August 30, 2020 thought for the day: The more you listen the more you give yourself room for doubt. Mongolian Proverb

A couple of weeks ago in my blog I mentioned a church service that was a bit boring. The same pastor who gave that sermon gave our sermon today. This one was excellent, the whole service was uplifting and comfortable.

On August 29, the photo challenge was “how I feel...”. Well on my way home from running a couple of errands I “felt” like having a White Castle. 

We are attempting to tape the service to be shared with others on the internet. I have agreed to do the uploading after the service. This is my first experience with that sort of thing so I am feeling my way along the adventure. I have already discovered that I am going to need a little tutoring to get it to our web page but I think I am able to get it to the facebook page, I am attempting that as I am writing this message.

I am going to get some watering done today but as my habit there isn’t anything else on the agenda except for uploading the MP4 file to facebook.

The word today is luck. Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause and effect, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Chance favors the prepared mind, Louis Pasteur. I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have, Thomas Jefferson. Luck can be assisted. It is not all chance with the wise, Baltasar Gracian. Small opportunities are often the beginning of great enterprises, Demosthenes. Wisdom is the winner over good luck, Juvenal. I do not believe that the Good Lord plays dice, Miguel de Cervantes. Diligence is the mother of good luck, Benjamin Franklin. Luck is the residue of design, John Milton. Luck is not chance, it's toil; fortune's expensive smile is earned, Emily Dickinson. Being deeply learned and skilled, being well trained and using well spoken words; This is good luck, Gautama Buddha.  There's good chances and bad chances, and nobody's luck is pulled only by one string, George Eliot. Things unhoped for happen oftener than things we desire, Plautus. Chance corrects us of many faults that reason would not know how to correct, Francois de La Rochefoucauld. There is no such thing as luck. It's a fancy name for being always at our duty, and so sure to be ready when good time comes, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton.  Fortune always will confer an aura of worth, unworthily; and in this world The lucky person passes for a genius, Euripides. 

The photo challenge for today is ‘take it easy...”. I headed for the place I find for many of my photos, Westgate Park. There was a couple sitting at a picnic table in the distance and under the canopy of loads of trees. Then there was the background figures resting in peace and quiet.

So much of the news is about the virus or black lives matter that I don’t think we need to resurrect it over and over again here in my blog. So I have chosen what I hope is something a little easier on the nervous system. The article is about ways for owners of property on river banks to maintain that part of their property to benefit the river itself. One person mentioned in the article that he bought some creek side property several years ago then planted a “wide, natural buffer along the 1,100 foot stretch he owns .....” Now says he has noticed minks in the grass, birds and all kinds of other wildlife in the spring. The buffer that he planted filters the impurities from “rain and groundwater..... It prevents erosion and flooding as well as provides food and shelter for the wildlife.” The article went on to say that mowing th grass close to the edge is not a good idea. Other things to consider along the streams and rivers are trees and shrubs along with native plants. These plans do not mean that you have to let what is there grow, it may take creating a landscape. It may even be healthier to remove growth that is “invasive” and may force out plants that work more toward the purposes for the landscaping. It’s best to select native trees, shrubs and grasses that thrive wet conditions. The article related that some plants have roots that go as deep as 14 feet and help to filter water draining to the creek. The benefits from the plants to the creek extend to the Scioto River then the Ohio River then the Mississippi and then the Gulf of Mexico. The buffer plants eventually offer homes to “pollinators” like bees and other insects. Some of the beneficial plants are considered weeds even those help effects. I also learned from this article that grass clippings, raked leaves and other waste can contribute to erosion when found in the stream. That also reduces the oxygen levels endangering wildlife.

I think it is going to be taco bell again for dinner this Sunday.

Joy

August 28, 2020: You can't put two saddles on the same horse. Mongolian Proverb

Today has been an emotional day for me. A young adult cousin of mine came from an other state and was recently seeking refuge from emotional suffering after the death of his mother. I was unable to help him as I should have and wanted to. There was another source of help at the time that seemed more appropriate. After a while in that “source”  he found himself in a hellish situation here in Columbus. We were notified that he couldn’t take the veiled abuse at that place and went back to the state he had come from where he had old friends. I succumbed to an episode of a broken heart for him. I sobbed for most of the afternoon. My two sons tried to console me but only my release to God helped in the end. There is still a bit of sadness in my heart for the gentle giant that my young cousin is. He is loving and gives super bear hugs to those who will allow him to love them.

My (our) photo challenge for August 27 was “beauty”. Here is another of those themes that can offer a large range of choices depending on the weather, the photographer’s mood at the time and a whole lot of other ideas. This one was taken at Westgate Park. There are a few small garden areas placed around the park.

I muddled through the tears to get the newsletter ready for mailing and the message for the free meal at church ready to put with the meals. That is about all I am going to accomplish today.

I did get outside once to cut one of my gorgeous hibiscus flowers to brighten the table and my mood. 

The word is loyalty.  You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Base yourself in loyalty and trust. Don't be companion with those who are not your moral equal. When you make a mistake, don't hesitate to correct it, Confucius. Never esteem anything as of advantage to you that will make you break your word or lose your self-respect, Marcus Aurelius.  Loyalty expanded is not loyalty betrayed! E. B. Farnum. Histories are more full of examples of the fidelity of dogs than of friends, Alexander Pope. A man's country is not a certain area of land, of mountains, rivers, and woods, but it is a principle and patriotism is loyalty to that principle, George William Curtis. Loyalty is the greatest quality of the human heart, John Boyle O'Reilly. One of the most beautiful qualities of true friendship is to understand and to be understood, Seneca the Younger. Loyalty is what we seek in friendship, Marcus Tullius Cicero.  Lord, grant that anger or other bitterness does not reign over us, but that your grace, genuine kindness, loyalty, and every kind of friendliness, generosity, and gentleness may reign in us, Martin Luther. Mysterious haunts of echoes old and far, The voice divine of human loyalty, George Eliot. 

The photo theme for today is “coffee (or choice of liquid refreshment)”. I don’t drink coffee anymore, since I had some digestive problems. I drink mostly tea and sometimes diet colas. So here is my offering for today.

Again the news left something to be desired today so this is what I found. This article isn’t from the Dispatch as most of them that I use here are. It is from Columbus Monthly magazine. It is a sort of comparison of the Flu of 1918 affecting Columbus and this pandemic. It was called the Spanish flu but it is uncertain that that is where it originated. It was called the Spanish influenza because it happened during the war and the media was flooded with that news and “the censor-free Spanish were the first to report the flu. According to the article about forty percent of the world was infected. Fifty million people died with 500,000 people in the United States died, that was one percent of the worldwide fatalities. In Columbus on October of 1918 it was reported that “there is no need to worry....the epidemic appears to be at its peak”. That statement was quite true, the infections increased fast from September 1918 to March 1919 “with two peaks in early November and mid-December. The article went on to show that, “Camp Sherman housed 42,000 World War I soldiers. There, 5,686 got the flu and 1,777 died:...” From another source it was reported that the death count in Columbus was 1,000.

