July 6, 2026 a thought for the day, Everyone speaks as he is. Portuguese Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday

My first upload was “a vegetable”. This was a bunch of radishes in one of the Food Pantry offerings. 

The next challenge was “boats, canoes or kayaks”. I took this shot
sometime ago. It is a replica of the Santa Maria that had been docked in our downtown river as the river traveled through our city.

The last assignment was “sand and surf”. This one to was taken many years ago. I haven’t been near the ocean in a long time. This is my grand daughter marveling in the sand. 

Life today. Mondays seem to be a “wake-up-for-the-week”, for me as least. The person giving the message at church, this week is always on the spot with getting the information to me usually ahead of time.  So I was able to complete the whole bulletin this morning and get it out for proofreading. I found in church yesterday that during the hymns we had one of the voices overshadowed the rest of the congregation, which, the hymns, to me are suppose to be sacred and soft sounds reflecting a “deeply traditional view of church music.”

I spent a big part of the morning researching interesting things that popped up as I worked on not only the bulletin also on parts of this letter. In that respect it is a form of “school days, school days, good old golden rule days” for me. 

I played around with the ideas of my photos for the day and finally got what I wanted with a few modifications. 

I also dealt with a call from the pharmacy on the readiness of Sue’s current medications. 

When I went out searching for setups for a couple of the photos I had a chance to chat with one of the neighbors. He is not happy about restrictions we all have on outside activities right now with the hot temperatures. He is an avid home garden person.

So it has been a pretty “full” day. I am at a point now where I am beginning to slow things down to call for dinner and “close” for the day. 

The word to ponder today is bear. Humor is the only test of gravity, and gravity of humor; for a subject which will not bear raillery is suspicious, and a jest which will not bear serious examination is false wit. Aristotle.  Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any one thing. Abraham Lincoln. Content thyself to be obscurely good. When vice prevails, and impious men bear sway, the post of honor is a private station. Joseph Addison. I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice. Abraham Lincoln. The trees that are slow to grow bear the best fruit. Moliere. Nothing happens to any man that he is not formed by nature to bear. Marcus Azurelius. Bear in mind that you should conduct yourself in life as at a feast. Epictetus. Truth indeed rather alleviates than hurts, and will always bear up against falsehood, as oil does above water. Miguel de Cervantes. Sorrow is a fruit. God does not make it grow on limbs too weak to bear it. Victor Hugo. To enjoy the things we ought and to hate the things we ought has the greatest bearing on excellence of character. Aristotle. The things hardest to bear are sweetest to remember. Lucius Annaeus Seneca. Learn to bear bravely changes of fortune. Cleobulus. A mind without instruction can no more bear fruit than can a field, however fertile, without cultivation. Cicero. A heavy heart bears not a nimble tongue. William Shakespeare. It is one of the severest tests of friendship to tell your friend his faults. So to love a man that you cannot bear to see a stain upon him, and to speak painful truth through loving words, that is friendship. Henry Ward Beecher. The two powers which in my opinion constitute a wise man are those of bearing and forebearing. Epictetus. 

Article summary. I am interested in photography and in art as more of us can be with cameras available on cell phones now. I am interested in what “academics” and other researchers have studied and report about it. The title is How photography evolved from science to art. Nancy Locke, Associate Professor of Art History, Penn State. At theconversation.com/us. It started by mentioning some famous phonographs that are considered “art”, Ansel Adams black and white landscapes, a bell pepper by Weston, and Doisneau’s famous photo of romance in Paris just after the war. The author says some people may question them as art. Photography isn’t quite 200 years old and in all this time there has been debate on whether it is art or simply a form of documentation.  All those years ago when it first appeared most who considered its form were “scientists and engineers – chemists, astronomers, botanists and inventors”. In the same era there was a man named Louis Daguerre who saw it more as an “entrepreneurial inventor”. He was a painter who painted scenes with what was called a diorama. Later he invented the “daguerreotype (an early form of photography on a silver-coated plate)”. Another man of some fame who eventually began “creating photographic portraits” once had built the largest gas balloons ever made. The two works suggested above weren’t thought to look like “art” to on-lookers. When the daguerreotype was first on the market and seen it was described as “exquisite minuteness of the delineation cannot be conceived”. A painter commented on a photo he saw of a hay stack saying he couldn’t possibly produce a drawing or painting with such precision. The texture of the bricks, shells and stones seen in photographs of the 1840s and 50s seemed so vivid that they appeared  like applications reminiscent of  “archaeology and botany”. Still some folks felt photos were formed by light and came from a machine” so they were not art coming from the human hand. Finally at the end of the 19th century multiple negatives were “artistically” used to create a single image. Photographers in the darkroom could soften the focus from a negative. They could use “toning” effects to create a blur or painterly look. All of the darkroom techniques could “reject the mechanical look”. So in ending the article it is mentioned that there are still some who feel photography is not truly “fine art”. Personal note here, I like to keep the capture of the moment as close to the true moment as I can. I do sometimes use the image as-is then in the “darkroom” (when I was a teen in my personal and real dark room”) use an enlarger and filters to make adjustments and “clean up the image. I still can do that in the Photoshop darkroom minus an “enlarger”. Phonographs capture a moment in a realism that can’t be precisely copied. Photography is a “relative medium that depends entirely on the artist's vision” just as a painting or a drawing  “depends on the artists vision” while at the same time capturing an exact moments motion. I guess the “art” of it can be said to be a matter of opinion.

