Caryn’s Thoughts
Looking back on my life really, but focusing on Christmases, so much has changed. I remember Christmases with my parents and my sisters…simple times with just our family. After we opened gifts in the morning, the house would begin to be filled with the wonderful smells of the coming dinner. While things were cooking, we were playing with our various toys and such. While the day was relaxed and fun for my sisters and me, I’m sure it wasn’t quite as relaxed for my parents, who would spend most of the day with meal preparations. Nevertheless, they lovingly prepared for that dinner, and before very long, dinner was ready…and what a dinner it was. My parents could really cook. I can still taste all those wonderful foods.
Later, with the marriages of my sisters and me, the dinners became a little more complicated, meaning we would need to incorporate the in-laws’ side of the family. Still, it worked out, with a little bit of time management. We somehow managed to go both places and eat two meals…were we ever full sometimes!! With 
so many good foods, it’s hard to take a small sampling of them, and walk away from the rest. The day usually ended with us feeling like beached whales as we crashed on the couch or the floor. Nevertheless, the kids enjoyed the day, and really, wasn’t that what it was all about, after all. As the next generation grew to marriage age, we had to try to combine again…this time adding the new set of in-laws to the mix. That usually meant dinner at the grandparents’ homes with multiple generations all crowded into the house. Still, togetherness was the key to it all. Now, it was the great grandchildren we focused on, because they were the new little ones, and the excitement centered around them.
The next change that happened was when our parents went home to Heaven. That was probably the biggest change of all…and the hardest to accept. Now we have a big family Christmas party a week or so before Christmas or on Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day we go our separate ways to celebrate with our own families. We are the great grandparents or grandparents now, and it’s our children who have to work around the in-laws in their own way. Some trade years, others go both places, and others celebrate on two different days to make it easier on everyone. Who could have known all those years ago, when this all got started, that Christmas could be so complicated.
With all the complicated holiday situations, it is important to remember the real reason for the season…the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. While God is all for giving gifts, He always hopes that we will remember the greatest gift ever given…Jesus!! Were it not for Jesus, we would be doomed. So, while the gifts are nice, and the food is great, let’s not forget why we celebrate this day…the birth of our Savior. Happy birthday Jesus!! Thank you coming to Earth and saving the world!!
Christmas Eve…the half day beginning of the Christmas holiday. I say, half day, because many businesses are open half of the day, letting their employees off early to spend time with their families. For some families the opening of gifts is even done on Christmas Eve, while others are preparing for the festivities that will be taking place the next day. For my grandparents, as well as many other people across the world and even in my own family, Christmas Eve seems like the perfect day to be married. In my grandparents’ day, that was often how it happened, because family was gathered and gathering wasn’t always easy, so I suppose it was like “killing two birds, with one stone” for lack of a better analogy.
For my grandparents, George and Hattie Byer, it made the season that much more special. We all knew when they got married. From their kids on down to the great great grandkids, we knew, because it was a story that was passed down to every generation and an event that was celebrated every Christmas eve. It was something that made Christmas extra special. Just knowing that the whole family got started on Christmas eve was so very cool, and I think that for many years, we thought we were the only family to have such a special Christmas eve. We weren’t, of course, and in fact, every year other people get married on Christmas eve. Many people think it’s a great day for a wedding, and for those forgetful husbands, a difficult date to forget.
For the rest of the world, Christmas eve is a day to prepare for the morning, attend Christmas eve services, and set out the cookies and milk. Then it’s a matter of trying to get the excited children to go to bed, because they will want to be up by 6:00am…if not earlier!! Before we know it, Christmas will be over, except for the opportunity to reflect on the real reason for the season…our Lord and Savior…Jesus Christ!! Merry Christmas Eve, and happy anniversary in Heaven to my grandparents. Have a wonderful day all!!
Road rage is a common expression these days. In fact, you would have to be living under a rock not to know what road rage is. Most of us think that road rage is something that has come about as there are more and more vehicles on the road; as well as the fact that so many people are so busy, and stress is an ever-present part of life. While I personally believe that road rage has really gotten out of hand, I suppose that it has actually taken centuries…yes, centuries to get there, but it really has gotten way out of control.
