April 29, 2021 a thought for the day, The newborn baby yells; you die in silence. Russian Proverb

The church got a little busier on a Thursday morning. Usually these is no one there when I do the printing for the week. We have our new Sexton now so he is there ever week day. He most generally doesn’t get in until I am almost finished printing. I get in the office early since I like to get a few of the bulletins in the mail before the mail delivery truck picks up. Patti came in today to meet with a man to give some estimates for some other work at the church. So we had some people around, I think Tom was coming in too. 

When I got home from church,  I started the laundry so I will be going up and down the basement steps for a while today. I also have to get to the kitchen to work on some dog treats. 

The photo challenge for yesterday was “stop”. The only thing I could think of for a while was a stop sign. I tried to think of some way to make that a morning interesting subject that a shape on a pole. I didn’t even consider until later that I should look for a school bus from the back and get my image. 

Here it is close to the end of the month, time to pay the bills. I have been busy with doctors’ appointments and vaccines, not all just my own,  that I lost track of time. 

We are getting the typical April showers today. At times they it seems to get a little wild. 

The word for today is treasure.  Memory is the treasure house of the mind wherein the monuments thereof are kept and preserved. Thomas Fuller.  Next to the Word of God, the noble art of music is the greatest treasure in the world. Martin Luther.  Knowledge is the treasure of a wise man. William Penn. Truth is the property of no individual but is the treasure of all men. Ralph Waldo Emerson. Man's chiefest treasure is a sparing tongue, Hesiod.  Books are the treasured wealth of the world and the fit inheritance of generations and nations. Henry David Thoreau. My most treasured possessions are not things; they are only things, my friends, family and animals are what counts, John the Apostle.  A word of kindness is seldom spoken in vain. It can be and is often treasured by the recipient for life, George D. Prentice.  The loss of a much-prized treasure is only half felt when we have not regarded its tenure as secure, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. The human heart has hidden treasures, In secret kept, in silence sealed, Charlotte Bronte. I have three treasures which I hold and keep. The first is mercy; the second is economy. The third is daring not to be ahead of others. From mercy comes courage; from economy comes generosity; From humility comes leadership, Laozi.  Don't dismiss the heart, even if it's filled with sorrow. God's treasures are buried in broken hearts, Rumi.  

Today’s photo theme is “made of wood”. I had several images to choose from by the time I got home from my errands. This one is behind a building where I stopped for one of my errands. I think the employees can take their breaks and lunch at this spot. Someone has created the mural on the wall behind the table.

It’s interesting for me to read about all kind of ways to become educated. This article is about senior citizens in the class room. I learned from this article that the Ohio Wesleyan University Lifelong Institute offers their own specific programs that are full of enhanced learning experiences for older adults. There was a lady who attended Ohio Wesley and later moved to Dayton. While she was in Dayton she took classes at the Osher Lifelong Leaning Institute at the University of Dayton. When she came back to Delaware she was disappointed in not being able to find the kinds of classes she had enjoyed in Dayton. So she approached someone at the Corporate and Governmental Relations at OWU to talk about it. There were further talks with other organizations and other interested people. At one of the first planning meetings a hand full of interested people were expected it tuned out over three hundred people attended the meeting. So a program was formed and started. Around two hundred and seventy-five people signed up for the first semester. The classes offered in this program are classic films and cooking and more such as physics and political science. A flat fee of $75 is charged to enroll in as many classes at they like. Classes take place at Ohio Wesleyan and in several spots in Downtown Delaware and are taught by volunteers including Ohio Wesleyan professors.  There are not tests or exams. This program began before the pandemic and had switch to Zoom classes for the 2020-21 academic year. One of the students said that there was an up side to this way of learning such as some alums signed up for classes that were from as far away as California and Colorado. For the coming semester one husband and wife have signed up for classes including “‘Strangers in a Strange Land: Immigrants and Refugees,’” “How to Be an Antiracist – Part 2: Theory into Practice” and “How Does Your Garden Grow?”. They say they are learning something new and making new friends. 

I think we will have Tilapia for dinner tonight.

Joy

Here’s another of my found “discards” .... almost completely hidden in natures covers. 

 April 27, 2021 a thought for today, What you don't see with your eyes, don't invent with your mouth. Jewish Proverb

Well there is another eye doctors’ appointment out of the way. Sue had another follow-up in the arena district. It was an early one, those are the kind I like. We made a couple of stops on the way home, an errand for Sue and a photo hunt for me. 

The photo theme for April 26 was “ice cream”. Fortunately for me and my “camera” the twins were here yesterday. Sonja with her ice cream bar was a perfect model 

I was able to get the bulletin done yesterday. I also selected a bible study for them to hand out on

Saturday with the weekly message. The lady who is running it wanted to buy bible study books for all fifty people we serve. That would have been a phenomenal expense so I found a way to do it page by page weekly and free (and more work for me, oh well). Later today I got the information to finish the message for Saturday so I got that done too. 

The twins were here for a visit yesterday. They haven’t been here for a couple of months so it was good to see them. They have actually grown (like they are supposed to), but I was a little shocked to see how much taller they are. 

The heat of the season seems to be coming back. I hope to get my new watering system hooked up on Saturday.

The word for today is travel.  The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page. Saint Augustine.  Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not. Ralph Waldo Emerson. Wherever you go, go with all your heart. Confucius.  Travel, in the younger sort, is a part of education; in the elder, a part of experience. Francis Bacon. Rome is the city of echoes, the city of illusions, and the city of yearning. Giotto di Bondone.  Every day is a journey, and the journey itself is home. Matsuo Basho. We are all travelers in the wilderness of this world, and the best we can find in our travels is an honest friend. Robert Louis Stevenson.  Our deeds still travel with us from afar, and what we have been makes us what we are. George Eliot. Life is an unfoldment, and the further we travel the more truth we can comprehend. To understand the things that are at our door is the best preparation for understanding those that lie beyond. Hypatia. To move, to breathe, to fly, to float, To gain all while you give, To roam the roads of lands remote, To travel is to live, Hans Christian Andersen. Take only memories, leave only footprints, Chief Seattle.  Experience, travel - these are an education in themselves, Euripides. The use of traveling is to regulate imagination by reality, Samuel Johnson. People travel to wonder at the height of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars; and they pass by themselves without wondering, Saint Augustine. 

The photo theme for today is “path”. So, for this photo, it was back to my best local for a lot of photos, Westgate Park. There are a lot of beautiful straight and curved paths in our local park. 