I am soooo glad it is pizza night....I really need it tonight.

Joy

August 26, 2020 thought for the day:Teaching in youth is like carving in stone. Moroccan proverb

After my virtual checks, Bob and I left for a curbside pick up order at Sams Club. After they loaded my order Bob realized I had ordered the wrong size plates and that is the ting I needed most. So we decided to go inside the store to get the right size. While we were in there we found two items that were “unavailable” at the online order so I picked those up too.

Then we stopped at Walmart. Bob wanted to look at boots and I had a couple of things to find. It turned out to be a total bust. Neither of us could find what we wanted so we were on the way again. We stopped at White Castle on the way home.

On August 25 the challenge was “life is...”. Wow, my thought was how do you picture that. I shot some street work going on, I shot some trees and the blue sky. I settled on this, a look over a hill (and in front of the hill) to show age (dying grass and cracked cement). Also indicating an object (the hill and the block wall) in the way of seeing beyond clearly and then the sight of life further on in the buildings and poles and cables of modern life and the nature of trees and the blue sky in the distance.

The information I needed to finish the newsletter and the Saturday message had arrived in my email while I was out. So I got those done and the newsletter and bulletin sent to the proofreaders.

I decided I had better get some watering done. I didn’t do it yesterday because it was predicted that we would get some rain...we didn’t. They are predicting some today but I decided not to count on it.

The word today is literacy. Words are the voice of the heart, Confucius. Wherever they burn books they will also, in the end, burn human beings, Heinrich Heine. The best effect of any book is that it excites the reader to self activity, Thomas Carlyle. In a library we are surrounded by many hundreds of dear friends, but they are imprisoned by an enchanter in these paper and leather boxes, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Reading maketh a full man, Francis Bacon.  Words are the only things that last for ever, William Hazlitt.  You must find time for reading, or surrender yourself to self-chosen ignorance, Confucius. Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body, Joseph Addison.  To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark, Victor Hugo. No entertainment is so cheap as reading, nor any pleasure so lasting. Mary Wortley Montagu.  Literature is the thought of thinking souls, Thomas Carlyle.  Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent, Henry David Thoreau. Science and literature are not two things, but two sides of one thing, Thomas Huxley.  Truths and roses have thorns about them, Henry David Thoreau. The decline of literature indicates the decline of a nation, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Good children's literature appeals not only to the child in the adult, but to the adult in the child, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. 

My assigned theme for the day is “shadow”. That can be a wide open selection on a bright and sunny day. My choice was in my own back garden, the shadow of the leaves from my blackberry plant.

I love food. I couldn’t find much that was interesting and appropriate news for today but this article sounded good. The article is about a place called “Pita Hut-N-Grille”. They have been in business for thirteen years at Graceland Shopping Center in Clintonville. I don’t have any experience with Middle Easter foods but the photo that accompanied the article looked appetizing. The owner even goes so far as importing spices from Jerusalem in a effort to keep the food authentic. The food is “prepared to order” so you have to wait for it to be prepared. One of the items on the menu is chicken “shawarma”, chicken cutlets marinated in lemon, vinegar and spices arranged on a spit and cooked vertically as it turns. Then there is chicken in a pita roll. The eatery is located in a “narrow storefront with booth seating and murals on the walls”. They promise fresh, healthy food at “fast food prices”.

It’s going to be hot dogs (I know, red meat) and Spanish rice for dinner.

Joy

August 23, 2020 thought for the day: Would you know your daughter? See her in company. Portuguese Proverb

Here’s another of the ‘laid back’ days. I try to keep Sundays that way, a little old fashioned maybe but as acknowledged a day to honor.

We had one of my favorite ministers for our service today. His sermons are always so uplifting, sometimes with a bit of something different and surprising tossed in. They are always relatable to today living. I hope he will be with us until I am no longer able to be there. My spirits were down when I left the house for church, by the time the sermon was over my attitude was much improved.

The August 22 challenge was “this evokes a memory”. The twins were here for an over night visit and wanted to go to the park for a while. That was a perfect place for a photo to fit this theme. I used the swings, “monkey bars” teeter totters, and slides  with my children as they grew up and then their children and now Sue’s great grandchildren. Some of the equipment seems to have become “obsolete”, the teeter totter, the “monkey bars”, as least as we knew them. Some have been replaced with a climbing wall and other new fangled and fun contraptions.

The sermon did the trick but there was a bit of news after church that burst the bubble. The news was related in part of the discontent related to this time spot in history and not, to my way of thinking, truly necessary to original God given  Christian teachings. It seems to me like some foolish person is trying to add an addendum to our beliefs, so to speak, that is totally discounting  the meaning of Christianity in the first place. Like rewriting or reinventing the meaning of Gods words. I had to get this burst of anger off my chest. I don’t like it when ANY history (fact and truth), spiritual or human, is ignored or twisted. I’ll get off my personal soap box now.

The word for today is links. When we bring back with us the objects most dear, and find those we left unchanged, we are tempted to doubt the lapse of time; but one link in the chain of affection broken, and every thing seems altered, Marguerite Gardiner, Countess of Blessington.  A babe in the house is a well-spring of pleasure, a messenger of peace and love, a resting place for innocence on earth, a link between angels and men, Martin Farquhar Tupper.  Through every rift of discovery some seeming anomaly drops out of the darkness, and falls, as a golden link into the great chain of order, Edwin Hubbel Chapin. For if one link in nature's chain might be lost, another might be lost, until the whole of things will vanish by piecemeal, Thomas Jefferson. Charity is the sweet and holy bond which links the soul with its Creator: it binds God with man and man with God, St. Catherine of Siena. The virtues we acquire, which develop slowly within us, are the invisible links that bind each one of our existences to the others - existences which the spirit alone remembers, for Matter has no memory for spiritual things, Honore de Balzac.

Today’s photo challenge is “pet”. I have no shortage of these photo. My pets are my most handy models. I have a couple of photos of Sweet Pea in this months collection so I thought it was time for one of Sugar.

