July 19, 2020 thought for the day: You surrender your freedom where you deposit your secret. Spanish Proverb

It’s been a beautiful Sunday with a touch of disappointment added. There was a plan to spend a couple of hours with family today but the plans were changed due to the pandemic. One of the members was near a person who tested positive so we had to table the plans for another day. I wonder how many of us have had similar incidences in this time of awe and learning.

The photo challenge for July 18 offered a wide expanse of space, the “sky”. Although some days the sky can be dull with very little interest. Yesterday there was more there, loads of white fluffy clouds.

We had our first communion at church this morning. It has been at least three months without this comfort. It was done with safety in mind. Social distancing, masks when in motion, and bread and juice separated with care. The service and comradeship refreshed and renewed my soul for another week.

I have a few minor chores to get done before the end of the day but they are purposely limited since this is Sunday, my day of quiet celebration and rest.

The word is introduction.  Education is a companion which no misfortune can depress, no crime can destroy, no enemy can alienate, no despotism can enslave. At home, a friend, abroad, an introduction, in solitude a solace and in society an ornament. It chastens vice, it guides virtue, it gives at once grace and government to genius. Without it, what is man? A splendid slave, a reasoning savage, Joseph Addison. All inquiry into antiquity, all curiosity respecting the Pyramids, the excavated cities, Stonehenge, the Ohio Circles, Mexico, Memphis,--is the desire to do away this wild, savage, and preposterous There and Then, and introduce in its place the Here and Now, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Shakespeare knew the human mind, and its most minute and intimate workings, and he never introduces a word, or a thought, in vain or out of place; if we do not understand him, it is our own fault, Samuel Taylor Coleridge. I think it would be worth the while to introduce a school of children to such [an oak grove], that they may get an idea of the primitive oaks before they are all gone, instead of hiring botanists to lecture to them when it is too late, Henry David Thoreau. 

Today theme is “flowers”. As I left church I noticed there were a few flowers still blooming. Just to have a wider collection to choose from I drove by the park searching for possible shots. Then cruised up and down a couple of streets in the neighborhood. By the time I got home I had a pretty good cache. I used a painterly filter on this one to give it a bit of a new look.

I like to see old places and architecture saved. If only walls could talk to tell what they have seen, what life was like when the walls were new and then through the years. With that in mind this article title caught my attention. “Preserving history, Donors, Fairfield County parks unite to find new purposes for old log home, farmhouse”. Two houses were acquired by the Fairfield County Park District. One was a log home from the time of the 1849s and the other a century old brick farmhouse. The plan are to serve visitors and staff with hopes of having renovations completed by the end of the year. The building that turned out to be a made of logs had been covered with siding and wasn’t recognized in its original construction. That was discovered when  some repairs had to be made after some roof damage in a windstorm. It was finally donated to the park district. The structure was build in 1829 by and English immigrant. Plans are to have ti used for educational programming and public events. The brick farmhouse was built in 1920 and is part of a private nature preserve. The owners have decided to donate the house to the Fairfield County parks. They hope to use the property as education services, a district office and meeting rooms and gathering place.

It’s hamburgers and rice pilaf with spam and sweet corn for dinner.

Joy