This is an interesting article. I have dyslexia myself so reading how others especially young people deal with it is interesting and will offer some insight to all others. This particular article is about a young person who has had reading problems in her life and is now publishing books of her own through a group called “Mindful Literacy Columbus”. To start with, one young lady got a new tutor and needed the first month of the three times a week sessions with the special education  teacher to develop trust. The problem of her dyslexia needed to be addressed after the trust issue was met. When she was six, it became apparent that she needed teaching methods that were more explicit than other kids her age, meaning a lot more effort. Her tutor knew that “locked within ... (her) mind were fantastic stories waiting to be told.” Once the tutor found the “key”, the student went from “reluctant learner” to a writer in three months. Her book is called “The Sneakers”. Dyslexia affects one in five people worldwide. It affects the neurological learning difference and causes letters to appear backward or in reverse, it also affects speech and language processing. One description the article pointed out is it is like “being forced to read a foreign language”. It is possible that it can impact life in every aspect. Another student with dyslexia wrote a book called “A Fairy’s Tale”. She was diagnosed at eight years old when her teacher saw problems with test scores and other classroom activity. She loved school but there were things that weren’t matching up with that emotion. The book that she was finally able to publish combines fiction, history and current events. The “Mindful Literacy Columbus started a scholarship program to pay for children in Central Ohio to receive tutoring, which can cost up to $1,500 a month.” The tutor, who started a program called Bhive Press, hopes to partly fund the program with sales of the young people’s books. Further hopes are to establish a center where adults can be taught to work with children with learning differences. These efforts will hopefully, for the students, lead not only to mastering their disability but will help build confidence and shift how they see themselves. 

We are having chicken fries and French fires for dinner tonight. 

Joy

Another “discard”......Once upon a time ..... ice cream on a stick (NOT from the ice cream bar in the photo above).

 April 25, 2021 a thought for the day, There are old men of three years old and children of a hundred. Japanese Proverb

The minister we had today is another who, in my opinion,  “feels” the message. She paints a picture of a bible reading that makes you sense an image and what it would feel and look like today. Then she adds bits of an event that did happen “today” (in this era of time) that fits like a puzzle to the message she is conveying. You don’t nod off when these words are surrounding you. You feel it, you acknowledge it in every part of your being. That’s the renewal I look for each week. That’s a big part of the strength that keeps belief alive. We have a small variety of a different ministers/reverends/pastors in our church each week at this point in time. There are two who are regulars for us who in particular convey this type of feeling for me. 

The photo challenge for yesterday was “triangle”. I shot yield signs, direction markers in the street and this one. The guide cables on the water tower at Westgate Park as the formed several triangles. 

I wanted to make a couple of quick detours on my way home. One for sustenance (as if I am in desperate need of such), so a stop at McDonalds, one in a search for my photo of the day as well as the kind that offers up the exercise of thought into deeper meanings (my now daily search for “discards”) and a one last stop to pick up some of my sister’s meds.  

It is a laid back day (Sunday day of rest) so there is not much on the agenda for the rest of the day. 

I have hooked up another computer next to my main one. I was losing connections to my USB ports on my old computer so I hooked up my laptop to help keep the old timer (computer, not me) on its toes.

There are a couple of things on the calendar that will keep us on the move next week, nothing too time consuming just a little more activity than a “normal” week. 

Oh....I had a wonderful, wonderful experience last night. One part of my family are living a traveling distance from me so seeing them in person is limited and far between visits. I haven’t been able to “see” them for what seems like a very long time. Last night they called me for a virtual/visual visit. I got to see the kids and watch a few minutes of their growth to pack away in my memory file. The photo I have added is one their mom sent me, she sends me some every couple of days or so. 

The word today is touch.  Have a heart that never hardens, and a temper that never tires, and a touch that never hurts. Charles Dickens.  And he that strives to touch the stars, Oft stumbles at a straw. Edmund Spenser.  There is no great genius without some touch of madness. Aristotle.    One touch of nature makes the whole world kin. William Shakespeare.  His heart was like a sensitive plant, that opens for a moment in the sunshine, but curls up and shrinks into itself at the slightest touch of the finger, or the lightest breath of wind. Anne Bronte. There are four Powers: memory and intellect, desire and covetousness. The two first are mental and the others sensual. The three senses: sight, hearing and smell cannot well be prevented; touch and taste not at all. Leonardo da Vinci. Prayer is omnipotent: its breath can melt adamantine rocks - its touch can break the stoutest chains. William Lloyd Garrison. One touch of nature makes the whole world kin. William Shakespeare. Love is when you don't have to be with another person to touch their heart! Torquato Tasso.  The great object of Education should be commensurate with the object of life. It should be a moral one; to teach self-trust: to inspire the youthful man with an interest in himself; with a curiosity touching his own nature; to acquaint him with the resources of his mind, and to teach him that there is all his strength, Ralph Waldo Emerson.

The photo theme for today is “ugly location”. I went on a drive by type excursion of selected areas to try to find something “ugly”. Of course there are always alleys’ where the provided trash receptacles seem to get missed and things land on the ground. There are many areas of decline in large cities that seem to get missed when it comes to clean up. 

This article is about a grandfather holding his grand daughter for the first time. There are feelings akin to some mentioned in this article that come along when holding a furry “child” too. He mentioned the exquisiteness of life and holding it close. He also said the novelty of each new life that comes into our lives never wears off (these are the ones I mentioned relate to the furry kind too).  In talking about his new grand child he couldn’t believe the weight from watching her lying there to when he held her in his arms and how much they squirm and arch their backs. He remembered the fact that babies cry when unfamiliar people are around them. He thinks she cried just a little when he picked her up because of the position change. She likes to be held like a football he said, face down, stomach resting on the forearm. His thoughts as a grandfather were such....her fists hit at the pages as he read to her signaling, in his opinion, that she was going to be an “avid reader”. This baby was born during the pandemic so he wouldn’t even consider going to a crowded gym or party to chance bringing the virus home. He went on to say he is retired so doesn’t have to worry about being out among crowds. He related that they are like “exotic little plants, species unknown, and the best we can do is figure out what best makes them thrive”. And further, that contributing to that process ..... is a privilege”. 

I don’t know  which we choose tonight but it will be carry out, taco bell or KFC or something else. 

Joy

Here is an other of my “discards”. I makes me think left behind and alone after being part of fun and cheer. 

