August 29, 2021 a thought for today, A bird shows its worth with its song, an intellect by its speech. Sicilian Proverb

I want to begin by saying how pleased and blessed I was with the outcome of the “party” we had on Friday. The weather was perfect. It was hot but there was a wonderful breeze through the gazebo-style structure we were using. The predicted rain stayed away. The kids had mud-free and dry space to enjoy the swings, slides and assorted climbing bars. The “big” kids seemed to enjoy the exercise as they stayed near and kept up with the little ones. I am glad I stuck with choosing the park, and that section especially, to have the pizza and cake. The trees were like a tiny tiny forest behind us as we talked and bonded. We celebrated a birthday, a military commissioning and a first day of kindergarten (and maybe the beginning of the end of summer). It made me happy that everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. 

The photo I chose for my month of gratitude theme for yesterday is two of my great grandsons. This was taken at our party. 

The only problem for me was the discovery of a flat tire on my car as we loaded the car and prepared to leave. Lowell and Bob changed it for me. 

Church was great this morning. It wasn’t too hot and the message was good with a kind of “sit up and take note” story toward the end of the sermon. There still weren’t many people coming back to in-person service. I often wonder if they realize what they are missing. Maybe they can’t feel the nudge from above.

There was the sound of rumbling thunder coming through the opened stained glass widows with strips of lightening visible in the distance as people came in the doors as church was beginning but the sun is out in full force now. It is creating super highlights and gorgeous shadows with reflections in just the right spots. Perfect summer day. 

I am going to “lay low” for the rest of the day and soak up the perfection of life in the last few days.   

The word is doubt. Vision motivates, sustains and dispels doubt, Thomas Young. Doubt of any kind cannot be resolved except by action, Thomas Carlyle. Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd. Voltaire.  When in doubt, don't. Benjamin Franklin.  If the Sun and Moon should ever doubt, they'd immediately go out. William Blake.  Beyond a doubt truth bears the same relation to falsehood as light to darkness. Leonardo da Vinci.  Melancholy and sadness are the start of doubt... doubt is the beginning of despair; despair is the cruel beginning of the differing degrees of wickedness. Comte de Lautreamont.  How prone to doubt, how cautious are the wise! Alexander Pope.  Doubt is the incentive to truth and inquiry leads the way. Hosea Ballou. Doubt grows with knowledge. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Whenever conscience speaks with a divided, uncertain, and disputed voice, it is not the voice of God. Descend still deeper into yourself, until you hear nothing but a clear, undivided voice, a voice which does away with doubt and brings with it persuasion, light, and serenity, Henri Frederic Amiel. Doubt is the vestibule through which all must pass before they can enter into the temple of wisdom. Charles Caleb Colton. In love we often doubt what we most believe. Francois de La Rochefoucauld.   Argument is conclusive, but it does not remove doubt, so that the mind may rest in the sure knowledge of the truth, unless it finds it by the method of experiment. Roger Bacon.  

My gratitude photo for today was also taken at the park. There was such a gorgeous sky and green grass and trees, I couldn’t pass it up. It brings the fact of summers last days to the fore front. 

It’s always interesting to see the many ways kids are learning. This article relates to yet another way for them to enjoy learning. These kinds of articles can plant seeds on methods of teaching/learning but not necessarily presided over by one specific school. In the title was a statement that caught my attention: “....children’s books help ease transition,.....Focus on social-emotional development is key”. The children’s lives are enriched through relationships with others both socially and emotionally. Mentioned in this article is one method that has been used using specific literature that promotes these ideas (social and emotional). The books chosen for the curriculum connect with them as the characters and stories are relatable with the kids. In this article the books chosen lean toward teaching “self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills and responsible decision-making.” The article is based on the Goddard School of Education’s methods. The books have a lesson plan and include activities related to the story that for using both at school and at home. I gathered from the article t hat the books are chosen by doctors as well as educators. 

I don’t know yet whether it will be order in for dinner or a restaurant. 

