June 8, 2026, a thought for today, Silence goes better with shrewdness than with a kind heart. Polish Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday

My first challenge was “glimmer.” It is the peace and gratitude of Holy Communion. 

The next assignment was “from the ground up.” I laid the phone with the camera on on the ground under one of my evergreen trees. I had the timer set to 10 seconds. I took the same shot three times for this one.

The last upload was “half empty/half full.” My iced tea was sitting beside me. It was half empty, perfect and convenient for the shot.

Life today. It has been an interesting day. I started the bulletin and then found out that the visiting pastor is ill and won’t be able to be here. Now I am waiting to see if we have someone to fill in. I have the back section done but need the whole order of worship to finish. I can get most of it but need the scriptures and sermon title. So I am moving on with other things on my agenda while I wait to see where I go from here with the bulletin. 

I have the photos for today lined up, cataloged, and keywords attached, just the uploads to do. 

My tiny “desk” was delivered this morning, it needs put together. I may attempt that either later today or tomorrow. It’s a pretty little thing, now I have to see how functional it is.

We are supposed to have a tech here on Thursday for the air conditioner. I was hesitant to turn it on until then but the temperature is going up pretty quickly so I gave in an hour or so ago and turned it on. I think I had a minor case of dehydration on Sunday from the heat. I didn’t want to feel that way again if I could help it. 

Sue seems to be improving. I was beyond concerned about her for several weeks. I think I can relax a little on that score for now. I hope she continues to be able to be more mobile and conversational. 

The word for today is advance.  Fortune can, for her pleasure, fools advance, And toss them on the wheels of Chance. Juvenal. All that is human must retrograde if it does not advance. Edward Gibbon. Every great advance in natural knowledge has involved the absolute rejection of authority. Thomas H. Huxley. To predict the behavior of ordinary people in advance, you only have to assume that they will always try to escape a disagreeable situation with the smallest possible expenditure of intelligence. Friedrich Nietzsche. If a man does not make new acquaintances as he advances through life, he will soon find himself alone. A man should keep his friendships in constant repair. Samuel Johnson.  If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. Henry David Thoreau. Knowledge is a comfortable and necessary retreat and shelter for us in advanced age, and if we do not plant it while young, it will give us no shade when we grow old. Lord Chesterfield. Be not the slave of your own past. Plunge into the sublime seas, dive deep and swim far, so you will come back with self-respect, with new power, with an advanced experience that will explain and overlook the old. Ralph Waldo Emerson. 'Tis hard if all is false that I advance A fools must now and then be right, by chance. William Cowper. He that embarks on the voyage of life will always wish to advance rather by the impulse of the wind than the strokes of the oar; and many folder in their passage; while they lie waiting for the gale. Samuel Johnson. As we advance in life it becomes more and more difficult, but in fighting the difficulties the inmost strength of the heart is developed. Vincent Van Gogh. Every great advance in natural knowledge has involved the absolute rejection of authority. Thomas Huxley. He who could foresee affairs three days in advance would be rich for thousands of years. Thomas Carlyle. 

