We had samples of that CHOCOLATE CAKE! MMMMMMMMMMMmm good!

Did I miss it? Rich Weiland's birthday on October 27?

Ruth Weiland Swanson Kitto
Apache Junction, AZ

I do not know what happened -- but Rich Weiland does indeed have a birthday on October 27th and I did not see it on my calendar, though it was in The Bulletin calendar last year. Sorry and it has been added. --Miss Hetty

Keep Us Posted!

Please drop Miss Hetty a line and tell us who, and what, we've missed. And how about a report (photos welcome) of YOUR special celebration?

'Many Thankse
Everyone!

Miss Hetty


+ LETTERS TO THE EDITORS?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Click here to review last week's Bulletin

I just read The Bulletin. CONGRATULATIONS on the new great grand daughter, Abigail Henderson! Curt and Patty can be proud of their family.

Our grandson and family are here from Utah, three girls and a boy and we're proud of each one. Their kids go to "year-round" school and are on three weeks' break. They're taking in the parks and ranch today. We oldies stay put, although Grandpa had a crockpot of pork loin chops and the fixin's for them at noon!

Bright, sunny days this last week but definitely FALL in the air. I chuckle at what they call fall colors in the deciduous trees in the Black Hills -- no comparison with the OZARKS!

Louise and Jess Cloyd
Hot Springs, SD


Yes! Another WOW of a BULLETIN!

Yes, we got to Hunter. Oh -- we saw so many "old" friends -- met the Morgans -- which was the highlight of our trip! Tomorrow we will be in the neighborhood where my father grew up and hope to meet some Zirbels -- brother of my step-grandfather.

Ruth Weiland Swanson Kitto
Apache Junction, AZ


Last Week's Bulletin Review JKL
by Betty Droel
MoundsView, MN

Oh, how very special to see that happy little family on the first picture! I remember when her mom and dad were so happy over their new baby, Gina. Time passes so quickly and now it's Dan and Gina's turn to know that great happiness. We look forward to watching little baby Abigail Mae grow now. Congratulations!

Alexa Ann ... another pretty little baby girl. The Bulletin is always bringing us new and interesting surprises. Mostly of brand new babies. Once again, we watched the parents be married in The Bulletin news, and now it is news of their new little Alexa Ann. I love that about The Bulletin. Keeping us updated. Thanks to our subscribers that faithfully submit their family news. Tom and Mavis always have something happening to share about their big family.

What a "Moose" flower arrangement in Alaska! I am trying to make a moose out. It is the result of a lot of planning and a lot of work over a long time. I was trying to identify the plantings and flowers, but I got totally lost.

We are sorry Lois Dake is declining. Her caring family will make her days as comfortable as possible, and one does have strength to face each day as it comes, it seems. Sometimes just one hour at a time. It finally gets to where one is ready to let them go, to be released from their misery and loneliness.

What a nice picture of Ken and Ruth Kitto on their way to the 65th school reunion! Ruth just called us from North Dakota tonight to tell us Kenny and his son Jerry had gone fishing today. Kenny misses his five boys when he's down there in Arizona. They went via North Dakota on their way from Minnesota to Arizona and home. This day to fish with one of them would have been a happy few hours.

Little Kira ... not so little anymore, and pink is definitely her color.

Good thing folks have to "pay" their subscription dues with a story or two, as Dan Mellon did. Then we get to hear from quite a few and a variety of stories. Winning all those nice things would be exciting and fun. Glad he told us the update on Aiden and Austin. To be going to school, even if it is kindergarten, is quite a milestone for a little person. Am sure he is making some changes from the little boy to the schoolboy, likely in vocabulary!

Finally, we get an update on the grandkitties. They must provide a lot of entertainment for Kyra and Ken. Especially, the bathtub episode. That could have been disastrous, and who would ever have expected them to be able to turn the faucet on? That was the last place you'd look, but you could have found a drowned kitty. Miss Kitty, you did a great job relating that story to us. Surely, you have some more, equally as exciting, if you just had a chance at the keyboard. You so seldom get a turn, but then we wouldn't want The Bulletin to be delayed just because of you insisting on an Oreo update.

