Norma's Wanderings around a small section of Montana |
PROMPT January 10th If you could have free, unlimited service for 5 years from an extremely good cook, chauffeur, housekeeper, masseuse, or personal secretary, which would you choose, and why? Given the choice, I would choose a really good masseuse. I had one in Gardiner. When I left after an hour with this person, I was as limp as a wet noodle. Total relaxation. Of course, it helped that she did massage in her home next to the motel where we worked. So I literally walked about twenty steps to total nirvana. I’ve been in two serious car accidents. Those accidents left me with ongoing pain that cannot be cured. Soft tissue injuries are the hardest injuries to heal. Broken bones are easier to heal they tell me. So here’s the deal: I can cook and I think I’m pretty good. I can practice and get better. I love trying out new recipes and getting new cookbooks. I can still drive myself and like to drive to new places. I can clean my house myself. There is a certain pleasure in cleaning your own home. And I have a small house, so it’s easy. I don’t trust anyone else with my personal business. Not even my own husband. I’ll be my own secretary. I cannot be my own masseuse. Hubby does an OK job, but to have a personal masseuse on call for five years? Sign me up. |
PROMPT January 9th Write about some important life skills that are rarely taught but extremely useful? So, for my 2 cents, I throw into the ring these ideas: how to do laundry, how to cook a simple meal, how to manage your money and pay your bills on time, how to be polite and why you should be kind, how to clean your house, how to check the oil in your car, how to change a tire, how to make your bed, how to sew on a button. These are things most everyone should know before they leave home. I would like for everyone to be a functioning member of society. Now I know some people, for whatever reason, cannot carry their load. That is why you need to be kind and help those that can't help themselves. You never know when you might be stuck on a back road and need to change a flat tire. And you should always know how to check the vehicle's fluids. No matter where you live, you shouldn't live in a dirty place and that bed should be made neat every day. Even if you only have two pairs of pants and two shirts, you keep one clean and wash one. I have been in that situation before. Take care of your clothes. Sew on that missing button. And even if you only have a few dollars, make sure you take care of those dollars the best way you can. Don't overspend. A good way to overspend is to do take-out food all the time. Learn to cook a few things. Get a cookbook and some pots at the thrift store, or use the internet for recipes. Cooking is not that hard. And a most important lesson - why you should call your mother! Lecture over. Class dismissed. Seriously, call your mother. She's been wondering about how you are. |
PROMPT January 8th Are you a procrastinator? What do you do when you are procrastinating doing something else? If you’re not prone to procrastination, how do you stay motivated? Procrastinator: A procrastinator is a person who delays or puts things off — like work, chores, or other actions — that should be done in a timely manner. ... Procrastinator comes from the Latin verb procrastinare, which means deferred until tomorrow. The prefix pro means forward, and crastinus means of or belonging to tomorrow. That is the legal definition per the internet. I like my term: slacker. Why put off today something you can put off til tomorrow? This Covid problem we have is great for procrastinators. No one now is looking over your shoulders at the work you used to go to for eight hours. You are on your own. I am great at putting off things. They can always be in the back of my mind, niggly little things always talking to me. Do this, do that. So I make a list. Check things off. Makes me feel good when things actually get done. What doesn’t make me feel good is to see others in my household sit around all day and do nothing. I call that procrastinating. It happened back when I was in my 20’s. And it made me crazy then too. |
PROMPT January 7th What movie universe would be the best to live out the rest of your life in? I love the movie “It’s A Wonderful Life”. The tale of George Bailey and Mr. Potter. The angel and learning how one life touches so many others. I never tire of seeing this story. I would love to live in this town forever. It reminds me of the small town where I grew up. And just a bit of where I live now. I grew up in a small town in Ohio where everyone knew their neighbors and you could run wild without worry. It was an innocent time, the 1950s and 1960s were, I think, a wonderful time to be a kid. So if I lived in Bedford Falls I could skate on that pond with George Bailey and his brother. I would grow up and have a family. I would bank at the good old Bailey Savings and Loan. I