I am writing this, my opinion, before I have read the whole article but it appears to me that it is about another touch of the digital world coming into being as well as a “gift” from the old, the availability of Longaberger baskets through parties as well as a help with an online approach. Longaberger at one time was a billion-dollar company. The new owner, Xcel Brands, says their goal is to make it a billion-dollar company again with some changes. They “envision...this company Longaberger as the anchor of “‘the world’s largest and most engaged social-commerce community.’” They plan a shift in products “an array of kitchen and home decor, furniture, jewelry and bath products”. It is planned for these products to be sold on line. They plan on selling the Longaberger products “through agents, ‘stylists’”, they use to sale like Tupperware, Avon and Pampered Chef do. They plan the online portion of the business to be a “mashup of Create & Barrel with Restoration Hardware with social engagement like Longaberger had. Because of the coronavirus pandemic hiring and training became easier. A Longaberger consultant wanted to play a part in the relaunch of the new company.

I think it will take-out tacos again this Sunday.

Joy

August 21, 2020 thought for the day: If you would be a good judge, hear what everyone says. Portugese Proverb

I think for the most part Fridays have become a “laid back” day for me. The bulletin is done and I don’t cook on Friday (so no meal planning and execution).

I don’t have any “formal” agenda today, just this and that. Don’t get me wrong, there is an invisible (or tucked away somewhere) list of chores to be done around here. The gumption and fortitude and strength that those chores take to complete are in hiding or ran for the hills.

August the 20th was another of my two photo a day challenges. The first was “flowers”. You can probably guess where I found that one. I’ll give you a hint, Westgate Park. The park is full of play areas for the kids, sports areas for sport enthusiasts (tennis, basketball, racquetball, fishing). But also many areas of “gardens”. Here’s one.

The other photo was titled “shapes”. This is one of the play areas in the park, oh, there are statues too, cement alphabet letters, artistic slides and swings, and this twisted pipes of shapes. The pandemic hasn’t removed those although activity was curtailed for a while.


I will have to give in and do some watering. The temps are comfortable, not too hot for the greenery, but there hasn’t been rain for a couple of days so things are beginning to whisper for attention.

My book of pages of art from some of my digitized photos is completed. I am trying to get the nerve to begin the process of getting it published to test the waters.



The word today is limits.  God has placed no limits to the exercise of the intellect he has given us, on this side of the grave, Francis Bacon. No limits whatever are placed to the productions of the earth; they may increase forever, Thomas Malthus. To suffering there is a limit; to fearing, none, Francis Bacon. The one thing we do not know is the limit of the knowable, Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Having advanced to the limit of boldness, child, you have stumbled against the lofty pedestal of Justice, Sophocles.  You must confine yourself within the modest limits of order, William Shakespeare. Each of us inevitable; Each of us limitless-each of us with his or her right upon the earth, Walt Whitman. Power will intoxicate the best hearts, as wine the strongest heads. No man is wise enough, nor good enough to be trusted with unlimited power, Charles Caleb Colton.  Reason obeys itself; and ignorance submits to whatever is dictated to it, Thomas Paine. Earth has its boundaries, but human stupidity is limitless, Gustave Flaubert. Man is not born to solve the problem of the universe, but to find out what he has to do; and to restrain himself within the limits of his comprehension, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Every limit is a beginning as well as an ending, George Eliot.

Today’s photo theme is “joy”. I have a block of alpha letters spelling joy. I shot that and Photoshopped it with some interesting filters and such. But then gave the challenge further thought. I decided it would be better to show something that was joyful. So here is a one-year-around-the-sun birthday party.

I noticed early on that ecommerce was picking up due to the virus although I think it was in an upward direction before that.  Much Christmas shopping on line has become popular. It’s just one of the myriad of  things that for centuries has come with progress and growth and modernization. People who run businesses will ultimately have to adjust to a new way of operating, much like people had to start learning a computer keyboard instead of a typewriter. The article is about how the switch to “online commerce” isn’t beneficial to everyone equally.  The mom and pop stores are suffering. For one thing is they make sales through the computer most don’t have the IT people or computer operation savvy to help with that portion of the business as larger retailers do. In many cases digital transactions involve more work than in-store sales. Items have to be described and some photographed for display on the internet. Items sold have to be packaged and taken to a delivery service. It was mentioned in the article that businesses that have the easiest to  use systems are the ones that get used the most.  Web sites need maintenance and updates to programs as well as stock and prices on a regular basis. When small businesses had to close as the pandemic grew they offered stock online for “order on line or by phone for curbside pick up”. That caused a scramble to get things set up for that direction of sales. When customers can come in the store they can “browse” and talk to the sells staff which has been a help in making selections. Many owners thing that digital sales won’t completely replace in store shopping. To me it’s like going to a movie theater or waiting until the movie comes out on Netflix and the like. The theater experience is unique in itself. Another analogy, reading hard copy book or reading the same book on the ipad electronically. My problem with the electronic era is the loss of the social aspect of any enterprise. The internet offers a wide world of contacts and groups interested in the same things you are but there difference in thought to share with one another. I often wonder what the results of the “new” inventions will have on society in the future. I imagine people wondered that at the birth of cars and airplanes and television and computers and spaceships.                                                                                                                   
It’s pizza night....love it.

Joy

August 19, 2020 thought for the day: If you are looking for a fly in your food it means that you are full. South African Proverb

It has turned out to be a very busy day. I didn’t get the information I needed to finished either the bulletin or the message for the Saturday meal. So I decided to get the other chore for the day out of the way. Sue and I headed for Kroger for what has become our weekly grocery shopping.

The photo of the day for August 18 was titled “in my home”. I was playing with my new camera (cell phone), a gift from my son, after dark on the 17th. I was “training” myself to use the night time feature. I was happy to see the results of lines and colors and shadows and highlights (and mystery,  😀)

Sue had developed a cold and was coughing and was congested a good bit. She is much improved this morning so we decided to keep the grocery shopping on the agenda for today.

After I got home and at least part of the groceries put away, I checked my email and the bulletin information was there. So before I finished with the kitchen work I completed the bulletin and got it sent to the proofreaders.

The morning started out on the cool side. I kind of hate seeing it come so soon. It feels like autumn is rushing right in. On the other hand, I may regret that statement in a few days, we may get some more of the summer heat. I think the temps were in the fifties when I woke up. I needed a sweater when we left for the store but needed to take it off on the way home.


