Tag: post

prompts or not

Linda and the Just Jot It January blogging community kindly provide daily prompts to help people generate posts.

And I often go off and do my own thing…

Today, though, the prompt is “prompt” so I’m going with it.

I had hoped to write a post in my occasional JC’s Confessions series but that will take a lot of brainpower that I don’t have today. I’ve had a couple of medical appointments this week that need follow-up of various kinds and I’m struggling with some pain issues, not helped by the very cold weather we are having this week.

So, thank you, Linda and everyone, for the prompt today.

Write on!
*****
To find out more about how to join Just Jot It January, visit here: https://lindaghill.com/2026/01/29/daily-prompt-jusjojan-the-29th-2026/

SoCS: Top of JC’s Mind

I started Top of JC’s Mind in September, 2013, and, sometimes, I like to take another look at some of my older posts.

It’s an eclectic blog with lots of topics and you could rummage around in old posts, too, if you like.

Sometimes, I am looking back for specific topics or events. There are also threads that weave in and out over time.

For example, I wrote a lot of comments on the eventually successful campaign to keep shale gas fracking out of New York – which had a brief, ugly reprise in the more recent effort to add CO2 fracking to our state ban. There are also renewable energy posts, including posts on heat pumps, solar panels, and EVs. We are proud to be an electrified household powered by the sun!

There are poetry posts, including posts from my residencies with the Boiler House Poets Collective at the Studios at MASS MoCA which began in fall 2015.

I’ve written quite a lot of COVID/pandemic posts. I’m humbled that one of the local historical societies has been printing those posts to place in their archives for possible research in the future.

The most poignant posts for me are the ones that involve my family. I wrote about my parents in their final years. Those posts were helpful to me at the time as a way to process what was going on but are also good to look back on from time to time.

While I’m admittedly not a great photographer, I’ve tried to include some photos. It’s handy that, during the years of Top of JC’s Mind, we have had family living in Hawai’i, and later, London. Even an amateur can take decent photos in those settings. I also like to take photos in the western Massachusetts/Southern Vermont area where I lived as a child and teen.

So, I invite you to take another look at Top of JC’s Mind.

Or a first look, if that is more applicable…
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Linda’s prompt for Stream of Concsiousness Saturday this week is “take another look.” Find more information on joining us for SoCS and/or Just Jot It January here: https://lindaghill.com/2026/01/23/the-friday-reminder-for-socs-jusjojan-2026-daily-prompt-for-jan-24th/

tired

I’m so tired today.

It’s been a week with a lot of medical stuff going on. I have some news that I hope to share but it will be complicated and I don’t have the energy to do it today.

Maybe tomorrow.

Or over the weekend.

Or next week.

Hoping it will make it into Just Jot It January, at least…

Join us for Linda’s Just Jot It January! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2026/01/15/daily-prompt-jusjojan-the-15th-2026/

blog update

Back when I was first blogging here at WordPress, they would prepare a year-end summary. As someone who is (in)famously sloppy at checking stats, I appreciated this snapshot of the year.

Unfortunately, without the handy-dandy report, my own post will be more haphazard and less prettily formatted, but I’ll give it a try.

I put out 135 posts in 2025, fewer than average for me, but more than I thought I had, given that my health situation was limiting my brainpower and energy. The average word count was 248, which is lower than usual, too.

My WordPress stats page lists 1,797 subscribers but my total on my site is 2,180, which includes people who follow me on other platforms, such as my Facebook page. Over 1,100 subscribers receive my posts via email, although 80-90% are not opened. Still, I often forget that what shows up as views for each post is only people who visit my site directly, not those who read posts by email. I often am surprised when in-person friends know a bit of news before I see them because I forget that I mentioned it in a post!

One thing that really surprised me was the “Number of Shares” box on my status page. It says that there have been 36,000 shares on Bluesky, which does not seem even vaguely possible! Maybe some bot got ahold of some posts and spread them around?

I am, as always, grateful for all my readers, visitors, and commenters. I’m also mindful of the privilege of being able to continue blogging, however imperfectly, given my health challenges. There has been some news on that front that I may be able to share later this week or next.

It will probably be more than jot…

Speaking of which, please join us for Linda’s Just Jot It January! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2026/01/13/daily-prompt-jusjojan-the-13th-2026/

#JusJoJan26

Well, now that we are a third of the way through January, I’m finally getting around to thanking Linda for, once again, offering Just Jot It January.

The basic framework is to start the new year off by posting every day in January. There are daily prompts to assist people, although I most often do my own thing.

One of the things that I particularly enjoy about Just Jot It January is its flexible design. You can join at any time with a post of any length or even just a captioned photo. All you need to do is put in a pingback to that day’s prompt post on Linda’s blog if you blog on WordPress or put the link to your post in the comment section if you blog on a different platform.

