Valley Views

Every day is a special occasion

Afriend of mine recently lost his grandmother and came to inherit her fancy copper pots and pans. Beautiful, gleaming cookware … once he had cleaned the dust from them, as they’d hung up in her kitchen like a chandelier, unused, since the day they’d been purchased.

He shared that his grandmother had bought them years ago with the intention of using them for special occasions. However, as the years went on, no occasion seemed quite special enough. His grandmother continued to wait, and wait, and wait to use them, until one day she no longer had the opportunity.

It’s not uncommon to have something set aside for special occasions. It’s likely safe to say most of us have something or other tucked away, maybe a bottle of wine, maybe a special outfit or nice cologne, marked to use when some unknown special event comes along in our lives. We may not even be that deliberate about it; maybe just putting off having a favorite meal or specific food until a later date, one we deem some-

how more worthy of that thing than another. But how special is special enough? Life is unpredictable, and often far too short. Every day we get to wake up is an achieveA Taylor’d Approach ment and an opporTaylor Davison Editor, Valley Journal tunity, and something we oftentimes don’t take the time to be grateful for. There is, obviously, something to be said for planning for the future, but the purchase of something for only big, bombastic special occasions seems like a great way to accidentally undervalue the little celebrations in each day.

My best friend and her husband cook themselves a Thanksgiving meal nearly every other month, or whenever the urge arises, simply because they see no reason to wait all year for their favorite holiday meal. My friend with the like-new copper pots and pans now uses them daily to make meals for the joy of feeding the people he loves. I’ve made a point to wear my favorite dress whenever the mood strikes me, even when it’s just for an evening at home, because I like it just as much in my living room as I do during a fancy outing and seeing it in the mirror makes me smile.

If you have a particularly special event on the horizon, there’s no shame in going out and getting something to mark the occasion. But if the event doesn’t come to pass, I hope you’ll mark an occasion anyway. Crack open that bottle of wine to celebrate being with people you care about, even if you see them every day. Put on the fancy perfume because you like the way it smells. Eat the caviar for breakfast because it’s the most important meal of the day. Use the pots and pans because you want to.

Celebrate the small things and try to rec-

Help prevent a surge

Spring is often about the renewal of life. This “spring feeling” is even more robust as the cases of COVID-19 receded, and our lives around Lake County are moving back to their regular pace. Still, as physicians, we cannot forget what we have gone through over the last two years. We have taken care of some of our sickest residents throughout this pandemic. And while we feel a sense of relief with the pandemic subsiding in Montana, we have trepidations seeing the COVID-19 case numbers rising again in Europe with this newest variant.

Of course, we don’t want our families, neighbors, or friends to go through any more suffering due to COVID. And, we do have a great option now to prevent another significant surge: vaccinations. The providers at St. Luke’s Community Healthcare believe

Valley Views strongly in the value Billings et al and safety of Local Healthcare Providers vaccines, and we feel the same about the COVID-19 vaccine that has gone through the same research process as other vaccines. Since the vaccines have been released, they have had greater oversight and safety monitoring than any previous vaccine. Plus, over 10.5 billion vaccine doses have already been given worldwide.

We understand that community members have important questions about the vaccine. At the same time, there has been significant misinformation and disinformation, which has made it hard to get a straight answer when one is only trying to do what is best for themselves, their families and their community. We appreciate that and want the community to know we are available to answer questions. We also recommend individuals review reputable health websites to get the best-known information. Websites like Mayo Clinic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, YourBestShotMT, and - an excellent website for pediatric questions -

see page 11 ognize that every day is its own special occasion. Don’t put off the things that bring you joy. Experience the special things you’ve been looking forward to. Otherwise, one day, you might not get the chance.

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from page 10

Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

If you have not yet received your booster shot, please consider scheduling to get that now. Call 528-5331 to do this. If you have never gotten the vaccine, we highly encourage you to get it, and you can by calling the same number. And, if you have any questions, please know we are here as your local health care professionals to answer those questions. So, let’s all work together to make the COVID-19 pandemic a part of the past. And let’s enjoy getting back to our Montana way of life.