I am thinking of using DoorDash tonight for dinner, maybe KFC or Bob Evans. Sue wants green beans. KFC doesn’t do them anymore so I guess it will be Bob Evans. 

Photos in my life today

The first challenge today is “a spoon”. This belonged to my mother. She had it for years. As I was getting ready to use it for this image I looked it up to see exactly what it was called. It is a “vintage German slotted spoon”. 

The next assignment is “my choice” and is one of my series of “black and white”. It is the latest store bought bouquet that sits right by my desk. 

The last assignment for today is “where are you from?”. I decided to show a
place closer to my home rather than the downtown skyline. 

Joy

the bonus image today is another entry in a Fine Art America contest. The contest was to be an image of where the photographer is most comfortable this is my home

Want to shop? Visit: fineartamerica.com search for joy rector click on “view shop”  and redbubble.com search for jarector (and take a look at flickr.com search for rectorjoyce)

 July 4, 2026 a thought for today Little chips kindle the fire, and big logs sustain it. Portuguese Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday

The first challenge for yesterday was “my choice” “touch of color”. This is a whirligig stuck in one of my window gardens. I separated it from the back ground that I then turned to black and white. 

The next upload was “something savory”. I used the spaghetti and meat ball
that I had from last night’s dinner for this one. I added a small bunch of yellow grapes for a bit of sweet also. 

The last assignment was “waiting”. Bobbi was waiting to make sure I was coming down the stairs instead of doing something else while I was on the upper level.

Life today. This has been another of those days where there were unexpected moments. For one thing I had the tv on as I usually do. This time there was activity that pleasantly caught my attention more so than usual. First there was news of Taylor Swifts wedding which was a big event. Then there came the 4th of July celebration taking place in New York. I stopped what I was doing to watch part of that. It was amazing. There was a parade of the tall ships and the fly overs by military air craft, around 120 to 200 at separate time. As I understand it there were 41 ships from 21 countries. It was impressive. The festivity of it put me in mind of the Thanksgiving day parade in New York. 

I picked up the groceries and got Sue and me McDonalds fish sandwiches on the way home. Just as I was getting it all put away and back to the computer Lowell and Rebecca stopped to finish up on the meds for Sue. 

With all the starting and stopping on my momentum of computer and photo work, I am well behind on my “schedule”. It will soon be time to start some dinner. 

