Your source for news in Hot Springs County
Your source for news in Hot Springs County
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I’ve been pretty lucky to be “tech savvy” up to this point. Sure, I’ve had to ask my kids initially how to use all the cool stuff on some of my phone apps, like Snapchat, but for the most part, a little common sense on how stuff works has done me well. Until now. If you’ve ever seen me at a public meeting, you’ve probably noticed I carry around a laptop to take notes on rather than doing it by hand. It’s so convenient for me and besides, I type a lot faster than I write and I can look at whome...
“I ordered a chicken and an egg from Amazon. Now I’m just waiting to see which one comes first.” Whether or not the Town Council allows chickens within the city limits seems to be a recurring theme on our pages, so maybe its time to take a look at both the pros and the cons of having Chicken Little living next door. No one can deny one of the pros to having your own brood in your backyard is the ability to have fresh eggs just about any time you want them. A fresh egg definitely beats a mass-...
I have something of a love-hate relationship with snow. On one hand, I really don’t like driving in it, something that I’ve noticed has gotten worse as I’ve gotten older. In my younger days it was no problem to hop in the car and head back to college in the midst of a blizzard, following the truck in front of me, navigating the road by following his taillights. Now, though, I put off leaving for any winter road trip until I’ve checked the roads, the weather forecast and had at least three c...
“The sky’s blue again!” These were the excited words of my boys as they headed out to the car Wednesday morning. And, yes, there was one small patch of blue up there in the gray but it was enough to brighten the morning. The past week has seen plenty of gray above our heads — a sure sign that our summer days are over — and those brief glimpses of blue and full-on sunshine are something to treasure. The gray sky and temperature drops don’t mean an end to the fun outdoor activities we’ve been...
I think one of the biggest lies we tell ourselves as adults is, “after this week things will slow down and I’ll be able to get this or that done.” Nope, sorry, it doesn’t really work that way. It started for us when we were in school and had a big paper due. “As soon as I have this paper done I can get caught up on TV.” Then in college it was, “Boy, as soon as this test is over I can take a break and go out with my friends.” Along comes parenthood and its, “Once he’s sleeping through th...
Homecoming football games have been a decades long tradition for Hot Springs County High School, and this Friday night marks another as the Cats take on Moorcroft at 6 p.m. It’s interesting to look back on that history. For instance, in 1948 they sold Season Tickets for the five home games. You could pick one up for $3 for adults and $2 for students. If that was a bit out of reach, you could attend a home game for 75 cents for adults, students paid just 50 cents and children could get in for a...
I believe fall is my favorite season of the year. I can pull out my sweaters and other snuggly, soft clothes, the air simply smells differently and for some odd reason, fall is when the “Betty Crocker” in me goes into full swing. Right now, the focus in my kitchen is zucchini. Zucchini cookies, zucchini bread, zucchini boats filled with sausage, onions and peppers, topped off with smoked provolone. I’m shredding zucchini to freeze for use this winter and making slices and dices of the green gian...
It’s amazing what you can accomplish when you put in the love, patience and time. This past summer we chose to cut down the weeds in our back yard, till the soil and try our luck at planting an actual lawn. Who would’ve thought those initial steps would be the easy part? Though the grass is well established, it’s taken a few Saturdays of weeding to make sure it doesn’t get taken over. But, as a reward, I can look out the back door and see the results of that work, as well as understand why my gr...
There were a few mornings this week when we all awoke to temperatures in the 50-degree range. Some of our days were only in the 70’s, too, but have you noticed how much different 70 degrees is as we ease our way into September than it was going into May? In May, we couldn’t wait to get the shorts out when it hit 70, but this week I’ve been tempted to toss on a sweater here and there. I’ll admit my grasp of science isn’t always the greatest, so I’ve come to the conclusion that temperature...
The recent hailstorm and the damage it brought with it brought to mind similar storms I grew up with in the Nebraska Panhandle as a boy. They were a common occurrence, and farmers typically were happy to only lose one out of three crops to hail. But it had been years since I had been in a genuine “window buster.” So as I stood in our home and watched the roof of our garage take a beating, years slipped away and once more I watched baseball size ice balls fall to ground. I visualized the wheat fields with barely the occasional stems still standi...
Well, summer vacation has officially come to its close, though there’s still a few weeks left in the season itself, and Wednesday was certainly a rush at the schools with parent drop offs, kids finding classrooms and teachers working to get everything situated. I’ve heard some parenting advice two different ways. One is that it gets easier watching each successive child head to their classroom for the first official day. I’ve also been told that seeing the youngest head off on that new adven...
Well, the summer swimsuit body didn’t magically appear this year either, but I’m ready for flannel and sweatshirts with no problem. I sometimes wonder why we do this to ourselves, obsess over getting bikini ready. Sure, we can blame it on the media and all the super skinny models they have strolling the runway, on every page of the magazines we read and filling our screens with every commercial, but it really boils down to our self esteem. On the outside, most people see me as being confident an...
