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Friday, Apr. 19, 2024

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PORCH PONDERINGS

by QueenNormaJeanGreeneggs&vegham

Rated: 13+ · Book · Biographical · #2198921

Norma's Wanderings around a small section of Montana

Well, hey there!
Welcome to Roundup, Montana! If it's a nice day, we'll sit a spell on my porch and talk awhile.

"All the resources we need are in the mind.” Theodore Roosevelt, our 26th President of the United States of America.

Another quote I find interesting: "Creativity is intelligence having fun." Albert Einstein

What's on your mind today?

Signature for use by anyone nominated for a Quill Award in 2020

Signature for nominees of the 2019 Quill Awards

Show Recent Comments

10 Most Recent Blog Comments:

Elycia Lee ☮

Apr 11, 2024 at 5:36am
In response to "Test Resuils"

EMG sounds horrible. Get well soon. Hope this phase in life would pass and that you would have that quiet period that you yearn for.

1 Like

Schnujo is Late to Lannister

Apr 11, 2024 at 3:30am
In response to "Test Resuils"

Wow! You do have a lot going on, but I'm glad you're trying to make the best decisions you can for yourself.

I had an EMG once. Yeah, not a pleasant experience and mine yielded no new info, so that was even worse -- it was all for nothing.

I hope things improve soon! Take care of yourself!

1 Like

Kåre Enga in Udon Thani

Apr 7, 2024 at 11:09am
In response to "News from Roundup "

Is the EMG like acupuncture? I have neuropathy (self-diagnosed) in both feet. When I get back I want some advice from a doctor. I don't know whether an EMG would work but my ability to flex my toes and foot may be a starting point.

Pan wants to see snow. But... this isn't the proper season! Why he didn't mention this in December or January... Snow is fickle. Remember the Great Lakes? Can you imagine a walk with big flakes, through a foot or two of fresh fall, slugging through slush, negotiating ice, below zero and sparkling crystals, a blizzard!

I may be back in early May. If I lived anywhere near Roundup we could go somewhere for coffee. That's what I really miss in my life.

Aennaytte: Free & Wild in GoT

Feb 28, 2024 at 9:32am
In response to "Free for works for me"

Clark Gable was sure swoon worthy.

Kåre Enga in Udon Thani

Feb 28, 2024 at 12:12am
In response to "Free for works for me"

Free works for me... but I avoid Amazon. I use youtube for my Thai shows.

These old movies will 100 years old when you are in your 90s!

R.E. Pete

Feb 27, 2024 at 11:22pm
In response to "Free for works for me"

You should check out Errol Flynn in Captain Blood

Elycia Lee ☮

Feb 23, 2024 at 11:15am
In response to "Leap Year"

Congrats!

Wordsmitty ✍️

Feb 8, 2024 at 11:27pm
In response to "Update"

I second Kåre Enga in Udon Thani on warmth to the hand. I was told after initially using cold to stop swelling, then heat helps the tissues. Then again, I didn't break anything last year, just pulled something that would pinch a nerve and give a knife stabbing pain. Of course I use the old saying from a doctor when a patient said it hurts when he does this. "Don't do that."

Once winter leaves, things will perk up. Congrats on the publications. I'll keep watching for the NYT to pick one up with your byline.

1 Like

Kåre Enga in Udon Thani

Feb 8, 2024 at 10:00pm
In response to "Update"

Having more than one issue makes it much harder. Which to do first, which is most important, which will just have to wait, which needs to be let go of.

I was fortunate that my elbow never gave me much pain, didn't constrict my movements, and slowly heals after weeks.

I have neuropathy and circulation problems, especially in my feet. Rubbing does help some. Soaking in hot water is heavenly.

Kåre Enga in Udon Thani

Jan 31, 2024 at 3:34am
In response to "Don't Do It!!!!!"

Frozen fog outside... the dry air inside... everything's bothering me... I'm between time zones too. Even my anxiety floats around barely attached to reality.

At least you have some good news and a mystery. Wonder if those two events could be woven into a fictional story set in a small town where the seasons change daily... hmmm...

May 28, 2020 at 10:35pm

#984516

Cataract #1

I had surgery on my right eye. Cataract surgery. It was a non-event as everyone said it would be. But since it is your eye, it is not a non-event.

