It happened after supper. I was standing on our small front patio and watering the strawberry bed on one side. Behind me were flowers and a small vegetable garden. To my right was a gravel path that leads up to the cement patio and the front door.
- By DARLA TYLER-MCSHERRY
My friends are on safari in Africa, and I’ve been lucky enough to see some of their photos and videos. The environment and animals are truly inspiring and remarkable. I surprised myself at the emotional response I had when I watched a video of a herd of elephants cross a river – and how the …
- Michael Baron
Dear Michael: We have been farming with our son for about five years now. We had him on wages for a time but we recently shifted him to shares in the operation. That is when the trouble started.
- By BILL LOWMAN
We got another interesting phone call. JoAnn usually answers due to my “selective hearing” of too many years of haying tractors and heavy equipment dozer and scraper noises hammering away day after day. The first 30 years we never wore ear plugs or ear set covers. We had to listen to the eng…
- Doreen Rosevold
I got a hug from a stranger in Walmart today. It sounds weird and well, it kind of was. Let me back up a little to explain. I like to make jewelry and give it to family and friends. Sometimes, I even have the courage to wear something I made.
- By DARLA TYLER-MCSHERRY
With summer in full swing and long days spent outside, the risks increase for farmers and ranchers to suffer work-related injuries. Statistics show that the average cost for nonfatal agricultural injuries was $10,878 for medical care, $4,735 for lost work time, and $15,613 in total injury pe…
- Michael Baron
Dear Michael: We could use some help with our children. We have one child who has been farming with us for a long time. We have four other children. Two of these children insist they should receive “at least half of the estate upon our death.” Their thinking is we have already done too much …
- By BILL LOWMAN
July began with history being made in the highest honor when the President the United States stepped off the back passenger car of the Liberty Train, setting foot on the very same turf that Theodore Roosevelt did some 140 years prior, this time to a massive crowd of cheering well-wishers. Th…
- Doreen Rosevold
I am an orphan now, and even at my age, as the mother of three children and grandmother to six, it feels strange – and sad. My mother was 99 years old when she passed a couple of weeks ago, just short of being 100 years old, and I will miss her every day.
- By DARLA TYLER-MCSHERRY
My best friend recently traveled through North Dakota and kept me updated with his progress. It was a great trip for him as he not only got to see one of his sons and spend time with his granddaughters, but he also had the opportunity to experience good “windshield time” too.
- Michael Baron
Dear Michael: I remember when our parents were young. It seems like they always had a will in place. Later on, they went with a living trust because it was “the thing to do” at the time. When they died, things went smoothly. My brother took over the farm and the rest of us kids shared Mom an…
- By BILL LOWMAN
While growing up, I was taught to evaluate both sides of an issue and think for yourself – fads come and fads go. One of the latest fads that government agencies, both federal and local, are aggressively pushing is “controlled burning” of our pasture grasslands and native juniper growths. To…
- Doreen Rosevold
As the Fourth of July approaches, I find I am reflecting on previous Independence Day holidays. These memories seem to fall into three categories: burns, embarrassment, and patriotism.
- By DARLA TYLER-MCSHERRY
A few months ago, I was at my brother’s farm for a quick visit. Rudi, my German Shepherd, and I, were enjoying the warm, sunny spring day by going for a long walk. I heard it long before I ever saw it. The unmistakable drone of a helicopter pierced through our quiet solitude. Though I couldn…
- Michael Baron
Dear Michael: We have read your columns over the past few weeks regarding the use of a life estate as an estate planning tool. We have a lot of questions regarding the life estate. Could you answer some of these questions? – A Variety of Readers
- By BILL LOWMAN
In mid-April, JoAnn got a phone call from New York City. She, again, almost didn’t answer it, but decided to pick it up to first detect if the voice had a foreign accent before she hung up. It didn’t, so she listened. He told her his name was Brian and that he was representing RWS Global Ent…
- Doreen Rosevold
It has been a very random week, so this “diary” entry will be very random, too.
- By DARLA TYLER-MCSHERRY
Rudi, my 3-year-old wonderful German Shepherd, and I have a quarterly project. We take a garbage bag while walking to collect garbage. We live in rural Yellowstone County, Montana. We’ve done this for the past couple of years and “patrol” a 3-mile stretch (a 1.5-mile out-and-back route on bo…
- Michael Baron
Dear Michael: We want to complete our estate planning, but after meeting with our local attorney, the process has been stalled for the past two years. He seems either too busy or too occupied with his city and county attorney duties to prepare our wills.
- By BILL LOWMAN
It seems the way a person is raised, the childhood impressions and ways of doing things, either taught or self-developed, stays with a person for a lifetime. You can be sent to classroom instructions for the majority of your youthful developing years and be taught the latest ways of doing th…
- Doreen Rosevold
We have a lot of batteries at our house, just not the ones we need. Batteries are the bane of my existence at times. I don’t want an electric car because I don’t want one more dadgum battery to worry about.
- By DARLA TYLER-MCSHERRY
As I was scrolling through today’s news, an article intrigued me enough to click and read more. The International Space Station (ISS) has been in orbit for more than 25 years. It orbits the Earth once every 90 minutes, and the crew sees 16 sunrises and sunsets every day. I learned that the I…
- Michael Baron
Dear Michael: We read your column in the last issue about uses of life estate deeds. To us, it seems like the perfect solution. No probate, kids know what they are getting at death, protection from Medicaid attachment after five years – what’s not to like?
- By BILL LOWMAN
Remember the “Space Race” of a half century past? Our USA and the Union of Socialist Soviet Republic (USSR) were deadlocked in a battle to be first up into the heavens. The USSR first sent up the Sputnik II with a live dog. Does anybody remember who the very first human in space was? I’m jus…
- Doreen Rosevold
The sun pulls hard when it is finally spring. There is an energy about it that makes me think that I can do all those outside jobs I was glad to see snow cover in the fall. Today, I cleaned off the garden. Most people do that in the fall, but for me, when I pull that last carrot and dig that…