Norma's Wanderings around a small section of Montana |
Last night hubby and I walked over to the city park. We listened to a program about the US Constitution and Freedom of Speech as it pertains to religion. I was skeptical before we went, how good could this be? A lady from Melstone, a tiny town east of us coordinated this. She had a gentleman from the Montana Family Foundation as her keynote speaker. Then four pastors from the community had the opportunity to speak. There was also some music. A good statement came from one of the pastors: God gave us freedom, it is ours and no one can take it from us. We have to surrender it. Other information we learned from the representative of the Montana Family Foundation: No longer can the government close churches but let liquor stores, as well as other stores, remain open during a pandemic. Religion is an essential act. Montana will not let transgender men compete with women in sporting events. Pandemics do not cancel the constitution. Healthcare sharing ministries are legal. With all the strange goings-on in our country right now, I was blessed by this gathering. I believe in God. I also believe in the freedom of religion granted to us by the constitution. We are free to worship as we see fit. I pray no one ever takes that away. As we head toward the 4th of July, may we remember the sacrifices others have made to keep our country free. |
Today is a cooler day. We still need rain, however. When we were in the thrift store this afternoon, I peeked out to find a tiny bit of rain falling. It was just enough to dampen some dust. Almost as soon as it fell it evaporated. Hubby made it home from the East coast okay. That was a relief. I enjoyed my time alone, but it was good to have him back. At the Chamber of Commerce meeting last night I had to hold my tongue. Does anyone else have a hard time not telling people they need to do their job and quit whining? Well, it was one of those meetings. I'm not a Chamber member. I attend on behalf of my SE Montana tourism group. So I really shouldn't say much, but I have a problem when someone doesn't do what they're assigned to do. Like the person who is to keep the Chamber website current. 'I have too much work, I work at my business, I have a family, blah, blah...' Then ask for help! Assign someone else to do that! I finally told a friend nearby I had to just shut up, or get in trouble and get beat up by this woman. Has anyone else followed the fun on the Banana Blog - "Invalid Item" . Seems there is a retirement party for Richard ~ Shenanigans INC. . It's been a real blast to write some fun stories, some fun posts. Thanks Elycia Lee ☮ . I'm catching up on some paperwork for my non-profit group, the MUD campaign. Such an unfortunate name. Anyway, we had a meeting on Tuesday to rally the troops, pay the dues, and check for participation in the 2021 campaign in the fall. Now I have to rewrite some copy on the flier that gets mailed out, contact the printer with the changes, get the direct mailing information updated with the post office, then gather everyone again in September for the mass mailing. Fun and Games! But all that can wait til after the 4th of July celebration in Roundup. It's coming up next week. Fireworks. You'll read some complaints. Forewarned is forearmed, as they say. Queen NormaJean II GreenEyes |
It's a cloudy, cool day here. We got about 1/4 inch of rain last night. Not enough to do much. But that's okay. Perhaps the gray clouds I see on the horizon will bring some moisture. I wanted to do nothing today. Watch a movie, just do nothing. But DirecTV had no offerings I cared about. And I don't want to pay for any. So I looked through the ancient archives. Seems I have JAWS on VHS. I do have a player, a VHS and DVD player. So JAWS it is. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaws_(film) I have seen this so many times. So now I watch this with an eye of a storyteller. The first scene with the girl sets the tone. She swims toward a buoy, and at one point her leg in the water makes you think of a shark. But if you've never seen this before, that doesn't register as such. And then the music. John Williams did the score, as other memorable movie songs. You can hear just the first few notes and immediately know which movie. Just like Beethoven's famous 'ba, ba, ba, bum'. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-fFHeTX70Q&t=826s You hear and know that is Beethoven. The town is mad, a big tourist season is about to start. Money is the object for these islanders. I find a correlation between this and the towns in Montana. Out of state tourists in 2019 spent $3.76 billion here. http://www.voicesoftourism.com/tourisms-value. The feeling now is 'Come, spend your money. Then go back home." But the word is out, Montana is a wide-open pretty awesome place to live. Housing is hard to find. People cannot find a house to buy. Rentals are pretty much non-existent. Back to the film: It was dated 1975, 46 years ago. But the story seems timeless. Hometown folks against the scientist that comes to help. Current police chief from NYC sparring with the local politicians. Then man versus nature, always a good theme. Think of Moby Dick. In four years, I'm sure there will be a big shindig to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first summer blockbuster. Right now I'm going to watch Stephen Spielberg's fun movie. Queen NormaJean II GreenEyes |
Tonight on Montana PBS is 'The Bird Cage'. This 1996 movie stars Robin Williams and Nathan Lane. Two gay men pretend to be a married couple for their son's future in-laws. The Bird Cage is the name of the nightclub that Robin Williams owns and where Nathan Lane performs as "Starina". It is in South Beach, Miami. These two comic geniuses make this movie. Hank Azaria also stars as their houseman. So hilarious. Gene Hackman and Calista Flockhart also star. So this comedy explores family, all the dynamics. Gay family vs. heterosexual family. What happens when they clash? Good stuff. |
As I write this, there is a soprano on PBS singing wonderful music by Rachmaninoff. But somehow I can't stop looking at her dress. It's a beauty in black, with sequins or some sort of sparkly stuff but then there is this wonderful white triangle of fabric. The contrast of the black and white is just amazing. Music is amazing. I love classical music. But then, I love all music, most all kinds. Today I seemed to be busy. I puttered all morning. My husband is still with his family in Virginia so I'm in charge here. Again, watering the outside thirsty plants. Then it was over to the museum for a few hours. But I had to cut it short to get to a dinner by 5:00PM. RSVP, the volunteer organization, had its recognition dinner tonight. Since I am on the advisory board, I felt it important to be there and 'show the flag', so to speak. There were quite a few volunteers and family there. One person got recognized for all her hours, over 4,000, in her lifetime. Another lady, Florence, whom I love dearly, got a special award. She is 98 years old and volunteers every day still. It was a fun event. I sat with some friends, we always laugh a lot when we see each other. The dinner was okay, again food I cannot eat. But I did enjoy some fresh fruit and some mashed potatoes. Now on PBS there is a show about Itzhak Perlman, the famous violinist. It begins with him playing the national anthem at a Mets baseball game. Then it jumped to his apartment, I'm sure it's an apartment if it's in NYC, and he is playing with a pianist and a cellist. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itzhak_Perlman #AmericanMastersPBS Perlman has had polio since the age of four and now moves around in a wheelchair. He plays a violin made in 1714. A Stradivarius violin, over 300 years old. How amazing is that! In this age when we can't wait to get the newest and latest gadget, this man plays an instrument made three centuries ago. Before electricity, before cars, before central heat, before the USA, even before Mozart and Beethoven. They show a video of this man, age thirteen, playing on the Ed Sullivan Show. It was magic. He was a virtuoso even then. When I hear this man play the violin, I am so moved, to tears at times, and it always has been this way. It is as if he is touched by God. The sound is so pure, it is almost as if it isn't real. It is hard to believe anyone can take the raw materials of wood, catgut, and horsehair and transform those into musical notes inspired by the angels. 'Art is a reflection of the artist,' stated his wife, Toby. 'Out of our dreams something important happens.' |