The word today is light. I keep the subject of my inquiry constantly before me, and wait till the first dawning opens gradually, by little and little, into a full and clear light, Isaac Newton. A sensible man will remember that the eyes may be confused in two ways - by a change from light to darkness or from darkness to light; and he will recognize that the same thing happens to the soul, Plato.  Just as treasures are uncovered from the earth, so virtue appears from good deeds, and wisdom appears from a pure and peaceful mind. To walk safely through the maze of human life, one needs the light of wisdom and the guidance of virtue, Gautama Buddha. The artist vocation is to send light into the human heart, George Sand. An evil person is like a dirty window, they never let the light shine through, William Makepeace Thackeray. If you have knowledge, let others light their candles in it, Margaret Fuller. The spirit of truth will do more to bring persons to light and knowledge, than flowery words, Brigham Young.  Someday, in the distant future, our grand-children' s grand-children will develop a new equivalent of our classrooms. They will spend many hours in front of boxes with fires glowing within. May they have the wisdom to know the difference between light and knowledge, Plato. 

The challenge for today is “what happiness looks like”. I have many incidents of “happiness” but one that is relatively common daily is sitting at my computer with one of my best friends near me, a cola to drink, and a window to see God’s light and nature.

Life goes on and it’s good to see that good things haven’t been put on hold or eliminated due to the pandemic. The article today is about the Make-A-Wish foundation. A junior from Westerville South High School was diagnosed with bone cancer and was given her own private shopping spree at Macy’s in Polaris. Her first wish had been a cruise but due to the pandemic that couldn’t happen. Make-A-Wish still wants give people dreams. Make-A-Wish wants to “bring hope to these kids”. The pandemic has made it necessary to make adjustments to the wishes but alternatives are addressed and granted. The young Westerville South student had a personal shopper and the department store to herself for over an hour. After some shopping she was given a manicure and pedicure. Her cancer is in remission and she is hopeful about the future.

I am pulling something out of the freezer that I made and froze a couple of weeks ago for dinner.

Joy

August 17, 2020 thought for the day: Forgiveness hides a pleasure that you can't get back from revenge. Persian Proverb

Today seems to be a downer day. I guess it’s a catch up day after a busy and rainy, off and on, weekend.

We had two parties this weekend. Saturday we went to William’s first birthday party. I am so glad I am still able be there for that. I was even more happy to see how his grandma and grandpa ooozed with pride and love for him.

On August 16 the photo challenge was “I value...”. I thought of all the things in my life and thought how can I choose one thing to show “I value”. It dawned on me to show what I valued most at this point in time and had the photo I needed for this “assignment”

On Sunday we celebrated Rebecca’s belated birthday with her favorite raspberry ice cream cake from Graeters Ice Cream. We had more moments in another good day and more fun with William.

I have to get down to business this week. I need to get the bulletin done and I hope to get forty second requests out for information to the church directory that I am trying to put together. Hopefully I will get more updates back so I can finish the directory in a few weeks. I also hope to get the newsletter down to the last minute additions for next week.

The word for today is life. Life’s a voyage that’s homeward bound, Herman Melville. No man lives without jostling and being jostled; in all ways he has to elbow himself through the world, giving and receiving offence, Thomas Carlyle. Everybody, soon or late, sits down to a banquet of consequences, Robert Louis Stevenson. Tomorrow's life is too late. Live today, Martial. Man's ideal state is realized when he has fulfilled the purpose for which he is born. And what is it that reason demands of him? Something very easy-that he live in accordance with his own nature, Seneca the Younger.  Govern thy Life and Thoughts, as if the whole World were to see the one, and read the other, Thomas Fuller.  Everything that we encounter leaves traces behind. Everything contributes imperceptibly to our education, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. The mind, once stretched by a new idea, never returns to its original dimensions, Ralph Waldo Emerson.  That it will never come again is what makes life sweet. Emily Dickinson. One word Frees us of all the weight and pain of life: That word is love. Sophocles. Your worst enemy cannot harm you as much as your own unguarded thoughts, Gautama Buddha. 

Today’s challenge is “finished”. That was a more difficult idea to envision than yesterdays. Generally one finishes several things in a days period of time. I had just made bologna salad for my lunch. I was finished making it so that turned out to be my choice of images for the day.

I glanced at the article today, it looks a little on the light side of the news so I wanted to share it.  I liked the part in the title that mentioned the butter cow at the Oho State Fair. The lady who wrote the article said when she heard the fair had been canceled she didn’t think of the fried Oreoes or turkey legs or the view from the top of the Ferris Wheel or the midway it was about the buttered cow. When she was younger, she wished that she could do that, carve/build the cow. Her dreams came true this year with the information that encouraged folks to “craft” their own butter cows. The Dispatch had their own sculpting contest also. There were videos on line to help. She bought two pounds of butter and clay sculpting tools, and a wire for the “skeleton”. She gave a step by step guide to how she proceeded. First she made the “skeleton”. Then she “squished” the butter and layered it on the frame. She put the “cow” in the freezer for twenty minutes. After that she began with the sculpting tools. To her chagrin she realized that the wire forming the “skeleton” was to thin. She put it back in the freezer and worked with the sculpting tools again. Finally she felt she was finished. She took photos of her creation and planned to put them on her social network.  She thought of some of the questions that would be asked, like why is the body so long, the head so small and so on. She forgot about it and left the cow in the freezer. She decided she wouldn’t try that again and hope that next year and visit the butter cow there.

I think we will have hamburgers and baked french fries for dinner tonight.

Joy

August 15, 2020 thought for the day: You cannot buy wisdom abroad if there is none at home. Russian Proverb

I was awake at something like three o’clock this morning. Tossed and turned for a while but before I knew it it was closing in on eight o’clock.

The twins have started back to school so it looks like there overnights with us may change some. We are taking the changes one day at a time. They won’t be here this weekend so Sue is going to the other grandma’s where they will be for Saturday and Sunday. In the mean time, Bob and I will be going to William’s first birthday party.

On August 14 the photo theme was “I made this”. Well, the things I “make” currently are crocheted or with food for dinners. I had a box ready with things for some of my grand children which made a perfect project for the theme.

Since we will be going to the party this afternoon I wanted to get a couple of errands out of the way. I stopped for gas then, stopped at the mail box with notes to a couple of friends from church. The next stop was dropping the message for free meal off at church. There were several cars in the parking lot so I figured there were people in the building until I noticed that the bimonthly farmers market was going on at the Masonic Temple across the street. My last stop was at Walgreen to get a birthday card to go with William’s birthday gift.

There’s not too much on today’s agenda although I could always work on the newsletter a little more.