Article summary. I really like the subject material I can find on this “academic/journalistic” news website called The Conversation it is “widely considered a highly credible and trustworthy source for news and analysis. It operates on a unique academic-journalistic model rather than traditional reporting”. As I begin my search for something interesting, educational and trusworhty to share I go to this site to find something that is touching to many lives. Anyway, this is the one I chose for today. I think most of us are concerned about time along with time changes each year. The title is Why we will probably never have a perfect clock. Daniel Brown, Lecturer in Astronomy, Nottingham Trent University. At theconveration.com. It opens by mentioning something most of us have an opinion about, the time change that happens twice a year. There are pros and cons for and against. I like the sentence that says “historically.  The sun has helped us tell time.” It says we always have had to make corrections in our measurements of time on a clock. It starts with how time on a measuring device was counted has changed throughout history. One of the observations of the movement of the sun allowed humans to create the first sundials which tracked the movement by shadows. This kind of measurement made the “time” different around the world since the sun was at its peak at the “geographical locations.” As time went on time was important and upper most in “navigation” systems in particular railroad. It had to be established and recorded so that people and goods could travel and arrive according to time measurement. Time zones had to be established. There was the “unifying of time” for “common trading and political regions” and reasons.  So the movement of the sun related to how clocks were set. To start that system the “only a single instance in time was needed to be marked: the middle of the day”. As measurement of time passed the different systems each came to need adjustments. In time clocks were set by “visual cues, signals via telegraph and later broadcasting of time signals via radio.” The article went on the relate that in realizing the “complexity” of getting the “correct time from the sun’s position, the definition of time based on atomic clocks (International Atomic Time - IAT) seemed perfect”. It was based on the science of electronic atoms as they allow the “avoidance” of “relying on the sun’s variable position.” There is a but, since 1972 there was what is known as “the leap second,” it accounts for “irregularities” in the slowing of Earth’s rotation. This “leap second” affect happens in June and December and needs time adjustments then. So in short the “leap second” and its meaning finally show “relying purely on atomic clocks isn’t sustainable.” We still “rely on the sky.” The ending paragraph mentions a few things we will always have to consider, one is our need to consider our daily living in respect to day and night as it relates to the sun. Second, think of “time as relative.” If someday we live on Mars we will have to “create a time that accounts for the days and years being different.”

Creamed chicken on toast sounds good for dinner. 

Photos in my life today

The first upload for today is “my choice.” It is on of my “mirror images.” This is one of the peach colored roses from my last bouquet generated to a mirror image.

The next challenge was “glimmer.” This one is the latest bouquet from the grocery store. I like the red, white and blue. 

The last assignment is “world ocean day.” It was taken one of the last times I
was near the ocean, seems like a hundred years ago. But my vet tech granddaughter was a toddler here.

Joy

the bonus image today is Sugar one of my best furry friends for 15 years, looking out the window as shoppers walked by. It is uploaded to my Fine Art America site and is a design on several items

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

 June 6, 2026, a thought for today, The smile on a hungry man's face is a lie. Polish Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday

My first challenge was “glimmer.” This is that balloon my daughter and son-in-law gave me for mothers day. It is slowly losing air but still “travels” around the room on air currents. Bobbi has had days of fun trying to snatch the string and pulling it down. She has lost the string before the balloon gets within her reach. 

The next assignment was “my choice.” It is one of my series of “still life,” a
partially wrapper chocolate bar. 

The last upload is “mother.” This is a sketch of my mother about 108 years ago. This is a sketch  my sister drew from a photo.

Life today. This has been a busy week with people in and out helping Sue get better from a disability she has been experiencing. She’s is coping fairly well but will need a doctor’s care for a while. Today there are no visits but there is an exercise instruction sheet she is supposed to do daily.  

I had the grocery pick up this morning. It looks like that will be the only outside chore for today. There’s not a lot that I have scheduled on the computer to day. I have this letter and my daily photos to tend too.  

I have been thinking I need to make space in the house that I can escape to for quiet solitude where I can maintain focus and remove myself from interruptions. My bed room doesn’t have a door attached so I am putting up a pull down type closure. I have ordered a tiny little desk that should fit perfectly in the only unoccupied space in the room. There will be room for my laptop, keyboard and mouse. I will have to remember to put files I am working on in the cloud so I can work on them on both the desk top and the lap top.  

We had one fairly heavy rain fall with more coming later in the evening. It doesn’t seem to have cooled the air much though. The thermometer is reading 85 degrees. I am putting off turning on the AC. It hasn’t been checked for the season yet. A technician is supposed to be here next week. Hopefully we can wait until then. 

