May 17, 2026, a thought for today, Beware of him that holds a long rosary. Maltese Proverb *

Photos in my life yesterday

The first assignment for yesterday was “on weekends I...’ do my curbside grocery pickup. It always comes out in these blue bins. 

The next challenge was “silly.” This is our live-in-love named Bobbi playing on
my gate leg table. It puts me in mind of  a jungle gym. 

The next and last upload for yesterday was “slow shutter speed.” When I played with that setting, I got more of a white background rather than slow motion, though there wasn’t all that much motion in front of the camera here anyway.

Life today. Sue has had some health issue of late that worried me. But with the visits of Andy, Tami and Rebecca I think it brought her out of the heaviest issues. She seems on the mend, a great relief for me as her sister, companion, and house mate.  

Church service was nice today, an uplifting message. We had a very small turn out but close knit. One of the members has been having health issues so some of the ladies were taking food to her family after service.

I stopped on the way home for gas and a sandwich. Once at home I got back to the computer, naturally. I also got a start on one of the window boxes (“senior gardens”). I also loaded some fresh ink cartridges in the printer so I can get on with printing photos for the “gallery wall” at church. Jefferson, I am calling him my professional art coach, made some suggestions for how to do some of the spacing as well as a suggestion on a larger size mat and frame for more ‘attention’. So far it looks like a good and exciting spring and summer for me.

The rest of the day will be for refreshing and strengthening my thoughts and feelings for the coming week. 

The word today is weak. Where is human nature so weak as in the bookstore? Henry Ward Beecher. Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful. Samuel Johnson. You cannot run away from a weakness; you must sometimes fight it out or perish. And if that be so, why not now, and where you stand? Robert Louis Stevenson. Public opinion is a weak tyrant compared with our own private opinion. What a man thinks of himself, that is which determines, or rather indicates, his fate.  Henry David Thoreau. There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. Washington Irving. When the mind has once begun to yield to the weakness of superstition, trifles impress it with the force of conviction. Ann Radcliffe. If the weak hand, that has recorded this tale, has, by its scenes, beguiled the mourner of one hour of sorrow, or, by its moral, taught him to sustain it - the effort, however humble, has not been vain, nor is the writer unrewarded. Ann Radcliffe. Those who control their passions do so because their passions are weak enough to be controlled. William Blake. They are slaves who fear to speak, For the fallen and the weak. James Russell Lowell. Miserable mortals who, like leaves, at one moment flame with life, eating the produce of the land, and at another moment weakly perish. Homer. Our passions are like convulsion fits, which, though they make us stronger for a time, leave us the weaker ever after. Alexander Pope. It is destruction to the weak man to attempt to imitate the powerful. Phaedrus. Blessed are the weak who think that they are good because they have no claws. Baruch Spinoza. Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. Bible, Matthew 26. 41. The chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken. Samuel Johnson. Laughter, while it lasts, slackens and unbraces the mind, weakens the faculties, and causes a kind of remissness and dissolution in all the powers of the soul. Joseph Addison. Anxiety is the rust of life, destroying its brightness and weakening its power. A childlike and abiding trust in Providence is its best preventive and remedy. Tyron Edwards. 

Article summary. I thought this article was interesting since it is current as we will be celebrating 250 years of independence. I have never been “good” with explaining history so this “summary” may be a bit clumsy on my part. The title is America’s musical founding father: ‘Liberty songs’ by a self taught singer and tanner helped fuel the Revolution. David W. Stowe, Professor of Religious Studies, Michigan State University. At theconversation.com. The story started by mentioning that this year there will be a celebration of our independence and that many well known “figures” will be mentioned, John Adams, George Washington and Ben Franklin. Lesser know patriots will most  likely not be highlighted. One of the people that this author feels should be noted is William Billings. He lived in Boston during the Revolution. He was a “noteworthy composer.” At 14 years old he was working as a leather tanner. During that time, in his spare time, he learned music. He used that talent to teach in “singing schools” where basic music “elements” were used to “sing hymns more confidently.” He eventually began to support independence and belonged the “Boston ‘Whigs’.” The Whigs “spearheaded the American Revolution.” Mr. Billings was described as“blind with one eye, one leg shorter than the other, one arm somewhat withered” and was “a towering, self-taught figure in early American music.”  He wrote “liberty songs.” He was a friend of Samuel Adams and knew Paul Revere. Of course, it would have been difficult for him to have served in the military.  However, he “contributed” to “the independence movement” with his music.” One of his most memorable songs of that period in history was called “Chester”: The Foe comes on with haughty Stride; Our troops advance with martial noise, Their Vet’rans flee before our Youth. And Gen’rals yield to beardless Boys. In 1778 he wrote several songs that “had a national reach” and sung “at home, by choirs and in miliary camps”. He married and had six children. In time his life changed causing him to live a “down trodden” life. He died in 1800 and was buried in an unmarked grave. His music still lives on and led to a way of  “preserving older and sacred songs” such as, Rose of Sharon, David's Lamentation, and When Jesus Wept. The article ended by saying that his music “played at least a small part in uniting American colonists well enough to defeat the powerful British military.”

