July 14, 2021 a thought for today, Sorrow also sings, when it runs to deep to cry. Mexican Proverb 

It’s been another one of the up and down days. So many little nagging things on my mind. This seems to be one of those times when there are pebbles in the road. They are negotiable but bothersome and spray unpleasant obstacles to get past. Getting older means many past experiences that help in maneuvering these kinds of daily happenings.  ‘Nuf of this woe is me. 

July 13....photo challenge.... “button”. We have had the button theme as a challenge before in a photo upload. I had a small basket of buttons that belonged to my long deceased aunt. Some of them were near one hundred years old when she passed away over twenty years ago. I used that as my subject for a photo download over two years ago. Since then we had a move of sorts, I seem to have misplaced them. Anyway, I thought about other types of buttons. I shot telephone buttons, camera buttons, and automobile buttons (windows, radio, etc). 

I got the bulletin done and sent to the proof readers and got it back again so it is done and ready to be printed. I also got a really good start on the newsletter that isn’t due until the end of next week. I also got the coloring page for the HM3 (free meal and message)Saturday evening printed. 

In starting the work on the newsletter and finishing the bulletin there was some emailing back and forth. So it has been a day full of multitasking on many levels. 

The word for today is chains.  It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere. Voltaire .  We forge the chains we wear in life. Charles Dickens. The chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken. Samuel Johnson. Happy is the man who has broken the chains which hurt the mind, and has given up worrying once and for all. Ovid.  We forge the chains we wear in life. Charles Dickens.  Man is born free and everywhere he is in chains. Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Prejudices are the chains forged by ignorance to keep men apart. Marguerite Gardiner. Lulled in the countless chambers of the brain, our thoughts are linked by many a hidden chain; awake but one, and in, what myriads rise! Alexander Pope. Of what use were wings to a man fast bound in chains of iron? Adelbert von Chamisso. Man is created free, and is free, even though born in chains. Friedrich Schiller. It is my pleasure that my children are free and happy, and unrestrained by parental tyranny. Love is the chain whereby to bind a child to its parents, Abraham Lincoln. 

The theme for today is “positivity”. This one is another of the kind that gives me pause for thought. How does someone photograph, or sketch for that matter, positivity? I suppose it could be someone doing something positive in daily life, like fixing something, or studying something, anyway....there were workers at the corner of my street doing something utility work. So I took the opportunity to capture the moment. I used the Photoshop add-on filter called “Topaz Simplicity 4, line and ink, flat I” to create a painterly or color sketch affect.

It is the season for gardens and greenery. So here, in this article, are some more ideas about how different gardens are important for so many reasons. “Community gardens grow relationships through shared interests”. The article quoted a person from the Franklin Park Conservatory the “community gardens are the melting pots of culture”. There are the cultural techniques of growing and preparing food that can be shared. There is a program that was started in 2000 in Galloway that promotes and provides community resources for community gardening. It helped get community gardens started from only 12 in the city to over 300, many in schools and churches. During the pandemic they became essential. The Columbus Land Redevelopment Division looks for groups, non-profits and companies to help organize these gardens on land-bank properties on vacant spots throughout the city. Many of the community gardens go by “the “one-third, one-third, one-third rule......one-third of the crops go to the people who actually tend the garden plot, another one-third goes to neighbors or a soup kitchen and the other one-third might be sold at a nearby farm market or to a local restaurant, providing seed money for the following year’s garden”.  The community garden at Franklin Park is of the plot-system type. People rent a space for $25 a year. They get water, tools, sometimes plants and advice. Forty people or families use this space. One of the mandates for the use is to give a little extra to the needy. The second “mandate” is to give at least ten hours of service to the garden during the year. There are raised beds and regular plots.  There are “Growing to Green Awards” (some cash awards) given until Aug. 2 to honor dedicated hard work to people participating in the Growing to Green city beautification and gardening programs (information online atpconservatory.org/education-programs/ outreach-programs/growing-to-green/awards/). Among the many gardens in the area, Gahanna there has two parks that have community gardens, Friendship Park on Oklahoma Ave. and Hannah Park on Clark State Road. There is also a small garden at the Gahanna Senior Center or Rocky Fork Blvd. There is currently a program to teach international students at the Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Science. They are from 21 countries and here they learn about community gardens in this area and take a model back to their homes. 

I am making a meatloaf and baked potatoes for dinner. 

Joy

.....added interest.....