October 29, 2020 thought for today: In youth, one has tears without grief; in age, grief without tears. French Proverb

The printing went well again this morning. I was able to download the taped church services from the memory card to the archive files I created on the church computer, then delete them from the card to free up more memory. I also printed the new church directory. I wanted to test the cover and final format. I am not happy with the color in the cover so it is back to the drawing board but it shouldn’t take too long to fix it. 

I wanted to stop by White Castle but they are still closed from the fatal shooting that happened there a few days ago. 

The photo theme for October 28 was “soft”. I thought of a huge spray of whipped cream or a big fat feather-filled pillow. I had just swept up some of Sweet Pea’s hair that was so soft I had trouble getting it to the trash can without it blowing away from the swish of air from the furnace registers. So that turned out to be my choice for this subject. 

Sue needed to run some errands so once I got home we went out to get those done. The streets were wet from the rain that occurred most of the night and into our outing of obligations and errands.  Once back home I got started on the laundry.

The word is paradise.  However mean your life is, meet it and live it; do not shun it and call it hard names. It is not bad... it looks poorest when you are richest. The fault-finder will find faults, even in paradise. Love your life, poor as it is. You may have perhaps so, Henry David Thoreau. Recollection is the only paradise from which we cannot be turned out, Jean Paul Richter. To lepers and to outcasts thou dost show - that passion is the paradise below, Charles Baudelaire.  He that does good for good's sake seeks neither paradise nor reward, but he is sure of both in the end, William Penn. Paradise is open to all kind hearts, Pierre-Jean de Beranger. The heart of man is, so to speak, the paradise of God, Alphonsus Liguori. A good conscience is paradise, Jacobus Arminius. The Cross is the way to Paradise, but only when it is borne willingly, Paul of the Cross. Paradise was made for tender hearts; hell, for loveless hearts, Voltaire. The Bible begins gloriously with Paradise, the symbol of youth, and ends with the everlasting kingdom, with the holy city. The history of every man should be a Bible, Novalis. Scripture brought me to the Gate of Paradise, and the mind stood in wonder as it entered, Ephrem the Syrian. Infancy is the perpetual Messiah, which comes into the arms of fallen men, and pleads with them to return to paradise, Ralph Waldo Emerson. 

The photo theme for today is “dance”. I don’t have any idea where to find something suitable for it
today so I searched the archives and found some that will do. For some reason this theme brought a song theme and it’s words to my mind. The title is I Danced in the Morning (Dance, then, wherever you my be .....and I’ll lead you all in the dance said He). I found some shots I had taken at my great granddaughter’s dance recital a couple of years ago. She was much younger than the young ladies shown in this group of ballerinas in front of the heads of the many people in the audience. I used a filter on the finished piece. I was several rows from the stage and in low light conditions. I think the photo turned out well under those conditions. 

I like plants and thought this article may bring a little freshness into these waning days of late autumn. The title of this article is “ Shop Talk: Groovy Plants Ranch an Oasis of Houseplants, Cacti & Succulents”. This shop is located in Marengo, Ohio. It is said to be a one-stop-shop for all kinds of plants. They offer decorative ceramics to go along with the living plants. One of the owners has been operating the business his college days when he grew and sold cacti at flea markets. The business kept growing so that he built a green house. He and his wife bought the property where they are now located. They grow most of their stock and “source” those that are harder to find from other greenhouses. The article mentioned that they have a large selection of unusual succulents. They have three building on their property. The buildings are names “The School House”, for bulbs and seeds and other merchandise; “The Mercantile”, a greenhouse; and “The Jungle Hut”, a greenhouse for low-light plants and a “Rare Plant Vault”.  The staff are purported (since I haven’t personally had the pleasure of visiting (yet)) to be very knowledgeable about the products and love answering questions and troubleshooting. Later the owners hope to offer educational classes and craft events some with a glass of wine. The shop also offers online materials. In the summer they have fruits and vegetables, in the fall mums, gourds and pumpkins, in the winter poinsettias. Their on line address is GroovyPlantsRanch.com.

I will be making spaghetti for dinner, it’s my dad’s recipe, I have used it for years. 

Joy

 October 27, 2020 thought for today: Honesty makes you rich, but she works slowly. German Proverb

I seem to be sleeping a few minutes longer each day... wonder if that is one of the signs of the aging process....if it is ..... darn!

The photo theme for October 26 was “a spider web”. There are plenty of those around especially this time of year. So I went to the “back forty” (back yard) and looked around the crevasses in the fences and sure enough I found a few. Then checked in the basement around the hidden and not so often noticed pipes and spaced in the concrete. I didn't get each strand of the web as clear as I would have liked to but I did get the collection if goods that the spider caught.

I think I mentioned a while back in the blog that I lost a pair of glasses and am wearing an old out dated pair. So I decided to take a pair of old frames to my eye doctor to see if I could get my current prescription glass put in. I called yesterday and they said they could do it. So I took them out this morning. I should have them in a few days. 

On my way home I decided to stop at a Kroger store to see if they carried, apparently, a special tea my sister likes. We can’t seem to find it anywhere. It is Arizona Arnold Palmer Zero tea. It seemed readily available a while back but seems harder and harder to find. The first store where I stopped didn’t have it so I tried a second one a little more out of my way but not that much. They didn’t have it either. So I gave up and headed home. 

While I was at the doctor’s office I asked if they minded if I used my camera to take a couple of shots. The theme today is “collection”. I felt their selection of glasses. After the stops at Kroger I continued to look for a possible photo that would fit the theme, a trash collection truck....no luck. There didn’t seem to be one working today at least not in my vicinity. 

When I finally got home and checked my email I found that the information I need to finish the bulletin was here so I got that done. 

There was an explosion of blooms on my hibiscus bush this morning so I took some time to go collect them (all eleven flowers) to enjoy inside the house. I think it will soon be all bloomed out for the season. 

The word today is opposites. God turns you from one feeling to another and teaches by means of opposites so that you will have two wings to fly, not one, Rumi.   Every action has an equal and opposite reaction, Isaac Newton. Excess generally causes reaction, and produces a change in the opposite direction, whether it be in the seasons, or in individuals, or in governments, Plato.  While fools shun one set of faults they run into the opposite one, Horace.  Serious things cannot be understood without laughable things, nor opposites at all without opposites, Plato. Two quite opposite qualities equally bias our minds - habits and novelty, Jean de la Bruyere.  All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident, Arthur Schopenhauer.  In the long run, truth is aided by nothing so much as by opposition, William Ellery Channing. The bad man is continually at war with, and in opposition to, himself, Aristotle.  The only way to meet affliction is to pass through it solemnly, slowly, with humility and faith, as the Israelites passed through the sea. Then its very ways of misery will divide, and become to us a wall, on the right side and on the left, until the gulf narrows before our eyes and we land safe on the opposite sore, Dinah Maria Murlock Craik. The proof of a well-trained mind is that it rejoices in which is good and grieves at the opposite, Marcus Tullius Cicero.   