I may make chili tonight for dinner.

Photos in my life today

My first upload for today is “the color yellow.” This was the only yellow flower in the mixed bouquet I got at the grocery store today. 

The second upload is “crayons.” While I was at church this morning before the service started I went into the crib room to see is I could find a collection of crayons for this assignment. This is what I found. 

The last upload assignment title is “I bought....” These grapes were part of my
grocery order from yesterday. 

Joy

the “bonus” upload I am adding today is an upload to my Fine Art American page. It is one of my sister’s sketches that she made from a photo of us when we were on vacation in Florida 

Want to shop? Visit: fineartamerica.com search for joy rector click on “view shop”  and redbubble.com search for jarector

** Luke 12: 15 - “He said to them, “Beware! Keep yourselves from covetousness, for a man's life doesn't consist of the abundance of the things which he possesses.”“

 May 15, 2026, a thought for today, When time grows long, opinion changes. Maltese Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday 

The assignment for yesterday was “can’t live without”. She is my heart right now. Her name is Bobbi. This is one of her many poses as she naps getting prepared for another play time. 

The second challenge of the day for yesterday was titled “my choice”. It is one
of my series of “black and white”. This one is an image of the “street where I live”.

The last assigned upload for today was “I know....”. It relays what I know about these last peonies I picked for the season. The ones in this vase are near the end when I need to say thanks for the memory.

Life today. This has been a day full much like my past Monday was. The printing at church and hanging two  more of my “gallery” photos went well. I was able to visit with a friend who had to be there at the same time I was this week. It was nice chatting with her. 

Sue hasn’t been feeling well so Tami and Andy came by this morning to visit with her. Just before they came I had a phone call with a friend/extended family member. We were having a long interesting conversation when I had another call from Rebecca. 

Before the visit and calls I had a good start on this letter and some of the photos that I need for today. Once things quieted down I was able to finish the photos. I had quite a long list of things I had hoped to accomplish today but most of those will go on the back burner for tomorrow.

One of he things on my list was to plant this huge English Ivy I have sitting on my desk. That can wait until tomorrow. We are suppose to get some rain then too, hopefully I will be able to plant it between rain drops. The rain would be good for it too, being newly planted. 

The word today is water.  Nothing surely is as potent as a law that may not be disobeyed. It has the force of the water drop that hollows the stone. A small dainty task, if it be really daily, will beat the labours of a spasmodic Hercules. Anthony Trollope. Flattery is like cologne water, to be smelt of, not swallowed. Josh Billings. Don't think there are no crocodiles because the water is calm. Malayan Proverb. Take a music bath once or twice a week for a few seasons, and you will find that it is to the soul what the water bath is to the body. Oliver Wendell Holmes. One kernel is felt in a hogshead; one drop of water helps to swell the ocean; a spark of fire helps to give light to the world. None are too small, too feeble, too poor to be of service. Think of this and act. Hannah More. With coarse rice to eat, with water to drink, and my bended arm for a pillow - I have still joy in the midst of these things. Riches and honors acquired by unrighteousness are to me as a floating cloud. Confucius. Iron rusts from disuse; stagnant water loses its purity and in cold weather becomes frozen; even so does inaction sap the vigor of the mind. Leonardo da Vinci. Truth indeed rather alleviates than hurts, and will always bear up against falsehood, as oil does above water. Miguel de Cervantes. We none of us expect to be in smooth water all our days. Jane Austen. It is with our passions, as it is with fire and water, they are good servants but bad masters. (AI?) Aesop. If a man is destined to drown, he will drown even in a spoonful of water. Yiddish Proverb. You must not know too much or be too precise or scientific about birds and trees and flowers and watercraft; a certain free-margin, and even vagueness - ignorance, credulity - helps your enjoyment of these things. Walt Whitman. Indecision is like a stepchild: if he does not wash his hands, he is called dirty, if he does, he is wasting water. African Proverb. The man who never alters his opinions is like standing water, and breeds reptiles of the mind. William Blake. 

