March 18, 2026, a thought for today, The last shuts the door. German Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday

This first challenge was “heart.” A good friend of mine at my church helped me out with this image. She formed the heart for me. 

The next image assignment was titled “game.” This is a design in the tiles at church. When I got the
image in Photoshop, I wasn’t satisfied with the focus. It was too late to reshoot so I added a filter

which is a little in a form of a sketch. 

The last upload for yesterday was “green.” This is another of my friends who had on a green shirt and was happy to help me out. 

Life today. It has been a very busy and eventful day. I finished the newsletter and uploaded the Sunday School data to Instagram and Facebook. What amazed me is I still had time to get research for this letter done along with finding a thought for the day that I wanted to use and an article I like. I was able to get all of that done and still got to food pantry at church by eleven fifteen. 

Pantry yesterday was slow. Today is picked up a good deal. It was a slow and steady movement. I was able to get one of the photos at church. I got the other two when I got home. Then I got to work on working on the photos in Photoshop. 

The computer is still in need of some clean up on the hard drive and any other TLC it needs. But it is working for me with some nips and tucks until I have time to have it checked. 

I want to finish getting things I need for printing tomorrow then I may be ready to close down for the day. 

The word today is simplicity.  Most modern calendars mar the sweet simplicity of our lives by reminding us that each day that passes is the anniversary of some perfectly uninteresting event. Oscar Wilde. The ordinary acts we practice every day at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest. Thomas Moore. The art of art, the glory of expression and the sunshine of the light of letters, is simplicity. Walt Whitman. Manifest plainness, Embrace simplicity, Reduce selfishness, Have few desires. Lao-tzu. It is simplicity that makes the uneducated more effective than the educated when addressing popular audiences. Aristotle. There is a certain majesty in simplicity which is far above all the quaintness of wit. Alexander Pope. Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've imagined. As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler. Henry David Thoreau. The firm, the enduring, the simple, and the modest are near to virtue. Confucius. Business? It's quite simple. It's other people's money. Alexandre Dumas. The most difficult character in comedy is that of a fool, and he must be no simpleton who plays the part. Miguel de Cervantes. There is no vice so simple but assumes some mark of virtue on his outward parts. William Shakespeare. The pure and simple truth is rarely pure and never simple. Oscar Wilde. A prayer in its simplest definition is merely a wish turned Godward. Phillips Brooks. A simple and independent mind does not toil at the bidding of any prince. Henry David Thoreau. No simplicity of mind, no obscurity of station, can escape the universal duty of questioning all that we believe. William Kingdon Clifford. A taste for simplicity cannot endure for long. Eugene Delacroix. 

Article summary. I picked this article because it is about animals and a bit about ancient history. It is a story about how animals faired way back in time. The title is Birds, worms, rabbits: Francis of Assisi was said to have loved them all – but today’s pet blessings on his feast day might have seemed strange to the 13th century saint. Mary Dzon, Associate Professor of English, University of Tennessee. At theconverstaion.com. The first sentence began by telling about an event in New York in one October. You may have seen “a whole menagerie of animals being welcomed into the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, from spaniels and parrots to even the occasional camel or cow.” The article explained that from the end of the 20the century animals “and their human companions have been blessed by come churches “on or around the feast of St. Francis of Assisi.” I read that Francis didn’t want friars to keep pets. I read elsewhere that the reason for that, was that he saw that as “distraction, a potential source of frivolous affection, and a risk to the total poverty the order vowed to live by.” However he “believed all creatures were children of God, equal in their creator's eyes.” The author went on to mention several other notable humans in history who had memorable and miraculous contacts with animals. One man centuries ago lived in a cave where birds brought him food as others gathered around him. St. Francis’s character in paintings and statues show him in the company of animals in symbols associated Jesus as with lambs even a worm that reminded him of Christ’s humility. He once was depicted as having preached to a flock of birds. The article mentions there was to Francis’s beliefs “a familial relationship with everything in nature.” Further on in the article it is mentioned that Francis may not have been “as opposed to pets as it may seem.” To explain the last sentence,  they mentioned the “tale of the wolf of Gubbio.”  Francis had made “a pact of peace” with the wolf in a story was named “Bother Wolf.”  The wolf had been a source of fear to many of the townspeople in Gubbio. After Francis and the pact the wolf remained in the town for two years going in and out of people’s homes being “kindly” fed by the people. As the article was ending, it was stated in the blessings of the animals now days tha  “perhaps they sense the sacred” and are “attracted to” the ideas of St. Francis as it relates to “harmony .... joyfully coming together to praise God.” In another article I was researching gathering more facts, I found that “Francis believed in stewardship over nature, viewing it as his responsibility to protect all creatures.” In my opinion stewardship is freely and with hopeful expatiations offered to each of us. 

Salmon patties sound good for dinner with salad and fruit. 

Photos in my life today

The first challenge today is “fuzzy”. This is my blanket with sleeves. It is very warm and fuzzy. I used it everyday that we were having the below freezing temperature this winter. 

