April 29, 2026, a thought for today, It is truth that makes a man angry. Italian Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday 

The first upload for yesterday was “city scape.” This was taken a few years ago when we visited a niece and got Sweet Pea. 

The next challenge upload was “handwritten.” This is a letter my father wrote
to my mother when he was away in the military in the 1940s.

The last upload for yesterday was “a place you call peaceful.” This is one of a very familiar park very close to my home. 

Life today. This week has started out on the “smoother” side as compared to last week. With the bulletin and its “extras” done and out of the way I have set a slower pace.  The bills have been paid for the month so no deadlines there. I got off track yesterday along with food pantry on my schedule I fell behind on what I wanted to get uploaded yesterday. So I finished that this morning.

I have a huge English ivy plant that I had planed for my window boxes but it is of a far larger variety for that purpose so I plan to plant it out in the yard by the porch. It’s still a little too early to go outside but I wanted to get the hole started since I am on my own for digging. I started it yesterday. I quit when my leg told me to. So I went out for about ten minutes to make it a bit bigger today. In a couple of more days like this I should have it where I need it.

I have a good start on this letter and I have three of the four photos I need for today. I know one I want that is on my way to church so I may have a change to snap that photo on the way to food pantry in about an hour. I stopped on the letter to go to food pantry. Yesterday we were really slow and not many folks were there. Today we were almost average in number of families. We were slow but with small breaks. It was kind of surprising because it was pouring down rain most of the time. 

The word today is turn. Do not throw the arrow which will return against you. Kurdish Proverb. Seize the moment of excited curiosity on any subject to solve your doubts; for if you let it pass, the desire may never return, and you may remain in ignorance. William Wirt. While the fates permit, live happily; life speeds on with hurried step, and with winged days the wheel of the headlong year is turned. Seneca. Whenever evil befalls us, we ought to ask ourselves, after the first suffering, how we can turn it into good. So shall we take occasion, from one bitter root, to raise perhaps many flowers. Leigh Hunt. The world is wide, and I will not waste my life in friction when it could be turned into momentum. Frances Willard. It is as hard to see one's self as to look backwards without turning around. Henry David Thoreau. The stream is as good as at first; the little rubbish it collects in the turnings is easily moved away. Jane Austen. He who exercises government by means of his virtue may be compared to the north polar star, which keeps its place and all the stars turn towards it. Confucius. Leave no stone unturned. Euripides. Do not turn back when you are just at the goal. Publilius Syrus. The mind ought sometimes to be diverted that it may return the better to thinking. Phaedrus. Everyone who receives the protection of society owes a return for the benefit. John Stuart Mill. The weather-cock on the church spire, though made of iron, would soon be broken by the storm-wind if it... did not understand the noble art of turning to every wind. Heinrich Heine. Equality may perhaps be a right, but no power on earth can ever turn it into a fact. Honore de Balzac. A prayer in its simplest definition is merely a wish turned Godward. Phillips Brooks. Whoever is out of patience is out of possession of his soul. Men must not turn into bees, and kill themselves in stinging others. Sir Francis Bacon. Life is like riding a bicycle: to keep your balance, you have to keep moving. Albert Einstein.

Article summary. I always have questions about something I am reading if I haven’t experienced it and have a question about its validity so I “research” it, it is much easier now with Google, than when I was younger. I also think it is a good idea to fact check when you don’t agree or understand. I wanted to take a look at this article to see if it related to this kind of thinking. The article title is Being humble about what you know is just one part of what makes you a good thinker. Professor of Psychology & Senior Research Fellow, Program for Leadership and Character, Wake Forest University. At theconversation.com. It opened with mentioning that some studies say that when you become aware that you may be wrong about something it could be a path to becoming a good thinker. In conversations with other teachers it became apparent that there is  a need to be a “motivation” to learning and understanding the world.  One of the teachers wondered if she should on focus on “intellectual humility,” that would mean being aware that you can be wrong in some beliefs. The author came to the conclusion about his aspect on the humility outlook that without acknowledging you are mistaken you can’t learn anything new. There are different “ways to assess intellectual humility,” a single trait won’t make you a good thinker.” It was determined that simply finding you are wrong is not enough because you need to care about having the right beliefs by wanting to learn, be curious, and commit to that effort.  

Maybe Welsh rarebit for dinner.

Photos in my life today

The first upload for today is “blue and green.” This photo was taken a fee years ago of some plant I saw in a garden in my neighbor hood. 

The second upload for today is “graffiti.” This is on a coffee café a few blocks from my home. 

The last upload is one of the series of “city scape. This is one of the
bridges in downtown Columbus.  

