PAGE 4 PRESS PERSPECTIVES MARCH 13, 2013
By Extension Agent-In-Training Kim Nelson
F ROM TH E
EDITOR'S DESK...
BY ALLISON OLIA4B
EDITOR, IIMALSN COUNTY PRESS
Being'a mom is lik being a ser-
vant for a very demanding albeit
tiny aristocrat who pays you in
snuggles and reprimands you with
ear piercing shrieks of anger. You
often find yourself one step for-
ward one moment and eleven
steps back the next and then the
next day it starts all over.
The dishes were clean. The re-
mains of snow from boots that had
been kicked aside had been
mopped up. The toys were m
their bin. And it was another
day.
I had gotten two cups of coffee
in before the little man had gotten
up for the day.
I was feeling pretty good.
The snowfall from the night
into day into night before had
piled up and the city crews were
out scraping the streets• I had
time before I had to go to work, so
I made the kid a rfice balanced
meal -- peanut butter toast, French
toast sticgs, and some scrambled
eggs with a sippy cup of milk.
He was up to his eyebrows in
breakfast and grinning.
I was pretty proud ofmysel£ He
ate most of the feast spread before
him -- as far as I could tell. He
was pretty good at slipping the dog
a bite or two.
Then as he finished picking at
the bits on his tray he shook his
head as if to say: "Mother dear,
that was delightful. However I am
no longer famished and wish to be
released from this chair, which is
ever so high. Do be so kind as to
remove this tray so that I may
roam free." Were "Downton
Abby" to be recast with tiny chil-
dren playing the uppercrust, my
lifewould be complete.
I unlocked the tray, get it on the
ground, and lifted him out of his
highchair.
The dog sauntered out from his
spot under the tiny child and be-
gan to slop up every last crumb
from the breakfast's remains and
that was when it dawned on me.
• i I don't remember washing the
tray from the ravioli spread the
night before.
I could almost see the dog
smile. I gagged a little.
Forgive me, child. I will try
harder next time.
Like" the Walsh Count), Press on Face-
book and check out our blog at http://walsh-
coun(vpress, wordpress.com
Hello,
Well, we are officially in calving
season. The snow is falling from
west to east at about forty mph
across the yard. Ice under the snow.
Cold, wet cows',.' Our fii'st heifer
had a calf the day before yesterday.
The rest are waiting until tonight
when the barometer and tempera-
ture go down and'the wind and
snow come up. They do that you
know. But, as they say, "Back in the
day"!
Now, you know we haven't had
enough snow to make a difference
the past ten years. Oh, a skiff now
and again, but not much. And I
know you know that a skiff is just
a tad over a smidgen•
It didn't look to me like we had
more than a skiff the other day.
Maybe a skiff and a half. But the
wind was whistling about fifty
miles per and you couldn't see
much past the hood of the pickup.
The weatherman was so excited
he was about wetting his pants.
This was the storm he was born
for. Rain, sleet, snow, and wind.
School c!osings and bus delays•
Highways blocking and no travel
advised• The weatherman was
gleeful in his long awaited impor-
tance. Ten years on the job, with
nothing to report, gets a bit boring.
Hat
But he was making up for, it. I
could have choked him.
Well, you know how Shirley is.
We had to feed the mares. I looked
out the window. You couldn't see
beyond the porch railing. The wind
gusts were rattling the windows• I
was setting in my well-used easy
chair with a cup of, hot chocolate
and a good book. Suddenly, Shirley
jumps fiom her chair and declares,
"We have to go feed the mares!"
I made a casual comment, like,
"They're alright until tomorrow."
After several decades of wedded
bliss, I should have known better.
After a brief, but enlightening dis-
cussion, I too decided we should
feed the mares.
So, we tied ourselves together
with ropes to avoid getting lost in
the storm and made our way to the
pickup. With a little help from the
ether can, I got the tractor running
and set a bale on the pickup.
Now, I know you recall that I
Tips
was the Four-Wheel Drive Driving
Champion ten years running. But
over the past ten years, with no
snow, I must have lost my edge.
And besides that, if I take a good
nan at a drift, my co-pilot would
scream.
With the blowing snow ham-
pering my vision, I hit a drift. Big
drift. That dually pickup stopped.
One turn of the wheels and it was
stuck. Stuck, stuck, stuck. I called
Alfred. He came with his big
Dodge pickup. He backed up,
hooked up his towrope, and hit it.
Hard. One spin and he was stuck.
Stuck, stuck, stuck. I called Will.
Thank goodness for cell phones.
Will came with his pickup and
hooked up. The wind was still
whistling. He hit it. One turn of the
wheels, and he was down to that
slippery stuff where the snow
meets the thawed ground• Stuck.
