April 13, 2026, a thought for today, Dirty water does not wash clean. Italian Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday

This first upload for yesterday was “small.” My lawn not only has the yellow dandelion this year they are sharing the grass with tiny purple violets. 

My next challenge was “my choice.” I uploaded this one from my series of
“minimalist,” a weed growing beside a piece of cracked cement. 

The last upload was “sand or soil.” This is what the “soil” looks like under one of my two evergreen trees. 

Life today. It seems on Monday time passes more quickly for me than any other day of the week. It is the day I do as much of the church work that I am able to get done. Then I try to catch up on anything that I may have put on the back burner with either my personal computer work or house hold chores that I may have set aside temporarily. The hands on the clock seem to be racing with me. On top of that going back to my fine art photo site has required a little more time than I remembered from before I let it go for these few years. Hopefully it will be worth it in the long run. 

I got two orders of worship done this morning that was a big chunk of the morning time, one for Sunday and one for a memorial service.

The temperatures are setting higher as spring matures. I am getting increasingly anxious to get to work on my four window gardens. I need to wait at least two to three more weeks. I have begun leaving the doors open during the day now. Both the back door and the front doors have storm doors with the window all the way to the bottom. Now Bobbi can lay on the floor by either one and either watch the outdoors or take her naps there. I haven’t put the screens in, that time’s not ready yet. 

I stopped on the letter for a while to make the meat loaf and put the potatoes in the oven. So all I have to do is make the salad to have dinner ready.  I was going to make the Eclair cake this afternoon but I won’t have time now so it will be another day. 

The word today is them. Tact is the ability to describe others as they see themselves. Abraham Lincoln. All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them. Galileo Galilei. Fortune does not change men, it unmasks them. Suzanne Necker. As I know more of mankind I expect less of them, and am ready now to call a man a good man upon easier terms than I was formerly. Samuel Johnson. Now, in reality, the world have paid too great a compliment to critics, and have imagined them to be men of much greater profundity than they really are. Henry Fielding. Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain. Fiedrich von Schiller. No man is exempt from saying silly things; the mischief is to say them deliberately. Michel de Montaigne. Laws are like sausages. It's better not to see them being made. Otto von Bismarck. Get the facts, or the facts will get you. And when you get them, get them right, or they will get you wrong.  Dr. Thomas Fuller. A man can do all things if he but wills them. Leon Battista Alberti. We have too many high sounding words, and too few actions that correspond with them. Abigail Adams. We call them dumb animals, and so they are, for they cannot tell us how they feel, but they do not suffer less because they have no words. Anna Sewell. Trust men and they will be true to you; treat them greatly, and they will show themselves great. Ralph Waldo Emerson. Be wiser than other people, if you can, but do not tell them so. Lord Chesterfield. For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them. Aristotle. Cleanliness and order are not matters of instinct; they are matters of education, and like most great things, you must cultivate a taste for them. Benjamin Disraeli. When you encounter difficulties and contradictions, do not try to break them, but bend them with gentleness and time. Saint Francis de Sales. Get not your friends by bare compliments, but by giving them sensible tokens of your love. Socrates. 

Article summary. I am a lover of books, (and food and animals and...). Anyway, I saw this title and decided I had to take a look to learn and to share. The title is This course teaches how to judge a book by its cover and its pages, print and other elements of its design. Lynda Kachurek, Head of Book Arts, Archives, & Rare Books, University of Richmond. At theconversation.com. I have used this site many times for what I thought were interesting and educational subjects. This is the first time I found that this site offers articles now and then that are parts of “courses” as occasional series in meant to be an “unconventional approaches to teaching.” This is one of those, it is called “For the Love of Books.” The author tells how this idea came to fruition for her. Some college students had a chance to “interact” with rare books and “archival collections.” They observed how these books of “historical text” were made and how the ones they saw survived and were put in the university’s collection. This course is meant to teach “focus on a specific topic” as a path to stronger understanding of life around them as well as how to better “research and communicate.” The teacher/author wanted the students to see what the word “book” means in this digital era. Books are not just for homework and reading pleasure. She wanted them to see the idea of themes fulfilling “object, content, technology and art.” Further on they see the steps in each books “history” in the writing, selling, reading, then see it as an “object’s destination.” They would learn that technology in the production of “books” would change how they came to existence. She wanted them to observe the how of the era of the printing press was eventually replaced by the digital “millennium” as ways for us to “access information.”  There are ways now to “explore” samples of parchment helping to show that part of how books were made. The students can learn of the new way of experiencing “transmission of information” and how it influences “literacy, economics, technology, art and culture.” They may more clearly see how books connect people with “people of long ago and faraway place” along with how they add to the change of societies and cultures. 

