(13)

PORCH PONDERINGS

by NormaJean AKA Writing Queen

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.

A poem captured my attention the other day.

Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget 
Falls drop by drop upon the heart, 
Until, in our own despair,
 Against our will,
 Comes wisdom 
Through the awful grace of God.

Aeschylus

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

... About this awardicon ...

Given by jim-d

Given to

Date Awarded: August 6, 2021

... About this awardicon ...

Given by brennus

Given to

Date Awarded: July 23, 2021

... About this awardicon ...

Given by andy78

Given to

Date Awarded: July 10, 2021

... About this awardicon ...

Given by 4provinces

Given to

Date Awarded: June 8, 2021

... About this awardicon ...

Given by lilli_in_fl

Given to

Date Awarded: May 26, 2021

... About this awardicon ...

Given by sophie

Given to

Date Awarded: September 8, 2021

... About this awardicon ...

Given by sgcardin

Given to

Date Awarded: June 5, 2022

... About this awardicon ...

Given by gervic

Given to

Date Awarded: September 17, 2022

... About this awardicon ...

Given by b.meridith

Given to

Date Awarded: September 15, 2022

... About this awardicon ...

Given by purplesunday

Given to

Date Awarded: October 8, 2022

... About this awardicon ...

Given by grcubby

Given to

Date Awarded: December 31, 2022

... About this awardicon ...

Given by gervic

Given to

Date Awarded: February 16, 2023

... About this awardicon ...

Given by brothernature

Given to

Date Awarded: April 5, 2023

Comments ·

10 Most Recent Blog Comments:

SandraLynn

May 24, 2026 at 9:29am
In response to "Riverwalk"

Not being bored is a positive. One of our local theories is that the teenage deer become bored and double-dare each other to outrun a vehicle. For some reason the chipmunks do the same daredevil scamper. I hear the rumbling. A vehicle is approaching. On your mark. Get set. Not yet. Not yet. Don't make your move until you see the whites of the driver's eyes. Go! Don't look back. Concentrate on the other side. Become a blur.

Kåre เลียม Enga

May 24, 2026 at 1:33am
In response to "Riverwalk"

No venison? I went across the river to the market today.

Kåre เลียม Enga

May 17, 2026 at 10:46pm
In response to "Snow!"

I think we had a few flakes here the last couple days. Frigid morning.

SandraLynn

May 16, 2026 at 10:52am
In response to "A Long Time Coming"

Busy is good. I concur. You write of dry, dusty conditions. How terrible. You however are not collecting dust or moss. The theatre production sounds like fun.

Kåre เลียม Enga

May 1, 2026 at 12:13am
In response to "Museum Business "

It's finally warming up (looks around). I don't trust "spring" in Kansas Montana.

IMHO... A waterslide would be fine attached to an indoor pool. A track for running is great as well. I have no issue with public art either. Public art can be as simple as gargoyles on lampposts!

Kåre เลียม Enga

Apr 10, 2026 at 12:55am
In response to "Update"

More drama-in-a-day than I could take.

Our local center has been visited by cops more than once.

1 Like

Soldier_Mike

Apr 9, 2026 at 11:13pm
In response to "Update"

O.M.G. Just when you think you know small-town America. Roundup looks so peaceful on a map.

Thank goodness for the theatre and your seeds.

1 Like

Wordsmitty ✍️

Apr 8, 2026 at 2:01pm
In response to "C words"

Conclusion completely concurred with.

1 Like

Kåre เลียม Enga

Apr 8, 2026 at 11:59am
In response to "C words"

I'm tired of the gaslighting.

SandraLynn

Apr 8, 2026 at 10:46am
In response to "C words"

Catastrophe.

1 Like

June 2, 2026 at 2:57pm

#1116923

Surprises!

So I haven't been on here for some days.

But today I have to tell of some things that happened recently.

Today a big rig load came through town. Now this was as large as the downtown buildings. 12 axles, one semi at the front and one semi at the rear.

At the same time this big monster tank came through, a car waited. This car had a trailer and on the trailer was a cage of goats. I thought that was funny.

A rare sighting the other day gave me joy. I walked by a car at a playground. I did a doubletake and went back to talk to the passenger. It was a teen girl and she was actually reading a book. It was like a rare bird sighting in the wild. It gave me joy and surprise. No phone, no device, just a book.

Things are tough now throughout the country. You have to enjoy surprises when they happen.