This second upload is “a door”. This is one of the set of doors at church. I find many of my photo opportunities when I am at church. We have a church with wonderful architecture. There are also a variety of good places, times and people to get some of my best images. 

The last image upload is “dreamy”. I get some of my best shots of Bobbi. She
is always a good subject when sleeping or playing. She is my friend, my joy and my comfort. 

Joy

                                         shapes, lines, curves

 March 14, 2026 a thought for today, When the measure is full, it runs over. German Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday

This upload was titled “a pet” (or one you saw). She’s mine. Her name is Bobbi. She will be one year old in five days. She is full of energy and without effort brings laughter and smile. 

The next challenge is “fresh as a daisy.” I’m not sure that this is a daisy (I know that it had to be the daisy flower in person or the metaphor instead).

The last upload for yesterday were “lips.” My sister is always helpful in allowing me to use her for one of my assignments and she doesn’t seem to mind what pose I need. 

Life today. This has been a busy and interesting day. I got up early. I wanted a little time for checking on news headlines, Face book, and emails. I also found I had a short time to get the research parts for this letter done before I had to get ready to go to the meeting that was mandated for members of  our Session committee  at church. Another member and friend picked me up. The meeting was scheduled for a longer time than I had thought. 

The meeting was interesting. It was nice meeting other people from my church’s denomination. They came from several different congregations in the area. There were four of us there from Hogs. 

I managed to get my photos for the day right after I got home. I decided on them quickly so they may not be quite what I would have chosen had I had a little more time. I also needed to get a couple of house hold chores out of the way before turning off the computer, having dinner and heading for the lunge chair for the day. 

The word today is sign. When a true genius appears in this world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him. Jonathan Swift. Drink nothing without seeing it; sign nothing without reading it. Spanish Proverb. Contradiction is not a sign of falsity, nor the lack of contradiction a sign of truth. Blaise Pascal. Words learned by rote a parrot may rehearse; but talking is not always to converse, not more distinct from harmony divine, the constant creaking of a country sign. William Cowper. There is no surer sign of decay in a country than to see the rites of religion held in contempt. Niccolo Machiavelli, The one exclusive sign of thorough knowledge is the power of teaching. Aristotle. The most certain sign of wisdom is cheerfulness. Michel de Montaigne. Gratitude is the sign of noble souls. Aesop. To accuse others for one's own misfortunes is a sign of want of education. To accuse oneself shows that one's education has begun. To accuse neither oneself nor others shows that one's education is complete. Epictetus.. Grant me the treasure of sublime poverty: permit the distinctive sign of our order to be that it does not possess anything of its own beneath the sun, for the glory of your name, and that it have no other patrimony than begging. Francis of Assisi. Without a sign, his sword the brave man draws, and asks no omen, but his country's cause. Homer. It is the sign of a great mind to dislike greatness, and to prefer things in measure to things in excess. Lucius Annaeus Seneca. A flow of words is a sure sign of duplicity. Honore de Balzac. Love, hope, fear, faith - these make humanity; These are its sign and note and character. Robert Browning. Remember, a chip on the shoulder is a sure sign of wood higher up. Brigham Young. A dark cloud is no sign that the sun has lost his light; and dark black convictions are no arguments that God has laid aside His mercy. Charles Spurgeon. The desire to annoy no one, to harm no one, can equally well be the sign of a just as of an anxious disposition. Friedrich Nietzsche. 

Article summary. The title interested me. Being that these are days of technology, I like reading about things I most likely don’t already know about. I use both text and email extensively. I was wondering about this story’s view of both. The title is Should you send a text or email? Here’s some advice from Aristotle. Alexis Elder, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, University of Minnesota Duluth. At theconveration.com. It began with mentioning the many ways we can reach out and touch friends. It also mentions how we use to do the same not all that long ago. In these days there are email, text, Snapchat, Twitter, Messenger and more.  The “old” ways and may be less used today were/are letters and the telephone. We have to be careful in a way we choose to  communicate. We need to keep in mind that in some of the “newer” ways as in Fascebook and Instagram they can be seen by the public. In those areas of communication we should be aware of “virtue ethics” considering the way our character can be seen in the writing. We have to remember that some of the ones we use may be the kind of “communication that leave permanent records”. I realized something else that the article brought to mind, as we communicate in the “new” ways our old “skills” become weaker. One of those ways that was mentioned is capability to “listen patiently and empathetically”.  It also mentioned something I hadn’t thought about, if we tend to show negative emotion in conversation consider that in writing an email we “slow us down” and are more likely to consider what we are saying. If we take time to recognize are feeling we can choose to use a written message or the use a phone or video.  I think, as this article mentions, “many technologies have both good and bad effects on us”. There has been research on the effects of ways to communicate. The way the article ended was interesting, “we can use technology to help us become the people we want to be.” I tend to see that statement as in considering the method of our communication we are also exercising our way of thinking about the how and affect of that communication.

I am having a hamburger and soup for dinner. 

Photos in my life today

This challenge upload is “my choice” and is one in my series of “in camera filers”. I don’t know if this series of filters is unique to the Samsung or not. I’m sure the other smart phone have techniques like it. I like this one.

