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

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 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

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 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.

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 May 3, 2026, a thought for today, Give the wise man a hint and leave him to act. Italian Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday

The first challenge for yesterday was “I held this....” This was an easy one to hold and to feel the love and warmth.

The next challenges was “trio.” I searched things around me for what I could
use. I spotted that last bouquet I had from the store and noticed the three tiny flowers that fit the upload perfectly. 

The last upload for yesterday was “m is for....” I chose the microwave for this one. 

Life today. This has been a pleasant Sunday. I have an emotional situation I am dealing with but as time progresses I am beginning to deal with it. The fact of the matter has been slowly creeping in and there was a major dose of it in my mind and heart during the dark last night. Church friends just being there helped a bit. Then the sunshine added to the lessening. Some prayers will solve the problem in time. 

I felt better after church so I stopped at Kroger for a couple of things and then Wendy’s for a cinnamon pull apart. 

The twins called Sue and asked her to come over so she left for Lancaster when I got home. The house seems empty but Bobbi is doing her best to show me it’s not empty. 

As usual for Sunday I don’t have much on a to-do list so I will be trying to refresh the rest of the day. 

The word today is vain. How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live. Henry David Thoreau. It is in vain to say human beings ought to be satisfied with tranquillity: they must have action; and they will make it if they cannot find it. Charlotte Bronte. Praise from the common people is generally false, and rather follows the vain than the virtuous. Sir Francis Bacon. All speech is vain and empty unless it be accompanied by action. Demosthenes. That peace, safety, and concord may be the portion of our native land, and be long enjoyed by our fellow-citizens, is the most ardent wish of my heart, and if I can be instrumental in procuring or preserving them, I shall think I have not lived in vain. Thomas Jefferson. On the mountains of truth you can never climb in vain: either you will reach a point higher up today, or you will be training your powers so that you will be able to climb higher tomorrow. Friedrich Nietzsche. With fools, there is no companionship. Rather than to live with men who are selfish, vain, quarrelsome, and obstinate, let a man walk alone. Buddha.  Nature does nothing in vain. Aristotle. No great man lives in vain. The history of the world is but the biography of great men. Thomas Carlyle. Vain hopes are like certain dreams of those who wake. Quintilian. An honest man speaks the truth, though it may give offence; a vain man, in order that it may. William Hazlitt. Oh, how great peace and quietness would he possess who should cut off all vain anxiety and place all his confidence in God. Thomas a Kempis. And though all streams flow from a single course to cleanse the blood from polluted hand, they hasten on their course in vain. Aeschylus.

Article summary. I was in the mood for a hug today. This article title seemed to be calling my name. There are some subtle changes taking place in my life. Every day is a change but the ones I am feeling today are strong enough for me to feel a major change in my life coming as I mentioned above. That’s why as hug sounded good when I saw the title to this article. The title is The power of a hug can help you cope with conflict. Lisa A Williams, Senior Lecturer, School of Psychology, UNSW Sydney. At theconversation.com. It opened by mentioning how hugs are common between friends partners, and family. Research has shown how hugs help people with “conflict in our daily life.” A little further on it describes how hugs are an affectionate touch. They sometimes are a touch from “social partners” and sometimes friends when it is a sign of support when we need it. There have been deeper tests on types of situations where hugs were important both with family and friend and those with social partners and strangers. Some of the feelings were different due to the types of the relationships but overall in “a broader field of research” the whole “points to the importance of affectionate touch – for both physical and social well being.” I was surprised to read that other findings in these researches showed that hugs reduce the “likelihood” of catching a cold and it apparently could “reduce” the severity if infected. I don’t understand how that is, it may be that the hugs offer something in the line of health issues that override a head cold. In the next sentences it does explain that being hugged releases oxytocin that has “downstream” affects. Hugs also affect the cardiovascular system along with the blood pressure. In the end of the article it goes on to say that in social relationships it characterizes a closeness and concern. 

Photos in my life today 

My first upload assignment title today was “I walked here.” This is my front porch where I walk every day. 

The next upload are “hills or mountains . . . ” I had another assignment a few days ago almost the same. I used the “hills” on the lawns in my neighborhood for both of them. 

The last upload for today is “food.” Before I remembered that assignment for
today, the “food” was half-eaten but I decided to use it anyway. 

Dinner will be from the freezer tonight.

Joy

                                    all alone

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 May 1, 2026, a thought for today, Hour by hour time departs. Italian Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday

The first upload was “night sky”. Since I am asleep before we get a really beautiful night sky and am uploading an image I made in a time I was a bit younger and was awake a little later in the dark.  

The next challenge is another of the “City Scape” kind of images. this is one of my neighborhood. 

The last upload for yesterday was “kiss”. I am not is a position to capture a kiss per se so I used a thought for one. I have a pillow case with a set of lips someone had “painted” on to give the pillow case a design of some meaningful idea. That is what I used for this image. 

