Hot & Dry
I Will Never Forget....
"I will never forget..."
Tonight, I fried up our first batch of home raised Autumn harvest apples. Of course I delegated some chores as I had Rachel cut the apples and Kiersten helped me add ingredients.
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The first time that I really remember having fried apples was when my 95 year old grandpa invited me to stay for supper. Grandpa Walter Bangert was such a fun man. And one Sunday afternoon, as I often did, I went to visit him in his apartment on the west side of Rapid City. I well remember him slicing the apples and then frying them in butter and together we enjoyed more sweet fellowship over a simple meal.
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I grew up eating my share of baked apples served up in Tapioca (Frog eyes as my Dad would call the pudding). Mom baked them and served them as a dessert. Another side note on Tapioca...aka "Frog eyes". If I remember right... We were studying Brazil and Brazil was a leading producer of tapioca. I told my Teacher, Mrs. Eppenbaugh, that tapioca was know as "frog eyes" I even went as far and wrote frog eyes on a test instead of tapioca... Mrs. Eppenbaugh, was not impressed. She had the audacity to mark my answer as wrong.... "Can you imagine that?????"
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Oh yes, These fried apples also included "frog eyes.... er I mean, tapioca and we jazzed this recipe up with some bacon. Yes, it was very good.
A Grave Situation....
"THE GRAVE IS A GRAVE SITUATION"
"UNLESS"
Our family loves to explore and discover. However, with the ranch and the camp, it is difficult to wander far from home. Thus we enjoy the opportunities here on the Lonetree Ranch. We walk with our heads down around a number of old homestead sites on the ranch. We know of seven or eight of them for sure. We love hunting... rocks or fossils or deer or grouse... You get the idea. We have found teepee rings and arrow heads. We know where old freight trails passed on their way to the early gold discoveries.
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One special place is an unknown grave that I discovered some thirty years ago. It is easy to let one's mind wander to the demise of the individual buried there. Last night as sunset was closing in, we wondered aloud if the individual was a Christian. Not just some religious person... but a Christ Follower?
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The prospect of the grave awaiting our earthly body is real. One day it will too late to accept God's free gift of salvation and follow Christ. As for me... I do believe the Lord's Return is soon... but I do not know when. I do know that with each passing day, I am one day closer ... "Well, You know the end of that statement".
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Yes the grave is "grave" situation and so is eternity. I am grateful that my eternal home will be with Jesus...
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How about you?
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We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. I Thessalonians 4
Labor Day Journey - Custer Peak
Our Family went to the mountains... Sometimes "Black Hills" really is somewhat misleading to what lies just to the west of the ranch. But our destination was to be a mountain that we see nearly every day. To us, it is that pointed peak straight west from the ranch called Custer Peak. And truthfully it comes to a point on the horizon that is very noticeable from home. Custer Peak and our "peak" at home which is know as Castello Point have something in common. They were both vantage points along with sixteen other points in and around the Black Hills that were used to map the entire Black Hills. Through surveying and triangulations in the late 1800's on into the early 1900's the process was completed. As with three bronze plates on our ranch at Castello or " The Peak" we found the bronze plates on Custer Peak as well. The bronze plates were placed in cement in 1925.... Over a century before. We found two of the plates quite easily by the fire tower, but I knew there should be a third with a triangle in the middle of it. I found it buried in the midst of wild rose thicket, unbeknownst to the average visitor to the mountain. Of course, I was more than pleased. The journey to the summit of Custer Peak was quite phenomenal. We left the highway and went past a campground or two... past a couple of ranches and then drove a pretty rugged stretch of road where we parked and then we climbed the last leg to our destination... the fire tower on this "pointed" mountain just 31.8 miles from and around 4100 feet higher than home.
The view was amazing... to top it off we watched a fire from the fire tower. A few hours before we had noticed, as we neared Whitewood, smoke from a fire near Spearfish. Now as we stood on the edge of the fire tower, we observed the fire(s) and the activities that were taking place in the sky as the planes that were making drops on the fire made their pattern to and from the incident.
And the views were amazing.. Bear Butte... We could see the breaks and the peak at home... Harney Peak to the south... Terry Peak... Cement Ridge (another favorite)... the Slim Buttes to the North and of course Castle Rock. And the fire on Lookout Moutain as well as the fire that flared up near Belle Fourche. Honesty, we observed in awe and enjoyed our time as family. Good memories...
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"The Rest of The Story..."
Julia asked me on Sunday night about the possibility of doing something on Labor Day. She said we could go on a picnic. Together, we decided we would head to an area south of Deadwood. We shared with the family our idea and the plans were put in motion. I was asked if I remembered many Labor Day activities... Robin shared of labor on Labor Day when Caleb was born. Yes that is a good memory, indeed. Mostly, I remembered that we probably just went on with normal business on most Labor Days, but we always had a fun meal... that I am certain of. I did recall one Labor Day holiday where we picked, husked, prepared and froze sweet corn with our friends... the Stokka family and the Foley Family. I also remembered fighting fire to the south above the breaks one day. But this year... we were going on a picnic...And as you read above and looked at the photos that Robin and Rachel shared... Well... now you know "the rest of the story". A Good Day, Indeed.
Beneath a Star Studded Sky
We just got home from watching a football game... Newcastle Dogies vs Stevens Raiders...Kiersten and Julia had a few chores at the barn and on the way back to the house, Kiersten captured this shot of our home on the prairie beneath a star studded sky. Truly a fine ending to the day...
Barrel O' Prairie
The Cattle on a Thousand Hills
September 3, 2020 - Larry B. Reinhold
Psalm 50:10
"For every beast of the forest is mine,
and the cattle upon a thousand hills."
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When I was a teenager, we sang a song by John W. Peterson based on Psalm 50:10. Perhaps you remember the song as well. However, being raised in western South Dakota... we changed up some of the words just a bit. "He owns the cattle on the South Dakota hills, The wealth in Homestake Mine.... " Seemed fitting since South Dakota has always been a top ranking cattle state and at one time Homestake was the largest producing mine in the country and at times the world.
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He (God) owns the cattle on a thousand hills,
The wealth in every mine;
He owns the rivers and the rocks and rills,
The sun and stars that shine.
Wonderful riches, more than tongue can tell -
He is my Father so they're mine as well;
He owns the cattle on a thousand hills -
I know that He will care for me.
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I really liked singing this song and it was popular in our youth group and Sunday School classes. However, once in awhile, I would hear folks recite the words of this song during building programs and fundraisers. They would remind all, "After all God owns the cattle on a thousand hills... " Too which I would respond, "And how about the boat in the backyard or the car in the garage?"
Oh by the way... These are God's cows and He has entrusted them to us.
Ponder & Pray
