Pre-Halloween, 2019

          Karl and Marion Haws have been with us for the past month. Periodically they need to reconnect with their Idaho lives. While here they have had family visitors. Ken and Lauren Nash were up from Sol Vang, CA. Adam Haws, also of Sol Vang, and a friend took advantage of the deer hunting season. Kasey and Julie Haws were welcomed home. They were released not long ago after serving for three years as the President of the Mexico, Villahermosa, Mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Kasey and Julie live in Redlands, CA.

          A new family has moved onto the Two Creek Ranch. They are Greg and Pearl Olsen with their daughter Marie and her children, Shea, Courtney, Kendall and Morgan. A son is deployed in the military. Curry Donaldson, father of the family, manages a large ranch in Arizona and comes north frequently to support his children in their varied interests. Shea Donaldson spoke recently in the Mink Creek LDS Ward, prior to her leaving to serve in the Paraguay, Asuncion, Mission.

          Kent and ReNae Egley managed a few days break after the intense hay harvest to slip down to southern Utah. They enjoyed the slightly warmer weather and the scenery of Bryce Canyon National Park and the surrounding area.

          Jeff and Julie Workman spent their fall break from their Utah jobs to spend time at their Mink Creek home. They live in Stansbury Park. Even though our weekend was rainy and skies were on the gloomy side, the switch is a boost for them.

           Hunting season is getting short. Still getting some reports of both elk and deer, tagged and being readied for the freezers. Seems to have been a pretty good year, judging from word-of-mouth reports, nothing official.

         Ended the day with snow sifting down and woke to the same. It has been a frigid day, but beautiful in its whiteness. No depth to speak of, enough to leave tracks of whatever moved about, be they critter, vehicle, or human. Don't think we are quite ready for this yet, the lawn grass is still green

          For any reader who might be interested in scheduling our community facilities, aka the Church building or our Ballpark, there has been a change. Forrest Christensen has dealt with that for the past several years. He has been released and the current facility coordinator is Layne Erickson.

          Don't forget to cast your vote  on Nov. 5th, it is a privilege denied many around the world.

October 23, 2019

         Some farmers are done, some still pushing to get that third crop of hay done. Some have raked it at least three times in the drying process. The baling equipment goes to work even in the dark and there is much relief when the task is completed. This has been a year to deal with a damp fall for an obstacle.

           The vibrant colors of our trees a week ago are now a blur of crackling dry leaves, colors muted nearly to the point of tan and grey. The slightest wind has the leaves falling into a crunchy carpet. The deer hunters will have a hard time sneaking up on their prey. The deer will have an equally hard time slipping off with noiseless steps.

           Lana McCracken is home after having some shoulder surgery. This was repair work was for a torn rotator cuff, following a fall. She is doing well, and learning to be ambidextrous. With a few more weeks of physical therapy she plans to be good as 'almost new.'

            The turkeys are coming back from their summer vacation to the higher mountains. They have been seen feeding in the fields by Turkey Curve near the home of LeeAnn and Clyde Gilbert. Not in great quantities thus far, perhaps these are the scouts for the rest of the flock. I note that the birds are bustling around the Cub River area as well. Our two areas are connected with a ridge in between.

            The family of John and Arlene Warburton gathered in Mink Creek for the funeral of John. Two of their children live in St. George, UT, Paul and Sandalee Warburton and James and Chantelle Warburton. David and Wendy Warburton are in American Fork, Ut, Rita and Richard Cargill in Beaumont, CA. Michelle and Chris Ure live in Ogden, Ut. Cherise and Tracy Olsen, in Franklin, the only ones still in Idaho.

           The roar of the motorcycles traveling up and down our highway has lessened with the chillier temperatures. Earlier in the season a cavalcade of thirty-two bikers were headed south after being in Bear Lake country. Imagine trying to pass that parade!

            It has been a rather wet few days, and if not wet then at least gloomy. We have awakened to skiffs of snow a couple of mornings, but that is gone in an hour or two. Halloween decorations adorn some porches and yards. This year the plan is to have our Harvest social at the recreation hall on Oct 31^st for warmth rather than outdoors, with contests for chili and soups, finishing up with pie. It will be nice to be where we can be comfortable. Costumes for the young, optional for those of “more advanced years.”

October 16, 2019

          It is a beautiful Fall in this community. Evans Hill, to our south is a swirl of red and orange from top to bottom, and if a person looks across the broad valley over to the west side their mountains tend to be a match. We have had a thorough freeze, but it is still lovely to see. An overnight snowfall has stayed in every spot untouched by the cold rays of the sun. With this last freeze the deer may miss out on some of the munchies from orchards and blackened gardens.

            Elder Samuel Seamons is back among us after serving for the last two years in the Philippines, Legazpi, Mission. He is the son of Jeff and Jennifer Seamons and his family had a great time welcoming him home when his flight landed at the Salt Lake City airport. Kathy and Joe Jarvis, grandparents, have welcomed two returning missionary grandsons this month, both from island missions, the Philippines and Sydney, Australia.

          La Ron Baird had a brief stay in the hospital in Pocatello after having a ATV vehicle rollover. He had been hunting in the Burley area and ended up with a concussion and injured shoulder.

           The Forest Service had a control burn up our way a while back that caused some excitement. Seeing smoke rising, knowing how dry the terrain was, caused some anxious moments for residents until they learned it was a planned situation.