That is a beautiful looking pickup. The cover on the back would be so useful, and hope it will be trouble free for many miles. Good tread on the tires, too. That new sunroom will be about the most used room in the house before long. So nice you can have all those windows to see the Johnson farm and watch the kids. Never mind having to wash them all ... let the rain do that. Don and Twila would be so happy to see how their home is being cared for by family carrying on their farm for another generation.

What a story about picking berries amongst the bears! They were very fortunate the bear took off when they hollered, rather than charge them both. I remember the old time plum jam we used to have at Hector. Brown bread, butter and plum jam made my meal. Forget the stew. I have not been able to duplicate that same taste since, although I have tried several brands of plum jam.

What a surprise it really was to have the self-portrait of Ary. His shirt and the desktop of the Vista on the computer matched. Such a neat desk! I wonder if it's always so neat or just cleared off for the picture. We will soon be seeing flowers and Christmas articles in the greenhouse again. That is so interesting, seeing how they do it in Netherlands.

The Travelogue with more of those sharp pictures with both the close up and the distance all in perfect focus. I am always amazed at that camera. I wouldn't blame Nicol for sitting down anytime he got a chance. Forget taking the rest, let's just hike on and on and on. Whew! I can't believe it. To see the avalanche of ice drop into that beautiful water right before your eyes would be spectacular. You would be the only ones witnessing it. Am sure you were awestruck, and glad not to be any closer to it happening.

We had to laugh at the placebo you gave that old man for his ailments. It probably worked, too. There went your own dose of energy! Can't even imagine him thinking of swallowing it, asking whether warm or cold water.

The tea drinkers in the tent look pretty well settled in. Imagine having to carry all that stuff when they moved on again. I can't even take it in.

A Long Time Ago afforded a picture, again showing the jackets and hats getting thicker and warmer. Looks like Mic isn't gaining any weight on this trek. His jacket just sinks in at the middle there. Would be better for walking to be thinner, but one needs strength besides. You were just plain lucky that man helped you before he left for his weekend. For some reason I feel so thankful you didn't have to wade through that water with the slippery bottom with all your load on your backs.

I wonder if Kyra thinks back on that experience and wonders if that was really her who went on that trek or just reading about some other person?

Thank you, editors, for including our little great granddaughter, Alison Elizabeth Droel in The Bulletin. Her daddy is a dentist and all the while he was working on my teeth I was hearing the latest antics of Alison. She is so sweet and quiet natured. Like a princess, but of course I'm prejudiced.

Mitzi, I felt that way, too, when I opened The Bulletin and found the nostalgic photos of Beaver's farm. Mitzi was just a little, thin, agile girl when I got acquainted with that farm. Jerrianne had already left home for Alaska, and Kathy has been a good friend from then on.

So very special to get that birthday card from Rylie, Wyatt. That is one to be saved. I wonder just how long it took her to make it? To cut out that heart, etc. You had a great birthday it sounds like ... Italian beef sausage, ohhhh, now that sounds like something worth the drive to Fargo for.

CHUCKLES: So, who was using the walker, besides Carrie?. Surely not Bitzi or Larry. Seems too long since we saw either one of them in The Bulletin, and hope LeRoy and Vonnie are feeling more at home these days. Having their dog would be such a lot of company.

Thanks so much again, Editor and Photo Editor, but really, you don't get ALL the credit. If it weren't for our subscribers sending you things to edit, there would be no Bulletin. Hope you have a supply ahead in case people get too busy to send something in once in awhile. Like Weston, and LTD Storybrooke, but we can wait.

Betty Droel


CHUCKLES


Photo illustration © Virginia McCorkell; photo by Donna Johnson
A trail of cracker crumbs led to the perfect hideout under the sink ... the Cracker Crew (Jayce Chap & Jordan Indermark) ... busted!


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This Bulletin is copyright Dorothy M. Anderson; the contents are also copyrighted by the authors and photographers and used with their permission, and the contents are not to be used for any commercial purposes without the explicit consent of the creators.


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