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