The article looked like an interesting idea. The title was: Charcuterie businesses slice out their own niche during pandemic. I had never heard the term so I Googled it and found that it was a French term meaning a meat platter. There was a photo in the article that showed mostly breakfast sweets which puzzled me since the definition was meat.  I glanced further through the article and found this sentence: “Though charcuterie generally refers to a branch of cooking devoted to prepared meats and comes from a French word meaning “cooked flesh,” people are making breakfast charcuterie boards that include fruit, eggs, bacon and pancakes, or fall-themed ones that incorporate candy corn, nuts and pumpkin doughnuts to savor after seasonal meats and cheeses.” One of the lady’s mentioned in the first part of the article said that she had taken one of these plates to a small gathering this summer. She said her friends suggested she make them and sell them. She sold fifteen boards in a week. Since her business picked up she invested in a “restaurant-style refrigerator”. Apparently there are others who started businesses using charcuterie boards. One person interviewed said that it is a way to make extra money especially in this pandemic arena.  One of the ladies said that she can pay all the household bills out of the company. Some of the people shopping are “jazzing” up there stay-at-home evenings. Others was to send a unique gift or to folks hosting a party. In one sentence she said “.... even the “food truck option” at breweries certain nights of the week.” Items used to “build” this platters or “boards” can be vegan or sweets not including meats and cheese. One board she did for a baby shower was one with “s’more fixings”. According to the article more restaurants are offering them on their menus. Also mentioned in the article was that there are kits that can be purchased to build your own boards. The food can be pickled vegetable or plain and multiple types of cheeses. One lady while on vacation made n eight foot charcuterie spread. 

I am making a meatloaf for dinner and I have mashed potatoes and a delicious Au Jus gravy I made last night with baked cube stakes. 

Joy

 October 25, 2020 thought for the today: If you are an anvil, be patient; if you are a hammer, strike hard. German Proverb

I feel bad....I chose not to go to church today, personal reasons. I have a feeling I will feel the effects of it all day if not all week. I have come to find that I need the Sunday morning refresher to my daily living. It clears my mind and “gives me permission” to keep going with a smile and lessens or sweeps away some of the heaviest dismaying events of the past week, piled on those same feelings of the past few months of strife, sadness, and fear. I don’t always agree with the message of the day but the companionship of my peers and friends and the atmosphere of the church are part of worship. The organ music, even if we don’t sing along, following the words in the hymnal stimulate emotional and thought censors.

Yesterday the photo theme was “rocks”. I didn’t have to go far to find rock. We have a few spots in the back and front yard where small collections of rocks have seems to gather. Planning a rock garden may be on the horizon for next spring. 

We have a mouse in the house. Last night as I sat in my bed reading I saw him searching for food in the other room. We have been mouse-free for several months. He must have come in out of the “cold” and most likely plans to stay. I would rather not kill him so he’d better find his way out again....not very likely.

I still don’t have much planned for today, this being Sunday. I will enjoy looking out the window at nature and the sky as I gather knowledge from searches on the computer and favorable articles from the paper (online version).

The word for the day is opinion.  Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth, Marcus Aurelius.  Opinion has caused more trouble on this little earth than plagues or earthquakes, Voltaire.  He who has no opinion of his own, but depends upon the opinion and taste of others, is a slave, Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock.  The man who never alters his opinions is like standing water, and breeds reptiles of the mind, William Blake.    I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend, Thomas Jefferson. Opinion in good men is but knowledge in the making, John Milton.  Public opinion in this country is everything, Abraham Lincoln, Opinion is the queen of the world, Blaise Pascal. Keep one thing in view forever- the truth; and if you do this, though it may seem to lead you away from the opinion of men, it will assuredly conduct you to the throne of God, Horace Mann.  Errors of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it, Thomas Jefferson. Opinions are made to be changed or how is truth to be got at? Lord Byron. Things are not to be judged good or bad merely because the public think so, Tacitus. Science is the father of knowledge, but opinion breeds ignorance, Hippocrates. 

I had to make a quick trip for an errand so while I was out I kept an eye out for today’s photo challenge. I had given it some thought earlier but had a hard time trying to come up with where to look for “an arrow pointing up”. With Bob’s help I came up with a couple of things to look for and as I was driving I saw a few more. 

Here’s real courage and the will and wonder to get every drop and every moment of fun that life has to offer. The article is about a little boy who has Prader-Willi Syndrom, a very serious genetic disorder and how he is handling life. Some of the symptoms of the disease are low muscle tone, abnormal growth and intellectual disabilities and more. The doctors told his parents that he wouldn’t be able to walk alone. Then he started walking, next they said he would never run after he was running then said he would never jump. His mother showed the doctor a photo on her phone of the boy climbing on a climbing rock. The boy’s father introduced him to a skateboard to help his muscle tone and balance during the pandemic when his physical therapy was halted. Apparently the skateboarding has helped him in other ways too. It has helped socially as well as in the areas of reaction time and anticipating things. Because of the skateboarding exercise his running has improved. Other “obstacles” have come into his live. He developed cerebral palsy and is on the autism spectrum. His parents say something I have heard from other parents of children who have special differences in their lives. The parents say “...(he) has been the most rewarding thing in my entire life because it taught me to quit worrying about things I can’t control.” Ways of treating many less than everyday twists in human development way come about by an unexpected happening. When the physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy were interrupted for the boy, his parents accidentally found something that helped maybe in better ways. When these stopped for the boy his father found the skateboard as he was cleaning out the garage. There was a learning period and some nervousness on the part of the parents but all was beyond well. The father is planning a line of skate4boards that will benefit research. The boards will be imprinted with the words “Yes, I Will.”

Sundays have become taco night (or a reliable substitute) for take home for dinner. 

Joy 

 October 23, 2020 thought for the day: If you don't want to be deceived, you must have as many eyes as hairs on the head. German Proverb

It’s been an active day. I doubled up on the printing at church yesterday. I called the lady who helps with finishing the newsletter and asked her if she would mind coming in on Thursday instead of Friday as is our custom to help with the folding, sealing, labeling, stamping and mailing. She was happy to do it. The three printing projects for the day went well after I was able to figure out why the computer, monitors and copier went off, (it was a problem with one of the power strips) went out half way through the jobs. Her help let me clear today for a doctor’s appointment that I had forgotten. 

Yesterday’s photo theme was “running water”. After running water from my faucet, which I have a problem capturing in an image, my next thought was the fountain in the park down the street. I wasn’t satisfied with the preview in my camera monitor so I went on to shoot a “spring-like” feature at the end of the pond in the park. I don’t know what that “spring-like” object is or what it is for but I am guessing that it is some sort of aeration system. Whatever it is it is running water. 

Sue went along with me to the doctor. She needed to have some blood work done and the lab is in the same building as my doctor’s office. I got the flu shot out of the way and some of my own blood work done too. I had an informative chat with both the doctor and the lab technician about some of my own pandemic safety measures as well as why the “old” Mt. Carmel was moved. We are in agreement that it was desperately needed where it was in the first place.   

We both had grocery lists to tend to so we stopped at Kroger to get that task out of the way. On the way home from our adventures, I wanted to stop by White Castle for a light “brunch” and then into the affects of another kind of adventure. There had been a fatal shooting at the business earlier in the morning. So the whole White Castel lot was taped off. As we headed on down Broad Street we noticed that the bank across the street from White Castle had been taped off too. Then, still further, across the street from the corner of my street the filling station was also taped off. I found out later that the shooter had shot out windows at the bank and went further to try to rob and hide in the rest room at the filling station. 