The word today is action. An ounce of action is worth a ton of theory. Friedrich Engels. Men acquire a particular quality by constantly acting a particular way... you become just by performing just actions, temperate by performing temperate actions, brave by performing brave actions. Aristotle. The undertaking of a new action brings new strength. Evenius. We have too many high sounding words, and too few actions that correspond with them. Abigail Adams. 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. The ancestor of every action is a thought. Ralph Waldo Emerson.  In the highest civilization, the book is still the highest delight. He who has once known its satisfactions is provided with a resource against calamity. Ralph Waldo Emerson. The only cure for grief is action. George Henry Lewes. A good name, like good will, is got by many actions and lost by one. Lord Jeffery. Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action has arrived, stop thinking and go in. Napoleon Bonaparte. Think not those faithful who praise all thy words and actions; but those who kindly reprove thy faults. Socrates. 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. I have always thought the actions of men the best interpreters of their thoughts. John Locke. One act of beneficence, one act of real usefulness, is worth all the abstract sentiment in the world. Sentiment is a disgrace, instead of an ornament, unless it lead us to good actions. Ann Radcliffe. The people may be made to follow a path of action, but they may not be made to understand it. Confucius. Knowledge must come through action; you can have no test which is not fanciful, save by trial. Sophocles. You cannot have a proud and chivalrous spirit if your conduct is mean and paltry; for whatever a man's actions are, such must be his spirit. Demosthenes. 

Article summary. It seems loss of memory raises it’s ugly head as we get older. This title popped up and grabbed my attention. The title is Remember: a bad memory is actually good for you. Robert Nash, Lecturer in Psychology, Aston University. At theconversation.com. It starts by touching on what many of us have experienced such as not remembering where our keys are or a computer password. The author mentions how our “memory flaws” being that they are “frustrating and inconvenient” that being their the biggest qualities. She goes on to mention that memory is not a “recording device” that records the moments step by step. This is explained as it “serves” only the gist of an event. There was a “study” in one area of memory. Students were asked to “remember” a set of high school grades.  About a fifth of the grades were “misremembered.” Higher grades were more clearly remembered than failing grades and further they “were far more likely to recall their grades as being better than they had been, than to recall them as worse than they had been.” An explanation of that in the article was it showed that “misremembering” may happen so we experience feeling good about ourselves or to “protect our belief in fairness and justice.” There was another test where a man won a lot of money. Some people who were interviewed thought of the man as a deserving hard worker. On the other side some thought of him as a lazy man. When they reported how they felt about his win the “hard worker” side believed he was deserving and the others undeserving. It shows that there is “weight” from the critical feed back about someone, “our unhappy memories lose their sting long before our happy memories.” These results show that  over time the result can be that “memory gives us a distorted” kind of “memory.” Most people asked said they would not want a change in how we remember.  This idea bringing to light that there is “value” on the “authenticity of our personal memories, both good and bad.” In ending the article it is mentioned that we should be aware that things can be “authentic, objective, unapologetic, and unadulterated” and that memories go a long way in “maintaining our self-esteem, satisfaction, and well-being.” So in considering the memories of our friends and family “we shouldn’t be too critical.”

Maybe sloppy joe for dinner. 

Photos in my life today

My first upload today is “glimmer.” It is a peaceful view of an elementary school near my home. 

The next challenge is “r is for...” I chose a photo of a very large rock in one of my neighbor’s front yards. They decorate during holidays like Halloween and Christmas and others. 

That last upload is “dog.” This is an image from my archives. I was taking photos of pet in the humane society for their web page. This is one of the images. 

Joy

the bonus photo today is one of my uploads to a contest in my Fine Art America group, Bobbi, peeking out the window. It will be on cups, tee shirts, other house hold projects

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

 June 4, 2026, a thought for today There is many a good head under an old hat. Norwegian Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday

My first challenge was “glimmer”. This one is of my great grandson focused on the tool he had in his hand.  The “glimmer” idea is an image that brings of happiness, joy, peace and gratitude. This image fits all points. 

The second assignment is “look up”. This is an evergreen pointing toward the
sky along with one of my wind chimes also hanging above my head. 