Comment

May 24, 2026 at 12:05am

#1116352

Riverwalk

I had a very interesting walk today. I try to go to the riverwalk on Saturdays. It's not far, a few blocks, across the highway, and then into the "wild" of the riverwalk. It is a peaceful place to walk and think. I used to walk my dog there. But it was more for me looking back at those times. My dog liked to walk, anywhere. I used some time to rehearse my play lines. I have one part that is a monologue. I could fudge it a bit, but other actors rely on very specific words as cues on when to enter. So I have to get this to memory. I've tried a few techniques I've used in the past. Writing down lines on my hand, carrying lines on a clipboard. I have them all written in a notebook, but the trick is how to make it look like you're not really reading, when you actually are.

But something happened on my walk to this river side trail. As I walked past a house, near the highway, I scared up a deer, a mule deer. That deer went bounding off toward the highway. And SMACK! A truck carrying a horse trailer hit that animal broadside. The fur flew, the truck barely slowed down and then I wondered how to get the deer off the road.

So when I walked closer, there was no deer. I don't know if it stuck onto the front of that truck, or just ran off across the road. I never did see it again. Weird. I have hit my share of deer in my life. Ruined a few cars when those rascals jump out. There is a road going east from Roundup toward Musselshell and Melstone that I call the "deer suicide" highway. I lost a car once, a friend lost two in the space of a month. Also see out this way are elk. And those can really mess you up.

Life is busy now, with play practice every night, working at the now-open museum, volunteering again at the senior center, and my two part-time paid jobs.

But at least I am not bored...

Comment • View 2 comments

May 17, 2026 at 9:52pm

#1115934

Snow!

One thing you can be sure of, the weather will change in an instant.

Here a few days ago it was in the 80's, near 90. Today after a few days of wind, again, it is in the 50's. Snow in the mountains.

Today I helped at the museum - again. Seems like a full-time job now. A volunteer wanted to leave early, so I said I would go over. Well, one person didn't come in. So I stayed - offered to let the person that wanted to leave early that option. She then chose to stay.

We did have a few people in. Not many. But the season has not fully gotten underway. So our fingers are crossed that with now being a part of the DinoTrail, things will pick up. But then, gas and all is so pricey, we'll see what happens.

I went to a funeral yesterday for a lady known around town for good deeds, except I remember her a few years ago screaming at me for the drama around a proposed Renaissance Festival plan. So I did try to be cordial when I saw her, but I was no fan. This is the saddest story, though.

One day she had some blurry vision and the worst headache she ever had, per friends of hers. Then after a week or so she went to her eye doctor, who sent her to an eye specialist, who sent her to the ER. She went home and a few days later had to be airlifted to Billings with vision loss. In the hospital she was almost totally blind. Then she suffered a few strokes. She found out she had blot clots in her brain, one on her brain stem. Another massive stroke and then she passed away.

Now this person was a bit younger than me, and could have perhaps caught this when she had that headache, but she chose a different route. Perhaps financial - perhaps personal beliefs, I'll never know. I just know that if you EVER get a headache, the WORST ever, seek medical help. Don't think about it.

This is told to me each time I go to the eye doctor. That is why I went to the ER a few weeks ago. I just got the insurance statement today. That visit was $5K, but lucky for me I have a reasonable co-payment. So I imagine what would happen if I didn't have insurance. I would have thought twice about checking out a potential problem.

Life is like that, just when you think all is fine. Sometimes WHAM BAM and you are sideswiped. It happened to me.

Bad weather in the Plains tonight, snow and wind in Montana. And it is May 17. Perhaps this year's weather will be as unsettled as our world right now.

Comment • View 1 comment

May 15, 2026 at 3:39pm

#1115791

A Long Time Coming

It has been a long drought for my writing. I apologize. But it sort of correlates to the weather in Montana. Dry, dry, dry. There is a new fire in Gray Cliff - near the interstate - near a housing development.

I have been planting flower seeds for the museum and near my house. The ground is so dry. And then to compound the problem the wind has been blowing for a few days. 60-70 MPH in some places. Up north they had to close the highway, as visibility was down to 5 feet. Dust - blowing from fields ready to plant - or already seeded.

I am sitting in the Friday open meeting of the county commissioners. I then report on the meeting in the local paper. It is fun to listen to three smart men try to wrangle the financial and administration issues.

Currently we are talking about life and death and our personal lives and losses.

I am busy with the county reporting, the refuse district as secretary/treasurer and also treasurer for the museum. I also am starting to volunteer at the senior center as well as rehearsing for a community theater production to perform in the first week in June.

Busy is good. I spend a lot of time, probably stupidly, online listening to YouTube videos. You know how you get caught into a rabbit hole, sucking you down into a loop. My current faves are arrest videos. Such fun to see stupid people doing stupid things.

So, life goes on and we somehow survive. I am currently thinking of going away for the 4th of July. I cannot survive another round of fireworks, especially the 3rd and 4th of July.

