Category: Rooster Crows

The Rooster Crows – November 21, 2008

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By Bill Anderson

November, 2008, is living up to the 11th month’s reputation as the gloomiest month of the year. The first 3 weeks have seen only sporadic sunshine, long stretches of gray, overcast skies, fog, mist and snow. The excessive rain of October has ceased, but there has not been much drying going on since then, either. The whitetail deer season opened on November 7th, with rain and snow flurries in southeastern North Dakota, but a real knock-down drag-out blizzard hammered the rest of the State, stranding many would be deer hunters at home with nothing to do but tell each other stories about epic hunting experiences of years gone by. Standing corn still affords a lot of cover for deer in this area, and, although there have been steady reports of deer being harvested, there was no rush of success during the opening weekend as in many previous seasons. As the corn harvest progresses, both whitetail deer and ringneck pheasant hunters are finding it a little easier to spot and stalk their quarry. That still doesn’t solve the problem of being able to hit what they shoot at, but that’s another story. Just ask Kaia Thorfinnson, who took 6 shots at a standing doe, only to see the animal calmly flick its tail and stroll away when the shooting subsided. Kaia redeemed her reputation as a sharpshooter on Sunday, Nov. 16, though, when she dropped a nice whitetail with 1 shot, through the heart, at about 100 yards using a Remington model 700 BDL 6mm rifle equipped with a Nikon 3X9 variable scope. Now Kaia has 2 stories to tell about the 2008 hunting season: one about the one that got away; and, one about the one that didn’t.

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The Rooster Crows: April 25, 2008

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By Bill Anderson

Severe Weather Awareness Week, April 21-28, started out with a bang, complete with a thunderstorm, wind and hail as Mother Nature’s study aids. The hail was heavy enough to cover the surface of ND Highway #11 out by the Dennis & Lori McLaen farm, 2 miles north of Town, but no reports of damage to vehicles or buildings have been received.

Marcia Moen, Margo Ganske, Kate Tagg, Laura Feltes, Victoria Parker-Christensen, Marianne Parker, Susan Guilbert and Sue Anderson gathered at the home of Kathy Brakke for a cousins quilting weekend that had scissors clicking and sewing machines clattering from the afternoon of Friday, April 18, to Sunday afternoon. All but the two Susans are related to Ransom Township pioneers K. P. & Ingrid Ahrlin. Sue Anderson is Kathy Brakke’s sister-in-law and Sue Guilbert is Mary Ann Parker’s sister. In addition to getting in a weekend’s worth of quilt making and reminiscing, the group enjoyed a visit to the Rutland General Store and a Saturday luncheon at the home of Mary Ann Thornberg in Weber Township.

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The Rooster Crows – April 11, 2008

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By Bill Anderson

Old Man Winter’s role in the drama of 2008 is supposed to be over, but the doddering old actor can’t seem to find his way off the stage and keeps coming back for curtain calls long after the audience has tired of his cold and dreary performance. Despite the fact that Sargent County snowbird Harlan Klefstad has returned from Arizona, the fact that farmers have tractors fueled and planters ready, the fact that Canada geese are starting to nest, the fact that the snow geese have moved on to the North and the fact that fat robins are scratching around for their next meal in local yards, Winter made another appearance here last weekend, dropping another 4 to 6 inches of wet, heavy snow on this area on Sunday, April 6, with enough wind to make the storm as close to a blizzard as we have seen this year. Snow covered roads and slippery conditions slowed traffic and delayed the start of classes at local schools by 2 hours on Monday morning. Sunny days and temperatures that climbed into the mid-40’s on Monday and up to 53 on Tuesday cleared away most of the snow by Tuesday afternoon. Mark Wyum reports that Sunday night’s high winds blew many fields clear, depositing the snow in draws and coulees that will make good tractor traps in another week or so, when Spring planting commences.

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The Rooster Crows – April 4, 2008

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By Bill Anderson

March, the month that was put on the calendar to let people who don’t drink know what a hangover feels like – too depressing to live, too tough to die – departed on Monday, throwing a snowstorm and several inches of wet, sloppy snow our direction as it slammed the door on its way out. April Fool’s Day, Tuesday, April 1, fooled us by pretending it was still March.

