2/18/2013 (1721)

               Happy Birthday Bob Hosmer (DHS ’56): Lynnwood,WA                                              

  
Reply from Joan Richard:  Dunseith, ND
 
It’s so nice to see these pictures of people who made Dunseith a real community.
I really enjoy the ongoing info and entertaining stories.
 
 
San Haven Photo’s
Posted by Susan Fassett Martin (’65):  Spearfish, SD
  
 
 
 
 
Om El Akheil, The white horse in the photo
Reply from Trish Larson (’73):  Portola Valley, CA
 
 
Thanks for the nice compliments on the blog, Gary.  

That was a photo of my wonderful horse Om El Akheil, who sadly died in August 2012 after a wonderful year and a half together.  I bought him at the LA Equestrian Center in May 2011, where he had been living in a stall for 8 years.  He had been ridden about 3 days a week, and well loved, but had spent little time out in nature.  
With us, he got to explore wilderness areas in California, Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, living with a herd for the first time in his life.  He was in love with my mare, Maggie.  He got to swim in the ocean, strut in parades, run on the beach, see the view from mountaintops, camp in 6 states, dance in a bar, and walk big city streets.  

He seemed happy, but had a number of issues including some metabolic issues that eventually ended his life.
 
I was sorry to lose him, but feel very lucky to have had shared the short time we had together.  He was a wonderful purebred Arabian – 1/2 Spanish Arab and 1/2 Egyptian Arab.  They call that “the golden cross” because it produces such a beautiful combination of courage, athletism, size, beautiful disposition, and intelligience.  He was all of those things.

At the time of his sudden death, I transported him to UC Davis Vet school, one of the finest equine hospitals in the world, near Sacramento.  They could not save him, and he died in my arms a few hours later.  An autopsy was performed, and they never could figure out the cause of the “hemorrhagic colitis” that caused him to bleed to death internally.

Ultimately, we’re all born with a death sentence, and it was his time to go.

He was a great friend, and many loved him.  I think of him every day, and I will always fondly remember the great times we had together.  I have many photos, and from time to time, I post them on Facebook in his memory.  There are many stories and photos of Akheil painted like a zebra.  

He seemed to love being “a horse of a different color”.  

The photo you posted to the Dunseith blog was an early jumping lesson.  

Nowadays, I wear a helmet because the fences are getting higher…

Trish
Trish,
 
I am sorry to hear of your loss of such a beautiful horse. I can tell that he was indeed a show horse.
 
Trish, I am not sure how you manage all that you do. I just wish that I had a fraction of your well rounded abilities. Not only are you a good horseman and Nurse, but an excellent writer and communicator too among a host of other abilities also.
 
Gary 
 
 
Ole and Regina Larshus’s Golden ‘Wedding anniversary celebration in 1938
Reply from Dick Johnson (’68):  Dunseith, ND
 
Gary and Friends,

       In the Larshus  family picture,  there a few I think I can identify.  Because they are related to the Halvorson,  Rudes,  and other Rendahl area families I looked for members of those families and this is my guess:  In the left of the picture and directly at the edge of the house wearing a dark suit,  I am pretty sure is Ingolf Medlang.  The tall guy next to him is Cliff Halvorson.  On the other side of the center of the picture (right of center)  there are a bunch of kids sitting on a bench with an older lady.  The first boy from the left is Art Rude and the fifth person from the left and wearing a dark suit,  is Otis Rude.  This is just my opinion, judging from old pictures I have seen of Art and Otis as kids.  Art would have been about 15 in 1938.  He graduated from DHS in ’39 at age 16.  I would guess there are probably members of my extended family (Johnson,  Olson,  Berg,  Lagerquist, etc.)  in the picture too but I can’t pick any of them out.  Thanks Gary!

Dick

 
 
 
Joke of the day
Posted by Rosemary Smith:  Bottineau, ND
 
NORTH DAKOTA DECLARES WAR ON USA

President Barack Obama was in the Oval Office when his telephone rang.

“Hello, President Obama,” a heavily accented Norwegian voice said. “‘Dis
here is Sven, over here at the VFW bar in Larimore , North Dakota .

Ve don’t like some a yer policies so I am callin’ to tell ya that we are
officially declaring war on ya!”

“Well, Sven,” Barack replied, “This is indeed important news! How big is
your army?”

“Right now,” said Sven, after a moment’s calculation, “there is myself, my
cousin Knute, my next-door-neighbor Ole, and the whole dart team from the
VFW.”

Barack paused, “I must tell you Sven that I have one million men in my
army waiting to move on my command.”

“Wow,” said Sven, “I’ll haf ta call ya back!”

Sure enough, the next day, Sven called again. “Mr. Obama, da war is still
on!

We have managed to acquire some infantry equipment!”

“And what equipment would that be, Sven?” Barack asked.

“Vell sir, ve got two combines, a bulldozer, and three big farm tractors.”

President Obama sighed. “I must tell you Sven, that I have 16,000 tanks
and 14,000 armored personnel carriers. Also I’ve increased my army to one
and a half million since we last spoke.”

“All right den, said Sven. “I’ll be getting back to ya.”

Sure enough, Sven rang again the next day… “President Obama, da war is
still on! We have managed to git ourselves airborne! We up an’ modified
Ole’s ultra-light vit a couple’a shotguns in da cockpit, and four big boys
from the Norskie Cafe haf joined us as vell!”

Barack was silent for a minute then cleared his throat.

“I must tell you, Sven, that I have 10,000 bombers and 20,000 fighter
planes. My military complex is surrounded by laser-guided, surface-to-air
missile sites. And since we last spoke, I’ve increased my army to TWO
MILLION!”

“Two million you say?,” said Sven, “l’ll haf’ to call you back.

Sure enough, Sven called again the next day. “President Obama! I am sorry
to have to tell you that we have had to call off this here war.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” said Barack. “Why the sudden change of heart?”

Vell, sir,” said Sven, “we’ve all sat ourselves down and had a long chat
over a few beers, and come to realize that there’s yust no vay ve can feed
two million prisoners.”

NORTH DAKOTA’S CONFIDENCE CANNOT BE SHAKE