Mt. Vernon resident Billie Bullard, who turned 101 on Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2022, celebrates her (almost) birthday with friends and family at the John Day Senior Center on Monday, Oct. 17, 2022.

JOHN DAY — No column this week.

MONUMENT — I guess the digital world really is taking over! I guess there are not very many people who want to read a physical paper. Kind of like banking, too. I would still rather have some amount of cash on hand, especially when I am out and about shopping. I can’t do those digital calendars, either. I like to look, touch, and write on a physical calendar that is tangible. So, I guess the senior calendars are going to be on the digital newspaper. It feels so weird to be living in this time, ya know?

Our cooks, Terry Cade and Carrie Jewell, went all out on our Tuesday lunch. We got to partake in chicken chow mein, potstickers, and egg rolls! We also had fried rice along with our dish and, of course, our dessert, which was Mandarin orange cake. I remembered to bring my Asian garlic hot sauce with me so I could enjoy it with a spicy kick. LOL. We thank our cooks for our wonderful meal!

Our greeters at the table were Bob Cockrell and Sue Cavender. They checked in all the guests, collected and counted up the money. Jan Ensign filled out the paperwork. Bob led us in the flag salute and made the announcements. Yours truly prayed the blessing over the meal.

The Monument Senior/Community Center will be having its rummage sale in the fall. There are some big ticket items that are going to be available for purchase. An arm saw, beds and tables are some of these items. I will let you know more details later.

Hope everyone has a wonderful celebration of the Fourth of July. I just can’t believe that we are fast approaching half of the summer being gone! Really? Where did the time go? In any case, there will be activities at the park, and food. There is of course the famous Fourth of July fireworks show at 10 p.m. Sometimes I am too tired to go that late, or I don’t want to deal with mosquitoes. They love my sweet blood! Ha ha ha.

We thank all our servicemen and women who have served in the past, serve at present or will serve in the future for this country. I pray that people never forget the cost of freedom and that a nation with God’s moral standards will flourish.

I have weaned a bunch of my babies, just three more to go. One of the weaned ones, Mei Mei, cried a lot. She sounded like a real, human baby! Both my son and I had to do a double take a few times wondering if there was a really human baby crying. It just turned out to be Mei Mei. I am still feeding Cap, Rebel and Pearl. Pearl is mostly getting water now. Some of the others still try and get some milk from me! I think it has been at least a week or so but yeah, they still try and come over, wanting the bottle. I ignore them. They don’t look like they are starving, though.

Psalms 34:1 I will bless the LORD at all times. His praise will continually be on my lips.

PRAIRIE CITY — I just climbed down from the attic. It was cool up there this morning so I have been trying to sort through all the memorabilia of the last 60-plus years. Have to sit on a child-size chair, and my knees finally said they had had enough! It’s either that or sit on the floor or kneel, neither of which is very comfortable. But I do have an attic in which I can work, right?

When we moved in, the electrician said, “There’s a lot of room up there.” The determination from a former building constructor was that it could be made into an attic. So the decision was made to go ahead and do it. Since I have lost height, I can almost stand up in the center of the room and that’s the only place I can. So that’s why I sit and/or kneel. I know you can all understand …

So back to business: Tom’s brother-in-law Steve Marek led the flag salute. He and his wife were visiting from the valley. The winner of the $10 gift certificate donated by Huffman’s Market for the June birthday was Lynette Sullens.

Our volunteers included Mary, Sharon, Gwynne, Gail and Pam. Tom asked the blessing. His trivia concerned Charles Spurgeon, who was born on June 19 in 1834. Since there was no one of note born on today’s date, and we had used last week to learn about Juneteenth, he caught us up on Rev. Spurgeon. He was a Baptist preacher of note in London for many years.

Tom had two quotes not attributed to him: “I don’t make many mistakes with my mouth shut.” (We can all agree with that!) “The only fool bigger than the person who knows it all is the person who argues with him.” (Amen!) I refer you to the political campaigns of the past and present.

Our great cooks made meatloaf with mashed potatoes and gravy, beets, cantaloupe, and birthday cake donated by Driskill Memorial Chapel. Head Cook Pam even has asked for your desires for future meals, so be sure to let her know.

Joe Phippen brought in some of his over-producing lettuce. It was all bagged and ready to go home with a new consumer. And it all did. Thanks, Joe.

Well, this is the last time I will be able to go home after dinner and sit down and rest and read the Blue Mountain Eagle in print. Too bad, so sad. Such is life in the fast lane. Some of the items I was going through in the attic included issues of the school paper from 1959-1961. It was mimeographed. Young people today would have no idea what that was! Do they know what carbon paper is? Or why the number buttons on their ubiquitous cell phones have letters on them? Ah, the good old days …

Well, it’s time to start thinking about the music for the Ensemble for Christmas. It’s only six months away! Remember, time flies …

Jude 1:17, 20 But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold (and) … build yourselves up in … faith and pray in the Holy Spirit.