March 6, 2026. A thought for today, He who grasps too much lets much fall. German Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday

The first challenge yesterday was “oil and water.” I decided to add some green food coloring to give the finished image a bit of color. I was happy to see the hue of yellow oil on top of the green water.

The next assignment was “to close for comfort.” I pulled into the park to give
this shot some thought. Many things came to mind. Then this one came to mind. I decided to try it when I got home. I’m had to get out of the car to make sure I had some space before I got back in the car and turned off the engine. 

The third image I uploaded is “a bottle.” I had this image of two bottles in a collection I use to have. I decided to use it for this challenge.

The last upload was “friends.” This angry bird toy was one of Sweet Pea’s
favorites. We couldn’t find it one day, we looked everywhere. I ordered another one for her. The day later we found the old one behind some hard to move furniture. 

Life today. For the longest time I didn’t understand what a hidden “Easter egg” meant in written material. Now I know. Sometimes when I reread some of my own writings, I think I spot one here and there not only in all the sections of written and shared material but in photos also. Some are intentional but most are otherwise.

It has been a happy and productive day. First the usual morning visits to the internet, news, email, face book. Then I made a detour to work on the annual report. I received an addition that I think is very important for folks to know about in a yearly report. It is about our Sunday School classes. The information was emailed to me last night, took me a few minutes to make the room in the template and entered it. Then I took some time to look for the appropriate photos to add to it. After that, I got the first step to the newsletter for April. Moving on I started the search for the information I like to include in my every-other day letters/blobs. I didn’t plan on going out to day so I had to either find images for photos here in the house or go to my archives. I’m so glad I keep an “archives.” I usually take extra shots on days I am finding chances for good photos for days like this when I need them to fit a specific challenge.   ,

Sue went to Lancaster to see one of the twins. So the house was “empty” except for me and “my shadow” named Bobbi. 

I did take a couple of breaks. One, to load the dish washer which meant clearing the frig too. Then there was kitty care. 

A while back I mentioned a “dream” project of mine that I want to keep to myself for a while. Anyway, I approached work on that project today too. It doesn’t get worked on every day in fact only when I have available “free” time so it is a slow process. Actually it is a multifaceted “dream” project, they are kind of connected. One day maybe one or better all will come to fruition. For the time being just dreams. 

It is gorgeous today with just a touch of overcast now and then. The temperature is 73 degrees. Perfect early spring. 

I am getting to “wordsy” here so I will end for the day. I have to do my online grocery order and my online still life class lecture for the day. 

The word today is set. Good advice is something a man gives when he is too old to set a bad example. Francois de La Rochefoucauld. The knowledge of the world is only to be acquired in the world, and not in a closet. Lord Chesterfield. Before we set our hearts too much upon anything, let us examine how happy those are who already possess it. Francois de La Rochefoucauld. You are young, my son, and, as the years go by, time will change and even reverse many of your present opinions. Refrain therefore awhile from setting yourself up as a judge of the highest matters. Plato. Set all things in their own peculiar place, and know that order is the greatest grace. John Dryden. 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. Cease to ask what the morrow will bring forth. And set down as gain each day that Fortune grants. Horace. The superior man...does not set his mind either for anything, or against anything; what is right he will follow. Confucius. The people have always some champion whom they set over them and nurse into greatness...This and no other is the root from which a tyrant springs; when he first appears he is a protector. Plato. Money alone sets all the world in motion. Publilius Syrus. Ignorance never settles a question. Benjamin Disraeli. Glory is like a circle in the water, Which never ceaseth to enlarge itself, Till by broad spreading it disperses to naught. William Shakespeare. The evil implanted in man by nature spreads so imperceptibly, when the habit of wrong-doing is unchecked, that he himself can set no limit to his shamelessness. Cicero. Good and evil, reward and punishment, are the only motives to a rational creature: these are the spur and reins whereby all mankind are set on work, and guided. John Locke. When my country, into which I had just set my foot, was set on fire about my ears, it was time to stir. It was time for every man to stir. Thomas Paine. Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man's hand. Bible, 1 King 18:44. 