The word to ponder today is back/backward. To get back my youth I would do anything in the world, except take exercise, get up early, or be respectable. Oscar Wilde. It's a poor sort of memory that only works backward. Lewis Carroll. In every work of genius we recognize our own rejected thoughts; they come back to us with a certain alienated majesty. Ralph Waldo Emerson. To know the road ahead, ask those coming back. Chinese Proverb. The man who backbites an absent friend, nay, who does not stand up for him when another blames him, the man who angles for bursts of laughter and for the repute of a wit, who can invent what he never saw, who cannot keep a secret - that man is black at heart: mark and avoid him. Cicero. Love flies, runs, and rejoices; it is free and nothing can hold it back. Thomas a Kempis. It is as hard to see one's self as to look backwards without turning around. Henry David Thoreau. A small rock holds back a great wave. Homer. The man who in view of gain thinks of righteousness; who in the view of danger is prepared to give up his life; and who does not forget an old agreement however far back it extends - such a man may be reckoned a complete man. Confucius. He who is carried on another's back does not appreciate how far off the town is. African Proverb. If you look back, you'll soon be going that way. American Proverb. Once the game is over, the king and the pawn go back into the same box. Italian Proverb. We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men; and among those fibers, as sympathetic threads, our actions run as causes, and they come back to us as effects. Herman Melville. It is equally wrong to speed a guest who does not want to go, and to keep one back who is eager. You ought to make welcome the present guest, and send forth the one who wishes to go. Homer. Look not mournfully into the Past. It comes not back again. Wisely improve the Present. In is thine. Go forth to meet the shadowy Future, without fear, and a manly heart. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. One can pay back the loan of gold, but one dies forever in debt to those who are kind. Malayan Proverb. 

Article summary. I honor trustworthy people. I like the feel of being able to trust someone. It is a comforting feeling and shows me a worthy friend whom one can feel safe with. I thought I would have a look at what this philosopher/author had to say about it. The title is On Trusting: is it naïve or wise to trust? Laura D'Olimpio, Lecturer in Philosophy, University of Notre Dame Australia. At theconversation.com/us. It starred by pointing out that trusting is a vulnerable position, a place of wide-open feelings. Trust is also a value to be “cultivated”. It is something we should cultivate in our own lives. Here it is called a “relational attitude”. People feel differently about expectations on relationships. When they are not “met” there may be a feeling of “betrayal”. In conversations about trust some may tell about how they have been hurt by trusting someone then when the trust didn’t happen as expected there was a feeling of betrayal. The article goes on to say that it would be sad to never be able to trust anyone once there has been a betrayal. It relays how we cannot do almost anything without some kind and level of trust including business like banks, restaurants and more. I was surprised to read that based on one research project “it appears that fewer and fewer people think that others can be trusted”, that makes me sad. One of the reasons suggested for that was the decline in “media sources such as the 24-hour news cycle that generates fear and feelings of mistrust”. It is mentioned in the article that social interactions help to” generate a feeling of belonging and well being” also helping in protecting the rights of minorities builds trust. Those suggestions can result in “happier and more trusting citizens”. Another important factor in building trust is “role modeling done by parents”. Children need to learn about trust because it should be a “fundamental *prosocial attitude” developed early in childhood. Trust makes us vulnerable yet is “still better to trust than to not”.  “Knowing who and when to trust is a matter of practical wisdom”.

I think it will be creamed chicken on biscuits for dinner.

Photos in my life today

The first upload for today is “something crunchy” . A bowl of potato chips seemed like it would fill the bill when I was trying to come up with some ideas. 

The next assignment is “sparkles in the sky”. For this one and for the next I used images from my archives since I wasn’t awake for the fireworks shows (only the distant sound of ones in the neighborhood). 

The last challenge for today is “fireworks”. I used a filter on this one
to give it a “dreamy” look. 

Joy 

the bonus image for today is  "play on colors" uploaded to my Fine Art America in a contest and in my shop 

want to shop? Visit: fineartamerica.com search for joy rector click on “view shop”  and redbubble.com search for jarector (and take a look at flickr.com search for rectorjoyce)

**(prosocial behavior encompasses any voluntary action intended to help, benefit, or comfort others)  

 July 2, 2026 a thought for today, A hungry belly hears nobody. Portuguese Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday

The first challenge was “my choice”, “a touch of color”. This is one of my first few blooms in my miniature rose garden. I separated it from the in-color background then turned it to black and white to better showcase the rose. 

The next assignment was “a cup”. This is the most “dainty” cup I have so it is
the one I chose to use for this image. 

The last upload was “sea shells”. These are a pair of shells my sister and I have held onto from many years in our past when we had the opportunity to visit the sea side on family vacations.

Live today. With this Thursday’s printing had a bit of a different aspect to it, the temperature was supposed to be 95 degrees with a heat wave warning for the next two to three days. I have been dealing with a hydration issue lately so the heat is a concern. After some thought I decided to go an hour earlier. It wasn’t too bad. The building itself was holding in the heart from the past week so it was hotter than the outside air temperature. The copier gave me a bit of trouble. I had four paper jams. I thought, why today of all days. It is usually a smooth uninterrupted run. I got through in about an hour. It is off my mind now.  I can stop worrying about it for this week.