Joy

                               Grove City

Want to shop? (fineartamerica.com search for joy rector) (“view shop”) redbubble.com search for jarector)

 April 27, 2026, a thought for today, The eye is blind if the mind is absent. Italian Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday

This first challenge for yesterday was “my choice.” This is one of my “in camera filters” images. This is a filter I like to play with after I have an image and its original is saved. There is a set of filters on my Samsung 24+ camera allow I to re-create the in camera image. 

The next image challenge title is “potato.” How don’t know how to get to
creative with a potato. It may have given me a little more to be “artistic” a “potato eye” on it.

This last image for yesterday was “something that makes a sound,” and what a beautiful sound this would be.

Life today. This has been one of those days when one thing pops up for attention then another. When I had the lap top fixed, they installed a virus protection software on it. I realized that my PC hasn’t had an updated virus protection. The one that was installed on the lap top can be installed on two other pieces of equipment. I didn’t know quite how to work that so I was online for an hour and a half with the virus software company finding how to get it installed on this one. I finally got it done. There was a problem with the mouse working the other day. I borrowed one from church to see the mouse was the problem or if it was the computer. It was the mouse so that problem is solved. 

I finished the bulletin and had it out for proofing. I got the fixes done so now it is ready. I also spent some time “shopping” at Etsy. I wanted to order something for my great grandson’s first communion. 

Then I attempted to get a couple of household chores done. I have only one left that I want to get done today. 

The weather is taking another of one its switches. It is cooling down again for a few days. I was able to have the doors and a couple of windows open a few days ago and was too warm under the blankets at bed time. Now it’s back to shut windows and more blankets. 

The word today is. The word today is truth. Advertisements... contain the only truths to be relied on in a newspaper. Thomas Jefferson. If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things. Rene Descartes. Facts are the enemy of truth. Miguel de Cervantes. All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.  Arthur Schopenhauer. Great men's errors are to be venerated as more fruitful than little men's truths. Friedrich Nietzsche. One must know oneself, if this does not serve to discover truth, it at least serves as a rule of life and there is nothing better. Blaise Pascal. The scornful nostril and the high head gather not the odors that lie on the track of truth. George Eliot. There's nothing that keeps its youth, So far as I know, but a tree and truth. Oliver Wendell Holmes. Love truth, and pardon error. Voltaire. Never apologize for showing feeling. When you do so, you apologize for truth. Benjamin Disraeli. Never lose sight of this important truth, that no one can be truly great until he has gained a knowledge of himself, a knowledge which can only be acquired by occasional retirement. Johann Georg von Zimmermann. Have patience awhile; slanders are not long-lived. Truth is the child of time; erelong she shall appear to vindicate thee. Immanuel Kant. The truth is the kindest thing we can give folks in the end. Harriet Beecher Stowe. We know truth, not only by reason, but also by the heart. Blaise Pascal. Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth. Henry David Thoreau. Truth indeed rather alleviates than hurts, and will always bear up against falsehood, as oil does above water. Miguel de Cervantes.

Article summary. I like art and am involved in a project of a personal nature right now. So this article caught my attention on a couple of levels. Along with my ideas of presentation it is interesting for me to see how teachers set up their class lessons. The title is “‘But I’m not artistic’: how teachers shape kids creative development.” Dr. Gai Lindsay, Lecturer/ Coordinator of Regional Campuses: The Early Years, University of Wollongong. At theconversation. The article opened with an interesting point. In this world of “creative thinking” it is important for children to foster their creative growth in that area. This form of thinking in many areas of life can offer success in ways of growth and life experiences.  I didn’t realize until I read this article there is a thing called the “Convention on the Rights of the Child (Article 31)” (I did some off to the side research on this subject, very interesting and too long to go into here). In part it states that youth less than 18 have the right “to access and fully participate in cultural and artistic life.” The article further states that this can be a foundation to “all future creative learning and development.” In that this article’s title involved how teachers’ handle this aspect we should be concerned that children “have access to “high-quality visual art education.” As it goes on it says that when you visit early education classes you may see “art work” of the children hanging on the walls, but this alone is not a sign of the teachers skills and knowledge to “provide quality visual arts experiences”. The article relates that teachers need knowledge of how visual art experience can enhance “learning and development”. It goes on to say art can lead to “motivation, enjoyment, positive attitudes, cognitive problem solving, self-discipline” as well as “tools for communication”. It seems the article is pointing out that in many cases teachers see the children’s “art time” ad in some way to keep them busy or form “fine-motor” skill’s development instead of the “of creative and open-ended use of quality art materials”. In ending the article the author states that universities training of educators may need work so that they get “skills-based courses needed to reconsider the training of all educator” in the area of their “ability to teach art”.

I think it will be chili for dinner. 

Photos in my life today

The first challenge for today is “something prickly”. This is one of my six miniature rose plants that will
go in my “rose garden” window boxes. 

The second upload is “city scape” I took this one when I worked downtown several years ago. This main building in the image is a Columbus Ohio icon. 

