View From The Bridge 3/18/15

VIEW from the BRIDGE
By Muncie
3/18/15

ROBINS and SPRING
I received a call from Judy in Loma last week that she had seen a robin. I wrote the date down but have misplaced it. I also had a call about a robin from Missoula and the sighting was about 4 days earlier than Judy’s. Should we count Missoula? They do subscribe to the River Press. After thinking it over, I give credit to Judy because Missoula has a completely different kind of weather being on the other side of the Rockies.

Spring comes bounding in on Friday and the forecast said back into the 60’s. We cannot complain about the weather although it is scary. Not much snow or rain, the tulips are coming up, and the lilacs are budding. What is in store for us? Just wait and see I guess.

Birds are feeding again in my yard. I have not seen the feral cat for several weeks. The birds seem to know when it was around. On the sad side is that the deer tore down part of the high protective fence around the garden. It looks as though it was jumped into and the brackets broke. Like my Mom used to say, “It’s always something.”

PIE and Pi DAY
The Fort Benton Golden Age Senior Center Pie Day was last Friday the 13th while the National Pi Day was Saturday the 14th. I was reminded last week but forgot to tell you about National Pi Day. Of course you remember what “Pi” is, but just in case you forgot, as I did, I looked it up for you.

Pi is Math. a. The letter (I have no way to type the symbol,) used as the ratio (3.141592653+) of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. b. the ratio itself. (Of course b. explains it so we can understand it, right?)

The point of this explanation is that Pi day was on 3/14/15 at exactly 9:26 and 53 seconds.  A student from an Arrorhar high School (where is Arrorhar?)wrote an engineering dissertation and said that it only happens once in a lifetime, (I wonder whose lifetime.)

Now if that doesn’t make your day, I have no idea what would. I wish you a belated National Pi day and we will try to celebrate it next year.

BACKROADS OF MT
After that boring report about Pie and Pi days, I hope that you find this more interesting.  It seems again that I am the luckiest person in the world. I seem to be in the right place at the right time, most of the time. If you are a viewer of PBS of the Backroads of Montana, then this may be easier reading for you.

Are you familiar with the host of Backroads, William Marcus? I had met William twice before. I met him in Great Falls at a program that the Great Falls Library had organized.  He was present and after the program I saw him and my son Randy conversing. Randy introduced us and Randy told William that I was his best fan. (If you remember the Garth Brooks story, Randy used the same line there except I was Garth’s best fan in Montana.)  William and Randy graduated from the Journalism Department at the University of Montana at the same time.

The second time I met William was in Missoula when the U. of M. invited Randy to a reception of their new Journalism Building. I was able to tag along. The three of us had conversation on that occasion.

Time passes and last Thursday evening about 5:30 p.m. my phone rang. I say “Hello,” and a voice asks, “Muncie?” I answer yes and he says, “This is William Marcus and would you like to have dinner with me at 6:30 at the Grand Union?” My adrenalin pumped up about a thousand times and I said that I certainly could manage that. Randy had a very important meeting to attend and could not cancel.  =I then was the one William called because he did not want to have dinner alone.

Russ Albers was sitting with his wife in a nearby booth. He said hello to me, as well as our waitress Laurie and several other people. When Russ was ready to leave, he came over to our table to shake hands with William and told him how much he enjoyed the Backroads.

William had asked me just shortly before how I liked living in Fort Benton, a small rural area, after moving from the Tri-county area of Detroit, Michigan. I told him that I felt like it was family and Russ made it evident by first saying hello to me when we walked into the dining area and then by feeling comfortable enough to come to our table.

I had a wonderful evening and I told William that by morning many people would know that I had dinner the evening before with a very handsome man.

For you William Marcus and Backroads fans, I heard several weeks ago that he was going to retire. That was the first question I asked him and he said yes but not from the Backroads show. I was relieved to hear that as I have no idea who could ever take his place.

LOMA VS FORT BENTON
I checked with Mike Rawlins who is the Weatherman for KRTV Channel 3. For several months I noticed that Loma was being shown on the weather map instead of Fort Benton.  I checked various contacts early on and found that the weather station at the airport needed repair. KRTV picked up the closest city to Fort Benton from the National Weather Service.

I am glad to report that in the next couple of weeks Fort Benton will be back on the weather map. The repairs were finished a couple of weeks ago and now it is just a matter of paperwork. Mike was not available when I called but soon took the time to return my call. Well, another problem solved.

HOSPITAL/NURSING HOME
This past weekend I visited a dear friend in the hospital here in Fort Benton. She has the same room and bed as I had last April when I had my knee replacement. I saw a few of the staff and we had a few laughs about my stay.

I am mentioning this because I would encourage you to visit someone that you may know or actually not know. They love visitors and you could bring some of the outside world into their inside existence. It gets mighty lonesome although there are many activities going on. I learned today that they take their bingo games very seriously. You will feel good about going and you certainly will brighten up their days.

I would suggest you call the Nurses station to find out a good time to visit. There are hours for meals and time for activities. If you do not know who to visit, the desk may make some suggestions. Another suggestion is to walk the hall and check the name plates on the wall by the door. Please do not use, “I should have,” because it may be too late.

ST. PATRICK’S DAY
I cannot remember the last time I went to Square Butte for the St. Patrick’s Day celebration. And it was a toss-up between that and the String Workshop. I said last week that I would be there. I decided that since Randy offered a ride, I would tag along. It was great fun as the parade was the high point of the afternoon. The rock to be auctioned off was the focal point of the parade, it was the usual 5 minutes long, 5 minutes more to turn around, and pass the Square Butte Country Club once again.

This event was held to raise money for the Ambulance Service out of Geraldine. Amy, as usual, put on a fabulous feed of more than corned beef and cabbage. Tim, our editor of the River Press, was there taking photos. I am sure he will have a report on the auctioning of the rock and the new mayor of Square Butte. If you missed this event you are invited for next year. It was worth the trip just to see Editor Tim’s costume. I’ll bet you won’t find a picture of him in the River Press.

SENIOR MOMENTS
Last year I joined a group of procrastinators.  We haven’t met yet.

GOD BLESS AMERICA, OUR TROOPS, and WEAR RED ON FRIDAYS.