March 19, 2020 Thought for the day: I never was satisfied with "I will, I will." One "take this" is better than two "I will give you." Spanish Proverb

Stupid me....I set my alarm to get up at seven this morning and there was no real reason for that according to my age-old theory that staying in bed too long in the morning is wasting the light of the day.

Onward and upward, I am still keeping up with the photo a day, as I mentioned before it is not only a hobby but it offers a release of stress as well as a sharing of the universal language of art as a means of comfort to others, hopefully. Yesterday’s theme, “close-up”. I made several shots and chose this one after studying the others as enlarged in my Photoshop darkroom.

My agenda is mild for the day. I got the bulletin printed yesterday. Then came home to find that the Presbytery elected to close all church activity for a while during this darkened time of virus.

I updated the church’s web pages including facebook sites to spread the word to any of our congregants and others who may visit those pages for our input.

Sue needed to get some errands done so I took her where she needed to go. When we got home, I started my laundry, and guess what? ..... I started it LATE AGAIN today. I will be working on in into the evening after dinner is over and cleared away. 

My cousin Danny, who has been anxious to come back to Ohio from Texas since his mothers recent death, finally arrived at another cousin’s a few hours ago. He had to stop several time to get gas. I am relieved he got here safely. I am sure he is as frightened as all of us are of the virus, which tops off the grief of the loss of his nearest relative, a lonely trip based on all the money he has left to his name, no job at the moment and no permanent home. He’s young but still....

The word for today eternal. The eternal stars shine out again, so soon as it is dark enough, Thomas Carlyle. Public opinion contains all kinds of falsity and truth, but it takes a great man to find the truth in it. The great man of the age is the one who can put into words the will of his age, tell his age what its will is, and accomplish it. What he does is the heart and the essence of his age, he actualizes his age. The man who lacks sense enough to despise public opinion expressed in gossip will never do anything great, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. So a voice in the mountain is enough to let loose an avalanche. A word too much may be followed by a caving in. If the word had not been spoken, it would not have happened, Victor Hugo. How is it that we do not die of love in seeing that God Himself could do no more than shed His divine blood for us drop by drop? When as man He was preparing for death, He made Himself our food in order to give us life. God becomes food, bread for his creatures. Is this not enough to make us die of love? Teresa of Avila. All that's necessary for the forces of evil to win in the world is for enough good men to do nothing, Edmund Burke. Just living is not enough... One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower, Hans Christian Andersen. Time is the only test of honest men, one day is space enough to know a rogue, Sophocles. Give me the benefit of your convictions, if you have any; but keep your doubts to yourself, for I have enough of my own, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. It is not enough to be busy. So are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about? We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us. ... Believe you can and you're halfway there, Henry David Thoreau. It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop, Confucius. Time stays long enough for anyone who will use it, Leonardo da Vinci. 

Today’s theme is “black and white”. I didn’t set the camera to shoot black and white as it has the capacity to do but used the darkroom to make that change. I used several disinfectant products for the shoot as a nod to the crisis we are having. That is a notable image to the other purpose of my blog, a journal of daily happenings in my life and the world around me.

In a time like this, or any time actually, it is good to see how much kindness there is out there and how many ingenious ways of doing good for other are being found and used. The article I chose today talks about some of the “good deeds” folks around our town are doing for others in the crisis. It opened with telling of two ladies walking up and down the street with plastic bags. They put the bags with a flyer in it that said  “Help us help them!” (The “them” is hungry children) on door handles. In less than a week one of the ladies said she has raised $11,550 for her new “Feed the Kids Columbus” organization. Food in the way of  oatmeal cups, granola, boxed macaroni, and cheese, etc have been given to kids.  Another “good deed”, a family leaving jigsaw puzzles on their porch for people to take to relieve the boredom of being home bound. The article mentioned that if we give help “we can take back some control over a seemingly uncontrollable situation and feel a little more at ease.” A person who delivers Meals on Wheels in the Westgate area knocked on a door and waited. When the door was answered the lady said “I’m so happy to see you”. She had been worried that the Meals on Wheels may have been cancelled due to the virus. LifeCare Alliance has made some changes because of the outbreak, one is that people don’t have to sign for their meals as before. It was mentioned that with so many people off work for now there are more folks trying to find ways to help others. Another story of help is about an Ohio State University student who was afraid she had no where to go when the dorms were closed, she was offered a room by a lady who runs Zora’s House (a community space in the Weinland Park neighborhood for women of color). Another area of help, a chain of volunteers who would pick up groceries and prescriptions for the elderly, people with limited mobility and other self quarantined in the community. Stated at the end of the article: “Everyone is (seems to be) looking for ways to help in this sudden and shocking process of self-quarantine”.

I am in the process of deciding the dinner menu as I am multi tasking the rest of todays agenda. It looks like it is leaning toward creamed chipped beef. The prep time had to be considered and the food supply also.

Joy