 

 April 23, 2021 a thought for today, Your years will still remain the same whether you laugh or cry. Japanese Proverb

I met Dorothy at church so we could finish the newsletter. It is always nice to chat with her as we work. When I left there I headed out to White Castle....I was surprised at the number of people in the drive through line at that time of morning. There are a lot of people who are loyal to the White Castle chain. They are celebrating their one hundredth year now. I can’t help but think of my earlier small connection with them. When I was a teen, we sold poppies on the street corners for Veterans Day. White Castle had areas along the way where they cooked and fed us on our breaks. 

Once I got home, I decided my agenda is on the light side for the rest of the day. The laundry is done, the frig cleaned out and dish washer run so I am taking it on the easy side for now. I will be getting the message envelopes ready for the free meal at church for tomorrow and water the plants. I forgot to water them last week so they are probably on the thirsty side. 

The photo challenge for April 22 was “socks”. I shot a couple of images for this assignment. I was waiting for Sue to finish some business at the bank yesterday. I knew that I needed “socks” for today. I glanced under a table and saw these bright red shoes, just above them were the socks that I needed but the shoes were the “attraction”. I figured I had better have a back up so I took a shot of my own sock between my slipper and my pink pants. The contrast in colors added to the photo as the red shoes did in the first. 

I wanted to run the sweeper and do some dusting but I think I will put that on the short side of the back burner for the time being. I am feeling a little on the lazy side. I had a last minute huge problem with the newsletter file yesterday, in trying to fix the problem I lost connection with an external hard drive that has some very old and very dear files stored so I have  been trying to fix that problem without success at this pint so I need to step back and let it go for now. 

The word for today is tomorrow.  Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree. Martin Luther. You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today. Abraham Lincoln. Light tomorrow with today! Elizabeth Barrett Browning.  Be thou the rainbow in the storms of life. The evening beam that smiles the clouds away, and tints tomorrow with prophetic ray. Lord Byron. What is not started today is never finished tomorrow. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Every tomorrow has two handles. We can take hold of it with the handle of anxiety or the handle of faith. Henry Ward Beecher. Seize the day, and put the least possible trust in tomorrow. Horace.  Work as if you were to live a hundred years. Pray as if you were to die tomorrow. Benjamin Franklin. Never let a day pass that you will have cause to say, I will do better tomorrow. Brigham Young. It is thrifty to prepare today for the wants of tomorrow. Aesop. A daily portion is really all we need. We do not need tomorrow's supply, for that day has not yet dawned, and its needs are still unborn. Charles Spurgeon. Tomorrow is the day when idlers work, and fools reform, and mortal men lay hold on heaven. Persius. Tomorrow, every Fault is to be amended; but that Tomorrow never comes. Benjamin Franklin.  Build today, then strong and sure, With a firm and ample base; And ascending and secure. Shall tomorrow find its place. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. We steal if we touch tomorrow. It is God's. Henry Ward Beecher.  Plan for this world as if you expect to live forever; but plan for the hereafter as if you expect to die tomorrow. Solomon Ibn Gabirol. Tomorrow is the mysterious, unknown guest, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.  There is a budding tomorrow in midnight, John Keats.  

Today’s photo theme is “moon”. Well, this is day time and I don’t see a moon in the sky so I had to rely on my archives again. This one was shot some time ago and served the purpose perfectly. 

I think I probably pick a lot of articles about improvements and renovations in and around the city but that’s part of our history and growth. When most projects like this get started the areas around the particular project seem to get a “dusting” too. This article is about some improvements and new bike and pedestrian bridge over the Scioto River and an off-street trail along Souder Avenue in the Franklinton Trail. I think it will add to and improve this area of the city. The article says that the new bridge will separate from the road bridge. It will connect the Scioto Trail and the Olentange Trail to a new path running along Souder Avenue to W. Broad Street. Along with this new plan are hopes to add more park-like “amenities” to some of the overlooked green space in the neighborhood. Items to be included would be playgrounds, walking paths and small shelters. The green spaces they are considering are within the side street island in the middle of West Park, Dakota and Guilford avenues. The people considered with these improvements are hoping to offer this neighborhood “amenities” that are not available to them now considering they are an under-served community. To add to the future bright hopes for the neighborhood is an elevated trail from West Broad Street near the Spaghetti Warehouse to the Scioto Tail near the River and Rich development.  

Pizza night.....

Joy

Here’s another of my “discarded” subjects for your enjoyment. The points I like in this photo are  the diagonal line of the curb, the texture of the gravel the cement and  the objects, the red of the balls and the wall anchor, along with the everyday natural arrangement of clutter. 

 April 21, 2021 a thought for today, A fence lasts three years, a dog lasts three fences, a horse three dogs, and a man three horses. German Proverb

Wow, snow at nearly the end of May and it turned out to be quite a bit, not just flurries or a light covering. There was about an inch or so here. It was all over the grass and trees not so much on the pavements. I am afraid that some of the earlier flower will not survive it. The temperature is supposed to drop again tonight too. 

The photo there for yesterday was “ pasta”. I didn’t have any pasta cooked and in the frig so I “arranged” some of the raw pasta I had in the cupboard for this shot. 

I got the bulletin out to be proof read. Then switched over to the newsletter. I was able to get it done. The only thing left on the agenda to printing tomorrow is the weekly message for the free meal on Saturday night.  I just now received it in my email so I will get started on it. 

I took a break long enough to get the refrigerator cleared out and the dishwasher loaded and started. 

Since I am on the new meds for diabetes, I am trying to watch the amount of carbs I eat. So today I have decided to try to make some noodles with almond flour. I hope there is not too big a difference in taste and if there is that it will be even better than straight egg noodles. 

Today’s photo challenge is titled “kiss”. I shot one myself, a sort of selfie. It was a “movie” shot with the cell phone. Sweet Pea was giving me one of her very infrequent "kisses". I wasn’t totally pleases with the shot I was able to pull out of the “movie” as a single so I used another that my grandson had taken of one of my granddaughters in law and one of my great grandsons. Two of my other great grand children don't live near by for me to take my own photos of them so I will be adding some that I get from their mom to keep me updated on their growth. 

The word for today is together.  Let us put our minds together and see what life we can make for our children. Sitting Bull.  Sleep is that golden chain that ties health and our bodies together. Thomas Dekker. Great things are done by a series of small things brought together. Vincent Van Gogh. Accept the things to which fate binds you, and love the people with whom fate brings you together, but do so with all your heart. Marcus Aurelius.  Neither a lofty degree of intelligence nor imagination nor both together go to the making of genius. Love, love, love, that is the soul of genius. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together. George Eliot. God always strives together with those who strive. Aeschylus.  The rose and the thorn, and sorrow and gladness are linked together. Saadi.  Life is made of ever so many partings welded together. Charles Dickens. I'll lift you and you lift me, and we'll both ascend together. John Greenleaf Whittier.  