The last image for today is “kids”. Again this is an image from my
archives. These girls are no longer “kids” instead they are not “teens”. They are my twin nieces. 

Joy 

just an image of an arrangement of a wicker chair and “artful display” plants display in a downtown public building

Want to shop?

(fineartamerica.com search for joy rector) (redbubble.com search for jarector then “view shop”)

April 25, 2026, a thought for today, Who gives, teaches a return. Italian Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday 

The first upload challenge was “share your settings.” The settings were: iso 32, 0.0 ev, F 1.8, 1/60 s. This is one of the roses in a bouquet I got at Kroger while we wait for garden flowers to bloom. 

The next upload was “I tree you love”. This tree is in and has been a couple of
blocks from my house. 

The last upload for yesterday was “nature.” Well, there are thousands of things in nature that we could capture in photos. This one was picked for yesterday.

Life today. This has been eventful Saturday mostly due to a cranky computer. Actually the computer seems to be working slowly but ok. It seems to be the mouse that is showing a problem. I hope to borrow a mouse from the church tomorrow to test it here. If that works, I need a new mouse, if it doesn’t the computer may need some work or I switch back to the laptop. I had it repaired just in time if that’s the case. Doing this letter and the four photos I need for the day have taken up the majority of time today. I did get the grocery pick up done and put away.

I also managed to get a couple of household chores out of the way. I paid the bills yesterday but there was one that gave me a bit of a problem opening properly in my internet connection. I was able to take care of that quickly today. 

I finished the day yesterday on a project I am working on. A dear friend of mine who sees my photo work regularly has agreed to let me know some of the photos she thinks will suit the “gallery walls” I hope to have. Yesterday, before I shut down for the day, I uploaded the ones she suggested to the file that I have made to save them. I have five photos completed, she suggested five more. I am getting more and more eager to get them hung. There is a hang up there but there is an answer and it will come.

The word today is trust. There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty. John Adams. Trust men and they will be true to you; treat them greatly, and they will show themselves great. Ralph Waldo Emerson. Love all, trust a few. Do wrong to none.  William Shakespeare. Put more trust in nobility of character than in an oath. Solon. As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Trust one who has gone through it. Virgil. I never trust people's assertions, I always judge of them by their actions. Ann Radcliffe. All our progress is an unfolding, like a vegetable bud. You have first an instinct, then an opinion, then a knowledge as the plant has root, bud, and fruit. Trust the instinct to the end, though you can render no reason. Ralph Waldo Emerson. Fear secretes acids; but love and trust are sweet juices. Henry Ward Beecher. He who loves the world as his body may be entrusted with the empire. Lao-tzu. For somehow this is tyranny's disease, to trust no friends. Aeschylus. Men trust their ears less than their eyes. Herodotus. Seize the day, put no trust in the morrow! [Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero.] Horace. I repeat...that all power is a trust; that we are accountable for its exercise; that from the people, and for the people all springs, and all must exist. Benjamin Disraeli. If we are bound to forgive an enemy, we are not bound to trust him. Thomas Fuller. All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen. Ralph Waldo Emerson. Trust not him that has once broken faith. William Shakespeare. Men have no right to put the well-being of the present generation wholly out of the question. Perhaps the only moral trust with any certainty in our hands is the care of our own time. Edmund Burke. Trust yourself, then you will know how to live. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. To be a philosopher is not merely to have subtle thoughts, not even to found a school, but so to love wisdom as to live according to its dictates, a life of simplicity, independence, magnanimity, and trust. Henry David Thoreau. When a man assumes a public trust, he should consider himself as public property. Thomas Jefferson. 

Article summary. As I was reading titles on the news site, I saw this one and wondered how the people you spent time with long before bed time would affect your sleep especially on an every day life cycle. So I decided to have a look. The title is “Want better sleep? Spend face to face time with your friends and family. Royette Tavernier, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Wesleyan University. At theconversation. The opening stated a bit of common sense that our relationships “may” determine how healthy we are. In a lot of circumstances that is true. Then the author decided to give it a bit more attention. He wondered how it would affect our sleep. Some research has been done in particularly to falling asleep and “daytime fatigue”. There is continued research on how the people we are with, friends and family, enter into the question of our sleep patterns. These particular studies were conducted with married couples in mind as well as another part of it considering teens. They found that the daily “availability” of their partner was on the list of what affects sleep. In college students “sense of security in relationships” seemed to play a part. One group tested found that those involved in social activities “had fewer sleep problems”.  This also adds to the ability to deal with stress. In the studies they measured the hours of sleep, falling asleep, and time asleep compared to just laying in bed. One test result showed youth fell asleep easier when they have been with friends but longer to fall asleep with time with longer with family. That could be due to family more tense with one another at time. The age brackets did play different rolls in the final results depending the age when more time is spent with friends. More time with friends in the younger led to better sleep.  Leading to the end of the article it is mentioned that sleep is linked to “mental and physical health issues, including depression and cardiovascular disease” mentioning that doctors may see these results. 

