Last summer I found a third cousin, once removed, in my father’s line that goes back to my 3rd great grandparents, Thomas and Jane Pierce. The young man’s name was Earl Robert Hulse, born 1923 in Kansas (G6TX-H6T). He went off to war, and was lost at sea in the Pacific Ocean on 21 July 1942. His parents are gone, and his only sibling died in 1995. He was unmarried. There is no close relative left who would be able to see to his temple work. The man gave his life for our country. I, therefore, requested permission from the temple department to do his temple work. Permission was granted. One of my grandsons was baptized for him in July, and I personally did his initiatory work, endowment, and sealing. After the making of such a great sacrifice, I considered it a great honor and privilege to be able to do his work.

The Great Die-up was an event that affected Wyoming, Montana, and the Dakotas in the winter of 1886-87. It was a weather catastrophe that killed millions of cattle. “The Great Die-up” is a macabre word play on the term “round-up.”

As a college student at Oregon State Agricultural College, Dad took all the mathematics classes that he could get. He loved mathematics. He was working toward a degree in agricultural engineering. Following each test, the professors would post the results on the outside of their office doors. Dad’s name was always at the very top of the list.

Brent Kerns took 4th place in the Oregon tryouts for a place on the 1976 Olympic wrestling team. His grandmother, Janet B. Kerns, thought that qualified him to be the proper recipient of his grandfather’s boxing medals. She went into her bedroom and came out with two medals which she presented to him. I, James Kerns, had never seen them until this date in November 2021. One says, “Boxing. City Championship Corvallis Ore. 1931.” The other is for the intramural boxing championship.

James: “Before we start our walk, you need to take notice of all the swallows on Ellen’s power lines. How many are there, and how would you count them?”