The next upload is “a pair of shoes”. My sister and I wear about the same size shoe. She didn’t like this after she got them. She wanted to know if I would like to have them. I’ll give them a try.

The last upload is “frozen”. I needed to come up with a quick one so I used a carton of ice cream in the
ice tray.  

Joy

                                      fresh

 March 16, 2026, a thought for today, Everyone has his master. German Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday

The first upload was “my choice.” It is one in my series of “in camera filer.” 

The next challenge was “text.” I had checked all kinds of text image. I used the 10 commandments and the 23rd Psalm. Then I saw this booklet laying on the table and used it since there is a little extra in the photo.

The third image is “a window.” Though this has several windows there is one that is open. 

The last challenge is “from the back”. This is one of the last images I have as Sweet Pea. 

Life today. This has been a mildly tense Monday, but not overly stressful. I managed to get the bulletin done.  As I was waking up I started a to-do list. I needed to make a couple of phone calls, one with the person who will be giving the message this week. Then I was thinking I had to pay some attention to my car. Yesterday as we were coming out of church someone noticed I had a low tire. They put air in it for me. I need to decide to have it changed or just see what happens. I checked on it this morning. It still seems to be at the correct pressure. I turned on the engine to see if the “tire pressure” message would come on, it didn’t. 

Another of the “waking thoughts” was about the photo challenges I do every day. I had taken on a new one and I have one that hasn’t been enough of a “challenge” so I have decided to let those two go. I belong a group called FineArtrAmerica where our work can be purchased in the form of prints, pillows, shirts and more. I have not paid attention for a long while. I have decided to get back to it. I need to do some “clean up” and re-align some things as well as make more uploads. I have become more aware of how thing work there. I need to spend some time on it.

Then to top to day off the computer is becoming very slow in all processes. It most likely needs a “clean up” that I would prefer a technician would do. I will limp along on it until I have a few straight days of free time.  

The word today is silent. 'Tis better to be silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt. Abraham Lincoln. I think the first virtue is to restrain the tongue; he approaches nearest to gods who knows how to be silent, even though he is in the right. Cato the Elder. It is better wither to be silent, or to say things of more value than silence. Sooner throw a pearl at hazard than an idle or useless word; and do not say a little in many words, but a great deal in a few. Pythagoras. Give me the splendid silent sun with all his beams full-dazzling. Walt Whitman. Preach not to others what they should eat, but eat as becomes you, and be silent. Epictetus. I live in company with a body, a silent companion, exacting and eternal. Eugene Delacroix. What greater thing is there for two human souls than to feel that they are joined... to strengthen each other... to be one with each other in silent unspeakable memories. George Eliot. Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill. I think that there is nothing, not even crime, more opposed to poetry, to philosophy, ay, to life itself than this incessant business. Henry David Thoreau. A fair exterior is a silent recommendation. Publilius Syrus. There is a wide difference between speaking to deceive, and being silent to be impenetrable. Voltaire. I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations. James Madison. Painting is silent poetry, and poetry is painting with the gift of speech. Simonides. A silent mouth is sweet to hear. Irish Proverb. Laws are silent in times of war. Cicero. An event had happened, upon which it is difficult to speak, and impossible to be silent. Edmund Burke. The Inspiration You Seek Is Already Within You. Be Silent And Listen. Rumi. If I speak, I am condemned. If I stay silent, I am damned! Victor Hugo. When they remain silent, they cry out. Marcus Tullius Cicero. Let us be silent — so we may hear the whisper of the gods. Ralph Waldo Emerson. The mouth keeps silent to hear the heart speak. Alfred de Musset. Now be silent. Let the One who creates the words speak. He made the door. He made the lock. He also made the key. Rumi. Silence is a true friend who never betrays. Confucius. True silence is the rest of the mind, and is to the spirit what sleep is to the body, nourishment and refreshment. William Penn. 

Article summary. I am a life long lover of animals, all kinds of animals which leads to my interest in any articles I see referring to them. As their champion I tend to want to share what I learn about them. This is one of those stories. The article title is A pet friendly homeless shelter pilot reduced the rate of homelessness among the people it helped in California. Benjamin F. Henwood, Professor of Social Policy and Health, University of Southern California. At theconversation.com. The story started by telling of how a research program in  California in 2019 did a study of how to make homeless shelters more “accommodating” to more unhoused folks. The study ultimately showed that allowing pets in the shelters was a success. After the study there was funding to provide “pet-friendly” spaces along with food, supplies and vet care. This program allows homeless folks with pets to be able to stay together under shelter instead of out in the weather. It was found that the program helped 4,407 people. In the study they found that before this program was put in place more than half of homeless people with pets were turned away from shelters. They found that the number of homeless with pets have increased in recent years. The reasons for that growth in number has been undetermined but one estimate is that pets help unhoused people “to deal with their social isolation and loneliness.” These kinds of programs seem to want to bring more people off the streets. After the California program there were others in New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Ohio and others. 

I am having a tuna patty and rice for dinner tonight with salad and fruit. 