Article summary. We are all born with the honor and gift of stewardship for all living things. That doesn’t mean it has to be on the physical level of care. Some of us are no-loner flexible enough to work when the need requires strength and mobility. But there is more than one way to make things happen given care and wisdom. This article talks about one of the times for a hand in stewardship. The title is How protecting wilderness could mean purposefully tending it, not just leaving it alone. Clare E. Boerigter, Wilderness Fire Research Fellow at the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute, Rocky Mountain Research Station, United States Forest Service. At theconersation.com. It started with noting figures about land in th US. It says there are 110 million acres with 806 protected in “federally designated wilderness.” It compared the size of those measurements to be “slightly larger than the state of California.” It goes on to relate that since with 1964 Wilderness Act they have been left alone. That act states that those areas are to be “untrammeled by man.” As article goes on it is touching on the subject that with climate change and other happening as time passes, age and technology changes things for the good and the not so good . It might be time now to reconsider what may and should be done for a growing Need of more attention and protection? They mentioned something I had not given much thought to, that many of those wilderness areas were for thousands of years watched over, cared for and tended to by Indigenous peoples. It is talking about the areas that are now legally to be “untrammeled by man,” with unknown and possible harmful effects taking place due to inattention. The harmful effects I am thinking about are the “new and unprecedented ecological stressors” taking place as the world moves on. The “indigenous”people tended to the nature of plants and all their life long surroundings by inherited instinct. In areas where indigenous nations still live and care for their space it is accomplished with “spiritual connections between people and the land.” Some are given the right to hunt and fish along with some other considerations like to place or not to place fences and the like. I learned at the end of the article that the Wilderness Act also said the land should be “protected and managed so as to preserve (they’re) natural conditions.” It seems that “careful actions could help protect these precious places for generations to come” as some have already been, proven for thousands of years by indigenous peoples. They were also born with that “honor and gift” that I mentioned and used it. It seems to me by poof in-the-pudding they have done that very thing with honor and respect.

I haven’t used doorcase for dinner recently.  I may do that this evening.

Photos in my life today

One of today’s uploads is “a street sign.” I took this one as I was coming out of the park. I liked the juxtaposition of the two one-way signs as well as a “street” sign of a different nature in the image as well. 

The next assigned upload is “friends.” These two seemed to be
enjoying each others company on a sunny day. 

The last upload for today is “team sport.” I don’t visit sports often. I do pass area where team sport take place. This one is in the park near my house. None of the “boys” were there using it at the time of day that I was there. 

Joy

                               just because...

 March 4, 2026, a thought for today, There is no good in preaching to the hungry. German Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday

The first challenge was “a building”. Though this is more than one building I like the line and the sculptures and their juxtaposition.

This challenge is “broken” it was Sue’s plaster sculpture of a
pineapple. Our former lawn maintenance person accidently knocked it over. It is difficult to put it back together. 

The last upload for yesterday “something old”. This book was printed in 1864. That fits the challenge.

Life today. Well, my thoughts about the newest visiting pastor have been of an “off again, on again” nature. I had never heard of her even though some say she had preached here before (I have been at that church since 1957). Our correspondence since I needed to reach out to get the needed information has been several emails for each of us. It has been interesting as well as educational on my part in more than one area. I researched some of the organizations and studies in her bio that gave me pause for thought. I am eager to experience her message and delivery of same. That will be the deciding factor or a beginning of such for me.

I spent the earlier part of the morning searching for  photos I want to add to the annual report. There is one in particular that I know I took and have in my “cloud” but I am having one heck of a time trying to find it. I realized I was spending too much time this morning on it so I put in aside until tomorrow or tonight when I am in the lounge chair for the evening. I can look for it in the “cloud” via my smart phone rather than being at the desk and computer.  

The bulletin is done and ready for printing tomorrow. I am also going to test a theory of mine for printing the up coming annual report and face my anxiety about the computers slowness. I am going to try to print from my tablet instead of the computer. We’ll see how that works.

In regard to updates on Bobbi, my kitten, I bought her a window “cloth hammock”. She looked at me like “are you nuts?”, turned her nose up and didn’t go near it....until yesterday. The trash truck was picking up the cans. She was so interested in seeing what all the noise was about that she stepped onto the “hammock”. Here ‘s the neat part, she laid down on it after the trash truck left and stayed there for over three hours. That was yesterday. Today .... turned up nose at least for now, maybe ‘til the trash truck comes again next week????

Finally spring is sneaking in like putting a toe in the pool before entering. It is overcast today with the temps more or less inviting at 48 degrees. 

The word today is seldom. People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use. Soren Kierkegaard. What we anticipate seldom occurs; what we least expected generally happens. Benjamin Disraeli. Anger is never without Reason, but seldom with a good One. Benjamin Franklin. The world ridicules a passion which it seldom feels; its scenes, and its interests, distract the mind, deprave the taste, corrupt the heart, and love cannot exist in a heart that has lost the meek dignity of innocence. Ann Radcliffe. Fine words and an insinuating appearance are seldom associated with true virtue. Confucius. The cautious seldom err. Confucius. An object in possession seldom retains the same charm that it had in pursuit. Pliny the Younger.  A dog owns nothing, yet is seldom dissatisfied. Irish Proverb. He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else. Benjamin Franklin. True friendship is like sound health, the value is seldom appreciated until it is lost. Charles Caleb Colton. Things are often spoke and seldom meant. William Shakespeare. Those who do not feel pain seldom think that it is felt. Samuel Johnson. It is seldom that liberty of any kind is lost all at once. David Hume. If thy words be too luxuriant, confine them, lest they confine thee. He that thinks he can never speak enough, may easily speak too much. A full tongue and an empty brain are seldom parted. Francis Quarles. Children have neither a past nor a future. Thus they enjoy the present - which seldom happens to us. Jean De La Bruyere. Beauty is an outward gift, which is seldom despised, except by those to whom it has been refused. Ralph Waldo Emerson. The most successful war seldom pays for its losses. Thomas Jefferson. A man of genius has been seldom ruined but by himself. Samuel Johnson. The man who occupies the first place seldom plays the principal part. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. The rich are always advising the poor, but the poor seldom return the compliment. Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield. The injuries we do and those we suffer are seldom weighed in the same scales. Aesop. How seldom we weigh our neighbor in the same balance with ourselves. Thomas a Kempis. It seldom happens that a premature shoot of genius ever arrives at maturity. Quintilian. 