The last image upload was “my choice” and one of my series of “still life”, grapes and a bottle of home made seasoning. 

Life today. Yesterday Tami, Andy and Gideon went with me to church to hang some more photos. The gallery is beginning to look like a “gallery” albeit a small one but still a gallery. I was glad to show Gideon some of the church. Tami seemed glad to show him some of the spaces she remembered from her childhood too.

This has been another of those “busy” days. The first thing on the list afer all of the internet checks, email, news, etc., was to make a quick shove sheet for the bulletin explaining the gallery I am starting at church. Then it was off to start the rest of the day. I got one more photo hung before I left. 

When I left and dropped off some mail I stopped at McDonalds for a sausage McMuffin for Sue.

I got a little done on this letter before I left to pick up Sue’s prescription at Walgreen. Then home to be there in time for the visiting nurse’s visit. 

I got my photos of the day done on breaks between each of those. As I was setting up in my makeshift “studio” for still life photos I noticed a buzzing sound. I had wondered why Bobbi had been hanging out at my feet. I looked around to try to find the sound .....it was a bee. I have no idea how it got in the house. Anyway I got a fly swatter to swat the bee. I got it. Bobbi may have had I left her alone but she may have gotten stung in the process.   

The word today is achieve.  Our patience will achieve more than our force. Edmund Burke. Be not afraid of greatness: some men are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them. William Shakespeare. Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm. Ralph Waldo Emerson. To achieve great things we must live as though we were never going to die. Marquis de Vauvenargues. With malice toward none, with charity for all, ...let us strive on to finish the work we are in, ...to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations. Abraham Lincoln. Nor is it always in the most distinguished achievements that men's virtues or vices may be best discovered: but very often an action of small note, a short saying, or a jest, shall distinguish a person's real character more than the greatest sieges, or the most important battle. Plutarch. Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time. Thomas Edison. To accomplish a difficult task one must first make it easy. Ralph Waldo Emerson. What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality. Plutarch. Nothing stops the man who desires to achieve. Every obstacle is simply a course to develop his achievement muscle. It's a strengthening of his powers of accomplishment. Thomas Carlyle. 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. For what is the best choice for each individual is the highest it is possible for him to achieve. Aristotle. 

Article summary. I have mentioned before in some writings my way of thinking about the word “truth”. When I saw this article, I thought I would try to see another way of looking at it. We grow by reading as well as experience. The title is With so many people speaking ‘their truth’, how do we know what the truth really is? Jeremy Wyatt, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, University of Waikato. Joseph Ulatowski, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, University of Waikato. At theconversation.com. It started by mentioning some famous people in whose “truth” in their lives was in the forefront of news. The slap at the academy awards was one, a question to a prince was another, a famous ski accident situation yet another. The article was categorizing the “their truth”. Then it begins to talk about “my truth” and “your truth” and how it has become titled “truth relativism”. I have to think and digest what the author says it being in the statement “a claim is made true or false by what they believe or how they feel, rather than by the way the world actually is”. To further that statement it was mentioned that relativism can be a “reasoned debate without any clear goal”. In testing this theory it brings up a situation where maintaining a water system becomes a matter of discussion. Here is where it has to be figured what is “true”, “your truth” or “my truth” , that is faced in the group who would make the ultimate decision of the exact needs for the needed process of maintenance. Some things in the world are true to all and are thought of with our “minds, language and culture”. An example in the article is, it would relate to something like someone describing lemons are more acidic that milk chocolate. That would be obvious to all.  In a “grey” areas of questions if we value the truth we should “engage with points of view that differ from yours”. In a little more research I came up with this: interpretation of facts hold meaning, a truth requires perspective and context to be understood correctly and truths involve a mixture of facts, choices, and personal understanding. I don’t think I got any more of an understanding from this article than I already knew. I do know there is only one complete and final truth, that is God’s truth. 

I have had two small meals today already so I think dinner will be more snack like. 