I am making meatloaf and baked potatoes for dinner.

Photos in my life today

The first photo challenge for today is “date night.” I haven’t seen one of those in  a long time. I used and set up of wine and flowers. 

The second upload for today is “a natural texture.” This is one another of the evergreen trees in the back yard. It is about thirty years old. 

The last upload is “water.” This is from my archives. I can’t remember where I was when I shot this photo. 

Joy

                                 Our town

Want to shop?

(fineartamerica.com search for joy rector) (redbubble.com search for jarector then “view shop”) 

 April 11, 2026, The good shepherd shears, not flays. Italian Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday

The first challenge is “share your settings,”  F 2.4, ISO 324, 4080 x 3060. 300mp. I almost exclusively use my Samsung S24+ camera now. On occasion I use my Sony RX100VI. I go for journal/diary/life style photos rather than fine art alone. 

The next upload was “a shadow in nature.” This was taken a few years ago in one of our metro parks on one of my photo “safari’s.”

The last upload for yesterday was “outside.” I like the foreground of bare tree branches and their shadows.

Life today. Here it is again, and another of one of my favorite days of the week is over half way to its end. So far it has been the  “same old” day. 

I accomplished the curb side pick up earlier today. I needed to go inside for something I forgot on my order. I had also placed an order at Amazon for photo processing supplies. I forgot an item on that list too. The supplies are part of what I need to print, mount, mat and frame the photos I plan to hang at the church. I have a problem lining up the photo in the express middle of the mount board so I needed something to act as a guide to get it straight and precise. I am going to use painters’ tape so I can mark the area on the mount board then remove the painter’s tape. The painter’s tape is what I forgot to order. Kroger has it, that was the trip I made inside.

I made the photo shots I need today when I got home and after I got the groceries put away. 

Bobbi has recently realized it is spring and there are more birds outside. So now she occupies every window in the house at one time or another and that she can get to. Part of that realizing it is spring could be because she is a teen now and there is a touch of spring fever and dreams of freedom. 

The word today is test.  Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power. Abraham Lincoln. The greatest test of courage on earth is to bear defeat without losing heart. Robert Green Ingersoll. There is something in the unselfish and self-sacrificing love of a brute, which goes directly to the heart of him who has had frequent occasion to test the paltry friendship and gossamer fidelity of mere Man. Edgar Allan Poe. It is not easy to distinguish between true and false affection, unless there occur one of those crises in which, as gold is tried by fire, so a faithful friendship may be tested by danger. Marcus Tullius Cicero. Wisdom is not finally tested in the schools, Wisdom cannot be pass'd from one having it to another not having it, Wisdom is of the soul, is not susceptible of proof, is its own proof. Walt Whitman. What we have to do is to be forever curiously testing new opinions and courting new impressions. Walter Pater. If we want to make a statement about a man's nature on the basis of his physiognomy, we must take everything into account; it is in his distress that a man is tested, for then his nature is revealed. Paracelsus. It is by presence of mind in untried emergencies that the native metal of man is tested. James Russell Lowell. I will listen to any hypothesis but on one condition-that you show me a method by which it can be tested. August Wilhelm von Hofmann. Now I see that going out into the testing ground of men it is the tongue and not the deed that wins the day. Sophocles. There are two principles of established acceptance in morals; first, that self-interest is the mainspring of all of our actions, and secondly, that utility is the test of their value. Charles Caleb Colton. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages. Thomas Jefferson. Do not try to find a place free from temptations and troubles. Rather, seek a peace that endures even when you are beset by various temptations and tried by much adversity. Thomas a Kempis. I hold it certain that to open the doors of truth and to fortify the habit of testing everything by reason are the most effectual manacles we can rivet on the hands of our successors to prevent their manacling the people with their own consent. Thomas Jefferson.

Article summary. It has always amazed me how dogs and cats lives pass so much quicker than human lives. That means I have a teen age cat in my life although she has only been alive one year and twenty-two days. Their habits, likes and dislikes, as well as the aging of body parts happens sooner. What an amazing master plan and beyond my understanding of the ultimate purpose. The title to the article is How old is my pet in dog years or cat years? A veterinarian explains. Jesse Grady, Clinical Instructor of Veterinary Medicine, Mississippi State University. At the conversation.com. It begins by mentioning how people ask a vet how old they think their dog is in dog years.  The author mentioned it seems to be “attributing human characteristics to them.” It is important to their care that they tend to the health care as the years go by. It says there is a “myth” that one year is like seven to dogs and cats. This figure was determined on the average size of a dog, then goes on to point out not all are of “average” size. Dogs come in a wide spread of sizes, while domesticated cats are pretty much the same size. I like the fact as it is mentioned that human life expectancy changes as the years pass with all kinds of improved conditions. Now the rule of thumb for dogs and cats ages has become more understandable by considering the size and “calendar years.” The figure seven years for every natural year may not and is not accurate. The count in age is now recommendations based “on developmental stage”.  One of the ways the age is figured now is by the breed and “associated” size along with nutritional considerations. Cats life’s are different to figure due to their general size being much the same. The article mentions that being able to figure the animal’s age is important because it suggests what care the pet needs at the stage in life it is in, this also aides in managing the quality of life.  The article relates as an example that a woman may need a periodic mammogram and an adult cat my need annual intestinal parasite screenings. The article ends by saying be aware of the overall health and “maintaining a healthy weight” can help a pet “live long past the literal “prime” of its life.”