Article summary. I am looking at yet another study on emotions. This article involves being kind to yourself. I haven’t read it through as I start this missive but I feel it will touch on how feelings for and about yourself ultimately touch on how you feel and act towards others. The article title is Can’t keep your New Year’s resolutions? Try being kind to yourself. Kristin Neff, Associate Professor of Educational Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin. At theconversation.com. As a lead in it is mentioned that people make resolutions and soon give up on them. It says that the problem with that “is how we treat ourselves when we fail”. In the article we see that the author feels that we need to work on a way to deal with “failures”. We may look at our failure with “kindness or hash self-judgement”. How we ultimately deal with it can be to build “resilience” and self compassion. The suggestions on addressing this problem is looking toward “self-kindness, common humanity and mindfulness”. While working on caring for and about ourselves with kindness, we should realize that all humans are “imperfect”. While considering that as part of the formula to being kind to ourselves helps in being aware of the “pain” in our feeling of failure. The article appears to me to lead to a conclusion that once we can control feelings about failure we develop better coping practices and a happier outlook. The term self motivation is said in large part to working on a feeling of personal potential. Once a feeling of self compassion is accomplished failures that may occur are more readily accepted. In trying to develop self compassion we should set goals, work on positive habits and a positive outlook on life. A finding in a study that was preformed on this subject showed that being kind to yourself when you fail or make mistakes leads to emotional support on a personal level. It is my belief that being kind to ourselves on this level not only leads to our own happiness and well-being it translates to our relationships. 

We are having a late lunch/early dinner with Lowell and Rebecca at York Steakhouse.

Photos in my life today

This first upload for today is “daffodil”. This one is from my archives since there are none blooming quite this early in my home town. 

The next one is “sparkling”. I didn’t have much on hand for this one so I chose my blouse with sequins on it. 

This last one for now is “a cloud”. This also is from the archive since we are having a overcast day. 

Joy

                    a little ahead of the season

 March 2, 2026, a thought for today, He that won't listen, must feel. German Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday

My first challenge upload was “fork.” I tried all kinds of layouts with forks and settled on this one. 

The next upload was “my choice” and is one in my series of “mirror
images.” This is a setting at the park near my house. 

Last is “panning.” I am still learning how to do a decent panning image with a smart phone camera. I tried one in traffic but couldn’t find a place to park to be out of traffic while I was shooting. It takes a minute or so to get a panning with movement. 

Life today. We had a surprise snow fall last night. As I was waking up, I glanced out the window and saw a white covering over the grass, car, driveway and garage roof.  There is probably at least an inch maybe two. I don’t want to pay someone to shovel the snow when we are supposed to have rain and higher temperature beginning tomorrow. 

I have the back part of the bulletin done. The person giving the message can’t send me what I need until at least Tuesday. I have a feeling I am going to have trouble with this one. She asked that I send her a sample bulletin in Microsoft Word format. The bulletin is done in Publisher. The layouts are larger in Publisher and will not convert back to Publisher from Word. I did as she asked and sent it in Word. Hopefully I will be able to cut and paste. This is a bit of a problem since I am already working on the annual report.....so well, such is life. 

I have one portion of the annual report done. Now I am waiting for information that I need to update three of the pages from last years report. Another person has to send me that data. Then I need to find the photos and graphic to finish it. Next on the agenda will be keeping the fingers crossed that the copier will wake up and print. 

I just looked out the window. To my surprise it is beginning to melt!! What a winter we have had. It looks like it will be ending soon. Spring is on it’s way. 

