November 2, 2020 thought for today: He that corrects not youth, controls not age. French Proverb

I overdid it this morning. We had some grocery shopping to get out of the way and needed to do it today because we are out of one thing here and one thing there, not a lot but enough that some needed replaced now. Now that I am home and every thing is almost put up I am “weary” (love that word....seems so old fashioned but still very effective). 

On the way home from the store we stopped at McDonalds then a quick trip around the park to see if there were any flowers left after the freeze. The mums made it but they were about the only thing that did. 

Before we left this morning, I got a good bit done on the bulletin. The pastor for this week got the information to me late last night. I so appreciate getting the information ahead of time much more than getting it at almost the last minute. 

I was able to get the bulletin done just before lunch time. I will recheck it tomorrow before I send it to be proofread. 

In the photo club that I belong to that offers a new challenge each day throughout the year, many times a theme is used over again in following months.  This method of choosing subject matter offers a chance to use the same subject in different views or perspectives and so on. Yesterday’s title was “one colour”. We have used the “one colour” theme a few times over the years. This time my single color of the day was red. I was on my way to church, driving on a street I use every day....I caught sight of a privacy fence that I see every time I go down that street, almost every day. It is painted bright red. I was inches past when I realized that could be my shot for the day. There’s one color, so I backed up (there was no traffic on the street) and positioned the car in the alley beside the fence and made several images. Here’s one of them. 

I finally had to give in and put the heating blanket on the bed. It was cold this morning. It’s warming up pretty well though and is supposed to be near seventy degrees by the end of the week. 

The word for today is past.  One reason God created time was so that there would be a place to bury the failures of the past, James Long. However we pass Time, he passes still, Passing away whatever the pastime, And, whether we use him well or ill, Some day he gives us the slip for the last time, Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton. Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end, Seneca the Younger. The wise man looks back into the past, and does not grieve over what is far off, nor rejoice over what is near; for he knows that time is without end, Laozi.  Don't worry about people from your past there's a reason why they didn't make it to your future, Adam Lindsay Gordon.  If we tried To sink the past beneath our feet, be sure The future would not stand, Elizabeth Barrett Browning. The past is always attractive because it is drained of fear, Thomas Carlyle. Historians tell the story of the past, novelists the story of the present, Edmond de Goncourt.  He who controls the past controls the future, Laozi.  Rejoice in the things that are present; all else is beyond thee, Michel de Montaigne. If you are at peace, you are living in the present, Laozi. Waste not fresh tears over old griefs, Euripides.  

Today’s challenge is “flowers”. As I mentioned in a paragraph above we went by the park for some photo ideas. Besides the mums there were some tiny little flowers holding on for dear life. They looked like petunias....(like “I’m a lonely little petunia in an onion patch”...(look the lyrics up)). I’ll have to admit I took some shots in the flower section of Kroger because I know flowers here in this season are far and few between. But decided to use the lonely little petunia(s). I think they were protected some from the cold by the taller and bushier plants around them. 

I thought this article might be a bit informative and besides it’s another story about animals. I love to learn all I can. This particular story is about a pesky friend who scurries about trying to maintain it’s God gifted existence. It supports a mask offering a bit of mystery. His given name is “raccoon”. I didn’t realize until I read this article that they are relatives of bears, albeit a small one weighing in at about 35 pounds. It can live in all habitats and do well in “citified landscapes”. They are “omnivores” which means they eat almost anything so they are drawn to trash cans and bird feeders. Another thing I learned, I didn’t have the inclination to study their habits in any of my past researches, so here’s new information for my intellect. Another point of interest, in the autumn racoons go on “food binges, packing on massive quantities of fat.” Because of this they can go almost all winter without eating (bear like?) although they do not hibernate, per se, just stay in their “home” for long periods during the coldest part of winter. When they do go out to feed during these timse they will visit maintained bird feeders. The person writing the article said that he put his bird feeder on a pole to skinny for the raccoon to climb. However, during the night a little time later the pole was toppled and the seed container, empty. In the spring a huge adult female with two of her “kits” came along. The mother climbed the pole and found a foothold in order to toss the seed to her children. The next step to preventing the thievery was removing the baffle (foot hold) and grease the pole with Vaseline. The article went on to say that effort worked for one night but the second night the thieves had rubbed off the Vaseline. Friends told the man he would never win. So his solution for the time being is to remove the feeder at night, put it in the garage and hope that the racoons don’t discover how to break in for dinner. 

We will have hot dogs and fried potatoes for dinner. 

Joy