Once home, I got back to work. I got part of the groceries put up before I watered the plants and finished loading the near full dish washer. Back at the computer, I got back into some other multitasking. I checked and answered emails, took a quick break from that to get back to the church messages ready for handing out. Also got one big bill paid and ordered some furnace filters. I still have about half of those to do and then back to putting the rest of the groceries up. Hopefully I will have those done before the twins get here for their overnight. 

The word today is open. You cannot open a book without learning something, Confucius. Youth comes but once in a lifetime, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Luck generally comes to those who look for it, and my notion is that it taps, once in a lifetime, at everybody's door, but if industry does not open it luck goes away, Charles Spurgeon. One day is worth a thousand tomorrows, Benjamin Franklin. Each day of my life I am sowing seeds that one day I will harvest, Gautama Buddha. One moment can change a day, One day can change a life and One life can change the world, Gautama Buddha. There's no use in comparing one's feelings between one day and the next; you must allow a reasonable interval, for the direction of change to show itself, Lewis Carroll.  Let us make education brave and preventive. Politics is an after work, a poor patching. We are always a little late... We shall one day learn to supercede politics by education... We must begin higher up, namely in Education, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Let us not underrate the value of a fact; it will one day flower in a truth. It is astonishing how few facts of importance are added in a century to the natural history of any animal. The natural history of man himself is still being gradually written, Henry David Thoreau. 

The photo challenge today is “an empty table”.  Many years ago my aunt gave me a table that had been in her lake front home for as long as I knew the home. It is a gate-leg table. (Here is a definition of a gate leg table: A gate-leg table is a type of furniture first introduced in England in the 16th century. The table top has a fixed section and one or two hinged leaves, which, when not in use, fold down below the fixed section to hang vertically. As such, gate-leg tables are a subset of the type known as a drop-leaf. The hinged section, or flap, was supported on pivoted legs joined at the top and bottom by stretchers constituting a gate. Large flaps had two supports, which had the advantage of providing freer leg space in the center.) I think the photo shows the character the years have imparted to and on this eighty-plus year old table. 

I latched on to this article particularly due to something I heard in the campaign speech last night. FORMER Vise President Biden said Lincoln was a racist. That shocked me, another shock similar to the destruction of historical statues in this season of the apparent restructure of America. I don’t understand how he could have been after what he did for slavery and his efforts of trying to make a solution for both the slaves’ lives and “owners”’ lives to be safer and happier. These kinds of things repeatedly show me how the decisions of human beings in authority are made with and by things happening in their life and in the society around them at the time the decisions need to be made. Am I naïve?  This article is about the Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, hopefully when I read it through there will be some salvage to the tatters being made of my humble belief in the history and greatness of the world’s United States. In Springfield, Illinois in the front of the museum is a sculpture of Lincoln “right down to Lincoln’s patent leather shoes”. The museum features many parts of Lincoln’s life “from childhood ....to that fatal night at Ford’s Theatre”.  The museum is sectioned into two parts, “the Journey” the early years and “the White House Years”, all from the one-room log cabin to the farewell speech. I’m sure those early years show a hardship that is not just the suffering of one part of society but of many if not all of us to one degree or another. The article went on to relate how there was impeccable attention to setting up the cabin right down to some trees. The article further mentioned that two 1800s tobacco barns were found in storage in Kentucky and Virginia and brought to the museum. There is a reproduction of the South Portico in the White House section. “There are 12 million books, documents and artefacts...the world’s largest collection.” It is “one of the most studied museums in the world”. I wonder if, because of a belief as earlier mentioned in the blog, very soon, this facility will be allowed, by some purported all knowing(?) authority, to be taken apart and destroyed as with the other historical artifacts that have recently been in this year of horror or deformed wonder. 

Wonderful pizza night tonight...

Joy

October 21, 2020 thought for today: If you fail to practice your art, it will soon disappear. German Proverb

This was one of those days where I couldn’t catch up, as a matter of fact I am still “running” (in my head) to catchup. 

I finished the newsletter this morning and was able to, almost, finish the message and hymn for the Saturday free meal. I got stuck on one of the clip arts for the hymn page and had to let it go until I got back from food pantry. 

One of yesterday’s photo themes was “graffiti”. I traveled around looking for some before pantry. I thought I had seen more than I could actually find. I found one where windows’ were pained on a building to look like real ones but didn’t know if that would be considered graffiti. I think it would have been according to the definition I found. (... form of visual communication, usually illegal, involving the unauthorized marking of public space by an individual or group. Although the common image of graffiti is a stylistic symbol or phrase spray-painted on a wall by a member of a street gang, some graffiti is not gang-related. Graffiti can be understood as antisocial behavior performed in order to gain attention or as a form of thrill seeking, but it also can be understood as an expressive art form..... there are many different types and styles of graffiti; it is a rapidly developing art form.)

Yesterday I helped with pantry outside while it was misting off and on. Thank goodness it wasn’t a hard rain. It was like riding a bike I was able to get right back into being in sync. I went again today. It was a little warmer today. I’m glad to get back to it. 

While I was there, I got a text telling me that the minister had uploaded the information I need to finish the bulletin. So when I got home I started on that right away. When I got that finished I uploaded it and the bulletin to be proof read. Then I finished the message sheet that I started this morning. Next, addressed shut in envelopes and printed the labels for the newsletters.

The second photos of the day for yesterday was “one of the (five) senses” to describe the photo. Sugar was near me taking one of her many naps. So I wanted to get an up close shot of her eye to represent “close your eyes” (song title). 

The word today is open.   Sincerity is an openness of heart; we find it in very few people; what we usually see is only an artful dissimulation to win the confidence of others, Francois de La Rochefoucauld . Honesty is always the best policy, George Washington. Never apologize for showing feeling. When you , do so, you apologize for the truth, Benjamin Disraeli. Not knowing when the dawn will come I open every door, Emily Dickinson. Joy and openness come from our own contented heart, Gautama Buddha. Perfect sincerity and transparency make a great part of beauty, as in dewdrops, lakes, and diamonds, Henry David Thoreau. If someone is able to show me that what I think or do is not right, I will happily change, for I seek the truth, by which no one ever was truly harmed. Harmed is the person who continues in his self-deception and ignorance, Marcus Aurelius.  I have always strenuously supported the right of every man to his own opinion, however different that opinion might be to mine. He who denies to another this right, makes a slave of himself to his present opinion, because he precludes himself the right of changing it, Thomas Paine. Nay, be a Columbus to whole new continents and worlds within you, opening new channels, not of trade, but of thought. Henry David Thoreau.  To love another person is to see the face of God, Victor Hugo.  The heart of a fool is in his mouth, but the mouth of a wise man is in his heart, Benjamin Franklin   When you open your heart with a quiet mind love rushes in, Genevieve.  

Now I have to search my archives for a photo for today’s challenge. The theme is “a flock of birds”. As I was working the food pantry and on the way home I looked for birds....not one in sight, let alone a flock. So it truly will be the archives to the rescue. 

