Hana and I spent the last two days in blizzardy Killdeer town celebrating Christmas with the grand/parents. Look at these snow drifts that welcomed us back to our house in Dunn Center today!

Congratulations, Dale Bentley, on surviving double implant surgery (kidneys & liver)!

You're a soldier--the John Wayne of historical preservationists.

May the days, in your honor, begin to lengthen immediately.

I was Santa yesterday. That's me to the left.

Youngsters showed up at Dunn Center City Hall to let old Sandy Claus in on what they wanted for Christmas. I'd listen, ask a few questions, and then hand each one a brown paper bag filled with peanuts in the shell, an apple, and a candy cane.

I can't say I did the greatest job of playing Kris Kringle, but I enjoyed trying. It's possible I was the only one Mayor Brown could find who could fit into the suit!

Back from Calgary.

Grandpa and Grandma invited Hana and me and the folks over for a lutefisk supper last night. Lutefisk is cod Jell-O mixed with lye. The sad part is that I'm beginning to like it. Hana about gagged.

One good thing about lutefisk is, if placed strategically, it will keep raccoons from living under your house. Come spring, though, you might find some Norwegians under there.

My dear friend and neighbor, Vivian (Rayma Marian Morrell) Knutson, has crossed over the Great Divide. She was 84. A week ago she was as vivacious and nimble as a cat, buzzing around her house listening to Christian talk radio and taking notes. She reminded me of a pioneer woman. From my porch I would often see her hauling two sloshing five-gallon buckets of water for her tomato plants. She was a bona fide cowgirl until the end.

From her obituary:

[Vivian] thoroughly enjoyed riding her horse, Snip, to and from school and had other horses throughout her youth, including Fleet and Coalie. Part of her was a daring tomboy who was thrilled to be her dad’s farm/ranch helper. She loved trailing cattle to and from her father’s homestead in the Little Missouri Badlands. She loved to reminisce about her youth and especially enjoyed growing up with her Kling cousins.

Vivian had a heart as big as Dunn County and spent most of her life serving her family and others. She loved family trips, camping at Voigt’s Bay, her father’s cabin at Lake Ilo, family reunions, history, holidays and picnics. She pursued her passions with gusto and will be remembered for growing cherry tomatoes year-round, baking delicious buns and taking photos of everyone and everything that touched her heart. She enjoyed studying God’s word, was an avid Christian-radio listener and freely shared her faith with anyone. She loved half cups of hot, hot coffee and the challenge of serving good, hot meals to horseback riders moving cattle to or from the Badlands.

Vivian has been woven into my life since I was in first grade, when she was my first Sunday School teacher. Earlier this year I volunteered to drive her to Bismarck for some errands. When we arrived home, she handed me a check to buy two wooden rocking chairs for my front porch. When I protested, she told me to think of the chairs as a housewarming gift. She said she wanted young people stay and flourish in Dunn Center, and she hinted that a second rocking chair might help attract a partner into my life. Perhaps I have her to thank for my girlfriend!

Hana and Vivian became friends immediately when they met in June. Vivian hired Hana once a week to clean her house, organize pictures, and curl her hair. Hana and I are both very sad this week. We wish there was still a light on in the old house across the street.

The funeral will be this Wednesday. I'll be trucking and, unfortunately, will miss both the wake and funeral.

I'm selling some old lizard skin cowboy boots on eBay.

My new CD, All the Things I Done Wrong, looks to be complete soon.

Song order:

1. Corpse
2. Michael Jackson
3. Stomach's on Fire
4. All the Things I Done Wrong
5. Day's Wages
6. Buddha Chant
7. Pegasus
8. Mister, I Can't Save Your Daughter
9. Tsunami
10. Your Mind is Mine

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Dunn Center is looking Christmas-y today. Snow has arrived. The post office and city hall both put up their plastic trees.

Also, two Black Angus bulls broke through Vivian's fence and are roaming through town.

Bad news from the badlands:

"Pearl Drop," my white Subaru, died.

Zero trucking runs in November.

My sweet neighbor Vivian had a stroke yesterday and is in a coma.

Spent today driving around on an ATV and clearing trails on Killdeer Mountain. With all the noise I created using the chainsaw, I still managed to see much wildlife: turkeys, deer, songbirds, and a curious ermine that reminded me of a skinny cat. I also saw what looked to be a wolf's paw print in a gopher mound. No sign of mountain lion, but they're around. A hunter saw one on our property last week.

November has been beautiful. The temperature reached 63 today. October was miserably cold and wet.

Took a leisurely drive into the countryside yesterday.

North Dakota is dotted with abandoned farm houses like this.


Hana loves to explore old houses. Gilda is afraid of ghosts, though. She tried to jump out a two-story window. When we got home, she puked on the rug.


