May 27, 2026, a thought for today, The word that has departed grows on the way. Norwegian Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday 

The first photo in my life yesterday was “I can.” I have gotten very good at using a computer mouse and keyboard. 

The next challenge was “my choice,” one of my series of “minimalists.” This is one of the many little bunches of weeds popping up in the black top drive way. 

The last upload for yesterday was “funny.” As has become my habit in the past eight months since Bobbi took up residence with us I have used her as my model many times. Here she is again in one of her “funny” poses. She is full of antics and spending energy bringing smiles and giggles. 

Life today. Yesterday’s pantry started out on a bad foot. The wifi was out. It didn’t get “fixed” until about twenty minutes before we closed. We did it all the “old fashioned way”....paper work. 

Last night we had rolling thunder and lightening and down pours. I can only hope my newly planted window gardens make it through. Bobbi, my cat is hiding and has been all night, she hasn’t eaten as is her normal morning start either. 

The bulletin was done yesterday after three times of being redone. After I had it done perfectly the first time, there was a graphic requested to be added. Each time I tried to put it in the computer froze and it took a reboot with loss of the entire document. I finally had a “back door” trick I had learned from experience in adding a stubborn art piece. It worked on the third try. 

Today was better at food pantry we ended with a good number of families and the computers were working.

The word for today is your. Ask yourself whether you are happy and you cease to be so. John Stuart Mill. Promises that you make to yourself are often like the Japanese plum tree - they bear no fruit. Francis Marion. Consult your friend on all things, especially on those which respect yourself. His counsel may then be useful where your own self-love might impair your judgment. Seneca. Never think that you're not good enough yourself. A man should never think that. People will take you very much at your own reckoning. Anthony Trollope. Never trouble another for what you can do for yourself. Thomas Jefferson. If you would cure anger, do not feed it. Say to yourself: 'I used to be angry every day; then every other day; now only every third or fourth day.' When you reach thirty days offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the gods. Epictetus. Your first appearance, he said to me, is the gauge by which you will be measured; try to manage that you may go beyond yourself in after times, but beware of ever doing less. Jean Jacques Rousseau. You cannot dream yourself into a character; you must hammer and forge yourself one. James A. Froude. Make yourself necessary to somebody. Do not make life hard to any. Ralph Waldo Emerson. Forgive many things in others; nothing in yourself. Ausonius. Do not protect yourself by a fence, but rather by your friends. Czech Proverb. Be honorable yourself if you wish to associate with honorable people. Welsh Proverb. Live each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each.  Henry David Thoreau. Do not speak of your happiness to one less fortunate than yourself. Plutarch. Give to every other human being every right that you claim for yourself. Robert Ingersoll. Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you. Ralph Waldo Emerson. Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking. Marcus Aurelius. 

Article summary. I have learned and experienced that art involves lines, patterns, shapes, arch, color, and can include fractals. This article caught my attention with those things in mind. Art is a comfort to most and is relaxing. I, of course, feel that photography is one ideal way of showing one and more of these elements. The article title is  Fractal patterns in nature and art are aesthetically pleasing and stress reducing. Richard Taylor, Director of the Materials Science Institute and Professor of Physics, University of Oregon. At theconversation.com. The opening paragraph is interesting and informative. It shares some well studied research on how art from its earliest findings in “rock and cave arts” to todays studies on the subject of art now use “sophisticated techniques to quantify it – and its impact on the observer”. I was mostly interested in an early sentence and the way it was stated “we’re finding that aesthetic images can induce staggering changes to the body, including radical reductions in the observer’s stress levels” As the article moved along the author mentioned the cost factor in the work place and how aesthetics can benefit that part of society. They have studied how art and “natural scenes” can relive stress. Repetitive patterns some of which are called “fractals”are a big part of this theory. Many of “nature’s objects are fractal, featuring patterns that repeat.” An example of those in nature is a tree whose branches get smaller at the branch out, others are clouds, rivers, coastlines and more. There was an artist named Pollock whose paintings are fractal oriented  many of which “express nature.” Some of types of patterns can be generated on a computer. Hospital patients were given pictures of this kind of art. EEG’s were used to record the brain’s activity which showed a 60 percent reduction in stress. This procedure also showed that this “physiological change even accelerates post-surgical recovery rates”. Artists can and many do at times and individual pieces embed fractal patterns in their work. On a practical note, maybe the incidences of a fractal pattern can be an “Easter egg” in a completed piece. Some famous examples of art with fractals are found in Roman, Egyptian, Aztec and more. According to the article one of the major art pieces is “da Vinci’s Turbulence (1500).” The author of this article mentions at the end that he has found these studies also have led to information in artificial eye design. He says how “thinking “out of the box” leads to unexpected but potentially revolutionary ideas.”