I like stories about places that are being renovated, something old brought back to something new. I don’t know much about a place in our city called the “Circus House”, located in Victorian Village,  but it sounds intriguing. This article is about the new owners of this structure renovating it. (I looked up a description before I read the article: The mansion was built in 1895 by Peter Sells, one of the founders of the Sells circus.) According to the new owners the house has been “severely damaged under previous ownership”. Here are some of the damages, electrical boxes ripped from walls, plumbing smashed, flooring pulled up, mirrors shattered, and so on. It went to describe how the 1895 banister had been pulled away from the spindles. Walls, arches gold paint have been tainted. The new owners suspect that it will cost as much to restore it as it did to purchase it in the first place, but they are looking forward to revitalizing it. One of the contractor who will be working on the house said that it is one of the “great houses in Columbus” and “it is a crime to see this place dark for so long...”. The original house was built with respect for design elements such as Gothic Revival, Mission Revival and French chateau in mind. The house has changed over the years with removal of certain parts. The new owners have gotten permission to make additional changes such as “extending the home’s distinctive gothic-arch....on the front porch”. The owners are asking electricians and plumbers to check wiring and water lines piece by piece. It was stated that “ it’s like ....putting Humpty Dumpty back together”. At different points in time the house was used as an alcoholic shelter and a day care center, probably not at the same time. The owners want it not only for a home but as an office and meeting place too. They are looking at the “construction ahead instead of the destruction behind”. One of the new owners'  philanthropic  endeavors is near and dear to my heart, work for the safety and protection of animals. They hope to make room for  having meetings for that interest as well as others in the new building. 

It will something out of the freezer for dinner. 

Joy  

 October 19, 2020 thought for the day: If you let the weeds grow for a year you will need seven to clear them. German Proverb

It’s amazing how a cloudy, rainy, dreary day can crash the mood. Today fits the original “rainy days and Mondays always get me down” lyrics. 

At least I did get a good bit accomplished. I got the bulletin template completed to the point of the incoming information I will need to complete it as the information comes trickling in. And nearly the same point of readiness on the newsletter. I will need a little more information for the later. Hopefully, I will get what I need for both tomorrow. 

The photo theme for October 18 was “a closed sign”. I went driving around in search of the subject. I was amazed at how few I was able to find. There are several closed up businesses but they have no closed signs attached. Finally, I went to the shopping center that has several closed and re-purposed stores and was able to finally find two separate closed signs. 

I am so glad that medical establishments have adopted the process of contacting their patients when follow up appointments are due. I apparently neglected to jot down the date for my appointment with my family doctor. I got an email to let me know it is due this Friday. This is the worse possible week but it is what it is. I will have to rearrange the time for my other obligation for Friday.

I think I have completed the fixes for the church directory. The thing that is delaying completion is designing a cover that I am satisfied with. I have been taking photos at church when I have the change. I want a back ground for the front cover. 

The photo theme for today is ‘something hidden’. I captured an image the other day that I will use for today. I knew the titles a few days ahead. I saw this one as I was taking another shot and decided I would use it today. I’m glad I did since the weather is ugly today. I said ugly but if we think about it we need these kinds to make the others shine. This happens to be a view the waiting line at McDonald’s drive through. 

The word today is old.  Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards, Soren Kierkegaard.  When grace is joined with wrinkles, it is adorable. There is an unspeakable dawn in happy old age, Victor Hugo.  As we grow old, the beauty steals inward, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Forty is the old age of youth; fifty the youth of old age, Victor Hugo. Grow old with me. the best is yet to be. the last of life for which the first was made, Robert Browning. The secret of genius is to carry the spirit of childhood into maturity, Thomas Huxley. Gather ye rose-buds while ye may, Old Time is still a flying: And this same flower that smiles to day, Tomorrow will be dying, Robert Herrick. The passions of the young are vices in the old. Joseph Joubert. Beards in olden times, were the emblems of wisdom and piety, Thomas B. Macaulay.  A graceful and honorable old age is the childhood of immortality, Pindar. Old age, especially an honored old age, has so great authority, that this is of more value than all the pleasures of youth, Marcus Tullius Cicero. Old age, believe me, is a good and pleasant thing. It is true you are gently shouldered off the stage, but then you are given such a comfortable front stall as spectator, Confucius. For age is opportunity no less Than youth itself, though in another dress, And as the evening twilight fades away The sky is filled with stars, invisible by day, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.   

I offering another story about pets, it seems I pick up animal stories easily. This article is about how pets and animals can take over feelings and homes. The person who wrote the story said that his awakening to the magic of animals started when his wife called him while he was away to say that his children were “talking” to a cat through the screen. When he met “the cat” it got the name of Stormy. He says that meeting changed his life. In the beginning it didn’t look good, Stormy was “bedraggled and pregnant and wet from the rain”. After the birth of her children and their finding new homes she became the “best of all possible cats”.  I like his description of “catlike in her demands, dog like in her devotion”. When he was on another trip away from home he got another call from his wife. There was a second cat, his reply was “no”. Well, the cat moved in and became “Lawrence”. Lawrence was a she, and not as friendly as Stormy. She brings in the occasional mice or chipmunk. As the story goes on, another animal enters the picture. The family, the man, his wife and his twins bought a barn and a fence and two pygmy goats. The back story is that one of the twins had a friend whose family raised goats that started the longing for another pet. The new goats became Peanut and Angel. So came the new experiences of watching frolicking and head-to-fist butting. He ends the story that the one-time- no-animals-allowed kind of life had become a willing “pet person”. 

I think it will be hamburgers and mac and cheese for dinner. 

Joy

October 17, 2020 thought for the day: Never buy through your ears but through your eyes. Irish Proverb

I slept in a while and this is odd because the girls were here for an overnight and one of them is an early bird. She is usually awake long before me. But I didn’t hear her. 

I decided to make pancakes for  the girls for breakfast. Usually Sue is the one who takes care of their nutritional needs while they are here, I tend to give them to many sweets. Anyway, one of them wanted chocolate chips in the pancakes and one wanted blueberries. 

On October 16 the photo challenge title was “ power lines”. I have some awesome shots of power lines along highways in my years of archives but I like to stick with the idea of a photo a day as being a photo that was taken on that particular day as often as I can. Sometimes I have to pull from the archives for one reason or another. Anyway, I went out in my back yard to find this as well as several other different views of power lines in the city. 

Oh, the kitchen light problem.....it’s fixed! Yesterday I decided to get over my hesitation and try to take the cover off the one that is giving us the problem. After some grunting and prying I got it loose. To my amazement the light itself was part of the cover. Sue and I went to the garage to go through some of the things in storage and after a bit of hunting and moving things I found the extra lights that were saved from the remodeling last year. I couldn’t quite get high enough on the ladder to do the connection so I waited for Bob to get home and he finished the hook up. We have light!

I had a short list of things I wanted to get done around here so I enlisted Bob again. There were two plants I wanted to hang. I had ordered the hooks several weeks ago waiting for the time and opportunity to get someone to help me get them mounted. Bob and I together got that done. Next on the list, we have a chest freezer that was left on a skid due to some further work that was going to be done behind it. Anyway, due to that additional height it was much more difficult for me to get things in and out. Today Bob and I moved the skid out and the freezer is about four or five inches lower. Two down and two to go. I have two more things on my list but I think I can handle them myself. At any rate my back is complaining so that’s it for today. 

I worked a little on the newsletter, not enough to make much of a dent so that is going to add to next week’s list. I will be at the church at some time every day from Sunday through Friday. 