So the good people of Southeast Montana Tourism met for the first time in over a year on Wednesday. We loved being back in good company. The town we chose for the meeting was Colstrip, MT. Colstrip was founded in 1924 as a company town for the railroad. It provided coal, get the connection with the name? At one time there were at least 8,000 people living in the small town. Now the population is about 2,300. It was a planned community from the start. The town has a lot of green space, nice walking areas and free recreation for the residents. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colstrip,_Montana The meeting was informative, enjoyable, and a great getaway for the day. A fun surprise at the close were free gifts. I scored a very nice little jacket plus some other goodies I can give to friends. I dropped hubby off at the Billings airport at 5 AM that morning for his flight back east. Then I made the drive east to Colstrip. After the meeting, I decided I'd like to stay there for the night. Being tired and all, it sounded like a good plan. I mean, how busy could it be? You have to drive 30 miles down a state road, off the freeway, to get to Colstrip. No dice. There are only 2 motels and both were full for the night. Ugghhh. So I was faced with a drive of 2 1/2 hours home. Alone, and tired. But along the way I decided to stop for gas, important. And also at Pompeys Pillar. Have you heard of this national landmark? I have a national parks senior pass, so I decided to stop and take a walk. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pompeys_Pillar_National_Monument The Lewis & Clark expedition came along the Yellowstone River in this part of Montana for part of their journey. At this one spot along the river, Clark climbed to the top of a sandstone formation to carve his name and the date. The pillar is named after Sacajawea's son, Pomp. The date was July 25, 1806. It is clearly etched in stone, preserved by some sort of framing. I love history. I especially love the story of the Lewis & Clark expedition. It amazes me to read of their journeys. To go off into the wild, with no way of knowing what or who you might encounter, well, that reminds me so much of our travels in our RV. It also reminds me of a Bible character, Abraham. One display at this park is of two dug-out canoes made from trees. Holy cow, when I saw these I marveled. The men had to at times carry the boats over mountains, across barriers. Stronger men than I can imagine must have been on this trip. But if I remember right, only one person died and that man they think died of appendicitis. After a quick stop at the national landmark, back in the car. I headed home, even though the thought of staying in a motel in Billings sure was tempting. But you know, if you get that far, you may as well bite the bullet and drive the remaining 50 miles. And in about an hour I was home. Today it was nice to wake up in my own bed. Then I was able to water the outside plants. It is so dry, and after those hot days, all plants are just a bit thirsty. The house next door is getting new windows. Some work is finally being done to that old place. It's only been about 2 years since the owners bought it. There was another free food giveaway today. A friend called for a ride, she has no car. "Sure thing" I said. I forgot how much she likes to talk, and talk and talk... Well, anyway, 45 minutes of non-stop talking is enough for me. I came home with an abundance of food, some we cannot use. So I see my neighbor sitting outside. She has three little kids. It's tough now to feed a family, I would imagine. So Lydia got some free food. My good deeds for the day are done. I think I'm going to go sit on my porch and read a book. |
Tonight we are in Billings. Hubby had a medical appointment at the VA facility this morning. Then we did some shopping the rest of the day. I scheduled a hair appointment in the late afternoon. It was a full day. One thing we found curious. This a big city in Montana. This is an old cowboy town. We wanted to get a bolo tie, you know the ones. Those string ties that come down to a clasp. Hubby wants to wear one when he goes back east with his cowboy hat and cowboy boots. Do you think we could find one? Let me tell you. We went to a western boot store. No, go to the western clothing store around the corner and down the street. We went to the western clothing store. No, go to Deb's uniform store, she has them. We went to Deb's uniform store. No, I don't carry them, why did they send you here? Hmm. Our last choice was a ranch supply place. These people sell everything. And sure enough, they had those type of ties. Hurrah! Good thing we had the afternoon to aimlessly drive around searching. So we are here in a hotel tonight. Hubby flies out tomorrow to go to Virginia in the morning. Big doings with his son and a big promotion at work. He was invited and by all means, you need to go, I told him. After I drop him off, I head to Colstrip for a Southeast Montana Tourism meeting. This one is the first one in over a year where we can all be together. No Zoom meeting anymore. Thank goodness. We went to Outback for our lunch. The waiter tells us there is a digital menu on the table. Hmm. We don't use a cell phone. Now we already had. a paper menu, so I don't know why he mentioned it, but oh well. So we got to talking about this. If it is truly digital, why can't it be a hologram? Take us back into the kitchen, let us stand beside the chef, let us pick out the steak we want and watch it being grilled. Let us smell the steak cooking. Where is the technology for that? I think we're being cheated. I'm still upset that we don't have the flying cars like the Jetsons had. Here in the lobby of the hotel, there is a group of four playing cards. Something just happened and one of them stalked off. Now they are trying to figure out what she was mad about and why she left. 