I actually had two photos of the day for April 20. The second one was titled “the point is?” this is another on of those emotional type ideas to photograph. I found this one that I shot a few days ago to be kind of cute. It is as though he is thinking "soooo, what's the point?"

Here this article is some more of refreshing an old building back to some awesome beauty. The building is called “the Clintonville Mystery House”. There are some other names for it like, Swiss Family Robinson house, the Ewok house (in a nod to Star Wars), Peter Pan’s Place, the Eighth Wonder of Clintonville, the Human Hamster House (perhaps because of the long, covered walkway stretching from the main house to the detached garage at the back of the property). There has been fifty years of renovations and a code compliance situation but it looks like things are beginning to turn around. It is the first time I have seen photos of it and I see it as an awesome building, as good as a mansion or even a small castle. Apparently at one point it had become a nuisance by the city. Some of the negative compliance codes were exposed wiring, unsafe railings, a cupola problem, a solarium under construction and not up to code. At one time the house had been a space for dozens of foster children. Some Clintonville residents had offered to pitch in and help get renovations done but were stopped from entering the house by the city. So the owner tried on his own to get the multitude of repairs and fixes done. Each time he got something going it seemed something else came up. He was finally able to hire a structural engineer who helped guide him. He finished the solarium, added a spiral staircase to the cupola and moved on with other repairs. The house was finally “in compliance” and was able to move back in. The back story is that three years ago he thought he would have to sell the house, his home, to “survive on his retirement income.” But relatives, his children, children he and his ex-wife had fostered and twelve grandchildren didn’t want to see the home lost to the family so they pitched in to help. After he moved back in two of the grandchildren and a friend moved in with him until they went back to school. One of them wants to live there full time. While the kids, college age, were there they repainted some walls, replaced furniture, added lighting and made it clutter free. The grandson who will likely live there with his granddad says he loves the chance to live in “this strange, mystical place”. Granddad “endorses the vision” and has had the same spirit since he got it in 1972. 

We are having chicken piccata and homemade almond flour noodles for dinner. 

Joy

Here is my “discard” for today. I find these kinds of shots every day that I am out and about. I like the contrast in shapes and colors of this one. "Once up on a time" it had a different purpose in life. It was the crowning top of a bottle, now it rests, separated from it's base, alone among some rocks. 

 April 19, 2021 a thought for the day, An elder uses old eyes to see and so the young use young eyes. African Proverb

We have the weekly trip out of the way. What a job....I have most of it put away but I needed to stop to get a start on a few other things. 

Yesterday’s photo challenge was titled “graffiti”. That is a fairly easy one to find, it seems. So after church I drove around looking for what I needed. I found several examples. This one seemed to have the best lines, textures and textures.

I have decided that because the ground in both our back and front yard is so uneven that I will be having a hard time walking and standing around watering my flower “gardens” this season so I am ordering soaker hoses with a timer to take care of that necessary job. 

This is the day I generally at least start on the bulletin and this the week I have the newsletter on the to-do list. I barely started the bulletin this morning. It looks like I will be concentrating on those two items tomorrow and finishing on Wednesday. 

I need to finish putting the groceries away and some light clean up in the kitchen. 

The word for today is today.  You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today. Abraham Lincoln. Light tomorrow with today! Elizabeth Barrett Browning.  Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but only empties today of its strength. Charles Spurgeon.  Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present. Marcus Aurelius.  I do not think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday. Abraham Lincoln. The past, the present and the future are really one: they are today. Harriet Beecher Stowe. One today is worth two tomorrows. Benjamin Franklin. The idol of today pushes the hero of yesterday out of our recollection; and will, in turn, be supplanted by his successor of tomorrow. Washington Irving.  It is thrifty to prepare today for the wants of tomorrow. Aesop. No matter what looms ahead, if you can eat today, enjoy today, mix good cheer with friends today enjoy it and bless God for it. Henry Ward Beecher. A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it, Jean de La Fontaine. This day is all that is good and fair. It is too dear, with its hopes and invitations, to waste a moment on the yesterdays, Ralph Waldo Emerson.  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. You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today, Abraham Lincoln.  The beginning is always today, Mary Shelley.

Today’s photo theme is “crisp”. This one is a little hard for me. I can’t envision something “crisp”.
Clean folded laundry would be one, bacon fried to a crisp is another. But since I had neither on hand I chose the Krispy Kream logo.

It’s spring and time for spring cleaning and of course this is April so time for Earth Day too. This article is about some clean up going on in Grandview along the Scioto Bike Trail. According to the article there were twenty-eight volunteers how gathers fifty bags of litter on April 10. This “pickup event was hosted by” a group called “Sustainable Grandview” They began the pick up near Interstate 670 at the Sunoco gas station because it is next to the exit ramp where people seem to toss out trash as they pass by. Some of the volunteers said that as you bike or jog the trail you may not notice the accumulated toss aways. The litter that was collected was a collection of paper trash , containers and bags from fast food places, cans and bottles, bottle tops and car parts. The car parts that may have been from car accidents and seem to have been pushed into bushes. One of the larger items that was found was an old air conditioner with all copper that had been on it stripped away. The litter that was collected was picked up by “Keep Columbus Beautiful”. The “Sustainable Grandview” group has grown and has organized events like the litter pickups to educate the community and provide other resources. The group had to slow down during the pandemic though it had it’s start before that. As a part of the educational “mission” they held online “webinars” with sessions about food waste, property-assessed clean energy, financing and residential solar panels. Grandview is planning to build a new fire station and municipal complex where the group would like to include a green building standards. The clean up talked about at the beginning of this chapter included the Columbus chapter of Citizens Climate Lobby and the Friends of the Lower Olentangy Watershed and students from Grandview Heights High School's Environmental Club. The high school group was started in 2019 by one of the science teachers.  The club’s president, one of the students, said that he wanted to do something that related to environmental science and helping community.  The students created posters to encourage other students about recycling items. The hopes are for the high school club to grow and reach more people. 

I think I am making taco salad for dinner tonight. 

Joy 

Here is this “discard” for today. There are some features that could make it a piece of art after all. The colors are bright, the textures of the variety of leaves interesting, the dandelion adds contrast in color and something to soften the ending for the dumped can. There's more to it as there is with any art there is a feeling, a message, a cause for thought.  