I had to take a brake to run a couple of errands. I needed to go by the post office to drop of the newsletters I finished and then go by the church to drop off the message envelopes. On the way home I cruised in search of  the photo of the day. 

The word today is observance. Good luck is the willing handmaid of upright, energetic character, and conscientious observance of duty, James Russell Lowell.  Obedience is a virtue of so excellent a nature, that Our Lord was pleased to mark its observance upon the whole course of His life; thus He often says, He did not come to do His Own will, but that of His Heavenly Father, Saint Francis de Sales.  Should you be unfortunate enough to have vices, you may, to a certain degree, even dignify them by a strict observance of decorum; at least they will lose something of their natural turpitude, Lord Chesterfield. Nothing has such power to broaden the mind as the ability to investigate systematically and truly all that comes under thy observation in life, Marcus Aurelius.  Observation, not old age, brings wisdom, Publilius Syrus. Observation - activity of both eyes and ears, Horace Mann.  We pass by common objects or persons without noticing them; but the keen eye detects and notes types everywhere and among all classes, William Makepeace Thackeray.  Observation is an old man's memory, Jonathan Swift.  The true spirit of conversation consists in building on another man's observation, not overturning it, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton.  The observer listens to nature: the experimenter questions and forces her to reveal herself, Georges Cuvier.  

The photo theme today is “behind the scenes”. There are a lot of scenarios that would fit this theme. My first thought, and the one, I chose to accept as the one I would look for was behind businesses or in alleys’. I went out looking around for and shooting alleys. Then over to the back side of shopping centers. 

It seems everyone is trying to pick the way they want to vote this season. Here is a peek at one of the choices this year. The article is about how long lines of those waiting to vote gives a boast to shop keepers whose businesses are along the way to the voting booth. For this particular example and story, the line began at a HomeBuys store and continued past Sam Ash Music and Papa John’s ending at the Franklin County Board of Elections on Morse Road. The article went on to say that because of the traffic and lines regular customers may stay away until the election time is over. On the other hand it means people who didn’t know they were there have learned of possible new places to shop. Two people stopped after they voted to buy pizzas to take home. Another told the staff at Sam Ash that they didn’t know he was there and they ended up looking around and buying. The lines have been long but one thing to take into consideration is that because of the social distancing they look longer than time seems to measure. Another thing to consider is the lines aren’t allowed inside the voting center until each persons turn. The board of elections has tried to consider the businesses by erecting barriers in the parking lot to direct traffic. There are also police and deputies to control the near by traffic light.  The near by HomeBuys business claims that the lines “have generated more interest and customers”. 

Something from the freezer for dinner tonight, maybe chili mac.  

Joy

October 15, 2020 thought for the day: When you are right no one remembers; when you are wrong no one forgets. Irish Proverb

The printing went great this morning. I was finished with both documents in about forty-five minutes. I had a little time to chat with Jim before he got to work. 

I stopped by the post office for the stamps I needed for the set of newsletters I want to get done in the nest day or two. On my way home I went up and down streets looking for the two photos I need for today. 

The photo theme for October 14 was “the tallest building”. Anyone in town knows that there is one building here that for many years was the tallest. There are a couple of other now that come close. I reached into my archives for this one because I didn’t want to drive down town for a photo excursion. 

I emptied the dish washer and reloaded before I started the laundry and got to work on labeling and stamping the newsletters so I can mail them. 

We have a light situation in the kitchen that is taking a while to get to with other time consuming obligations it is slowing things down. None of us has experience with “canned lights” so it is a bit of a learning experience too. 

I did find a little time to work on the church directory yesterday. Two of my friends helped with checking for any errors. So now I am finding and fixing those. The biggest time delay for me is determining how to finish the cover. 

The word is obscure.  Truth is so obscure in these times, and falsehood so established, that, unless we love the truth, we cannot know it, Blaise Pascal. Human affairs are so obscure and various that nothing can be clearly known, Desiderius Erasmus.  Between knowledge of what really exists and ignorance of what does not exist lies the domain of opinion. It is more obscure than knowledge, but clearer than ignorance, Plato. Ministers should be stars to give light, not clouds to obscure. Charles Spurgeon. Style is only the frame to hold your thoughts. It is like the sash of a window; if heavy, it will obscure the light, Ralph Waldo Emerson.  It has always been a favorite idea of mine, that there is so much of the human in every man, that the life of any one individual, however obscure, if really and vividly perceived in all its aspirations, struggles, failures, and successes, would command the interest of all others, Harriet Beecher Stowe. When I struggle to be terse, I end by being obscure, Horace.  I want to understand you, I study your obscure language, Alexander Pushkin. To be continually subject to the breath of slander, will tarnish the purest virtue, as a constant exposure to the atmosphere will obscure the brightness of the finest gold; but in either case, the real value of both continues the same, although the currency may be somewhat impeded, Charles Caleb Colton.   

One of today’s challenges was “wrinkles”. Well I could have taken a selfie, there have grown a good
supply of wrinkles there. I also thought about a laundry basket full of clothes ready for the washer but settled for a pile of paper napkins that have accumulated in my car. 

This article looked like a list of some fun things from a little village we are familiar with.  I’m glad to see there are other outlets the kids to enjoy Halloween. I am strongly not in favor of a trick or treat this season due to the pandemic. I think I accept the idea of safe distancing, masks and small groups of people as much or more than most folks right now. But in our neighborhood kids are “bussed” in, so to speak. They come from other areas, not from homes around and close to ours. I usually go through four or five humongous bags of candy. I think we will not take part this year. The article was about Halloween in Mt. Sterling. A village my family is familiar with. Here’s a list of some of the things going on there for this season. A haunted house that is being decorated and out fitted in the Masonic Lodge on London Street. There will be a costume contest. It is a free event. The Eastern Star will serve free hot dogs, beverages and other goodies. Next on the festivity’s list is a Chili Cook Off. It will be held at Hammer Time Pub also on London Street. People will be dropping off their chili entries at the “pub” in corckpots. The next Halloween/Harvest Season event will be a yard decorating contest. To be in the judging someone must nominate a yard, it can be an owner, a neighbor or a friend.  Mt. Sterling will be allowing trick or treat on Octobe4r 31. The village Block Watch crew will station themselves to be watchful of safety features. The village parks and recreation department are also hosting a movie night featuring “Hocus Pocus” on an inflatable movie screen at Mason Park. 

The second photo of the day for today is titled “S-curve”. Outside of drawing a chalk S on the drive way or using a bit of yarn to form an S I thought of plants that bend and hang in shapes of objects, then there are the clouds that have interesting shapes also. 

Tuna sauce over spaghetti and spam sandwiches for dinner. 

Joy 

 October 13, 2020 thought for the day: When you reject gifts from heaven you will be rewarded in hell. Japanese Proverb

When I work on the bulletin, my thinking goes to the dates that are showing on the screen. I was certain that this was a food pantry week and I had agreed to work for one of the volunteers. So at the appropriate time I got myself ready and headed for the church. As I got there the person I was going to be there for was leaving the church. As it turned out I had the wrong date, it is next week. The week I was putting dates in for the bulletin calendar. 

I was a little worried about working on a computer in the sunlight as I would be doing for pantry and is it is bright today. We are still holding the food handouts outside the church during the pandemic and for safety reasons. The weather isn’t bad as far as to cold or rainy hope that part hold out until next week. I am going to have to have a bit of training to do it. The process has changed a little since we are outside the church.

