September 7, 2020, today’s thought for the day: Whatever you do, do with all your might. Latin Proverb

It has been a bit of a different Monday, I expect it should since it is a holiday. Summer 2020 is at an end, pretty much. There will most likely be a few more hot days but the custom of this date ending the “official” events of summer time is here.

Well, September 6, 2020 was a “myself” theme for the photo of the day. I don’t like selfies I like to daydream of myself as possessing a tiny bit of svelte even though I am petite and aging. A selfie completely dispels that notion. So I try to think of all sorts of ways to “hide” at least parts of myself.
 
I took on finishing the move of the house plants back into the house. The only thing left for later this afternoon is clearing away the rest of the empty pots and odds and ends. That will include splitting one last plant that has overgrown its pot.

Before I moved the rest of the plants, I completed the bulletin. It is ready early for the proofreaders. I have a meeting at church about the filming that we are doing for putting on the facebook page. So I was planning on getting some light grocery shopping done today. But since I got in step with moving plants I put the store off until tomorrow.

Bob has the day off so he has been able to help some with part of the moving and cleaning of the plants. I am glad it is out of the way now.

The photo theme for today is “rings”. This one gave me pause for thought. The only thing I could come up with other than finger rings or ear rings or water rings on furniture was the kind that is more like a tool of sorts rather than decoration.

The word today is mercy.  I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice,  Abraham Lincoln. For Mercy has a human heart; Pity, a human face; Love, the human form divine; and Peace, the human dress, William Blake. The unthankful heart discovers no mercies; but the thankful heart will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings, Henry Ward Beecher. Where mercy, love, and pity dwell, there God is dwelling too, William Blake. Prayers are heard in heaven in proportion to our faith. Little faith gets very great mercies, but great faith still greater, Charles Spurgeon. Mercy is the golden chain by which society is bound together. William Blake.  Have charity; have patience; have mercy. Never bring a human being, however silly, ignorant, or weak--above all, any little child--to shame and confusion of face. Never by petulance, by suspicion, by ridicule, even by selfish and silly haste--never, above all, by indulging in the devilish pleasure of a sneer--crush what is finest and rouse up what is coarsest in the heart of any fellow-creature, Charles Kingsley. Nature has left nothing to the mercy of man, Henry David Thoreau. Time is the Mercy of Eternity, William Blake. It is impossible to imagine anything which better becomes a ruler than mercy, Seneca the Younger. We give our intent to love and meekness, by the working of mercy and grace we are made all fair and clean, Julian of Norwich. 

 I still haven’t made a visit to the Wilds..I am still hoping to get there some day soon. The article today is about how the Wilds have loss over a million dollars because of the virus. On a late August day the parking lot would normally have been packed and the gift shop busy all day long. But it wasn’t on the day in question. Seasonal workers have been cut. Daily visitors have been cut in half but the expense for care of the animals has gone on.  When the stay at home order was first enacted, the Wilds ceased for the entire month. It takes $2,200 every day to feed the animals. That is not including the veterinary costs and other care costs. One of the measures to help keep expenses down was stopping the breeding program. Some of the animals were sent to “trusted” zoos temporarily. The Wilds has also had to protect the animals from contracting the COVID virus from humans as it has been determined that lions and tigers are able to catch the virus. The article said that the park is slowly allowing visitors to hand feed the giraffes. The number of visitors allowed in at a time has been cut to about half the normal capacity. The park is trying to figure ways to recuperate some of the loss in revenue. One of the ways is to extent the time they are open for the season to November.  The Kids camps were canceled for the summer. The “Nomad Village yurts are available with modifications”. There is a new camping opportunity near the rhino and giraffe pasture. They are establishing a “major fund raiser called “Sleeping Under the Stars” and there is a backlog of people signing up.

I think we are going to have Chinese for dinner.

Joy