Article summary. I am an animal lover, a plant lover and I like books, hard copy, softcopy, audio, and ebooks. So when I came across this title I decided to take a look, more to add to my knowledge and understanding. The title is How the graphic novel got its misleading moniker. Joel Priddy, Associate Professor of Graphic Design, Penn State. At theconversation.com. It began by describing a form of “storytelling” called “bandes dessinees” in French and comic books in America, in our “modern” terms call it “graphic novels”, a story with a picture. The article said something like, you start with one image (drawing or photo) but maybe that doesn’t tell the whole story so you add another. There are “stories in pictures” in the form of cave paintings, even on al lintel beam in Peru, and Japanese scrolls. In the late 19th century there was a man, a newspaper publisher, who used a “new color lithography press” that he wanted to show off. He asked artistes to crate designs for children, They “created” stories with their work, then he used them in the New York Herald. Some began being adding word balloons, motion lines, narrative blocks and more. Then they were called cartoons, artists would develop higher artistic or literary pretensions and would flail around for a more elevating name to attach to their efforts. As early as the 1930s, people began trying out terms like “picto-fiction,” “sequential art” and “graphic novel.” The article said that eventually the name comic book seemed to “associated” with childhood and "cheap newsprint” that seems why the name graphic novel came into being. At one point somewhere around the 1980s there was a “brief surge of interest from mainstream publishers to graphic novels as literature, but it faltered”. Trying to get “narrative and thematic complexity of a novel was hard and a different and certain “suite of skills. In the 2000s there was a “second wave” of graphic novels. There was a different way of looking as comics as they also approached an autobiography type of publication. Then the name “comic book” began to loose the name “graphic novel”. Most graphic novels are now nonfiction and “one way to conceive of an extended narrative”. The article says that comics has a deep history and can “serve as their own model”.

Dinner will be homemade vegetable soup and a peanut butter sandwich. 

Photos in my life today

My first assignment for today is “I create...”. These are a few of the images I have created for the “gallery wall” I am allowed to generate at my church.

This next challenge assignment is another of “my choice” and is yet another from my series of “black and white. This is the window on a neighbor’s storage shed. 

The last image upload load is titled “hidden”. As you can see there is a tiny pink bud nearly hidden
behind some much larger leaves. 

Joy 

this bonus image is an abstract I designed using a set of filter to create the design from an original image of some community snow scene. This image is in my Fine Art Shop on items like tee shirts, note book covers, coffee cups, puzzles, shower curtains and more. 

Want to shop? Visit: fineartamerica.com search for joy rector click on “view shop”  and redbubble.com search for jarector

 May 13, 2026, a thought for today, Only God knows what is still to come. Maltese Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday

The first challenge for yesterday was “I like to....”. I like to take care of my many house plants. Right now there are extra one under the grow lights. 

The next one is “my choice” and is one of my “black and white” series. I is a
black and white image of my latest store bought bouquet. 

The last upload for yesterday is “earth”. I decided to use this image of our globe rather than my other idea of a hand full of dirt (earth).

Life today. Today there is a touch of a down-in-the-dumps feel. My daily habit of this letter and my photos are keeping me from wallowing in it too much.

The cleaning ladies were here. When they finished I went to McDonalds for a fish sandwich. When I use to go over like that when I had Sweet Pea she use to go with me. I miss her company on short rides like that. She use to go with me to get the groceries too. I would like to take Bobbi with me but that would be different. I’m not even sure she would like it. I don’t think cats like outings of that nature as dogs do most times. 

My supply of printed art work is growing. I have three possible helpers for hanging, we just have to be able to coordinate times we can all be together to do it. Once we get an initial set up started it should be the smoother project that I have in mind.  I hope to be covering a good bit of space so it will be an ongoing set up. 

The word for today is watch. He is winding the watch of his wit; by and by it will strike. William Shakespeare. Never seem more learned than the people you are with. Wear your learning like a pocket watch and keep it hidden. Do not pull it out to count the hours, but give the time when you are asked. Lord Chesterfield. Oh! Do not attack me with your watch. A watch is always too fast or too slow. I cannot be dictated to by a watch. Jane Austen. A well-informed mind is the best security against the contagion of folly and of vice. The vacant mind is ever on the watch for relief, and ready to plunge into error, to escape from the languor of idleness. Ann Radcliffe. A well-informed mind is the best security against the contagion of folly and of vice. The thought manifests as the word; The word manifests as the deed; The deed develops into habit; And habit hardens into character. So watch the thought and its ways with care, And let it spring from love Born out of concern for all beings. The Buddha. It is with our judgments as with our watches; no two go just alike, yet each believes his own. Alexander Pope. Falsehood is never so successful as when she baits her hook with truth, and no opinions so fatally mislead us, as those that are not wholly wrong; as no watches so effectually deceive the wearer as those that are sometimes right. C. C. Colton. There are people whose watch stops at a certain hour and who remain permanently at that age. Sainte-Beave. Sit in reverie and watch the changing color of the waves that break upon the idle seashore of the mind. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Endure the present, and watch for better things. Virgil. Ye have a watch; go your way, make it as sure as ye can. Pontius Pilate. Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? - Who will watch the watchers? Juvena. 