Maybe a taco pizza for dinner. 

Photos in my life today

The first challenge today is “favorite flower”. These are the favorite at the moment. It is part of the bouquet I had yesterday.

The next upload challenge is titled “sunset colors”. I haven’t seen extra special sunsets lately so this one is from my archives. 

The last challenge today is “my choice” and is one of my “in camera filter”. I
shot the photo then used an onboard camera filter. I used a Samsung 24+ camera. 

Joy

                                                                        metro park

Want to shop?

(fineartamerica.com search for joy rector) (redbubble.com search for jarector then “view shop”)

 April 23, 2026, a thought for today, All brains are not in one head. Italian Proverb

Photo in my life yesterday

My first upload for yesterday was “earth day”. I was trying for and artful and unique way of presenting an image for this. It turned out to be just this simple one of my recycle can. 

The second challenge was “animal or wildlife”. I have several of “wild” geese and this is one of them. 

The last upload was “something that flies”. I had to go to my photo archives for this one. I have a couple airplanes taking off and one or tow more of this nature. So chose this one for this upload. 

Life today. Wow what a week this has been, I am getting to old for this kind of pace. I am finding I am one day behind in uploading my photos, letters and blogs. 

This was one heck of a day. It started out good but then a bump appeared. I got to the church to print and turned the computer on the first thing since I knew it would take a long time to boot up. Then I got the bulletin started printing from a pdf file on the copier. Patti and I have figured out one way of speeding things up a bit. She leaves the computer on over night which helps for a quicker boot when I get there in the morning. It is still slow but much better. Today Publisher, the software I use, was up when I was about half way through the bulletins. So I started opening  the newsletter. Each step in doing that takes about five or ten minutes for opening the document, then opening the printer dialog and setting the numbers needed then sending a proof copy then the load. That all happened in decent time, considering the history of things with the aging computer. Then the “bump”. The stabler in the copier ran out of staples and quit printing. I have never loaded the staples in this copier. I had to find where they were kept in the office then learn how to load them. I found some but they didn’t look like the ones needed for this copier. Then I opened the stapler compartment on the copier to see if I would be able to teach myself how to do it. I could see the instructions. As it ended I need thirty more copies of the newsletter. Hopefully Patti will know how to load them and finish the run. In the morning I will do the folding and the rest. It we have to order staples I will have to hand staple the thirty I need. Sorry to be so long winded in the “vent”. 

When I left the church I made a trip to Michael’s to pickup two of the photo I had done and some other supplies for the church “gallery” that I hope to get initiated soon. I have five photos ready for hanging but no one to hang them yet. 

When I got home I started the laundry. Lowell came by to bring me the laptop that I sent in for a new battery. It turns out it wasn’t the battery it was a virus. So now it’s well and back home.

It looks like this will be another late day for letters and photos.

The word today is treat. The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good. Samuel Johnson. Trust men and they will be true to you; treat them greatly, and they will show themselves great. Ralph Waldo Emerson. There is some magic in wealth, which can thus make persons pay their court to it, when it does not even benefit themselves. How strange it is, that a fool or knave, with riches, should be treated with more respect by the world, than a good man, or a wise man in poverty! Ann Radcliffe. Knowledge is a comfortable and necessary retreat and shelter for us in advanced age, and if we do not plant it while young, it will give us no shade when we grow old. Lord Chesterfield. The finest qualities of our nature, like the bloom on fruits, can be preserved only by the most delicate handling. Yet we do not treat ourselves nor one another thus tenderly. Henry David Thoreau. Treat a man as he appears to be, and you make him worse. But treat a man as if he were what he potentially could be, and you make him what he should be. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. All treaties between great states cease to be binding when they come in conflict with the struggle of existence. Otto von Bismarck. To be deceived by our enemies or betrayed by our friends in insupportable; yet by ourselves we are often content to be so treated. Francois De La Rochefoucauld. Consider nothing impossible, then treat possibilities as probabilities. Charles Dickens. Treat your inferiors as you would be treated by your betters. Seneca. We should treat all the trivial things of life seriously, and all the serious things of life with sincere and studied triviality. Oscar Wilde. An artist should create beautiful things, but should put nothing of his own life into them.