The idea is that other participating bloggers will see your link and have the opportunity to visit your blog. I’ve found many blogs to follow through Just Jot It January and it’s great to reinforce my sense of belonging to a blogging community as the new year begins.

While the goal is to participate every day in January, it is not a requirement to participate. Even if you only do one January post, you can join in the fun!

Just visit Linda’s blog to get started: https://lindaghill.com/2026/01/11/daily-prompt-jusjojan-the-11th-2026/

One-Liner Wednesday: Thanksgiving

As we here in the United States are preparing to celebrate Thanksgiving tomorrow, I’m giving thanks for all the people who visit my blog, especially those who have stuck with me despite my irregular posting as I deal with personal and family health issues. ❤

Join us for Linda’s One-Liner Wednesdays! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2025/11/26/one-liner-wednesday-what-did-you-do-yesterday/. Also, congratulate Linda on the publication of her new book, which came out yesterday!

Twenty years ago

(Hearts by Angie Traverse)

Twenty years ago today, my friend Angie died.

We had met when we were volunteering at the middle school our children attended. Angie was kind and caring and funny and talented and we became friends, although she had a plethora of friends already. Because we were both doing volunteering and taking care of family, we had the flexibility to meet for lunch and chat or work on committee projects. Because Angie’s good will also embraced family, she got to know my parents.

We thought that, one day, we would become grandparents and have multi-generational hangouts.

Unfortunately, a nagging cough when Angie was 50 turned out to be stage 3 lung cancer. It was a shock because she had never been a smoker. Despite all the best efforts of her medical team, the cancer eventually progressed and took her life at 54.

March 25th was Good Friday that year.

There was a charitable fund set up in her name and, for years, I gave to it every year on March 25th and on her October birthday. The last few years, though, the website has disappeared. I think the fund probably had enough contribution for it to be endowed so its work can continue.

I’ve written about Angie before here at Top of JC’s Mind and even had a poem published about our friendship and her loss.

I didn’t know it at the time, but Angie’s death was followed by the loss of my long-time parish community and the death of B’s dad, the first loss of a grandparent for our daughters.

2005 became one of the worst years of my life.

I fear that 2025 may be even worse, especially when I look at what is happening in the United States as our democracy disintegrates and damages lives here and abroad.

Personally, this will be the year where we figure out what is going on with my health and address it or the year where I have to deal with giving up what I thought my life as an elder would be.

A small problem when people are dying or being threatened or losing family members because Trump/Musk/Vance et al think they can break laws, norms, and ethical obligations and concentrate all power in the executive branch.

I am sorry that I am too weak to be out on the streets for protests and have to confine my activities to online posts and messages and phone calls.

I’m hoping we can turn 2025 around after these horrible last couple of months.

Trying – while mourning for those who have been hurt.

And still, twenty years later, missing Angie.

WordPress editor

Is anyone else having problems with the WordPress editor? Sometimes, when I’m working on a draft, it won’t let me go back to a previous paragraph to make edits. It seems to freeze on the paragraph I’m in. To get out of it, I usually have to look at a preview of the post and hit edit from there to open it in a new tab.

I’ve tried asking WordPress for help but no luck so far. Just wondering if others are seeing this happen.

Join us for Just Jot It January! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2025/01/13/daily-prompt-jusjojan-the-13th-2025/

SoCS: still behind

If I looked back through my ten plus years of posts here, I’m sure I would find plenty that talk about my being behind on posting and lots of other things.

Even though I’ve tried to pair down on my commitments, I never seem to be caught up.

Dealing with my health over these last ten months, things have gotten way worse. I feel like I am only handling about a third of what I used to do – and, some days, not even that.

I’ve cut out a lot of tasks, assuming I would get back to them when I was better.

Now, I wonder if these cuts will be permanent…

At some point, if I re-define what I should be doing, maybe I won’t be behind anymore.

That would be novel…
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Linda’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday this week is “in front/behind.” This post also is part of Just Jot It January. Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2025/01/03/the-friday-reminder-for-socs-jusjojan-2025-daily-prompt-for-jan-4th/

Another run at Just Jot It January

So, despite all odds, I’m making another run at posting every day in January, courtesy of Linda’s Just Jot It January or #JusJoJan.

This is the 11th year Linda has hosted this initiative. I participated for the first time in 2015. While it’s not required to post every day, I usually manage it.

I admit that I try to stash away a few posts to throw in when I don’t have time and/or brain on a given day.

I have an appointment with a vascular neurologist later today, which may or may not help with the brain part of the equation.

Linda does offer prompts for the day on her blog, which many people find useful. I tend to do my own thing, other than her continuing One-Liner Wednesday and Stream of Consciousness Saturday series.

Please join us, once, twice, or up to 31 times!
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To join Just Jot It January, visit here: https://lindaghill.com/2025/01/02/daily-prompt-jusjojan-the-2nd-2025/