 

 April 17, 2021 a thought for today, A spectator sees more than a player in the heat of a game. Chinese Proverb

It’s relatively early in the day and we, Bob and I, have already accomplished a lot. This is the day for Bob’s  second vaccine at the Schottenstein Center. I went with him just in the off chance that there would be any kind of reaction. His appointment was for 8:20. We hadn’t thought about the Spring Game being on this date. I didn’t know how traffic would be since this it is the first time so many folks will be allowed back in the stadium since the beginning of the pandemic. I imagined that loyal supporters and spectators are most likely chomping at the bit to get on with things. So we left at 7:30. Surprisingly, we ran into very little traffic. Once there, we moved through the line easily and quickly. He had his shot along with the fifteen waiting period after the shot before his scheduled “appointment” time.

The photo theme for yesterday was “splash”. I wasn’t planning an outing for Friday but I had to pick up some meds at the Kroger pharmacy for I went by the park on my way home. I use my cell phone camera for most of my photos now and haven’t mastered stopping motion. I wanted to capture the water drops and those that splashed one at a time. So I set the camera for blast shots (shooting as long as my finger was pressed on the “shutter”). The camera set to manual with the shutter speed would have been better with the fast shutter stop and large aperture.

I needed some stylus for my ipad so I asked if Bob would mind stopping (he was the driver today not me) at Walmart. We headed that way. After that stop we cruised by White Castle and picked up our “breakfast”. Next we took a quick detour past my daughter’s former house which was on the way home; there are memories there that need awakened every now and then, a quick drive- by fills that yearning....almost (it can be bittersweet). One more stop. I had the weekly message/hymn lyrics hand out for the Saturday meal at Hoge so we went by the church so I could drop them off. At last, home again, home again. 

Sue has been my in-residence hair dresser for many, many years...she is a beautician by educated trade. But her eyes are being treated now and she prefers not to take a chance with scissors and people’s skulls until the treatments are done. So I had a my first hair cut at a salon in many years the other day. Sue use to do Bob’s hair too but that’s out for a while. Since he is in nearly an emergency need for that attention, I called and made an appointment for him at the same shop I used for next week. I seem to be getting a lot of necessary appointments that have been put on the back burner for some time out of the way in the past few days. 

The photo challenge for today is “ night photography”. I didn’t plan ahead so I didn’t do any photography last night. I had to resort to the archives. This one took me back in the archives quite a ways. When I was working downtown many times I left for work before the sun was up. I parked across the Broad Street bridge at Vet Memorial and walked across to the other side of the river and around the corner to the Federal Court House. The LeVeque-Lincoln Tower was always lit. I called this night photography because the sun wasn’t up so I think of that as still night. 

As I got back to my computer “work” of the day, I watched the funeral service for Prince Philip. I thought it was very moving and beautiful for what appeared to me to be a very gentle and genteel man.

The word for today is time.  Time flies over us, but leaves its shadow behind. Nathaniel Hawthorne. Know the true value of time; snatch, seize, and enjoy every moment of it. No idleness, no laziness, no procrastination: never put off till tomorrow what you can do today. Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield.  The present time has one advantage over every other - it is our own. Charles Caleb Colton. You may delay, but time will not. Benjamin Franklin. Time is a sort of river of passing events, and strong is its current; no sooner is a thing brought to sight than it is swept by and another takes its place, and this too will be swept away. Marcus Aurelius. Time brings all things to pass. Aeschylus. It is my feeling that Time ripens all things; with Time all things are revealed; Time is the father of truth. Francois Rabelais.  Forever is composed of nows. Emily Dickinson. Patience and time do more than strength or passion. Jean de La Fontaine. Hide nothing, for time, which sees all and hears all, exposes all. Sophocles. But time growing old teaches all things. Aeschylus.  Like as the waves make towards the pebbl'd shore, so do our minutes, hasten to their end. William Shakespeare.  Much may be done in those little shreds and patches of time which every day produces, and which most men throw away. Charles Caleb Colton.

I often get Arbor Day mixed up with Earth Day. Both have to do with ways to clean and maintain our earth as we are its divinely appointed stewards.  This is the fifty first year of the Earth Day recognitions and celebrations. According to the article several local organizations have already begun activities to point out this now annual event. Some of these activities involve cleaning, planting and caring. Both kids and adults find projects that help with the efforts. One of the events listed in the article was to start a “pollinator garden” in the Glen Echo neighborhood, that will happen on April 24. Compost will be spread and turned, seeds and seedlings planted. This activity  will concentrate on creating a Monarch Waystation (A Monarch Waystation is an intentionally-managed garden that provides food and habitat for the struggling Monarch butterfly population.) At this event there will be free native-plant giveaway.  The Paramount Senior Living center in Westerville is hosting a “Creekside Cleanup” on the same date at nine o’clock. Litter till be picked up around a nearby creek. A group called Outdoor Pursuits (“Columbus Running Company) sponsor an event of picking up litter as they practice their jogging efforts too. There is a Highland Youth Garden that provides learning activities for children, they will be holding a planting period at nine o’clock on April 24.  A group at Pine Quarry Park in Reynoldsburg will be replacing some invasive plants in their area with shrubs native to central Ohio. The Environmental Professionals Network of the Ohio State University will be hosting a virtual program called “Take Flight” at six o’clock on April 21. They will “focus on preserving habitat to protect and restore the monarch butterfly.” There is a recycling opportunity at the Integrated Building System on Michigan Avenue for old and unwanted electronic devices on April 23. There will be activities for kids at Rising Park in Lancaster called “Seeds of Change” at noon on April 24. There will be a dedication of a new arboretum there at the same time. Apparently there is a problem with invasive garlic mustard plants in the Licking Park District. They will host an event to eliminate this problem at the Infirmary Mound Park in Granville at nine in the morning on April 24. Many folks are holding their own personal recycling and planting events for the day and will do the same everyday.  

We will have baked Tilapia for dinner, I think. 

Joy

This is a photo of my “discard” object for today. I am finding that the images of these discards contain at least some of the  other objects of the seven basic elements of photographic art. They are  almost always left, dropped, or thrown into an area where there are other lines, shapes, colors which are part of the seven elements, “line, shape, form, texture, color, size, and depth”. Most have all of the seven elements making them eligible for “fine art photos”.