Photos in my life today 

The first upload is one of the “glimmer” series. This is my son in law and daughter helping me hang photos on my church gallery wall. They do best in measuring and keeping the photos placed and straight.

The next challenge is another “my choice” as well as another in my series of “still life”. An open book with a page marker and one touch something to draw the eye, a tiny cashew nut.

The last assignment is “mess”. This is only one of my drawers that need to be
straightened up.  

Joy

this bonus image is one of the street where I live. To get this particular view I stood in the middle of the street when I went to the curb to bring the trash can back to place. 

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

 June 2, 2026 a thought for today, You can't climb a mountain by a level road. Norwegian Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday

My first challenge was from one of my photo groups that is going to use a theme every day this month called “glimmer”. It is supposed to relate something we experience in the day that is joyful, happy, peaceful or show gratitude.  This one is my daughter’s purse as she dropped it in the chair on her way upstairs to see my ailing sister. It is telling me “my daughter is home.” 

The next assignment is “my choice” and is one of my series of “still life”.  It ismy spider plant on a stack of my books with an apple by the side all ready for me to enjoy a moment of peace. 

The last upload is “from a distance”. It the street in front of my home.  I stood in the middle to get the capture when went to pick up the trash can to bring it to the back yard. 

Life today. So far it has been quietly productive day. Natalie came to give Bobbi her monthly pedicure. Before she got here I put a harness on Bobbi so that I can keep track of her until Natalie is able to come. She isn’t happy about being “confined” and rushes off when Nat is done and takes her harness off and lets her go. 

I got the bulletin done and sent out for proofing. Then I got started on this letter. I set up the photos I need for today. While I was finishing the bulletins I got the activity sheets that I sent to the kids each week done and the envelopes for the bulletins that need mailing. I want to get another photo mounted and framed before I get to cleaning out the frig.

Sue asked for a McDonalds cheese burger so I took a break to go get that. I needed a break anyway. I got her an extra one in case she wants it later.

Looking out the window is a delight but having a screen door open is a bit cool.

The word today is accomplish. I myself do nothing. The Holy Spirit accomplishes all through me. William Blake. It is said that if Noah's ark had had to be built by a company; they would not have laid the keel yet; and it may be so. What is many men's business is nobody's business. The greatest things are accomplished by individual men. Charles Haddon Spurgeon. Not snow, no, nor rain, nor heat, nor night keeps them from accomplishing their appointed courses with all speed. Herodotus. The character inherent in the American people has done all that has been accomplished; and it would have done somewhat more, if the government had not sometimes got in its way. Henry David Thoreau. I hope that I may always desire more than I can accomplish. Michelangelo Buonarroti. The man who gives up accomplishes nothing and is only a hindrance. The man who does not give up can move mountains. Ernest Hello. If one only wished to be happy, this could be easily accomplished; but we wish to be happier that other people, and this is always difficult, for we believe others to be happier than they are. Montesquieu. Death comes to all, but great achievements build a monument which shall endure until the sun grows cold. Ralph Waldo Emerson. Nothing whatever pertaining to godliness and real holiness can be accomplished without grace. Saint Augustine. Nothing stops the man who desires to achieve. Every obstacle is simply a course to develop his achievement muscle. It's a strengthening of his powers of accomplishment. Thomas Carlyle. Well done is better than well said. Benjamin Franklin. Give a boy address and accomplishments and you give him the mastery of palaces and fortunes where he goes. Ralph Waldo Emerson. Man is always more than he can know of himself; consequently, his accomplishments, time and again, will come as a surprise to him. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. Laozi. In prayer, more is accomplished by listening than by talking. Jane Frances de Chantal.

