Our Montana Memories

We've made severeal "pilgrimmages" to our wonderful property in Montana. Our first time wass when we bought the property in 2000 or 1999. I was really young and had no idea what the trip was about. It was just mom, dad, neal and me back then.


Earlier in 2001, my dad took Neal and I to the property and then to the family shindig. We had a HUGE hive of bees there. Not any type of bee, but yellowjackets. I HATE those things with a passion. Here is a link to those agressive bees' info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_jacket
Anyways, in the morning, the bees would harass us when we ate breakfast. So, the next time we ate , we crossed the road to the area near the hill. It was about a 1/4 from the foundations. A bee or two would arrive, and we would shoo them away, but they'd alert the others and a swarm would chase us until we gave up our bowls of cereal and ran off. So, Neal and I grabbed our choice weapon (a broom- what is it with me and wildlife and weapons with long handles-- raccoons, possums, bees) and charged screaming and wailing while feroicously hitting the bees. In our hit-and-run attacks I did not get stung but Neal was covered in bee stings. I remember Neal balling his eyes out when a couple of bees decided to nab him in the flesh of his neck. I was six and Neal was four. I always have been the one to get away unscarred while Neal was blamed for everything. Neal, being the younger and dumber, never learned from my mistakes.

In 2001, my dad took some time off of vacation to get the foundation poured in and get everything set up. He was there alone during the 9/11 attack and heard about it while stopping by in town to by some supplies and heard about. He then tuned into the radio to get more details. He wasn't sure if it was just a freak terrorist event or if it signaled a war against the US, so he called us when we lived in Kent to see how we were faring. He finally calmed down and continued work there again. He was there until October and snow had begun to fall. In west. MT, they have hot HOT summers and then the transition into winter is extreme. Oh yeah, and when he came back, the bee colony was nearly entirely wiped out. Only about 5 buzzers were seen that winter. 2 kids managed to do what some pest control companies still fail to do.