It’s been a warm one this week, but even if I’m sweating retrieving the rings from our lively game of ring toss in the Memorial Garden, hearing our residents laugh when Fred encircles his own self with a ring, or cheering Lucille on when she hits a 50 pointer, the sweat is worth it. Some things are no sweat, like our visits from Augusta Baptist and Choteau Baptist Church’s on Sundays. I would imagine that it’s also no sweat for our excited players of Bingo to win games or just relaxing to watch a program like “When Calls the Heart,” in our air-conditioned activity room. We also think it’s really cool to have volunteers like Jill who lend a hand with hands to do nails for the ladies and are ever appreciative of Peggy who comes every week, no matter what the weather, to coiffe the ladies hair. We also look forward to visits from Father Brian who holds Mass for our folks. One who I worry about being able to stay cool in the summer heat is Shadow, but still he comes each week with Rick. I’d say that’s a determined duo. Thinking cooler thoughts, a good number of the ladies participated in a watercolor painting project. They created cool works of canoes on a river or beautiful flowers. They’re a talented bunch in many regards, including their brain power as they demonstrate their smarts when we played trivia in the evening after dinner. Dale told me the reason barns were painted red was because the paint contained iron oxide which protected them from the elements. It’s amazing the things our folks know. I know they enjoy the talent of Eldora, Ramona and Garnett, The Glory Girls, who continue to delight with their playing and singing. What I didn’t know was that Verna wasn’t going to enjoy the movie Robin Hood, but Paula was in the opposite camp. We do try to present a variety of things for our residents to do and try and please as many of our residents as possible, like when our nursing assistant, Howie, took out several of the men for an evening of good companionship. They guys were all in agreement, it was a good time, everyone enjoyed themselves. Both the men and women enjoyed the birthday celebration for July babes, Fred and Betty and said the cake our kitchen staff made for the party was outstanding. The kitchen let me and some of the residents take over the cooking preparation for our cookie social on Saturday. I’d say, we didn’t do such a bad job ourselves of cooking. If you find you need to get out of the heat of the kitchen, or just the summer warmth, come on by and let us bake some cookies for you. Join us in our cool indoors for our cookie social next Saturday, or if you enjoy it a little hotter, on our back porch with our residents. We’ll enjoy visiting with you and we’ll see you here.