Summers in Ekalaka part 1

My favorite time of year growing up was always summer. Summer meant that we would travel across Montana to see my dad's parents, my grandparents. They lived on a ranch near Ekalaka, a quaint historic town in SE Montana.

First ranch my grandparents lived (that I remember)

I think this is where my love for the country came from. The wide open spaces, the animals, the smells of summer. There is nothing like the smell of sweetclover on a hot day or the smell of rain in the air and then how clean and fresh the air smells after it rains, even a little.

View from hill behind my grandparents house

The first ranch I truly remember is the one my dad and aunt currently own. When they first moved on this ranch they lived in the house that was there. It was being renovated when they bought the ranch and was never finished so there was no running water in the house. That means no bathroom facilities either. it was always quite exciting to go to the outhouse, except at night. Outhouses at night are scary places, you never know what is lurking on the way to the outhouse or in the outhouse. My grandmother never let not having running water slow her down though.

The Elmores ready to head home

My grandma was an amazing woman. She had a strong personality and was strong physically as well. She worked on the ranch right alongside the men, keeping up, and sometimes outworking them. She would get up, fix breakfast (sometimes just cereal depending if they had hired hands or not), milk the cow, and then head out to the hayfield. About an 45 minutes to an hour before lunch (dinner in SE Montana) she would be home and fix an excellent lunch, simple, but very filling and good tasting. Then, back out to the hayfield. She was a very hard worker all her life.

My grandma, Ethel Elmore, and her horse

My grandma, Ethel Elmore, was a big part of why I loved going to Ekalaka for vacation every year. She has been an inspiration to me and one of my heroes.

My grandma in 1985 in the Centenial Days of 85 Parade

Prologue

This blog is about my life, my average life. I am not writing it to be noticed, I just want to write my life as I see it and have a record for me and my family.

Sometimes this may seem random but I am a random kind of girl. I will tell tales of my history and the present in no particular order.

To start, let me introduce myself. I am just the average person who possibly lives next door to you. I have never done anything exciting or special. For most of my life I have just survived, like most Americans, doing what needs to be done day by day. I have had ancestors who were special, at least we think so now. They probably didn't think so at the time, they were just doing what needed to be done. My great, great grandfather David Russell did a lot in his life. He was an Indian fighter, buffalo hunter, served in the military, traveled all over the United States, married an Indian woman named Ijakalaka and settled where Ekalaka, Montana is now. They ranched there, just doing what needed to be done.

As I write this I am thinking that just being average and doing what needs to be done is not so bad. Maybe instead of people trying so hard to be famous, powerful, and rich they should be happy where they are. The Russells just worked their ranch, raised their family turned out to be pretty great people. No they are not famous, they were not powerful, and they definitely were not rich, but they were happy.

I have not seen as much of our great nation as my great, great grandfather did but I am happy in my little corner of the world. I own a business that I have dreamed about owning for years. I have kids and my husband. I also have two very sweet dogs and one silly cat. They all care that I come home from work every day. They all love me.

So, maybe I am just the average American. Who cares. I don't. Maybe no one cares if I write this down. So what. I am doing this for me. If someone else reads it and gets something out it like a laugh or a "thank God I am not her", it has served more of a purpose than it was intended to.

Stay tuned for chapter 1.