Signed,

Isaac Billings, DO

Joanna Billings, DO

John Foster, MD

Ben Grass, MD

Laura Hoganson, MD

Zach Hovorka, DO

Kena Lackman, MD

Kelli Larson, DO

David Springs, MD

Tyler Thorson, MD

Megan Vigil, MD

Ed Vizcarra, MD

Steve Shepro, PA-C

Simon Crawford, PA-C

Jamie Engeldrum, PA-C

Mike Schallock, PA-C

Peggy Martino, FNP

Katherine Mitchell, FNP vj

Senators’ wolf column ignores vitriol toward the species

Gray wolves in the Northern Rockies need federal protection to stave off the onslaught of measures the states have passed to kill as many as possible.

Sens. Steve Daines of Montana and Jim Risch of Idaho recently blasted U.S. Interior Sec. Deb Haaland for her opinion piece questioning how states are managing their wolves, based on a series of measures several states have taken. It’s worth taking a look at both Montana’s and Idaho’s moves to see why Haaland is justified in considering restoring federal protection. Our organization, Wolves of the Rockies, joined several other groups last year to form the #RelistWolves Campaign to urge the US Fish and Wildlife Service to restore protections for wolves under the Endangered Species Act. That move was made after legislatures passed a series of bills that amount to an all-out assault on wolves.

These include allowing baiting, night hunting with special vision devices, snaring, and an unlimited take of wolves, as well as bounties on the species. The goal is clear: kill as many wolves as possible and drive them down to a bare minimum number. Why do we need such extreme measures that completely disregard any sense of fair chase in hunting, endanger other wildlife, and make our states and their hunters look like extremists?

Admittedly, we are wolf advocates. We see their place on the landscape as signs of a functioning ecosystem, one that includes the suite of predators as well as prey. However, that doesn’t mean we’re against hunters. Wolves of the Rockies respects hunters for the role they play in conservation, and their success leading the restoration of wildlife is incredible. I have friends who are hunters, and even though I personally don’t hunt, I respect them for their work conserving habitats and helping fund wildlife conservation and management.

But after reading the Risch and Daines column, one wonders whether they just took talking points from the extreme anti-wolf crowd.

Idaho has authorized baiting, night hunting, snaring, and unlimited take. Its agency has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on wolf bounties, paying the Foundation for Wildlife Management, a group that pays its own board members with bounty money. Idaho’s law has a goal to kill up to 90 percent of the wolf population.

Montana passed similar, draconian measures including baiting, night hunting, snaring, and bounty payments. These actions come at the same time that Gov. Gianforte’s FWP says it’s desperate to kill elk – a guise to give bull elk tags to major campaign donors.

Both states have made it clear that they’re not done. More extreme measures are on the way, including the potential to legally reclassify wolves as predators so they can be shot yearround and poisoned. No species has ever been so aggressively killed immediately after coming off the Endangered Spe-

Valley Views cies List and no species deserves such indignity. Marc Cooke There is no other animal in Wolves of the Rockies which we manage to have a bare minimum number, including other predators like mountain lions and black bears. Montana and Idaho have shown that they can’t be trusted to manage wolves, and until they come forward with reasonable regulations that maintain some sense of ethics, federal protection is warranted. Marc Cooke serves as president of Wolves of the Rockies, an advocacy group that supports gray wolves. He is a veteran and speaks frequently about the ecological value of wolves on the landscape.

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COVID causes pre-existing conditions

Editor,

Many people switch health insurance companies every so often, most commonly because of a new job.