It was like looking into a kaleidoscope. Really. Look at the light on the left, Norma. Okay, I look at the light on the left. You will feel some liquid on your face during the procedure. Okay, I felt liquid on my face during the procedure. You will now hear my machine breaking up the cataract. Okay, I hear some strange sounds. You will now see the new lens going into your eye. Okay, I now see some new strange lights and I guess this is the lens going in. Like I wrote, like looking into a kaleidoscope. Strange lights and colors.

But it was all done professionally and with great dispatch. The whole ordeal was over in less than half an hour.

When I came home, I experimented while watching TV. The whites are whiter, the colors more vibrant. The cataract had dimmed and yellowed all my sight over the years. But it happened so slowly I never noticed. Strange.

Today I went for a post-op visit with my regular eye doctor. All is fine. The exam was normal. The majority of the time we spent talking of diet and how important diet is for eye health. Hubby and I have been eating better the last few months, more green leafy vegetable and avocados for my macular degeneration. Then we discussed the horrid diets most everyone in America has now and how important diet is as we age. Strange thing to discuss with your eye doctor! But then again, I guess not.

One thing I am finding a bit weird though. I keep wanting to find my glasses, put them on. Adjust them. Push them up my nose.

They are not there. They won't be there anymore. Weird.

Like • Comment

May 27, 2020 at 12:17am

#984400

Cataracts

I am going to get my cataracts fixed starting tomorrow. Now I've known about this problem for some time, about five years now. And just recently I started developing problems. So I get to have the surgery.

I have to tell you having this done is not making me comfortable. I'm trying to be okay with this. I'm trying to be all light and airy and "oh it's okay and it'll be fine" but hey, you only have two eyes,

Then today someone comes to see hubby. He is helping us remodel the house. So he had eye surgery. It didn't go so good, He called after to say "It's not going so good," and they say "Well, it's just something you have to live with." Well, now he's had a detached retina and now has worse vision than before. Like I needed to hear that the day before I go to the eye doctor!

I am someone who likes to write. I enjoy working on the computer. I love to read. I enjoy doing knitting and crocheting, sewing. What if I can't do those things I most enjoy again in the same way? I gotta tell you, that would send me straight to the loony bin. After all my medical stuff, brain surgery, car accidents, yada yada, this would be the icing on the cake with the cherry on top.

But then I have to trust in God and the surgeon. I have to trust that whatever happens it is all in God's plan. As a Christian, He has my best interests at heart and I have to believe that.

So that is what I will be thinking and praying about tomorrow. When that laser hits my eye and there is no turning back.

Like • Comment

May 24, 2020 at 1:32pm

#984240

Weather Report

So it is on again. The heat that is. Yes - it is Memorial Day weekend. The official weekend to the start of summer. And my furnace is running. And I want to run. I want to run to a beach. To warmer temperatures. Anywhere there is sun and seventy degree days.

Montana has such a small window of nice weather. It seems like July 4th may be nice this year. Perhaps then it will be in the upper reaches of the thermometer.

But I shouldn't complain. It was a dry winter. And now we are getting some much needed rain. So I guess my garden is thanking God for the moisture and I should be thanking God for watering the lawn and saving me on the water bill.

I still would like to have some warmer temperatures, though. Just a little warmer would be nice. Maybe tomorrow.

Like • Comment

May 16, 2020 at 10:23am

#983709

Rare, Indeed

I heard a little blurb on NPR radio the other day. "Rare medium well done." That stuck with me. What a curious phrase and how simple but yet, how wonderfully said.

Of course they were directing that to their programming. Rare medium, well done. But I thought it would be a great little phrase to tuck away in the back of my brain to use some day, some how. In a story, in a title, somehow maybe someone would say this. Or perhaps someone would hear this on a radio in the story. Or they would read it and wonder on it.

Anyway, clever use of terms.

Like • Comment

May 11, 2020 at 7:54pm

#983338

"I have that tool that Dave needs."

So my doorbell rings. I answer it and the guy says "I have a tool that Dave needs." He is holding a tool. Luckily, there is someone named Dave in my basement with my husband working on the heating ducts. So I let the guy in. He looks vaguely familiar.

Only in small town Montana would I, a reasonably older woman, open a door willingly to a younger man wielding an evil looking wrench just with the secret words "I have a tool that Dave needs."