Article summary. This seemed interesting. I wanted to see if having a dog in the White House, or not, can tell us a little about the people who live and work there. Maybe we can look at it by the written word and possibly the inference, called “reading between the lines, both humanely and spiritually. The title is “Could a dog pick the next president?” Clive Wynne, Professor of Psychology, Arizona State University. At theconversation. It opened by saying what I was in a round about way that many people say “Never trust a person who doesn’t like dogs.” Then it relates that “dogs reveals something essential”, this is also what I believe. The author is a “dog psychologist” and studies dogs and their people. He said he would like to have a dog indicate what candid he should choose, that being the character tendencies.  He also says that there are good people with bad dogs sand vice versa. The article relates that the Washington Post pointed out that “every occupant of the White House since William McKinley has had a dog at some point”. Then the article said that “ a couple of weeks ago” Mr. Trump said “having a dog would be “phony.” He went on to relay that when a dog was killed in a recent raid Mr. Trump was quoted as saying “he died like a dog.” As the article continues it describes some of the presidents and their canine companions. Mr. Biden had a German Shepherd. He adopted the dog when it was a puppy that had been exposed to toxic chemicals . Senator Warren had a pup named Bailey, as in the movie “it’s a wonderful life”. George H.W. Bush had a  dog named Millie. The article mentioned that some elected folks pick a “pooch” after they are elected never having had a pet before that. The Obama’s got Bo three months after the inauguration. Mr. Clinton got a chocolate Labrador in his second term . Mr. Trump’s former wife, Ivana, had a dog named Chappy but Mr. Trump when heaed she was bringing the dog to New York he said no. Mr Trump is sometimes seen holding a dog now then that belongs to someone else. Harry Truman gave his dog, Feller, away. The article ends saying that picking a candidate to vote for may “need to be taken with more than a pinch of salt”. So in conclusion picking a new president has to be with more than one character one determining factor. 

 It’s going to be soup, salad and sandwich for dinner. 

Photo in my life today

The first challenge for today is another if the “animal or wildlife”. This time I chose Bobbi in one of her “I’m watching you” moods. 

The second upload for today is “a is for...”. I chose an apron for this one. Instead of putting in on and taking a selfie. 

The last upload for today is “in my garden”. Since it is out of season for my gardens I am using another one from my archives. 

Joy

                             

                                            This one isn’t in my garden now I wish it were 

                   Want to shop?                                                                             

(fineartamerica.com search for joy rector) (redbubble.com search for jarector then “view shop”)

 April 21, 2026, a thought for today, Willows are weak, yet serve to bind bigger wood. Italian Proverb

Photo in my life yesterday

The first challenge was “I walked here.” I walked here many times on my lunch hour when I worked at the United State Courts. 

The next upload was “animals or wildlife.” This is one of the geese I found around the pond at the local park. 

The last challenge was titled “sidewalk.” It is a side walk near where I go to church. 

Life today. This is THAT week, the week of the month that I barely have time to breathe. I did, however, manage to get the bulletin done. Then made an appointment for tomorrow for getting my laptop to Micro Center for a new battery. I had time to handle some emails that needed tended to. I also squeezed in time to get a photo printed for the gallery wall I am planning. 

I had this letter started and three photos chosen for today before I left for food pantry. Now to finish the letter and prepare the photos for uploads.

Food pantry was very busy today. The intake table worked pretty steady. 

As soon as I get the photos done I have to clean out the dishwasher and sink. The cleaning lady is due here tomorrow. I like to have as much out of the way as I can. I need to have that and a couple of other things done by 4:30. I have a meeting at church at 5:00. 

The word today is toward. It is a mistake to regard age as a downhill grade toward dissolution. The reverse is true. As one grows older, one climbs with surprising strides. George Sand. By learning to discover and value our ordinariness, we nurture a friendliness toward ourselves and the world that is the essence of a healthy soul. Thomas Moore. It is only imperfection that complains of what is imperfect. The more perfect we are, the more gentle and quiet we become toward the defects of others. Francois de Fenelon. Idleness and lack of occupation tend - nay are dragged - towards evil. Hippocrates. Toward no crime have men shown themselves so cold-bloodedly cruel as in punishing differences of belief. James Russell Lowell. A thing is not proved just because no one has ever questioned it. What has never been gone into impartially has never been properly gone into. Hence scepticism is the first step toward truth. It must be applied generally, because it is the touchstone. Denis Diderot. Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore, So do our minutes hasten to their end. William Shakespeare. The first step towards amendment is the recognition of error. Seneca. With malice toward none, with charity for all, ...let us strive on to finish the work we are in, ...to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations. Abraham Lincoln. Morality is simply the attitude we adopt toward people we personally dislike. Oscar Wilde. Education commences at the mother's knee, and every word spoken within the hearing of little children tends towards the formation of character. Hosea Ballou. Observe good faith and justice toward all nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with all. George Washington. This is love: to fly toward a secret sky, to cause a hundred veils to fall each moment. First to let go of life. Finally, to take a step without feet. Rumi. Order and simplification are the first steps toward the mastery of a subject. Thomas Mann. We must walk consciously only part way toward our goal, and then leap in the dark to our success. Henry David Thoreau. 