I stopped to drop off the mail, then went by McDonalds for sausage McMuffins for Sue. 

After I got home, I started the laundry and got two of my larger house plants transplanted to the next size up container. 

Just after I fixed myself some lunch, Lowell and Rebecca stopped for a visit before they leave on a trip. They will be leaving Monday for more than a week.

Now to finish this letter and do some uploads, letters and photos. Then last of the day, fold laundry. 

The word to ponder today is also.  It is hard enough to remember my opinions, without also remembering my reasons for them! Friedrich Nietzsche. To do just the opposite is also a form of imitation. Georg Christoph Lichtenberg. First keep the peace within yourself, then you can also bring peace to others. Thomas a Kempis. We know truth, not only by reason, but also by the heart. Blaise Pascal. Have you heard that it was good to gain the day? I also say it is good to fall, battles are lost in the same spirit in which they are won. Walt Whitman. Talking much about oneself can also be a means to conceal oneself. Friedrich Nietzsche. There is a time for many words, and there is also a time for sleep. Homer. Healing is a matter of time, but it is sometimes also a matter of opportunity. Hippocrates. Nothing is easier than self-deceit. For what each man wishes, that he also believes to be true. Demosthenes. Et tu, Brute. [You also, Brutus.] Julius Caesar. Archaeology is not only the hand maid of history, it is also the conservator of art. Edward Bulwer-Lytton. History is philosophy teaching by example, and also warning; its two eyes are geography and chronology. James A. Garfield. Where the speech is corrupted, the mind is also. Seneca. Noise is the most impertinent of all forms of interruption. It is not only an interruption, but is also a disruption of thought. Arthur Schopenhauer. You (God) have not only commanded continence, that is, from what things we are to restrain our love, but also justice, that is, on what we are to bestow our love. Saint Augustine. Where you find the laws most numerous, there you will find also the greatest injustice. Arcesilaus. People seem not to see that their opinion of the world is also a confession of their character. Ralph Waldo Emerson. Remember what is unbecoming to do is also unbecoming to speak of. Socrates. Speech is human, silence is divine, yet also brutish and dead: therefore we must learn both arts. Thomas Carlyle. 

Article summary. I thought it would be interesting to read how people fared in health and comfort in our past history compared to today. One thing interesting to add to that is the heat we are facing in this season to that thinking also. The title is How did it feel to be an American colonist in 1776? Probably itchy, achy and slightly nauseated. Katherine Ott, Curator of Medicine and Science, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution. At theconversation.com/us. It began with a comparison of sorts, tricorn hats (1776), and bonnets are replaced by flip flops and sneakers (2026). In that time no “aspirin, toothpaste or air conditioning” and no knowledge of germs and penicillin. Body aches and pains and other modern health thoughts were completely foreign at that time in history. Illnesses like “smallpox, typhoid, dysentery, yellow fever and diptheria” were always in the picture of possible occurrences and “defined life” to all, rich or poor. This author is a curator a the Smithsonian. He mentions that some of the instruments of that time period can relate to the physical experience people of the time felt, many were “heavy in the hand, awkward in use and imprecise to maneuver”.  The article says that these “bone saws” and others of the tools were tools relating to a “close affinity of humans with other animals”. In speaking of animals, their farm animals were sometimes brought into the house in bad weather leading to the question of cleanliness. Also speaking of cleanliness some bathing was done in the river leading to sanitary questions involving fungus, bacteria situations leading to skin ailments. Not only did the bathing situation lead to skin problems so did lice, bed bugs, ringworm and more. Added to all of that was “smelly woolens or coarse calico” as other points of skin irritations. New born babies were another item of concern, some were “immersed” in cold water to “harden” the child to life as it existed in that time. Some babies didn’t make it to a second birthday. There were few professional “doctors” so barbers, midwives, “bonesetters”, ministers and others took on that “job”.  A process called bloodletting was common practice. Those called surgeons “washed their hands in contaminated water”. Some felt family members and “experienced elders” were safer than trained physicians. Pulling teeth was also a necessary need of the time. Keeping food fresh was not easy. Spoiled food led to dyspepsia and more. I learned that tobacco was used to treat some ailments. There were no known treatments for what would have been diagnosed as diabetes cancer, anemia, rabies, even head and chest colds. This articles attemper to show that the objects used in 1776 is a history that leaves “people today disconnected from those who lived it.” It ends by relating that “knowing their material world through medical objects of their time allows us to visit and appreciate how they managed”.