I think I will have salmon patties for dinner. 

Photos in my life today

The first challenge for today is again “my choice” and is one of my “minimalists” images. It is a fallen posy from my most current bouquet. That was a contest entry to my Fine Art America group. 

The next image upload is “I can’t.” I am using this one to show I can’t get past McDonald without stopping for a fish sandwich. 

The last upload for today was “money.” I just opened my wallet to show what little is there. It turned out to be a pretty good shot. 

Joy 

the bonus image for today is a carnation from my most recent bouquet. I uploaded it to my Fine Art America page for addition to pillows, coffee mugs, tee shirts, jigsaw puzzles and more

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

 May 25, 2026, He is worth much who has learned much. Norwegian Proverb

Photos in my life Yesterday

The first challenge for yesterday was “music.” Before church service started I was able to get a clear view of the piano.

The next assignment was “I live....” I live in this neighborhood. It is a nice
peaceful, well kept and quiet community.

The last upload was “memory lane.” This is a photo I took when my mom and dad visited my husband and me when we were expecting our first child. 

Life today. I think Monday and Fridays seem to be my “catch up” days. I typically make a long list of to-dos from my “back burner” list for those two days. The “back burner” lists are bits and pieces I can’t seem to get done on the other days of the week. I am usually working on some thing for the church at those times. 

I did most of the bulletin the first thing after all of the internet checks that I do every morning. Then got a start on my “personal assigned list....letter/blog and four photo a day uploads.” 

I took a break to plant the last of my four window gardens (senior gardens). The last planting was three miniature rose plants. Then I put Osmocote fertilizer on all four gardens. 

I matted and framed two more 8x10 photos. One of them is a gift I need for tomorrow. I hoped it would fit in a pretty gift bag but it is a little too small so I will have to wrap it in newspaper with a nice bow, of course. 

I have to take care of the hydroponic garden this afternoon. The plants in that part of my house plant garden are dwindling. Some couldn’t adapt to growing in water instead of soil. 

The word today is wonderful. Too much of a good thing is wonderful. Mae West. Appreciation is a wonderful thing: It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well. Voltaire. The public is wonderfully tolerant. It forgives everything except genius. Oscar Wilde. Determine never to be idle...It is wonderful how much may be done if we are always doing. Thomas Jefferson. It is not much for its beauty that makes a claim upon men's hearts, as for that subtle something, that quality of air that emanates from old trees, that so wonderfully changes and renews a weary spirit. Robert Louis Stevenson. Man is to himself the most wonderful object in nature; for he cannot conceive what the body is, still less what the mind is, and least of all how a body should be united to a mind. This is the consummation of his difficulties, and yet it is his very being. Blaise Pascal. Numberless are the world's wonders, but none More wonderful than man. Sophocles. I don't play accurately-any one can play accurately- but I play with wonderful expression. As far as the piano is concerned, sentiment is my forte. I keep science for Life. Oscar Wilde. I was to learn later that in life that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganizing; and what a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency, and demoralization. Petronius Arbiter. From without, no wonderful effect is wrought within ourselves, unless some interior, responding wonder meets it. Herman Melville. A wonderful fact to reflect upon, that every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other. Charles Dickens. Unit is strength... when there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved. Ralph Waldo Emerson.  