The word today is seize.  Know the true value of time; snatch, seize, and enjoy every moment of it. No idleness; no laziness; no procrastination; never put off till tomorrow what you can do today. Lord Chesterfield. Next to knowing when to seize an opportunity, the most important thing in life is to know when to forego an advantage. Benjamin Disraeli. I am certain of nothing but the holiness of the heart's affections and the truth of imagination. What the imagination seizes as beauty must be truth - whether it existed before or not. John Keats. His intelligence seized on a subject, his genius embraced it, his eloquence illuminated it. Paterculus. Only learn to seize good fortune, for good fortune is always here. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Why not seize the pleasure at once, how often is happiness destroyed by preparation, foolish preparations. Jane Austen. If you must break the law, do it to seize power: in all other cases observe it. Julius Caesar. Plunge boldly into the thick of life, and seize it where you will, it is always interesting. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. I've got big shoes to fill. This is my chance to do something. I have to seize the moment. Andrew Jackson. Seize the day, and put the least possible trust in tomorrow. Horace. 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. Lose not yourself in a far off time, seize the moment that is thine. Friedrich Schiller. There are goods so opposed that we cannot seize both, but, by too much prudence, may pass between them at too great a distance to reach either. Samuel Johnson. Begin doing what you want to do now. We are not living in eternity. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand - and melting like a snowflake. Francis Bacon. Among the map makers of each generation are the risk takers, those who see the opportunities, seize the moment and expand man's vision of the future. Ralph Waldo Emerson. The right man is the one who seizes the moment. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. The Gods cannot help those who do not seize opportunities. Confucius. When fortune wishes to bring mighty events to a successful conclusion, she selects some man of spirit and ability who knows how to seize the opportunity she offers. Niccolo Machiavelli.

Article summary. I am interested in human attitudes, feelings and actions related to health, well being and happiness. So this article interested me. I saw that it is written by someone in religious studies. I am interested in observing that side of this story also. The title is More than a feeling – thinking about love as a virtue can change how we respond to hate. Tucker J. Gregor, Doctoral Candidate in Religious Studies, University of Iowa. At theconversation.com. The article started pointing out that love is happiness and affection, hate destroys, opposites.  It began by saying this just describes emotions. As a religious ethicist the author wanted to study how love entwines with our moral lives and those around us. I learned that he suggests it may be a virtue rather than an emotion. As I read on, I found that scientists believe the love feeling is a releasing “biochemical processes” and it also needs “practice” and could be a virtue. Therefore, it is better explained as helping to lead to better feelings of health and well being. The article talked about Aristotle’s writing on the subject of virtue. He wrote that learning how to act and feel in all the right ways shapes virtues and can be accomplished with repetition. To build on this effort Aristotle wrote it takes being deliberate in efforts toward moral values, giving to the poor without expecting a gain of one sort or other is an as example. As the article moved on the Christian outlooks on the subject of love was noted as it takes into account emotion, affection, duty and virtue. Mutual friendships are a part of all of this. Then Aristotle reappears in the story as mentioning our capacity to be able to choose builds on are best attributes. He felt this growth leads to how we relate to others. His beliefs leaned on the theological side as a gift of God’s grace to be able to choose like to “embrace or reject.” As the article is nearing an end it mentions that if we can see love as a virtue rather than an emotion we can better see the feelings of hatred. As we see and experience love as a virtue, it is easier to control our thinking and then response to hatred. This practice can lead to things like better controlled  peaceful protest and the likes as well as better empathy. 

I am having something from the freeze for dinner and making a grape costata to go with it.

Photos in my life today

The first upload in the group is “macro Monday.” This is one of the leaves on my fig tree.

Next is “a toy.” This only one of the toys in the toy box we keep in a corner of our visiting younger groups of family and friends.

The last challenge for this feather is “inside”. I tried shooting from outside the
front door but I was getting to many reflections and didn’t have the patience to wait for better lighting. So I used a feather placed “inside” one of out decorative bowls. 

Joy

                               setup for learning to “climb the ladder”

 February 28, 2026, a thought for today, Poverty and hunger have many learned disciples. German Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday

This first challenge upload was “on the shelf.” This is one of the several “shelves” in the house. I hope to show at least partial differences in the many photos that are found in my home. 

Next is “texture: close up.” This is a part of a fireplace in one of my grandchildren’s earlier home. 

The last upload for yesterday was “culture.” I felt that a neighborhood image can be a sign of culture. 

Life today. I overslept just a bit but it wasn’t because Bobbi didn’t try hard enough to get me up at the usual “feeding” time, or maybe it was just that I wasn’t cooperating.  

The first thing on the computer after the news headline checks, the email and facebook checks. After that I got back to the annual report. I now have twelve of the fifteen pages done. I am waiting for three more sections to be sent to me. Then I need to send it to someone else to tell me any new groups we have in the church and any changes in staff. I got the cover made. The last thing I will have to do on it will be any graphic or photos I need to put in as filler and dress up. 

Today was grocery pick up day, now that is out of the way with groceries all put away. While I was out I got the photos I need. I am not completely happy with the choices but every time I saw one I thought would work it eluded me somehow. One was on the back of the van in front of me at the stop light. I rushed for camera setting to get it before the truck moved, not quick enough....then I followed him to the next light, just missed that one too. I found one to take its place when I drove though the metro park lot. The others were one’s I had to take quickly or I would have lost them too.

The weather is near perfect today. I hope it is not just a tiny sample for just a minute in time. We are supposed to have a good bit of rain in the next few days. The temperatures are predicted to be in the springtime range though. I am going to have to start thinking about my window/senior gardens. I want to see what may come back up from last year. 