The word today is letters.  Other relaxations are peculiar to certain times, places and stages of life, but the study of letters is the nourishment of our youth, and the joy of our old age. They throw an additional splendor on prosperity, and are the resource and consolation of adversity; they delight at home, and are no embarrassment abroad; in short, they are company to us at night, our fellow travelers on a journey, and attendants in our rural recesses, Marcus Tullius Cicero.  Let not a single day pass without your learning a verse, half a verse, or a fourth of it, or even one letter of it; nor without attending to charity, study and other pious activity, Chanakya. Instruction does much, but encouragement everything, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Letters are signs of things, symbols of words, whose power is so great that without a voice they speak to us the words of the absent; for they introduce words by the eye, not by the ear, Isidore of Seville. I am persuaded that without knowledge of literature pure theology cannot at all endure. . . . When letters have declined and lain prostrate, theology, too, has wretchedly fallen and lain prostrate. . . . It is my desire that there shall be as many poets and rhetoricians as possible, because I see that by these studies as by no other means, people are wonderfully fitted for the grasping of sacred truth and for handling it skillfully and happily, Martin Luther. Kind messages, that pass from land to land; Kind letters, that betray the heart's deep history, In which we feel the pressure of a hand,-- One touch of fire,--and all the rest is mystery! Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. 

Today was another of those days that I have two photos of the day. The first is “a mask selfie”. I am not good with taking selfies but here is my humble attempt. The second theme for today is “one of these things is not like the other”. My hibiscus bush is blowing up with bloom this summer. I gathered some of them and picked one stem from another of my plants that has had an abundance of blooms this year, tickweed. I think they are both welcoming.

I thought the article title that I picked today sounded interesting. It sounded to me like some folks who need help will be getting some. According to the article there some new apartments for homeless youth. This housing development was originally meant for once homeless youth. The neighbors formed a drive by “house warming” for them as they moved in. One of the new “renter” toured the Marsh Brook Place apartments with a mask, (and a smile underneath) and tears in his eyes. He lived several years with “anguish and homelessness”. Now he will have a safe and clean home. Support services come along with these apartments. There are forty units available that were built with public and private money. The facility was designed with eighteen to twenty-four-year old homeless young people in mind. One of the administrators says this project is “cutting edge” with it’s design and space. The nonprofit agency called Huckleberry House is providing the on-site services of counseling and job training. All or part of the rent is covered through federal assistance. The article stated that the projects is “part of the Community Shelter Board Community Plan for Youth initiative...... funded ....by HUD.”   The neighbors who participated in the drive-by housewarming had the car packed with several packages of toilet paper, soap, toothpaste and other things. The person who was interviewed earlier said that he “sometimes curled up in a car at night... or .slept on park benches”.

I have spaghetti sauce in the freezer. That may be our dinner for tonight.

Joy

August 13, 2020 thought for the day: When you meet a man, you judge him by his clothes; when you leave, you judge him by his heart. Russian Proverb

The “busy” day is upon me. I did the virtual visits and then the minor corrections to the bulletin. I gathered up the three pieces of items that I needed to print and headed for the church. As I pulled in the parking lot I looked up to one of the crosses on the top of the church and noticed a bird seeming to relax while enjoying the fresh air and the sunshine. It was going to be my photo of the day.

Yesterday’s photo title was “create”. I work on several crochet projects in the evening. In this shot I am working on a table cloth. The work on it is a continuing process. I put it aside to work on things for my great grand children after a half hour or so.

I had the three pieces each printed by the time Jim came in and stopped by the office to say good morning. I finished the folding and walked the bulletins around and placed outside each of the doors to the sanctuary.

When I got home, I checked some email and then started a cursory beginning to the up coming newsletter. Later I did some of the watering.

I mentioned above that I was on the look out for today’s photo. Once I was able to post process it I was satisfied with what I had shot. My daily “assignments” have made me much more aware of what is going on around me. It also encourages me to be watchful for possible image creation for almost all that I see. It is a refreshing was of seeing life. The challenge today is “fresh air”.

I got the laundry started in good time but then forgot about it. I got involved in some searches on the computer and lost focus on everything except the searching. So the second load went in later than it should have slowing up the rest of the day.

One of my daily searches today was to find out what happened to my diabetes meds. They should have been here days ago.  I was on the phone for an hour or so tracking it down and trying to determine what road I would take if I had to reorder is. It is the most expensive of my meds and the insurance doesn’t cover much of it. I finally got the situation settled successfully.


The word today is learn. To make no mistakes is not in the power of man; but from their errors and mistakes the wise and good learn wisdom for the future, Plutarch.  Life is divided into three terms - that which was, which is, and which will be. Let us learn from the past to profit by the present, and from the present, to live better in the future, William Wordsworth. Don't stumble over something behind you, Seneca the Younger. We never know the worth of water till the well is dry, Thomas Fuller. Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for, Epicurus. Appreciation is a wonderful thing: It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well, Voltaire. Every traveler has a home of his own, and he learns to appreciate it the more from his wandering, Charles Dickens. One forgives to the degree that one loves, Francois de La Rochefoucauld.  Learning never exhausts the mind, Leonardo da Vinci. All learning is in the learner, not the teacher, Plato.  We are by nature observers, and thereby learners. That is our permanent state, Ralph Waldo Emerson. The learner always begins by finding fault, but the scholar sees the positive merit in everything, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. 

We get a bit of a fresh breath from this article. The article concerns feedback about the Scioto Trail Extension and the Quarry Trails Connections. Both of which I would like to visit, I’m not sure they are finished yet. The Columbus Recreation and Parks Department on a future extension to fill a gap in the trail connecting the Quarry Trails Metro Park to the Dublin path and the Heritage Rail Trail. The Heritage Rail Trail starts in Hilliard and goes to Plain City.  There is a survey describing alternatives for a new trail, one from Fifth Avenue to Trabue Road and the other from Trabue to Griggs Dam.  Two would offer access by way of an abandoned rail bridge that crosses the Scioto River. It could end up connecting Plain City to Downtown to the Scioto Audubon Metro Park. 

It is going to be left overs for dinner tonight.

Joy

August 11, 2020 thought for the day: Where you saw wood, there the sawdust will fall. Russian Proverb

It has been an active Tuesday. The dogs have needed a “pedicure” for quite some time now. I learned that they had to have a copy of the receipt for the most current rabies shots before I could take them to a groomer. When I found their papers I realized they would have to have another rabies shot next week. So, today, instead of having them traumatized with two “scary” procedure in less than one week I decided to do it all at the vets office instead of part Petsmart and part doctor. Of course there was the regular office visit charge as well as the shot and the nail cut. In their “doctor” visit it was noticed their gums were inflamed so they were put on antibiotics for the time being. What a day for all of us.

August 10 was another of the days that I had two photos of the day. The first one, and the one that offers a daily challenge was “sunny”. Sue and I had gone in search of a special tea at a couple of stores. On our way home from there we went by the park for me to find the photo of the day. I wanted to get the sun rays bouncing off a metal sculpture. I couldn’t seem to line one up as the clouds crossed the rays of the sun. But the sun was abundantly available to picture in the sky and trees. The second theme for the day was “patterns in nature”. I used some of what the park had to offer for that shot too. 

