January 27, 2021 thought for today: If you see wrongdoing or evil and say nothing against it, you become its victim. African  Proverb

Yesterday’s photo theme was “ where I stood”. Throughout the day there are many places where we stand for one reason or another so that should be an easy place to get an idea for a photo. One place I stand a lot in at my stove so that turned out to be my photo of this day. 

This was one of those days that ends up being on the busy side. After the daily virtual visits, Sue and I left for Kroger. As a side note, I decided to try using the double mask that they are now suggesting. It wasn’t so bad. I thought I would have even more of a problem breathing but I didn’t notice that so much. 

Once we got home and had started putting the groceries away, I got back on the computer to begin the daily computer agenda tasks. I had the information I needed for the Saturday night free meal at church. So I got the formatting done and started to print. To my dismay the printer absolutely refused to print no matter how many times I sent the instruction from the computer page to the printer. Finally, I ran some checks to see what the problem was. The answer is I was totally out of ink (that’s a first....I normally have a back up supply). So, I needed to have that message printed, a list of address labels printed, and the shut-in envelopes printed. What to do, what to do...I decided to try for some near by places that sell computer printer ink. I wasn’t in the mood to go back out but....I stopped at Walgreen, none of the number I needed there, the Walgreen on another street, none there, the CVS across the street from that Walgreen, none there. So it was on to the closest Walmart. Success!.

I got home, popped the cartridge in the printer and had all three documents printed within ten minutes. Then on to some other computer projects. I also still had some groceries to put away but that could happen in bits and pieces taking a break from the computer. 

The word today is sacrifice.  What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal, Albert Pike.  In this world it is not what we take up, but what we give up, that makes us rich, Henry Ward Beecher. Patient perseverance in well doing is infinitely harder than a sudden and impulsive self-sacrifice, Horace Mann. Pray often, for prayer is a shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God, and a scourge for Satan, John Bunyan. Love sacrifices all things to bless the thing it loves, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton.  Good manners are made up of petty sacrifices, Ralph Waldo Emerson. We can offer up much in the large, but to make sacrifices in little things is what we are seldom equal to, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. The greatest sacrifice is the sacrifice of time, Antiphon. Peace is not to be purchased by the sacrifice of truth, John Calvin.  The superior man, while his parents are alive, reverently nourishes them; and, when they are dead, reverently sacrifices to them. His thought to the end of his life is how not to disgrace them, Confucius.  I see the necessity of sacrificing our opinions sometimes to the opinions of others for the sake of harmony, Thomas Jefferson. Life has many good things. The problem is that most of these good things can be gotten only by sacrificing other good things. We all recognize this in our daily lives. It is only in politics that this simple, common sense fact is routinely ignored, Thomas Sowell.  Prayer and sacrifice can touch souls better than words, Therese of Lisieux.  

Today’s photo of the day is titled “ a path”. When we were on our way home, I mentioned to Sue that I needed to find an image to fit that title. She asked me what I though a “path” meant. To me it means an area of space to walk from one point to another. I suppose it could be to get from one point to another by any means but walking fits my idea of that word most. So I made several shots at the park and a couple at McDonalds as we waited in line. One of the ones at McDonalds is the one I picked after some “darkroom” (Photoshop) processing. 

I like the sound of cicadas in the spring so the title of this article caught my attention. They are saying that the 17 year cicadas are due this year and to “expect billions”. The article said that this year will be the year of the “BroodX or Great Eastern Brood”. They are described as large, winged and scary looking but mostly harmless”. It reported that at John Glenn International Airport in Columbus the sound can reach 80 decibels, the male cicadas, when sounding the mating call, can reach a 96 decibels sound wave.  Ohio is one of fifteen states where the Brood X will be visiting. According to the article in 2004 when they were last here they were coming out of the ground at a “rate of more than 356 cicadas per square yard.” The measurement was observed in an old cemetery not in someone’s front yard. This event will take place in Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington D.C. This brood is different than the annual cicadas. For seventeen years they are “wingless nymph(s)...about a foot or two down, feeding on sap from the tree roots”. When they emerge, they are ready to mate. Apparently they have some method of knowing when to emerge by the number of times the deciduous trees regrow their leaves. Here is another interesting part of the article, “The bugs will even, in unison, postpone their emergence for a day or two if the weather is rainy or otherwise uncooperative.” Some people even plan their outdoor weddings and other events around the time that the scientists determine when the cicadas will appear. The article stated that they won’t do any major damage, they don’t go indoors, they don’t bite. They do cause “cosmetic damage to trees when laying eggs”. One of the scientists went on to say that they do “provide a number of benefits to nature.” This one is a little out of my area of interest, they can be a low-fat, high protein snack. Some people ask about how to kill them. It is recommended by people who understand this natural phenomenon “don’t,,,,they are a natural wonder”.  Some benefits are that they prune mature trees, aerate the soil, and once they die, their bodies serve as an important source of nitrogen for growing trees. So it appears that though maybe to some people their presence alone is a bother and to many others their noise is disturbing, maybe we should accept their given rights to be here and enjoy just that fact alone in other words, enjoy one more of the many gifts we are given as human beings. 

I am having creamed beef on toast for dinner tonight. 

Joy