Norma's Wanderings around a small section of Montana |
PROMPT January 20th Imagine you have to describe your family to someone who’s never met them before. What makes your family unique and different from others? What are your family’s most important traditions, values, and stories? I have three sets of twins in my family. My daughter has fraternal twins. My son has identical twins. My nephew has identical twins. There is no history of twins in our family. That alone is curious. We had a big plumbing problem earlier. Water everywhere. Now the bathroom is out of order for the night. Laundry is sitting in the washer, unfinished. All available towels are sitting in the tub, soaking wet. I cannot think of anything else for this prompt tonight. So, everyone’s family is unique. Everyone thinks their family is the best. That’s the best I can do. |
PROMPT January 19th Do you like things to be carefully planned or do you prefer to just go with the flow? Do you get upset easily when your plans change unexpectedly or for reasons beyond your control? Imagine you are taking a road trip - how much of the trip do you plan in advance? There is a saying: Your ability to adapt to change is a sign of your mental health. If you couldn’t adapt to change in the recent months, you are in big trouble mentally. We have a problem. We don’t have a problem. Wear a mask. Don’t wear a mask. Stay away from each other. Don’t worry, you can gather again. Yikes! I kind of go both ways. I like to plan, but I know that things happen. So in the back of my mind, I have a dozen other ways to accomplish the same idea. I try not to get upset when things go awry. Because they will. A road trip takes some planning. But it also has to be somewhat spontaneous. You can plan all you want, but what if the outdoor plans fall through due to weather? Better have some indoor plans also. Maybe that place you want to visit is closed on that one day you visit, what now? Better have something else to do. What if you are sick during the trip? Better have a plan for that also. Not being so set on one plan means you can drive down that road you didn’t see on the map. It might lead to a ghost town. Or that fun little out-of-the-way burg you might live in one day. So to answer the question, I like to plan to go with the flow. |
PROMPT January 17th What do you do to escape or distract yourself from negative thoughts and emotions? How do you take your mind off something you don’t want to think about? I go to bake something. Today I did French pastry. Pate choux. I first saw it on The Great British Baking Show. I found the recipe in my ‘Joy of Cooking’ cookbook. This is where you boil milk and butter. Then you pour in flour in one fell swoop with a pinch of salt. Then you beat this like mad over the heat. You think it looks like wallpaper paste. What? You don’t know what that looks like? Well, look up the recipe and try this and you’ll understand. Then you take it off the heat. Now you wait a few minutes. Have five eggs waiting. Be sure those eggs are at room temperature. Now you beat in the eggs one by one with a wooden spoon. You beat until you think your arm will fall off. Literally your arm will feel like it is made of rubber. As soon as the paste stands erect when you put it on a spoon it is ready. You will put this mess in a piping bag. The idea is to pipe little puffs or long cylinders on a tray. Bake them at 400 degrees for 10 minutes then at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. The high temperature will make steam that will expand the dough while the lower temperature will then bake the dough. Curious, I thought, who first thought of this wondrous procedure? Must have been some bored French baker. After you bake these, you fill them with some kind of custard or whipping creme. Then ice them with chocolate. Wonderful. I did these today while I was roasting a chicken and frying potatoes and doing laundry. Nothing like making a new recipe while multi-tasking to take your mind off your troubles. I did burn the potatoes, but the pate choux turned out great. |
PROMPT January 16th In your entry today, write about something you overheard while eavesdropping on a conversation you were not a part of. As part of “Creation Saturday,” you choose whether the conversation you write about is real or fake! Encourage discussion in your comments section - do your readers think your story is real or not? Well, to me eavesdropping is nothing more than being sneaky. Butting in where you shouldn’t be. Sticking your nose in where it doesn’t belong. What other cliches can I think of? You know, coming around the corner and hearing, “That Norma, boy oh boy, is she bossy.” I heard that one time. Now that set me back on my haunches, so to say. I didn’t know I was coming across to that person as ‘bossy’. That was not my intent. It made me reevaluate how I tell people what to do. If I want something done, I will think before I speak. Engage brain before mouth. And that is something that is so hard to do. Did something you hear cause you to reconsider your actions in the future? It did me. It caused me to think before I speak. Folks don’t like to be ordered around. I know I don’t, so why should I expect that others would want to be treated that way? It says that in the Bible. Do unto others as you would like them to do unto you. The Golden Rule. Do you think I actually heard that? Fact or fiction? Let me know. |