I’m making chili for dinner and soft individual oat cakes. 

Photos in my life today

My first upload today is “hair”. My true and loyal sister is my model. She never complains when I
ask her to “pose”.

The next one is “my choice” and one from my “minimalist” series. One of the drooping flowers in my arrangement is the fading of beauty. It is about to go. 

The last upload is “a view I love”, it’s almost always Bobbi, view of love. She
had been busy grooming and arranging her coat. She is very conscious of personal hygiene.

Joy

                                            lines, colors, shapes, pasterns

Want to shop?

(fineartamerica.com search for joy rector) (redbubble.com search for jarector then “view shop”) 

 April 9, 2026, a thought for today, The same shoe does not fit every foot. Italian Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday

My first upload for yesterday was “golden.” I decided to use a sunset and its golden hues for this challenge. 

The next assigned challenge was “landscape.” This is one of the many
photo shoots and see on my trip to family here in Ohio.

The last upload was “a leaf.” This one is from one of my fall archives.

Life today. This has been one of the “busy” days. After all the internet checks, emails (three including church’s email to pass on to appropriate persons), news articles, Facebook friends. I got a quick start on this letter. I wanted to get as much of a start as I could before I left for church. 

Once at church the printing went without a hitch. The walk around the church, up and down, went quietly.

I dropped off the mail and headed to Michael’s to have the first of the photos I want to hang at church mounted and framed. I was hoping to come home with them but learned they would call me when they were ready in a week or so. I am anxious to get them here and ready for when I find someone at church to help me hang them. My hopes are to offer a moment of peace and comfort through a gallery of photos in a place shared with seekers of a moment to relief. I think I have decided to mat them and frame them myself here at home. Now I have to purchase the supplies. 

My last stop was at Strader’s to get some potting soil and pots for my planting of the window boxes. The plants I ordered have started arriving. 

Finally at home I got to work on the photos, the letter and the laundry. I was able to get some of the photos on the way home. 

The word today is subject.  I keep the subject of my inquiry constantly before me, and wait till the first dawning opens gradually, by little and little, into a full and clear light. Isaac Newton. Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information on it. Samuel Johnson. Humor is the only test of gravity, and gravity of humor; for a subject which will not bear raillery is suspicious, and a jest which will not bear serious examination is false wit. Aristotle. When a thing ceases to be a subject of controversy, it ceases to be a subject of interest. William Hazlitt. Seize the moment of excited curiosity on any subject to solve your doubts; for if you let it pass, the desire may never return, and you may remain in ignorance. William Wirt. The secret of a good memory is attention, and attention to a subject depends upon our interest in it. We rarely forget that which has made a deep impression on our minds. Tryon Edwards. Grasp the subject, the words will follow. Cato the Elder. I approach these questions unwillingly, as they are sore subjects, but no cure can be effected without touching upon and handling them. Titus Livius. Ignorance of certain subjects is a great part of wisdom. Hugo De Groot. Do not talk a little on many subjects, but much on a few. Pythagoras. The mind has greater power over the emotions, and is less subject thereto, insofar as it understands all things to be necessary. Baruch Spinoza. It is the mark of an educated mind to rest satisfied with the degree of precision which the nature of the subject admits and not to seek exactness where only an approximation is possible. Aristotle. The highest manifestation of life consists in this: that a being governs its own actions. A thing which is always subject to the direction of another is somewhat of a dead thing. Thomas Aquinas. Upon the subject of education, not presuming to dictate any plan or system respecting it, I can only say that I view it as the most important subject which we as a people may be engaged in. That everyone may receive at least a moderate education appears to be an objective of vital importance. Abraham Lincoln. 