Article summary: I was looking up the word “happiness”, this title popped up. I thought I would have a look and share. The title is Don’t automate the fun out of life. Peter Hancock, Professor of Psychology, Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Industrial Engineering and Management Systems, University of Central Florida. At theonversation.com. It starts out talking about the “robot” in our lives. When I read that part I was presuming it meant a cell phone, tablet, or lab top as the “robot” and others.  At that point it was saying your “robotic assistant” was telling you that the vacation you were looking forward to was too expensive and was “explaining” how to take a cheaper trip at a different time. It also seems to try to quell the stress when it says “robots” can do many things and “will soon be able to do much more” and that some humans will “lose in the transition.” So, further on it says, now is the time so decide what will be the digital side of our decision making. As it went on it mentioned that autonomous weapons like drones are now in the picture. According to the article more serious decisions should not be in the hands of a robot and its “algorithms.” Most people want to continue to choose the enjoyable experience in life that bring happiness, learning and adventure. As it goes on it mentions that robots at this point do the “repetitive, dangerous and dirty parts of workplace labor.” But as things progress they will be taking places in the working world where some people are now satisfied with and enjoy what they are doing. One example they used in talking about people jobs was the elevator operator. Their job helped people with heavy bags, or those “eating a burger on the way up or down and someone “wrangling small children” to get to their destination. That operator also offered an opportunity to talk and chat about the weather. Maybe those people when losing their jobs are losing not only their source of income but also the “of joy and satisfaction from their lives”, emotional rewards. The incoming digital world “changes relationships”. So in ending the article it noted that “fully autonomous” may drive the joy of living out of the human experience. 

I am going to try another season to cook on pollock for dinner.

Photos in my life today 

My first challenge today was “on Mondays I...”. I always start the day with a look around the nearby neighborhood. This one was a holiday so it was nice to see the line of flags floating in the breeze. 

The next upload was “my choice” and is one of my series of “minimalist”. This is a weed growing up by in the blacktop along the front of the garage.

The last assignment for today is “peas”. I decided to make it a still life
also, a bowl of peas with a dab of butter on top. 

Joy

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

 May 23, 2026, a thought for today, One must not trim the light so closely that it goes out. Norwegian Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday

The first challenge was “I once....” This image is a place I recently visited. It is a gorgeous one hundred and twenty-eight-year-old church in Zanesville Ohio.

The next assignment was “my choice.” It is one of my series of “in camera
filers.” This image is a red tulip in a bed of leaves. I used filters to get to this sketched look.

The last upload for yesterday was “opposites.” I used a sandwich with a few potato chips as the opposites for this image.

Life today. Yesterday I finished the church newsletter and took it to be mailed. I spent some more of the day with a chat here and there with a visitor. Of course there was my regular exercise in mental stability....my writing and researching and my photos. I also got the dishwasher and frig chores  out of the way. I had another online visit with my art “coach” for some information for my display. He is an extended family member as well as a professional artist and counselor in other fields. 

Here it is Saturday again, curbside pickup and any other whatever else comes up day. Right now there is a lot of unexpected coming and going into and out of the house. I’m not use to it yet so I am a bit unsettled. Anyway, I started out with the usual internet visits, news, facebook, emails for myself and church. Then I got a nice quiet start on this letter and the bills paid. When I got home from the store I went to the porches, front and back, and yard to find my photos for the day. I was able to get another 16x20 photo display piece ready to hang, I got my first one that size done yesterday. I also got two photos printed as gifts. I will frame them tomorrow or Monday.

I got the rest of my miniature rose bush plants yesterday. I wanted to plant them today but we are supposed to get some “heavy” rain storms tonight. I don’t think they are strong enough to suffer thorough one of those just yet, maybe tomorrow or Monday.

The word today is whole. The whole is more than the sum of its parts. Aristotle. The whole secret of life is to be interested in one thing profoundly and in a thousand things well. Horace Walpole. Fight for your opinions, but do not believe that they contain the whole truth, or the only truth. Charles A. Dana. If the only prayer you ever say in your whole life is "thank you," that would suffice. Meister Eckhart. The whole life of man is but a point of time; let us enjoy it. Plutarch. A bodily disease which we look upon as whole and entire within itself, may, after all, be but a symptom of some ailment in the spiritual part. Nathaniel Hawthorne. 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. The whole history of civilization is strewn with creeds and institutions which were invaluable at first, and deadly afterwards. Walter Bagehot. First I shake the whole Apple tree, that the ripest might fall. Then I climb the tree and shake each limb, and then each branch and then each twig, and then I look under each leaf. Martin Luther. A half-truth is a whole lie. Yiddish Proverb. A word out of season may mar a whole lifetime. Greek Proverb. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Bible, 1 Corinthians v. 6. It's the whole, not the detail, that matters. German Proverb. Sincerity is impossible, unless it pervades the whole being, and the pretence of it saps the very foundation of character. James Russell Lowell. Love is like a tree, it grows of its own accord, it puts down deep roots into our whole being. Victor Hugo. To the mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders. Lao Tzu. Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset. Saint Francis de Sales. It is easy to hate and it is difficult to love. This is how the whole scheme of things works. All good things are difficult to achieve; and bad things are very easy to get. Confucius. One thorn of experience is worth a whole wilderness of warning. James Russell Lowell. 