Article summary. I was looking for something on idea of friend and friendships and found this one about Abraham Lincoln and one of his friends and how it affected their lives. I ended up learning more about Mr. Lincoln than I knew along with another viewpoint on the friendships issue. I believe this is the case in most kinds of readings and research, learning more about things than you may have anticipated. The title is Did Abraham Lincoln’s bromance alter the course of American history? Charles B. Strozier, Professor of History, City University of New York. At theconversation.com. I liked the opening sentence, “In the spring of 1837, a “long, gawky, ugly, shapeless man”, it is a very well used word in describing our 16th president of the United States. In that year he was in a store in Springfield Illinois looking for a room for the night. The store owner, named Joshua Speed, told him the cost which was more than he wanted to pay. After some discussion back and forth the store owner, seemingly feeling that he liked the stranger’s attitude and decided to give in. He said he had a double bed in a room upstairs that he would be willing to share.  Mr. Lincoln didn’t discuss it any further from that, picked up his “saddlebags” and headed upstairs to the room. As the article went on “so began what would become one of the most important friendships in American history”. This author apparently did a lot of research for this story. I may have heard this in history but I don’t recall it, Mr. Lincoln had “two serious, suicidal bouts of depression” in which the friendship was instrumental in helping him through those periods. Lincoln stayed there for four years. Their relationship grew, they became inseparable. The shared “stories, feelings, fears, hopes and dreams”.  This is where the friendship part of my interest in reading this article enters. By the way a point some may question, the author made a point of saying “all the evidence suggests their relationship was not sexual”. Both men had an “anxious and confused” feeling about dating women. Lincoln himself had a tragic relationship with his “first love”. She died in 1835. In 1839 he met Mary Todd when she was 21 years old when he moved to Springfield Ill from Lexington, Kentucky. After dating for a while and became engaged. But that was ended a year later. Then Lincoln went through one of his serious depressions. This is one of the times that Mr. Speed helped him recover from the depression with a friendship that would never be broken. Later Mr. Speed met someone and became engaged, however, soon after that he also suffered a period of depression. Mr. Lincoln returned the love and care for his friend. Mr. Speed got well and was happily married and was happy. As this article goes on, it tells that after Mr. Speed was happily married. After that Mr. Lincoln seemed in a better frame of mind about marriage and “resumed his courtship of Mary Todd”. They were married in 1842. Mr. Lincoln ended a letter to a business partner who asked how he was doing by saying “nothing new here, except my marrying, which to me is a matter of profound wonder.” This article ends with saying that Mr. Lincoln was at times sad but was never again “clinically depressed and suicidal”.  It appears to be believed and rightly so that the friendship must have been “therapeutic” for both of them. 

I have a lot of loose ends to tie up before an early evening meeting so I am having something from the freezer.

Photos in my life today

 My first upload for today is “a park”. This is about three blocks from my home. It is a place I visit often for many reasons on of which it to take photos. 

The next upload is “Easter eggs”. This one doesn’t need much of a description. Sue and I are the only ones here now so we don’t color many eggs, just enough to enjoy remembering the season. 

The last upload is another “animal or wildlife” assignment. This was taken at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium a few years ago. 

Joy

                        from one of my bouquets to brighten the room

Want to shop?

(fineartamerica.com search for joy rector) (redbubble.com search for jarector then “view shop”)

 April 19, 2026 a thought for today, Poverty has no kin. Italian Proverb

Photo in my life yesterday

The first upload for yesterday was “lines.” This is the wall you see as you are waiting in line at McDonalds. 

The next challenges was “grass.” This little patch of grass is the only area of the
lawn that doesn’t have dandelions this year. Well, there is that few in the corner of the image. 

The last challenge upload was “macro.” this is one of the bud on one of my new miniature rose bushes for one of the window garden. 

Life today. The message at church today was good and touched on points of interest and worthy of examination. It hit especially on the part of  Mark 9:35-37 “He sat down and summoned the Twelve. “So you want first place? Then take the last place. Be the servant of all....He put a child in the middle of the room. Then, cradling the little one in his arms, he said, “Whoever embraces one of these children as I do embraces me, and far more than me—God who sent me.” In the message the likeness of the child was related to homeless, down trodden, hungry and so on. The message was to be first you have to come last. I believe the meaning in Jesus’ words meant He wanted them to be like children in the ways of humility, trust, and simple dependence on God.

I don’t have a lot planned for the rest of the day just some time for refresh and renewal. 

The temperature has taken another turn. This time it has gone from the gorgeous and carefree feel too chilly and moody again for a few days.

I have my photos to work with and some research I wanted to do for the res of the day. 