Article summary. It’s the time of year for gardens. I thought I would be nice to read something of gardens of then and now. The title is Heaven on earth: the ancient roots of your backyard garden. Eva Anagnostou-Laoutides, Associate Professor in Ancient History, Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Macquarie University. At theconversation.com. It began by mentioning that beside the their color with life and beauty “gardens are also bound to their political and religious history”. There are “connections” between famous gardens like one of Versailles and the Garden of Eden. According to the article people today “try to re-create it – in our homes, in our cities, in our heads”. Kings in the biblical times felt they communicated with the gods in a royal garden. There were hanging gardens and King Solomon’s enclosed garden. The gardens of the Roman Empire “withered” by in the time c Charlemagne they were never forgot the “aura of the exotic garden that they were able to afford. Even the Vatican Garden of the middle ages was mentioned and related that it “evoked” political and religious dimensions in the garden. As the article was ending it mentioned that there the connection of gardens with politics is strong. Also mentioned is gardens surrounded ancient temples so worshipers were closer to god. Gardens  surround war memorials. The last sentence was the “next time you’re wandering around your own garden, reflect on the fact that you’re walking in the footsteps of the kings and queens of yesteryear, in your own slice of paradise.”

Maybe chicken salad for dinner. 

Photos in my life today

My first upload today is “glimmer II”. It is my cat and best furry friend Bobbi getting her monthly pedicure from my grand daughter, a seasoned vet tech. And Bobbi doesn’t care a whit that she is a vet tech. 

The next assignment is another of “my choice” and another of my series of “still life”. It is a set of bottles in my collection with a tiny carnation on lying in front of them for a bit of color and fun. 

The last upload is “empty”. This is a decorative box that one of my Christmas
gifts came in.  

Joy 

the bonus photo is an entry in a contest titled “I’ve Gone to Pieces” found in my Fine Art America site, a flower bouquet that has begun dropping it leaves, there are tee shirts coffee cups, blanket, puzzles, and more with this design

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

 May 31, 2026, a thought for the day, Rest in reason is not time lost. Norwegian Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday

My first challenge for yesterday was “I did a good thing.” It’s always a good thing and safe one to get out of the way of an emergency vehicle. 

This next upload was “a bloom, partial or full.” This is what I use to call a
morning glory growing on my chain link fence.

The last assignment was “socks.” I caught this shopper as he walked by my car while I was waiting for my grocery pickup. 

Life today. Church was interesting today. Along with the message we had some displays of homemade life size stuffed “dolls” to make a point in the message. It was different and light hearted, though the message itself was serious and informative. The dolls were dressed in regular size clothing. The minister also gave out a book full of inspirational messages. 

There isn’t much on my agenda today as it is Sunday. It is the end of a month so it means some wrap ups on the photos of the day images, closing out the calendar I keep of them and setting up a new one for next month. 

The weather is dryer today than it has been for the past several days. I think one of my window boxes (senior gardens as I call them) got drown out. I had some seeds from last year so I put them in that garden hoping they will come up and blossom. Along with the dryer whether it is slightly cooler today and for the next few. 

It looks like this will be a busy week. I don’t have a lot on the list but there are some changes here at the house with people coming in for special visits. 

The word today above. Above all things, reverence yourself. Pythagoras. Truth indeed rather alleviates than hurts, and will always bear up against falsehood, as oil does above water. Miguel de Cervantes. I have not seen a person who loved virtue, or one who hated what was not virtuous. He who loved virtue would esteem nothing above it. Confucius. I have nothing but contempt for the kind of governor who is afraid, for whatever reason, to follow the course that he knows is best for the State; and as for the man who sets private friendship above the public welfare - I have no use for him either. Sophocles. Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties. John Milton. All legislation, all government, all society is founded upon the principle of mutual concession, politeness, comity, courtesy; upon these everything is based...Let him who elevates himself above humanity, above its weaknesses, its infirmities, its wants, its necessities, say, if he pleases, I will never compromise; but let no one who is not above the frailties of our common nature disdain compromises. Henry Clay. I feel within me a peace above all earthly dignities, a still and quiet conscience. William Shakespeare. The price of wisdom is above-rubies. Bible, Job 28. 18. We aim above the mark to hit the mark. Ralph Waldo Emerson. There is a certain majesty in simplicity which is far above all the quaintness of wit. Alexander Pope. Great minds have purposes, others have wishes. Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune; but great minds rise above them. Washington Irving. Above all the grace and the gifts that Christ gives to his beloved is that of overcoming self. Francis of Assisi. Christ beside me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ within me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me. Saint Patrick.  