Everyone hang in there. Don't feel guilty about taking time for yourself. Write as you can and do your best.

Comment • View 1 comment

April 30, 2026 at 10:39pm

#1114807

Museum Business

Gees. Finally we are ready to open the museum tomorrow. We've been working on this project for at least four months. So, work cannot be done easily when it is cold outside. Only for basement is heated. The main two floors and, of course, outside are not heated.

This year we are finally on the Montana Dino Trail. It is a network of 15 museums across Montana. This was an endeavor that took at least three years to accomplish. So we are so pleased. We ordered shirts, hats, tote bags with our logo and name. We bought more books to sell. The dino guys are spiffing up the bones.

So bring on the visitors! Our museum is free, entrance is by donation only. The dino guys are working on grant funding for some big projects.

I think I mentioned another lady who was going for a grant in town. She wanted a big water slide, a 10 mile trail for marathon races, and public artwork. She shut the museum out of her grant. Most all the money was to go to the huge water slide at the city park. Well, guess what! She didn't win the award.
I have no idea why, but it could have been the fact the city didn't think they could support the project because of increased costs on their end. A foundation in town rejected the idea, since the grant was reimbursable. Meaning, you had to spend the money then get the state to pay you back. The foundation didn't have that kind of financial available. Then this lady went to the county for their financial backing and the county was willing to be the fiscal partner. Tough luck, lady.

But here is the rub - the Montana Dino Trail got a $1.5 million dollar grant from the same state fund. And now our museum is part of the Dino Trail, so we will perhaps get a portion of that award. Funny how things work out sometimes.

We've already gotten a grant from the Red Ants Pants foundation. This is based in White Sulphur Springs, MT and is a yearly music/folk festival which is sponsored by Red Ants Pants clothes - mainly USA made pants for women. And White Sulphur Springs has a population of 900+. I've actually gone to that store and have a pair of their pants. Fun...

And while the midwest is suffering with tornadoes and rain, we have had cooler than usual weather, with snow and freezing temperatures. Right at the time the flowering trees and bushes are trying to bloom. But I'll take a bit of snow and cold any day versus a tornado and hail and floods.

Comment • View 1 comment

April 10, 2026 at 9:12pm

#1112998

M is on my mind today

M on my thoughts today

Miss Melanoma is dangerous, deadly. It is maddening to watch malcontents and masters of misery create such mayhem. The mindless manipulation of morons maddens me.

Mercy is nowhere to be found- just mischief and murky market manipulation. Macabre and mentally meddlesome morons mess with the mental states of the entire country.

It is truly a mystery as to how we are get out of this murky mess.

Comment

April 9, 2026 at 10:50pm

#1112898

Update

Update - I am still irritated with what is happening in our country. And now the person who wore a jacket that stated:
"I really don't care" is coming out of hiding.

Perhaps I need to ruminate on the M words.

Another update, I think I wrote about this before. The senior center in town is closed for a week. The county has taken over the program and installed all new staff. The old group is out, but not without a fight.

So the old senior center gang left with 2 computers, keys to the 3 vehicles, all the food they may have had, all employee records, plus sold a refrigerator that was actually donated to the senior center by a local non-profit.

The Sheriff got involved and got the keys and the computers back.
The computers had their information erased.
The three vehicles don't actually belong to the senior center, they are state property.

Tomorrow when I sit in the county commissioner's meeting, perhaps I can ferret out what happens with that refrigerator. They are pretty sure they know who bought it.

I also learned that the director of the old center, because it now has a new name, was a felon. Embezzlement, meth involvement and over 6 or 7 DUI convictions. She has moved 32 times in 20 years. She also has had quite a bit of prison time. Just the type of person who should NOT be interacting with seniors and driving them to the city daily. I'm all about giving people a second chance, but this woman... Mercy. She is a different type of person.

And I will admit I've lived in many different places for many different reasons. But, I can honestly say I have never been in prison, or done drugs, or had a DUI or stole money.

On a happier note play practice has begun for the Roundup players. Show is the first weekend in June. "How I Met Your Mummy" is the play, a comedy of course. So far it's been fun going through the script on our read-throughs. Now the big job of memorizing lines looms in front of me. I do have one part that is a monologue - and I am pretty sure I'll use a prop so I can have the lines in case I need them.

The museum is still getting cleaned up for opening on May 1. It will be a hard push to get there. The ceiling and walls in one stairway are being repaired with new drywall and plaster. Scafflolding, and then on top of the scaffolds, there are two huge beams to allow them to reach the high ceiling. 20 ft? I saw this today when I went over to let in a person searching for records. She wants to apply to Croatia for citizenship, but has to prove her lineage. Roundup had many ethnic workers in the coal mines, and her grandfather was one.