The Spring conservation snow goose hunting season has been open since mid-February, but there were no geese here until the last 10 days of March. For the past 2 weeks, millions of the birds have been moving through this area, feeding in last year’s corn and soybean fields and providing some great hunting for those hardy enough to go afield and smart enough to outfox them. The purpose of the conservation season is to reduce the numbers of snow and blue geese to a level that can be sustained by their Summer range in northern Canada, so the usual rules that govern waterfowl hunting during the regular Fall season don’t apply. Hunters may remove the plugs from the magazines on their automatic and pump action shotguns, making 5 shots available before reloading is required, and there is no limit, other than their shooting ability and carrying capacity, to the number of snow and blue geese they are allowed to harvest. They must, however, have a valid North Dakota hunting license to avoid running afoul of the law. It’s not a sure thing, either, as the geese seem to fail to appreciate that all of this shooting is for their own good and continue to outsmart the hunters on many occasions, even if they are birdbrains. Hunters from Minnesota, Iowa and Montana, as well as North Dakota, have landed in Rutland, along with the geese.

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The Rooster Crows – March 28, 2008

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By Bill Anderson

Richard Bradbury of this community was a patient, or rather an impatient, at Innovis Hospital in Fargo for the past week and a half, recuperating from the effects of influenza, pneumonia and what may have been a heart attack. Brad reports that he was not feeling well, and his neighbor, Larry Christensen, drove him up to the hospital in Lisbon on the afternoon of Sunday, March 16. About 2:00 a.m. on Monday, the Lisbon Hospital transferred him up to Innovis by ambulance, where he woke up on Wednesday afternoon. The staff at Innovis sent him home on the evening of Tuesday, March 25, with medication, therapy instructions and orders to return in a few weeks for more tests. Brad retired last October, after 34 years at the helm of The Teller, and has been resting up for the beginning of the 2008 golfing season since then. His recent illness now requires that he rest more intensively, a tough job but he’s working at it.

Spring arrived at 12:05 a.m. on Thursday, March 20, and 18 hours later more than 6 inches of wet, heavy snow blanketed the area, indicating that Winter is not done with us, yet. The month of March came in on a pogo stick, bouncing from Winter to Spring and back again on a daily basis, and it looks as if it will go out that way, too. It appears that the only way we will get rid of Old Man Winter is by trickery, and with April Fool’s Day coming up next week, we might have a chance.

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The Rooster Crows – March 21, 2008

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By Bill Anderson

Temperatures ranging from the upper 40’s on Thursday, March 13, to 52 on Friday, down to 27 on Saturday, back up to 43 on Sunday, up to 52 on Tuesday and no snow on any day that it was predicted. As of Sunday, March 16, most of the snow in Rutland was gone, revealing a display of brown lawns decorated with bones, tree branches and beer cans that must have come down with the snow, because they sure weren’t there when the first snowfall covered things up back on December 1. Spring fever is in the air, evidenced by the fact that both the Canada geese and local farmers have been observed circling fields looking for a likely spot to land and begin production for the 2008 season.It was all quiet at Alley Cuts on Thursday, Friday and Saturday last week, as both Lori McLaen and Jen Christianson were in New York City –Yes, that’s right, NEW YORK CITY!- picking up information on the newest hair styling fashions and the latest beauty tips to bring back to their clients here. Folks who happened to be watching the NBC-TV show on Friday morning noticed Lori & Jen holding up a large banner reading “Good Luck Queen Candidates, Rutland ND”, during one of Al Roker’s weather reports outside Rockefeller Center on Manhattan. Lori and Jen returned home on the evening of Monday, March 17, and were back at work at Alley Cuts on Tuesday morning. They report that, despite its reputation for fashion leadership, they did not find many new or interesting hair styles among the ladies of the city that never sleeps. They did, however, enjoy a large number of sights and experiences, including: the Statue of Liberty; Ellis Island; a Broadway musical, “Chorus Line”; the Staten Island Ferry; the Metropolitan Museum of Art; fine dining at some excellent restaurants; and, many others. The 2 country girls stayed with a friend of Jens who put them on the subway on their first morning there, gave them instructions on where to get off, and told them to walk back home to experience the city. They walked through Chinatown and Little Italy, where no one spoke English, and window shopped along 5th Avenue. They had a great time, Lori reports, but they were glad to get home. New York, with its crowds, fast pace, constant activity and the sights, sounds and smells that go with a huge metropolis, is a great place to visit but they wouldn’t want to live there. Welcome home, Lori & Jen.

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