February 26, 2020 thought for the day: It's easy to get lost in thought if it's not familiar territory to you. Traditional Proverb

I was awake at four but tossed and turned until six. After Bob got ready for work, I had him help me get some boxes out on the porch for the Kidney Foundation to pick up. It had been raining so I had him look for a dry spot, at least it wasn’t raining at the time.

The photo theme for yesterday was “heart-shaped”. I don’t have much laying around the house that is heart shaped. While I was at food pantry I looked around for cereal boxes and other food boxes that may be advertising the helpful ingredients toward heart health but that was to not avail. When I got home, I thought of a bowl of M&Ms that are filled with dark chocolate (DARK chocolate...heart healthy, right?) So I made a photo prop of the shape of a heart with M&Ms. A bit of a weak idea but it fit the challenge and it was colorful.

I finished the bulletin and sent it to some proofreaders. Then I ran the Roomba in another room, living room Monday and Kitchen today.

I took some crocheting with me to food pantry today. We have had a low turn out for the past couple of weeks. We never have any inkling of how many people will come each day. For the past few months we have had a really good turn out. It’s a puzzle. One of the ladies came up with a great idea. We are going to have a sign made and put it in front of the church each pantry day. That will let folks know in case they forgot the dates that we would be open.

The weather is supposed to be wet for the next couple of day. I will be going to Ash Wednesday Services in the rain/snow mix tonight.

The word today is effort. People pretend not to like grapes when the vines are too high for them to reach, Marguerite de Navarre. An effort made for the happiness of others lifts above ourselves, Lydia M. Child. Without some goal and some efforts to reach it, no man can live,  Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Virtues are acquired through endeavor, Which rests wholly upon yourself. So, to praise others for their virtues Can but encourage one's own efforts, Thomas Paine. Happiness is a choice that requires effort at times, Aeschylus. Travelers, it is late. Life's sun is going to set. During these brief days that you have strength, be quick and spare no effort of your wings, Rumi.  The best effort of a fine person is felt after we have left their presence, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Much effort, much prosperity, Euripides. What is human warfare but just this; an effort to make the laws of God and nature take sides with one party, Henry David Thoreau. We can't control the impressions others form about us, and the effort to do so only debases our character, Epictetus. There is about wisdom a nobility and magnificence in the fact that she doesn't just fall to a person's lot, that each man owes her to his own efforts, that one doesn't go to anyone other than oneself to find her. Seneca the Younger.

Today’s challenge is “white and white” this is another subject that is difficult for me to shoot properly as is black on black. I need some lessons, practice and experience on these two subjects.

I think this is a kind of neat idea. (I am dating myself using the work “neat” in the context). I am mentioning this, neat idea, as a description of the article that I chose today about a man trying to make something that could be a bit of a blight into something that is pretty and adds some safety. This gentleman looked at a stretch of a city block that was full of windows and doors boarded up. The article called this a slapdash fix for break-ins in many areas of large cities. Much of this is caused by owners not able to afford repairs and maintain accurate security. Seeing this conundrum, he found a nonprofit Angels from Parsons Avenue. It was started in July with the purpose to: “to provide free metal security bars to businesses, churches and residential properties in need, and to train people in the skilled trades through an apprenticeship program...” The person the article was interviewing is a self taught welder and is gifted with a creative way of forming security bars where needed. He also added art pieces to detract from any blight that may be attached to the circumstances of the area, there have been metal cyclists, sun-rays and clouds. The designer of this method of security called the commonly used bars on doors and windows a “jailhouse look”. His added art work of angels to spider webs add a portion of aesthetic vision.  The “artist” has called them “security murals”.  According to the article he was contacted by the Columbus Historical Society to help with break-ins in one area of town. A sunray motif was used on windows and door screens. His wife said  “He loves what he does and enjoys giving back, and he’s very passionate about it.”

We are having pork chops and Spanish rice for dinner.

Joy