Article summary. I was searching for something interesting to read and share and came across this title. It looked promising, about teaching and learning. These two things strike a cord with me. The title is Most people don’t know what they don’t know, but think they do – correcting your metaknowledge can make you a better teacher and learner. Thomas Blanchard, Research Associate in Cognitive Science, Tufts University. At theconversation.com. The story began with explaining how when people are asked to describe how a logo such a the Apple logo or even a penny’s design looks they can’t say what it looks like in total. The story adds to that seeing things and how they are put together so that they work they way they were meant to brings seeing detail into the thinking process. They mentioned a bicycle and all the parts, where they belong and what makes that work, like where and how the chain goes.  I can understand this with my growing observation in taking photos. According to the article they may be able to see how it goes together but not how that arrangement makes it work. The author studies cognitive science and is part of a study on how people feel that they understand something but really don’t comprehend the full purpose of a design and parts to an object. One finding in research shows that because the item in question is widely seen and used in society the feeling that they are “knowing” it by seeing it “in action” on a regular basis. But when it becomes necessary to know the why and the how it is murky. Sometimes when trying to teach someone about the design or workings of something, you as the teacher can not recognize why the “student” isn’t seeing it as you do and are trying to relay. This sentence brought to mind something my father said when he was trying to teach me to swim. When I didn’t do something the way he was trying to tell me he said “ I keep forgetting you don’t know what I know”. In my humble opinion wouldn’t that mean many time  “experience is the best teacher”. As the author states “knowing a subject and knowing how to teach it are two separate skills”.

I am in the mood for Welsh Rarebit or creamed chicken for dinner. 

Photos in my life today 

The first upload is “I love this view...”. This is one I see daily when I swivel my desk chair to check that direction of my neighborhood. 

This one is another of the “my choice” as well as another of my “black and white” series. This one is of a view of the shopping center as I was leaving. 

The last assignment is “in my head”. I played with a selfie but did not like how it turned out. So I used this close up of my last bouquet, this one in color as it is how I like to view it in my head. 

Joy

an image I generated from a dozen Ukranian decorated eggs 

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

 May 11, 2026, a thought for today, Every hill has its valley. Italian Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday

The first challenge was “water flow or water falls”. I took this one some time back on a trip up along the river. I like the leisure of the “family” and the colors in the river. 

Next assignment was “I stood here”. I stand quite often when I need a
break and want bit of fresh air, it at the top of the steps on my porch. I also like the shadows in the image. 

The last upload was “mirror”. I have used this area for a photo many time over the years in different photo club upload. But areas of photos are never exactly the same, thus “a moment in time”. 

Life today. The weekend was full of happy time. Drew had his first communion and all of the family who could be there were there. After the church service there was a reception at Matt and Jessie’s. There was a lot of good food and happy kids running around enjoying themselves. That was on Saturday. Sunday Tami and Andy stopped to give Sue and me Mothers Day remembrances. Shortly after that Lowell and Rebecca took me and Louanne out for lunch. 

My Mondays seem to get more and more packed. When I get fully involved with one project I put several others on hold. Then on Monday I try to play catch up. I went out early this morning to get the blood work done before a regular six month check up coming next week. I wanted to make some cole slaw so when I left the lab I stopped at Kroger.

When I got home I worked on passing some information to a friend. That took some time for searching for information in some of my files on the computer. Then I worked on and finished the bulletin. After that I had time to get back to this letter and to my photo uploads for today. Now I have the uploads and two other bi-weekly upload of my to-do list. 

I am still going to have to wait a week or so before I get to work on my window gardens. The weather isn’t stable enough yet. 

The word is waste. Don't waste yourself in rejection, nor bark against the bad, but chant the beauty of the good. Ralph Waldo Emerson. Waste not fresh tears over old griefs. Euripides. The world is wide, and I will not waste my life in friction when it could be turned into momentum. Frances Willard. Waste no more time talking about great souls and how they should be. Become one yourself! Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. "Know thyself," said the old philosopher, "improve thyself," saith the new. Our great object in time is not to waste our passions and gifts on the things external that we must leave behind, but that we cultivate within us all that we can carry into the eternal progress beyond. Edward Bulwer-Lytton. No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. Aesop. Vile deeds like poison weeds bloom well in prison air, it is only what is good in man, that wastes and withers there. Oscar Wilde. Democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts and murders itself. There was never a democracy that did not commit suicide. John Adams. With reasonable men I will reason; with humane men I will plea; but to tyrants I will give no quarter, nor waste arguments where they will certainly be lost. William Lloyd Garrison. Whatever is produced in haste goes hastily to waste. Saadi. 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. Talk not of wasted affection; affection never was wasted. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Firmness of purpose is one of the most necessary sinews of character, and one of the best instruments of success. Without it genius wastes its efforts in a maze of inconsistencies. Lord Chesterfield. The training of children is a profession, where we must know how to waste time in order to save it. Jean-Jacques Rousseau. We waste our lights in vain, like lamps by day. William Shakespeare. 