Joy

two for one.....graffiti and throw aways

 August 27, 2021 a word for today, Two great talkers will not travel far together. Spanish Proverb

Well, after some reformatting , I was able to get the newsletter printed. The staples had to be put in manually again this month so that took an extra bit of time and labor. Between my loyal helper and myself we were able to get it finished today in just an hour or so of additional time and effort.  

When I left the church I stopped at the store to get the cake and some soda and bottled water for our gathering in a few hours. 

Yesterday’s photo of the day for the month of gratitude was the pharmacy. We are all grateful that they are there when we need them which we all do from time to time. 

So, this afternoon I will get some small tasks out of the way so I can finish getting things together and packed for a trip to the park. 

The word today is distance.  Our main business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand. Thomas Carlyle. Society is very swift in its instincts, and if you do not belong to it, resists and sneers at you, or quietly drops you, Ralph Waldo Emerson . Normally, the sciences distance themselves from life and the return to it via a detour, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Our senses perceive no extreme. Too much sound deafens us; too much light dazzles us; too great distance or proximity hinders our view. Too great length and too great brevity of discourse tends to obscurity; too much truth is paralyzing.... In short, extremes are for us as though they were not, and we are not within their notice. They escape us, or we them, Blaise Pascal. You say I'm small? I certainly can relate, although it is a matter of perspective. The distance is deceptive, my friend, you stand too low, Franz Grillparzer.  Homer does not allow us to forget that the sun shone,--nor Phidias, nor the Parthenon, Henry David Thoreau. A certain degree of ceremony is a necessary outwork of manners, as well as of religion; it keeps the forward and petulant at a proper distance, and is a very small restraint to the sensible and to the well-bred part of the world, Lord Chesterfield. Ships that pass in the night, and speak to each other in passing, only a signal shown, and a distant voice in the darkness; So on the ocean of life, we pass and speak to one another, only a look and a voice, then darkness again and a silence. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.  Sweet is the memory of distant friends! Like the mellow rays of the departing sun, it falls tenderly, yet sadly, on the heart. Washington Irving. God be thanked for books; they are the voices of the distant and the dead, and make us heirs of the spiritual life of past ages. William Ellery Channing.

Today’s photo meets “gratitude” in my humble opinion for its icon of technology, “the dish” (a form of modern communication), as well as the lines and multiple textures of city living, and most fittingly, a few of the sun’s many offerings of highlight, shadow and reflection.  

I think there are a lot of people who like to “study” the sky and the many touches of nature that can be found with the proper equipment. This article is about the history of a local observatory, located in the “former” Hoover Y Park on Rohr Road. It was built with concrete blocks in 1961. Its 14-food dome was donated by a member of the Columbus Astronomical Society and was a memorial to a person who financed the park. According to the article before the observatory was very old, it fell into disuse. A person interested in the situation visited the site and found it dirty and there were spider webs everywhere but the telescope was covered and in good condition. There was a young boy, 16 years old, who expressed an interest in help to revive it. He was a member off the Columbus Astronomic Society. He was able to enlist the interest of other members. They met on Saturday afternoons and cleaned the building along with other tasks. A heater was donated for winter use and the Southside Y supplied the propane. They were able to get people to donate a blackboard, book case and table to help bring the interior to a comfortable area. People began to show up “especially when something astronomical was in the news”. People that were helping with the effort to renew interest in the observatory would show up on the *Flippo show, Channel 10 TV to advertise interest further interest. Scout groups began to visit to earn their astronomy merit badges. Folks were excited to see “the rings of Saturn, the moons of Jupiter and the Great Red Spot, the crescent shape of Venus, the white polar cap of Mars contrasted with the red surface” at different times of the year. The original homemade telescope was stolen on a Saturday evening. Security was not on close enough and the observatory was out in the country so it wasn’t discovered right away. There were broken windows from time to time. When the telescope was taken other valuables were left alone. A new, smaller and more powerful reflecting telescope replaced the stolen one. Later it was stolen too. Then, of course, interest in the observatory dropped off. 