Article summary. I look for words that may better my own life in thinking and acting. I like to share what I find. I do find one thing or word that sometimes gets in my way though....truth. I am a strict believer in the truth but I have been told that one persons truth may not be anothers, that’s odd to me, the truth is the truth. The title to the article is An upward spiral – how small acts of kindness and connection really can change the world, according to psychology research. Liza M. Hinchey, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Psychology, Wayne State University. A theconversation.com. It started by noting how the country is in a bit of turmoil with “political chasms, wars, oppression.” With the problems some of us may feel there is little hope that small acts of kindness can amount to much more than “putting Band-Aids on bullet wounds.” The author mentioned he was “inspired” by a musician gave a performance this year where he mentioned “little acts of love and solidarity that we offer each other can have powerful impact.” There are research reports about how kindness connections can have an “impact” on global change when the “acts are collective.” This can happen between individuals, peoples and institutions, even between cultures. In the political area of two opposing ideas research that has been used shows that people do seem to naturally have “negative assumptions” about the other sides morals. On the flip side they each value “fairness, respect, loyalty and a desire to prevent harm to others.” It may show that the more they each want to prevent harm to others the more they can “soften large-scale social and political disagreements.” It is mentioned that being kind in the quality of a relationship can have actions for “reducing large-scale tensions.” Put a little differently, “small acts of connection can shift personal attitudes.” The article states that every human being has their own “network” of people in all areas of living, called “social ecology.” Any change can affect others in a positive or upward spiral. The article ends by saying “science supports the idea that moving toward each other in small ways can be transformational.”

Meat loaf and baked potatoes sounds good for dinner. 

Photos in my life today

The first challenge was “I do this on Sunday.” It is one of the many architectural features that bring comfort.

The next assignment was titled “vertical.” I felt that the evergreen tree in my yard looks like it is reaching for a close look at heaven.

The last upload was “towel.” I tried dressing it up a bit with a plate and
silverware.

Joy

this being the end of the month I am showing my composites for the whole month on four sites

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

 May 29, 2026, a thought for today, Time and opportunity one never has in one's hand. Norwegian Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday

My first challenge was “look down.” I had taken several shot of looking down staircases. As I got out of the car, I noticed my shadow. I liked the lines and the shade of color.

The next assignment was “I wore this.” This is pretty much my hanging out
“outfit” most days. 

The last upload was “my choice.” It is one of my “minimalist” series. As I was going through the church placing the bulletins, I found “minimal” types of images. This light switch against the stucco texture is one of them.  

Life today. I think I have mentioned before l like Fridays.  It is catch up day for things from the “back burner.” I also got three more of the photos for the gallery wall printed and two of them mounted and framed. 

A little while back I mentioned that when I “watch” my soap opera show I feel I am visiting friends. That made me curious. I wondered if there was some documented reality for that feeling so I looked it up. Here is what I found.  TV characters as friends, are  known as a "parasocial relationships.” They are attachments that require no energy to maintain, offer consistent comfort, and carry zero risk of social rejection. They can be the characters that are seen as an emotional connection or a sense of community. We have to take into consideration that they do not replace the “real world” in socialization. For a healthy life style there has to be solid outside relationships, also, which there are in my life. I have solid relationships with church family, blood related family and extended family. This “parasocial relationship” is also true of other television shows that I enjoy now and then like Grays Anatomy, Chicago Med, Blue Bloods, Law and Order, Equalizer with Queen Latifah and more here and there. I feel reading books can have the same affect.  

I have put off a couple of other things I wanted to get done today back on the back burner because I have had a few interruptions as well as getting lost in some other kinds of research. Not to mention a couple of breaks for looking out the window and day dreaming for quick breaks.