I came back home and started work on the Scioto Valley ladies’ newsletter. I also started on the message for Saturday’s free meal. 

The photo challenge for October 12th was “a hand shadow”. Some of the challenges we get in the group are more challenging than other for me. This one was one of the hard ones. I had to take a photo of one hand making a shadow while holding the camera with the other (none of our children were here to be my model). I tired using a tiny tripod, then a blue tooth wand, then setting a timer. It was just not working. I finally ended with the one I have here. I am not real happy with the result. Oh well, win some lose some. 

I got a bit of news yesterday that has caused a concern to be planted in the current thoughts of my mind. I got the results of my pet’s blood tests from last week’s visit. Things look good except for just one of the tests. It looks like Sugar, my oldest, almost fourteen, probably has cancer. I don’t want to put her through all of what would have to be done for her at her age. Further more I’m not sure I could be of much help to her as she would travel through it at my age. It looks like we will make the best of things. We will keep her as happy and comfortable as we can until all we do can’t help any more. Right now she seems to be happy and not in any noticeable pain. She is blind now but we have learned how to get her past any dangers that come with that. Her place in my heart is aching but still there with all the good memories forever. Life’s full of lessons and experiences, good and bad, happy and sad. 

The word today is nourish.  A preacher must be both soldier and shepherd. He must nourish, defend, and teach; he must have teeth in his mouth, and be able to bite and fight, Martin Luther. Whenever you are sincerely pleased you are nourished,  Ralph Waldo Emerson.  True silence is the rest of the mind, and is to the spirit what sleep is to the body, nourishment and refreshment, William Penn. Silence is the sleep that nourishes wisdom, Francis Bacon. We do not ask for what useful purpose the birds do sing, for song is their pleasure since they were created for singing. Similarly, we ought not to ask why the human mind troubles to fathom the secrets of the heavens, Johannes Kepler.  If a man lives a pure life, nothing can destroy him, Gautama Buddha. Old age takes in part savoury wisdom for its food - see to that your old age will not lack in nourishment, Leonardo da Vinci. 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, Marcus Tullius Cicero. Thought is the work of the intellect, reverie is its self-indulgence. To substitute day-dreaming for thought is to confuse a poison with a source of nourishment, Victor Hugo. 

The photo theme for today is “a book cover”.  I don’t have a lot of books around since I do most of my reading on the computer, ebooks and Google. But I do have a few and I have several here that belong to the twins. I shot several of the ones I could drag off the shelves and came up with this one. The font sizes and colors seemed pleasing. 

This is a beautiful time of the year no matter about all the ugliness that is happening in this time of pandemic and the apparent low thought capabilities of some of the people in this period of what they have titled social injustice. The article today “Ohio showing its true colors Changing leaves offer comfort in an uncertain year”. According to the article the leaves are exceptionally beautiful in Ohio. A lot of data is gathered to figure the best times to few the changing colors. Some of the things looked at to tell when the changes will take place are past weather conditions, average light exposure, latitude and altitude, and tree species. The information gathered are compared with the SmokyMountains.com group who produces a fall foliage map for each state. The biochemical process begins to happen at the days begin to get shorter.  There are other components in the leaves besides chlorophyll that give off the reds, oranges, and yellows. The chlorophyll breaks down as the days get sorter allowing the leaves to reveal the “true” colors. For the most vibrant colors warm sunny days, cool nights and a good amount of rain are needed. This summer has cooled down faster than in previous years so the colors are a little earlier. In Ohio the color change is moving from northern Ohio south. There are 125 species of trees in Ohio each showing it on unique colors. Since the colors move from the northern part of Ohio to the southern weekend trips in Ohio from top to bottom and could catch all the different changed from October into November. There is a list of outdoor activities from the ‘100 Things to Do in Ohio This Fall’ which could allow for exploring other sites in Ohio the color changes are on the agenda. 

I think it is going to be hot dogs and potato soup. 

Joy

 October 11, 2020 thought for the day: You will never learn enough looking for only the good things in life; you will always be a pupil. Japanese Proverb

I slept in a little but I try not to press the snooze button too often on a Sunday morning. I like to get a few things done before I get ready for church. 

The photo theme for October 10 was “a splash”. Some of my photo peers are proficient in shooting splashes of something dropping into a glass of liquid. I haven’t mastered that gift yet. So I had to think of something that created a splash of it’s own. At the local metro park down the street there is a fountain that does a terrific job of that so that is where I headed. 

When I got to the church only the organist’s car was there so I went back out to Broad Street to photograph the bridge (viaduct over the highway) for the photo of the day. By the time I got back there were a few more cars there. 

We have been having fewer and fewer people at church service the past three or four weeks. I can’t help wonder if some of that may be because we have our services online now.

The first thing I did when I got home was upload the taped service to facebook. It took about an hour and a half to upload both sections. In the mean time I was multitasking. I want to send a (snail mail) letter to a dear friend who doesn’t do computer (email) or texting on a cell phone. At church, he expressed a slight interest in a situation that has been bothering me for a while so I wanted to get more of his counsel on the subject. 

The 10th was a day for a second photo of the day so while I was at the park for the splash I decided to use another of the park’s pleasant features. The theme was “landscape”. This is perfect at that location with trees, grass, a pond and a public park. 

The rest of the day will be spent in leisure, as it should be.

The word today is notes  He listens well who takes notes, Dante Alighieri.  It should be noted that the games of children are not games, and must be considered as their most serious actions,  Michel de Montaigne.  Of all the horrid, hideous notes of woe, Sadder than owl-songs or the midnight blast, Is that portentous phrase, 'I told you so’,  Lord Byron. Talking is one of the fine arts - the noblest, the most important, the most difficult - and its fluent harmonies may be spoiled by the intrusion of a single harsh note, Oliver Wendell Holmes. When we are young, we spend much time and pains in filling our note-books with all definitions of Religion, Love, Poetry, Politics, Art, in the hope that, in the course of a few years, we shall have condensed into our encyclopaedia the net value of all the theories at which the world has yet arrived. But year after year our tables get no completeness, and at last we discover that our curve is a parabola, whose arcs will never meet, Ralph Waldo Emerson.  Great talents ripen late; the highest notes are hard to hear, Laozi. In different hours, a man represents each of several of his ancestors, as if there were seven or eight of us rolled up in each man's skin, - seven or eight ancestors at least, and they constitute the variety of notes for that new piece of music which his life is, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Seek not to know who said this or that, but take note of what has been said, Thomas a Kempis.   

I mentioned a couple of paragraphs above that I shot some photos on my way to church. The challenge today was “bridge”. We don’t have many bridges very close to me so I so I used the viaduct as I mentioned.  