We’re having a party/picnic at dinner time. Hopefully it will be at Westgate Park so the younger ones will have a place to play (if it doesn’t rain...otherwise here at my house). We are having pizza, subs, drinks (non-alcoholic) and cake. It is for Bob’s birthday, Gideon’s first day of school and Mick commissioning. 

* the Flippo show was an American children's television series consisting of a clown, Flippo, and his puppets. In the 1970s and 1980s, the half-hour show offered short sketches with the puppets, a segment in which children asked for solutions to riddles.

 Joy 

that discarded cardboard takeaway cup holder found an interesting resting place with all the lines and textures and shadow and reflection

 August 25, 2021 thought for the day, Words are for reasoning. Sicilian Proverb

I got it all done! The bulletin and the newsletter, the shut-in envelopes and the newsletter mailing labels, the coloring pages ...... all done!!! I’ll be leaving for food pantry and possible copy repair tech in an hour or so. 

The August 24 month of the gratitude challenge is my temperature blanket. I started on this one at the first of July so the colors that you see are representative of the temperatures for the month of July and August. Each line of crochet shows the temperature for that day. The green is for 70s, the orange is for 80s and the red for 90s. As the days grow cooler the colors will shift to blues. 

I have planned a picnic sort of birthday party for Bob for Friday but from what I am hearing about the weather we may have to make some different arrangements. I was planning on the play ground equipment area of the park since we would be having a couple of small children. If we have to move it to my house I will have to do some cleaning between the printing and mailing prep for the newsletter. 

Right now the sun is out in full and no rain clouds in sight. As a matter of fact the heat predicted for today is hazardous. 

The word for today is difficult. All things are difficult before they are easy. Thomas Fuller.  It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere. Voltaire.  Have patience. All things are difficult before they become easy. Saadi. The most difficult thing in life is to know yourself. Thales.   Learning to trust is one of life's most difficult tasks. Isaac Watts.  It is difficult to know at what moment love begins; it is less difficult to know that it has begun. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.  It is easy to be beautiful; it is difficult to appear so. Hosea Ballou.  It is easy to hate and it is difficult to love. This is how the whole scheme of things works. All good things are difficult to achieve; and bad things are very easy to get. Confucius. As we advance in life it becomes more and more difficult, but in fighting the difficulties the inmost strength of the heart is developed, Vincent Van Gogh. Prejudices, it is well known, are most difficult to eradicate from the heart whose soil has never been loosened or fertilized by education; they grow firm there, firm as weeds among stones. Charlotte Bronte. To rule is easy, to govern difficult. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.  To attain any assured knowledge about the soul is one of the most difficult things in the world. Aristotle.  Education makes a people easy to lead but difficult to drive, easy to govern, but impossible to enslave, Henry Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux.  

Today’s month of gratitude theme for is coin operated laundry. I am grateful that they are available with my washer/dryer is on the fritz. 

This article talks about a bit more history around our community. It begins telling about two brothers who in 1914 were in the automotive business. In the beginning of the article the history story started concerning a bit about the history in Grandview. The 1918 flu pandemic was noted. It was the deadliest in history, the second wave of it infected 500 million people worldwide. It is believed that it was spread by wartime troop movement and “lack of quarantine mandates”.  Both of the brothers caught this influenza. One of them did not recover. The other died the following December from complications. This second brother left his half of  the automotive business to his wife, the other brother had left his half to his wife earlier. The two wives, together, sold the business for a $146 million profit. One of the wives, invested her share in tax-free municipal bonds netting $1.5 million a per year. Along with her jewels and art collections, she was one of the wealthiest women in the country when she died at the age of 103.  In her first “mansion” there were  many historical items, such as chairs that belonged to Marie-Antoinette, a piano that had been played by the children of King George III, a jewel coffer that once stood in the bedroom of Russian Empress Maria Feodorovna and a bureau made for Catherine the Great of Russia. In 1971 she married a Broadway and silent film actor. She then purchased a mansion at 1550 Roxbury Road which was previously owned by Samuel Prescott Bush, the grandfather of President Geroge H.W. Bush. In 1947 the marriage ended. He received a number of riches from the marriage. The article sated that the home on Roxbury was sold to the Carmelite Sisters. She died on 2 June 1970 at her home, Rose Terrace, in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan. 