Photos in my life today 

This first upload for today is “my choice” and is one of “macro Monday.” It is one of the gorgeous carnations in my most current bouquet. 

The next challenge upload is “favorite pie.” I didn’t have any pies on hand so it is from the archives. However, it is not early my favorite pie either. That pie would be a pecan pie. I can’t have those due to the diabetes. So this took its place, a cherry pie from my archive. 

The last one is “a mess.” This is one of my several “junk drawers.” Actually it is not junk but it is a huge mess. 

Joy

                          memories

 March 12, 2026, a thought for today, Revenge converts a little right into a great wrong. German Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday

This challenge was “use your imagination.” This is one of the flowers in the bouquet I bought last Saturday. It has given all it had to give, it is leaving with a bit of beauty as it goes. 

The second upload was “shadow.” This is a set of shadows on the side of my garage. 

The last upload “prime lens image.” This was taken with my Samsung 24+ smart phone camera so that is a “prime lens.”

Life today. As a worry wart my emotions were true to form last night. I was concerned that I would have trouble getting the computer at the church to work to process in the annual repot for coping. This morning. Last night I asked Patti if she would leave Publisher open when she left the office hoping it would open quicker for me this morning. She did, and it worked. I had the bulletin and the annual report done in about an hour and a half. I dropped off the mail, got a couple of photos I need for the day and headed home. Sue was getting in her car. I called out the window as I was going in the drive way and said I would like for us to head for Andy and Tami’s now if it was good with her. I dropped off a couple of things in the house and we headed for their house. 

We were there for an hour or so. We had a great visit. We also had a good time playing with Abe their Boson Terrier. He is so full of life and energy. It was a great visit. We picked up sandwiches on the way home. As we pulled in the drive way the neighbors on either side were out side enjoying the weather so we traded greetings. 

I had a good bit of this letter started earlier. So as I got back in from our visit I got back to working on it and the photos. 

I normally do the laundry on Thursday but with the visit I am putting it off until tomorrow. I had a special meeting for church on Saturday morning so I am pickup up groceries tomorrow, Friday, instead. I need to place the online order this afternoon. 

All in all this has been a beautiful day. 

The word today is sight. 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. In a heated argument we are apt to lose sight of the truth. Publilius Syrus. We walk by faith, not by sight. Bible, 2 Corinthians v. 7. Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible to feelings as to sight? William Shakespeare. If one is master of one thing and understands one thing well, one has at the same time, insight into and understanding of many things. Vincent van Gogh. Often a certain abdication of prudence and foresight is an element of success. Ralph Waldo Emerson. Time is a sort of river of passing events, and strong is its current; no sooner is a thing brought to sight than it is swept by and another takes its place, and this too will be swept away. Marcus Aurelius. Charms strike the sight, but merit wins the soul. Alexander Pope. Those things that nature denied to human sight, she revealed to the eyes of the soul. Ovid. Presumption should never make us neglect that which appears easy to us, nor despair make us lose courage at the sight of difficulties. Benjamin Banneker. Friendship at first sight, like love at first sight, is said to be the only truth. Herman Melville. For there is no defense for a man who, in the excess of his wealth, has kicked the great altar of Justice out of sight. Aeschylus. Vice, in its true light, is so deformed, that it shocks us at first sight; and would hardly ever seduce us, if it did not at first wear the mask of some virtue. Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield. A man willing to work, and unable to find work, is perhaps the saddest sight that fortune's inequality exhibits under this sun. Thomas Carlyle. Behold a worthy sight, to which the God, turning his attention to his own work, may direct his gaze. Behold an equal thing, worthy of a God, a brave man matched in conflict with evil fortune. Lucius Annaeus Seneca. If men possessed wisdom, which stands in the same relation to the form of man as the sight to the eye, they would not cause any injury to themselves or to others; for the knowledge of truth removes hatred and quarrels, and prevents mutual injuries. Maimonides. There is danger that we lose sight of what our friend is absolutely, while considering what she is to us alone. Henry David Thoreau. The greatest talents often lie buried out of sight. Plautus. Our sight is the most perfect and most delightful of all our senses. Joseph Addison.

Article summary. I have always realized that music is the universal language. What I was looking for when I came across this article was a story on how music ultimately affects the soul and offers an entry to better health and well being. I hadn’t read this article through when I started the summary so I am hoping that it at least gives a peek into that idea of music’s affect on the senses. The article title is How music helps resolve our deepest inner conflicts. Leonid Perlovsky, Visiting Scholar, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University. At theconverarion.com. As I began reading I learned there were humans with far more reaching intelligence than mine as people like  Aristotle and Darwin who wondered the same. They most likely went about their search in a more analytical way than mine. The author of this article claims that music “helps us navigate a world rife with contradictions.” He says that music affects our brains when we are faced with “unpleasant feeling” or when we hear something that “opposes existing beliefs.” We may tend to a “rejection of new knowledge”. These feelings have a name “cognitive dissonance.” Throughout history people have learned to overcome this “disability” by trying to “ignore” the unpleasantness or ideas that doesn’t line up with our “existing beliefs.” This article mentions that “music helps us grapple with dissonance” and that it probably was in history how people adapted to problems. The article says that there have been experiments that have proven how music has worked in this light. One of the experiments was preformed with small children. Five popular toys were given to them. They were told to “rank” the toys by which was a favorite. The person preforming the test told the children they had to leave for a few minutes and were told not to play with the “second ranked” toy. When the person doing the test returned the “second ranked” toy was ignored. When this same test was completed with music turned on during the time they left “the toy retained its original value.” Another test was done with fifteen years old. They were given a multiple choice exam to pick the “difficulty” with each question. They answered the hard questions first to get them out of the way and got lower grades for that choice. When “Mozart” was played in the background more time was spent on answering the questions. The conclusions are that music “helps us reconcile our own conflicted emotions when making choices,” choices  about whatever is in our thoughts at the time we hear the music. 