The word today is touch. Truth is tough. It will not break, like a bubble, at a touch; nay, you may kick it about all day like a football, and it will be round and full at evening. Oliver Wendell Holmes. Adversity is the touchstone of friendship. French Proverb. Ignorance is like a delicate exotic fruit; touch it and the bloom is gone. Oscar Wilde. Every action of our lives touches on some chord that will vibrate in eternity. Edwin Hubbel Chapin. With gentle hand / Touch—for there is a spirit in the woods. William Wordsworth. Touch has a memory. John Keats.  To touch can be to give life. Michelangelo. Have a heart that never hardens, and a temper that never tires, and a touch that never hurts. Charles Dickens. Life would be no better than candlelight tinsel and daylight rubbish if our spirits were not touched by what has been. George Eliot. The sun just touched the morning; The morning, happy thing, Supposed that he had come to dwell, And life would be all spring. Emily Dickinson. Your breath touched my soul and I saw beyond all limits. Rumi. Be guided by feelings alone. Abandon yourself to your first impression. If you really have been touched, you will convey to others the sincerity of your emotion. Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot. I have touched the highest point of all my greatness. William Shakespeare. I please myself with the graces of the winter scenery, and believe that we are as much touched by it as by the genial influences of summer. Ralph Waldo Emerson. Man is never sufficiently touched and affected by the awareness of his lowly state until he has compared himself with God's majesty. John Calvin. Our purpose here on earth: to manifest the very nature of our spirit, which is touched by the spirit of God. Rumi. You transform all those who are touched by You. Rumi. 

Article summary. Honor is another word that for me combines truth, honesty, integrity and all those that I hope for in myself and family. Along with that thought comes  how it has traveled through generations and  history as strong a human value as ever. However the article shows another way of looking at it, that way is winning and being victorious. That’s now quiet how I see it so I wanted to look at this article. The article is titled Seeking honor is a double edged sword – from ancient Greece to samurai Japan, thinkers have wrestled with whether it’s the way to virtue.  Kenneth Andrew Andres Leonardo, Postdoctoral Fellow and Visiting Assistant Professor of Government, Hamilton College. At theconversation. It begins by mentioning some what is going on in our country today as in a “warrior” few. All of this according to the article goes far back in history to those like Aristotle and a famous Japanese samurai and Buddhist priest. The author says he looks beyond something higher than”aimless brutality or victory.” He goes on to say that if you behaved “honorably” and you are moral, you’re “honorable.” Then there is an added way to see it and looks to Aristotle and the Buddhist priest for their view. In Aristotle’s time the aim for excellence and honor was combat, a military mind along with “wealth and social standing.” With those as standards there was the other side of the thinking justice and wisdom were honorable but not “needed” to be considered good. That is one of the sticking points for me. These kinds of thinking were common to Socrates, Plato and Aristotle though to Aristotle his “deeds” and virtue in this work were important. With the other person mentioned above, the samurai warrior/Buddha priest, his “oath” was “I will never fall behind others in pursuing the way of the warrior.” He further said he would honor his parents and be compassionate of other. Over time habits developed into compassion and courage. For a samurai the warrior must “detach from life and death.” Toward the end of the article it is stated that honor matters in the pursuit of virtue. To understand the virtue vs. honor it rehearsed and found “virtue represents internal moral excellence, character, and doing good for its own sake, while honor is an external, social recognition of worth, reputation, and adherence to a code,” so virtue must be the word honor I mentioned in the opening should be virtue as truth, honesty, integrity. The “way of the warrior” is more “philosophy rather than unrestrained power and endless war.”

I think it will be chicken cutlets and backed potato for dinner. 

Photos in my life yesterday

This first upload today is “macro.” It is one of the flower is my latest flower bouquet. I have been getting one every other week to brighter the room until I have some from my own gardens..

The next upload is “wide open space" . I couldn't resist the open sky with one of the fluffy white clouds for this up load. What a good example of wide open space. . 

This last upload is titled “food". This closest food I had for this one was a
banana that I had been snacking on . It 's not all that exciting but it's food and healthy food at that. 

Joy

Want to shop?

(fineartamerica.com search for joy rector) (redbubble.com search for jarector then “view shop”)

 

 April 17, 2026 a thought for today, Even the sea, great as it is, grows calm. Italian Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday

The first challenge yesterday was “refreshing.” I thought a nice warm shower is always relaxing.

The next upload was “something tiny in nature.” These ants are about as tiny as I can photograph with this lens. 

The last upload for yesterday was “water.” This is a boast that came off the replica of the Santa Maria ship. The replica use to be docked behind the federal building where I worked. The ship and its visitors were every day sights. 

Life today. This is turning out to be another good day. I have made some more progress getting set up to print, mount, mat and frame photos I want for the church. It’s moving slowing but surely. I also got another bit done on the church newsletter.