            There has been an unusual roadside fatality. A coyote was the victim, we expect to see deer, racoons, skunks, even a turkey now and then but a coyote carcass is a rarity.

           Speaking of roadkill.. .When a skunk is the victim all vehicles do their best to avoid contact with the downed critter, and there are quite a few on the commute from Mink Creek to Preston and points south.

            There have been quite a few reports of success with the local deer hunting season in progress. Even with all the shots echoing through our valley we still have deer in our yards, on the highway. Just this time of year.

Oct 8, 2019

          It was a perfect evening, but a little on the chilly side. Mink Creek community took a Fall Foliage Ride into the mountains around Station Creek. It was a great turnout, more than 30 outfits, 4 wheelers or Side by Sides. The group split into three sections, led by Nate Olson, Jeff Olson and Lin McKay, each taking a different trail, all headed to the top. Great scenery all along the trails. Some elk were rousted out. When the goal was reached there were marvelous views of Glendale, Cub River, the whole west side of northern Cache Valley. A person could see all of Mink Creek village up to the entry of the Caribous National Forest. Once back down to the Olson farm there was huckleberry and huckleberry cheesecake ice cream to top off the activity. The local LDS missionary pair, Elders Duke and Rich, provided some vocal and guitar music along with the refreshments. It might have been cold but huckleberry ice cream is always acceptable.

         Mink Creek has four young men playing on the Preston High School football team this year. They are Andrew and Charles Iverson, sons of Kurt and Margret, Stetson Ostler, son of Stuart and Alona Ostler, and Ty Jepsen, son of Kerry and Melinda Jepsen. On the PHS volleyball team this year is Emily Longhurst, daughter of Candy Longhurst.

          We started this past week off with our first low snowfall of the season. Sept 29^th, after a couple of days of rainfall, sent some big heavy feathery flakes in the morning. However within just a couple of hours it had warmed up and looked as if it had only been a dream, unless you looked up into our surrounding mountains and the whiteness was still in place.

          The Lewis and Clark Volunteers, a Mountain Man group that headquarters in Soda Springs,ID, were here for a weekend of fall rendezvous. The group gathers on the Vernon Keller farm on the banks of Mink Creek. Vernon's daughter-in-law, Denise, came up from Alpine, UT, for this annual event.

           The time for harvesting chokecherries is past, but there are plenty left on the trees, up and down our village. Our local bird population is now doing their share of harvesting the berries. The trees shake with the activity taking place within their branches, in and out, repeatedly. Seeds must be scattered for nature's planting over many miles.

           Most of our residents that still farm are hoping for enough dry days to get that third crop into the barn, or wherever they stack it. The hay is cut, raked and waiting. Nights are frosty and bring moisture. Gardens are done for, only a few root crops still holding on. Vines of tomatoes, squash, cukes an melons are black, but it is mid October and we expect nothing else.

Day after 1stSnow, Oct 1, 2019

        The Relief Society ladies gathered at the ball park, before it got too cold, and enjoyed a Harvest Dinner. It was a pot luck affair with dishes made from the produce grown during the warm months. It was also a sharing time for anyone that had an overabundance of such things as green beans, zucchini or yellow squash, tomatoes, cucumbers. Getting a few new recipes always goes with a session of this sort.

         Jeff Olson drove to Ft. Carson, CO, just outside of Colorado Springs, to witness the ceremony of his son Andrew Lane Olson as he was installed as the Commander of 299^th Engineer Battalion of the U.S. Army. Better known as Andy, Commander Olson had been in the Army corp of Engineers and had served in Iraq for10 months supervising repairs on a large dam near the city of Mosul. He was transferred out of the Corp and into regular Army to become the commander of the unit. Andy and his family live in Colorado Springs at this time but were previously in Seattle, WA.

         Bob and Claudia Erickson drove to Kaysville, UT, to attend the funeral of her brother-in-law, Vaughn Perkins. Others of the Erickson family joined them there: Danalee and Gene Abernethy, Carla and Mark Nielsen and Laural Janke. Others attending with Franklin County roots were long time friends: Colleen Hawkes, Bishop Reed Povey and Eldean Holliday.

          Jody Rasmussen and her sisters recently took on the adventure and challenge of hiking Mt. Borah, Idaho's highest peak, part of the Lost River Range in the Challis National Forest. It proved to be grueling, not for the fainthearted, but worthwhile and each of them came away from the experience with a broadened perspective and appreciation of life.

         The passing of Richard Clair Jensen, known well as Dick, came unexpectedly to our community. He has been in the role of caregiver for several years with his wife, Ladawn. He is well known for his fun sense of humor, his teddy-bear approach to driving one of our school buses for many years and his love of his horses and his farm. This leaves an empty spot on our village roster. The Jensen brothers all grew up in Mink Creek: Lynn, Dick, Val, Ed, and Robert, sons of Leeral and Naomi Jensen.

         Geese are revisiting our ponds and fields as they make their way south with the weather changing. Their conversations can be heard while they are finding tidbits and bugs to refuel their energy for the flight.

         The first freeze has arrived. Also the first snow, although it didn't last long at the lower levels, Our mountain tops are white and the days since then have been cold enough that it hasn't receded. For some of our residents this will be their first winter where snow is the normal weather forecast. Welcome to Idaho in all seasons!