Hamm's & Schlitz, beer buddies.

It's Veterans Day again, Grandpa Sand. You've always told me war is hell. I believe you. I pray that I never get shot full of shrapnel, witness the gory deaths of friends, nor have to kill at close range, like you did as a First Lieutenant in WWII. Thank you for your service abroad.

Thank you also for being an active local citizen with a strong voice. I'm posting a short part of a letter you just submitted to The Dunn County Herald regarding national health care reform:

"What if Medicare could be raised high up in scope and national kindness and human dignity? What if it could become a comprehensive program to protect us all from sickening anxieties and the resultant deterioration of family morale due to unmanageable health care costs?"

Bob Sand, Killdeer

Gramps, I appreciate your bravery on and off the field and for always challenging your fellow Earthlings to strive for peace and justice.

Pictures of home:

The mini-barn where Hana works. Gilda is the pup.


Work-in-progress rock patio (with '78 Pace Arrow RV used for storage).


One of two front porch rockers.


Coat rack with blue front door.


Coal stove.


Bed,


Bath,


And Beyond.

Took a nap in a graveyard today with Hana.

Steady truckin'. Just returned from Vancouver, BC, this morning. 'Twas nice to breathe fresh northwest air for an hour. Upon return, Montana roads were icy and travel was slow.

Happy night-before-Halloween! I'm about to watch a scary movie with my sweetie.

Happy 64th, Ma!

Snow is blowin' and the stove is glowin'. For my Christmas truck-driving bonus, Boss Goodall gave me a load of coal today. He picked it up yesterday in Wyoming. It's hard to imagine a better present than high-grade anthracite coal this time of year.

Neighbors Barb and Ed Danks have given Hana and me much of the harvest from their big garden. They've also loaned us their food dryer. We've been dehydrating apples, tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, and beets.

Dad and I are building a west-facing, 9'x25' rock patio on the west side of the house. I hope the ground doesn't freeze solid before we finish.

There is a wee mouse in the house of late. Resident canine, Gilda, is consumed with catching it. She is a good dog.

On the road since Monday.

Great to be driving again.

Something is happening. . . .

Here's a vintage shirt I tagged in 2001 that I just came across on eBay. Somebody in the Philippines is selling it for $20. (After you click the link you'll have to scroll down to see the old "I Know Sandman" silk-screen.)

I'll soon be scoring a "new western" by filmmaker, Vanessa Renwick. It's to be called Land Piranhas.

When my grandparents met in 1939, people like Tom Brokaw, Richard Pryor, and Faye Dunaway weren't born yet. None of the Beatles were, either. Not even Dick Cheney.

Congratulations, Grandpa and Grandma Sand, on your 67th wedding anniversary!

News from Sandland:

Picked two ice-cream pails of chokecherries and wild plums. Syrup soon.

Moving earth around for a patio on the east side of house.

Aunt Christi and Uncle Ken are visiting G & G. They are hosting a steak and salmon supper. Cousin Justin and his wife, Sarah, will be there, too.

The temperature has hovered around 90 F. this week.

Last week, neighbors Ed and Barb took Hana and me out for a spin around Lake Sakakawea on their pontoon boat. We indulged in much swimming and eating of snacks. In the evening, we witnessed a large harvest moon rising over Beulah.

Ed and Barb have a garden that Hana helps water and weed. We receive abundant veggies in return.

Hana and I bought two old blue one-speed bikes at a yard sale.

I lay on the humid prairie tonight and watched the air.

Hello from the rolling hills of Los Angeles, where the Roll Out, Cowboy producers have put me up at Days Inn for three nights. They also gave me per diem to eat three square meals a day. I dined at a spicy Korean barbecue joint tonight with my multi-talented Montana pal Marcus Herring (check out this future-funk music video he just produced: "Freak-A-Zoid Robotz").

As for viewing the feature-length (74 min.) Roll Out, Cowboy documentary yesterday, it was a mind-bender. I winced a few times, which is inevitable--it's mostly about my life and those closest to me. I also laughed a lot. It made me think. I'm proud of Elizabeth L., Elizabeth R., and Warner B. for seeing this thing through so quickly and professionally.

They will send it out to film festivals beginning next week. I hope it has a long festival run.
It's of the moment and has a generous pinch of prairie dust magic to it. It's good.

Off to Hollywood. I finally get to see the doc that's been in the works for the last two years!

South to Missouri.
North to Calgary.
Back in North Dakota Friday.

What I like best is a book that's at least funny once in a while.... What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. That doesn't happen much, though. - J. D. Salinger

August's western Montana Flathead River adventure:

Our excellent guide was one of my high school best friends--Alan Dolezal.


I'm about to jump into "Champagne Alley" (did a face flop).