Article summary. I am an animal lover and a plant lover too. I guess with spring and summer beginning I am leaning toward information about plants. This article attracted my attention. Even though it talks about the time we were in a ‘lockdown’ situation the information should be useful. The title is House plants were our link with nature in lockdown – now they could change how we relate to the natural world. Giulia Carabelli, Lecturer in Sociology, Queen's University Belfast. At theconversation.com. It started by mentioning that folks born between 1981 and 1996 have re-established an interest in indoor plants. It is suggested this interest may be due to easy “maintenance” and a bit of a touch to nature. It went on to mention that that generation may be becoming more “conscious” of health and “self care” and that plants have a part in it along with a way of getting away from the “increasingly screen-based world” for a respite in time. It mentions that the time of need to “get a way” for brief moments in time during the pandemic lock down brought a lot of these feeling to the surface. So plant nurseries and flower shops had an increase in sales some what like the increase in pet adoptions had a burst in attention. The article related that they offer a kind of bonding as well as educational opportunities along with relaxing the mind and body. Studies showed it drew people to thinking more about nature. I like the way the article came to an end by saying people can be led to a way to appreciate “the importance of non-humans in everyday life”.

I have a bit of “doggie bag” from yesterdays dinner out that will be nice for part of tonight's dinner. 

Photos in my life today

The first challenge for today is “I work here”. This is where I am for most of the day. I “work” on the church bulletins and other church documents. Then there is the letter/blog everyday along with at least four photos to create, format and upload from this spot.  

The second upload for today is “my choice”. It is one of my series “black and white”. I like black and white. There is a different “feel” with it and a different artistic feature to it.

The last upload is “rain”. Since we didn’t have any rain today I visited my archives looking for an image with rain in it. I have several but the mood struck me for this one. 

Joy 

                         a day at the aquarium

 May 9, 2026, a thought for today, Muddy water won't do for a mirror. Italian Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday

The first upload for yesterday was “I have....”. I have a huge English Ivy plant that I had purchased for one of my window gardens. It is WAY to large for that purpose for that purpose so I am putting it in the front “garden”, it is mostly of wild mint plants right now. This will add something of stature. 

The next challenge was “my choice”. It is one of my “still life” series, an apple in the dark. 

The last upload “35mm/70mm”. With my Samsung 24+ camera it was difficult to get this precise so I used my own view of the difference. 

Life today. I set the alarm to get up early so I could get the letter started and some photos if I could and get them done before Lowell picked me hope to go to Drew’s first communion. 

I did get the letter started and four photos ready for Photoshop. Lowell was here with Rebecca and Jefferson before 9:30. Off we went for the special event. 

I am home now. I want to finish the letter and get it in the mail, email that is, this afternoon. The photos will have to wait ‘til tomorrow morning before I go to church. 

The church for the first communion was gorgeous. Tabi and Andy were there too. Most of the  families were there. We didn’t all sit together but we were all in the same place at the same time, that felt good and special for me. After the service we went to the front of the church for photos. Some of us headed to Matt and Jessie’s for a “reception,” including lots of good food. Being in the church cemented my feeling with where I am in my own personal Christian journey. The home visit after the communion service made me appreciate how much family and friends mean in lifes journey. Stay together for as long as God gave us the opportunity to do so. 

Bobbi came into view when she realized I was home. That is also a welcome feel for the day, to have her waiting to greet me. It’s a day for welcome and a bit of the warm feelings that are there as a supreme gift if we hold them dear as we were designed to.

The word today is warm. One kind word can warm three winter months. Japanese proverb. And virtue, though in rags, will keep me warm. John Dryden. The glow of one warm thought is to me worth more than money. Thomas Jefferson. A friendship that like love is warm; A love like friendship, steady. Thomas Moore. Continuous eloquence wearies. Grandeur must be abandoned to be appreciated. Continuity in everything is unpleasant. Cold is agreeable, that we may get warm. Blaise Pascal. There may be a great fire in our hearts, yet no one ever comes to warm himself at it, and the passers-by see only a wisp of smoke. Vincent Van Gogh. Gratitude, warm, sincere, intense, when it takes possession of the bosom, fills the soul to overflowing and scarce leaves room for any other sentiment or thought. John Quincy Adams. I formed, in early life, two purposes to which I have inflexibly adhered, under some very strong pressure from warm personal friends. They were, first, never to be a second in a duel; and, second, never to go security for another man's debts. Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar II. I have no hostility to nature, but a child's love to it. I expand and live in the warm day like corn and melons. Ralph Waldo Emerson. A stale article, if you dip it in a good, warm, sunny smile, will go off better than a fresh one that you've scowled upon. Nathaniel Hawthorne. It is because I think so much of warm and sensitive hearts, that I would spare them from being wounded. Charles Dickens. There are some who speak well and write badly. For the place and the audience warm them, and draw from their minds more than they think of without that warmth. Blaise Pascal. 