Stuck, stuck, stuck.
There we were. Stranded.
$100,000 worth of pickups hauling
a thirty-dollar bale to nine mares
that could have made it fill tomor-
row.
Our winter survival kit consisted
of one Salted Nut Roll candy bar I
bought for the grandkids. We were
at least three hundred yards from
help. Shirley and I quickly ate the
candy bar before Will and Alfred
could see it. We had been stuck for
nearly an hour.
Tess came with a pickup and her
and Shirley got the chains on it
with very little advice. They saved
the day. The mares made it until
evening and when the wind abated,
we found a way around the drift.
But that reminds me of another
story. Thanksgiving. Bob, Butch,
and I went to the river. I made a se-
rious, mistake in judgment and be-
came stuck. Stuck. Stuck. Stuck.
Eight miles home.
"I'll tell you one thing. I didn't
know our old hired hand, Jimmy,
had a bottle of Gold Bell wine
• stuck under the seat.
But by the time I walked home
eight miles, up hill, and returned
with another pickup and chain, you
never saw happier stuck men in
your life.
Later, Dean
The first time I heard the word
sequestration, I knew it spelled
trouble. I thought they were saying
that we should see Quester, as if it
were the latest horror show. It was,
This sequester was supposed to
happen at midnight on March 1. It
rrminded me of the night we
crossed the Year 2000 and every-
one stayed up to see'if the comput-
ers in the world would explode and
humanity would have to start col-
lecting data all over again.
Having been a planner for the
'North Dakota Civil Defense Sur-
vival Project, I thought anything
called sequester meant the Rus-
sians were coming and we needed
to head for some underground shel-
ter.
Our house has storage space un-
der the front steps, designed as an
emergency shelter back when the
Russians were frisky. I felt the
safest thing to do about sequestra-
tion was to take cover in this un-
derground space• I didn't know if
sequestration was radioactive or
not.
To make room, we had to throw
out 30 years of Christmas decora-
tions. We had enough to decorate
Waiting for Sequestration in a
Basement Bunker
Sheridan County because every
auction sale seemed to have at least
three boxes go for two dollars or
less. It was an offer I couldn't re-
fuse.
During the cold war, under-
ground shelteis were stocked with
water and crackers. We finished
our crackers in 1997 during a bliz-
zard so now we needed fresh food
supplies.
When President Obama and the
Congress drew the middle class
line at $400,000, I thought that put
me in a group eligible for food
stamps. To a poor country boy like
me, $400,000 seemed rich but
Washington has a funny way of
drawing lines. None of them are
ever straight.
Well, I had.my argument over
food stamps down at the social
service office and they won. They
said food stamps would be cut by
the sequestration and they only had
enough for the chronic poor. Be-
sides, I would need to be tested for
drugs to get a card. If they had done
that, CVS pharmacy would have
repossessed me..
Our little shelter didn't have
room for food, water and beds so
we surrendered the beds and slept
in a stuffed chair in 2-hour shifts•
We went on sequestration watch at
8 p.m. February 28.
We have a 35-inch basement TV
that I saved in 1997 as the flood
waters were creeping up the stairs.
I creeped faster. We could see TV
if we left a little crack in the door.
CNN was covering sequestration
damage in their usual style as it
moved across the country.
They did three in-depth inter-
views - two elderly ladies in an
Idaho rest home and an illegal im-
migrant being deported back to
Chicago.
It just so happened that Turner
Classic Movies was rerunning Dr.
Strangelove and that brought back
frightening memories. Maybe this
sequestration was like the fail-safe
bomb that could not be Stopped.
Sequestration could be doomsday
all over again.
CNN was now interviewing
one of the producers who made Dr.
Strangelove.. In his opinion, se-
questration was a fraud concocted
to divert our attention from a fake
moonshot from New Mexico. (He
had just finished watching Con-
spiracy Theory.)
When it started to get chilly in
our bunker, I thought I should be el-
igible for fuel assistance since I
was so far below the middle class
line drawn by President Obama
and the Congress. No such luck.
Well, the sequestration deadline
came and went and wo're stillcalt-
ing for doomsday. Maybe our kids
will get to see it. It may turn out to
be their fail-safe.
1
Great (and free) opportunity
for teen suicide awareness
It's not always easy to get something for nothing, especially if what
is being offered has great value. But North Dakota has been presented with
such an opportunity and all that is required is for the Legislature to take
action and claim a free gift that has potentially life-saving powers.
• " " a
A heanng was held and presentatmn was made to the House Educ -
tion Committee last week on SB 2306. The bill originally mandated, but
was amended earlier in the Senate, to "allow for" training on youth sui-
cide risk indicators and related matters, in an effort to help prevent young
people from taking their own lives.
