Country Woman

Happy Christmas Eve, everyone!

The title of this evening's post comes from a magazine my Mom used to subscribe to. One summer when my sister and I were 10, my mother made us go through her every back issue of Country Woman and cut out the recipes. Her intent was to actually catalogue these hundreds of recipes. I highly doubt that happened. Country Woman was also the type of magazine where grandmothers sent in pictures of their grandbabies sitting atop gargantuan pumpkins. It also had a "kids say the darndest things" section that was subtly religious.

I've been home for a total of 48 hours and here is what I have done so far:

Went mountain lion hunting. A cat has been spotted on our land numerous times now, and I swear I saw it in the north shelter belt this summer (though my dad thinks I saw a deer. Apparently, I cannot tell a deer and a gigantic cat apart). This "hunting" consisted of my dad driving the pickup, my mom next to him shining a spotlight out the open window, my 7 year old cousin in between them convinced the game warden was going to show up (a completely valid concern as this is a highly illegal activity), my dog Rufus in the box having the time of his life, and my aunt and I huddled in the back of the cab for warmth. We did not spot the mountain lion.

Made cookies with my mom. We usually do this sweet tradition and bake about 45 dozen Spritz cookies, but we gave up after one batch. The gun-like apparatus needed to make these cookies was just not working out.

Drank at Mike's Bar--the best damn bar in the world. AND, I saw a fight. OK, more like a lot of posturing and swearing, but still. Ah, home. This kid named Brandon (who I went to school with) got mad at this man named Charlie (who has this abnormal crush on my mother, I think, because when I bartended at Mike's last summer, he kept saying how nice of a lady she was) because Charlie tried to get him to lick a battery to see if the battery was still good or not. This is reason enough to fight in Belfield, ND.

Had a nice moment with my dad. We were out in the old shop and I was digging throug old license plates, and he was telling me the history of plates in Nodak. North Dakota did not require vehicles to carry plates until 1911 and 1943 is an especially hard year to find, since most metal was going toward the war effort.

As I was driving home, through the dips and curves of Southwestern North Dakota, I finally got close enough to pick up 1230 AM, KDIX. I clicked on it just in time to hear the birthday/anniversary/winners of gift certificates names announced and I knew nearly every name.

Welcome home.