I got started on the bulletin and took care of a couple of things in the “garden”. Then I tended to the very needed task of clearing out the frig and loading the dish washer.

The word today is laughter. Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face, Victor Hugo. Beauty is power; a smile is its sword, John Ray. Wear a smile and have friends; wear a scowl and have wrinkles, George Eliot. Nothing shows a man's character more than what he laughs at, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. The vulgar only laugh, but never smile; whereas well-bred people often smile, but seldom laugh, Lord Chesterfield. There is a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance, Solomon. Mirth is God's medicine. Everybody ought to bathe in it, Henry Ward Beecher. A laugh, to be joyous, must flow from a joyous heart, for without kindness, there can be no true joy, Thomas Carlyle. Anger kills both laughter and joy; What greater foe is there than anger? Thiruvalluvar. Man is the only creature endowed with the power of laughter; is he not also the only one that deserves to be laughed at? Fulke Greville, 1st Baron Brooke. There are many ways to the Divine. I have chosen the ways of song, dance, and laughter, Rumi. What is this precious love and laughter budding in our hearts? It is the glorious sound of a soul waking up! Hafez. 

The theme for today is “wave”. My fist choice would have been a motion of the sea but I am no where near that so I had to chose the other kind of wave. And I had to use myself as the model.

This pandemic has put a lot of thinking and use of the digital world to the forefront and demonstrated in many ways how important it can be. The title of the article today is “The Coronavirus Exposes Columbus’ Digital Divide, The Best Overall Home Security”. Early in the article it was mentioned that before the pandemic interrupted regular school classes the internet was a problem for some people. It went on to point out that digital access was not looked at as something critical.  “....some still look at the internet as a luxury, when in fact it’s more of a utility like electricity or gas.” Until the pandemic it was used to allow people to look for work, research, homework, or distance visiting with family and friends. Public libraries made computers available for those who needed them. The article went on to say the library made the wifi available in the building until the virus came along. Then the library extended the wifi to the parking lots so that the students with available laptops could come at times when the library was closed if they had to. One research project determined that only 57 percent of Franklin County residents have high-speed service. I leaned from the article that there was a time that the library offered computers for only $20 to families in need. Later the city offered Google Chrombooks to children in need. South-Western City Schools sent out 150 satellite driven portable wifi devices. In June Columbus schools partnered with COTA in a project for COTA to park a bus with wifi for public use at Forest Park YMCA three times a week. The article mentioned the free lunches that were handed out and related that implementing a publicly available broadband program “in the same vein” as another essential resource.

I think I am making creamed dried beef on toast for dinner.

Joy

August 9, 2020 thought for the day: Learn from your tears and you will win laughing. Spanish Proverb

Sundays seem to be special days. In my eyes it ends one week and begins another. But today, for some reason, is a little on the lonesome side for me. I guess something is a little different on this Sunday.

I usually get a “recharge” from church but today it just wasn’t there. We have a set of visiting pastors. I have noticed there is a difference in the way each of their sermons are presented. In my humble opinion, there seems that there are two types of training that prepares the speaker. I feel that with one type I could read the scripture and a bible study article and get out of it what is presented from the pulpit. Then there is the other type of pastor who gives life and light to their words and ties in the journey of life today with the words of the scripture from two thousand years ago. Those are the ones that uplift my spirit.

On August 8 the photo challenge was “happy place”. I have several “happy” places. But the closest and easiest to shoot was the chair I sit in as the day is ending, after dinner and the dishes. I head for the lounge chair, turn on the TV for news and sound and then crochet for my great grand children. I feel them with each stitch. The piece may not be treasured as I hope it would be (but then maybe it will be), maybe through some mysterious form of osmosis or maybe through a higher power. For me, the love that goes into each stitch knowing that they can’t be with me as often as with their mother and father, I have the pleasure of thinking of them and loving them as I work.

As is usual for my Sunday, this being a day of rest, I am not planning to get much done. I must water, the plants know when they are thirsty no matter what day it is.

The word is lasting.  It is mutual respect which makes friendship lasting, John Henry Newman.   Be not dazzled by beauty, but look for those inward qualities which are lasting, Seneca the Younger. The love of study is in us the only lasting passion. All the others quit us in proportion as this miserable machine which holds them approaches its ruins, Baron de Montesquieu.  A good disposition is a virtue in itself, and it is lasting; the burden of the years cannot depress it, and love that is founded on it endures to the end, Ovid. There are only three pleasures in life pure and lasting, and all derived from inanimate things-books, pictures and the face of nature, William Hazlitt.  True and lasting inner peace can never be found in external things. It can only be found within in. And then, once we find and nurture it with ourselves, it radiates outward, Gautama Buddha. Not the maker of plans and promises, but rather the one who offers faithful service in small matters. This is the person who is most likely to achieve what is good and lasting, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

Today’s theme is “sweet”. This photo fits in two ways. There is the sweet face with the loving eyes and there is the name “Sweet Pea’.

This article kind of related to our house this year. Sue bought a small fire pit grill so the twins could roast marshmallows and have smores. The article is about backyard grills and how they have become very popular this year. One of the reasons mentioned is that it is hard to fine a good steak at a steakhouse now with restaurants being closed. Once you have decided on cooking on your own grill in your own yard there is the question of charcoal or gas then propane or natural. If charcoal is the choice then decide on lighter fluid or other methods of starting it. One person mentioned that some may want to blend wood with the charcoal for the flavor. Flavor has to be considered when choosing charcoal or gas also. Charcoal is a bit messier than gas but gas is quicker and easier. Then comes the cost involved with the two types. The question of how often it will be used has to be considered to. That can lead to the size of the grill to look at when shopping.  The article suggests that the newbie start simple. One suggestion is to read one of the many books on how to use a grill. And finding and using the right kinds of foods for a grill. Also remember that grilling with friends makes for a happy summer day.

I think we will have tacos again tonight. Seems like Sundays are becoming a lot like Fridays. Fridays are pizzas and Sunday’s are becoming tacos.

Joy

August 7, 2020 thought for the day:  If you are not good for yourself, how can you be good for others? Spanish Proverb

It has been an interesting Friday as it always is when the twins are here. It is surprising how they come up with actions and ideas I have either totally forgotten since my seventh year which is way way in the background or never even thought of to start with. It, once again, shows that all minds and thoughts are new, unique and original if not in total at least in part. 