The House now has a chance to return the bill to its mandatory status,
and pass it into law, which would seem to be a good thing. The opportu-
nity to keep the bill moving forward will be discussed Wednesday,
March 13, as testimony continued so as to allow advocate Clark Flatt to
travel from Tennessee to tell his story.
Flatt's 16-year-old son, Jason, took his own life on July 16, 1997• Since
that time Flatt hhs started and developed the Jason Flatt Foundation
from which grew the Jason Flatt Act.
In 2007, the Act was passed and mandated youth suicide awareness qd
prevention legislation in Tennessee. It required as part of state licensure
that all state educators complete two hours of in-service teacher training
on youth suicide awareness.
Nine state legislatures have since followed including Louisiana, Cal-
ifornia, Mississippi, Illinois, Arkansas, West Virginia, Utah Alaska and
South Carolina•
The bill in the House committee reads: "Annually, each school district
may provide to middle school and high school teachers and administra-
tors at least two hours of professional development relating to youth sui-
cide risk indicators, appropriate staff responses, and referral sources ...
The superintendent of public instruction shall collaborate with the state
department of health to obtain and disseminate information and training
materials to school districts and non-public'schools, free of charge."
Training materials would be made available for free from the Jason
Flatt Foundation•
Asthe bill was passed out of Senate, only one chan.ge was made -us-
ing the word "may" instead of "shall." Senate committee rationale was
reportedly a lack of comfort in mandating any additional training for staff.
But it seemed near consensus in the first House debate that if the bill
moves to a chamber vote it should include the word "shall."
A strong case for support was made last week starting with Sen. Joan
Heckaman, D-3, New Rockford. "While this bill seems,mighty small
(just over 60 words), its benefits would be mighty large," she said.
She quoted statistics to underline the importance of educators being
aware of potential signs of suicide. She said suicide is the third-leading
cause of death in ages 10-24 and second-leading cause of death for col-
lege age youth.
Heckaman stressed the importance of early intervention in helping to
prevent youth suicide and said: "(statistics show) ... more teenagers and
young adults die from suicide than from cancer, heart disease, AIDS, birth
defects, stroke, pneumonia, influenza and chronic lung disease com-
bined."
The committee also watched a short video sent by Flatt in preparation
for his Wednesday visit. He cited a 2011 youth behavioral survey in which
about one in four North Dakotan teens said they had experienced the feel-
ing of hopelessness and/or sadness for a constant period of two weeks or
more in the past 12 months. He added that one of every seven teens said
they had seriously considered suicide in the'past 12 months; one out of
eight compiled a plan; and one out of nine attempted suicide.
"The Jason Flatt Act - North Dakota ... should be passed.., because
it is the right thing to do in helping save young lives in North Dakota,"
Flatt said.
Greg LaFrancoise, chief executive officer of Prairie St. John's Hospi-
tal in Fargo, testified the bill, if passed, "will ensure teachers are skilled
at identifYing signs of concern and elevated risk for suicide in our stu-
dents."
North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem also testified in sup-
port of the bill pointing out the high number of suicide attempts in North
Dakota. He concurred with others that the training would help educators
identifY risks so that individuals could be referred to properly trained
counselors- potentially saving lives.
Committee discussion centered on how often training would be held.
The bill calls for annual training, but some felt that might be too often.
Others pointed out the annual requirement was only two hours, a small
commitment, which could be included as in-service training.
Another concern centered on taking on liability. It was discounted in
response by suggesting the liability is greaterby not providing training.
John lrby decided to retire earl)" inelate 2011 as • editor of the Bismarck Tribune. He is now a free-
lance writer, private investigator and management consultant. He can be reached at johnrober-
tirby@hotmail.com. _.
Exte
Exchange
Have You Talked to
Your Teen Today?
Have you f0hnd yourself tex-
ting your teen more than talking
to them lately? Sometimes keep-
ing the lines of communication
open with, the young adults in our
lives can be frustrating. Trans-
mitting our thoughts via texts of-
ten gets the message across, but
does it always get the "true" mes-
sage delivered? By keeping com-
munication lines solid adults can
play an important role in shaping
teenager behavior. Talking en-
courages family togetherness and
increases the likelihood teens will
share parents' values.
The following are some tips to
help keep the face-to-face com-
munication lines open with the
teen in your life:
Grade 7 - 9: Listening vs. Lec-
turing: Encouragement
Which is easier? Saying,
"You're late. You know you are
supposed to be home at 6:00 for
supper. You're grounded," or
"Your curfew was ½ hour ago,
what happened?"