Article summary. I’m doing another “study” on cats. This is an article I came across and was interested. I wondered how they could “teach science” from cats. The article title is “ Love for cats lures students into this course, which uses feline research to teach science. Jonathan Losos, William H. Danforth Distinguished University Professor, Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. At theconversation.com. This was a course lay out by a professor in a university in St. Louis. He named the course “The Science of Cats”. He says he is an “evolutionary biologist” who studies lizards but he is also a cat lover. In describing how he came to the idea of doing a study of cats and science, he said he had never thought of analyzing cats. He hadn’t considered it  until he learned there were some scientists using cats in a study using the same methods he used in the study of lizards. In the article he says he “lures” students who love “felines” into the idea of him teaching them how scientists study “ecology, evolution, genetics and behavior” using cats as their model. His course explores the “past, present and future of cats”. He had the class write papers on biology as in how there is an impact of cats on birds, the “health effects pro and con of living with felines,” how mixing breeds affects evolution, how predators control cat population and how new technologies enter the picture of feline population. The author feels that these kinds of courses help in the understanding of “our rapidly changing world.”  He further feels that “they may serve as a gateway introduction to the world of biological research” where studying animals in their natural habitats, even pets, can be important. For the students in this class there were field trips to finding cats owned by homeless communities. They studied about cats in ancient times from an Egyptologist. They went to a zoo to observe wild felines. They visited an art gallery to observe cats in that venue. In ending the article he mentions that the students need to “synthesize knowledge from many different fields.” As a side to what they have learned it may lean toward some other arenas like  “what to do about outdoor cats and the ethics of breeding.”

It’s hamburger and salad and fruit for dinner.

Photos in my life today

The first upload in this section is another of the “landscape” series.

This is from one of my archive. I think it was one of our trips to Old Mans Cave in the Hocking Hills. 

The last challenge for today is “rocks.” This is on the street just east of my house. 

Joy

                                roses are red

Want to shop?

(fineartamerica.com search for joy rector) & (redbubble.com search for jarector then “view shop”) 

 April 7, 2026, a thought for today, At a round table every seat is first. German Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday

The first challenge was titled “comfort.” At the end of the day this is my “comfort” zone. It also seems to be one of Bobbi’s. 

The next upload was “landscape.” This is one of the country scenes I come across on my way to see family.

The last one for yesterday was “something growing.” These pretty little dandelions are doing a fanatic job of that. 

Life today. I am having another pleasing day. All dead line things are ready giving me time to work on some ideas using my photos in a different way than  just uploading to photo a day sites. One is getting one or two photos at a time and at intervals ready for public display. The other is a site that I have belong to for a few years. I let it go for several years. Now I am working to “revive” it. It is similar to Etsy in that it contains craft/art work in the form of photos, paintings, and sketches for purchase. The site is a company called Fine Art America that offers products like greeting cards, jigsaw puzzles, pillows, tee shirts, sweat shirts and other house hold products with that art work as the prominent design. 

It’s a bit chilly outside. I have some of the plants I ordered for the window boxes due for delivery today. I want to keep an eye out for them. If they are left outside, they might be damaged. I won’t be planting them until after May 1st.  I will be making room for arranging them among my houseplant “garden” under the grow lights. 

I have also had time to do some of the research on “light bulb” moments of subjects that pop into my mind from social media sites and TV show, news and other wise

The word today is stand.  Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power. Abraham Lincoln. All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them. Galileo Galilei. Wit makes its own welcome, and levels all distinctions. No dignity, no learning, no force of character, can make any stand against good wit. Ralph Waldo Emerson. In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. Thomas Jefferson. There's folks 'ud stand on their heads and then say the fault was I' their boots. George Eliot. The great thing in this world is not so much where you stand, as in what direction you are moving. Oliver Wendell Holmes. The strongest man in the world is the man who stands alone. Thomas H. Huxley. Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still. Chinese Proverb. If you would stand well with a great mind, leave him with a favorable impression of yourself; if with a little mind, leave him with a favorable impression of himself. Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Never stand begging for that which you have the power to earn. Miguel de Cervantes. I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand. Confucius. I stand in awe of my body. Henry David Thoreau. The bow cannot always stand bent, nor can human frailty subsist without some lawful recreation. Miguel de Cervantes. Virtue is not left to stand alone. He who practices it will have neighbors. Confucius. Law stands mute in the midst of arms. Cicero. A mother understands what a child does not say. Jewish Proverb. It is a Blessed thing that in every age someone has had the individuality enough to stand by his own convictions. Robert Ingersoll. 