I froze spaghetti from the other night. I think I will have that for dinner tonight. 

Photos in my life today

My first challenge today is “in the fridge”. I’ll have to admit my fridge isn’t normally this “neat”.

The next assignment is another to the “my choice” assignments and one of my “touch of color” images. It is a set of red colored autumn leaves with only on of the leaves selected to be in color. 

The last upload is “a high angle”. I have difficulty trying to think of something
different or more “artistic” for an assignment like this. Maybe due to my dysplasia I don’t know if it means taking it from a high up position or looking upward.  

Joy

the last couple of days I have seen he morning sun leaving interesting shadows and patterns to capture and upload to my Fine Art American contest page and my “store” front, this is one

want to shop? Visit: fineartamerica.com search for joy rector click on “view shop”  and redbubble.com search for jarector (and take a look at flickr.com search for rectorjoyce)

 A thought for today, Beware of a door that has many keys. Portuguese Proverb

Photos I in my life yesterday

My first upload for yesterday was “glimmer”. It is a group of daises in my current flower bouquet from the grocery store. Since Sue and I can’t work in the yard anymore and therefore don’t have any flower to cut and bring inside, I get a bouquet now and they from the store. 

The next challenge was “my choice” and one of my “still life” images. These
are some of the smaller white daisies from my last bouquet. They still look fresh as “daises”. 

The last assignment was “action”. Bobbi is in a slow movement action stretching and exploring. 

Life today. It has been one of those days that has unplanned happenings. There was one thing on the calendar, my cleaning ladies was here. That means I had to get out of the way for part of the cleaning. I have an “auxiliary” or tiny “office” set up in my room. I had a chance to use it for the first time while I was “out of the way”. Other than that there was noting else on the list. But shortly after they left Sue’s PT person showed up. The appointment was supposed to be tomorrow. Anyway, now things have quieted down a little. 

I have a tiny little typo fixed on the bulletin that I sent out yesterday for review. This is the last day of the month, the last day of photo a day for June. This is the day of the month the my “portfolio calendar” for the month is completed and ready for filing in my the notebook with all of the other for the past twenty years. 

The “heat wave” has hit and is in full swing. It is just under 95 degrees right now.  The AC is running almost nonstop. 

I think I will take a break and make some meatballs. 

The word to ponder today is alter. To be a saint is the exception; to be upright is the rule. Err, falter, sin, but be upright. To commit the least possible sin is the law for man. Sin is a gravitation. Victor Hugo. Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence. John Adams. An agreeable manner may set off handsome features, but can never alter plain ones. Jane Austen. Even when laws have been written down, they ought not always to remain unaltered. Aristotle. History is a voice forever sounding across the centuries the laws of right and wrong. Opinions alter, manners change, creeds rise and fall, but the moral law is written on the tablets of eternity. James A. Forude. Hear the other side. (Audi Partem Alteram). Saint Augustine. That is true wisdom, to know how to alter one's mind when occasion demands it. Terence. The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not. Bible, Daniel 6. 12. Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends [life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness] it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government...Thomas Jefferson. The man who never alters his opinions is like standing water, and breeds reptiles of the mind. William Blake. Things alter for the worse spontaneously, if they be not altered for the better designedly. Francis Bacon. One changes from day to day, and... after a few years have passed one has completely altered. George Sand. Thus all things altered. Nothing dies. And here and there the unbodied spirit flies. Ovid. It is a bad plan that cannot be altered. Publilius Syrus. Natural inclinations are assisted and reinforced by education, but they are hardly ever altered or overcome. Michel de Montaigne.