The word today is see. Tact is the ability to describe others as they see themselves. Abraham Lincoln. If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants. Isaac Newton. They are ill discoverers that think there is no land, when they can see nothing but sea. Sir Francis Bacon. All human situations have their inconveniences. We feel those of the present but neither see nor feel those of the future; and hence we often make troublesome changes without amendment, and frequently for the worse. Benjamin Franklin. It is a profitable thing, if one is wise, to seem foolish. Aeschylus. Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see. Arthur Schopenhauer. The world is governed more by appearances than realities, so that it is fully as necessary to seem to know something as to know it. Daniel Webster. If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things. Rene Descartes. When we are unable to find tranquility within ourselves, it is useless to seek it elsewhere. Francois de La Rochefoucauld. In great affairs men show themselves as they wish to be seen; in small things they show themselves as they are. Nicholas Chamfort. Laws are like sausages. It's better not to see them being made. Otto von Bismarck. Man is equally incapable of seeing the nothingness from which he emerges and the infinity in which he is engulfed. Blaise Pascal. One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Man seeketh in society comfort, use and protection. Sir Francis Bacon. What you don't see with your eyes, don't invent with your mouth. Jewish Proverb. When you close your doors, and make darkness within, remember never to say that you are alone, for you are not alone; nay, God is within, and your genius is within. And what need have they of light to see what you are doing? Epictetus. I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand. Confucius. When thou seest an eagle, thou seest a portion of genius; lift up thy head! William Blake. It is as hard to see one's self as to look backwards without turning around. Henry David Thoreau. 

Article summary. I like to consider feelings. How people handle the parts of their lives that show emotion. I think about how feelings affect not only ourselves but also those around us in terms of health and well-being. This article title is Meekness isn’t weakness – once considered positive, it’s one of the ‘undersung virtues’ that deserve defense today. Timothy J. Pawl, Professor of Philosophy, University of St. Thomas. At theconversation.com. In some further research I found that meekness means “strength under control” and “softness of temper.” The article cited a passage in the bible “blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth”. Many see meekness as weakness, a submission to “oppression.” As I read on, I gathered that in the article this characteristic it may be seen in such a person as slow, obedient, passive, condensing. I learned that apparently our ancestors saw these signs to be “virtues”. It’s my understanding that an argument can be settled in a calm manner. Someone being “meek” may settle the event by calmly taking a softer way to do that. Self control may be used in connection with meekness. Docility is another word aligning with meekness. I get the feel from the article we may want to “rename” the word and emotion called meek. Something with a moral virtue feel and restraint attachment. I think the word meek is important to our language it just needs to be more understood, for that matter, more respected.

I think it will back tortilla shell pizza for dinner or hamburgers. 

Photos in my life today

My first challenge is “architecture.” I didn’t get a capture while I was out and about so I chose to share this one on my neighborhood block.

The next upload assignment is titled  “kindness.” I feel signs like this show some form of “kindness” by the person who chose to show it. 

The last one for today is “hand.” I felt what better way to show a hand, one
giving and one receiving.

joy 

        

                my four composites of photo a day images for the month of February 2026

 February 26, 2026, a thought for today, Even a hair casts its shadow. German Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday

This first challenge upload was titled “garden.” In my area of the world gardens are “resting” in this winter season. I used a few of the plants in my house plant garden for this shoot. 

The next is titled “something sweet.” This is a sample of the variety of “zero sugar” cookies I keep on hand. They are zero sugar but at the same time sweet, at least as sweet as a type 2 diabetic should have on occasion. 

The last upload was “against the wall.” This is an image of my growing baby fig tree plant. 

Life today. My “work” week is done. By that I mean the weekly printing is done. I got to the church shortly after eight. I am getting more and more fond of printing directly from the copier rather than the computer. We have the annual report coming up in a few weeks. That will mean using the computer rather than the copier. That computer is so unreliable I get near panic attacks when I anticipate the trouble I will have with printing from that source. On that subject, the annual report subject, I have promising start on it. That doesn’t mean I am in the clear with it though. I have several pages to go, that means counting on people getting the committee reports to me in a timely fashion. They now have two days until the deadline.

On the way home I did the usual, dropped off mail and stopped at Wendy’s. As I was heading the rest of the way home, I was on the look out for photo for the day. There is one in my calendar of photos of the day for today that will have to come from the archives. It is for a peek into spring. That isn’t very clear today. The snow is gone, the sun is nice and bright against a gorgeous blue sky with a temperature sitting at 40 degrees but there is no noticeable hint of spring. 

I have the laundry started. I also took time to make a no bake eclair cake. It is supposed to be in the frig for four hours before it will be fully set and ready to cut. Now I have to clean up the kitchen along with a couple of other chores besides folding the laundry. 

As soon as I get the uploads done, I hope to have a half hour for my on line still life class lecture before getting something ready for dinner.  