Article summary. I was wanting to find an article about window gardens. I was in a hurry since I will be going out for the day. So I came upon some articles about other kinds of gardens in city spaces so I decided to have a look. The title is Green buildings can boost productivity, well being and health of workers. Md Sazan Rahman, PhD Candidate, Bioresource Engineering, McGill University. At theconversation.com. The opening sentences mention what most of us know and have already read about. I am referring to how building that have greenery in and/or outside the doors in a courtyard, beds along the outside walls or even on the roof tops can aid to energy saving “biodiversity” that reduces heat an offers filtering of gases leading to a taste of clean air.  It went on to say that “green buildings” cost five to ten percent more than a “conventional” buildings, but “analyses” show the cost can be considered in added benefits to health and wellness. It says covering the building reduces energy by adding to the heating processes in the winter and the cooling in the summer.  Those features add to saving some money in those areas of costs. I see all of this only adding to the welcoming sight of green plants and flowers of nature. The temperature question also adds to “better mental health” and better production in the work spaces of the building.  The article went on to mention the “dioxide” in the air that also enters the picture of the health issues of plants.  Plants in the areas mentioned can “reduce the air levels of nitrogen dioxide, ozone, sulfur dioxide” which save money in the processes needed in “terms of pollution removal.” More benefits of the plants are “fewer mould spores”, and the fact that they can add to indoor humidify helping with dry eye, itchy throats and “chapped lips”. Plants “reduce noise levels”. Studies show that the lighting of plants also add a health related issue as humans seem of “feel” better in the light. The article ended by saying “it’s high time green buildings became the norm to improve well-being, air quality and carbon emissions”.

Dinner is out of the freezer again tonight. 

Photos in my life today 

The first challenge for today is “I read this”. This book was given to me by a very dear minister friend, Rev. Ed Sensenbrenner. It does and will always remind me of him. 

The next upload is another "bicycle” I made this image a while back when I was waiting for my grocery pickup. this was apparently a "break station" for the store employees. 

The last upload for today is “clean”.  I couldn’t decide what to use so I picked this one. Dawn cleans almost anything, including baby duck that have been soaked in oil. 

one of my Fine Art contest entries generated from an image of open venation blinds

Joy

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

 May 7, 2026, a thought for today, Who knows most believes least. Italian Proverb

Photo in my life yesterday

The first assigned challenge for yesterday was “I love....”. In my life today is a being that brightens every moment her name is Bobbi. What else is love?

The next upload was titled “macro”. This is “up close and personal” of one
portion of a ‘ball’ on my snowball bush. This is the first year I have had an abundance of blooms. The plant was given to me by a neighbor. 

The last assignment for yesterday was “my choice” and in this case one of my “still life” series. It is the last three of a bunch of bananas from last week grocery order. 

Life today. It is another busy Thursday. The printing went without a hitch. I also managed to get two more photos hung on my “gallery wall”. Four down and lots to go, I hope. There was a delivery from Mid Ohio for our food pantry shelves. I left there to drop off the mail and stopped at Wendy’s for a “pick me up”. 

Time and I are on a collection course again today. I am late with the letter and with the photos. I tended to kitty needs, started the laundry and put a potato in to bake for dinner. I will be making the meat loaf shortly just before I do the grocery order for pick up tomorrow. I am doing it on Friday instead of Saturday because I am going to Drew’s first communion Saturday. 

Typical spring temperatures are taking their good old time getting here. When I have some extra time I should be getting my window garden containers cleaned and ready for the new plants. The things I had in them last year were annuals, not perennials so they will not be “resurfacing”. 

Tami and Andy were here again yesterday to give me a hand. I needed help making my bed, believe it or not. The age thing is raising it’s ugly head and the bed is in such a position that it is difficult to get to the back edges with the fitted sheets. It need someone with flexibility, not me. Andy also got my, what I thought was “dead” sweeper, fixed. It does my spirits good to have them here whenever I can.