I think it will be chili for dinner. 

Joy

          wordless is the description for this dot of color of an object thrown on the sidewalk 

 August 23, 2021 a thought for today, Who doesn't approach with disbelief, won't see the face of paradise. Sicilian Proverb 

This Monday is starting a very busy week off with a long list of to-dos. I started by  working on the newsletter where I left off yesterday. I think I have it down to half of one page to get done before Thursday. Then there is the bulletin, I haven’t even started on it yet. I needed to get a trip to the grocery store out of the way before the other parts of the list come down on me. 

Yesterday’s photo for the day (“month of gratitude” theme) was the sign and button for stopping traffic (changing the crossing light)  to make a safe crossing of a busy street. 

I needed to handle the payment plan for my dental expenses on line this morning too. Then I had another phone call to take care of before we got out the door on the day’s errands. 

Sue had a doctor’s appointment at one o’clock so I dropped her off for that. I should have stopped by the church on the way home. There was a meeting that I would like to have attended just to keep up with the next mission we hope to start but I still had so much to do here that I missed the meeting. I still have groceries to put up, dinner to make and the photo of the day project to attend to. 

It looks like we are going to have one of the high temperature days today. I am working on a crochet temperature blanket so today’s color will be red since the temps are over eighty degrees. 

The word for today is desire. Human behavior flows from three main sources: desire, emotion, and knowledge. Plato. The desire for safety stands against every great and noble enterprise. Tacitus, The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential... these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence. Confucius. Always desire to learn something useful. Sophocles.  Mental prayer in my opinion is nothing else than an intimate sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with Him who we know loves us. The important thing is not to think much but to love much and so do that which best stirs you to love. Love is not great delight but desire to please God in everything. Saint Teresa of Avila. Three things are necessary for the salvation of man: to know what he ought to believe; to know what he ought to desire; and to know what he ought to do. Thomas Aquinas.  True charity is the desire to be useful to others with no thought of recompense. Emanuel Swedenborg. A teacher who is attempting to teach without inspiring the pupil with a desire to learn is hammering on cold iron. Horace Mann.  The desire of gold is not for gold. It is for the means of freedom and benefit. Ralph Waldo Emerson.  Love and desire are the spirit's wings to great deeds. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.  Stranger, if you passing meet me and desire to speak to me, why should you not speak to me? And why should I not speak to you? Walt Whitman. Do you wish to be great? Then begin by being. Do you desire to construct a vast and lofty fabric? Think first about the foundations of humility. The higher your structure is to be, the deeper must be its foundation. Saint Augustine. Everyone has been made for some particular work, and the desire for that work has been put in every heart. Rumi.

Today’s photo of the day in the month of gratitude theme series is one of my favorite stops, White Castle and its slider sized burgers. Over the years this has become a favorite stop for many particularly in Ohio where it all started. Over time they became so popular that now they are offered in the freezer section of grocery stores (not quite the same as first hand but still delicious and apparently mesmerizing)

