December 19, 2019 thought for the day: Don't let the windows of your home be so small that the light of the sun cannot enter your rooms. Eskimo Proverb

I have had a build up of things to get done before Christmas so I have gotten behind in my writing. One of the major things was the unloading of the storage unit. Lowell and Mick unloaded it themselves, there was supposed to be two other people who Lowell hired to help but they didn’t show up. I was amazed that they did it in about two hours. As things come back in, I am finding that there are some that I can let go. We did some reduction of “things” as we packed, I am able to do more as it is unpacked. I should have done it in the packing stage to reduce some of the labor of moving and storage but it didn’t work that way, not for me any way.

On December 16th the photo theme was “wrapping”. To me, the shot I took was a bit boring and I didn’t have anything else to choose from to I added an onboard Photoshop filter to make it a bit wavy.

We have boxes and boxes to unload. There is no way I can get it done until after Christmas. There are just to many other obligations and things I want to savor over the holidays. The boxes can wait another couple of weeks.

I have two things out of the way for this week, the weekly bulletin and the poinsettia dedication pamphlet. Now for the birthday party for Jesus and then the Christmas eve bulletin.

On the 17th  of December the photo theme was “tree”. My tree, as I think I have mentioned earlier in my blog, my Christmas tree this year is a Charlie Brown type tree so I picked a tree in the yard with a bit of snow left on the branches.

Fortunately I have the ‘shopping” done. Due to my “station’ in life at this point I am buying only for the children. I have the family calendars for the others and they are done too. I have a little wrapping to do.

I have officially crossed the line to the eightieth year of my life. It’s a little scarey and I have some getting use to to that number. A bit of sadness occurred to add to that momentous date, one of my cousins passed away. She and her mother lived with my family for several years of my early life, up to my teen age. We haven’t been terribly close for several years; nevertheless, we have had many shared memories.

I have managed to get the printing done at church this morning, the laundry started, the dish washer unloaded and reloaded and one of the infamous boxes almost unloaded.

The word is courtesy. Manners are of more importance than laws. Manners are what vex or soothe, corrupt or purify, exalt or debase, barbarize or refine us, by a constant, steady, uniform, insensible operation, like that of the air we breathe, Edmund Burke. Do thou restrain the haughty spirit in thy breast, for better far is gentle courtesy, Homer. A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds. A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love, St. Basil.    To be humble to superiors is duty, to equals courtesy, to inferiors nobleness,  Benjamin Franklin. When music and courtesy are better understood and appreciated, there will be no war, Confucius. Intelligence and courtesy not always are combined; Often in a wooden house a golden room we find,  Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. There is a courtesy of the heart; it is allied to love. From its springs the purest courtesy in the outward behavior, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Manners must adorn knowledge and smooth its way through the world, Lord Chesterfield.  

On the 18th “decoration” was the theme of the day. Since I have all the boxed to unload in my house there is little room for decorations. I attended a Christmas luncheon with my literary club this afternoon. The hostess had her house decorated from top to bottom so I picked a view of her decorating motifs. 

I think it’s interesting to hear about happy things that go on in neighborhoods not far from us that have had major problems. The article is about a neighborhood that has been “depressed” for a while. But for this season a group of 70 people got together on the Sullivant Avenue, one of the main streets in the neighborhood, to preform Christmas carols.  From the Hilltop to the “bottom land off Franklinton has been a troubled area of the city. The event called “Songs on Sullivant” used this first time event to add a bit of good spirit for the season. One resident of this area remarked that “I’ve never lived in a place where I felt such a community.” ” Many joined the impromptu choir when they heard about it being organized. One lady was driving down the street and heard about the event. She stopped and joined in.

The theme today is “joy is...”. I chose a calendar image with Happy New Year in January 1st square trying to relate that I am looking forward to the new year with joy.

I am going to make tuna casserole for dinner.

Joy