Ah - life goes on. It's a battle most days, but Spring perhaps has come. My flowers are up, I have seed potatoes and other seeds to plant in a month or so.

Comment • View 2 comments

April 8, 2026 at 9:57am

#1112751

C words

So, thinking about life right now as I awoke, somehow every word I could think of started with a 'C".
I am tired of:
The complicit chaos and confusion choreographed by the command of our country. The complete lack of concern for all the citizens, including children in our country and others indicates to me a corrupt conflagration of criminals that are creeping every further toward a complete lack of civility and common sense.

The culmination of all this conflagration will be the canceling of an entire civilization, or so the congress of all the countries would have you believe.

Love, long-suffering and peace are needed right now. I am exhausted by all the constant corruption.

Comment • View 5 comments

March 26, 2026 at 4:06pm

#1111594

Spring is Here

Getting toward the end of March and we are having weather swings, as is usual. It was over 70 yesterday here, and this morning I woke to snow falling. Now the sun is shining and it's warmed up a bit. Crazy.

I got a call that the seed potatoes I ordered from the county extension office are in, planting them sometime perhaps in April. That depends on the weather.

My friend Juliet and I went to a Spring equinox writing event at a state park last Saturday. The same poetry group I've been a part of for almost a year meets at this park each cycle of the sun. Equinox and solstice events, free. The theme this time was sun, and the return of it in our area. But I chose birds, since I saw a flock of large white birds flying in formation a few weeks ago. Then on the way to the event we saw a big group of wild turkeys on the side of the road. And this tom turkey was in full regalia and gobbling loudly. His tail was unfurled and he was strutting about. Wonderful.

Things in town are changing. They are tearing down the playground just a short walk from my house. New equipment is going to be installed in a month or so. The old broken down stuff is actually going to a Hutterite colony so they can repurpose it. Then an old restaurant is being torn down as well. This place has been closed for over a year. It's in the flood plain and was not salvageable. FEMA actually paid, along with some other government programs, to tear this down. The county is going to take the A/C units, and a big walk-in cooler. The rest is going to the dump.

Speaking of the dump, there was a problem with one of the workers. So now he is fired, I learned today. We need to find another worker, so I spent last night creating a job description. It is pretty much a thankless job - mud, garbage, rude people yelling all the time. But it has to be manned.

I am again this year in a local theater group production. The title is "How I Met your Mummy". Yes, it is as silly as you might imagine. My part is museum archaeologist. And there is a sarcophagus on stage. So now the push is on to learn lines. But I have until June, which is pretty doable. But I have thought of ways in the past to hide lines, and use props to hold lines.

Everyone enjoy Spring!

Comment • View 1 comment

March 20, 2026 at 4:29pm

#1111122

Wacky winter or summer?

We are having quite the weather again.

The scenario - a storm dropped at least a foot of snow over two days. Then the last night the wind came up as well as the temperature rose into the 60's. When we woke the next morning, all the snow was gone. Overnight. And it left a big muddy mess. Now today the wind is back and the temperature is in the 80's. Crazy stuff.

Our county is full of rural roads. Muddy rural roads. Many were stranded for another day until the wind took care of the wet and firmed up the roads.

Currently I am sitting in the county commissioner's meeting that they hold each Friday. A person is trying to convince the commissioners to take this insurance policy that covers what insurance won't pay. And I have to say, they are pretty skeptical. The county has already signed the policy for the county's insurance. And now the secretary is questioning the rep about statements on advertising. This guy is trying to explain minutiae. "Oh, that isn't true." But there is evidence to the contrary.

Oh mercy. Give me a break. Having done insurance billing for doctors, I am thinking he's a scam.

Another activity I've been doing is poetry workshops. And this Saturday there is an event for the Vernal Equinox. At the state park, Pictograph Caves, there is an activity at each of the equinox and solstice dates. I love these events. They are informative and uplifting. They are almost like a therapy session.

Everyone enjoy the new season coming. And the eternal change of light and dark.

Comment

© Copyright 2026 NormaJean AKA Writing Queen (UN: normajeantrent at Writing.Com). All rights reserved.
NormaJean AKA Writing Queen has granted Writing.Com, its affiliates and its syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work.

◄ June ►
S	M	T	W	T	F	S
	1	2	3	4	5	6
7	8	9	10	11	12	13
14	15	16	17	18	19	20
21	22	23	24	25	26	27
28	29	30
Archive				RSS

PORCH PONDERINGS (Book)

PORCH PONDERINGS

Norma's Wanderings around a small section of Montana