This article may be a little ahead of what some of you reading it may mean but you can keep the idea for future reference or pass it on to your grandparents. I use to be amazed with rickshaws when I would read about them. Then I was concerned for the rider not thinking much about the passengers. Anyway, this title caught my attention with that in my mind. Apparently there is a “new” form of transportation and relaxation coming to the Columbus area. The article opened with describing a bike ride that an 89-year-old and a 90-year-old had just experienced without even “breaking a sweat”.  They had returned from an experience on a three-wheeled bike (trishaw, from tricycle and rickshaw). In this mode of transportation one or two persons are “transported” in the “front seat” on the trishaw. This is a new program called Cycling Without Age (CWA) not in progress in a local retirement community. This adventure “kicked off last week at Creekside”. It allows seniors to be active and outdoors more easily.  According to the article “Cycling Without Age” was started in 2010 in Copenhagen, Denmark”. That group has grown from 2,500 chapters in 50 countries. As well as the new group in Columbus there is a chapter in Dublin, New Albany, Plain City, Tiffin, Cincinnati, Akron, Toledo, Cleveland and Dayton. One of the gentlemen working in this program has one trishaw (at a cost of $10,000). He took time during the pandemic, since the program had precautions and slowed things down, to find and train volunteers that would ride the bikes (pilots). He had sixty people volunteer. At the start of the program at Creekside people signed up for the rides which are divided into 30-minute blocks for one or two people. (I am getting a picture of horse and buggy rides in Central Park in New York). I am wondering if this trishaw experience will become available to more Seniors in the Columbus area.  

We are having taco salad for dinner tonight. 

Joy

                                                              Stackable throw aways

 August 21, 2021 a thought for today, Water and sun make work, water and wind make grain. Sicilian Proverb

Here it is Saturday again and once again I didn’t sleep past seven o’clock. I guess I just didn’t want to let one tiny part of the day go “to waste”.

Yesterday my photo of the day choice for the “month of gratitude” is this railroad crossing signal and crossing gates.  

I got one of the dental appointments out of the way and did it with my nerves pretty well in check. They did pull the loose tooth, which, by the way, wasn’t all that loose as they had to tug on it to get it out. The news they gave me wasn’t nearly as depressing as the news the ENT doctor gave me a couple of weeks ago, I guess I have to give him some space since he isn’t a dentist. I have to go back for a three more appointments and then I should have a few “new” teeth on the bottom. (Yesterday I had to walk around with gauze in my mouth for about two to four hours). In the mean time I will be wearing a mask to keep from calling attention to the missing teeth when I open my mouth. I am so grateful for my son being with me for the whole thing as my advocate and comforter. 

After Bob finished the lawn a while ago, I asked him to go get me a McDonald hamburger. Want to see how I manage it without the slightly painful (while biting down) loose tooth. 

I finished getting done the few things I want to take to HM3 (free meal) with me this evening. Then I watered some of the thirsty plants. I have some that don’t get the down pours we have been getting recently. 

I took care of a couple email messages that needed to be tended to. I took care of online ordering of a few supplies I have been needing yesterday so that was out of the way for today. If I have some free time after I prepare the potatoes in a while I will pay the monthly bills, or maybe not, maybe tomorrow or Monday....you know, put off til tomorrow.  

As I coming home from a drive by the park I noticed this “rentable” scooters that have become popular
in recent years. I’m sure the people who have need of them are grateful that they are there, I would have been in my younger years. 

The word for today is deserve.  There are three things in the world that deserve no mercy, hypocrisy, fraud, and tyranny. Frederick William Robertson. Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves; and under the rule of a just God, cannot long retain it. Abraham Lincoln. Men lose all the material things they leave behind them in this world, but they carry with them the reward of their charity and the alms they give. For these, they will receive from the Lord the reward and recompense they deserve. Francis of Assisi.  Virtue comes by nature, learning, and practice, and thanks to virtue, all of the aforesaid may deserve approval. Apollonius of Tyana. Grant us peace, Almighty Father, so to pray as to deserve to be heard, Jane Austen. He alone deserves liberty and life who daily must win them anew, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.  He who refuses to learn deserves extinction, Hillel the Elder. Next to the Word of God, music deserves the highest praise, Martin Luther. You, as much as anyone in the universe, deserve your love and respect, Gautama Buddha. There is nothing which can better deserve your patronage, than the promotion of science and literature. Knowledge is in every country the surest basis of public happiness. George Washington.  Words, which are the dress of thoughts, deserve surely more care than clothes, which are only the dress of the person. Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield. 