'Should I go talk to her?' 'No, leave her alone ma. Call you tomorrow.' 'What did I do?' 'I think you're just tired. See ya' mom.' And just like that, they all scattered. Dad in a motorized wheelchair scooted away, mom to her room, son outside, and the woman who left earlier in the elevator. Must be a story there somewhere. But there are stories everywhere. People watching is the most fun. And as writers, they are fodder for characters. And locations. Tonight our hotel is next to a hospital. We've used this hotel many times since I've been in St. Vincent Hospital several times. It is close to the airport, reasonably priced, and close to a wonderful neighborhood full of old homes and large trees. We walk the streets here every time. Even today, The temperature is 104°, but with a low humidity and a bit of a wind. Come to think of it, sort of like being in a convection oven. Tomorrow promises to be a bit cooler. We can only hope. It is too early in the summer for this heat. |
I just have to share a wonderful article. I read about incident this a few days ago. I feel this article is well-written. The pictures are amazing. I am in awe of the size of this creature. It is wonderful to know the bear will be buried far from souvenir hunters, back to the ground where he roamed. https://www.ayellowstonelife.com/death-of-a-grizzly-bear/?fbclid=IwAR1kUkK2IWIOT... |
Today was a great day for a bike ride. Tomorrow is promising to be warmer. I did all the chores early. Water the garden, since the irrigation is now being contrary. Wash the towels. Wash the sheets. Wash a set of curtains. Then make lunch. Do the dishes. Whew. I decided a bike ride would be nice. So I went through the neighborhoods, down toward the river. The Musselshell is down, very low right now. We have a nice little walking path. It runs along the river, then I jog off and go through the fairgrounds. I pickup the 4-H road and go back along 1st Ave. Hmm. What is going on over there? I detoured for a moment. Nothing, so I cycled over to the thrift store. I try to check the back door there on Sundays. People sometimes leave donations outside. Of course there is a sign saying 'Please don't leave donations when we are not open'. Nothing there for once. I cycle on. I want to see if a friend is home. Nope. Her RV is gone, so she must have gone camping to Harlowton, like she said the other day. I'll catch up with her tomorrow. I rode by a home that just a week ago had a sign in every window. 'no trespassing' 'beware of dog' 'private property' and on the garage 'no parking'. And by every window, I do mean EVERY WINDOW. I talked with his neighbor and she was amused by him and just a bit curious. Now all the signs are gone. Hubby claims the house now has 'for sale' signs, which I didn't see today. Interesting. As I crossed Main Street, a fire truck screamed by. It was the tanker truck. I checked the Facebook page and there is a fire out by the golf course. Not good. We are so dry right now. Any fire not contained can be a real disaster. Home again, worked on a little story for the flash fiction competition. I love entering that little contest. A real challenge to write 300 words or less. I also am working on the radio script for tomorrow. We are discussing the woman in Proverbs 31. I seem to be the one that drives the discussion choices. Then I work up the scripts. But since the church elected me as the communications secretary, I guess I should be the one that drives this. So now we are settling in for the evening. On the Ovation channel, an old movie, 'Clear and Present Danger'. Pretty sure, if memory serves me well, this is an adaptation of a Tom Clancy book. It stars Harrison Ford. And I really like anything he is in. So we watch them battle the Colombian drug lords. Speaking of them, what ever happened to them? You don't hear much about that anymore. We have another day and then hubby flies to visit family and I go to a tourism meeting. I guess tomorrow is another laundry day. |