• If you are having problems logging in please use the Contact Us in the lower right hand corner of the forum page for assistance.

Happy Birthday, BobM

Soapweed

Well-known member
Actually it was yesterday, February 21st. Peach Blossom and the Kosmo Kid were involved with youth group that night, so we celebrated the night before (Tuesday). Peach Blossom prepared prime rib and all the extras. Since Dad was a little kid, his favorite dessert has always been cream puffs. It is a long-standing tradition that we have those for his birthday.

I hope I'm half as energetic and sharp when I get to be his age. Of course, that will be an impossibility because I'm not half that good now. :wink:
 

sw

Well-known member
Happy birthday to you young man. It was indeed a pleasure to meet you, and now I am hungry for cream puffs, with chocolate whipped cream inside. Oh man those sound good, haven't had one for a long time.
 

Soapweed

Well-known member
Here is my dad's current "Friends and Fancies" column that is in the local newspapers this week. It is kind of a nifty story that shows how times have changed in the last 56 years.

#178 FRIENDS AND FANCIES

by Bob Moreland



Today is February 21st , 2007, which happens to be my 84th birthday. I received a letter at Christmas time from Roger and Kathleen Fairhead who are now retired from several generations of green house and nursery ownership and now live in the New Forest near London, England. Roger had just celebrated his 63rd birthday which seemed to have a special significance in England, it having been the 3rd anniversary of his 21st birthday. I figure the only claim to fame an 84th birthday might have is that it is the 4th anniversary of my 21st birthday so thank you, Roger, for making me aware of 84 being special. I am about half English so it should work for me too. Roger is a distant relative on my mother’s side. He and his wife, Kathleen, have come to Nebraska several times. We visited them in England in 1995 and 1998.

My birthday brought nice weather this year. The temperature is in the mid 40s accompanied by a mild breeze. I remember many worse days on the 21st of February and a few even nicer days. I think the nicest one was the first birthday I had after Elaine and I were married. That was in 1951. At that time we were wintering the cattle on the ranch that we purchased in 1947, known as the Bar T, together with Dad’s cattle. The combined cow herd was at Dad’s place at the time. Stan and Joy Lue were on the new ranch taking care of the younger cattle and bulls. Elaine and I had been staying with Mom and Dad while feeding the cows on what we called the Gardiner Camp, about four miles northwest of Merriman.

My birthday came on a Sunday that year. Elaine packed a lunch. We drove out to the camp, harnessed the four horse team and fed the cows. It was a beautiful day with the temperature probably in the 60s. Elaine was born and raised in Minnesota and thought she had moved to a banana belt. It looked like a great day for adventure so after we got the cows fed we took off on an unchartered course and headed north.

By the time we got to Martin I decided it would be fun to go by the buffalo pasture, north of Allen, and then to the J-X Ranch and introduce Elaine to Dave and Marge Jones who were about our age and had recently moved to the family owned ranch from Chicago. We didn’t find them home. By now we were in new country to me but we thought it would be exciting to explore further. Elaine had never been on the reservation before and was thrilled by the pine clad scenery. Most of the Indians were dwelling in log cabins with smoke coming from the chimneys. Wagons were near the cabins with, in some cases, horses staked out nearby. Now and then we’d meet or pass a wagon.

We traveled through the village of Potato Creek. It finally occurred to me to look at the gas gauge to see that it registered pretty close to empty. We went back to find no gas for sale in Potato Creek. I knew we didn’t have gas to make it to Martin and knew it was closer to Interior so we headed north through the bombing range. Interior was practically dead on that Sunday afternoon. The only movement we saw was a couple Indian ladies with the response “Nobody sell gas here.”

I knew there was a filling station on the seven mile corner west of Kadoka. Our tank registered empty with no traffic on the twenty mile trail through the Badlands but we made it. Neither of us had any money but I didn’t mention that to the proprietor until after I filled the tank. At that time banks were lenient. I borrowed a check off the counter, scratched the name of the bank off, wrote in the Anchor Bank of Merriman and gave it to him. By that time we were 100 miles from home. We must have looked honest. He accepted it without batting an eye.

Bill Sears drove cattle down to Merriman and wintered them across the road from where we lived in 1936. They lived not far from Kadoka but quite a distance off the beaten trail toward home. I wanted to introduce them to my bride so that was our next stop. They had lots of company and a lot of food. We were invited to stay for supper. It was late by the time we got back to the folks. It was a memorable birthday 56 years ago today!
 
Top