Loring News for Wednesday, December 28, 2022

Happy new year to all my readers! An Irish blessing says: May the road rise up to meet you.

May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face; the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

At least the temperature has gotten warmer! We had some record-breaking cold for the first day of winter! The windchill was -72 for a short time! We have a nice amount of snow, not too much and not too little!

Many of the families in Loring had relatives for Christmas guests. Becca and Robert Engum of Great Falls traveled to Cindy Clark’s home. Kenny and Brenda Clark and their children joined them for Christmas dinner. They also included me, which was a blessing since I got scared of the roads to Billings and chose to stay home.

For Christmas Eve Pete and Carol Lumsden went to Malta for dinner with Gloria and Jerry Salveson, Kyle and Jade Salveson, and children, and I were also included for dinner. So blessed!

Pete and Carol Lumsden spent Christmas Day with Bud and Beth Slade and Jonnae and Jim Slade and kids of Billings in Malta.

On Friday, with the temperatures in the minus 20s, I felt chilly and turned up the heat. But the heat didn’t come. It was 6:00 pm, and I’m thinking, of course, it’s closing time, the weekend and Christmas! No one will be able to help me. But I called Ezzie’s anyway and Derek said they don’t do furnace problems anymore. He gave me Steve Schwartz’s number and Steve answered right away. He walked me through some troubleshooting, but the furnace wouldn’t keep running. I brought out the space heater and set it near the kitchen sink to hopefully prevent pipes from freezing. Steve told me the chimney was probably covered over with ice and snow. So, I called my son Rod to come help if he could. Thankfully he hadn’t left for Billings due to road conditions. He came down and was prepared with a ladder, headlamp, and a pitchfork, The wind was really blowing and I hated to send anyone on the roof with all the snow blowing around. He went up and knocked the snow down, but the furnace still didn’t work longer than ten minutes.

So, I kept starting it every half hour or so until 11 o’clock when I heard a clunk and the furnace started on its own! It ran until the temperature in the house reached 70 degrees and it’s been working ever since! So, avoid tragedy by checking your chimneys on cold snowy days before it gets dark!

Guests of TJ and Char Wasson for Christmas were Steve and Fran Noreen from Cut Bank.

Kia was home from college, too! I love seeing the extended families at church on Christmas Eve! Lumsden’s, Clark’s, etc.!

I had a call from Gwen Henderson and it was so nice to talk to her! She is doing well and staying active in Chester!

Wishing everyone the best in 2023!