Here is a part of my extended community that I am not too familiar with, it looks like there is some new development going on. There are plans to develop 450 acres neat Lockbourne and Rathmell roads. The plan is to create a walkable, mixed use housing complex that will allow for parks, bike paths and trails. One section will include office space, homes, parks and open spaces. Another will be mainly single family homes. A third section will offer multi-family homes.  It expected that with this growth there will be hundreds of new students to be planed for at the school level. There are plans for the increased traffic and layouts that will manage all types. For instance golf cars will be allowed on some of the roads but not on others. Some of the thinking is also for the presence of increased crime requiring an increase in police presence. The village of Obetz is welcoming comments and feedback from the community in the area. There are also thoughts about placed to shop and eat. 

It’s going to be hot dogs and cheesy potatoes for dinner. 

Joy

                                                               once a refreshing drink

 August 19, 2021 a thought for today, A blow passes on, a spoken word lingers on. Yiddish Proverb 

This has been another one of those “out of the ordinarily typical” kinds of Thursdays. I did get the bulletin and other pieces printed after a bit of a problem with the copier. That was after I had a problem with my key working in the lock again. There happens to be another door that can be used to get to the same place and my key finally worked on that door. 

On August 18th my photo of the day for the “month of gratitude” theme was my son putting up my new storm door. He and my other son help me keep things in order and join me in my travel through my “September” days. 

After that comes the part that makes today a little different than other Thursdays. Sue needed to run some errands. As soon as I got home, we took off to take care of that. On the round of places I stopped for an “errand” of my own. I stopped at JoAnn Fabrics for some yarn. I need to get to work on a prayer shawl. I decided the colors that would be appropriate and stopped to get the one I needed to begin. At one of the stops for Sue I picked up some Command hooks that I need for part of one of my crochet projects that is coming to an end and I need to hang the pieces. 

Once we got home, I started the laundry. Now for the rest of the day I will worry, due to the fact that I am a dyed in the wool worry wart. I have a dental appointment tomorrow and I am extremely tense about it. Are you that way or is it just me?

The word for today depth. It is not length of life, but depth of life. Ralph Waldo Emerson.  Who can map out the various forces at play in one soul? Man is a great depth, O Lord. The hairs of his head are easier by far to count than his feeling, the movements of his heart, Saint Augustine.  Gaiety is often the reckless ripple over depths of despair, Edwin Hubbel Chapin. There are moments in life, when the heart is so full of emotion That if by chance it be shaken, or into its depths like a pebble Drops some careless word, it overflows, and its secret, Spilt on the ground like water, can never be gathered together, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The depth of darkness to which you can descend and still live is an exact measure of the height to which you can aspire to reach. Pliny the Elder. Grant that I may not pray alone with the mouth; help me that I may pray from the depths of my heart, Martin Luther. For me, prayer is an upward leap of the heart, an untroubled glance towards heaven, a cry of gratitude and love which I utter from the depths of sorrow as well as from the heights of joy, Therese of Lisieux. Truth is a gem that is found at a great depth; whilst on the surface of the world all things are weighed by the false scale of custom, Lord Byron. At a certain depth of distress, the poor, in their stupor, groan no longer over evil, and are no longer thankful for good, Victor Hugo.

Today’s entry for the “month of gratitude” photo theme I used a photo that I didn’t shoot myself but completed the image to show the depth of my gratitude of being in their lives even if it is long distance and especially for sharing parts of their lives. 

This article is touching on something that can be of a sensitive nature to groups of people of different outlooks. Some think of this as art, some think of it as trash and defacing property. I haven’t made up my mind on which way I swing as to one of those two choices. I do, however, think of the strokes that produce an image in this type of art is art indeed, due to the ability to keep lines and shapes in such precision and realism for such a huge design. The article opened expressing how difficult it seems for people to sit down together to share views and experiences of life. But there is one local example of such an event being productive and meant to display what it can look like. Recently there was a “triad colored mural” created that shows three people sitting at a table, sharing food, drink, and companionship. The idea and the rest is “open for interpretation”. There was a dedication of the mural which covers the entire side of a three-story building. At the dedication some people expressed ideas that occurred to them. One said the beings in the image were discussing the location, some said “who is wearing the coolest glasses”. The owners of the business in the building said this is just what they wanted, for people to come together. They like to think of it at “Pursuing Good Together”. The three artists, each from a different background, created this image and have never worked with each other but their ideas and concepts came together. It is hoped that this mural will carry the idea that we can all work together to all who see it. 