Article summary: I am a worry wart, some of my family think I hold the crown in that area of thought. So I thought I would take a look at this article and pass it on to those who my share that pesky emotion. The title is Why we are hard wired to worry, and what we can do to calm down. James Carmody, Professor of Medicine and Population Health Sciences, UMass Chan Medical School. At theconversation.com. It starts out pointing to many of the things that are common for people to be concerned or worry about. Many things like wanting things to be better, how elections will turn out or other worldly affairs. It goes on to point out that “humans are wired to worry.” As sort of definition of worry is when “vial planning gets the better of us” and takes up most of our attention. Most of that time being filled with tension, distractions and sleeplessness. The author says that there are ways of “quieting the mind.” It seems when we can focus on what we are doing rather than let our minds wander we are more relaxed and happier. There are areas of the brain that are “active” when we are not focused on a particular task. The author says these help us be aware of threats and the “downside” is anxiety. There have been “mindfulness training” studies that show “attention regulation” and working on memory and mind wandering can develop in a couple of weeks. In the “mindfulness training” having a person thinks of the “sensations of breathing.” The article says that it leads to attention “defaulting” to daydreams. It says that there is a “detachment” with the past and future.  We are “in the moment” and calmer. There are other “mind-body” programs that lead to a more calm outlook and “recover the present moment.” Two mentioned here are yoga and tai chi that in a movement type of directing ones attention. Another type of “direction ones attention” is in a cognitive form such as prayer and visualization which bring “more reassuring thoughts and images.” When I first chose this article I hadn’t considered  the breathing technique that the article mentioned but it does bring to mind the practice of ladies in labor being told to “breathe in breathe out” to relieve some of the pain and lead to “detachment.”

I made goulash last night for dinner. In my senior years I have slowed down on the cooking. I make things in batches and put them in the freezer so tonight will be something from the freezer. Something sounded good a week ago may sound good again tonight.

Photos in my life today

The first challenge upload for today was “games.” This one is packed away. My husband I played backgammon together every night that he was off duty from the fire department medic team. 

The next one is “landscape.” This is yet another of the ones I see as I am on the way to family a little way out of Columbus.

The last upload is “wildlife.” There is little wildlife in the city. This is
an image I made several years ago on one of my photo outings along the river.

Joy 

                                          all aboard

        (also found on Fine Art America/search joy rector tee shirts, pillow, puzzles, and much more)

 April 5, 2026, What smarts, teaches. German Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday

The first upload for yesterday was “my choice” and is one of my series of “still life.” I love this calla lily. 

The next challenge was “a path.” This one is a state wide bicycle path running
here along side of a railroad track. 

The last upload is “cereal.” I have oat and cream of wheat on hand but didn’t want to fix them at the time so I chose some of my rice krispies. 

Life today. Easter has been more quiet this season than most have been for me especially the ones when my kids were young. However, for me this season seems to have been more deeply experiencing than others for some reason. 

The sermon was as one would expect for an Easter morning. The song that the choir sang for the anthem fit the day perfectly. The number of people at the service was about the same as any other of our Sunday services. I expected more since it is a special Sunday. 

As the years pass, holiday celebrations seem to change. When the children are young, we go all out with all or the typical traditions. As the families grow the familial connections seem to slowly fade in ready contact. Imagine that “fading” as it becomes just a little from one year to the next until one becomes a “senior citizen.” The thought for the “older” presences becomes less expected. Now that I think about it I think my own mother expressed something like that to me. 

As I was about to finish the letter Lowell and Rebecca stopped. What a nice surprise. And they brought me a tasty supper. 

The word today is stake. Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake. Napoleon Bonaparte. The greatest mistake is trying to be more agreeable than you can be. Walter Bagehot. It is a mistake to regard age as a downhill grade toward dissolution. The reverse is true. As one grows older, one climbs with surprising strides. George Sand. Experience teaches slowly and at the cost of mistakes. James A. Froude. When you make a mistake, don't look back at it long. Take the reason of the thing into your mind and then look forward. Mistakes are lessons of wisdom. The past cannot be changed. The future is yet in your power. Hugh White. Wise men profit more from fools than fools from wise men; for the wise men shun the mistakes of fools, but fools do not imitate the successes of the wise. Cato the Elder. No one could make a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little. Edmund Burke. Mistake not. Those pleasures are not pleasures that trouble the quiet and tranquillity of thy life. Jeremy Taylor. We must not say every mistake is a foolish one. Cicero. There is no greater mistake than the hasty conclusion that opinions are worthless because they are badly argued. Thomas H. Huxley. A man who has committed a mistake and doesn't correct it, is committing another mistake. Confucius. Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes. Oscar Wilde. To make no mistakes is not in the power of man; but from their errors and mistakes the wise and good learn wisdom for the future. Plutarch. Faith is a living, daring confidence in God's grace, so sure and certain that a man could stake his life on it a thousand times. Martin Luther. Your own safety is at stake when your neighbor's wall is ablaze. Horace. 