I am thinking soup and sandwiches for dinner. 

Photos in my life today

The first upload is “my town.” This was taken a while back and has been waiting in my archives. 

The next assignment upload is “your subject is a tree.” I took several photo for this one. I like the shapes and hidden stories  in winter tree limbs.

The last challenge for today is “a book.” I read mostly ebooks. This one was
given to me as a Christmas gift. 

Joy

                    she was at the Ohio State Fair last summer

 March 10, 2026 a thought for the day, Where everyone goes, the grass never grows. German Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday

Our first challenge for yesterday was “m is for....” I use mirror to fit the assignment. I have used a portion of this same mirror in other challenges. 

The next upload was “a car.” I didn’t have to go far for this one.  It was in the  driveway. 

The last challenge for yesterday was “macro Monday.” I ordered a bouquet of mixed flowers with my grocery pick up last week. It had two white roses in it.  This is one of them.

Life today. I had yesterday all planned but it was one of those days that things got changed a little. I got up early to have things ready for the cleaning lady. She didn’t show up at the usual time. My grand daughter was on her way here at the same time to give Bobbie her monthly pedicure. So I had to make sure I would be able to find her when Natalie got her. That meant holding her in my arms for a while. She was getting tired of that and was strongly vocalizing it to me. It worked out. Natalie got here and took over. Natalie has been a vet tech for several years and has a natural way with animals of all kinds. After the pedicure Bobbie was “released” and rapidly on her way to the safety of a hiding spot. That gave Natalie and me time to talk for a while. It ended being cathartic for me.  She allowed me to ramble on.  At times I was lost in memories, some good and some not so much, that I hadn’t visited in years. It turned out good for me, probably a bore for her but she didn’t seem to mind, even contributed to some of the family times.

It turned out the cleaning lady didn’t show up. She had forgotten the date so she rescheduled for Wednesday. 

I was able to complete both the weekly bulletin and the annual report after Natalie left. Today I made a start on the newsletter. 

I added another photo a day group to my list today. I hope I am not biting off more than I can chew. I tend to do that now and then. We’ll give it a bit of a try.

I haven’t left the house today so haven’t felt the 71 degree temps yet. I have to go out to bring up the trash can from the curb in a few minutes so I will get a taste of it shortly. Since I didn’t get out most of the photo shots for the day they are from the archives. 

The word today is show.  Trust men and they will be true to you; treat them greatly, and they will show themselves great. Ralph Waldo Emerson. Have more than thou showest; Speak less than thou knowest. William Shakespeare. Never apologize for showing feeling. When you do so, you apologize for truth. Benjamin Disraeli. Laughing is the sensation of feeling good all over and showing it principally in one spot. Josh Billings. That some should be rich, shows that others may become rich, and, hence, is just encouragement to industry and enterprise. Abraham Lincoln. He who establishes his argument by noise and command, shows that his reason is weak. Michel de Montaigne. Show me the man who keeps his house in hand, He's fit for public authority. Sophocles. Misfortune shows those who are not really friends. Aristotle. I show you doubt, to prove that faith exists. Robert Browning. Toward no crime have men shown themselves so cold-bloodedly cruel as in punishing differences of belief. James Russell Lowell. Your very silence shows you agree. Euripides. In the arena of human life the honours and rewards fall to those who show their good qualities. Aristotle. A show of daring oft conceals great fear. Lucan. Without an adversary prowess shrivels. We see how great and efficient it really is only when it shows by endurance what it is capable of. Seneca. If you can't bite, don't show your teeth. Yiddish Proverb. The key to every man is his thought.... He can only be reformed by showing him a new idea which commands his own. Ralph Waldo Emerson. Wisdom does not show itself so much in precept as in life - in firmness of mind and a mastery of appetite. It teaches us to do as well as to talk; and to make our words and actions all of a color. Seneca. Much learning shows how little mortals know; much wealth, how little worldings enjoy. Edward Young. Show me the person you honor, for I know better by that the kind of person you are. For you show me what your idea of humanity is. Thomas Carlyle. For outward show is a wonderful perverter of the reason. Marcus Aurelius. 