We will be having baked spaghetti tonight for dinner. 

Joy

                                                        ....and put neatly back in the bag....

 August 17, 2021 a thought for today, The wiser the man, the fewer his words. Welsh Proverb   

This Tuesday had a bit of an addition. It was time for Sweet Pea to have her annual check up, shots and tests. I was a bit shocked when I got the bill. But at least it's done for another year. 

My “month of gratitude” photo for yesterday was my son mowing the lawn. He takes care of all of that sort of thing which is a big relief for me. 

Then I took Sweet Pea home and went to the bank before I stopped at McDonald's for brunch and then by the park for some photos. 

I stopped by the house to get some information I wanted to take with me in case I had time to work on it while things may be slow at food pantry.  I also took the time to set something out for dinner. Something that would be quick and easy to fix. Then I took a quick minute to  answer a couple of emails. 

I got to food pantry a little early. Most things were already set up. As the folks come in we are hearing that it is raining and coming down pretty hard. So people are getting soaked. 

The word for today is delight. Mental prayer in my opinion is nothing else than an intimate sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with Him who we know loves us. Saint Teresa of Avila. As to the mouth, it delights at times in laughter; ....it is a mouth which should speak much and smile often, and have human affection for its interlocutor, Charlotte Bronte. The capacity for delight is the gift of paying attention. Julia Margaret Cameron. To love to read is to exchange hours of ennui for hours of delight. Montesquieu. We find delight in the beauty and happiness of children that makes the heart too big for the body. Ralph Waldo Emerson. Studies serve for delight, for ornaments, and for ability. Francis Bacon. Books delight to the very marrow of one's bones. They speak to us, consult with us, and join with us in a living and intense intimacy, Plutarch. Humility does not disturb or disquiet or agitate, however great it may be; it comes with peace, delight, and calm. . . .....this humility expands it and enables it to serve God more, Teresa of Avila. Books minister to our knowledge, to our guidance, and to our delight, by their truth, their uprightness, and their art. George Henry Lewes. A cheerful life is what the Muses love. A soaring spirit is their prime delight, William Wordsworth.  

My photo gratitude of gratitude for today was a portion of the vets office. I am grateful that are there to
keep our furry family healthy and well. 

I like articles that seem to want to help the kids be prepared for school on their way to the journey of life. This article is referring to “Back-to-School Projects (that) benefit kids in many ways”. It starts out with someone bringing supplies to a class room of special-needs students. It would help them learn to run an in-school store. They will learn to buy things that they can afford. The teacher in this class room builds her “entire curriculum around the store”. Two Dispatch columnists started a project that supplies backpacked filled with school supplies to students in central Ohio. In 1998 there were 365 backpacks given. In 2020 there were 10,800, the goal for 2021 is 11,400. To reach this goal it will be necessary for the volunteers to work on raising $90,000 for the supplies.  According to the article it costs the organization $7.85 to buy and fill each backpack. The project also gives some supplies to the teachers. In the classroom at the beginning that set up the “store” the teachers supplies were sold at a discount not to make profit but to help the kids who couldn’t afford the basics and along the way the learn about shopping. 

I am still thinking about what to have for dinner tonight....may a hamburger helper....

Joy

puddles can be great containers for rain water and colorful trash

 August 15, 2021 a thought for today, That our hands show signs of our work, is nothing to be ashamed of. Swedish Proverb 

I had a birthday party yesterday afternoon for a very important person in my life....one of my great grandson’s became two years old. I had to leave early to volunteer at the free meal we offer people at my church. I had time to give him a hug and a kiss and his birthday gift as well as share a few minutes with some of the other guests. 