In July 2020, the Valley Journal published a letter to the editor that I wrote. It began, “COVID-19 will cause pre-existing conditions. As research is gathered about COVID-19 pandemic, a sobering finding is that many people who get the disease will have health problems long after they have recovered from the infection. Many will have kidney damage, heart tissue damage, or lung damage. COVID-19 can be much more than a twoweek illness. A few years from now, those problems will be ‘pre-existing conditions.’ Think about what this means for your health and your health insurance.”

Two years down the road, that prediction has proved true; an estimated 7-23 million Americans have long lasting complication from COVID. And of course, many people have other conditions unrelated to COVID, like asthma, diabetes, migraines, cancer, high blood pressure, etc.

This is the worst possible time if pre-existing conditions are no longer covered. It means a health insurance company can say, “Yes, you can enroll in our insurance, but if you need treatment for anything that you already have, we won’t cover it. We’ll only cover new conditions.”

How we vote is vital. Some candidates would like to alter current policy and no longer require insurers to cover pre-existing conditions. When the Affordable Care Act was signed into law in 2010, it ensured that you can’t be denied health care coverage because of pre-existing conditions. That provision is at risk. Despite its enormous popularity, Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) recently said the Republicans’ goal is to obstruct Biden until they retake power then make good on promises such as repealing the Affordable Care Act. Montana’s Senator Steve Daines and Congressman Matt Rosendale support repealing the Affordable Care Act.

If pre-existing conditions are no longer covered, where will that put you if you change to a new health insurance plan? Can you afford it?

Stephanie Brancati Big Arm

Did you know Medicare covers an Annual Wellness Visit?

Did You Know Medicare Covers An Annual Wellness Visit? This annual visit is a simple way to improve and protect your healthNo co-pay or deductible is applied and it is a great way to improve your health

Dimensional thinking is a spiritual practice

Editor,

Some years ago, I was introduced to a book “The Ultimate Revolution” by Walter Starke, published in 1969. It helped me change my life as I contemplated, especially, the portion of his writing I share here. See what you think.

“This is a revolution to reveal the whole man. It won’t be won by logic alone. It won’t be won by anything alone. Faith without action won’t succeed. Action without logic won’t succeed. Logic without faith won’t succeed.

Mystics refer to the third and fourth dimension of life. Everyday ‘down to earth’ level of life, phenomenal, is third dimensional. Everything labeled is third. Fourth dimension is the spiritual, the total, the infinite. Everything comprehended in its pure “beingness,” in its oneness and unity. Thinking is limited to third dimension. Fourth dimension is, like God, something that can be experienced but not thought about, for thoughts always limit.

We get the two confused. Our spiritual instinct senses reality in the fourth dimension, but our minds try to find it in the third. God exists in the fourth, but we keep trying to see God with a third dimensional understanding. We try to find God in war, in government, in establishment, but these things are part of our man-of-the-world self. We keep trying to bring God down to this level, when the only way God can be experienced is to take this level up to God by refusing to judge it in terms of good and bad. Then the Oneness can be experienced.”

Bob McClellan Missoula

Thanks to all who came to club sale

Editor,

The Valley View Women’s club would like to thank you so much to everyone who donated to our sale, people who attended the sale, and the women’s club members who set up and took down and helped at the sale. The people who donated were very generous. Our sale was a huge success thanks to everyone who helped support the Valley View Clubhouse and the Polson Rural Fire department. We could not have a rural clubhouse without your support. Thank you again so very much.

Women’s Club President Kelly Bailey Polson

Medicare Annual Wellness Visits give you a chance to talk with your healthcare team about your health history, your risk for certain diseases, the current state of your health, and your plan for staying healthy. Your provider will conduct an exam and screenings as well as discuss advanced care planning for your future. Call today to see if you are due for your next Medicare Annual Wellness Visit and what you should discuss with your physician. Available at St. Luke Community Clinics Conveniently Located Throughout the Mission Valley

St. Luke Community Clinic - (406) 676-3600|Southshore Clinic - (406) 883-2555 St. Ignatius Clinic - (406) 745-2781|Ridgewater Clinic - (406) 883-3737