Article summary. I am in the mood to explore happiness and found this article, one of many, in my search. The title is ‘I were but little happy, if I could say how much’: Shakespeare’s insights on happiness have held up for more than 400 years. Cora Fox, Associate Professor of English and Health Humanities, Arizona State University. At theconversation.com. It begins by mentioning a report in 2012 that measures happiness in 167 countries. Then one in 2025 another repot was conducted using Shakespear as a measure. It started with the question “what is happiness”. One suggestion was happiness is more a “surge of positive feeling” rather than a specific event. Therefore, it is based on how the person and “where and when they belong – or don’t belong.” The author spent some time studying how happiness was a factor in the time of Shakespeare. There was an expression in that time that has become a liking to todays term “happenstance” or a “happy accident”. In still more modern terms it may be “joy” or “well being”. Around the time of Shakespeare’s birth the term well being was used and grew to, in his words in plays with the senses mentioning “fortunate” and “joyful.” There is a section in this article where several of Shakespear’s writings were sighted for how happenings lead to a state of “happiness”. These references relate to a thought that happiness is a “common good” it also is “dependent on cultural forces” which can alter the experiences of some individuals. It seems in some of his plays he suggested that caring and mercy do not apply equally to Christians and the Jewish, in the play itself, pointing out that “the unjust distribution of rights and care among various social groups”.... “challenges the happy effects of benevolence”. This leads to suggesting how Shakespear’s plays show how happiness occurs in a “community of care” can also be used to “destroy”others. So as the article was winding down it related that “long-term happiness depends on community, connections and social support”. The article says that in societies of “high levels of trust Finland and the Netherlands, tend to be happier”. The author says in the ending sentence that “Shakespeare’s plays offer blueprints for trust in happy communities”. 

I think I will have chicken cutlet for dinner, my doctor says more protein, chicken and fish. 

Photos in my life today

The first upload for today is “I sat here....” This is a favorite spot of mine in the spring, summer and
autumn. 

Then next assignment is “a spring sprout.”  There is a field of clovers “sprouting” in my lawn right now so it was a handy shot for this one. 

The last challenge today is “flower.” It is one of the flowers in the bouquet I got at the store today.

Joy 

this bonus image is my upload to my Fine Art America (tee shirts, coffee cups, jigsaw puzzles  and more) web page today. It is a sketch my sister did of my father and his dog

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

 May 21, 2026, a thought for today, He who follows the river comes at last to the sea. Norwegian Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday

My first challenge was “I don’t like...”. These “emotional” kinds of challenges to photograph offer moments of thought. This one led to the use of an iron. I can’t remember when I last had to use one. I had to remember where I stored it. 

The next upload was “my choice”. It is one from my series of “in camera
filters”. This one is a super sketch like view of some trees at the nearby park. 

The last assignment was “architecture”. This is part of a church at the corner of my street. I have always been attracted to the arch.

Life today. This has been one of those “busy” Thursdays. There was the printing of course. It went well. I had both the bulletin and the newsletter to print and distribute. I had a problem with the copier in that it wasn’t reading the right size paper for the documents I was printing. Then another little problem, I didn’t know until I was away from the building and down the street a ways that I had left my cell phone so I had to go back. I lost my newsletter helper, she moved. So I am finishing them here at home on my own this month. 

Tami and Andy had come down just as I finished to help me hang a few more pictures on the “gallery wall”. I am getting a few more there each week. 

Rebecca got Sue to a doctor today. Apparently I have been worried too much about her weakness, her weight loss, her not eating, and her use of Nitroglycerin. The doctor took some blood to see if they can discover the problem. He also recommenced a specialist for her. I’m feeling better about the apparent fact there may be no serious problem at all, though that doesn’t make much sense. I am getting spoken information as opposed to the kind I see. I feel kind of stupid for worrying.

When I got home from church I got to work on the letter and the photos not to mention the laundry,  kitty care and dishwasher. 