would shop at the stores downtown. Then hike up to that hill with But of course, there would have to be Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed in the town. They would have to play their parts to make this the best place to live. I would invite them over to have dinner sometimes with my grandparents, who lived next door. We would enjoy the homemade ice cream in summer. Maybe they could come at Thanksgiving and Christmas to enjoy our big family celebrations. And then in summer, perhaps I could get them to come to the family reunions we had at Walnut Beach on the shore of Lake Erie in Ashtabula. The town I live in now is small. It is safe, to a degree. But I don't see children out playing like I used to see in years past. That makes me sad. But still small-town life is still better than living in a big city. Neighbors look out for each other. Families still gather for meals. We look foward to summer after a long winter so we can celebrate the 4th of July with a two-day celebration with big parades and concerts, rodeos and fireworks. Then we enjoy camping, hiking, picnics, hunting, lots of outdoor fun here in Montana. |
PROMPT January 6th Do you support any charitable organizations or causes through donations or volunteering? If so, what causes do you support? And if not, what would you support if you had the ability? I am lucky enough to be a volunteer in my community. It is something I always wanted to do before I moved here. But in my previous homes, I always had to work or didn’t have the opportunities I have here. The one organization I volunteer for which most is a local thrift store. I am on the advisory board at Northern Treasures Thrift Store in Roundup, Montana. I also do advertising for this store on Facebook. I was also instrumental in getting my church group to volunteer at this store one afternoon a week. We see this as a witnessing opportunity. And since we have started doing this, for over a year now, we have had the most fun. One contest we started for the store is “What Am I?”. When we find a donated item and have no idea what that item is, that item goes to the contest. Of course, we have to find out what that item is first, and then post it for the contest. Winners get a coupon for a discount on a future purchase. We are amazed at the popularity of this! Fun. We as a couple also volunteer for Meals on Wheels. We do this every Wednesday. It is a duty we take seriously. It only takes about thirty minutes for us to deliver prepackaged meals to about twenty people. The program has continued throughout the pandemic. We never missed a week. During the first few weeks, we served over thirty clients as the senior center was closed. But that lasted only a short time. We are in full swing again. The center has been open, people can eat at the senior center, carry food out, or have it delivered. I also volunteer for my church doing advertising and working on the radio station our church has. We do a radio show once a week. Several of us do a talk show, sometimes a Bible study, sometimes another topic. We’ve been doing this for a few years now. Our Facebook page posts the radio show so folks can view it later. I also send information to the church publications that go to a statewide magazine. I also keep the church website updated. So I feel blessed to be able to volunteer in my adopted community. This is the life I always wanted. Busy, doing work that helps others. Tomorrow I am going out with a lady to volunteer for the Chamber of Commerce. This endeavor will address the SE Montana Tourism initiative of being safe while you travel. We are trying to encourage tourism, mask-wearing, and being safe during this Covid Crisis. I love being busy. |
PROMPT January 5th If you could learn the answer to one question about your future, what would the question be? I wouldn’t want to know the answer to that question, since I don’t want to know the future. God doesn’t choose to show us our futures. If I had known at age twenty the course of my life I never would have believed it. It would have scared me. So many twists and turns. It has been scary, exciting, dangerous and wonderful. I have lived a marvelous life full of love and laughter, but also full of betrayal and bewilderment. I was at a party once when single, between husbands. The host had a fortune teller there. So I thought, what the heck. This person accurately predicted my current husband’s initials. Weird. Now she didn’t give me other decent information, but that one fact has stuck with me all these many years later. Skeptical me wonders how that worked. So do I still believe in the Ouija board, the crystal ball, the wizard behind the curtain, the fortune tellers, the tarot cards, the mind readers? No, I can honestly say I do not. But you can, there is free will after all. I just choose to put all my belief in another higher power. |