Now I have a grocery order to put in and a couple smaller household chores to get out of the way. 

The word today is about. Talking much about oneself can also be a means to conceal oneself. Friedrich Nietzsche. Try to learn something about everything and everything about something. Thomas H. Huxley. There is no moral precept that does not have something inconvenient about it. Denis Diderot. One can always be kind to people about whom one cares nothing. Oscar Wilde. We are all apt to believe what the world believes about us. George Eliot. The best way to become acquainted with a subject is to write a book about it. Benjamin Disraeli. We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all that we need to make us happy is something to be enthusiastic about. Charles Kingsley. You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. Plato. Don't be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better. Ralph Waldo Emerson. Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections but instantly set about remedying them - every day begin the task anew. Saint Francis de Sales. Watch out for the fellow who talks about putting things in order! Putting things in order always means getting other people under your control. Denis Diderot. If you knew what I know about the power of giving, you would not let a single meal pass without sharing it in some way. Buddha. Truth is tough. It will not break, like a bubble, at a touch; nay, you may kick it about all day like a football, and it will be round and full at evening. Oliver Wendell Holmes. When one can hear people moving, one does not so much mind, about one's fears. Ann Radcliffe.

Article summary. I am sharing a bit more with information about cats. It had been about forty years since my family had shared space with a cat. For the last eight months or so I have been re-learning, it has been an eye opening event. The title to this article is What have cats ever done for us? Catherine Douglas, Lecturer in Animal Science, Newcastle University. At theconversation.com. It started out with something I was unaware of, there are some people who feel cats often kill birds and small mammals leading to a “decline” in their numbers. I always felt that habit was inborn (for a reason beyond our understanding) and a fact of nature not a human’s ability to control other than a human form of extension for the cat. Humans put up barriers that birds and other critters have less and smaller escape routes by buildings and fences, poles and wires, vehicles and much more not of the “natural type”. The author goes on to say cats have contributed to our lives in many other ways and mentions studies that have proven that theory. Some of the helpful areas they have been found to be beneficial in is improving childhood problems, including reducing allergies, school absenteeism, mental health issues as depression and post traumatic stress, aiding in diabetes control and hospital visits. The benefits in the elderly are helping with independent living, quicker recovery from heart disease and other health issues. As the article moves on it shows that in the health issue known as dementia cats may be an “alternative or addition” to medication to improve “cognitive function, language, motor skills and mood,” in other words, quality of life. All of this mentioned so far can, according to the article, offers the pet-human relationship as “positive social and economic influences for local communities and society as a whole.” So far the article touched on young children and seniors. Then it mentions other areas of childhood that can be affected. In classrooms they can benefit with “fostering empathy with animals” which may lead to developing more compassion to “fellow humans.” In middle age Europe cats became associated with witches and witchcraft but that attitude did not travel to elsewhere in the Middle East. Asia, or the American colonies. The article related that colonists were “grateful to cats for their part in ensuring the Mayflower’s safe passage.” The cats were as vital as the crew, they kept “vermin at bay,” kept them from chewing the ropes and eating the human’s food that “couldn’t be replenished at sea.” So, cats have proven some of their contributions to the human side of nature. Domesticated cats go back in history 10,000 years. Today, modern research credits these historic bonds with providing humans psychological comfort, stress reduction, and overall mental well-being.

I am trying a recipe I found on line, garlic butter beef pasta, for dinner. 

Photos in my life today

The first upload for today is “pasta.” I made dinner a little early today so I could use the meal as part of my uploads for the day. This is butter garlic pasta. 

The second challenge is “I found.....” A penny face side up lying on the concrete porch. 

The last assignment is another of “my choice”. It is another in my series of
minimalists. This is one of Sue’s after shower lotions. 

Joy

this bonus image is one I uploaded to my Fine Art America page a while back...it is on several household items such as cups, tee shirt, puzzles, and more 

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

 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