Yes indeed. Dave did know Jeremy, the local plumber. Yes indeed. My husband had dealt with Jeremy in the past. The three men spoke for a time in the basement about manly things. Plumbing and heating and instant hot water heaters and furnaces. You know the types of subjects that come up in houses that are being remodeled in small towns in Montana.

But later, as I write this, I thought. What a great idea for a story! A guy knocks on the door. He has a cryptic message. You let him in. What happens next is totally up to your evil, or benign, imagination. I'm sure this plot has taken many a twist and turn in many a book or short story.

I'll for now just file it away and see when it pops up. You never know when real life deals you a wild card. Then you will have that full house or flush and be able to finally finish that story.

1 Like • Comment • View 1 comment

May 8, 2020 at 8:40pm

#983105

Weird Times in the Grocery Store

Weird things in the store today. I live in a small town in Montana. You don't often see weird produce in our local grocery store. So today when I saw rambutan and jackfruit sitting beside the cabbage and cauliflower, well, I did a double take.

Rambutran look like strawberries with spike hairdos. They taste like lychee nuts. Weird but fun. They gave the cashier fits as she tried to price them.

The jackfruit was huge - about 30 #,. It looked like an alien agg. It supposedly tastes good. And as I read about it, you can use it as a meat substitute. Weird. I was walking, and couldn't justify taking that bad boy home. Plus it cost $1.79 a # so I couldn't justify spending a full week's budget on groceries on an alien egg.

Weird times.

1 Like • Comment

May 7, 2020 at 10:11am

#982988

Story Ideas

I take a walk every day. It is usually a walk around the block around my neighborhood. I vary it most days. Never the same route twice. I go North one day, South one day. Then I'll veer off and go Northeast or Southwest. I like to see which houses are sold, which are for sale. Say hello to people and dogs.

The other day, however, I had to stop and process what I saw. Now I know my eyes aren't the best anymore. In fact, I know I have to have cataracts repaired soon. But I know what I saw was not a weird vision.

I turned the corner. My friend Pastor Dave lives there. Then there is the house that always has a cluttered yard. And a new addition to their porch - they have two upholstered chairs on it. I have the thought - why would you put indoor furniture outside? I walk on. Then I saw in the next yard some hay next to the garage. And in the hay is a black animal.

'How nice.' I think.'They put out hay for their dogs,' Then the black animal turns its head. This is no dog. It's a calf, a baby cow, a farm animal.

Hmmm. As far as I know, we are not allowed to have farm animals in our town. Granted, you can have 2 chickens with a permit. No roosters, just hens. In a pen. But a cow?

I have to check this out. I note the address and continue my walk. When I get home, I call the city.

"Hi there. I was out walking and saw a cow in the yard at ....street. Are we allowed to have farm animals in town?" Then I had the faint feeling of being a snitch. The evil neighbor that calls about every infraction. But first a cow over there, then a horse or pig next to me.

The city clerk that answered the phone was amused and agreed, "No, we don't allow farm animals in people's yards. We'll send someone over to check that out."

As I hung up the phone I thought, well I am just going to file that incident away in my brain. It sure would make a good story idea someday. You never know when you may need a calf in a backyard in the city.

Queen Norma Jean

Like • Comment

May 2, 2020 at 12:10am

#982540

May Day

Okay - so I am in one of those states that is 'opening'. Montana has the distinction of being on the outer fringes of the virus epidemic. We are rural. We are a generally law-abiding people. The town I live in has about 2,000 persons. And as far as we know, we had only one case of this sickness, and that person has recovered per popular rumor.

We are glad things are trying to get back to normal here. But to tell you the truth, nothing really changed here. The grocery stores were always open, the hardware store was always open, the banks were always open, the pharmacy was always open, the restaurants still had carry-out. You could still go to the post office and still get gas. So really the only shops closed were two thrift stores and a flower shop. Oh, and the two hair salons.

Very few people are wearing masks.

Now just 50 miles down the road you have the biggest city in Montana, Billings, and things there are very different. Many people wear masks. Many more people mean many more risks and many more that have had or still have the virus.

We all pray this craziness will be over soon. I saw many children playing at the playground today. Seems staying in the house on this 1st day of May when the sun was shining in Montana and it wasn't snowing was just too restrictive. Can't blame them. I was out there walking and enjoying the day as well.

Stay safe everyone.

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