Article summary. I saw the news the other day covering the fate of this poor little guy. My heart hurt as I watched him. Of course I knew or hoped the zoo keepers were taking care of him physically. Anyway, when I saw that this article related to attachments, I felt it would shed light on the sense of attachment on all of the living community. It may shine some light on some our own feelings of our attachments. The title is A viral monkey, his plushie, and a 70 year old experiment: what Punch tells us about attachment theory. Mark Nielsen, Associate Professor, School of Psychology, The University of Queensland. At theconversation.com. There was sentence or two explaining how a baby monkey was rejected by his mother and the rest of his troop. He walked alone until the zoo keepers gave him a stuffed monkey. He fell in love and carried or dragged his comfort in the stuffed monkey every where he went. I did learn from the television that eventually another young monkey finally befriended him. The author of this article related Punch’s detachments to a set of experiments preformed in the 1950s that researched the idea of attachment. This research was to show how a bond between parent and child was detrimental to, in my opinion, aid in growth, health and well being. In the experiment new born monkeys were put in an “enclosure” where there were two “surrogate mothers.” The “mothers” were wire forms. One was set up to be a source of food and drink. The other form was wrapped in soft terry cloth material providing comfort but did not provide food. It was discovered from this experiment that the baby monkeys preferred the terry cloth mother for comfort. This was further  determined to show that “babies prefer emotional nourishment over physical nourishment.” Ultimately it would show that humans most likely would follow that conclusion since like monkeys we are primates. This research in how emotional nourishment was preferred led to the “development of attachment theory.” According to the article to stay healthy children need “emotional nourishment.” If the “care giver” is “cold and  distant” and only feeds without the comfort there will be little if any attachment. The experiment in the 1950s was a bit different than Punch’s situation. Punch got the food he needed just not the “comforting and soft safe place” that he found in the stuffed monkey. I read in the article that Punch is a reminder of the “importance of emotional nourishment,” soft and safe places. As the article ended it said that these are “important for our well being and functioning than physical nourishment alone.”

Hamburger sandwiches sound good for dinner.

Photos in my life today 

The first upload for today is “historic.” As I have traveled through the downtown area of Columbus over the years I admire the old house that were built and have survived since Columbus was new. This is one of those buildings

The next challenge for today is “something spotted.” This may sound like a reach and it was. As I was ready to gather all my photos for today together, my breakfast plate was near at hand with droplets (spots) of maple syrup that I hadn’t managed to capture on the waffle. 

The next upload is "a hat". this was hanging on a neighbors fence a the perfect time for this shot. 

The last challenge was “go.” That seems a well open subject. I decided to use the definition of “go” to travel as opposed as moving an object. This is one of the beautiful Ohio highway

Joy

               a mess of spools in the sewing box

 March 8, 2026, a thought for today, A wise man, a strong man. German Proverb

Photos in my live yesterday

The first challenge is “my choice,” one of my series of “still life.” It is some artificial red leaves set in a pure black bowl against a large black plate.

The second upload is “clouds.” Instead of going to my archives I shot this one
today. As you can see they weren’t spectacular as some are but still as gift of once in a time few of our miraculous space. 

The last one for yesterday is “a flower.” I couldn’t resist using the back ground I already had set up for the last image.

Life today. We or, at least, I am having another gorgeous day. Church was great. We had a “new” visiting pastor giving the message. I had concerns as I was doing her bulletin but they were gone today. I think I am going to like her. One sad thing about today’s service, it was “Girl Scout” Sunday. We were planning on having them at our service and to stay for a “donut reception” afterward. It turned out that their leader and assistant leader had serious health issues come up that prevented them from coming. Maybe we can have them for a special Sunday we create. I had to have three more photos to complete the annual report so I was shooting photos to the point of being a pest. One other nice surprise, my next door neighbor showed up. He lost his wife a couple of weeks ago so it was another reason for me to be happy to see him there. We did have our monthly fellowship hour today. The extra donuts for the Brownie Troop got mostly eaten anyway. 

As is my habit for Sunday there is very little on the agenda for today. I worked on getting the photo uploads for today when I for home. Once I finished the uploads, I have a few things to get out of the way since my cleaning lady is coming tomorrow. 

