OK Solberg: 00:00

I wanna again welcome you to the 04:05 coffee break. Hey, guys. Get you a cup of coffee, glass iced tea, bottled water. Let's see what's happening. Spring wheat, $5.90 a bushel, 550 pounds steer calf.

OK Solberg: 00:13

I've been hollering at the top of my lungs for the last several weeks, three dollars and eighty five cents a pound. Butcher hog in Omaha, Seventy Seven Cents a pound, and a hundred pound phalom in Billings will fetch you $2.14. But guys, there's more, much more. So we got a little rain. Praise the Lord.

OK Solberg: 00:35

There is a bible verse that states he provides rain for the earth, He sends water on the countryside. Job five ten. Oh, we needed it, and we'll need some more, but we are so thankful for what we received. Now, guys, it reminds me of two true stories that happened within my hearing. The first was our neighbor and good friend Frank Martin.

OK Solberg: 01:04

That would be Henry's father. Frank told my dad with me in earshot. Frank said, in the Bible, you remember where it rained for forty days and forty nights? Yeah. My dad said.

OK Solberg: 01:20

Well, us in Phillips County just got a half inch out of that deal. Oh, yes. We've been dry before, but it actually seems the norm. Oh oh, wait. Side note here.

OK Solberg: 01:34

Do you remember Frank Martin's wife's name? Anyone? Anyone? Audreen. Yes.

OK Solberg: 01:43

Just ask Henry if his mother's name was Audreen. I like that name. She was our neighbor. She was my dad's substitute bus driver. I like that name, Audreen.

OK Solberg: 01:54

It's kinda like the name Orvin. You don't hear it often. But, anyway, the second story about lack of rain happened, oh, about sixteen years ago in the Good Samaritan Center where my father lived his last days. It was time to get dad to the nursing home, and, yeah, he was in favor of it. Shoot.

OK Solberg: 02:17

He told me years earlier, and I kid you not, guys. He told me if I ever need to go to the nursing home and I get ornery about it, you just get a big two by four. Now that's the honest truth. And, of course, I didn't get a big two by four. He went willingly.

OK Solberg: 02:35

But I like that story because it showed that my father realized often, no matter what you do, there comes a time when family can't take care of all your needs at home, and a nursing home is a place to go. So it was time to get him checked in to the Good Samaritan Center right here in Malta, and he was gonna have a roommate. I thought it was rather fitting that his roommate was Clifford Munson from Dodson. You see, Cliff Munson had a farm north of the Solberg Homestead up there north of Dodson. And my grandfather was used to farming with the team, so when tractors came along, my grandfather Albert had a hard time figuring out how to run them.

OK Solberg: 03:22

Now, guys, I compare it to these newfangled telephones, you know, they call a smart phone. Well, they're smarter than me, but ask a little kid, and they'll figure it out in about two seconds. So since my grandpa didn't like to drive the tractor, he put his young son, Inwald, in the seat. Well, even 12 year old Ingwald couldn't always figure out the ins and outs of the John Deere model d. Well, that's where Cliff Munson came into the picture.

OK Solberg: 03:51

Cliff was older. He was a neighbor to the north. Cliff would be driving down from his place to Dodson or Malta, and he'd see my father out there standing next to the tractor, tankering, and he'd pull in and help him out. So the two men in the same room at the nursing home knew each other for decades. But as you know, guys, time has a way of taking away parts of our mind in old age.

OK Solberg: 04:20

So to Cliff, Ingold looked like a stranger and, well, to Ingold, he thought I'd never seen this man before in my life. But both guys being hospitable at heart knew they should carry on a conversation with their roommate. So Cliff said, sure is a nice day. My father replied, oh, it's a dandy. And that's about where it would end until my father thought for just a moment and said, sure could use a rein.

OK Solberg: 05:00

I got a big kick out of that. It's a saying that is applicable nearly any time in Phillips County, Montana. So I'll just say this. We got a little precipitation yesterday, but we sure could use a good rain. So until next time, as you go out there, remember now, don't be bitter.