View From The Bridge 8-17-16

VIEW from the BRIDGE
By Muncie
8-17-16

MEET ME AT THE FAIR
Support the Fair and meet me, your family, your friends, and make new friends at the Chouteau County Fair starting on Thursday. The weather forecast isn’t looking too good for Thursday and Friday but Saturday and Sunday will be great Fair days.

The same weather pattern put a little damper on Fridays Summer Celebration but not much. Just grab your umbrellas and come on down. You are the one who can make it happen so bring along your smiley face and plans for a fun time. Also bring along your purse/wallet and buy your tickets for the shows ahead of time.

It won’t be back for a year so enjoy everything you possibly can. See you there.

JIMMY BUFFET DAY
I hope that you made it over to the celebration of Jimmy Buffet Day at the Benton Pharmacy. Chris Halko puts on this party every year although it was a tad bit late compared to other years. The party is usually held after IRS day to help sooth your wallet. Because Chris was busily engaged with purchasing the Governors Keep, the party was postponed. It did not at all dampen the good time had by everyone who attended.

My story about this day is that we were given a ticket for a drawing. The Pharmacy called me the next day to tell me I had won a prize. When I picked it up it was like one of those “how did this happen?” things. It was a picture of children putting up an American Flag and below was written, “God Bless America.”  I was told that they picked that picture just for me. I wear a lot of red, white, and blue and almost every time I went into the Benton Pharmacy I was shown an article that was red, white, and blue. I have more red, white, and blue items that the White House.  I love it.

The second part of this story is that when my daughter comes to help with paper work, we go shopping.  I saw that picture and my daughter urged me to buy it. I hesitated and decided I would wait for a special occasion. Well, it looks as though Jimmy Buffet Day was that special occasion and I now have that beautiful picture hanging on my kitchen wall. I really appreciate it Chris and Terri. You have always done so much to promote Fort Benton.

WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE
(And the rest of that is, “and not a drop to drink.) Last Thursday morning the Montana Conservation Corps Intern Kayla Glosner presented a Water Class on the lawn of the Library. About 6 Kiddos showed up and another adult besides me. I learned so much and enjoyed the presentation to describe “How We Use Water.”  I am passing on facts that you may or may not know.

1.  Less than 2% of the earth’s water is fresh water.
2.  A person can survive about a month without food but only 5 to 7 days without water.
3.  Every day in the United States we drink 1 million plus gallons of water.
4.  The average American uses 140 to 170 gallons of water a day.
5.  1/3 of Americans get their drinking water from rivers.
6.  ¼ of all the agricultural land in the United States if found in the Missouri River watershed. (That puts those of us in the watershed in a very important role.)

There will be more facts next week. I think there is enough here to think about. It is too bad that there isn’t better attendance at these functions. It would lead to more conversations about problems we have and work on possible solutions. Drink up because by 2025 the Global Bank predicts that 2/3s of the global population will run short of fresh drinking water. (That ought to cheer up your day.)

ADVENTURES
I have been told by several women that they read the View from the Bridge because they enjoy my adventures. They said that I should write a book about my adventures and although I would not do that, I have had a life full of them. Most of those have been in Montana.

My latest adventure was last Saturday when my son Randy drove me to lower St. Mary Lake to spend the day with Jack Gladstone and his lovely friend Patti. Jack’s house is close to the lake. At the lake’s edge you can see the 7 peaks and the highest one is Chief Mountain.

The house is designed on the outside walls with a 7 peaks design. The inside is in the process of being finished. I am a fan of HGTV, (Home and Garden TV,) and it was of great interest to me to be shown every detail of their road to completion. It will be a while but I feel privileged to have seen it at the present stage.

Jack took us for a ride to an overlook about 15 or 20 miles away. We had a perfect view at Chief Mountain. Sights such as this one make me feel like that single piece of sand as compared to our universe. It was a thrill of a lifetime and has become one of my most memorable times.

Jack will be in Fort Benton for Connie Jenkins’ Fund Raiser to entertain on September 10, 2016. Be sure to say hello to him and welcome to Fort Benton.

TALKING BOOKS
I know that I have talked a lot about Talking Books. I have listened to books for over 35 years because of eye surgeries and I love listening to someone read to me.

I have talked to people who have said that they would like to use the service. It is a government program for the Blind and Visually Impaired and is free of any charge. The Helena office mails them to you and you just drop them in the mailbox when you are finished.

They will also send you catalogs that list the books that are available. The books used to be on cassettes and because they are two sided tapes, you had to use their machine. About a year or two ago they changed over to digital and that is an amazing machine. The best part is the “sleep button.” You can listen before your nap or in your bed and it will play for 15 minutes. You can do that four times and then the machine will shut itself off. There is also a bookmark button. I am really enjoying that machine.

The other neat thing is they get a whole book on one digital disc. The cassette book tapes sometimes had as high as 16 sides depending on the length of the book.

So after all this explanation, I wanted to tell you that if you are interested and just didn’t know how to go about doing it, I have forms for you to fill out. Please let me know and I will arrange to get it to you.  GO TALKING BOOKS.

A GREAT SAYING
I received a card this past week and on the front there was a beautiful picture of a forest and a stream running through it. The saying on it was, “One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.” William Shakespeare

OBSERVATIONS
“Help the needy. Be Generous.  Be a Giver, not a Taker.”

GOD BLESS AMERICA, OUR TROOPS, OUR POLICE FORCES and EVERYONE       ELSE WHO WATCHES OVER US.