Fair week is always a busy one for us here at the newspaper. We’re out shooting every event that goes on all the way through the Pageant Days parade, fire department open house, Folk Festival and everything in between. If you were at the pig wrestling the other night you may have seen me covered in slick, wet Bentonite as I shot all the teams from outside the fence. I thoroughly enjoy shooting the pig wrestling because it really shows how people of all ages can have a terrific time with a pit o...
This next week will be busy with the county fair. Vehicles will be going in and out of the fairgrounds, youth and adults will go before the judges with their exhibits, and be sure to hearing plenty of noise and some very distinct aromas at the grounds as the animals start pouring in. Having lived my life in rural communities, the fair was always something I looked forward to. In my younger days, of course, it was all about the rides and strolling through the animal exhibits. Though never an...
It took a persistent persuasion to convince my dad that he needed a break from caring for my mother in the nursing home, and that the semi-annual family reunion in Kansas (his born home) would be just the break he needed. Dad was never a talker, but he was unusually tight lipped on the journey to his childhood home, and I knew he was thinking about leaving Mom “unattended” even though it was doubtful that she knew who he was anymore. The family homestead was about ten miles outside what had become in the intervening years a ghost town with an...
They say there’s no feeling like coming home again and for the Alumni of Hot Springs County High School, this weekend is their opportunity to wave the Bobcat banner once again. Sure, people root for college teams and professional teams, everything from football and basketball to cricket and polo, but nothing says pride like cheering for your home team. I guess that’s why I always look forward to this weekend and all the memories it brings with it. Of course, sometimes you have to introduce you...
What a crazy couple weeks it’s been. Golf ball and pea size hail, fireworks, changes on the horizon for Hot Springs State Park, and losing phone and internet services. It’s enough to make you want to pull your hair out and second guess where you decided to live. But, in the chaos — the good and the bad — it’s good to see the response Thermopolis gives. There’s been plenty of praise for our fire department, not only for the show they put on but for their continued efforts to promote fire safety...
Without a doubt, the political climate in our nation has been rocky at best over the past 10 years. Left, right, Republican, Democrat, it matters not which side of the aisle you’re on there is unrest in our country over which side is right. I have seen burning effigies of presidents. I have seen giant balloons depicting a presidential baby. Rumors and innuendo about both parties have run rampant during this last decade. In polite society we were taught not to discuss two things: religion and p...
If you were anywhere around town this past weekend, you knew where all the action was, as the Hot Springs County Fairgrounds was again home to the Thermopolis Cowboy Rendezvous PRCA Rodeo. As much fun as the rodeo is each year — it always has a way of taking me back to rodeos with my folks when I was a kid — the true spectacle is watching how our local fairgrounds transforms into a spectacle of people from all over North America, and the parking lot takes on the look of a bazaar with all of the...
This Sunday marks one of two days throughout the year recognizing our parents, with Father’s Day. It’s the seventh one for me, and I look forward to seeing what my wife and boys have up their sleeves this year. But, special as these days are, both Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are only a small recognition of the time, dedication and effort that goes into being a parent. The sacrifices men and women give to raising children the best that they can, whether those children are theirs, fostere...
This week marks the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the one that allows women the right to vote. Numbers like this always fascinate me. It’s hard for me to grasp that women were given a voice just 44 years before I was born. I grew up knowing I could vote, that my voice would be heard once I reached that magic age of 18. Women stood up, walked out and said “no more” until they were given the rights they deserved. Segregation in our schools ended just nine years...
I was lying on the couch the other night and looked down at my feet. I swear my feet are becoming webbed between my toes. Don’t get me wrong, I love the rain, but it does raise concerns for me when it comes to driving through Wind River Canyon. It hasn’t been that many years ago when we had the enormous slide that covered the road and kept the canyon closed for a few days while they cleaned it up. I know there have been slides in the canyon since the road was chiseled out, but I pay closer att...
This Sunday marks the graduation for the Hot Springs County High School Class of 2019. It’s been quite a year in the district with accomplishments both academic and extracurricular, and we should all be proud of our Bobcats. It never fails that whenever graduation nears I’m taken back to those final days I spent as an Alliance, Neb. Bulldog, ready to take on the next steps of life whatever they bring. I could spend time writing advice about what the graduates should consider as they walk thr...
During a conversation with a friend a few days ago, we agreed that there were times that it was difficult to tell the truth without hurting the feelings of one you might not want to hurt. The inevitable question, “Honey, does this dress make me look fat?’ for example. There’s really no way to escape from the consequences of whatever your answer might be. As I thought about the difficulty of being truthful in all situations, about how diplomatic one can be and still convey the truth to someone who matters, it occurred to me that the hardest thin...
I know we’re all getting a little tired of the rain, but you cannot beat this time of year when all those showers not only bring flowers, but all of the green that rambles over our red hills. The lawns in Hot Springs State Park are already looking spectacular and a drive through the buffalo pasture shows the green grasses filling in nicely. Of course, that also means we have to find time to mow our own lawns as the rain is definitely making them grow at a ridiculous pace. Finding just the r...
