JOHN DAY — It seems so cold here in Tulalip, Washington, but my family that lives here say it is hot. The damp climate sure is a shock to my system because it is used to John Day, where the sky is clear and high, pushing all that warm air down to the residents. Going back to John Day is going to feel good to me as I cannot wait to be warm.

On Monday, Aug. 21, at our John Day Senior Center, Dave Pasko checked everyone in who came in to dine together. Dave also led the flag salute and did the announcing. Thank you, Dave, for being there when so many were not there to assist you for one reason or another.

Forty-eight fresh and 49 frozen meals were delivered to residents of our county by Carolyn Stout, Millie (forgot last name, sorry), Cathy, Juanita and Carolyn. Thanks to all of you for your service of love for others. The number of people present and who picked up meals was not in the information, sorry.

Carolyn Stout of the Living Word Church was the server for this lunch.

Gregg Starr won the free meal, and George Sintay won the Chester’s card. Congratulations to both of you.

On Thursday, Aug. 24, Judy Thomas and Carol Roe were greeting all the in-house diners and all who came to pick up a meal. Thank you, ladies, for your volunteer service. Dave Pasko led the flag salute. Bonnie Kocis, Buzz and Bobbie Gilmore and their grandson, Blaine, were the servers.

Fifty-seven fresh and three frozen meals and two takeout meals went out of our kitchen today by Buzz and Bobbie and Blaine, Pati Davis, Melinda Cochran, Dodi and Bonnie. Thanks to all of you for your service of love for your neighbors.

Buzz asked the blessing. Ashley Carey won the Chester’s card, and Bob Johnston won the free meal. Congratulations, you two.

Last week we had a leak in the ceiling of our library, and it caused quite a mess. The repair is done except for spraying the texture on the ceiling. Linda is very upset about the mess and the damage done to books and shelving, causing her to have to work very hard to clean it up and put everything back in place.

The plumber, contractor and electrician were quick to respond to our cries for help when the event occurred, and we really appreciate them.

We had a $200 blackout winner at bingo on Tuesday, Aug. 22, and her name was Judy Thomas, our treasurer. Congratulations, Judy!

Stop by the center and pick up a menu for the rest of the month. Hope to see you dining with us soon.

John 16:33 In this world you will have troubles but take heart! I have overcome the world.

MONUMENT — Summer is definitely coming to a close. The days are getting shorter, and it is getting a little bit cooler in the evenings.

In with the new and out with the old. I love the fall, but it seems that fall is a very short season here in Monument.

On that note, don’t forget to mark your calendars for the Monument Buckaroo and Fall Festival. That is coming full speed ahead! Ha. What a great way to end the summer, a celebration with a wonderful day of activities for the whole family, auctions, music and, of course, the wonderful salmon and elk dinner with all the fixings to go with it. The date is Sept. 23. I will put more details about the event again as we approach the day.

Well, our greeter at the front table was faithful Bob Cockrell. He checked in all the guests, collected and counted up the money. Bob also led the flag salute and made the announcements. Yours truly prayed the blessing over the meal.

Not much going on over in Monument at the moment. All is quiet … for now, at least. Ha.

Our cooks, Terry Cade and Carrie Jewell, prepared for our meal tater tot casserole, garlic toast, Mexican corn, a fresh green salad, and chocolate cookies for our dessert. I really wanted just a little bit more, but I decided against it.

Because I did not partake in another serving, I was not lethargic after I got home. We thank our cooks immensely again for their wonderful cooking and appreciate them so much!

We got a decent amount of rain this past week, praise the Lord! It was nice not having to manually water my garden. I have yet to set up my drip watering system. Next year, I hope to have that done. It would sure make all our lives a lot easier and save us tons of time, for sure.

I got to harvest a zucchini from my garden and sautéed it with some fresh minced garlic, olive oil, lemon and pepper seasoning, along with some green beans and summer savory herbs. It was delicious. I tell ya, there is nothing like a fresh vegetable from your garden when you eat it for a meal!

I’ve been able to can a whole bunch of pickles for my boy. One of my friends gave me a couple of small bags of cucumbers, and I had been saving some cucumbers from our garden and, of course, our fresh dill. I harvested a few of my serrano peppers and made a few spicy pickle jars, too. The only thing is, you have to wait at least a month for it to marinate in that brine. My son is counting the days! Ha.

All my goats are looking pretty fat. I am hoping to harvest a few of the wild male wether goats out in the field. I got to talking with some friends about making sausage. Those boys out there in the field having been getting really plump eating the grass and such, they will make good eating.

Psalms 71: 16-17 I will come and proclaim Your mighty acts, O Sovereign LORD. I will proclaim Your righteousness, Yours alone. Since my youth, O God, You have taught me, and to this day I declare Your wondrous works.

PRAIRIE CITY — Weren’t those little rain showers nice? Helped out on the irrigating immensely! The cucumbers are coming on nicely. One even tried to grow through the 2-by-3-inch square in the fencing mesh. Had to break it in two to harvest. Hmm. … So how can we fix this problem next year? Have all winter to figure that out!

Theresa rang the dinner bell, and Fran led the flag salute. Patty Perkins was the winner of the free meal. Ginger did the announcements, and Mary, Carla, Sharon, Denny, Tom and the two Theresas were our super-duper volunteers today. Our cooks had prepared barbecued ribs, a baked potato, vegetables, fruit and a peach cobbler. We had all kinds of choices for drinks today: water, coffee, iced tea, lemonade, milk and fruity juice. You can have all the water and coffee you want, but the rest of the liquids are limited to one and a refill. That’s for your information. We are also not going to open the front door until 11:15 a.m. Drinks will be served at 11:30 and the main meal at noon, as per usual. We had 67 meals served and delivered today. That’s almost back up to pre-COVID numbers! I heard lots of compliments about the meal. Our cooks are very good! Come and check us out.

I was able to get into the library and get things organized a little better. We just shoved things in there when the floors were getting done, and it needed some TLC. Found two boxes of jigsaw puzzles that we put back out on the bench at the far west end of the hall. Please take some home. You don’t have to bring them back. Also a large stack of quilting magazines need a good home.

You have until the end of September to thin the piles, then they will disappear. Trivia: Birthdays: Gene Kelly, Vera Miles, Barbara Eden. This was Buttered Corn Day and Hug Your Sweetheart Day. 1933 saw the first televised boxing match. (It was more than 20 years later that I learned about such a thing as TV! We would go to town after the cows were all milked and watch my grandfather watch the wrestling matches on their little TV.) Things to think about: “Why don’t women put photos of missing men on beer cans?” (No comment.) “Positive anything is better than negative nothing.” (Elbert Hubbard.) And I like this one: “Even miracles take a little time.” (Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother.) Now for the trivia question: Way back when (forgot to get the year), there was a piano player who set a record for playing the piano nonstop for 157 hours. Her name was Marie Ashton. The question was how many days was that? And we all just sat there trying to think. I expected someone to whip out their phone and use the calculator to get the answer. Lots of guesses. Theresa gave lots of hints, and I finally guessed six. The correct answer is 6.5416666 or 6.6 days. The question that was not answered is why would she do this? Don’t know. Google it.

Wanted to put some sharp levers on my little Celtic harp. Asked the company for a drilling template. The harp is so old that they do not have any records of its plans, so therefore cannot supply a template. Hmm. Does that make it an antique?

II Chronicles 9 : 11 The king used the algumwood to make …. harps and lyres for the musicians. Nothing like them had ever been seen in Judah.