November 30, 2020 thought for today, Your best mirror is someone more beautiful than you. Chinese Proverb

It feels like winter today. I feel almost like I could hibernating. It would be especially the thing to do this year after all the turmoil of 2020. As I glance out the window beside my computer set up, I watch the snow flakes falling against the gray sky and bare trees. 

On November 29 the photo theme was “a view”. Of course there are “views” all around us. I have some that I took on one of my photo journeys of the back of business that have items discarded in piles and on pavement with weeds in the cracks. In some instances those view’s could have a type of art. There are the lines, shapes, forms and colors as art. But I wanted something a little more on the peaceful sides. So I made another trip to Westgate Park.  

I got the bulletin done on Monday for a change. I also got a bit of work done on a couple of other small projects others at church had asked me to do. 

A note about the finishing of the installation of the new doors on the back of the house. They are all done but the “aftermath” of such a project is still in a couple of piles on the back lawn, soon to be covered by snow I would guess. It’s just a “thing” and will be dealt with in due time.  

One good thing that I got off my mind today was getting the monthly bills out of the way. It is usually a very disturbing chore but there was a surprising ending... I have a couple of dollars left. 

I will watch the snow for the rest of the afternoon and think of Christmas and the joy that comes with it.   

The photo challenge for today is “tiny people”. Since there aren’t any “tiny people” around here today I went on a search of my archives. I have lots of shot of part of my great grandchildren but for some reason this one struck me as the one to use. This is my sister and me, a long, long time ago. We were tiny then and still on the petite side. 

The word today is pleasant.  It is pleasant to have been to a place the way a river went, Henry David Thoreau. It is impossible to live a pleasant life without living wisely and well and justly. And it is impossible to live wisely and well and justly without living a pleasant life, Epicurus.  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. To go to heaven, fully to enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here, Jonathan Edwards. Nothing is sweeter than love, nothing more courageous, nothing higher, nothing wider, nothing more pleasant, nothing fuller nor better in heaven and earth; because love is born of God, and cannot rest but in God, above all created things, Thomas a Kempis. A pleasant companion reduces the length of the journey, Publilius Syrus.  Mingle a little folly with your wisdom; a little nonsense, now and then, is pleasant, Horace.  It's a pleasant thing to be young, and have ten toes, Robert Louis Stevenson.  The self-indulgent man craves for all pleasant things... and is led by his appetite to choose these at the cost of everything else, Aristotle.  A person will gain everyone's approval if he mixes the pleasant with the useful, Horace.  The pleasantest things in the world are pleasant thoughts, and the great art of life is to have as many of them as possible, Michel de Montaigne.   

Since this is the last day of the month I put together a composite of my photo of the day photos for November 2020. 

There is so much news still about the pandemic and about this past election that I had a hard time finding something the least bit happy to read and share. This article is came about due to the pandemic and is, maybe, a part of the “new normal”.  The title is Christmas goes virtual in Grove City. Plans for a holiday celebration is going on despite or due to cancelations of the “old celebration ways”. The tradition al nutcracker hunt, holiday lights, Santa along with a decorating contest and other will be taking place with a bit of a twist. This Nutcracker Hunt is the fourth to take place. There will be 30 nutcrackers hidden at the Town Center businesses. People are reminded to mask up. This event began on November 28. Santa Clause will be part of the celebrations. He will help light the Town Center Christmas tree. This event can be seen from your own home on a pre-recorded show on the Grove City Facebook page on December 5 at 6pm. Along with Santa this show will have performances of high school choirs and bands. He will also visit local businesses to answer questions that have been sent to him. The city of Grove City set u a direct mail route to Santa allowing kids to drop off letters in a special mailbox. The letters could be dropped off from Monday November 20 through Sunday December 6. The mailbox is in front of the GC Welcome Center and Museum. It has also been arranged for Santa to make phone calls to kids the week of December 7. Reservations for a call can be made on the website. There is a Festival of Lights contest during December for exterior decorations of residence and businesses. There are entry forms for the contest and a People’s Choice voting are encouraged. At the last of the article there was a message encouraging people to visit the “Grove City Area Chamber of Commerce Arts in the Alley Home Edition shopping, art and entertainment throughout the season at artsinthealley.gcchamber.org.

I rummaged in the freezer and found some goulash. That sounds like a good dinner. 

Joy