I came across some other photo sites that I joined a few years ago and eventually slipped away from. I am thinking I may update some of those. I think spring fever is hitting me. My mood seems be into “renewing” things along with tending to the plants I have ordered and received for my window gardens. It’s still just a little too early to put them outside. I have them inside under grow lights. I may have ordered them a little early but I wanted to get them before they were sold out. There are a few things in the front and back yards that need to be put in the garage.

I seem to be getting an awfully lot of items on my “to-do”list. I am making a check list of them on my cell phone. It is invigorating on the one hand and a little mind boggling on the other. I think that’s what spring fever is about, newness and motivating.

This is a gorgeous day, 75 degrees and sunny. I may put Bobbi on a leash for a little trip to the porch. I don’t have the stamina anymore for walks around the block but then I have never tried to take a cat for a walk on a leash before. 

The word for today is throw. If a writer wrote merely for his time, I would have to break my pen and throw it away. Victor Hugo. Don't throw away the old bucket until you know whether the new one holds water. Swedish Proverb. Many difficulties which nature throws in our way, may be smoothed away by the exercise of intelligence. Titus Livius. A throw of the dice will never abolish chance. Stephane Mallarme. God gives every bird his worm, but he does not throw it into the nest. Swedish Proverb. How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a naughty world. William Shakespeare. The man without a purpose is like a ship without a rudder - waif, a nothing, a no man. Have a purpose in life, and, having it, throw such strength of mind and muscle into your work as God has given you. Thomas Carlyle. To be thrown upon one's own resources, is to be cast into the very lap of fortune; for our faculties then undergo a development and display an energy of which they were previously unsusceptible. Benjamin Franklin. No better way is there to learn to love Nature than to understand Art. It dignifies every flower of the field. And, the boy who sees the thing of beauty which a bird on the wing becomes when transferred to wood or canvas will probably not throw the customary stone. Oscar Wilde. Throw off your worries when you throw off your clothes at night. Napoleon Bonaparte. Much may be done in those little shreds and patches of time which every day produces, and which most men throw away. Charles Caleb Colton. We ought not to treat living creatures like shoes or household belongings, which when worn with use we throw away. Plutarch. Since thou are not sure of a minute, throw not away an hour. Benjamin Franklin. Throw your vile guesses in the devil's teeth, whence you have them. William Shakespear. He who throws away a friend is as bad as he who throws away his life. Sophocles. 

Article summary. I have a very bad “fixation” to things that are “fake” and are not true and or factual. So I was searching in the site I use a lot for stories for one covering that subject. I found this one and decided to give it a try. I feel there is something more too not being truthful than the obvious. The title is How often do you lie? Deception researchers investigate how the recipient and the medium affect telling the truth. Christian B. Miller, A. C. Reid Professor of Philosophy, Wake Forest University. At theconversation.com. The beginning of the article mentions how lying has not only affected personal circumstances but has also appeared prominently in the news. It categorizes that by saying there are “variables” that differentiate these cases. Two of these differences are to whom the lie is directed the other is the social place, point in time and method as in spoken word or text. Also to be considered is the subject of an “area of life” the lie occurs.  Apparently there have been studies on the subject as some are seeking an answer to how often does a person lie. One test used students another used “volunteers from the community.” In the particular test of the community the reported result was one lie a day. An average of the students was two a day. By these tests it became a  “benchmark” assumption that lying is common place. In that line of thought it is also assumed that there are “some people who lie voraciously and others who lie very rarely.” In another test a thousand people were asked to participate in answering the question of lying. Just over half of the participants claimed they had not told a lie in the past 24 hours. The other, less than half, “said they’d told very few lies.” There were tests considering the frequency and ease of lying in person to person contact or by way of video chat or text. It seems in the lying on video, lying was less likely due to the videos leaving a record of incident. In these tests and studies it had been shown that when there is a “delay in communication” as in email “lying would decrease”. As the article goes on it mentions the lying can occur due to whether it is to a stranger or to friend and family.  It seems “everyday lies” are more to strangers while more serious lies are closer connections. I am considering the authors reason for that, “people might value not damaging their relationships more than they value the truth.” The author ends the article by relaying that lying is relatively rare for many people. But people “need to be especially discerning, though, as in identifying – and avoiding – the small number of rampant liars out there.”

Pizza or freezer surprises for dinner???

Photos in my life today

This first challenge for today is "share your settings" miniature rose - iso 32, 23mm, 0.0 ev, 1/60 s. These are the settings from my Samsung s24+ camera. This is a closeup of the bloom on my miniature rose plant waiting to go outside in a few weeks.

The second upload for today is “a pile in nature.” The best “pile in nature” I could find was in my archives taken at a time when it was cold and snowy. 

The last upload is “spoons,” a set of my wooden spoons for use in my
coated cooking utensils. 

Joy 

                        Summer time when the living is easy

Want to shop?

(fineartamerica.com search for joy rector) (redbubble.com search for jarector then “view shop”)