As parents sometimes we jump
to conclusions and lecture our
child, which closes the door to
communication. The second ex-
ample is a better way to open com-
munication. It gives your child the
opportunity to talk.
When you lecture, you may
miss some important event that
happened in your child's life that
they really needed to talk to you
about. Having a conversation
with your child does not mean that
he or she avoids the consequence;
it just gives you the opportunity to
build a stronger relationship with
your child.
Listening communication
means you treat each other with
respect, be willing to hear the oth-
er person's point of view, negoti-
ate to reach common ground, and
really listen to the emotions under
the statements your child is mak-
ing. Having a strong connected re-
lationship with your child is a pro-
tective factor that increases the
chances that your child will feel
better about themselves and make
better choices. And better choic-
es means they might be able to re-
sist peer pressure to use alcohol.
Tonight pay attention to how
well you really listen to your teen
and if you find yourself doing
most of the talking; just smile,
close your mouth and give your
teen your full attention.
Grade 10- 12: Opeh commu-
nication
Talking to your teen some-
times sounds easier than it really
is. You may find your teen want-
hag to spend more and more time
with friends or alone in her room.
Btlt your teen still really v£ants and
needs to have conversations with
you.
Remember how Charlie
Brown's teacher sounds? Wha,
wha, wha wha. Yes, that is how
you sound to your teen too when
you lecture. He isn't listening and
you are not developing the rela-
tionship that builds protective
factors•
When your teen tells you some-
thing in confidence, keep it be-
tween the two of you. If this se-
cret includes information about
someone that needs help, talk to
your teen about how both of you
can help. Teen's views and ideas
can be very different than your
own. This may even include
how they feel about drinking. As
you listen to your teen and truly try
to understand her point of view,
your teen may follow your ex-
ample and begin hearing and lis-
tening to your ideas too.
Even though it may be hard to
let go, your teen needs to learn to
start making decisions for himself
and taking responsibility for choic-
es made. Don't underestimate the
power of spending time with your
teen and letting her know that you
love her. Telling your teen that you
noticed when he is making good
responsible choices by will be
welcomed and go a long way.
Tonight, make a date with your
teen to spend some quality time to
find out what is on his or her mind.
Need more help? Check out
http'//www.parentslead.org.
Resources'." Dworkin, .Z (2011). A survival
guide for parents of teenagers." Have yo
talked with your teen today?
Regents of the University of Minnesota.
www.extension, umn.edu/familieswithteens
Around the County
Walsh County Extension Office
Park River - 701-284-6624
Chickens and children: A good
lesson on responsibility
So your child wants to raise
chicken's. This is a great way to
start teaching them responsibility
around the farm. There are a few
basic items you'll need and a few
basic things you'll need to know
before you start.
Things you'll need include a
chicken coop or somewhere for the
chickens to have shelter. When the
chicks are young a cardboard box
with a heat lamp and some wood
shavings will be sufficient. The
best time to get chicks and start
raising them is around April 1. The
heat lamp will be needed for the
first few weeks.. You'll want to
start the temperature at around 95
degrees F and then reduce it by 5
degrees F each week for about
three weeks. When the chickens
are about a month old and have out
grown the box or are able to be
outside in the elements, they will
need space where they can move
around. Each chicken will require
2 square feet. This is also impor-
tant when you build youchicken
coop.
Chickens will require feed and
water each day. It's a good idea to
get a starter feed for chicks from
your local feed store. Then after
about three weeks to a month
switch them to an adult chicken
feed, this will help them gain
weight, and give you a bigger bird
when it comes time to butcher.
When selecting chickens there
are a couple things to consider "
breed and maturity are two of the
major ones. Depending on when
you start your chickens will de-
pend on if you want a fast matur-
ing one or if?)ou want one that will
take longer. 10 to 12 weeks is a
common maturity time period for
market chickens in this area. Egg
laying chickens will reach matu-
rity at about 18-20 weeks of age.
Breeder chickens will reach ma-
turity around 30-35 weeks. There
are many breeds you can choose
from some that will do well in this
area include Barred Rocks Cornish
Cross are good for meat produc-
tion. Good breed for laying eggs
include Leghorns and Rhode Is-
lands.
This is a great way to teach
your kids about raising livestock,
they will learn about animal hus-
bandry, feeding, and the respon-
sibility of caring for animals in
general.
Dates to Remember:
March 13 9:00 Am pesticide certification at the city auditorium
March 18 6:00 Pm Pesticide Re-Certification ONLY at the
Extension office
April 6 1:00 Demonstration on pruning apple trees at the Extension
office (weather permitting)
IYour source for Happy Happenings.
Walsh County Press 284 6333 ]