In fact, road rage didn’t even begin with the invention of the automobile. There are instances of “road rage” even as far back as the days of horses and chariots, as well as occurrences during the horse and buggy days, not to mention the days of bicycles. It seems that people have always argued over the right-of-way. The reality is that people have always argued over rights in general. For some people, when they get in the driver’s seat, many people check all sense of calmness at the entrance to the vehicle. These same people can’t seem to control their tempers and look beyond the mistake the other driver might have made, to notice that the offending driver might have been having a bad day.
Don’t get me wrong, I have been guilty of road rage too, and looking back I am pretty ashamed of myself for it. I have also been “guilty” of anti-road rage too, and I always walk away feeling awful. I far prefer to see the smile on the face of the offending person, who’s heart has been racing in anticipation of the screaming rage that is coming their way…the screaming rage that doesn’t come. Then, when they see the smile on my face telling them that all is well, and they aren’t going to get yelled at, their face floods with relief. I’m telling you, there is no better feeling behind the wheel than that.
In the instance I am referring to, I was at a traffic light waiting for my turn to go. The light changed to green, 
and I prepared to go, when a car ran the red light. As she started into the intersection, her eyes were a big as saucers. It was my chance to change the situation. I smiled and waved her through the light. Shocked, she smiled back, and I can tell you that we both went to work that day feeling a lot better than we had just moments before. If only everybody just took a breath and smiled, instead of raging.
Lots of mining towns started out when someone discovered gold, silver, or some other precious metal. A few of them have continued to produce enough “treasure” to maintain and even rapidly grow a town. Others fizzled in a short time, or even a long time, but when the mines dried up, the towns went with them. Because of that, there are numerous ghost towns that dot the United States…and probably other nations too.
Ruby, Arizona is a ghost town in very near the Arizona-Mexico border. It is one of the best-preserved ghost towns in the state. In the 1700s, rich minerals were discovered there by the Spaniards, but they were not rich enough for their tastes, so only a limited amount of placer mining occurred before they moved on, leaving the area largely undisturbed for nearly a century, until two mining engineers, Chares Poston and Henry Ehrenberg, 
revived the old Spanish placers in Montana Gulch in 1854. With the discovery of rich veins of gold and silver, which the Spaniards had somehow missed, came other prospectors looking for their own rich strike. While the area was rich in gold and silver, it also had Apache Indians, and they were…hostile, to say the least.
Nevertheless, mining did proceed starting around 1877. Ruby, Arizona was founded as a mining town in Bear Valley, originally named Montana Camp. It was so named because the miners were mining at the foot of Montana Peak. The Montana mine produced gold, silver, lead, zinc, and copper…peaking in the mid-1930s. While never a large town, Ruby had a population of about 1,200 people. The post office was established on April 11, 1912, by the mining camp’s general store, Julius Andrews. When Andrews named the post office “Ruby,” after his wife, Lille B Ruby Andrews, and the mining camp became known as Ruby. The post office closed on May 31, 1941.
The town of Ruby has been through some wild times, and never was that more evident than the years between 1920 and 1922, when the town and the area surrounding Ruby was the scene of three double homicides known as the Ruby Murders. The largest manhunt in the history of the Southwest followed the crimes, and it included the first airplane ever used in an Arizona manhunt. The town’s most prosperous period was in the late 1920s 
and 1930s, when the Eagle-Picher Mining Company operated the mine. They also upgraded the camp. The Montana mine was the leading lead and zinc producer in Arizona from 1934 to 1937. In 1936, it was third in silver production. Nevertheless, it seems, in mining anyway, that “all good things must come to an end” and so it was with the mine, which closed in 1940. By the end of 1941 Ruby was abandoned.
My grandniece, Izabella Harman has a personality that far exceeds her small stature. She is full of smiles and always happy. Her mom, Melanie Harman, says that she is growing into her personality, but I think that such a big personality will take a little time to for her to grow that much. Izabella “Belle” has such a bubbly personality, and that is pretty hard to contain.
