February 10, 2021 thought for today: You don't become an expert in five days. African Proverb

Well, there is still snow on the ground and more predicted. I still haven’t had my car out of the driveway. There use to be young men going up and down the street during heavy snow falls to try to find work in shoveling driveways, porches and sidewalks. Yesterday I waited and watched and none went by. Bob didn’t have time to do it before he left for work. 

Yesterday’s photo theme was “fave food”. Once again, I am major foodie. I like good food period. So I have a lot of favorites and tastes change with age and circumstance. Bu one that has hung on through the years and all kinds of circumstances is the tomato in many forms. 

I had to pick up some posters for church yesterday so Bob took me to Kinkos when he got home from work.

I got the changes made on the bulletin and the message/hymn lyrics done for the free meal on Saturday so I am ready to print tomorrow providing I can get my car out of the driveway. 

Sugar, my fourteen-year-old dachshund, is blind now. I let her out to take care of business a little while ago. Of course the snow is still deep in spots, at least deep for her, her tummy nearly touches the ground on normal days. I couldn’t find her when I looked out the window after she had been out for about ten minute. So I got my boots on and a warm jacket and went out to search. I heard a soft whimpering from the side of the house that is hidden from the back door. Sure enough she had lost her direction and was caught in snow up to the top of her shoulders. I picked her up and carried her to get her past the deeper parts of snow. We finally got back in the house where I had to melt the tiny pebbles of snow on her chest and underbody. I wrapped a towel around her until she stopped shivering. Now she is resting and snoring.

Sugar was a high point in the day but so was Sweet Pea. How can you not love that nose pushing for a hug? This is the selection for one of the two photos of the day for today. The title or challenge for this photo is “love is....”.

The word is secrets. God who created us has granted us the faculty of speech that we might disclose the counsels of our hearts to one another and that, since we possess our human nature in common, each of us might share his thoughts with his neighbor, bringing them forth from the secret recesses of the heart as from a treasury, Saint Basil. Each new day is a blank page in the diary of your life. The secret of success is in turning that diary into the best story you possibly can. I wish you Happy New Year and diary full of best stories ever written in your life, Laozi. He who is not everyday conquering some fear has not learned the secret of life, Ralph Waldo Emerson. The secret of success is constancy to purpose, Benjamin Disraeli. The whole secret of life is to be interested in one thing profoundly and in a thousand things well, Horace Walpole. One of the secrets of life is that all that is really worth the doing is what we do for others, Lewis Carroll. If you knew the secret of life, you too would choose no other companion but love, Rumi. The face is the mirror of the mind, and eyes without speaking confess the secrets of the heart, St. Jerome.  You need not wonder at my knowing all human languages; for, to tell you the truth, I also understand all the secrets of human silence, Apollonius of Tyana. Clouds cannot cover secret places, nor denials conceal truth, Demosthenes. There is no secret of the heart which our actions do not disclose, Moliere.  

The second photo challenge for today is “door”. I have mainly new doors from the recent rehab on the house and they haven’t had a chance to develop “character”. But I found one that offered a touch of a unique quality compared to all the others in the house at this time thus a bit of interest for a photo. This door is to the powder room, there is a full length mirror just outside the door hence we have a reflection of the other side of the door. Now we have a part of both sides of the door showing. 

This article is about a lady who is deciding to bake and give her backed goods to essential workers in this time of pandemic. I have a friend who is doing basically the same thing, baking to show his support of first responders. There was a lady who had to have back surgery then had some complications, she became lethargic and felt she was losing her mobility. She watched the news reports that essential workers were doing, hospitals, vets, public safety folks, schools and food services. She also saw an item about a family who baked cookies and hand delivered them as a way of saying “thank you”. She liked the idea and decided to do it herself. This snow balled and her imitative helped to create the Columbus chapter of the national Cookies for Caregivers group here in Columbus. There are now one hundred chapters in thirty-three states and Canada. Their thinking is “We decided to show our gratitude to those working to serve us by serving them freshly baked cookies as a modest sign of our appreciation and respect.”  According to this article there are sixty-nine members in this local chapter. Our local lady in the article said it has been hard to get through to the police stations due to locked doors and tight security. She has visited six Columbus fire stations. This project can become costly and time consuming. She has baked over 141 cookies or treats using chocolate chips or peanut butter. Others have generously helped her. She has found that she is able to get donations now and then form restaurants, groceries and bakeries that may give her their leftovers. One of the bakeries cuts the edges off brownies to get a precise shape and didn’t know what to do with the cut off pieces that are perfectly edible. She has found good use for those. There are some places that can’t accept “unpackaged food” for safety reasons but they appreciate the thought and efforts of the bakers and people wanting to show their gratitude this way. Most can accept these offerings especially if they come from a person or group who is known to them. 

I think we will have left overs for dinner tonight. Bob and I went to York for dinner last night so we will have the left over sloppy joe from a couple of nights ago. 

Joy