September 25, 2020 thought for the day: You must take the fat with the lean. Italian Proverb

Oh, what a beautiful day.....I love them when they come along even though it seems they are not to frequent, totally “beautiful” I mean. It’s beautiful anytime to be alive but some of the things that go with it can be a bit rough. 

I met with a friend at church to finish putting together the newsletter. It has been a while since we have worked together on this project. With the pandemic restrictions and a sadness in her family it has taken some time for us to begin to get back to a normal, maybe a slightly new normal, but it seemed almost the same today as before which was a happily welcomed event. 

When I got home from church Sue and I went out to complete some errands on her to do list, then a quick stop for take home lunch. 

The September 24th photo challenge was titled “art”. Sue and I both spend time exercising our particular interests in art. Mine, of course, is anything using photography as a base. Sue’s are sketching and painting. I have a few samples of both of our art pieces. I used one set that I have ready to hang for this image. 

Yesterday was a bit of that spice to life kind of day. We had a new furnace put in. It took the poor workers hours. I am sure they were bone tired when they were done. It was a grandfather and his grandson working together, that is a warm and rather rare happening in my personal experience to watch. It was perfect. They worked hand in hand, one telling and showing his years of experience, the other absorbing like a sponge. Not only was I able to observe the knowledge being passed on and accepted, (graciously it seemed) but watching and feeling the bits of love that passed between them at the same time. I thank God for giving me that experience. They were complete strangers when they came (although they do know my son) but they weren’t strangers to me when they left. 

The photo theme title for today is “better together”. My first thought was milk and cookies so that is theone I went with. This one was a little difficult to have chosen. It could have been that grandfather and his grandson but, for me, would have been a little difficult to compose to show the whole feeling. 

I got the message/hymn sheet finished yesterday for the Saturday free meal. So that left the rest of today pretty much on the quiet and easy-going side. There was only one thing left on my own to do list today, tend to my indoor garden. That was done in about fifteen minutes. 

The word today is money. Economy does not lie in sparing money, but in spending it wisely, Thomas Huxley. Never spend your money before you have earned it, Thomas Jefferson.  I do nothing but go about persuading you all, old and young alike, not to take thought for your persons or your properties, but and chiefly to care about the greatest improvement of the soul, Socrates.  Wouldst thou shut up the avenues of ill, Pay every debt as if God wrote the bill, Ralph Waldo Emerson.  Money does all things for reward. Some are pious and honest as long as they thrive upon it, but if the devil himself gives better wages, they soon change their party, Seneca the Younger. Money often costs too much, Ralph Waldo Emerson.  Simple, genuine goodness is the best capital to found the business of this life upon. It lasts when fame and money fail, and is the only riches we can take out of this world with us, Louisa May Alcott. An investment in knowledge pays the best interest, Benjamin Franklin.  If you know how to spend less than you get, you have the philosopher's stone, Benjamin Franklin.  Many people take no care of their money till they come nearly to the end of it, and others do just the same with their time, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Remember that credit is money, Benjamin Franklin. To have done anything just for money is to have been truly idle, Henry David Thoreau.    

Well, the article has a bit to do about the pandemic which I have been trying to stay away from in my missives but this one seems to be a little on the more pleasant side and may be an indication of some of the changes that may lead to a new normal. It is describing how family farms are still offering Halloween and Autumn fun. One of the farms included in the interview is in Delaware County. The owner said that they enjoy watching families have fun and want to continue to especially in the “unpredictable” year. The family farms this year are required to set up safety protocols according to the local health departments.  Corn mazes, hay rides and pumpkin patches will be set up with that in mind. The farms will be limiting attendance as well as using the 6-foot apart rule, some are requiring temperature checks for employees. Tickets for some will be online so that arrival time can be part of the management. It was recommended by the Ohio Department of Health that hay rides not be included in the festivities. But some are limiting the number of guests permitted on the rides at a time and some added bench seating and removed the straw. They are concentrating on making the farms safe for their guests. There will be rides. At one of the farms there are games and a bounce house, all will be sanitized. There will still be slides, zip lining, pedal carts and a “trike track” for adults as well as for the children. At least one of the farms has a petting zoo, a checkers game that sues pumpkins as playing pieces and a corn maze. The paths of the corn maze has been widened and extended for two miles to allow for social distancing. This article went on to list five farms in the area that will be offering fun activities with safety features in place along with days and time they will be open. 

IT’S PIZZA NIGHT!!!

Joy