Life today. Today is May Day a “diverse holiday combining ancient spring festivals with modern labor demonstrations. It marks the start of summer, often celebrated with dancing around a Maypole and crowning a May Queen, while simultaneously serving as (starting in 1886) International Workers' Day, a day of global protests for labor rights, wage increases, and social justice.”

I did the printing at church yesterday after I was able to figure out something strange to me on the copier. For some reason it wasn’t picking up the proper paper size drawer as has always been my experience. Someone before me must have set some other paper sizes, or....whatever. Anyway, I got it fixed for my printing set up. Then I had made a promise to myself that I would at least try to get started on the photo/art work hanging on my proposed “gallery wall” all on my own since I haven’t been able to think of someone who can help me with that. So I took two photos with me yesterday, a hammer, the “special” hangers and a small hand held electric drill. I wanted to try it when no one was there so I wouldn’t be embraced if it didn’t work. I was happy and surprised that it did work. I hope to do a couple each week on the Thursdays when I am alone and hope it wasn’t a fluke and will work again. One problem will be that I can only hang to a certain level due to my petite height in stature. We’ll see how it goes from here.

Today has been one of the good days again. I have been able to “play” with some computer things I have been interested in and I have learned with them at the same time. I have my photos ready for upload and monthly set up earlier in the day than I usually do. I also got a good start on this letter. 

I wanted to get back to the hole I have stared in the yard for the huge English Ivy I bought by mistake. I only have the hole about a quarter of the way done. But it is pure mud today so I can’t work on it now.

The word today is tyrant. If men will not be governed by God, they will be ruled by tyrants. William Penn. If newspapers are useful in overthrowing tyrants, it is only to establish a tyranny of their own. James Fenimore Cooper. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppose. Frederick Douglass. Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God. Thomas Jefferson. 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. Any excuse will serve a tyrant. Aesop. 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. Pity is the virtue of the law, and none but tyrants use it cruelly. William Shakespeare. 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. How strangely will the Tools of a Tyrant pervert the plain Meaning of Words! Samuel Adams. The sovereign is called a tyrant who knows no laws but his caprice. Voltaire. In every tyrant's heart there springs in the end this poison, that he cannot trust a friend. Aeschylus. If we must have a tyrant, let him at least be a gentleman who has been bred to the business, and let us fall by the axe and not by the butcher's cleaver. Lord Byron. If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. James Madison. Cruelty is a tyrant that's always attended with fear. Thomas Fuller. Old age is a tyrant, who forbids, under pain of death, the pleasures of youth. Francois de La Rochefoucauld. Conversion is a change of masters. Will we not do as much for our new master, the Lord Jesus, as we did once for our old tyrant lusts? Charles Spurgeon. 

Article summary. Compassion was my search word today for a story to share. I like words that pertain to caring for each other. I found this title and wanted to take a look and share. The title is Empathy and reasoning aren’t rivals – new research shows they work together to drive people to help more. Kyle Fiore Law, Postdoctoral Research Scholar in Sustainability, Arizona State University. At theconversation.com. Some “philosophers and psychologists” tried to decide if empathy helps people in their wanting to help others. Time showed that reasoning was impartial and more based on choices. More in depth study show that the “heart versus head” idea was too simple, that empathy and reasoning worked more effectively and worked with more people when used  together. There were studies conducted using living health issues that tested a cost issue leading to a empathy kind to thinking for an individual. These studies also included a reasoning aspect. Organ donor type health issue scored “higher on empathy, slowing down on the thinking side. The tests showed that people using both traits, reasoning and feeling (head or heart) had a “more outward-looking helping”. The idea also takes into consideration how many lives may be saved in the reasoning and feeling decision making process. The assumption was is empathy a moral concern. According to the article the “patterns” were found to have broadened on empathy. In a broader outlook as in “poverty, climate change and global health” where people care about strangers the differences on reasoning empathy, empathy may be felt but possibly not to the “most effective giving”. In coming to a decision empathy has an “emotional spark” involving another persons suffering. Reasoning leans more toward “where help will have the greatest impact”. Working together is encouraged to be “compassionate and consequential”. In ending the article it claims that at this in the psychological aspect it is not crystal clear how “empathy and reasoning work together” as in whom they work best for and when they come apart. Having read the whole article I have decided it wasn’t exactly what I was looking for but gave pause to think. 

I think we will have one of out tortilla shell pizzas for dinner. 

Photos in my live today

The first image for today is “I am....”. I had to set this on my mini tripod, place it on the table behind my desk, set the time to ten seconds, push the button and sit down in the just-right-spot before the shutter opened and closed. 

My next challenge is another of the “my choice” nature. This one is a macro of one of the peonies in my yard. 

The last upload for today is “tripod”. I mentioned my mini tripod above, this one is the “real thing”. I don’t use it a lot now with the onboard Samsung 24+ phone camera. 

Joy 

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

Photos in my life yesterday 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Maybe Welsh rarebit for dinner.

Photos in my life today

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

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

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

Joy

                               Grove City

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

Photos in my life yesterday

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I think it will be chili for dinner. 

Photos in my life today

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

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

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

Joy 

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

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