November 26, 2020 thought for the day: You want no one to know it? Then don't do it. Chinese Proverb

Normally I would have gone to the church to do the weekly/monthly printing but due to the holiday I decided to do it tomorrow. Instead I put up our Christmas tree. 

The photo a day for yesterday was “this season”. I think the one I saw out the window and then went out the door to shoot was this one. It show the wet-from-the-rain drive way and the bare tree limbs all good signs of autumn. 

I am also getting the laundry out of he way today too. Yesterday I made four pumpkin pies and four pecan pies to add to the menu that Lowell and Rebecca are preparing. 

We were supposed to have the new storm doors put on at all three doors and a piece of siding repaired this week but the workers never showed up. So Lowell, at first with some trepidation, attempted it with one of the doors, one that was under a roof which was handy since it was raining. He got so comfortable with it and it stopped raining so he put one of the other ones on too. Hopefully the worker will come to finish the others next week. 

I’ll have to admit I’m a bit melancholy. We chose to have our holiday meal with each family in their own house. As I glance out the window, I notice my neighbor have both of their children and their children home for the day. I miss that. I hope there are still a few left for me after this pandemic. 

The word for today is pioneer. For we cannot tarry here, We must march my darlings, we must bear the brunt of danger, We, the youthful sinewy races, all the rest on us depend, Pioneers! O pioneers! Walt Whitman.  Genius is the very eye of intellect and the wing of thought; it is always in advance of its time, and is the pioneer for the generation which it precedes, William Gilmore Simms. I hear the tread of pioneers Of nations yet to be, The first low wash of waves where soon Shall roll a human sea, John Greenleaf Whittier. Little sins are pioneers of hell, James Howell.  Where the citizen uses a mere sliver or board, the pioneer uses the whole trunk of a tree, Henry David Thoreau. There is hardly a pioneer's hut which does not contain a few odd volumes of Shakespeare. I remember reading the feudal drama of Henry V for the first time in a log cabin,  Alexis de Tocqueville. Most pioneers are at the mercy of doubt at the beginning, whether of their worth, of their theories, or of the whole enigmatic field in which they labour, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.   

Today’s photo theme is “an edge”. I don’t live near the edge of a mountain trail or the edge or a pier on
some water way so I started thinking of other kinds of edges. The one I finally chose was the edge on a paper cutter. 

I’m not much for hiking especially in the winter but I know it is a healthy pass time/exercise and there are a lot of people who enjoy winter wonderlands. The metro parks have made some concessions in the parks due to the pandemic. They say they are extending the season from December to February. Apparently the previous schedule was to “welcoming” visitors to one park each Saturday and most Sundays in January and February. There will be six parks highlighted each month. I learned from the article that there is a “ticket-to-travel booklet” that gets stamped. According to the article this will allow for hiker not to gather in groups. Another safety issue they will be imposing is no food and drink will be served after the hikes as took place previously. There is an increase of parks available from thirteen to eighteen. In December the parks will be lit in the evening for a special treat. In January there will be more energetic hikes to include distance or hills. In February the snow will give a festive scene. The travel Ticket booklets give instructions. Here’s something else I learned from the article, anyone who completes seven hikes get a Winter Hike patch. One way the parks people put it is that the parks are a place to escape stress and is a great way to travel around the city. Something new this year is a “selfie station”. Places where folks can take photos of themselves as keep sakes. They will be set up in scenic spots in the certain parks, Blacklick, Innis wood, Sharon Woods, Slate Run, Battelle and Cedar Ridge. More information on the parks and the selfie stations are on social media.

We are having Thanksgiving with all the trimmings except all the family. We are having a traditional meal prepared by Lowell and Rebecca and hand delivered.  

Joy