The word today is second. The second half of a man's life is made up of nothing but the habits he has acquired during the first half. Fyodor Dostoevsky. All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident. Arthur Schopenhauer. Look to your health; and if you have it, praise God and value it next to conscience; for health is the second blessing that we mortals are capable of, a blessing money can't buy. Izaak Walton. If you aspire to the highest place, it is no disgrace to stop at the second, or even the third, place. Cicero. There will be little rubs and disappointments everywhere, and we are all apt to expect too much; but then, if one scheme of happiness fails, human nature turns to another; if the first calculation is wrong, we make a second better: we find comfort somewhere. Jane Austen. A friend is a second self.  Aristotle. In this world second thoughts, it seems, are best. Euripide. 6Sleep that knits up the ravell'd sleave of care, the death of each day's life, sore labour's bath, balm of hurt minds, great nature's second course, chief nourisher in life's feast. William Shakespeare. Were it offered to my choice, I should have no objection to a repetition of the same life from its beginning, only asking the advantages authors have in a second edition to correct some faults in the first. Benjamin Franklin. Happiness is a choice that requires effort at times. Aeschylus. The nimble lie Is like the second-hand upon a clock; We see it fly; while the hour-hand of truth Seems to stand still, and yet it moves unseen, And wins, at last, for the clock will not strike Till it has reached the goal. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.  For every minute you remain angry, you give up sixty seconds of peace of mind. Ralph Waldo Emerson. It is often said that second thoughts are best. So they are in matters of judgment but not in matters of conscience. John Henry Newman. 

Article summary. I had my mind back on animals, in particular, pets today. I spotted this article and decided to take a look. I like seeing different outlooks on most subjects. The title to this article is Pets and owners  you can learn a lot about one by studying the other. Paul McGreevy. Professor of Animal Behaviour and Animal Welfare Science, University of Sydney. Pauleen Bennett, Professor and Head of Department, Psychology and Counselling, College of Science, Health and Engineering, La Trobe University. At theconversation.com. It opened by saying something I have heard before that pets and owners become “similar” or readable, my word of description, as time goes by. It goes on to mention in one sense of that thought a pet’s health can be “influenced”  by the “personality” of their owner. For instance if the owner is of an anxious type of personality they may report to the vet of their pet symptoms with a more stressful way of expressing the problem giving it a more negative outlook. They could be conveying an over aggressive behavior or something of that nature that is not in reality the case. In the anxious type of owner the handing of a pet in a “working” kind of situation such as in a competitive show or a working farm dog the pet will respond from the experience of the owners behavior. Another example of the owners behavior affecting the pet is an abusive kind of relationship. The pet may show more personality problems and negative signs to and of their welfare than they would have with a different owner. When the owners are of a more agreeable nature the pet is healthier and better behaved. The owner would most likely be more calm in their descriptions to a vet. As an aid in the descriptions when it comes to veterinary visits the article mentions having a video to show. 

We haven’t had “plain ol’ hamburgers” lately, maybe that will be dinner or maybe something from the freezer. 

Photos in my life today

This upload assignment is titled “spring.” Well, the season hasn’t shown its face yet so this one is from my archives. 

 

Next is “it’s a sign” that someone needs a little support while walking. It also suggests maybe it was forgotten for a moment. 

Last is “in my bag”. This is my “fanny pack” purse. I have to admit that I
“straightened” it up a bit before this shot. 

Joy

   

                                                           I guess I’m anxious for spring?

February 24, 2026, a thought for today, Judges should have two ears, both alike. German Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday

This first upload challenge was “movement.” This was as close as I could get to movement today. She was having a good time with the ball and string. 

Next is the challenge “bubble.” This was the sink when dumped a pan of soapy
water after scrubbing it. 

The last one in these uploads is “a gift I received”. I don’t read hard copy much anymore but I will read these gifts I received. 

Life today. My kitten is growing quickly before my eyes. I seem to be seeing it as a child growing and developing. Since their lives are shorter than a human life their time of changes as they grow seems to be much faster than in a human child. She use to play with certain toys exclusively, now not so much. She now wants something new, ones needing more bodily experiences. Her moods seem to be changing. Some habits she use to express have changed to a different form. There are some staying the same like laying by my legs when I am “down” for the evening in the lounge chair....I hope that one doesn’t change, I need that. She will be an “adult” (for food change) next month on the 20th making her twelve months old, about 15 years in human time. Twelve months to fifteen years.

I had some time to work just a tiny bit on starting the annual report for church. It is due in about two weeks. It will take that time to get all the reports and a still gives me time to put them together in the booklet. 

I stopped writing this letter to go to the church to help at our food pantry. This was a very slow day. My regular pardner working on the computers to do the checking in was not able to be there today so we had someone sitting in for her. We had time during longer breaks to check our cell phones for things going on in other areas of our lives. This was someone I have not met before, it was nice meeting a new friend. 

