Good Morning All & Happy Tuesday!
Kudos to Iree Wheeler, a former Glacier National Park employee, for recently receiving the “Dark Sky Defenders” honor from the International Dark Sky Association (I’ll bet you didn’t know this association existed…I didn’t until I read about it!). Iree is one of just eight from around the world to receive this honor. While serving as Glacier Park’s dark sky intern during the year 2015-16, Iree was hailed by her nominators as “instrumental” in completing the arduous application process required to nominate the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park as the world’s first transboundary International Dark Sky Park. Consequently, Waterton-Glacier became one of over 130 International Dark Sky Places scattered around the globe—covering 25 million acres—that pledge to protect their dark skies as a resource for future generations. Here’s to Iree Wheeler for all of her good efforts! I and some of my family members had the privilege of going up to Glacier’s Logan Pass in the middle of the night a few years ago to observe the night sky with the assistance of telescopes that were especially set up for that event. It was marvelous! All of the stars and many of the planets were out in all their glory that night…we even got a clear view of the International Space Station passing by overhead. Wow! Something I’ll never forget! By the way, that event was sponsored by the Glacier National Park Conservancy, one of my favorite organizations, whose goal is to preserve and protect Glacier for future generations. They have many great programs available to the public. Go to www.glacier.org for more information…you’ll be glad you did!
Happy Birthday wishes go to my friends David (Eun) and Sherry in Spokane, who celebrate their birthdays tomorrow, January 13th…here’s to both of you on your special day of celebration! They both make our world a better place! Also, Happy Birthday to “The Amazing Kreskin,” who is 86 today; to country singer William Lee Golden of “The Oak Ridge Boys” fame, who turns 82 today; to actress Kirstie Alley of “Cheers” T.V. fame, who is 70 today; to television journalist Christine Amanpour, who turns 63 today; to actor Oliver Platt, who is 61 today; and to Melanie Chisholm of “Spice Girls” fame, who turns 47 today. Here’s to all of you too!
I was reading a recent edition of one of my very favorite publications, “Hungry Horse News,” and came across an editorial entitled “On forwarded mail and other waste.” It’s written by Larry Wilson under the by-line “North Fork News.” Larry is a long-time resident of the North Fork area that runs along the North Fork of the Flathead River…a fabulous place to visit and hike in, for sure! I always enjoy Larry’s column and this one is no exception. Here are some excerpts:
“There was a time when I sent out 200 or more Christmas cards. No more. Although a few friends have passed away in recent years the real reason for reducing the number of cards is laziness and cost.
The Postal Service whines about needing more money to operate, but their cost-saving methods baffle me. Years ago when I wanted to forward my mail from Columbia Falls to the North Fork it was easy. I just informed the post office and the good folks there moved my mail from the local box to the North Fork carrier and it came up the North Fork with little delay and almost no cost. No more. Now, forwarded mail from Columbia Falls to the North Fork is sent to Missoula where it gets a little yellow sticker and is sent back to Columbia Falls to await the next mail day. This costs nearly a week of delay, plus the transportation costs. More efficient and cost saving? Phooey!
Glacier Park and the Flathead Forest waste money on an even bigger scale. Glacier’s Inside Road was mostly created with axes and shovels. Now, to fix a washout, it takes thousands of dollars in “engineering” costs. The Forest Service spends ninety thousand dollars to do a river study which could have been done cheaper and no doubt quicker by local Forest employees.
These are just little examples. The new $908 billion Covid Relief Bill is monstrous by comparison. Granted, covid relief was, and is, needed. The kicker is that only about half of the bill qualifies as covid relief. Hundreds of millions go to foreign aid, new museums and a laundry list of things not even remotely related to covid relief.
Maybe the federal government and big business have just become too powerful. Maybe it is time taxpayers reorganize the whole mess. Wouldn’t that make 2021 a year to remember? What do you think?
Here’s the word definition for the day (and it’s a doosey!):
Quisquous: A 17th century word of unknown origin meaning “Difficult to deal with or settle; perplexing; of a person of dubious character.” It seems as though we have a number of people these days who suffer from being “quisquous.”…I just LOVE that word!!! Isn’t the English language fascinating? There are so many words we can use to describe so many things!
January 8th marked the 55th anniversary of the original “Star Trek” T.V. series staring Captain Kirk and a wonderful cast of characters. Come to find out, “Star Trek” ran only three seasons and was canceled due to low ratings…can you believe that??? Did you know that Mr. Spock’s Vulcan salute “Live Long & Prosper” was based on a Jewish hand gesture denoting the Hebrew letter “Shin,” which represented the word Shaddai, the Hebrew name for God. How about that???
Another favorite publication of mine is “Rural Montana,” and in its most recent edition is a poem written by Lloyd McKenna, a popular cowboy poet and songster. It’s entitled “If 2020 Was a Buckin’ Horse.” It seems to capture the essence of this past year as only a cowboy could do:
“If 2020 Was a Buckin’ Horse”
“If 2020 was a buckin’ horse, it’d be sneaky, mean and cruel,
Faster than a mountain lion, stubborn as a mule.
Fetlockss made of yucca plants and cactus ’round its knees,
Forelock full of rattlesnakes, its nose is full o’ bees.
Standin’ 19 hands to where its withers should have been
Sway backed, knock kneed, Roman nosed, uglier than sin.
Covered with a coat like a porcupine with quills,
To put a saddle on would give a cowboy bitter chills,
And make you want to down a shot and a couple of beers,
His tail drug the ground behind and it would appear
It was full of burdock, a nasty tangled mess
Hooves as sharp as razor blades and I must confess
When he looked he saw right through, as if you weren’t there.
His yellow slanted creepy eyes that didn’t really care.
If you ever got the courage to set upon this brute,
He’d try to rub you off when comin’ out the chute.
Sun fishin’, swappin’ ends like a psycho cuttin’ horse,
Bitin’ at you with his teeth to pull you off, of course.
Takin’ thirty feet a jump and landin’ in the dirt,
Stiff-legged, landing hard, to really make it hurt.
But we survived this buckin’ horse albeit a couple bruises.
Lost a couple riders but you know the latest news is,
We’re gonna turn him out into the pasture past the well
And he can go right through the gate and fall down into hell.
That’s where he belongs with the devil’s private cavvy,
He knows how to treat this rotten horse with devil savvy.
So we can look to next year and hope for better stock.
Maybe we have learned a bit and finally can talk
And remember 2020 as a bad one in the bunch
And hope that next year’s better…I just kinda got a hunch.”
—Lloyd McKenna, Montana cowboy and songster; Board Member of the Montana Cowboy Poetry Gathering, and President of the Judith Mountain Players in Lewistown MT.
Here’s to a great Tuesday and lots of love & good wishes always!
Press on,
Papa ‘a (Dad, Uncle Mark, Mark, etc.)