OK! Let’s slap our hands together and proclaim that all of our New Year’s Resolutions for 2024 were taken care of. Let me see, I wanted to have a better attitude on life, lose weight, get in shape, spend more time reading and meet my goals for the Northern Sentry. Of all of those well thought out resolutions, I can say that I did, indeed, lose weight. But there is a caveat to that resolution, folks, and that would be that losing weight has been on the resolution list almost every year, and this is the first year that I can remember making that resolution a reality. One out of 55 is not a very good average. And guess what, I have once again resolved to lose weight in 2025. Let’s see if we can make it 2 years in a row.
At the YMCA the jokes were circulating around the locker room about who(m) was going to step on the scale first in 2025, and of course set the weight that would be the measuring point for whether we did, or did not, lose weight this year. Not that 2025 should be all about losing weight, again. There has to be more to this New Year’s resolution process. With that in mind I decided that in 2025 I would broaden the target a bit. Instead of a focus on weight, how about a larger focus on being healthy? Eating right, exercising, spending more time with family, reading a book a month; they would all be positive steps in the right direction. Let’s make them happen! Ready or not 2025, we are here. Are you ready for us?An Apology of Sorts
We received notification that the 69th Bomb Squadron would be returning before Christmas, more than likely on the 23rd of December. Normally The Northern Sentry would be on hand to greet the deployed personnel as they returned to Minot Air Force Base, and the front page of our paper on December 27th would most certainly have been a photo from that event. However, because of the Christmas holiday, we had an early deadline for the 12/27 edition. It had to be at the printers on Friday, December 20th. The papers were delivered on the 26th & 27th as usual, but the return of the Bomber Task Force folks would not be part of the events covered in that paper. We have the same story for the January 3rd paper. Everything will once again be early. This paper went to press on December 27th. Every few years we run into this scheduling issue. We return to normal on January 10th.
However, if all worked out as planned, we will have had coverage of the BTF return in our 12/27 Weekly Post Brief email. What’s important is that we are certainly happy for the hundreds of families that were together for Christmas. There were lots of smiles, tears and hugs on the 23rd, and that’s the way it should be.
A Tip of the Hat
The morning after Minot received about 6 inches of snow I was preparing to head outside and clear my sidewalks and my driveway. I have to be honest, I moved along at a snail’s pace as moving snow is not one of my favorite tasks. But out of the corner of my eye I caught a wall of white snow in the air. Our next door neighbor, Denton, who is active duty military (91st MW) had taken advantage of the late reporting time at MAFB to start to clear neighborhood sidewalks with his electric snowblower. In talking to him later he would share “I would have done all the sidewalks in the neighborhood, but my battery went dead in my snowblower.”
But a dead battery would not deter Denton. Soon he would be in the back alley clearing out a path for his car with a shovel. With piles on both sides of his driveway, he soon was headed to work on the base. What was more amazing was that he was dressed in his work uniform with his baseball style cap. From all of us in the neighborhood, thanks Denton. It’s always nice for neighbors to share in keeping sidewalks clear.
Grandkids Say It All
The Wilson house if pretty quiet these days. My wife, Sue is retired. I am still working for the Northern Sentry and keep busy with volunteer hours for various organizations in Minot. And then…the grandkids arrive and the pace and energy in the house increases to a fever pitch…which is great. A popular show when I first started in the television business was Art Linkletter’s “Kid’s Say The Darndest Things”. I absolutely loved that show, but I always thought the kids had to be encouraged by adults to make their comments. I know now that this was not the case. A weekend of grandkids supplies us with those kiddo comments as they speak their minds, observing what they see, and coming to conclusions like; “BePa (that would be me), why don’t you get a remote that you can run?” or “what did my Dad do around here for fun? He says you guys didn’t even have cell phones when he was my age”. And then there is the 4-year old who is a clone of the Energizer bunny. “BePa (at 6 AM in the morning) I am up!” You can fill in the blank.
Best Kept Secrets
The Northern Sentry Winter Guide is now in racks at Minot Air Force Base, ready to be picked up to guide you through winter 2025. Pick it up and take it home. We thank the many advertisers who make this free guide possible.
Today’s Chuckle
This is the time of year when you’re wishing Santa would just bring you a big sack of money so you could pay off the holiday credit card debt.