The word today is while. We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge us by what we have already done. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. First there is a time when we believe everything, then for a little while we believe with discrimination, then we believe nothing whatever, and then we believe everything again - and, moreover, give reasons why we believe. Georg Christoph Lichtenberg. While you are not able to serve men, how can you serve spirits [of the dead]?...While you do not know life, how can you know about death? Confucius. Slight not what's near, while aiming at what's far. Euripides. While grief is fresh, every attempt to divert only irritates. You must wait till it be digested, and then amusement will dissipate the remains of it. Samuel Johnson. 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. Have patience awhile; slanders are not long-lived. Truth is the child of time; erelong she shall appear to vindicate thee. Immanuel Kant. Work while you have the light. You are responsible for the talent that has been entrusted to you. Henri-Frédéric Amiel. It is difficult to make a man miserable while he feels worthy of himself and claims kindred to the great God who made him. Abraham Lincoln. I once had a sparrow alight upon my shoulder for a moment, while I was hoeing in a village garden, and I felt that I was more distinguished by that circumstance that I should have been by any epaulet I could have worn. Henry David Thoreau. A generation of men is like a generation of leaves; the wind scatters some leaves upon the ground, while others the burgeoning wood brings forth - and the season of spring comes on. So of men one generation springs forth and another ceases. Homer. Prayer indeed is good, but while calling on the gods a man should himself lend a hand. Hippocrates. It is possible to fail in many ways...while to succeed is possible only in one way. Aristotle. We must beat the iron while it is hot, but we may polish it at leisure. John Dryden. 

Article summary. I read the title and thought I would take a look. I like to learn whatever and whenever I can about animals and how their lives are affected by humans and likewise. Along with that, to be honest I didn’t know what the word “scuppered” meant and wanted to learn more about it and what it means in the reality of life. The title is Five ways humans have scuppered the love lives of animals. Louise Gentle, Principal Lecturer in Wildlife Conservation, Nottingham Trent University. At theconversation.com. The article begin with mentioning how “humanity” has “hampered” the movement of animals by placing “barriers” as in roads, along with polluting or destroying the space that animals and birds have been allowed to habituate from the beginning of time. This affects their ability to naturally communicate with each other. It goes on by mentioning other things that impose on their uncontrollable necessities of their lives. All of these leading to what the author related as “scuppered the love lives of animals”. The story went on to say how noise pollution causes birds he sing louder, faster and shorter in length so they can be heard by a possible mate or bird friend. The pollution problems also affects whales and dolphins in their movement and communication. For one thing they dive deeper. This affects their fertility and growth. When it comes to the lives of mammals they move in their space and become more nocturnal. The article says they tend to “view all human activity as threatening, whether it is or not”.  A male bear is one of the animal kingdom that “become more nocturnal” around humans. While the female stays alert to find food. This separates the male from a female partner for longer periods of time. In the act of animals moving out of the typical spaces there are more causes of diseases and a difference in the system of preying. One thing the article pointed out was that some chemical pollutions can turn males into females particularly in fishes. One of the chemicals mentioned was synthetic oestrogens. This leads to “less sustainable populations” and extinctions. The next mentioned danger to animals is plastic both ingested and tangled in. The article says there are times some species will use human “rubbish” to show off to a possible mate but possibly see the danger in this rubbish, some like something blue best. 

Dinner is gong to be from the freezer again. 

Photos in my life today

The first assignment is “my choice” and another of my series of “in camera filters”. I took the original photo a couple of week ago. It was a photo of a pink stem of hyacinth flowers. 

The next upload is “I went to”. I mixed up the dates for this assignment and didn’t get an “I went to” any specific place except moved to a position to get a photo of Bobbi.

The last challenge for today was “kites”. I don’t have kites in the house so I
tried a bit of origami for this one.

Joy

the bonus upload for today is one in a contest on my Fine Art America site, it is on a tee shirt, a greeting card, even a jigsaw puzzle and many other things

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

 May 19, 2026, a thought for today, When knowledge is least the will is strongest. Norwegian Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday

The first challenge yesterday was “I love this time of day.” I picked this one for the quiet and peace I felt in it with the type of light available at that time and the shadow quietly existing. 

The next upload was “my choice” and one of my series of “in camera filters.” This dandelion in the weed and bricks seemed great models for this sketch-like effect.

The last assignment for yesterday was simply “grass.” This is a portion of my backyard. 

Life today. I can’t believe how busy this day has been already. It’s not noon yet. I have been to the doctor for my regular six-month check up. My blood work had shown an increase in the kidney portion of the blood work. So I was concerned, I read it on “mychart” before seeing her. She said it is something we will watch but for now it is in a level that just needs awareness. My doctor did say she is not happy with my weight loss of six pounds. She said I need more protein. After that I stopped at Kroger to get Sue some apples and grapes.

