I thought March was supposed to have the title of being the windiest month of the year? It seems to me we have had a lot of windy days all year but this fall it seems nearly every day you had to hang on to your hat or you would be chasing it.This week I think we might have set a new record as I think it was Friday when wind gusts reached 55 miles per hour. Now that is enough for me! Just think what the pioneers went through when they were settling the prairie. When the prairie winds blew there was absolutely no shelter for them as there were no trees or buildings of any kind. Some of them dug caves in the ground. They taught us that when we built buildings of any kind to be sure they were on strong foundation.Chicago is supposed to be titled the “windy city” but what about those of us living on the Midwest prairie in farming country where the wind still blows? Those of us living here think it was a good thing we followed the pioneers’ advice or we would all have blown away by this time. Art and Henrietta Boeve left last Wednesday with Donna’s tour bus for Branson, Mo., where they attended several shows and enjoyed many other things. Others going from this area were Gert and Dick Hup from Hills, Cornie and Darlene Bosch, Harold and Corrine Niessink and Anna Elbers, all from Luverne. They returned home on Sunday. Helping Verla Baker celebrate her birthday on Wednesday at her home were Henrietta Huenink, Winnie Scholten, Joan Hoogeveen and Jennie Schouwenburg. Mildred Keunen and Jo Aykens met Dena Hubner, from Edgerton, for dinner in Luverne on Friday. Harold Wissink entered Luverne Community Hospital on Friday where he underwent some tests. He was able to return to his home on Friday. The Hills-Beaver Creek Student Council will host a Blood Drive from 7:30 to 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 26, in the high school gym. Appointments can be made by calling the high school at 962-3240. Isabel Bosch, six-year-old daughter of Tom and Amy Bosch, Sioux Falls, spent the weekend in the home of her grandparents, Dries and Laura May Bosch. Coffee guests in the Jo Aykens home Saturday afternoon were Bertha Bosch, Mildred Keunen and Ginger France from Sioux City, Iowa. Melvin and JoAnn Paulsen returned home last Monday from a two-week vacation which they spent in the home of JoAnn’s sister, Joyce and Otis Wells, at Hilmar, Calif. Winnie Scholten and Mildred Paulsen attended a pre-Thanksgiving potluck dinner Wednesday evening at the Forester Center in Rock Rapids Iowa. Entertainment for the evening was provided by the Brown family from Merrill, Iowa.Among those attending the Quartet Convention at the Ramkota in Sioux Falls, Friday and Saturday, from the Steen area were Jim Elbers, Bill and Marlene DeYager, Art and Henrietta Boeve, Dick and Gert Hup, Melba Boeve and Carol Zwaan.Ginger France, Sioux City, spent the weekend visiting her mother, Micky Bonnema, at Tuff Home and other relatives.Deric Ehde, son of Rick and Lorie Scholten, spent the week visiting in the home of his parents and celebrating his birthday. He attends college in northern Minnesota. Kenny and Gwen Bodewitz, Valley Springs, S.D., were Saturday evening callers in the home of his mother, Henrietta Huenink. Time marches on and ready or not, the holidays are rapidly approaching. I think fall is my favorite time of the year. I love gathering in the perishable plants and garden produce before the first frost gets them. On a beautiful, bright, sunny day I love to get at the fall housecleaning. It is fun getting to the bottom of many corners that have been neglected through the summer. You never know what you might find! Hopefully, now things will settle down so that we can get our housecleaning done.When I thought about this, how busy everyone is and under so much pressure, it seems our schedules are always filled with more than we can get done. Maybe we all need to do a little personal housecleaning as well. Perhaps it would be a good idea, when evening comes, to go off into a quiet place and review your day or week if you have time. Some things to ask ourselves are:•Have you been kind and thoughtful, or mean and thoughtless?•Have you kept an even temper, or have you lost your temper when things have gone wrong?•Have you been pleasant or grouchy?•Have you inspired those whom you have met, or have you depressed and discouraged them?•Have you done something creative and worthwhile, or have you wasted the day with petty things? •Have you been fair and square in what you have done?•Have you increased the happiness moments in the lives of others or have you thought only of yourself?•Have you enlarged your mental horizon, expanded your personality or have you grown larger or shrunk smaller?Think about these things. What we do day-to-day determines what we become. Hour by hour we build our lives for better or for worse. A daily inventory will help to keep us on the right track and headed toward our highest ideals. Why not give it a try?