April 15, 2021 a thought for today, Ten years of oblivion in school may bring you fame overnight. Chinese Proverb

Thursdays are pretty well set as to my agenda list. It is the day for printing the church data for the weekend. I had misgivings about the bible study that I had prepared earlier this week when I woke up this morning I felt it might feel infringing on peoples feelings about themselves so I got up early and printed a different and more suitable one. The copying at church went quickly. The church was totally quiet so the weekly walk through the stained glass Sanctuary lit only with light through glass was peaceful and reflective.  

The photo theme for yesterday was “clean”. I could have tried to take a selfie while I used Windex on the mirror but I didn’t have enough free hands to do that. I decided the safest and easiest was to show cleaning supplies or a basket of laundry as it came from the dryer. 

On the way home, as usual, I was on the alert for photos. As I mentioned before, my field of possible subjects has widened. Now I can’t leave the house without seeing at least one possible shot.

Once at home I checked for emails and facebook comments then started the laundry and a few odds and ends in the kitchen. The dogs need their meatball treats and I am working on some low glycemic recipes particularly for potatoes and possibly pasta and rice. 

I did get a chance to get a teeny tiny start on the newsletter. It’s not due until next Sunday but I like to have a bit of a start on it ahead of time. 

Now we are experiencing the typical Ohio weather. After some gorgeous days with the temps in the 60s we are back to some breezes that are less than welcoming. The sun is bright at the moment but it is deceiving. I don’t think I would change the Ohio weather most of the time anyway. Experiencing the different gifts of nature is somehow exciting and  awakening. 

One of the photo challenges for today is “money”. I noticed, when I checked to see what my peers were
doing for this image, that many were using hands full of coins from whatever country where they lived. I shot some of the same with my piggy bank tagging along. But ended up with this one that I took while I was waiting at Wendy’s for drive through lunch. 

The word for today is thoughts.  The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts: therefore, guard accordingly, and take care that you entertain no notions unsuitable to virtue and reasonable nature. Marcus Aurelius.  Great thoughts come from the heart. Luc de Clapiers.  The human heart has hidden treasures, In secret kept, in silence sealed; The thoughts, the hopes, the dreams, the pleasures, Whose charms were broken if revealed. Charlotte Bronte.  Prayer is an act of love; words are not needed. Even if sickness distracts from thoughts, all that is needed is the will to love. Saint Teresa of Avila. There are a thousand thoughts lying within a man that he does not know till he takes up a pen to write. William Makepeace Thackeray.  Clarity is the counterbalance of profound thoughts. Luc de Clapiers.  In matters of conscience, first thoughts are best. In matters of prudence, last thoughts are best. Robert Hall.   Great men are they who see that spiritual is stronger than any material force - that thoughts rule the world. Ralph Waldo Emerson. All grand thoughts come from the heart. Luc de Clapiers. Among mortals second thoughts are wisest. Euripides. If we examine our thoughts, we shall find them always occupied with the past and the future. Blaise Pascal. Write down the thoughts of the moment. Those that come unsought for being commonly the most valuable. Francis Bacon.

The other photo of the day for today is “umbrella”. I have used this subject before in different degrees of opening so I decided to make this a simple one. It fit the title. 

 I think knowing the history of Columbus brings more enrichment to the roots of those of us raised here. This article is about a man named William Ludlow. There is an alley in Columbus called Ludlow Alley. Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton al have a Ludlow Street in their city. So it would be assumed that they would all have been named that in honor of Mr. William Ludlow’s name and adventures. However, that doesn’t seem to be the case. The streets in the other cities were named in honor of Col. Israel Ludlow who was a surveyors of the “Seven Ranges” in eastern Ohio and the Ludlow Line in western central Ohio . He laid out the street that carries his name. He never made it to Columbus. His brother, William did. He found himself in a different line of work, that of a political person. In 1804 he and two peers traveled to Cincinnati and began a site for a state college which became Miami University. Later he looked for work and found what he was looking for with the Ohio General Assembly. Another person laid out Columbus which would become the capital of Ohio  and the Statehouse Square and the site for the penitentiary, where the Cultural Arts Center is today. The surveyor and town planner who laid out these original sites wanted to move on. William Ludlow was appointed to be the “director of the Town of Columbus”. Ludlow completed the penitentiary and later the Statehouse with  a spire on the top of the Statehouse that was 105 feet from the ground. There was a railed walkway on the building that allowed a view of the whole town including the Scioto River could be seen. Flights of stairs rose on the right and on the left leading to a gallery and the Senate Chamber. I learned this from the article that the original large wooden columns were painted to imitate a clouded marble finish.  The interior walls were decorated with maps of the state and various articles that were used at ornaments. Ludlow continued this kind of work leading to the structure being for executive and administrative offices. Apparently in time Statehouse Square with a domed Supreme Court building and a single-story state office building were lovingly called “Rat Row”. Later he left Columbus to go on to other adventures but he left behind a street in Columbus with his name. 

We were going to have creamed beef on toast the other evening but when I was preparing to make it I found the sloppy joe from a couple of nights ago and had that so the creamed beef is on for tonight. 

Joy

Here’s another discard. At least there are some other interests in the image to keep it company. A bit of weed, a curved crack in the cement and the texture of concrete. 

 

 April 13, 2021 a thought for today: Jails are always closed yet full, while temples are always open yet empty. Chinese Proverb

I looked at my calendar over the weekend and saw that I had a pretty uneventful week coming up. That was until Monday morning when I started making calls to set appointments. I used some of  Monday morning to do most of the bulletin so that was well on it’s way. After the phone calls, I had an appointment for today to have the oil changed in the car and an appointment for a hair cut the end of the week. I made another eye doctor appointment but I couldn’t get it for this week, or next week or the week....it is a month away. I also found out that Sue has a couple of appointments to add to our list of outings. 

I made the appointment for an oil change as early as I could get for today so that I would have the rest of the day free for....whatever. “Whatever” follows below. 

The photo of the day for yesterday was “mirror”. I have a few around the house. Not to mention the full length one I wrestled with yesterday to hang in the powder room. Try after try to get a new hanging wire on with no success left me aggravated and worried that if I kept up I would break the mirror. So with my hair every which way as I checked the health of the mirror, I gave up and used command strips to brace it against the wall while sitting it on the floor. Anyway, this one seemed better for the photo of the day. 