PROMPT January 4th Start your entry with this statement: “I am frustrated about ________ because ________.” I am frustrated about being older because I know my days are numbered. So little time so much more to share. So little time so many more books to read. So little time so much more to share with my husband, my grandchildren, my friends. Does anyone else have the feeling they are just marking time? Just sitting around waiting for something exciting to happen? Then I think, oh come on! How much more exciting do you want life to get? 2020 was just about the worst year most of us can remember. But then there were the years around the time of the Viet Nam era. Who remembers those times? Riots in the streets. Bring back the troops! End the war! The people alive during the time of WWII are leaving us, what a time they lived through. All the horror of Hitler, Stalin and then Pearl Harbor. The Blitz of Britain and the rationing here at home. So what do we really have to complain about now in 2021? I mean, come on folks. Yes we are frustrated about a lot of things. Many don’t have jobs, many don’t have a place to live. Many don’t know where to get their next meal. But we’re not yet in a depression the likes of 1929 to 1939 where unemployment reached over well 20%, and there was no unemployment insurance until about 1935. No social security until 1935 as well. Talk about tough times. The year has just started. Let’s not get frustrated yet. There are still 361 days left. Plenty of days left to get worked up about. |
PROMPT January 3rd If you had a portal that would instantly transport you to one specific place on Earth whenever you wanted, where would you want to go? You can use the portal as often as you want, but it will only transport you to the one location you choose and then back again to where you came from. I would like to go to Gardiner, Montana. I spent many years there, many happy years at the entrance to the first national park in the world, Yellowstone. It holds a special place in my heart. So, with all the special places on Earth, why there? I guess it would have to be the mountains. Where I am now there are no mountains nearby. The first time we drove into Gardiner I felt that I was home. I loved exploring Yellowstone. And once we had hiked over a hundred miles, then we started exploring the forests outside Gardiner. We worked in reservations in Yellowstone for several years then managed a motel in Gardiner for eight years. Those years were spent sharing our love of the area. I enjoyed telling tourists about Yellowstone and Montana. But if we enlarge our choices and could be transported anywhere, without limits as to time and space, then I would like to go to Heaven. It is a real place that is promised to us in the Bible. |
PROMPT January 2nd 2020 is finally in the rear view mirror... what’s ahead for you in 2021? So 2021 is to be the great year to replace 2020. And so it may. Every year we hope is better than the year before. For me, I’ll be another year older. Perhaps a bit wiser. I’ll continue on with my volunteer work. Perhaps I’ll be in another community theater production. But after the deer massacre last year, I don’t know. I anticipate doing another remodel project. The last one we hope. I will plant another garden. Perhaps battle grasshoppers again. My grandson is going to the Marines. We’ll see how that turns out. My mother isn’t doing well. My sister wants me to go back for a few days to do some respite care. My granddaughter graduates high school. Perhaps I can go see that. Last year I wasn’t able to see a grandson graduate. My other grandson hopes to start his EMT career. I pray for that to happen. But what really matters is that I will be one year closer to meeting Jesus. I believe His return is imminent. I know many have thought that in the past, but all the signs are here. But even if I happen to pass away in 2021, I will be finally at peace. Even so Lord Jesus, come. |
PROMPT January 1st What’s something GOOD that happened in 2020? My 2020 started off fine. We remodeled a room in our home. We seem to be doing that every year. A room a year. We have one more to go on the first floor. We attended a book signing in March. That was just as all this Corona Crazy business started and shut down the world. Little did I know that life would become increasingly bothersome as the months dragged on. Our life hasn't changed much. Just like Robert Waltz said, no one has died in my family, no friends have had the virus, I haven't lost my job, I haven't lost my house, I still have money to buy food, I can still heat my home. So I feel very blessed. I complain about everyday things. But in the grand scheme of life, those are just little minor irritations, mosquito bites. Not big dog bites. Or bear bites. So what's something good that happened? I didn't get sick. Hubby didn't get sick. My children and grandchildren didn't get sick. God is still in control. And the sun came up on January 1, 2021 just as it always has since the creation of the world. Amen. |