Belle is so very sweet. As she has grown, she has become rather protective of her mom. She doesn’t want her to work too hard. So, Belle has designated herself as “Momma’s Helper.” She makes sure that Melanie doesn’t 
carry too many things at once. If Melanie has a large load of stuff she is carrying, Belle says “No, no Momma!! You have too much stuff!! Give me that!!” Being a helper is one of her top priorities, and while he mom is her top priority, she doesn’t limit herself to helping just her mom. Her teacher says she is so very sweet and helpful with other kids in class. She loves doing her schoolwork, which isn’t always a common thing. In fact, she loves it so much that she gets irritated when other kids around her are distracting her from doing her work. It is rare to see such a dedicated student, but then, Belle isn’t just your average student.
Bell loves her siblings, and she is so sweet to Alice and Jaxx. She loves being around them. Belle has never stopped being a Daddy’s Girl though!! Her daddy, Jake Harman is her hero!! When she wants him, she squeals, “Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!!” What dad wouldn’t just melt when his girl does that. She tells him in no uncertain terms that he is the greatest dad ever.
Belle has been taking Karate, and her Sensei is always telling her aunt, Siara Kirk just how awesome Belle is. While Belle is becoming a “lethal weapon,” she is also the most loving girl. She loves having “Girls’ Days” with her Aunt Siara and her grandma, Chantel Balcerzak. Sometimes they just hang out, and sometimes they 
workout. She also loves playing video games with her grandpa, Dave Balcerzak too. She is the light of their lives. On a funny note, Belle likes to say “Yo and Bro” a lot and her Aunt Siara thinks that’s so funny. Her family is so important to her, and that makes her a very special girl. Today is Belle’s 7th birthday. Happy birthday Belle!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
The years rush by so very fast, especially in the lives of children. It is really hard for me to believe that my grandnephew, Isaac Spethman is so grown up now, but somehow, he went from being a little teeny kid to the almost full grown 16-year-old he is today. Isaac is the third child of my niece Jenny Spethman and her husband Steve, and he has been a great blessing to them. As a little kid, Isaac was so unique. He decided at a young age that he needed a job, and even talked the neighborhood grocery store into “hiring” him to do little odd jobs, for which they “paid” him in things like candy bars and such. It was a win-win situation for both of 
them. The store loved seeing this little boy with an adult work ethic, so eager to start his working career, and Isaac loved being a “big” kid with a job.
Isaac’s work ethic has not changed over the years. He really has never been without some kind of a job, working for actual pay well before the normal age to be hired, but of course, within the legal allowances by getting a work permit when necessary. Even when he was too young to work in a business, he was out raking laws, shoveling snow, and such to earn a little bit here and there. Most recently, he has been working at Hardee’s and has been one of their most loyal workers. I don’t suppose he will stay in the fast-food industry forever, but it has been a good start. The biggest drawback to that has been that someone has to take him to work and bring him home. However, that problem is about to go away.
Now that Isaac is 16 years old, the next obvious step is to get his driver’s license. Im not sure when he will go 
for that, considering the current weather in our fair city, but I doubt it will be very long. Isaac, like most kids as they reach 16 years tend to start pushing their parents to take them in for their test. And the reality is that most parents, especially those who have long been the chauffer, are very, very ready to take their kids for that test. Isaac is a kid who has always shown a little more maturity than the average kid, and it really has been a pleasure watching him grow up. He is a good big and little brother, as well as a loving son. We are all very proud of him. Today is Isaac’s 16th birthday. Happy birthday Isaac!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
When a couple has daughters, it naturally follows that when those girls reach dating age, the house will be filled with young gentlemen callers. My grandparents, George and Hattie Byer had seven daughters, and two sons…so you can imagine that as time went on, a long line of gentlemen callers went in and out of their home. The first young man to transition from being a gentleman caller to being part of the family was George Hushman, who became Uncle George when he married my Aunt Evelyn (Byer) Hushman. Of course, he wasn’t uncle then, nor was she aunt, because they would be the couple to start the 
procession of grandchildren who would bless the lives of my grandparents and continue to grow even after their passing.