Article summary. I lean a lot toward animals and their inborn natures as related to our connections with them. I think there is something to learn about, from and for them. In this case it the story is about how dogs have an instinct or natural capability to influence our stress level more than we may imagine. Now that my best animal friend is a cat I am hoping that they share them to also “influence our stress.” The title is Dogs are helping people regulate stress even more than expected, research shows. Kevin Morris, Research Professor of Social Work, University of Denver. Jaci Gandenberger, Research Associate of Social Work, University of Denver. At theconversation.com. The article starts by sharing some information from surveys that show results of research about stress levels that include cancer, heart disease, immune situations and dementia. It continues by the saying that this may be where dogs can help. To back that idea up they show other research listing one at the “University of Denver’s Institute for Human-Animal Connection” has conducted studies for the past 40 years that confirms “pet dogs help humans feel more relaxed.” They say now that a new study shows something that “suggests that dogs might have a deeper and more biologically complex effect” on humans than “previously believed.” These new tests go deeper into “physiological pathways allowing for a more complete picture of a “dog’s presence affects stress in the human body.” They have measured the “fight or flight” responses in humans along with the “surf of adrenaline” along with the production of a hormone called cortisol. The reason the cortisol is important in this particular story is that it is found in saliva when stress is relieved. They have found when the cortisol is lower the person being tested is with a dog. This shows that the person is calmer that is only part of the story. One of the tests they went on with produced further evidence of relief to humans. They used 40 dog owners in a 15 minute test. They were asked to do public speaking and ‘oral’ math in front of a panel. They were “randomly” told to bring their dogs or to leave them at home. The cortisol was measured before and after the test. They found that the people with the dogs showed an expected lower cortisol. There was a blood level also tested something called alpha amylase. The people without the dogs had no response. That part of the test shows a “change how our nervous system responds to stressors”.  The people with the dogs had a more balanced response. It showed that they were alert and “engaged” during the test and returned to normal reaction senses “within 45 minutes”. It shows that dogs keep us “in a healthy zone of stress response.” Due to these tests there are new studies planned to “delve deeper into the biology of how psychiatric service dogs reduce PTSD in military veterans” that I hope will find to be helpful in other areas of human health. I am also believing that cat can cause the same health benefits. 

Dinner will be one of my pre cooked and frozen dinners, maybe tuna casserole. 

Photos in my life today

This first upload is another of the “my choice” and another of my series of “still life.” I am getting a lot of red in my still lifes right now. 

This next challenge is “water.” I had a perfect rain puddle on the driveway to it for this one. 

My last upload for today is “next to me.” This is Bobbi on her window
“hammock” next to my desk chair. She is there to keep me company a good bit of the day.

Joy 

        my pussy willow has gone by the wayside this is the only thing I have left of it

 April 3, 2026, a thought for today, The sun dial counts only the bright hours. German Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday

The first upload yesterday was “a flower.” I didn’t want to pick these tulips so the image has more than one tulip. The more the merrier. 

The second challenge was “table.” This table sits right behind my desk chair so it was very handy for my image. 

The last upload yesterday was “how do I.....” Get the multitude of twigs/small branches raked up. The answer was call. She was here with a smile and my great grandson along to help. I got the lawn cleared and a visit with my family. 

 Life today. This is a quiet Friday. It offers moments to remember the significance of this day. I am having moments of reflection and spiritual growth which I feel are gifts to honor today’s spaces of time. I am not planning on outside religious activities today but I believe those are not always necessary to connect with the Trinity even or maybe especially this day.

I have been taking it easy today. Just live in the minute. I have loaded the dish washer and I think that will be the extent of “work.” I have enjoyed some researching that has fed my mind.   

I have allowed myself to remember yesterday too. My daughter and great grandson came to help me with some yard work that has needed attention for a couple of months. I felt good to have them here. Some times now in my golden years it feels good to remember. Yesterday’s memories lead me back to when that daughter that I was watching out my window raking the yard with her grandson for some reason pulled me back to when she was a young girl out there in that same yard. It adventured into visions of the treasures that have happened in the passage of time. 

I have to move on to other things now. It’s time to get myself back to the present and chores of today.

Sue and I will be meeting with Lowell for lunch in little while. We will be enjoying a moment with him in his new position of retirement as a Lt. Col. in one of his community service and a Commander from the second career in community service.