On the way home I went by Wendy’s for a sandwich but the line was out to the street so I switched over to McDonalds. Back home, I had to take a few minutes to set up a couple of the photos for today and get them cataloged. Now I am ready for all of the uploads. 

The word today is saw. ...whoever saw old age that did not applaud the past and condemn the present? Michel de Montaigne. I never saw an ugly thing in my life: for let the form of an object be what it may - light, shade, and perspective will always make it beautiful. John Constable. The man who backbites an absent friend, nay, who does not stand up for him when another blames him, the man who angles for bursts of laughter and for the repute of a wit, who can invent what he never saw, who cannot keep a secret - that man is black at heart: mark and avoid him. Cicero. The world is not yet exhausted; let me see something tomorrow which I never saw before. Samuel Johnson. I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free. Michelangelo. I threw my cup away when I saw a child drinking from his hands at the trough. Diogenes. A dog barks when his master is attacked. I would be a coward if I saw that God's truth is attacked and yet would remain silent. John Calvin. I'm not smart, but I like to observe. Millions saw the apple fall, but Newton was the one who asked why. William Hazlitt. Dreams surely are difficult, confusing, and not everything in them is brought to pass for mankind. For fleeting dreams have two gates: one is fashioned of horn and one of ivory. Those which pass through the one of sawn ivory are deceptive, bringing tidings which come to nought, but those which issue from the one of polished horn bring true results when a mortal sees them. Homer. We would frequently be ashamed of our good deeds if people saw all of the motives that produced them. Francois De La Rochefoucauld. You will not enter paradise until you have faith. And you will not complete your faith until you love one another. Muhammad. What each man feared would happen to himself, did not trouble him when he saw that it would ruin another. Virgil. In my deepest wound I saw your glory, and it dazzled me. Saint Augustine. My good works, however wretched and imperfect, have been made better and perfected by Him Who is my Lord: He has rendered them meritorious. As to my evil deeds and my sins, He hid them at once. The eyes of those who saw them, He made even blind; and He has blotted them out of their memory. Saint Teresa of Avila.  

Article summary. I’m interested in art, all about art, all of the kinds of art, and about its power on the soul. I like learning about the minutia of all it’s forms and ways of connecting with the universe and each of our lives. My own attempts with my photography may seem simple at times but I will keep on expressing what I see in my world. My sister was blessed with the gift in her “eye” for design and form in sketches, and painting. It seems to come naturally for her. The title to the article is Michelangelo hated painting the Sistine Chapel – and never aspired to be a painter to begin with. Anna Swartwood House, Associate Professor of Art History, University of South Carolina. At theconversation.com. I was amazed to read in the first sentence that in the February 2026 a 5 inch by 4 inch drawing by Michelangelo of a woman’s foot sold for twenty-seven million dollars. They say it is believed to be a “study” piece for a portion of the ceiling in the Sistine Chapel in Rome. I learned that before Michelangelo began the paintings in the chapel he sketched out the whole composition in details in a series of drawings. It was mentioned that about fifty of the original drawings “survive” today. The sale has pulled to the forefront of thinking in the art field Michelangelo’s “devotion” to drawing. As I continued to read I learned that he didn’t feel that painting was his prime interest, sculpting was. In 1506 one of his sculpting pieces was “put on hold” in order to use the “funds” for a tomb. In apparent anger Michelangelo closed his studio and ordered his “wagon loads” of marble to be sold. In 1508 he was “lured” back to Rome to paint at the Sistine. He wrote to his father saying that painting  “is not my profession.” It is said that he felt painting in the chapel was backbreaking work. He wrote a poem to a friend telling many of the things that annoyed him as he was working on the now treasured painting. In the poem he shows some of his drawings that would go into the work. Many of his sketches showed the “architectural renderings and schemes to organize the huge space.” He sketched body parts and gestures that would become part of the Sistine. Many of the drawings are in the British Museum. I was interested in the part of the article that mentions that doctors today “are impressed by the anatomical precision of the muscles and veins of each foot” of the “David” statue by Michelangelo. In 1534 he was “commissioned” to paint “The Last Judgment” on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel. It was started later when Pope Paul III called him the “Chief Architect, Sculptor, and Painter to the Vatican Palace.”

I didn’t have the chili mac I was planning on having the other day. I think I will have it tonight. 

Photos in my life today

This upload was supposed to by “3:00pm”. I was about two minutes off when I remembered I needed this shot. BTW that clock was one of my “refinement” gifts.

This challenge is titled “a color I like.” I like almost any and all colors but the one I seem to favor most often is blue.

The next assignment challenge is titled “a fruit or vegetable.” I chose a banana just as I was about to have a snack. 

Joy

 

                                                                                 peace

 February 22, 2026, a thought for today, What comes from the heart, goes to the heart. German Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday

My firs upload for yesterday was “something red”. This is just loose cover for a filing cabinet. 