The photo challenge for August 5 was “people”. I made another quick trip to Westgate Park again yesterday to find this photo. I knew there would be people there either at the tennis court or the daily walk on around the circumference of the park.

A note from yesterday, when I started to leave for church yesterday I found that I had a dead battery. I called AAA. They were here in about thirty minutes. The mechanic was going to jump the battery and found that it was completely gone so he replaced it. There’s always something when we own property.

I finished the handouts for the free meal on Saturday evening with the help of Savannah putting the VIP labels on the envelopes. She asked if they could stay another night so she could go help with the free meal tomorrow evening.

The girls wanted to go to one of the play grounds for a while. So I took them to the play area at the school down the street. They only played for about fifteen minutes. One of them hurt their foot so play time was over.

When we got back, I watered one of the areas of the yard, later for the other section. I want to tear up all of the black cloth that was put down where my tulips and daffodils have popped up for years. They didn’t this year because they were smothered by the black cloth. I don’t know if it is too late for them to “pop up” next year.

Today’s photo theme is “art or craft”. I couldn’t make up my mind for this one. The twins are here but they are not working on one of the “craft” projects so that wasn’t a choice. I do have some of Sue’s sketches sitting around so I shot the one she has done of our grandfather with one of the horses he used for deliveries from his general store.

They are updating the site that I have my blog on. While finding my way on the new features I inadvertently deleted some of my older blogs so now I am taking time to put them back.

The word today is land.  We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children, Chief Seattle.  Land is the secure ground of home, the sea is like life, the outside, the unknown, Stephen Gardiner.  You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment. Fools stand on their island of opportunities and look toward another land. There is no other land; there is no other life but this, Henry David Thoreau. What greater grief than the loss of one's native land, Euripides. The greatest fine art of the future will be the making of a comfortable living from a small piece of land, Abraham Lincoln. It is through this mysterious power that we too have our being, and we therefore yield to our neighbors, even to our animal neighbors, the same right as ourselves to inhabit this vast land, Sitting Bull. The sea's vast depths lie open to the fish; Wherever the breezes blow the bird may fly; So to the brave man every land's a home, Ovid. Not only does every animal live at the expense of some other animal or plant, but the very plants are at war.... The individuals of a species are like the crew of a foundered ship, and none but good swimmers have a chance of reaching the land, Thomas Huxley.   

It’s amazing all the things I am reading about how people are adapting to this “new normal”. According to this article even the Pelotonia is making some changes leaning toward other ways including a virtual way of doing things. One of the ladies mentioned in the article rode her exercise bike to participate in this annual fund raiser practice. Her family cheered her on with signs. The article went on to say that more than 10,000 ‘registrants’ have chosen an online platform with creative ways of using them. They have used ‘goals’ such as golf, swimming, soccer, fitness exercises and ways of helping with the pandemic (making masks and blood donations). The normal funds for this event are down but the hope is they will be rebuilt. They have waived the registration fees and fund-raising requirements for this year. It is expected that a wider audience is being reached since Pelotonia is no longer a cycling-only event. This allows even young children to participate. There are three-legged races and swimming relays.

It’s pizza night again......I love it when the no-kitchen-work night rolls around.

Joy

August 5, 2020 thought for the day: If you want to live and thrive, let the spider run alive. Spanish Proverb

It has turned out to be a busy and productive day. It started with making the envelopes for home bound bulletin deliveries and completing the handout sheet for the free meal on Saturday.

Then Sue and I left for Kroger. I always go overboard at the store. I think somewhere deep down I am afraid that I will go hungry if I don’t pick this and that up as I go by.

We made the other necessary stops yesterday, a stop at the bank, another stop at Walgreen and then a run by the park for a photo of the day shot.

The photo challenge for yesterday was “a quiet moment”. That shot was the purpose for the stop at Westgate Park. This happened to be just perfect. The park offers many “quiet moments”. So I had a feeling it would be the bees knees.

When we got home from the store today, I put the cold things away and got back to the computer both to get started on other data projects as well as some search for items I wanted to add to the new phone. All of that allowed me time to rest the weary legs. I think I will have enough steps on my fitbit step’s tracker. I also took the time to answer some emails that had come in.

I had information back from the bulletins and got those ready for printing tomorrow morning.




On the 5th of the month I have a second photo of the day “assignment”. Yesterday’s was “anything on wheels”. The wheel barrel standing beside the garage seemed to fit the bill perfectly.

I took a break to take the two photos of the day I need for today. But before that I took another break to peel and slice the potatoes for the cheesy potatoes I want for dinner. It takes about an hour and a half in the over to get done.

The word is knowledge. Through seven figures come sensations for a man; there is hearing for sounds, sight for the visible, nostril for smell, tongue for pleasant or unpleasant tastes, mouth for speech, body for touch, passages outwards and inwards for hot or cold breath. Through these come knowledge or lack of it, Hippocrates. All wish to know, but few the price will pay, Juvenal.  Even knowledge has to be in the fashion, and where it is not, it is wise to affect ignorance, Baltasar Gracian. ...love of learning is the most necessary passion ... in it lies our happiness. It's a sure remedy for what ails us, an unending source of pleasure, Emilie du Chatelet.  Knowledge is the knowing that we cannot know, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Seeking knowledge at an Young age is like engraving on a stone, Hasan of Basra. It is impossible to begin to learn that which one thinks one already knows, Epictetus. The true method of knowledge is experiment, William Blake. There is no knowledge, no light, no wisdom that you are in possession of, but what you have received it from some source, Brigham Young. True knowledge lies in knowing how to live, Baltasar Gracian. The peak efficiency of knowledge and strategy is to make conflict unnecessary, Sun Tzu. Consider your origins: you were not made to live as brutes, but to follow virtue and knowledge, Dante Alighieri.  

Today’s photo theme is “flora”. I have three plants in my “gardens” blooming right now so I picked the latest one to open.

This is a bit of news about some more structure change and usage in Columbus. The city is buying Douglas Elementary School. Starling Meddle is to auctioned. The Douglas school structure will be used as a new Senior Creative Campus through the Columbus Recreation and Parks Department.  They are also taking over the Stockbridge Elementary School site. It will be used a an extension of Stockbridge Park. The Starling building will be auctioned on August 27. The former Beck Elementary School in German Village and the former Cleaqrbrook Middle School building are being used by charter schools, one is South Columbus Preparatory Academy and the other the United Preparatory Academy East.

I am making fried bologna and cheesy potatoes for dinner.

Joy

August 3, 2020 thought for the day: God will listen to you whatever cloak you wear. Spanish Proverb

We had the twins again last night. This wasn’t a planned visit. All other adults in their lives were working today so we got to have them with us over night.