The word today is spring. With most men, unbelief in one thing springs from blind belief in another. Georg Christoph Lichtenberg.  We had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome. Anne Bradstreet. Look well into thyself; there is a source of strength which will always spring up if thou wilt always look there. Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. Winter is on my head, but eternal spring is in my heart. Victor Hugo. The passions are the seeds of vices as well as of virtues, from which either may spring, accordingly as they are nurtured. Unhappy they who have never been taught the art to govern them! Ann Radcliffe. 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. The very spring and root of honesty and virtue lie in good education. Plutarch. From lightest words sometimes the direst quarrel springs. Cato the Elder. For peace is not mere absence of war, but is a virtue that springs from the force of character. Baruch Spinoza. Truth springs from argument amongst friends. David Hume. Behold, my friends, the spring is come; the earth has gladly received the embraces of the sun, and we shall soon see the results of their love! Sitting Bull. A little learning is a dangerous thing; Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring (knowledge). Alexander Pope. If those who are the enemies of innocent amusements had the direction of the world, they would take away the spring, and youth, the former from the year, the latter from human life. Honore de Balzac. Falsehood is a perennial spring. Edmund Burke. From the end spring new beginnings. Pliny the Elder. Spring is the time of year when it is summer in the sun and winter in the shade. Charles Dickens. This outward spring and garden are a reflection of the inward garden. Rumi. 

Article summary. Being interested in photography I have had an avid interest in Ansle Adams through the years I have learned bits and pieces about him and have found tiny bits of connection other than the feel of photographs. He suffered hyperactivity and dyslexia both of which.  I have personal and family experiences within my life. His hyperactivity caused him the pain of problems in school along with the ridicule of peers.  I know that part of it.  His father saw and understood his problems, so he home schooled him, yet another thing I am familiar within my family. That is why the title of this article grabbed my attention. I also share his love of our natural world. Those contributed to his “signature style.” The title is The surprising source of Ansel Adams’ signature style. Rebecca Senf, Chief Curator, Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona. At theconversation.com. Ansel didn’t learn his amazing feel for his subjects and his outstanding techniques from a university or authorized classes. His craft was entirely self taught. As the article points out his photographs are easily identified as his because of the “drama and emotion” they stir.  When he was 14 years old he spent a vacation with his parents at Yosemite Valley. His father had given him a camera, a Kodak No. 1 Box Brownie camera. The gift was a effort of his father to help him "native hyperactivity" and the struggles with traditional schooling. On that vacation he began practicing the use light and composition that became the birth of his perfect story telling of nature as he saw it. I learned in the article that early on in his life he dreamed of becoming a concert pianist. That dream changed over the next ten years as he continued his visits to Yosemite camping, hiking and photographing. Gradually photography took the place of the piano. In those years there wasn’t much call for professional photographers. His efforts were used in portraits and architecture and interior design along with some work for businesses for promotional photos. In 1929 a new door opened for him. TheYosemite Park and Curry Company hired him to make “bold, captivating photographs to lure more tourists to Yosemite”. The company had asked him to shoot trees and houses with fresh now on and around them along with ice skaters on the park’s ice rink. As I gather from the article along with the photo they asked for he also made photos of his own choice, sledding, horseback riders, fishing and so on. This job gave him the opportunity to photograph “distinctive vistas”. Much of his work began appearing in brochures, newspapers, postcards and even menus. His photos were distinctive  in simple composition and focus “with few distractions.” In 1937 he left his job with Yosemite Park and Curry Company to “focus on his fine art photography.” He had a natural passion as a “environmentalist” and hoped that “viewers”of his work would be “impressed by the magnificence of nature” and would want to help preserve it.” I look at one of his quotes as hope for my own hopeful attempts, “Twelve significant photographs in any one year is a good crop.”

It will be a mild dinner since we went to lunch with Lowell. 

Photos in my life today

My first entry in this section is “a flower.” My lawn is very colorful this year. We have green, yellow with dandelions and violets with tiny little purple violets. 

The second challenge for today is “favorite time of day.” Any time of day that I can eat, even a snack, is my favorite. I was with Lowell and Sue for a lunch date. 

The last upload is “the sky above.” Today wasn’t sunny, was more on the cloudy. In my experience that is more or less typical for a Good Friday. 

Joy

                               coming soon

 April 1, 2026, a thought for today, The sun will bring to light what lay under the snow. German Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday

This assignment challenge was called “love.” She is a personification of that in this house right now. 

The next challenge was titled “psychedelic.” This is one of the images I created using Photoshop filers on an original photo image. 

The last upload in yesterdays photos was “a square.” I was searching around the house for something square. We have lots of rectangles, now so many squares. This one is the bottom of a serving tray. Some of these assignments give way to observation. 

Life today. I am having another beautiful day, I think I might be spring fever. I have the items that had a deadline done, that is always a relief. I am ready for the “print day” tomorrow. 

We lined up a new lawn care to do the mowing in my yard. They were here yesterday. The lawn looks good. The grass in the back always grows faster. I think it still looks a little long to me but the whole lawn front, back and sides all look refreshed. Hopefully this one will work out on all fronts. 