When I got home, I got the bulletin finished and sent out for spot checks. Then checked and answered emails. Then got back to this letter before I leave for food pantry. 

After pantry I hope to get my photos finished and uploaded. I would like to get the newsletter finished but that is probably going to have to be moved to tomorrow morning. Something else I would like to add to this afternoons list is some more attention to the photo gallery wall project. That will have to be put off too. 

The word today is weep.  Man is the only animal that laughs and weeps, for he is the only animal that is struck with the difference between what things are and what they ought to be. William Hazlitt. If you wish me to weep, you must mourn first yourself. Horace. Do not weep; do not wax indignant. Understand. Baruch Spinoza. Every winter, When the great sun has turned his face away, The earth goes down into a vale of grief, And fasts, and weeps, and shrouds herself in sables, Leaving her wedding-garlands to decay-- Then leaps in spring to his returning kisses. Charles Kingsley. Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not. Bible, Matthew 2. 18. Arms are instruments of ill omen. . . . When one is compelled to use them, it is best to do so without relish. There is no glory in victory, and to glorify it despite this is to exult in the killing of men. . . . When great numbers of people are killed, one should weep over them with sorrow. When victorious in war, one should observe mourning rites. Lao-Tzu. Fear not for the future, weep not for the past. Percy Bysshe Shelley. We build statues out of snow, and weep to see them melt. Walter Scott. The very winds whispered in soothing accents, and maternal Nature bade me weep no more. Mary Shelley. I hasten to laugh at everything, for fear of being obliged to weep. Pierre Beaumarchais. A stable, changeless state, 'twere cause indeed to weep. William Cullen Bryant. Weep not that the world changes - did it keep a stable, changeless state, it were cause indeed to weep. William Cullen Bryant. I have drunk ale from the Country of the Young, And weep because I know all things now. William Butler Yeats. There is a certain pleasure in weeping; grief finds in tears both a satisfaction and a cure. Ovid. He does not weep who does not see. Victor Hugo. They who are sad find somehow sweetness in tears. Euripides. Instead of weeping when a tragedy occurs in a songbird's life, it sings away its grief. I believe we could well follow the pattern of our feathered friends. William Shakespeare.

Article summary. Since growing season is here, in my area of the world, I thought I would take a look and learn or refresh my memory on how important bees are to us, to life, really. The title is  Planning for spring’s garden? Bees like variety and don’t care about your neighbors’ yards. Laura Russo, Assistant Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee. It began with explaining how flowering plants need animals for pollenation. The animals in turn need food. It went on to say that bees don’t particularly care about the landscape around the food (flowers). They are only interested in particular flowers. It doesn’t matter to them about what your neighbors are planting. The author and his team planted five gardens in different landscapes from “cattle pastures and organic farms to a botanical garden and an arboretum”. They were planted where each contained 18 species of native plant, mint, swanflower and pea. Over the season the team collected the insects on the flowers to count and determine their species. Each week they us a “Bug Vacs” while the flowers were in bloom for three years. Since they were looking for how the areas around the flowers might affect the counts, they looked for the different results in number of pollinators, the “diversity and identity”.  They found that the “surrounding terrain had very little influence”. As they planned the planting, they used native perennial plants because they had determined they were the variety of plant that was the best nutrition for the “visiting insects”. In some of their studies they had found that some pollinators provided nectar, others fat and protein. The article names some of the flowers and the nutrient it provided to the bees and suggested searching for which works best in and specific area of habitation you have an interest. It is mentioned that diversity in their food is just as important as it is in ours. One of the sentences was of particular interest, “human diets are linked to pollinators” and “most of the color and variety in human diets comes from plants pollinated by insects”. The article mentioned that pollinators are facing threats in loss of habitat and by use of pesticides. It ends by saying “insects love flowers”.

I think Welsh Rarebit again tonight for dinner. 

Photos in my life today

My first upload today is “I love to drink”. I caught a glimpse of the snacks put out for the visitors to our food pantry. I like lemonade so I chose this  image for my upload. 

The second challenge is another of the “my choice” and another of my series of “in camera filters”. This the line up of seating for our guest at food pantry with my touch of color and fun.

The last upload assignment is “texture”. This was also from our food pantry
rood. This is the tile in the ceiling. 

Joy

the bonus upload today is yesterday’s upload to my Fine Art America page. A still life of a red lily.

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

 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