June 26, 2021 a thought for today, There is no phrase that doesn't have a double meaning. Kenyan Proverb

We were supposed to have the twins for the week end after a couple of months of not having seen them so we are/were looking forward to that. But they haven’t gotten here yet and Saturday is almost gone. 

Yesterday’s theme was “in the air”.  This arrangement is an art piece in the park that I frequent. I took several shots for this theme in a variety of places. This one took center stage. 

Yesterday Lowell stopped by for a visit. I always feel so happy when he gets a chance to come by. He is easy to talk to and I kind of let loose with a lot of nuisance thoughts that have been bothering me. It made me feel a lot better. I just hope my complaints didn’t dampen his spirit. 

Today I put the finishing touches on the message hand out for the free meal tonight at church. I think this is the last one of this nature. Next week we will be going back to the traditional cafeteria/sit down style meals that have been our tradition thorough the years. The message should go back to the mini sermon rather than the written handout. 

After some virtual visits and a few other computer chores, I left to take the message envelopes to the church. As I was driving down the street, I saw more and more yard sales going on. It is a long time tradition in this neighborhood to have what has been called the “bean dinner” festival at the local park down the street at about this time of year. We haven’t had it for two years, this being the second cancelled due to the pandemic. It has become another tradition for folks to have yard sales during the bean dinner event. People must have felt the urge and felt that it was safe and time to do the yard sales. 

On the way home I made the circle through the park as has become my custom and found once again this being Saturday that the little league activities seem to be back in full swing.

Today’s image came from the same park as the shot above. This is a distant shot of some of the little league team at practice. 

The word today is beginning.  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.  Small opportunities are often the beginning of great enterprises. Demosthenes.  There must be a beginning of any great matter, but the continuing unto the end until it be thoroughly finished yields the true glory. Francis Drake. It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live. Marcus Aurelius. A loving heart is the beginning of all knowledge. Thomas Carlyle.  The beginning is always today. Mary Wollstonecraft.  Love is a symbol of eternity. It wipes out all sense of time, destroying all memory of a beginning and all fear of an end. Madame de Stael. Everything that has a beginning comes to an end. Quintilian. Truth is the beginning of every good to the gods, and of every good to man. Plato. To see and listen to the wicked is already the beginning of wickedness. Confucius. Many a time from a bad beginning great friendships have sprung up. Terence. Be willing to be a beginner every single morning, Meister Eckhart. The Bible was composed in such a way that as beginners mature, its meaning grows with them, Saint Augustine. 

Here is a little bit about the history of the 4th of July celebrations in our area over the years. The article began with saying “from accounts of early Ohio  pioneer settlements at Marietta, Cincinnati and frontier Franklinton in central Ohio all celebrated the Fourth of July in some way, shape or form”. But there is no printed material to describe just how it was celebrated. It wasn’t until two hundred years after Columbus became a “town” that the Columbus Gazette, on July 5,  told about the activities of the day before. It told about dinner and some toasting that began on the day of the fourth. An “oration” and a hymn and an “ode” by the Columbus Handel Society took place along with a “discharge of artillery”. After many speeches the “toasting citizens wandered from the smoke of the guns and wended their way homeward at the end of a pleasant day.” A hundred years later in 1921 the celebration had made some changes. It was 104 degrees in the shade and no rain in sight. The event this time was celebrated in a variety of ways. The main thing was a pageant put on by the recreation department where over a thousand children preformed along High Street and the Ohio State University. They wore costumes and danced and had a good time. In other parts of town it was celebrated, one, by going to the Valentine Country Club on the far east side where it was cooler due to the surrounding wooded area. At that location there was a vaudeville show along with dancing, baseball, volleyball, horseshoe pitching and other such contests. In still other parts of the city there were picnics and activities in local parks. Fireworks were allowed under strict controls in certain parts of the city such as Glen Echo and Crestview on the north and Linden Heights or Glenmawr. The article ended by expressing how the celebration of 1821 and 1921 were quite different but had the same idea of celebrating the “American experiment.”. 

I am going to try a found recipe of chicken with ramen noodles for dinner. 

Joy