The photo challenge for August 2 was “sunrise/sunset”. I had to go back to my photo archives to pull one I took a while ago. I don’t get up before sunrise anymore. I like to upload the photo of the day  by early afternoon so it isn’t possible to take the photo that evening and upload it in time that day.

There is nothing much happening today except for work on the church bulletin. Since this pastor is quite on the ball I had her information a little ahead of time so I was able to get the whole bulletin done in about three hours.

Watering the gardens isn’t necessary today. We have had a few days of rain off and on. So watering was one of the to-do list check boxes filled in automatically. Now I have the rest of the day to catch up on some “back burner” projects.

I have a hibiscus plant that is in full bloom. There are buds all over every stem. At the beginning of spring I thought the plant was dead so I pruned it drastically. It came back to life in a huge way. I go out every day to cut off three or four or even five full open flowers to bring in to spruce up the kitchen and dining room and to give all the other buds a better chance to open.

The word today is knowing.   ...there is nothing that has been created without some reason, even if human nature is incapable of knowing precisely the reason for them all, Saint John Chrysostom.  One so small Who knowing nothing knows but to obey, Alfred Lord Tennyson.  Every man of sound brain whom you meet knows something worth knowing better than yourself. A man, on the whole, is a better preceptor than a book. But what scholar does not allow that the dullest book can suggest to him a new and a sound idea? Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton. Look for opportunities to help someone else, but don't give expecting something in return. Give knowing that if we give we receive, David.  I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do, Leonardo da Vinci. The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing, Socrates.  Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom, Aristotle. The gem cannot be polished without friction nor man without trials, Confucius. Self-knowledge comes from knowing other men, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. No man should be angry with what is true, Plato.

The photo theme today is “kindness”. In this photo Sweetpea obliged by resting her chin on my hand. I don’t know which was the “kinder”, me holding her chin or her allowing me to.

It was difficult for me to find something to talk about from today’s news. This is a more about some housing in Columbus. Actually it is “affordable housing apartments”. They are planned for “existing or planned public transportation routs and near schools...”. Franklin County is planning four developments that would create two hundred and seventy-three such apartments. There is an apparent hold up in the process due to the money intended for the process is being delayed until the developers can secure federal tax credits. The actual construction will not be done over night, so to speak, it will take a couple of years to complete the process. One person interviewed for the story said it is “about quality of life and work force availability.” Parts of the city to receive these housings are in the Linden area, on the westside on West Broad Street, on Lockbourne Road on the South side and on the South side on Reeb Road. It is hoped that the facilities “will be ready for residency by 2022".
   .
Hot dogs and potato soup for dinner.

Joy

August 1, 2020 thought for the day: Treat the small in the way you would want to be treated by the big. Spanish Proverb

Rainy days and Mondays....this was the rainy days part. But oh, how we needed it. We could still use a bit more I think. There is a beak this afternoon giving Bob time to mow the lawn before we get the next round.

To close out July the challenge for July 31 was “nature”. Looking out my front window was a perfect image of nature with the trees, blue sky and fluffy white clouds.

I got a new cell phone yesterday. I spent some of the evening yesterday and most of this morning “playing” with it. I am trying to get comfortable with all the bells and whistles, and setting it up the way I want it. There was a software program I needed on it that would  download some work I was doing to my computer external hard drive. So I had to learn to use the program and download and/or set it up to both the cell phone and the computer. I am so lucky to have a generous son who bought any type of cell phone I wanted.

One of my dogs is showing her age more and more each day. It is something there is no cure for, old age. All I can do is make her life as problem free and comfortable as I can. But my heart sinks a little as I notice that she can’t see or hear well anymore and stumbles easily.

Today’s photo theme is “I woke up here..”. So that was an easy decision with only one outcome. So here it is.

I am going to use my phone for my photo of the day today. I played around with it a little and love, love, love the focus it shows. But there are pros and cons with it as there is in most decisions in life.

The word today is kindness. There is one word which may serve as a rule of practice for all one's life -reciprocity, Confucius. Compassion will cure more sins than condemnation, Henry Ward Beecher. Kind words are the music of the world. They have a power which seems to be beyond natural causes, as if they were some angel's song which had lost its way and come to earth, Frederick William Faber. Oh, the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person; having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but to pour them all out, just as they are, chaff and grain together, knowing that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and then, with a breath of kindness, blow the rest away, George Eliot. It is not only for what we do that we are held responsible, but also for what we do not do, Moliere. To laugh often and love much; to win the respect of intelligent persons and the affection of children; to earn the approbation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, Ralph Waldo Emerson. It is God's kindness to terrify you in order to lead you to safety, Rumi. If we always helped one another, no one would need luck, Sophocles.  

Yesterday was the end of the month so I generated my typical end of the month collage of photos of the day for that month.

I like all animals. I am more comfortable around some than others. But I treasure them all. They were put on this earth by a power we can’t know totally and for some purpose beyond our capability to ascertain. All in all we are their steward and guardian. This article is about hedgehogs as pets. The first part of the article mentioned that they are solitary, nocturnal animals that don’t particularly care to be cuddled. They take special care to stay healthy. One little boy had a hedgehog named Betsy. He says that giving her a bath calms her and makes her more loveable. Before the bath she ‘cops a bit of a ‘tude.....and huffs....literally blows out puffs of air and shakes her head.” To bathe her he used a toothbrush then snuggled her in a towel.  She also seems quite happy when she “burrows” into a little pouch that the boy loops around his neck to carry her wherever he goes. According to the article the hedgehog is native to Europe Asia and Africa. Their “signature” move is to curl into a ball that can fit into the cup of someone’s hand. They have become more popular as pets in recent years. People enjoy watching them and their actions. The article stated that “some can run (on an exercise wheel) as much as nine miles a night). A shop owner said that they are like humans in showing their emotions. If they are scared or in pain they get poky. Owners should be aware that they can get mites and also respiratory or neurological disease that will require a visit to the vet. They need to be kept warm, heat lamps help. Some can be trained to kitty litter. They weigh less than two pounds and are considered exotic animals. Some states don’t allow them as pets, Ohio does. (Side note: Lowell had a pet ferret that wasn’t allowed in some states either as he and his family traveled to bases around the country). Another owner lets Henry who roams freely around her apartment near Ohio State University. Once he got stuck under her couch. She says he is “happiest when she lays on her bed and he rests on her chest. ...he kind of uncurls out of his ball and begins to explore.” Both owners in the article seem to agree that once you see and watch them you may want one too.

When I was cleaning out the freezer I found the chili I froze a couple of weeks ago so I think that will be our dinner tonight.

Joy