The word today is voyage. Life's a voyage that's homeward bound. Herman Melville. Happy the man who, like Ulysses, has made a fine voyage, or has won the Golden Fleece, and then returns, experienced and knowledgeable, to spend the rest of his life among his family! Joachim Du Bellay. Were this world an endless pain, and by sailing eastward we could forever reach new distances, and discover sights more sweet and strange than any Cyclades or Islands of King Solomon, then there were promise in the voyage. Herman Melville. It is not the going out of port, but the coming in, that determines the success of a voyage. Henry Ward Beecher. We are all inventors, each sailing out on a voyage of discovery, guided each by a private chart, of which there is no duplicate. The world is all gates, all opportunities. Ralph Waldo Emerson. Voyage, travel, and change of place impart vigor. Seneca the Younger. Those we love can but walk down to the pier with us - the voyage we must make alone. William Makepeace Thackeray. In the love of narrow souls I make many short voyages but in vain-I find no sea room-but in great souls I sail before the wind without a watch, and never reach the shore. Henry David Thoreau. The voyage of the best ship is a zigzag line of a hundred tacks. Ralph Waldo Emerson.  When the wind is blowing and the sleet or rain is driving against the dark windows, I love to sit by the fire, thinking of what I have read in books of voyage and travel. Charles Dickens. If all do not join now to save the good old ship of the Union this voyage nobody will have a chance to pilot her on another voyage. Abraham Lincoln. Every painting is a voyage into a sacred harbor. Giotto di Bondone. Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not. Ralph Waldo Emerson. 

Article summary. I wanted to see what this may have to say about the good affects of art. I don’t have the inborn artists eye, but years of experience, observation and tons of practice have brought an edge. What a way to see the beautiful worlds we were given.  Besides I feel it is one of the universal languages and is a healing and health- promoting force. The title is A clearer view on the healing power of the arts. Marguerite Johnson, Senior Lecturer in Classics, University of Newcastle. Miranda Lawry, Senior Lecturer in Fine Art, Deputy Head of School (Teaching & Learning) School of Creative Arts, University of Newcastle. At theconversation.com. I was surprised when I read the first sentence saying that Florence Nightingale, the nurse, advocated natures “beauty and aesthetics” and the part some of that related medical practice. She promoted the use of window placement to allow a view of the nature in courtyards and natures sunlight. She felt it was “imperative for the healing process”. The article relates that her “insights” ultimately helped lead to research work in our time that promotes the beauty of nature what is “natural” in nature, (lines, shapes, color, etc, etc.). All of those lead to all of nature including all that touches life and its surroundings. Some of this research has shown it affect on health of workers and patients. As a lead in to that it mentions it affords “opportunities to exhibit, perform and engage in activities that promote inclusion, wellbeing and enriched lives”. The art mentioned covers visual arts, creative writing, design, architecture all of which is promoted in not only hospitals but also in “schools, aged-care facilities and clinics”. Included in the health issues is stress reduction, mental health, dementia and alzheimers and more. The article included a section on one of the theories of Ms. Nightingale about the window part of exposing an entrance into art appreciation through viewing nature, in my opinion the ultimate gift were we given at the beginning of time. Some of the research on the window, by the way windows of all sizes and types, idea have shown they bring “visual distractions” leading to a reduction to stress. There was a photographer involved in one of the “window” studies. She made images of some results of the sights viewed in the promising windows and had the photos hung in “prominent “memorial” spaces”. It looks like Florence and I share more than our chosen field of labor. This article added to my hopes of photography to offer as additional view of life to the viewer and the nature of all its shapes, shades and minutia. Photos capture a moment in time never to be seen that way again. (here I am Lord.....take my hand)

It’s meatloaf and baked potato for dinner tonight. 

Photos in my life today

My first upload for today is another of “my choice” and another of my “still life” . This one is my sisters
oranges. She is going to have to eat them soon. 

The next challenge is “I like to eat”. I just plain like food. McDonalds and Wendy’s are quick ways to get meals that put a smile on the face and taste good too. 

My last image upload today is “skyline”. Being in the city and there isn’t always a good view of the skyline per se so I used one here that I took a while back on a trip to my family.

Joy

this is one of my Fine Art America images...an abstract of golden swirls is is digitally generated from an image of some of  Ukrainian eggs I have decorated. I used sever algorithms to change the shapes

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

 May 5, 2026, a thought for today, He who swears is a liar. Italian Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday

My first challenge upload yesterday was “I feel...”. When I decide to take a fifteen minute break sometimes I like to put my feet up and just breathe. 

The next upload was one of the “my choice” and I made another of my “still
life”. I have used the peonies from my yard for a couple of photos of them to different of my clubs. This on is one of them. 

The last upload was titled “open”. That could mean a couple of thing open for my own choice or a open door, window, bag and so on. I used this one of Bobbi looking at the storm door. 

Life today. Tami, Andy and Natalie were here yesterday. The main reason for the visit was Bobbi’s monthly pedicure. As it turned out they helped with some other projects too. I got that hole I have been trying to get to the right size done along with some winter outside things put away for the summer. But most of all their visit helped to lesson much of the thing that was worrying me as mentioned in my last letter. I think some of my prayer was answered. 

Now that I have a little spare time for a few days I can print, mount, mat and frame some more photos. I may need to set aside certain times of every day at least some part of a week to follow that path. I don’t know if this project is going to go where and how I would like and have visioned  but I will never know if I don’t try.  I think I may have found three people who will be willing to help me hang art to add to the walls at my church. They are people I love and trust and want to share my dream and make me happy at the same time. I need to work with it when they are available. 

