February 4, 2021 thought for today: If you observe attentively you will even find wisdom in shadows. African Proverb

This is this first day I ventured out in this past snow event. No problems. There is still snow on some of the streets but nothing too heavy, unlike that piled up along fences and beside driveways. 

I realized when I got to the church that is was food delivery day so some of my friends were in the church. After I had the bulletin printed and distributed I was able to join in friendly chat as the others were waiting for the delivery truck. 

When I got home, I called Kim to see if they were going to be home and I could go visit for a bit. They were, so after I separated the pile of laundry I headed out on my journey. It was so good to see all of them, Mick, Kim and William. It was good to see how he is developing and growing. He showed me some of his toys and how they work. He also showed me that he is learning how to say words. Mick and Kim seem happy. It was good visiting with them. The visit was a bright spot. I will relive it many times when I feel the need for the nearness of family (which is often). 

I got the first of the laundry in the washer and started on my letter. 

I saw a couple of birds sitting on a cable outside the window at church as I was working on the bulletin and remembered the photo theme for today is “duo” so I made some shots. Then when I stopped at White Castle I was two bushes side by side and  with snow on their tops so I made a few more shots. 

The word today is say. If you can't say anything nice, then don't say anything at all, Aesop. Always when you are about to say anything, first weigh it in your mind; for with many the tongue outruns the thought, Isocrates. In prayer it is better to have a heart without words than words without a heart, John Bunyan.  To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing, Martin Luther. When I pray, coincidences happen, and when I don't, they don't, William Temple. Saying and doing are two things, Matthew Henry. Man's feelings are always purest and most glowing in the hour of meeting and of farewell, Jean Paul. No distance of place or lapse of time can lessen the friendship of those who are thoroughly persuaded of each other's worth, Robert Southey. Nothing makes the earth seem so spacious as to have friends at a distance; they make the latitudes and longitudes, Henry David Thoreau.  Only in the agony of parting do we look into the depths of love, George Eliot. Never ruin an apology with an excuse, Benjamin Franklin. Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul, Henry Ward Beecher. The truth will set you free, but first (sometimes) it will make you miserable, James A. Garfield. Never apologize for showing feeling. When you do so, you apologize for the truth, Benjamin Disraeli. Honesty is the rarest wealth anyone can possess, Josh Billings.  When you want to fool the world, tell the truth, Otto von Bismarck.   

Yesterday’s photo theme was “something beautiful”. How much is beautiful in the winter, outside at least. None of my indoor garden plants are blooming. I know there are lots of other “beautiful” things but flowers are the first that come to my mind. I have to find and keep in mind the beauties of winter. I know they are there, God doesn’t make mistakes. Maybe it's the new shapes that it creates and the places it finds to come to rest. 

The title of this article intrigued me. Again, how people are trying to make other people smile and be happy. As the story went, there was a man who went in the heavy snow to cut some sticks. There was another man who collected a stack of hats and grass skirts from a “costume closet”. Tagging along was a 4-year-old with a sandwich bag full of carrots. There was a lady with her calico cat watching all of this through a window as the collection of these things came into view along with their purpose. As she watched from this window in the senior citizen’s facility, it all became clear. A dozen people were working together outside the window to build a snowman. Someone had brought grapes along the way and as the snowman grew they became his eyes. The 4-year-old with the carrots “jammed” the carrots into the face where the nose belonged, then he carefully picked the right stick to become arms. When he was done, he said, “PERFECT!” Several of these snowmen were built by the employees of the facility and their families. As the little boy scurried about his cheeks were “as red as strawberries and his black snow pants caked in white”. One of the men “slogged through the snow from window to window” asking each resident if they wanted cowboy hats on the snow men or Hawaiian skirts. He also asked their favorite color of mittens and scarves. Later, as the snowmen began to melt one of the “builders” said  “These are the saddest snowmen I’ve ever seen.” The child, who was still there or had come back, pulled a grape from his container and replaced an eye. Then he said, (for the 123rd time), PERFECT!

I am going to pull some tuna casserole from the freezer. 

Joy