Photography helps to or leads to a more than casual observation of surrounding visible matter. I have developed it with  more and more of a strength as the years have passed. Recently I have added an even greater stimulus to that effort. I mentioned the other day that a news article about an amateur photographer in my city grabbed my attention. He photographs what some would call “junk” or “trash” and found (and has shown) a kind of beauty in it. I decided to give it a try. Wow! Did that ever expand my field of photography and visual story telling possibilities. It’s amazing what people throw away and intentionally (or unintentionally) change or destroy (objects or landscape). Now that the idea was born for me, I am even more aware. It’s sad, that is, the disrespect and destruction. Now every time I leave the house, like this morning, I look for these “treasures”. I must have shot at least twenty or so occurrences this morning alone. It  amazes me to think that maybe some parent didn’t teach their child about their own hygiene or that of their surroundings. I guess that’s bad, thoughts like that I mean.

The photograph of the day for today is “ water drops”. While I was sitting in the waiting area at Midas I watched the coffee maker as the water dropped. I took a couple of shots of that. Later after I got home, I noticed that the cup of iced tea I had sitting on my desk was “sweating”, perfect water drops. 

Last week I volunteered to add another hand out to our guests of the free meal on Saturdays. I waited for some response from the first effort to see if we would proceed with more. I didn’t get any response for a few days. Since I begin the work on the data needed for the coming week early on Monday morning, I gently pushed with more texts and emails to get a feel for what we were going to do. I finally got one of the two answered this morning and it was a go. So when I got home this morning, I got the handout for this week done. The information to finish the bulletin was also on my email so I got that done too. Now I have one more hand out to do and am waiting for that information.

The word for today is think.  I often think that the night is more alive and more richly colored than the day. Vincent Van Gogh.  When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive - to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love. Marcus Aurelius. Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better than not to think at all. Hypatia. We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves. Buddha. The less men think, the more they talk. Montesquieu. Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking. Marcus Aurelius. Thinking: the talking of the soul with itself. Plato. Thinking is a habit, and like any other habit, it can be changed; it just takes effort and repetition, John Eliot. The soul never thinks without a picture, Aristotle. Thoughts rule the world, Ralph Waldo Emerson. A moment's thinking is an hour in words, Thomas Hood. Life consists in what a man is thinking of all day, Ralph Waldo Emerson.  Our minds are lazier than our bodies, Francois de La Rochefoucauld.  We ought to do good to others as simply as a horse runs, or a bee makes honey, or a vine bears grapes season after season without thinking of the grapes it has borne. Marcus Aurelius   The soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts, Marcus Aurelius. Language is the dress of thought, Samuel Johnson.   

This article sounds like an exciting adventure. I know of several people who have expressed a desire to do it but alas.... However, I do have a cousin who has and is doing it. I dream of what it would be like, there is a part of me who would like to do it for at least a set period of time. On the other hand there is something to be said for staying with the roots, staying where family, friends and “familiar” are and always will be. The article is about a family who sold their home, renovated an RV and traveled the country during the pandemic and plan to for at least a year. The kids in the family watched an alligator eat another alligator in Louisiana. They danced with the Easter Bunny in New Orleans, played on the beach in the Alabama earlier.  The mother and father of the family “traveled the world” before they had children. Before the adventure began, they wondered “how can we explore.....but do it safely?” A friend of theirs was selling a 2001, 35-foot camper. They bought it and made a few updates to make it “home”, adding a wood kitchen table and bunk beds and a desk.  The RV has hardwood flooring, a fireplace and a photo-gallery wall. One of the adults took a break from his job, the other is writing a book while traveling. As for where they plan to stop next, they know some stops will be national parks and the children have a say about what they want to see and experience. They are not in a rush to get to any place in particular. They don’t drive any more than five hours at a time. They have a membership in a website called “Harvest Hosts” that lists places that allow RVs to park overnight.

We had meat loaf last. I think we will have the left over in gravy with mashed potatoes. 

Joy

Someone’s emptied candy wrapper with nowhere to go but on the pavement? At least it makes a storytelling photo adding color, shapes and textures to its demise. 

 April 11, 2021a thought for today, Flowers look different in different eyes. Chinese Proverb

Church was interesting today. I felt that the sermon was great, some points may have been controversial to some but I thought it was point on. 

One of yesterday’s photo challenge was “donut”. I didn’t have any around the house and wasn’t planning on shopping for some so I made some from Pillsbury Refrigerator Biscuits. (They were gone in about four minutes, I only had time to take the photo. 

Yesterday was the kind of day I would like to come around more often. Lowell spent a good bit of time here with us. He was “working” on a short to do list of mine. But a big part of getting a few small things done for me was also that I got to see him for longer and spend time with him for more than a quick hello and good bye.  

There’s not much on my agenda today, being Sunday so I will “play” with some archived photos and sporadic Google searches on subjects that happen to come to mind as photos ignite memories and as phrases I may have caught from the background sound of the TV and  cause “studious-type” questions. That phrase “studious-type” may need explained: I think I have a mind that it seems won’t, absolutely refuses, to quiet itself. As I stroll through my photos, I think back to what they meant to me or what was going on and what I was thinking at the time. This may spark a word or an idea that brings on a light bulb moment and starts further thinking and learning so I look it up. I love learning....I love this part of technology (Google). Looking up things before computers would have meant encyclopedias; look at the length of time that search would take as opposed to a search engine like the one at Google and others on the computer. 

Getting back to the “quite mind” statement, that happens for me when I crochet or my hour of reading that “takes me away” (the Calgon kind) that I do every day.    

The second photo of the day for yesterday was “visual pun”.  I used some pills on a pillow to produce the photo pun “sleeping pills”. 

The word today is thankful.  If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough. Meister Eckhart.  Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others. Marcus Tullius Cicero.  Does not the gratitude of the dog put to shame any man who is ungrateful to his benefactors? Saint Basil.  Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world. John Milton. Gratitude is the sign of noble souls. Aesop.  It is just that we should be grateful, not only to those with whose views we may agree, but also to those who have expressed more superficial views; for these also contributed something, by developing before us the powers of thought. Aristotle.  Old age is not a matter for sorrow. It is matter for thanks if we have left our work done behind us. Thomas Carlyle. Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn’t learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, Gautama Buddha. Whatever happens to you, don't fall in despair. Even if all the doors are closed, a secret path will be there for you that no one knows. You can't see it yet but so many paradises are at the end of this path...Be grateful! It is easy to thank after obtaining what you want, thank before having what you want, Rumi. Be thankful for the thorns and thistles, which keep you from being in love with this world, and becoming an idolater, Charles Spurgeon. You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late, Ralph Waldo Emerson. The heart of the giver makes the gift dear and precious, Martin Luther.  