Article summary. I wear a mask on many occasions, due to a circumstance of my own vanity. So people see more of my eyes. There is a saying “the eyes are the windows to the soul”, also a mention of eyes found in Matthew 6.22. I wanted to see how this article approached it. The title is  Face masks: why your eyes might be saying more than you realize. Nigel Holt, Professor of Psychology. At theconversation.com/us (research based journalism). Research has shown that our emotions a “sadness, disgust, anger, joy, surprise or fear” can be shown in our eyes. A scientific word called amygdala was mentioned. It is a part of the brain that is related to emotions. It is best known for the “role in fear” and the fight or flight response. It is also active when we see the scene around us or a person who may change their direction of looking. Another scientific word brought up in this article, neurochemistry. Here a hormone called oxytocin. When it is present in the body there is “more time looking at the eyes than those given a placebo”, allowing a kind of social interaction. One of its actions would show that in the event of a dog and it owner there is a suggestion of a “social bond”. One common belief concerning the movement of the eye is said to show if someone is looking up or down when they are lying, that is a misnomer. In ending the article it says that you may be able to tell while someone is wearing a mask what they may be feeling by the look and movement of the eyes, we can definitely tell if people are smiling by looking at their eyes”.

I think I will make meat balls and spaghetti for dinner. 

Photos in my life today

The first challenge for today is another and the last “glimmer” for the month. My daisies are really getting a work out these last few days and images. I liked the way the sun was hitting them in this one. 

The next image upload is another of the daisies taken earlier in this morning. The assignment was “lens flare”. I have never been able to capture and ray of the sun like this before. 

The last assignment is “my choice” and another “still life”. A brick from my
patio was a “resting” place for one of the day lilies from my back yard. The day lilies, some early peonies, and a few “snow ball” blooms are the only cutting we have from the yard in their separate time of blooms. 

Joy

these are my composites for the month

want to shop? Visit: fineartamerica.com search for joy rector click on “view shop”  and redbubble.com search for jarector (and take a look at flickr.com search for rectorjoyce)

 June 28, 2026 a thought for the day, The fingers of the same hand are not alike. Portuguese Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday

One of the uploads was “glimmer”. This one is of a squirrel I saw as I drove through the park. He/she seemed to be looking for food. 

The next challenge was “sunset by water”. First of all I don’t catch many sunset any more let alone “by water”. So this one is one I shot when I was much younger and was filed in one of my archives. 

That last assignment was “a window”. This one is also from one of my archives since I was not our and about too much yesterday. 

Life today. The sermon this morning was complete and concise as is this minister’s style. For myself I get so much from the hymns, not just hers but all of our visiting pastors, that in most cases address the subject of the sermon. Usually I get a message from them nearly as much as I do from the sermon itself, many times even more.  

So far today it hasn’t reached the high temperatures that are expected for the rest of this week. I think at one point it is suppose to get close to 100 degrees. 

I don’t have much planned for today as is my custom for Sundays. There is one “out of the ordinary” in the timing. For one of my challenges/assignments I need a photo of a “summer food”. My first thought was of one of my favorites....potato salad. At this stage of my life I have changed the recipe a bit I use canned diced potatoes. I don’t like that they are not quite as soft as I like so I cook them a little longer than just heating them. Then follow my well worn recipe. Oh, and the hard boiled eggs are cooked in the air fryer rather than being boiled. The point is I want to get them done soon so I can take the photo, use the darkroom (Photoshop), keyword them, “file” them to the computer and upload them. So the eggs are in the fryer right now. I will take a break from the letter when the eggs are done so that I can get the salad ready for the photo.

I have a tip, I have a tiny little sore that isn’t healing as quickly as I think it should so I did some research. I found that using raw honey instead of Neosporine may work as well or better. I am giving it a try. 