The word today is shine.  Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air. Ralph Waldo Emerson. The art of art, the glory of expression and the sunshine of the light of letters, is simplicity. Walt Whitman. Do not hold as gold all that shines as gold. Alain de Lille. Neither can embellishments of language be found without arrangement and expression of thoughts, nor can thoughts be made to shine without the light of language. Cicero. Among the attributes of God, although they are all equal, mercy shines with even more brilliancy than justice. Miguel De Cervantes. I cannot endure to waste anything as precious as autumn sunshine by staying in the house. So I spend almost all the daylight hours in the open air. Nathaniel Hawthorne. How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a naughty world. William Shakespeare. What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. These are but trifles, to be sure; but, scattered along life's pathway, the good they do is inconceivable. Joseph Addison. The sun does not shine for a few trees and flowers, but for the wide world's joy. Henry Ward Beecher. An evil person is like a dirty window, they never let the light shine through. William Makepeace Thackeray. The earth is supported by the power of truth; it is the power of truth that makes the sun shine and the winds blow; indeed all things rest upon truth. Chanakya. I see heaven's glories shine and faith shines equal. Emily Bronte. Better to illuminate than merely to shine, to deliver to others contemplated truths than merely to contemplate. Thomas Aquinas. Be grateful for your life, every detail of it, and your face will come to shine like a sun, and everyone who sees it will be made glad and peaceful. Rumi. Someday perhaps the inner light will shine forth from us, and the we'll need no other light. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Those who show off do not shine. Laozi. The memory of an absent person shines in the deepest recesses of the heart, shining the more brightly the more wholly its object has vanished: a light on the horizon of the despairing, darkened spirit; a star gleaming in our inward night. Victor Hugo. Follow then the shining ones, the wise, the awakened, the loving, for they know how to work and forbear. Gautama Buddha. Time will bring to light whatever is hidden it will cover up and conceal what is now shining in splendor. Horace. Pride thinks it's own happiness shines the brighter by comparing it with the misfortunes of others. Thomas More.

Article summary. Picking an article to share is a matter of other things that come up in the free thinking that happens in a given time space has an effect in the outcome. Today I am in a pet way of thinking and yet another way to find a paired comfort, so this article presented itself for review and food for building wisdom. The title is Your dog’s nose knows no bounds – and neither does its love for you. Ellen Furlong, Associate Professor of Psychology, Illinois Wesleyan University. At theconversation.com. It begins by examining what your pet may be thinking as he/she sniffs the air or as they look at you. You way wonder, are they happy? During the pandemic that many of us experienced a while back in time hours were spent at home with companion animals. Showing how pets can be a special place in your life.  I found while reading the article that research has looked into the “cognition” of animal’s feelings. One thing that was considered was the how and why they have and use the sense of smell. As they go for a walk with their owner they may smell the odor of another dog, or one your friends who may has passed that way. It has been shown that dogs can smell our cancer and weapons. The first dog reported to sniff out cancer was in the form of a mole and by sniffing his owners leg. The owner eventually saw a doctor and was told she had cancer.  A dogs sense smell “is estimated to be 10,000 to 100,000 times better than that of a human.” Here is a comparison noted in the article, humans have about six million smell receptors, dog 300million. The composition of their nose cavity is larger than ours.  The article relates that we can make dogs happier by allowing them to smell often by taking them on walks for that purpose. In adding to their “happy” state is allowing them to know the world around them better. Research has shown that dogs while some of their “thinking” is “alien” to us appreciate you as much as we do them . I was interested in reading that dogs “attach” themselves to their owners compared to the way infants do to their parents. They feel strange and tense when left with someone else. They become happier when they “smell” their owner. Here’s another thing the article mentioned, when the dog’s eyes meet the human’s eyes both brains “release oxytocin, also know as the “cuddle hormone.” In ending the article it is recommended that you use the eye contact thing more and use it to cuddle. Touch the pet more pats may be “better than treats!”. They even passed on that “baby talk” may “strengthen your bond”. 

I am a light dinner, vegetable soup, toss salad, a deli chicken sandwich and fruit for dinner. 

Photos in my life today

The first challenge assignment for today was “a drink”. This is standard liquid for the day, iced tea (decaf of course). 

This assignment is “feet”. Well, the most handy ones at the moment I needed it were my own. Actually I shot it while I was I my car on the way home from church. 

The last upload for today is another “my choice” and yet another of my series
of “still life”. 

Joy 

                                  dreams

 March 6, 2026. A thought for today, He who grasps too much lets much fall. German Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday

The first challenge yesterday was “oil and water.” I decided to add some green food coloring to give the finished image a bit of color. I was happy to see the hue of yellow oil on top of the green water.

The next assignment was “to close for comfort.” I pulled into the park to give
this shot some thought. Many things came to mind. Then this one came to mind. I decided to try it when I got home. I’m had to get out of the car to make sure I had some space before I got back in the car and turned off the engine. 

The third image I uploaded is “a bottle.” I had this image of two bottles in a collection I use to have. I decided to use it for this challenge.

The last upload was “friends.” This angry bird toy was one of Sweet Pea’s
favorites. We couldn’t find it one day, we looked everywhere. I ordered another one for her. The day later we found the old one behind some hard to move furniture. 

Life today. For the longest time I didn’t understand what a hidden “Easter egg” meant in written material. Now I know. Sometimes when I reread some of my own writings, I think I spot one here and there not only in all the sections of written and shared material but in photos also. Some are intentional but most are otherwise.

It has been a happy and productive day. First the usual morning visits to the internet, news, email, face book. Then I made a detour to work on the annual report. I received an addition that I think is very important for folks to know about in a yearly report. It is about our Sunday School classes. The information was emailed to me last night, took me a few minutes to make the room in the template and entered it. Then I took some time to look for the appropriate photos to add to it. After that, I got the first step to the newsletter for April. Moving on I started the search for the information I like to include in my every-other day letters/blobs. I didn’t plan on going out to day so I had to either find images for photos here in the house or go to my archives. I’m so glad I keep an “archives.” I usually take extra shots on days I am finding chances for good photos for days like this when I need them to fit a specific challenge.   ,

Sue went to Lancaster to see one of the twins. So the house was “empty” except for me and “my shadow” named Bobbi. 