Uncle George won Aunt Evelyn’s heart pretty quickly, because when he saw her…well, he couldn’t see any other girl again. It was pretty much love at first sight, and that feeling never left them. They could be in a crowded mall, but as far as they were concerned, they were the only ones in the place. Their happy marriage brought them five beautiful children, Sheila (Susie) Young, George Hushman Jr, Shelley Campbell, Shannon Limmer, and Greg Hushman, as well as a number of grandchildren, great grandchildren and great great grandchildren. Yes, they were very blessed throughout the years. And, as the Byer siblings married and had children, they got to be aunt and uncle to many nieces and nephews too, making them finally the aunt and uncle I knew from birth.
The had many hobbies, including their beautiful yard and home, bowling, traveling, and in their early 
marriage…double dates with my parents, Al and Collene (Byer) Spencer. The two couples were great friends right away and loved spending time together. The Hushman kids and the Spencer girls were often together in those young days. Uncle George and Aunt Evelyn lived long lives too. She passed away on May 4, 2015, at the age of 86, and he passed on December 21, 2018, at the age of 92. Their lives were blessed and happy, and really all they ever wanted to do was to be together. Today would have been Uncle George’s 96 birthday. Happy birthday in Heaven, Uncle George. We love and miss you very much.
In August of 1961, virtually overnight, the Berlin appeared, separating East and West Berliners from each other. Streets, subway lines, bus lines, tramlines, canals, and rivers were divided. Family members, friends, lovers, schoolmates, work colleagues, and others were abruptly separated. For many, life was put on hold. That meant that families were instantly separated from each other, and there was nothing anyone could do about it. If a child was spending the night with a grandparent, they now had to stay there. If couples were separated, possibly due to jobs or something, they couldn’t get back together. Families who lived on opposite sides of town, couldn’t see each other. No recourse. All the families could do was stand beside the wall and talk to each other.
From the time of its construction, it was more than two years after before anyone was able to cross from one side of the wall to the other. In the meantime, children grew, children were born, people died. Some children and grandchildren never got to see their parents or grandparents again. The whole purpose of the Berlin Wall was to force the people in East Berlin to accept communism. The only way they “might be able” to stay alive was to comply. So, the citizens of East Berlin became virtual prisoners overnight. Their sentence was long, and they had no trial. They were simply locked up in their own city.
The “sentence” continued for more than two years, before anything changed. Then, finally, on December 20, 1963, nearly 4,000 West Berliners were allowed to cross into East Berlin to visit relatives. It was called a “one-day pass” and didn’t mean the end of the siege. Nevertheless, it was a moment of hope. The day was a result 
of an agreement reached between East and West Berlin. Eventually, over 170,000 passes were issued to West Berlin citizens, each pass allowing a one-day visit to communist East Berlin. Of course, there would be no passes for East German citizens to visit the west. The government knew they would not come back.
The day was marketed as a “wonderful government” doing some kind of a great thing. There were also moments of poignancy and propaganda. The reunions who were filled with tears, laughter, and other outpourings of emotions as mothers and fathers, sons and daughters finally met again. They were grateful, if only for a short time. The tensions of the Cold War were ever close by.
As people crossed through the checkpoints, loudspeakers in East Berlin greeted them. They were told that they were now in “the capital of the German Democratic Republic,” a political division that most West Germans refused to accept. The propaganda continued as each visitor was given a brochure that explained that the wall was built to “protect our borders against the hostile attacks of the imperialists.” They were told that decadent western culture, including “Western movies” and “gangster stories,” were flooding into East Germany before the wall sealed off such dangerous trends. The picture they were painting was of the East German government being the “saviors of the morality” of the people.
The West Berliners weren’t terribly happy either and many newspapers charged that the visitors charging that they were just pawns of East German government propaganda. It was said that the whole thing was a ploy to 
gain West German acceptance of a permanent division of Germany. Whatever the case may be, the visitors felt that they had no choice to comply with the rules, because their hearts were being torn out by these separations. The separation continued until President Reagan called for the wall to be torn down in a speech in West Berlin on June 12, 1987…almost 26 years after it was built.