Today’s photo theme is “picture”. I have these pictures waiting to be hung. One is a very old photo of mine the other is a sketch by my sister of one of our relatives from about a hundred years ago. 

This article today is more spring time news about our yards and gardens. Birds are a big part of spring and gardens. The article reminds us that birds are not “just a delightful byproduct” of being in the garden, they are important to the health of the plants and to the ecosystem balance. As the article related that the birds need food, shelter and nesting areas, more than just bird feeders. They like seeds, buds, berries, nectar, sap and fruit. The need the plant for housing and protection from the weather and their natural enemies. Plants of all sorts become their nurseries. They seem to “work for their keep” by controlling insects, insects that may be a danger to your plants as well as some to yourself. Another of their “jobs” is to pollinate certain plants. Until I read this article, I hadn’t thought about the fact that they can help with weed control by eating the weed seeds. Many kinds of plants in your yard and garden will mean more types of birds will be attracted. Conifers are for winter and inclement weather shelter and summer nesting. Grasses are good cover for some types of birds. Fruiting plants provide food both in summer and autumn. Nut and acorn trees are good for food and nesting. Thoughtful and interested gardeners may want to provide bird baths too. According to the article, bird baths are water sources for the wild life and are reported to be sometimes worth more to the birds than bird feeders. Sometimes brush piles will provide shelter and nesting areas and will supply them with added food. The article suggested that The Audubon Society is a good source for searching for data on caring for the wild birds in you yard and garden. 

Taco night or KFC or subway. 

Joy

          and to close out today.....Discarded ..... once up on a time attached to an automobile

 April 9, 2021 a thought for today, Everything in the past died yesterday, and everything in the future is born today. Chinese Proverb

I have packed a lot into the day. Sue and I did our weekly grocery run this morning. That takes a small chunk out of the day when you total the steps in the trip; gathering the needed groceries, unloading the cart at check out, loading the car, unloading the car, getting the items inside the house, getting the items individually inside the storage areas. That’s done for a week or so. 

Sue wanted to make an extra stop so while I waited for her I looked around for the new photo subject I have added to my repertoire, discarded and what I have titled as “once up on a time” (because they were once more than something we see now) found items. I was amazed at how many I found. 

The photo challenge for yesterday was “a mood”. I think I have mentioned way earlier in my blogs that trying to create an image representing a mood is difficult for me, as this one proved to be. Of course if the twins were here or if I were around one of my great grand children I would have the perfect models. They seem to be full of moods happy, glad, sad, mad, but alas they weren’t here so I was left to my own devices. Since there were no lights on in the hallway I wanted to depict this image as something to wonder about. 

After we got home and a check of the email and facebook pages I worked a little on household chores. I find it harder now to manage a vacuum sweeper so I have devised a method that I think works for a household without little ones running in and out (although I do have two dogs who approximate that adventure). I have found some more manageable, for senior citizens, tools to do the job. They are lighter weight and are less obtrusive. My “secret” is a little bit of new technology (a robot, of sorts) and a couple of old-fashioned hang-ons,  a dust mop, and a manual push sweeper. So we accomplished that chore for the day. One last chore on the list for today is watering the “indoor garden”.  

After all of the above I need to fold and package the message hand out for the Saturday night meal at church. 

The weather is gorgeous after the rain we had last night. The air is just a tiny bit chilly but still feels and smells good with some of the windows open. 

The word today is taken. If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter. George Washington. Friendships begun in this world will be taken up again, never to be broken off. Saint Francis de Sales.  No notice is taken of a little evil, but when it increases it strikes the eye. Aristotle.  The true secret of giving advice is, after you have honestly given it, to be perfectly indifferent whether it is taken or not, and never persist in trying to set people right. Henry Ward Beecher.  The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts: therefore, guard accordingly, and take care that you entertain no notions unsuitable to virtue and reasonable nature. Marcus Aurelius.  True humility involves opposites. The truly humble work in silence. Because they do not speak of their accomplishments, credit for them can never be taken away, Laozi.  Because a thing is eloquently expressed it should not be taken to be as necessarily true; nor because it is uttered with stammering lips should it be supposed false, Saint Augustine. The greatest part of our faults are more excusable than the methods that are commonly taken to conceal them, Francois de La Rochefoucaul.   Words must be taken according to the matter whereof they are uttered, Richard Hooker.  The assurance of every truth of Scripture is just the beauty of it. First because He has promised to do it; and God's promises are bonds that never yet were dishonored. Secondly, because Christ Jesus hath taken an oath that He will do it, Charles Spurgeon.  Society never advances. It recedes as fast on one side as it gains on the other. It undergoes continual changes: it is barbarous, it is civilized, it is rich, it is scientific; but this change is not amelioration. For every thing that is given, something else is taken. Society acquires new arts and loses old instincts, Ralph Waldo Emerson.  

 My theme for today is “a beautiful sight”. There are all kinds of beautiful sights if we take the time to
observe and wonder. This one was readily available as I waited for my sister when she was on an errand. 

This is another look at community gardens, this one from an Eagle Scout's view. There is a 13-year old Boy Scout in Grove City who plans to initiate the start of a community garden at Fryer Park. He is going to start to build the “first 50 garden beds” as an Eagle Scout project. The Grove City Parks and Recreation had already had plans for such a garden and will fund the project. The project will lead to  the possibility of helping senior citizens get outside and do some gardening as well as supplying food to in needed areas of the community.  The scout has worked with the parks department in planning the design for raised garden beds. The raised beds will make it easier for the elderly and others with physical problems to manage and enjoy. Part of the design includes a three-way compost bin where there is a slot for soil, a covered slot for decomposing material and a third space for materials to be decomposed. They are working quickly to have it ready this spring. The plan is to charge $30 to $40 for a plot to encourage people to commit to the care of the plots. The young scout is getting together volunteers to help build the beds and mulch the site in late April to early May. The pandemic made the planning a little more of a challenge. The fifty-two beds the scout has planned will be the beginning of a community garden site for 200 beds at Fryer Park which the parks will continue. As is the thinking of all these type garden projects is to get people outdoors in soil and sunshine and to fill the dinner table as well as add to the opportunity to get to know neighbors.  One person was quoted as saying "Produce you grow yourself just seems to taste better." The young scout who started this idea will be eligible to earn his Eagle Scout badge soon. 

It’s pizza night ..... a little respite from preparation and clean up. 

Joy

     Here’s one of my discarded finds in it’s “new home”. Once up on a time it had a different look.