The word to ponder today is alive. The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions, that I wish it always to be kept alive. Thomas Jefferson. Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire called conscience. George Washington. To know what you prefer instead of humbly saying Amen to what the world tells you you ought to prefer, is to have kept your soul alive. Robert Louis Stevenson. Of men who have a sense of honor, more come through alive than are slain, but from those who flee comes neither glory nor any help. Homer. Every creature is better alive than dead, men and moose and pine trees, and he who understands it aright will rather preserve its life than destroy it. Henry David Thoreau. You must pay for conformity. All goes well as long as you run with conformists. But you, who are honest men in other particulars, know that there is alive somewhere a man whose honesty reaches to this point also, that he shall not kneel to false gods, and, on the day when you meet him, you sink into the class of counterfeits. Ralph Waldo Emerson. I often think that the night is more alive and more richly colored than the day. Vincent van Gogh. To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all. Oscar Wilde. The meaning of life is just to be alive. It is so plain and so obvious and so simple. Alan Watts. To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing. Martin Luther. There's place and means for every man alive. William Shakespeare. He who has a why to live can bear almost any how. Friedrich Nietzsche. When I first open my eyes upon the morning meadows and look out upon the beautiful world, I thank God I am alive. Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Article summary. I am an animal lover by nature. It is interesting and more importantly educational to learn more about them. I am amazed with each critter given miracle of precious capabilities. One basic thing is they all “support and ensure the survival and health of the natural world”. They were put here by the hands of a higher power and for a higher purpose. Some of their practical purpose is companionship and to help in our own life cycles. “He formed the creatures with a word and then pronounced them good”.  The title of the article is Are animals smart? From dolphin language to toolmaking crows, lots of species have obvious intelligence. Leticia Fanucchi, Clinical Assistant Professor of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, Oklahoma State University. At theconversation.com/us. The first paragraph mentions the words “emotion and cognition” in this subject of animals. How many of us regularly apply that seriously to animals that are our pets or for that matter for any animal we observe. It explains the neurons are what “connect and transmit” messages, humans have 68 billion, dogs and cats less than one billion, and yet.....read on. Scientists have learned that animals have the “ability to learn through experiences and thinking”. That sentence may make some people wonder where those  miraculous capabilities come from. They may think, after all they are just animals. Scientists have observed that many animals can “solve problems, use tools, recall important information about their environment and recognize themselves in the mirror”. Another “miracle” is that individual species of the animal kingdom don’t have the same capabilities as others, due to their “assigned” positions in the scheme of existence. Bears and crows can make tools. Elephants can remember up to 30 peers that are “traveling companions” as they move away from “drought-prone areas, based on memories” of those areas. This kind of memory includes a memory of when and where it occurred before. The article goes on to say that some birds, cats, rats, monkeys and dolphins can do it too, remembering “things critical to their survival”. In some studies of chosen species they were given tests to find given items. Chimpanzees used sticks to catch termites and stones to open nuts. Crows “manufactured” tools, bending wires to make hooks to get at food. Communication types were studied too. Dolphins and chimps use language which show a “measure of intelligence”. Noises like cracks, whistles can communicate, sign language is used in the monkey family of heritage. Many species recognize themselves in mirrors. A test for that was used on a chimp. They put a red dot on his body when he was asleep. When he woke and looked in a mirror he touched the red dot on his own body, not the one in the mirror. In coming to an end the author said that “just because animals can’t do certain things, it doesn’t mean they’re unintelligent”. After all people can’t fly like “a bird or swim like a fish”, and ended with “put simply, we’re all using our brains.” 

I am making potato salad and pan fried sole for dinner. 

Photos in my life today

The month of “glimmer” is coming to an end. This challenge today in the “glimmer” type. Bobbi as she must think she is hidden behind the frig since one of her eyes is covered. 

The next assignment is “summer food”. I was hungry for potato salad that seemed to fit this assignment. 

The last upload is “blueberries”. I don’t buy blueberries as a rule but my sister
does. So I took a peek in her side of the freezer and found a package of blueberries. I will make her some blueberry cobbler for the use of her blueberries. 

Joy

this bonus image is an abstract of two buildings one in front of the other, a church and an office building in downtown Columbus Ohio 

want to shop? Visit: fineartamerica.com search for joy rector click on “view shop”  and redbubble.com search for jarector (and take a look at flickr.com search for rectorjoyce)

 June 26, 2026 a thought for today, Friendship is like wine, the older the better. Polish Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday

My first challenge was “glimmer”. I found this image at church and decided to use it for the glimmer. It is a child’s rocking chair in the toddlers room giving the feel of comfort and safety. 

The next assignment was “my choice”, one of my series of “partials”. I found
this image at the church also, a chair waiting for someone to sit, relax and reflect. 

The last upload is “turquoise”. Is used one of my digital designs that was generated from a photo for this one. 

Life today. I got the bulletin and the newsletter printed yesterday so we were ready to finish the newsletter. Dorothy, my partner’ in putting the finishing touches on the newsletter, has moved out of Columbus. I have a new “newsletter partner” now. Carolyn has joined me. We have been church “family” and friends for many years now. We worked well together this morning. 

I had to make a stop at Kroger to pick up meds after I dropped the newsletters off. Then I drove around to find some of the photos I need for today. 