Another thing I got done today was order all of my plants for this season. I have decided two of the window boxes will be “miniature rose gardens.” 

I did a trial run on printing one of the photos I want to hang on a wall at the church. I wanted to check on how the printer would handle the ink on the glossy surface of the photo paper. On this test pieces it worked fine. 

I am going to rejoin a photo group I joined several years ago. I slacked off on it a couple of years back. I see it as sort of an “Etsy store” in that some of my photos are placed on clothing, pillows as well as printed to be framed and hung. It is called Fine Art America. I may want to readjust some things there as well as be uploading new photos. 

The word today is speech.  Discretion in speech is more than eloquence. Sir Francis Bacon. Speak properly, and in as few words as you can, but always plainly; for the end of speech is not ostentation, but to be understood. William Penn. Be a craftsman in speech that thou mayest be strong, for the strength of one is the tongue, and speech is mightier than all fighting. Maxims of Ptahhotep. Much talking is the cause of danger. Silence is the means of avoiding misfortune. The talkative parrot is shut up in a cage. Other birds, without speech, fly freely about. Saskya Pandita. The superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions. Confucius. Great wisdom is generous; petty wisdom is contentious. Great speech is impassioned, small speech cantankerous. Chuang-tzu. Speech is a mirror of the soul: as a man speaks, so is he. Publilius Syrus. In a free state there should be freedom of speech and thought. Tiberius. Tears at times have all the weight of speech. Ovid. In anger we should refrain both from speech and action. Pythagoras. Painting is silent poetry, and poetry is painting with the gift of speech. Simonides. Speech is human, silence is divine, yet also brutish and dead: therefore we must learn both arts. Thomas Carlyle. Bore: one who has the power of speech but not the capacity for conversation. Benjamin Disraeli. If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter. George Washington. Extemporaneous speaking should be practiced and cultivated. It is the lawyer's avenue to the public. However able and faithful he may be in other respects, people are slow to bring him business if he cannot make a speech. Abraham Lincoln. No speech can stain what is noble by nature. Sophocles. Speech is power: speech is to persuade, to convert, to compel. It is to bring another out of his bad sense into your good sense. Ralph Waldo Emerson. Let eloquence be flung to the dogs rather than souls be lost. What we want is to win souls. They are not won by flowery speeches. Charles Spurgeon.

Article summary. My church is awesome on the inside. We have had couples come there just to be married in its elegance. I have also marveled in the ornate and grandeur in the architecture of many European churches and cathedrals. I was interested in what this article may describe some of the thought on this subject. The title is What are the origins of cathedrals and chapels? Samuel L. Boyd, Assistant Professor, University of Colorado Boulder. At theconversation. The article begins by pointing that they are not only places of worship they are also placed to display “religious iconography and art.” Early on before the fourth century the art work and worship itself took place in the catacombs. The article mentioned that people felt this was the safest place “due to persecutions by the Roman government.” There was talk by some historians that there were also other reasons for using the catacombs for this purpose. I learned that the cross was not widely “displayed” until “the Roman emperor Constantine converted to Christianity in the fourth century A.D.”After that other places of worship began being built. That early architecture was “borrowed” from “ancient temples and places of Roman administration.” As far as the ancient temple style was used because they were thought of as spaced where gods or goddess lived.” The article went on to say that cathedrals display art “depicting” Jesus as being “present” in communion, explaining why it is “widely held” in religious history that He is present in the holy places. Here is something I learned from the article many ancient Christian temples were oriented “from the east to the west” and may still be used with that in mind. In describing a second form of “early Christian churches” the Roman administrative buildings were used as model for their construction. I learned that cathedral means “seat” and Roman society thought of these as a place where life was governed. On a smaller scale than temples and cathedrals is a building called a chapel for religious worship.  There is a story about the term chapel. There was a bishop in a church in France who wore a cloak as he walked by a poor man. As the bishop passed the poor man he thought of words in the Gospel of Matthew about helping the poor was helping God. The bishop gave his clock to the poor man. The story said that the poor man was Jesus himself. So pieces of that cloak having touched Jesus caused some to build a house to hold those pieces of that cloth. These small building were chapels “from Latin capella for “little cloak.” 

I have some frozen homemade spaghetti and meat balls in the freezer. I will have that for dinner. 

Photos in my life today

My first challenge upload for today is “green.” What better than the needles of an evergreen tree. 

The next upload was titled “bokeh.” I am a little rusty on creating the bokeh type photos. Christmas trees seem to be the only one in my experience right now. 

The last upload for today is “April Fools day.” This only thing I could come up with that was close to that idea was this joker card. The hat seem to be much the same as an icon on clip art photos that captures an “April fool.” 

Joy

                 family day