December 10, 2003
On my way over to Miles last week I took my mothers ashes with me. My mother, Alice was a really fine lady and I have been waiting for the right time to put her ashes in the Jefferson River where my brother and I put my fathers more than 10 years ago. It was a beautiful day with just a skiff of snow on the ground. The edges of the river were rimmed with ice and there is a small jetty where I was able to hop onto some rocks in the rivers edge. Mom had sent me a really nice poem written my Randolph Hurst about his fathers death and how the rain falls on the mountain and flows to the sea. The never ending cycle and it was so appropriate for the occasion. When I was going through some of mom’s letters, I picked out that one to save. I read the poem with tears in my eyes making it hard to read, but I am sure mom didn’t mind. I wish my brother could have been there with me, but Dan and Betty were there in sprit for sure. I really miss my mother and I had a good talk with her ashes on the trip and now I can let her go.
I went to the dentist in Columbus, MT yesterday and he took x-rays and poked around the tooth that had been giving me trouble. He finally determined that the tooth was cracked and he wouldn’t be able to fix it and recommended he pull it out. SO…. I have a large hole in the back of my mouth. The tooth came out easily and he had me numbed up well and it came out easy. My front teeth are worn down and the dentist invited me up to his house to see some reconstructive work he has done that could be done to improve my bite. I’m to damn old for that stuff and not vain enough and WAY too cheap. His house was very interesting. It is on the edge of Columbus and he must have 10 acres or so with a Big house. The first thing you see upon entering the house through the back door are two racks of maybe 8 deer horns. They are arranged in descending size. They weren’t really large horns but nice size for sure. He is an avid bow hunter and once we got inside the house there were dead animal remains everywhere on the walls. He has a nice little room with his collection of Large deer, elk and a variety of African animals. I noticed a big cat skull on the TV and he just had to show me the full body mount he had in the basement. It is an action mount of the cat in the act of catching a snowshoe rabbit. He and his son are really avid hunters and he is in a good area. I asked him how he could get away with having all his dead animals in the house and he pointed to a nice dried flower arrangement on the wall. He said that if his wife could have dead plants on the wall he could have his dead animals. On the way out of the house there was a cool little red sports car in the garage and I asked him if it was his sons. He said “no, it is my wifes.” so I guess he pays for his animal collection in other ways as well………
The night before I spent in Red Lodge, MT with a long lost friend. His name is Pat Dopler and I camped with him at Ouzel Falls near the Big Sky Project. We were all trying to get a job there and had quite a good time in camp. Pat never did get a job at the Big Sky but went with another friend up to Glacier Park where they picked berries and made jam. They had quite a business selling jam to the tourists in the park until the Park Service initiated a BIG STING operation. Pat said the Park service came at them form all sides, with boats from the lake side and some on horse back from the land side as well as a bunch on foot. They got busted for operating a commercial business in the park and Rosebud, their little white dog, got busted for not being on a leash. They learned their lesson on that one and didn’t work the parks anymore. They concentrated on National Forest campgrounds and picked berries and made preserves all across the north west selling their jam to tourists and health food stores. Pat told me a story about my dentist. Pat has lived in Columbus as well as Roberts and Red Lodge for 30 years or so. He said that there is this really obnoxious bar owner that was playing golf and my dentist was playing also. Somehow the bar owner got pissed at the dentist and made a swing at him. The dentist was a college wrestler and he put him on the ground and tied the bar guy in a knot and had him begging. Everyone just loved it because the bar guy is really a prick and needed to be put in his place. The dentist is a hero in town.
I left Columbus for Livingston where I wanted to get some granola for Mike. I finally found the store and just happened to catch an employee leaving. She said they close at 3 and it was about 4 then. I explained I needed the granola and was just passing through. She called up the owner and he came down with a couple of boxes. He said that I could get it at any Sams Club or Costco in Arizona and it would be the same price and much cheaper than ordering it from him and having it shipped down. He said I would be able to get a one-time pass at the sams club if I was not a member. I will try that when I run out.
This morning at Mikes we woke up to a light skiff of snow and the neighbors cows in the stack yard as well as in his yard. So…. Cow work to do early this morning. Fortunately Ely was up to the task and had those cows moved out and we got the fence fixed and gates closed. The rancher has had the cows on a big pivot pasture and the cows have eaten everything in sight. The fences are in poor shape and when I came in last night there were a half dozen out on the road. There wasn’t anything for the cows to eat last week when I left and it is hard to watch such poor management.
I plan on repacking the truck and the pod today and will head out for Nevada tomorrow morning depending on the weather. It looks like a storm I coming in but it may not amount to much.
Early Dec 11th
It didn’t snow much over night so I think I will make a run for it this morning.