My niece, Michelle Miller has had a very busy year. Michelle has been an art educator for the Nicolaysen Art Museum. It was a different kind of teaching than Michelle expected to be doing, but it has been very rewarding, and she has found it to be a surprise blessing. Michell loves teaching, and loves introducing her students to a whole new world…one that is filled with beauty and expression. Many of these kids have never really been exposed to the beauty of art, and Michelle loves to be the one to show it to them.
Michelle is so well liked by everyone, and that has put her in the position of being promoted quickly. Michelle is now the Curator of Education, which means that while she held on to a couple of classed for herself, she is mainly over the other teachers and the education program in general. It is a lot of responsibility, but Michelle is definitely up for the 
task. She is a very social person, who works easily with others, but that isn’t all she has going for her. Michelle is very smart, and she can handle anything she is assigned. Never has that been more important that now, because since October, Michelle has been the Interim Director of The Nicolaysen Art Museum. That was when the last Director took another position in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Of course, Michelle could have taken over as the new Director, but her heart is in teaching. Nevertheless, until the Director they just hired takes over, Michelle is still carrying the load of that position too. As Director, Michelle was able to go to the Mountain-Plains Museum Association Convention in Tulsa from October 4th to the 7th. It was cool for her to be able to go, and she learned a lot. Michelle has also been on the board of the Wyoming Art Education Association. So, she has 
additional responsibilities with them. While these positions are a big load, I know that Michelle is well able to handle it, and we are all so very proud of her.
On a non-working note, Michelle became and aunt again this past summer, when her niece Maya Stevens was born. Michelle and her husband, Matt Miller both love their nieces and nephew, and so getting a new one is very special. Maya is little sister to her sister, Elliott Stevens. Michelle also has bonus niece Brooklyn Killinger and bonus nephew, Jaxon Killinger. All in all, it has been a busy year, but as usual, Michelle has taken it all in stride and looks forward to what the new year will bring. Today is Michelle’s birthday. Hapy birthday Michelle!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
In what reality is an “invisible” army a thing…much less important? Well, the answer is…in World War II. During that war, in which battles were being fought against multiple enemy nations, of multiple fronts, the British needed a little unusual help with the different fronts. In actuality, no British Fourth Army ever took the field. That didn’t mean that they weren’t very effective in their work. but they existed as part of the deception plans Operation Cockade and the later Operation Fortitude North. During these operations, the Germans were encouraged to believe that a Fourth Army had been established with its headquarters in Edinburgh Castle, and that it was preparing to invade Norway. Britain’s “Fourth Army” was successful in drawing and keeping the German units away from the real invasion zone in Normandy. Then, in the subsequent ‘Fortitude South’ the Fourth Army with different units was presented as part of the fictitious First United States Army Group (FUSAG) in its threat to the Pas de Calais.
The Fourth Army was always a “fictitious field army.” It first came into being as part of the British Expeditionary Force during the World War I. It was actually formed on February 5, 1916, under the command of General Sir Henry Rawlinson. The plan was for this fictitious army to carry out the main British contribution to the Battle of 
the Somme, but they quickly saw how effective a rumor could be in a war situation, and that is truly what this was. Basically, the word is sent out that a huge army is blocking a front that the enemy is trying to reach, or that they are planning to attack the enemy on a different front. So, the enemy decides to take another route…often a longer route, or in response to the rumored attack, the enemy sends it troops to the wrong place all together…only to find out they have been duped.
It must have been awful to take the troops into what is expected to be a battle, only to find out that they had been fooled. Imagine how that would make you look to your troops. The intel was completely false, and they fell for it. That must have made they feel very stupid on top of the fact that they wasted a lot of time on an imaginary enemy. While the Germans, in this case, looked incredibly stupid, it made the British Army look quite wise. Who would have thought that “make believe” could be such an effective weapon of warfare?