The next upload is “my choice” and is one from my series of “partials”. Just a portion of my car door against the background of the garage door.

The last upload for the day is “lucky”. I tied several shot of pennies in different space.  I had one for pennies in a jar in the kitchen one that I am told is supposed to be lucky. I decided to use this on of several pennies in the heads up position. 

I learned yesterday that I had made a faux pas on a part of the newsletter this month. We had already printed and mailed it when I got the heads up. It was too late for the hard copy issue but I made the correction to the email copy and sent it to all church members on our email contact list. I had put the minister’s page for March in properly. However, when I saved it to the flash drive for printing at the church I inadvertently copied the file without the update. I got the message in one part in capital letters.

Life today. We just had a light covering of snow on the grass, none sticking on the streets. After the over abundant snow fall we had a few weeks ago I feel a bit anxious. The predictions are for much less this time but I wanted to get an errand run after church just in case. 

Church was great. This minister always gives a thorough message with feeling and meaning. The usual members were there, small in number but with love and comfort. There seemed to be an extra one child for Sunday School. 

I made the stop at Kroger for meds and a few other items before heading the rest of the way home. 

I got right back to this letter. I formatted the photos I had taken while I was out and about for uploads, key wording for future searches and filing. Then I took a break for a couple of household quick pick ups. Now it’s time to refresh for the week. 

I will also take a half hour to listen to my online class lecture.

The word today is save. First love is a kind of vaccination which saves a man from catching the complaint a second time. Honore de Balzac. Work saves us from three great evils: boredom, vice and need. Voltaire. Make all you can, save all you can, give all you can. John Wesley. I saw that all things I feared, and which feared me, had nothing good or bad in them save insofar as the mind was affected by them. Baruch Spinoza. Knowledge must come through action; you can have no test which is not fanciful, save by trial. Sophocles. Cowards are cruel, but the brave Love mercy, and delight to save. John Gay. The training of children is a profession, where we must know how to waste time in order to save it. Jean-Jacques Rousseau. A strict observance of the written laws is doubtless one of the high virtues of a good citizen, but it is not the highest. The laws of necessity, of self preservation, of saving our country when in danger, are of higher obligation. Thomas Jefferson. He who created us without our help will not save us without our consent. Saint Augustine. It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world. Thomas Jefferson. For just when ideas fail, a word comes in to save the situation. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Love must precede hatred, and nothing is hated save through being contrary to a suitable thing which is loved. And hence it is that every hatred is caused by love. Thomas Aquinas. There is nothing good or evil save in the will. Epictetus. There is nothing evil save that which perverts the mind and shackles the conscience. Saint Ambrose. A day may sink or save a realm. Alfred Lord Tennyson. Man was created to praise, reverence, and serve God our Lord and in this way to save his soul. The other things on Earth were created for man's use, to help him reach the end for which he was created. Saint Ignatius. The people will save their government, if the government itself will allow them. Abraham Lincoln. Even if we stand at the very summit of virtue, it is by mercy that we shall be saved. Saint John Chrysostom. How difficult it is to save the bark of reputation from the rocks of ignorance. Petrarch. Godly people are waiting for the Lord; therefore they live, therefore they are saved, therefore they receive what has been promised. Martin Luther. 

Article summary. I like to see the good in, for and of people. So I often look for subjects that touch on those  qualities in our lives. It is interesting how they can be felt in both giving and receiving. The title is The lifesaving power of gratitude (or, why you should write that thank you note. Richard Gunderman, Chancellor's Professor of Medicine, Liberal Arts, and Philanthropy, Indiana University. At theconversation.com. The beginning of the story started with asking folks to write a thank you note presumingly to get a comment on how it made the recipient feel. In one of those tests it was found that the “impact” was underestimated. Another study showed the benefits of writing a thank you note. They had participants write thank you notes over a three week period. This test showed a feel of satisfaction, there was a feel of happiness and a reduction in depression. As it went on it compared experiencing bad feeling when we experience problems in our jobs, relationship, or finances be feel “regardful”. On the other hand if we “focus” more on finding what we are grateful for make our emotion more on the happy side. This so far shows how our feelings relate to our health and a more pleasant feel in the relationships in our lives. Th good feelings may contribute to a better feeling for others with connections around us. If we focus on being generous to others and being thankful for whatever blessing we experience we are building a “grateful” attitude making our lives healthier and happier. The article ended by relating that being conscious of our feeling of gratitude can not only enrich our own lives but the lives of those around us.  

I think it will be chili mac for dinner. 

Photos in my life today

The first upload for today is “a beautiful sight”. I have always admired the design and intricacy on this wood and the lay out of the architecture.

Next up is another of the “my choice” and another of my series of “partials”. This is my precious kitten trying to hide in a plastic grocery bag. 

The last upload for now is “5:00pm”. I shot this last night. It is of the clock on
the cable box. 

Joy 

                                        room to grow