I did take a couple of breaks. One, to load the dish washer which meant clearing the frig too. Then there was kitty care. 

A while back I mentioned a “dream” project of mine that I want to keep to myself for a while. Anyway, I approached work on that project today too. It doesn’t get worked on every day in fact only when I have available “free” time so it is a slow process. Actually it is a multifaceted “dream” project, they are kind of connected. One day maybe one or better all will come to fruition. For the time being just dreams. 

It is gorgeous today with just a touch of overcast now and then. The temperature is 73 degrees. Perfect early spring. 

I am getting to “wordsy” here so I will end for the day. I have to do my online grocery order and my online still life class lecture for the day. 

The word today is set. Good advice is something a man gives when he is too old to set a bad example. Francois de La Rochefoucauld. The knowledge of the world is only to be acquired in the world, and not in a closet. Lord Chesterfield. Before we set our hearts too much upon anything, let us examine how happy those are who already possess it. Francois de La Rochefoucauld. You are young, my son, and, as the years go by, time will change and even reverse many of your present opinions. Refrain therefore awhile from setting yourself up as a judge of the highest matters. Plato. Set all things in their own peculiar place, and know that order is the greatest grace. John Dryden. Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections but instantly set about remedying them - every day begin the task anew. Saint Francis de Sales. Cease to ask what the morrow will bring forth. And set down as gain each day that Fortune grants. Horace. The superior man...does not set his mind either for anything, or against anything; what is right he will follow. Confucius. The people have always some champion whom they set over them and nurse into greatness...This and no other is the root from which a tyrant springs; when he first appears he is a protector. Plato. Money alone sets all the world in motion. Publilius Syrus. Ignorance never settles a question. Benjamin Disraeli. Glory is like a circle in the water, Which never ceaseth to enlarge itself, Till by broad spreading it disperses to naught. William Shakespeare. The evil implanted in man by nature spreads so imperceptibly, when the habit of wrong-doing is unchecked, that he himself can set no limit to his shamelessness. Cicero. Good and evil, reward and punishment, are the only motives to a rational creature: these are the spur and reins whereby all mankind are set on work, and guided. John Locke. When my country, into which I had just set my foot, was set on fire about my ears, it was time to stir. It was time for every man to stir. Thomas Paine. Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man's hand. Bible, 1 King 18:44. 

Article summary. We are all born with the honor and gift of stewardship for all living things. That doesn’t mean it has to be on the physical level of care. Some of us are no-loner flexible enough to work when the need requires strength and mobility. But there is more than one way to make things happen given care and wisdom. This article talks about one of the times for a hand in stewardship. The title is How protecting wilderness could mean purposefully tending it, not just leaving it alone. Clare E. Boerigter, Wilderness Fire Research Fellow at the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute, Rocky Mountain Research Station, United States Forest Service. At theconersation.com. It started with noting figures about land in th US. It says there are 110 million acres with 806 protected in “federally designated wilderness.” It compared the size of those measurements to be “slightly larger than the state of California.” It goes on to relate that since with 1964 Wilderness Act they have been left alone. That act states that those areas are to be “untrammeled by man.” As article goes on it is touching on the subject that with climate change and other happening as time passes, age and technology changes things for the good and the not so good . It might be time now to reconsider what may and should be done for a growing Need of more attention and protection? They mentioned something I had not given much thought to, that many of those wilderness areas were for thousands of years watched over, cared for and tended to by Indigenous peoples. It is talking about the areas that are now legally to be “untrammeled by man,” with unknown and possible harmful effects taking place due to inattention. The harmful effects I am thinking about are the “new and unprecedented ecological stressors” taking place as the world moves on. The “indigenous”people tended to the nature of plants and all their life long surroundings by inherited instinct. In areas where indigenous nations still live and care for their space it is accomplished with “spiritual connections between people and the land.” Some are given the right to hunt and fish along with some other considerations like to place or not to place fences and the like. I learned at the end of the article that the Wilderness Act also said the land should be “protected and managed so as to preserve (they’re) natural conditions.” It seems that “careful actions could help protect these precious places for generations to come” as some have already been, proven for thousands of years by indigenous peoples. They were also born with that “honor and gift” that I mentioned and used it. It seems to me by poof in-the-pudding they have done that very thing with honor and respect.

I haven’t used doorcase for dinner recently.  I may do that this evening.

Photos in my life today

One of today’s uploads is “a street sign.” I took this one as I was coming out of the park. I liked the juxtaposition of the two one-way signs as well as a “street” sign of a different nature in the image as well. 

The next assigned upload is “friends.” These two seemed to be
enjoying each others company on a sunny day. 

The last upload for today is “team sport.” I don’t visit sports often. I do pass area where team sport take place. This one is in the park near my house. None of the “boys” were there using it at the time of day that I was there. 

Joy

                               just because...