PROMPT January 15th Write about dreaming. Do they ever mean anything, or are they all meaningless? Why are they sometimes scary, emotional, silly, or prophetic? Have you had a memorable dream recently? I’ve heard that if you are falling during a dream and hit the ground, you’re dead. Hmm. I usually wake up when I am falling and feel in a panic. Maybe there is some truth in that. There are a lot of stories of dreams being given to God’s prophets in the Bible. The one I like the best is the dream Nebuchadnezzar had. It troubled him greatly. So greatly he couldn’t remember it, just that the dream had great importance for him. He called his wizards and wise men and asked that they tell him what the dream was and what it meant. Well, the learned men of Babylon stated, “Tell us the dream and we’ll tell you what it meant.” Too easy. Anyone can make up an interpretation. The king decided all of them were evil, just pandering to him, so he sent out a decree that they should all die. But Daniel, one of the Hebrew slaves exiled to Babylon and one of the wise men, asked for time to interpret the King’s dream. Daniel prayed to his God. He asked for wisdom to interpret the dream. That night, God gave him a vision with the information he desired. He gave the interpretation to Nebuchadnezzar. He not only told the King the dream, he also told him what the dream meant. The King fell down before Daniel, worshiped him, and gave Daniel a high position in the court of Babylon. He also said ‘Truly your God is the greatest of gods, the Lord over kings, a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this secret.’ You can read all about this in the book of Daniel in the Old Testament of the Bible, Chapter 2. I believe there are many secrets we know nothing about. God speaks to us sometimes in dreams. You just need to ask Him what they mean. {e/size} {e/font} |
PROMPT January 14th If you could have an all-expenses paid trip to see any famous sight-seeing destination (monument, building, national park, etc), where would you choose to go? My favorite place is Yellowstone National Park. I love that park. I would love to go there. I have hiked over 100 miles backcountry in that park. Hubby and I have camped backcountry many times there. We hiked with friends when we worked in reservations. When working in reservations we were treated to free tours and activities so we could better sell those to the people calling to make plans in the park. Such fun. I still communicate with some of those we used to sit beside for hours all those years ago. In fact, Scott Cooper is one of those. He is a member on this site. And if I still could call in a few favors, perhaps I could go across the globe and walk on the Great Wall of China. Then pop on over to Egypt and check on the pyramids. From there it’s not so far to Berlin to see the Ishtar Gate from Babylon. I've traveled a lot in this country. But now I'm at a point where I sure would like to see some of the rest of the world. It's now or never. But if I can't go to those places before I die, then I pray I go to heaven; the ultimate trip to the most beautiful destination in the universe. |
PROMPT January 12th What fashion trend makes you cringe or laugh every time you see it? Have you ever wanted to design your own clothing or accessory? What would you design and what features would it have? Dressing and going everywhere in pajamas or ‘athleisure’ clothing. Looking sloppy everywhere you go. What happened to the idea that you look the best you can when you go outside your home? I sometimes volunteer at the elementary school. It is dreadful what children wear to school. Now granted I don’t live in the wealthiest area of the world. But come on - dirty ragged clothes? It really doesn’t cost too much to wash your clothes and have a decent shirt and pair of pants or a skirt. I used to be a single parent. My children never looked like some of these kids. I shopped at thrift stores and yard sales. I still do. We went shopping in Billings today. Again, people dressed like they just got out of bed. Now, there were some nicely dressed. But by and large, I think there are those that need to take a shower and wear their clothes while they’re in there. Now - one of my favorite shows I am waiting to see again is Project Runway. I love to see what those designers can make in a day or so. I know how to sew, but to design like that. Amazing. I can’t find out if it is canceled forever or just postponed. I do know that Karli Kloss, the host, is now pregnant. Perhaps that virus has pushed it back. Another casualty of this stupid life we're living. Some of the designs I have to admit are pretty ‘wild’ and a little goofy, but sometimes they are just so incredibly tailored and well-made I just watch in amazement. So can’t we get everyone somewhere in-between the Runway and the bedroom? |
PROMPT January 11th Write about a recent movie, documentary, or TV show you watched that you did not expect to enjoy, but actually did. Give your readers some recommendations! We were recently given a three month trial of HBO from Direct TV. We won’t extend this trial when it’s over. I refuse to pay more than we already pay for this package, as hubby grouses already about having to pay for TV. We go round and round about this routinely. I like TV and watch it for things I like, he watches occasionally but usually only movies since he doesn’t do sports. We never watch the news or weather anymore. <<<<<<<<<<<< ANYWAY >>>>>>>>>>>> A few nights ago we were channel surfing and came across a fun movie. I hadn’t expected to like this. But Simon Pegg was in this movie with Nick Frost. “Hot Fuzz”. Maybe you saw another of his adventures with Nick Frost, “Paul”. “Hot Fuzz” has to do with a police officer from London sent to a smaller town. He is frustrated by the lazy officers there. Then people start dying and the fun begins. We really found this film to be amusing, even with the bad language, a given anymore it seems. You find yourself laughing at the dying and gore because it is just that stupidly funny. The other film,”Paul”, is where two science fiction geeks from England are in America cruising in an RV when they come across an alien. Well, let me tell you, that is one crazy adventure. A lot of stupid fun in that film as well. I love it when an unexpected gem is found. } Like mining for gold. Or sapphires, which I have done in Montana. |