The article is interesting. I have shopped Whole Foods on rare occasions. It was a unique experience. I haven’t been there since Amazon took over though. This article is about how Whole Foods has faired through the pandemic. It started by saying the grocery business has been one of the more fortunate in the time of the “battered U.S. economy”. It seems Whole Foods hasn’t been one of the luckier ones though. Apparently since September visits to Whole Foods has been down by 25%. It is felt that one of the reasons is that people have “consolidated shopping trips” and are shopping more on line. Some of the sales have risen since the pandemic but not as much as in the other stores as Walmart and Kroger. Even though people are buying more the customer count is down at Whole Foods. They aren’t a one-stop spot. For one thing they offered prepared meals that office workers took advantage of but during the pandemic were working at home. They are continuing to grow in their kinds of service. They are now offering delivery and pickup services. One of the things that picked up during the pandemic was the sale of meat and some other categories due to people cooking at home. Whole Foods grew in interest after it was founded in 1980 because they stocked products that were hard to find elsewhere. They also provided more organic foods, now other supermarkets have adopted the organic food sales. All of these high quality standards made prices higher than other supermarkets. They “shied away from cookie-cutter” type stores. The article stated that by the time Amazon became involved with Whole Foods growth and profitability had begun to decline. Amazon cut prices on staples to bring in new shoppers. It provided online delivery lockers in several stores. Earlier there were complaints about crowding sometimes, during peak hours and the crush of contract shoppers and regular customers cause traffic jams. To help with the safe distance rules the hours have been “tweaked” in some stores. A warehouse-like facility in one area was designed to fulfill online orders to go along with helping with safe distancing. The Whole Food Prime shoppers seem to be about speed and efficiency.  Some customers are saying that products are harder to find and the prices are still higher than other places.  A spokesman said that they stocking with 30% more “locally sourced” products than in 2016. A research firm estimates the 4.5 million fewer US households have shopped in Whole Foods since March compared to last year. 

I think it will be Taco Bell for dinner tonight. 

Joy

 October 9, 2020 thought for the day: If you believe everything you read, you had better not read. Japanese Proverb

Yesterday was crazy. Crazy enough to make me have a dizzy spell at the end of it all. It started with the normal printing schedule at the church. As I was just finishing the print run on the two items I wanted to get done, others came in the building to start sitting up for the delivery of food for the up coming pantry date. 

The photo challenge for yesterday was “a list”. I have a whole bunch of lists laying around the house, grocery, to-do, things to remember. I took a couple that I had scribbled as I thought of things, put them together and shot the photo. As far as I am concerned it is a boring image so I added a Photoshop filter to give it some “life” and left some of the black background around the edges and corners for a bit of interest. 

When I got home there was an email that I had to answer. There was a situation that called for some agreements from several of us. I was concerned about the thing we were deciding. (Out of respect and discretion for the other people concerned and the situation itself,  I won’t go into detail. Suffice it to say that’s not the point of this conversation anyway).  I mentioned my concerns and said that I would go along with the consensus of votes (I don’t like confrontations (especially public ones) so I didn’t want to object strongly). We each have our own personal teacher named experience. The only problem with mine is that it encourages me to open my mouth and share and sometimes that gets me in trouble. I voiced my concerns that’s all I could do. Oh well, such is life.  I worried about the matter and finally told myself to ask God for direction and then tried to let it go. I voiced my concerns that’s all I could do. 

After I checked the email I got the laundry together so that I would have a good start on it before we had to take both dogs to the vet for their second set of annual shots and blood work. We ended up sitting in the car for a total of an hour and a half waiting for them to come and get the dogs one by one and then for the procedures to be completed. The next major shock was the bill. Wow. 

The photo challenge today is “an unmade bed”. I forgot to do the photo shoot before I made the bed this morning but Sweet Pea can fix that. She likes to get up on the bed to watch for critters in the back yard. As she was laying there watching me, the squirrels had left the scene, I tossed a couple of pillows around her, she had already wrinkled the bedding a little. 

As I was getting dinner, Sue noticed a reflection of light that seemed to be flashing. We noticed that it was coming from one of the canned lights in the ceiling. It was the one closest to where the repair was done on the leaking pipe. I turned out the lights and said we probably shouldn’t use it until it was fixed. That’s when the dizziness started. 

I got the kitchen cleared after dinner and turned to my crocheting, thinking of my great grandchildren whose pieces I was working on. That seemed to calm me. That with a good night sleep worked. Let go, let God. 

Today was much better. I worked on the Christmas calendar and did some research. You know, I have that personal teacher I spoke about above and I like to add Google searches to that source. 

The word it noise.  The worst wheel of the cart makes the most noise, Benjamin Franklin.  He who establishes his argument by noise and command shows that his reason is weak, Michel de Montaigne. What a pity flowers can utter no sound!-A singing rose, a whispering violet, a murmuring honeysuckle ... oh, what a rare and exquisite miracle would these be! Henry Ward Beecher.  As with narrow-necked bottles; the less they have in them, the more noise they make in pouring out, Alexander Pope. Noise makes no good, good makes no noise, Vincent de Paul. And all the air is filled with pleasant noise of waters, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. God never ceases to speak to us, but the noise of the world without and the tumult of our passions within bewilder us and prevent us from listening to him, Francois Fenelon.  What in your life is calling you, When all the noise is silenced, The meetings adjourned... The lists laid aside, And the Wild Iris blooms By itself In the dark forest... What still pulls on your soul? Rumi. Men trust their ears less than their eyes, Herodotus. Know from the rivers in clefts and in crevices: those in small channels flow noisily, the great flow silent. Whatever's not full makes noise. Whatever is full is quiet, Gautama Buddha. A man makes no noise over a good deed, but passes on to another as a vine to bear grapes again in season, Marcus Aurelius.  

This article sounds exciting. Maybe a little more exciting for me several years ago. I don’t this a “zipzone” is in the picture for me now. The thought of it is fascinating, almost like flying, a birds eye view. The ZipZone Outdoor Adventures is said to be a perfect place for safe and scenic outdoor fun in Central Ohio. The zip line in the space is 130 feet above the ground at Camp Mary Orton, described as an”outdoor oasis”. This trip not only offers the zip line adventure it get you away from the hustle and bustle of busy streets, shopping centers and office buildings”.  The article mentions that ZipZone Outdoors is located on a portion of State Route 23 that turns into an “amazing forest”, a “hidden gem”.  The staff handles the safety aspects of you visit. The season we are in right now is said to be the most beautiful part of the year to visit and experience the autumn foliage. The park also offers a ground level Kids Park. There are 60 different “challenge elements” including a “smaller zip line”. There are five different levels of zip lining to please everyone. This a self-guided adventure so that you can make the experience what you want. Two  of the areas are child friendly with the lines lower to the ground. There are tightropes, moving platforms and rope climbs. ZipZone follows all CDC and state of Ohio guidelines. 

I think it is going to be something out of the freezer for dinner again tonight (I am going to have to refill it.)

Joy

 October 7, 2020 thought for the day: If you understand everything, you must be misinformed. Japanese Proverb

The day is fast coming to the dinner time hour. It has been an interesting day. I needed to pick up some newsletter that I have to finish processing. Sue went with me since she is familiar with the direction to the facility and I need a copilot at time. After I picked them up, I dropped Sue off at her favorite thrift store. She likes to shop there, me, not so much. I went on to run a couple of errands. I picked up some meds for Sweet Pea, after waiting in the parking lot for fifteen minutes. Then I stopped at FedEx for some labels I need for the newsletters and other projects. Then back to get Sue, she was done shopping. Our time lines worked out perfectly. 

On October 6 the photo title was “what’s in your pocket”. So I cleared out my sweatshirt style jacket with a hood pockets. The things that I found were in there from March or April along with the face covering I had used this morning. 

