PORCH PONDERINGS

The Heat is Still On!

What a difference a little drugstore intervention can make. Well. Flonase is a wonderful drug for this seasonal allergy nose of mine. The sneezing and dripping are gone, for the most part. Of course, the rain all day is a big help. The temperature has dropped over twenty degrees. It is now in the low 50's going into the nighttime hours. The heat is on in the house - it is mid-June and we still have the big wool blanket on the bed and the heat on. What? I know. But at least we got some rain. Hooray for the garden!!!

Today I had a 2 hour internet meeting of my SE Montana tourism board group. Quite interesting. Never had a group meeting like this. I like the interaction of being together, but since everyone is still antsy about the virus problem, I get the concern. Our next gathering is in September, so I hope we can all get there in person. Our main concern is getting people to come to our fair state. Montana has the benefit of having wonderful wide-open spaces. SE Montana even more so than the other parts - so that is what we tout. Wide open skies and small towns. We'll see what the summer brings.

I don't know about everyone else but I am really getting tired of everyone getting so mad about every little thing. And the wanton destruction of property is inexcusable. I'm sorry, but mob rule is never right. And a world without police? In what way is that ever right? Has no one ever heard of 'Lord of the Flies'?

Anyway, today was a day of volunteering. I did the SE Montana meeting, then I went to church for a prayer session. Before that, I had to reset the radio. Somehow it keeps going offline. Now I have to let someone, probably our sponsor, that this keeps happening, I think it's the battery backup. Well, my problem it'll get fixed eventually. Then after church we adjourn to a local thrift store. We volunteer there each week for a few hours. We sort donations. And boy, are there donations. Seems everyone has been cleaning out closets, toy boxes, barns, garages, cupboards, nooks, dressers and crannies. It is like the entire town of Roundup has thrown up its castoffs in the basement of the store. Crazy. But once a week we push back the tide and the second law of thermodynamics states that “as one goes forward in time, the net entropy (degree of disorder) of any isolated or closed system will always increase (or at least stay the same).” So that theory is what we are battling.

Tomorrow we welcome again the heating guy. He will again try to solve the heating vent puzzle in our remodeling project. Once we get this vent done, we can get the drywall done. Then comes the drywall mud, the drywall sanding, the prime paint, the final paint, the floor refinishing. Wait - the floor refinishing goes before the painting I think.

Now I'm watching ToyStory 3 on TV. Oh my, I love the stupid jokes. So Barbie gets Ken to do a fashion show. Too much fun. Woody and gang are stuck in a daycare center. The jokes are kid level but so adult. Great writing. And of course it could never be that good without Tom Hanks and Tim Allen doing the voices, defining the characters. And that got me thinking of writing and how we define our characters with their voices, Their voices are defined as soon as you put their voice to paper. The words you give them, the environment you give them, the family they do or don't have. I'm reading a book where the main character doesn't have a voice. He is mute. It's an interesting read and study in character building. 'The Story of Edgar Sawtelle'.

So we continue on. Keep Clam and Write On! Oh, and proofread, always.

Keep Calm and Write On!
Queen Norma Jean