It was time to vote so I waited until I thought the people voting before going to work were probably gone by now. I was apparently right, I got in and out in about ten minutes. 

I will be able to start rebuilding my four window gardens in a week or so. I call them senior gardens, they are a little easier to take care of than garden layouts in the yard. I have the plants under grow lights but I think they are showing signs of needing to be put outside  

The word for today is voice.  When a whole nation is roaring Patriotism at the top of its voice, I am fain to explore the cleanness of its hands and purity of its heart. Ralph Waldo Emerson. 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. One voice can enter ten ears, but ten voices cannot enter one ear. Leone Levi. I did never know so full a voice issue from so empty a heart: but the saying is true 'The empty vessel makes the greatest sound'. William Shakespeare. Conscience is the voice of the soul. Polish Proverb. A still, small voice. Bible, Kings xix. 12. Me thought I heard a voice cry, "Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep!"- the innocent sleep. William Shakespeare. hips that pass in the night, and speak each other in passing, only a signal shown, and a distant voice in the darkness... Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Music is the voice that tells us that the human race is greater than it knows. Napoleon Bonaparte. I was in my thirteenth year when I heard a voice from God to help me govern my conduct. And the first time I was very much afraid. Joan of Arc. When the green woods laugh with the voice of joy, And the dimpling stream runs laughing by; When the air does laugh with our merry wit, And the green hill laughs with the noise of it. William Blake. First and foremost, the monk should own nothing in this world, but he should have as his possessions solitude of the body, modesty of bearing, a modulated tone of voice, and a well-ordered manner of speech. He should be without anxiety as to his food and drink, and should eat in silence. Saint Basil. Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice. William Shakespeare. Confusion heard his voice, and wild uproar Stood ruled, stood vast infinitude confined; Till at his second bidding darkness fled, Light shone, and order from disorder sprung. John Milton. Occasionally, some brother sings very earnestly through his nose, often disturbing those around him, but it does not matter how the voice sounds to the ears of man. What is important is how the heart sounds to the ears of God. Charles Spurgeon. 

Article summary. I watched the Kentucky Derby this past weekend. It brought to mind my personal very limited experience with horses, my love for all animals and their connections to humans. I was in awe of that majestic animal who came from the very last of 18 horses too win the race. I wonder what he was feeling. So I found this article that shines a tiny bit of the huge contributions these animals, as others also offer our in and with their lives. The titles Touch forms the foundation of the powerful human horse relationship. Keri Brandt Off, Professor of Sociology and Gender and Sexuality Studies, Fort Lewis College. At theconversation.com. It opened by mentioning two films that came out in 2017 that involved horses and humans together. I did not see the films but after reading this article I may learn from them and need a bunch of tissues. One of the humans experienced poverty and loneliness the other a brain injury. The films were “Lean on Pete” and “The Rider”. I like the way the author stated that he has researched the connection between the “two species” and finds it “miraculous” that one, a “predator” and the other a “prey”, come together with trust and communication. The article touches on the subject of when the horse might have been domesticated possibility in the area of Ukraine and Kazakhstan. For many years they were used a workers, transportation and in combat. In the 19th century due to modernizations they were not used in those ways so much. The article went on to mention that now days the interest using them in simple riding and in racing grew.  They have become valued as companions in a different manner that cats and dogs. As the article stated “horses sit at the intersection of being wild and domesticated” not easily in to house hold pets. In research it has been found that horse and man communicate with a “third language” that has been called an “embodied language system”. A language that come as a form of “touch, emotional connection and becoming attuned to physical movements”. This form comes from “melding of both bodies” which to the human and horse “developing a high level of bodily control and sensitivity”. It seems this connectivity can take years to grow. The article mentions that the “intimacy” comes with daily interactions to bring the “harmony” for the two. I liked this point, horses can help humans learn a new kind of knowledge with the body more than just words and thoughts. The humans know themselves better from this connection. That was in the last sentence in the article. I did some more research: Therapeutic horseback riding provides significant physical, emotional, and cognitive benefits. Also fosteres confidence, communication, and sensory regulation in a non-judgmental environment in therapeutic situations involving horse and rider. Horses help reduce anxiety, improve mood, and boost self-confidence.”

I think it is going to be dinner from the freezer tonight. 

Photos in my life today

This first upload assignment is another “my choice” and another of my “still life”. Yet one more of the peonies in different stages of “life”, new bud in tea cup with the older one and a few of it’s fallen petals on the table.

The next title is “pink”. This is image is on of stems on a hyacinth I bought at the store over the week end.  

The last upload is “I saw...”. Today was voting day so I decided to use a part of that for this upload. 

Joy

this is a digitized image that I created on a photo I took of a red jeep front grill I used filters to make the design it is on my Fine Art America site.

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