We stopped a Burger King. I haven’t had one of their sandwiches in quite a while. They closed the one that was closest to home. 

Before I left this morning, I sent the bulletin for proofreading. When we got home, I started back on church work. I made the shut in envelopes, the message and hymn lyrics hand out for HM3, the hymns list to send with the bulletin when I notify folks of the taped service upload. I also made one of the corrections to the bulletin that I got back in an email. 

I managed time to find and take my photo of the day among all the other multitasking. 

The word is nest.  Each thought that is welcomed and recorded is a nest egg, by the side of which more will be laid,  Henry David Thoreau. God gives all birds their food but does not drop it into their nests,  Danish Proverb. Temptations, when we meet them at first, are as the lion that roared upon Samson; but if we overcome them, the next time we see them we shall find a nest of honey within them, John Bunyan. Build yourself a book-nest to forget the world without, Abraham Cowley. The human bird shall take his first flight, filling the world with amazement, all writings with his fame, and bringing eternal glory to the nest whence he sprang. Leonardo da Vinci. Temptations, of course, cannot be avoided, but because we cannot prevent the birds from flying over our heads, there is no need that we should let them nest in our hair, Martin Luther.  I cherish my childish loves--the memory of that warm little nest where my affections were fledged, George Eliot. Well I know the secret places, And the nests in hedge and tree; At what doors are friendly faces, In what hearts are thoughts of me, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Make my heart, O heart of the universe, a divine bird that nests only on the throne of God, Rumi. Enjoy the Spring of Love and Youth, to some good angel leave the rest; For Time will teach thee soon the truth, there are no birds in last year's nest! Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.  

Today’s  photo challenge from the group I belong to is  “half full”.  I considered a half full glass of iced tea. But I felt that had been overused. I also considered that there are many things that can be seen as half full. As I sat at the computer and took moments to think about this subject, I glanced around the room. My eyes fell on the half empty dishwasher that I had started to unload when I took a earlier break. That is where the photo came into being. 

I like stories about animals. I think they are an international interest. I also like stories about our famous zoo. This one is about the “tortoise snuggler” at the Columbus zoo. We have a tortoises named Bubba who is 73 years old and ne names Sonny who is 53 years old. The article related that for about three hours a week they get a couple of hours of pampering including neck and leg rubs. That is where the tortoise snugglers come in. This “snuggler” says that they respond to touch and voices. The treatments offer stimulation which is sometimes more beneficial that relaxation. It also increases their appetites. It was also noted that the animal care staff play music for them. Bubba is the oldest animal at the zoo and weighs 535 pounds. Both Bubba and Sonny are males. The article also said that not all tortoises need “snuggling”. Bubba and Sonny have been declared “divas.  The article said that Bubba has been interactive and friendly but he can be a little grumpy. The people who care for the animals grow to learn their names, birthday, likes and dislikes. They can tell if the animal isn’t acting right. It is important for them to be with the animals even when the zoo is closed by the pandemic. 

I am going to pull something from the freezer for dinner. 

Joy

 October 5, 2020 thought for the day: Never judge things of which you only know the shadow. Japanese Proverb

It’s been an eventful day. Sue had an appointment at the new Mt. Carmel Hospital in Grove City. It was one of those appointments that are now common these days where only the patient is allowed in. I waited in the car. I expected it to take quite a while. It didn’t take as long as I expected. I had taken a whole bag of crocheting to do along with my fully charged ipad. I didn’t get much crocheting done. Instead I spent the time trying to untangle a skein of yarn. 

Yesterday’s photo theme was “afternoon light”. As I was in waiting for a traffic light coming out of the shopping center, I caught a glimpse of the highlights on a plant across the street. I thought that would be a good fit for the theme. 

I had planned to stop to see two of my great grandchildren and my granddaughter who live near the hospital we had just left. But it turned out to be not a good time. My granddaughter said they weren’t home but could be there in ten minutes. I didn’t want to interrupt her plans so I said we would reschedule. 

So I decided to stop and see my other great grandson. As usual that was a beautiful stop. He is always a pleasure to see. He is walking now. It doesn’t take long for their lives to develop and move on. 

I am not going to get anything productive done. The only thing I have accomplished in the line of “productivity” is to answer some email requests. 

I think I mentioned in an earlier blog that my computer needs replaced. Well, it still does, need replaced. I am not looking forward to resetting all of my software and the particular things I expect of them. It will take some time and patience. Soon it, the computer, will give up and force me to go on the search for a new one. I seem to have lost two of my most used filters in Photoshop. I realized that as I started to work on the photo of the day entry. 

The photo theme for today is “parents”. Mine have been in their forever home for a long time. So I went through my archives looking for old photos that I have scanned into the computer over the years. This one must have been taken somewhere around early 1944. The taller of the children is me (I can’t say I am the “taller” very often, as a matter of fact, very rarely). The other is my sister and my only sibling. 

The word is neighbors.  As nature made every man with a nose and eyes of his own, she gave him a character of his own, too; and yet we, O foolish race! must try our very best to ape some one or two of our neighbors, whose ideas fit us no more than their breeches! William Makepeace Thackeray. Good is no hermit. It has ever neighbors, Confucius. Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man, Benjamin Franklin. What do I owe to my times, to my country, to my neighbors, to my friends? Such are the questions which a virtuous man ought often to ask himself,  Johann Kaspar Lavater. When God wants to speak and deal with us, he does not avail himself of an angel but of parents, or the pastor, or of our neighbor, Martin Luther. The only constant is change. Unless you get a small group of neighbors together to stop it, Heraclitus. See to whom Jesus is drawing near, three kinds of people: to those who make peace with him, to those who are devoted to God, and to those who are kind to their neighbors, Thomas Aquinas.  

This is another of those days for a second photo of the day. That theme is “airplanes, trains, and automobiles”. I’m not often around airplanes though there are a few in the archives just not enough time to locate one of them. I also have a couple of trains. I didn’t remember until late in the day that I had this “assignment” so I pulled the nearest image that I could fine. You may recognize it as one I used earlier in my blogs for another photo of the day.  

This might be a bit on the down sign of a story but it may give us an idea of some of the bumps kids are having in this pandemic. There seems to be concern about online schooling as it may lead to domestic violence in homeless shelters. When computers didn’t seem to work the way they were envisioned to the students and/or parents became stressed, partly because they didn’t know how to use it properly. Zoom and other technological properties are stumbling blocks. These problems are especially difficult for homeless families who live in shelters who have tried to set up. The shelters are reported to be “designed to provide housing and healing” for people in need. The first day of the online learning at one of the shelter’s there were forty school aged children logged on and the wifi “balked”. The shelter is trying to add bandwidth and has hired an “education assistant”. Handling this problem puts a strain on the shelter in “helping people rebuild their lives”. For the parents of the families living in the shelters and trying to help with the online learning, it is an added worry along with not having a job or time to go out and look for one. One staff member at the shelter mentioned that it has never been a “daycare” center. Older kids have gone to school. Parents of younger kids have found a day care program so the parents could look for work. Now the shelters are trying to consider some way to offer child care services since the districts are not providing in-person tutoring. Another factor of the homeless children having to learn in shelters is that the miss out on the chance to “melt into a school environment” which also allows for a little time away from the truth of what their lives are like at the moment. 

It will be salmon patties for dinner. 

Joy