I had a perennial plant in one of my miniature rose planters had sprouted up. I wanted just the roses in two of the window boxes so when I got home I transplanted the “intruder” to another window box. Now I have just the roses in two of them. I have a houseplant that needs to be moved to a pot the next size up. I had bought a plant for that purpose. But found today that it is one size to big. I checked in the garage to see if I may have overlooked one in there. There were none left so now I will have to wait until I get the size I need. 

We are suppose to get some heavy rain this afternoon and much hotter temps all next week. 

While I was at church this morning I got one more picture hung. I am still working on one at a time. It isn’t quite as high as it needs to be but it will do. 

The word to ponder today is alike. Destiny waits alike for the free man as well as for him enslaved by another's might. Aeschylus. If liberty and equality, as is thought by some are chiefly to be found in democracy, they will be best attained when all persons alike share in the government to the utmost. Aristotle. Men's natures are alike, it is their habits that carry them far apart. Confucius. Whoever is open, loyal, true; of humane and affable demeanour; honourable himself, and in his judgement of others; faithful to his word as to law, and faithful alike to God and man....such a man is a true gentleman. Ralph Waldo Emerson. The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently. Friedrich Nietzsche. These times of ours are series and full of calamity, but all times are essentially alike. As soon as there is life there is danger. Ralph Waldo Emerson. The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out to meet it. Thucydides. It is with our judgments as with our watches; no two go just alike, yet each believes his own. Alexander Pope. One's age should be tranquil, as childhood should be playful. Hard work at either extremity of life seems out of place. At midday the sun may burn, and men labor under it; but the morning and evening should be alike calm and cheerful. Dr. Thomas Arnold. All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. Leo Tolstoy. It is alike your interest, and mine, and all men's, however long we have dwelt in lies, to live in truth. Ralph Waldo Emerson. Between two by nature alike and fitted to sympathize, there is no veil, and there can be no obstacle. Henry David Thoreau. 

Article summary. I did an article on books before. This one intrigued me by comparing an ebook to hard copy. I use ebook because they are more convenient to have on hand as much as you would have your phone on hand. They are easy to order books online without vising the library or book store. They take up less space. I have them anywhere I go to use when I need to wait for an appointment. I use to use auto book and found them convenient for that time in my life. The title is What is a book in the digital age? Zoe Sadokierski, Lecturer, School of Design, University of Technology Sydney. At theconversarion.com/us. It is written by a person who is a professional book designer and has recently “recognized the need to engage with these alien book forms”. So to begin the article she said that she has come to see that electronic books have “certain things that print books cannot”. She goes on to say she has both kinds “stuffed” in her bag and office. At this point she swings between the two. She relates that nothing can compare to the “smell and feel of paper”. She likes the experience of “browsing in a book store or library” that “clicking on a screen” doesn’t offer. Another difference she mentions is having the internet suggest a book or having a librarian suggest a book have a different feel. Another point that she makes it how toddlers are experiencing the differences. In print form she/he doesn’t experience an image “changing” as can happen in the electronic version. There is also our time in technology to be considered. In the digital world we need a “computer, eReader or tablet, and a power source”. We don’t simply turn a page we swipe the screen. Another thing to think about is the “updating of these devices”. This all leads to a bigger difference in the production of the two ways of reading devices. There is the printing, binding and designing of a hard cover book compared to the designing the work of the electronic devices. She mentions traveling with hard copy and an electronic device including the amount of written coverage taking up space in both. There is the thought that the information one “reads” is the same in both forms. In ebooks there is the capability to zoom in on illustrations and print size. New developments in ebooks “are changing the way we consider what a book is, and could be.”

It’s the freezer again for dinner tonight. 

Photos in my life today

The first upload for today is another in the series of “glimmer” for this month. It is a workman updating a portion of the store front. I don’t often sees workers that high in form the ground, thought I had better capture it. 

The next challenge is from another of “my choice” as well as another of my series of “partials”. I saw this thrown away tire leaning against the cement parking lot structure.

The last assignment for today is “sandwich”. I stopped at Wendy’s for lunch. 

Joy

this bonus image is another of my digital design generated from an image of the crows nest on the replica of the Santa Maria and uploaded to Fine Art America in a contest 

want to shop? Visit: fineartamerica.com search for joy rector click on “view shop”  and redbubble.com search for jarector (and take a look at flickr.com search for rectorjoyce)