My “month of gratitude” photo for yesterday is my car. I am grateful that it gets me where I want and need to go. The poor thing has been through the wringer and is still hanging on. It is kept together with duct tape and paper clips (more or less). 

Bible study was interesting this morning. Part of the reading led us all to an unusual and refreshing sermon from a few years back and the history of our church and the churches names sake. Another of the people at the study and I shared bits and pieces from a “field trip” kind of service we had years ago to a historic grave yard that was related to the Presbyterian church and a pastor of historic nature. 

The congregation still hasn’t grown much but those of us who are there are bonding more strongly with each other every week. 

This being Sunday the rest of the day will be of a quiet and reaffirming/reconnecting nature. 

My second photo for August 15 is titled “floral abstract”. I have huge hibiscus flowers on my plant. I have taken a few shots of it and have worked with a flexify filter to abstract the flowers. 

The word for today is deeds. A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds. A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love. Saint Basil.  When deeds  speak, words are nothing, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon. Love and desire are the spirit's wings to great deeds, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad one to lose it. Benjamin Franklin.  The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone. Harriet Beecher Stowe. To be doing good deeds is man's most glorious task. Sophocles. Honest people don't hide their deeds. Emily Bronte.  A man who always speaks the truth wholeheartedly is greater than those who do penance and deeds of charity. Thiruvalluvar. Our deeds still travel with us from afar, and what we have been makes us what we are. George Eliot. A good deed is the best prayer, Robert Green Ingersoll. No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted, Aesop. Thought is the parent of the deed, Thomas Carlyle. 

My “month of gratitude” photo for today is my great grandson’s second birthday party. I am grateful to be able to share it with him. 

I thought this was an interesting article. It seems to tie two happenings in nature with one another. “Black vultures, once uncommon in central Ohio, are easier to spy”. This article leads to the suggestion that their arrival here could be related to climate changes, this is the part that caught my attention. Quoting from the article, “It is one of a group of generalist bird species that is thriving on the heels of man”. Black vultures are smaller than the common turkey vulture. It holds its winds in a “flat plane” as apposed to the v-shape of the turkey vulture. Their legs hang downward when they fly. They are most commonly seen in South America, Central America and Mexico with very few being seen in the Caribbean. In the 1800s black vultures were considered to be a bird of the southern states coming as far north as Kentucky and Indiana. By the 1930's it was recorded that some were spotted in some southern Ohio counties but still scarce. The population seemed to grow in the 1990s and spread into more of the southern two thirds of the state. Now they have been seen in all parts of the state. The author of this article said that he has seen them in Dublin and along Interstate 270, also spotted in Worthington. He also said that “black vultures are smart and opportunistic”. They feed on roadkill, farm animals, and deer. The article mentioned that the rising “mean winter temperatures” make it easier for them to survive in the north. They will build their nests in barns and abandoned structures as well as heavy brush, hollow logs and in boulders and rocky areas. 

I’m loving this.....pizza on Friday, dinner at the birthday party last night, and tonight order in...I’ve got to be careful, I could get use to this.

Joy

textures and trash

 August 13, 2021 a thought for today, Whoever looks for easy work goes to bed very tired. Yiddish Proverb

I got my “pick-me-up” video call from Lexie and Drew last night as I was crocheting. They were telling me a lot about their exciting day and plans for tomorrow. 

My “month of gratitude” photo a day for yesterday was a fan (and collection of other necessary items) in the office. 

After a busy week today seems like a “let down”, maybe good, maybe boooring! Good could be a time for moving in a slow and restful manner, or it could be a day for catch up on things that have been put on the back burner. I’ll just “follow my nose” and go where “the spirit moves” me. 

For the past couple of days we have had some pretty strong storms. They haven’t lasted long but came with lots of thunder. That has made Sweet Pea very nervous. It has required a lot of petting and soothing talk to try to calm her nerves and let her know her world wasn’t falling down around her. 

The word for today is dear.  All theory, dear friend, is gray, but the golden tree of life springs ever green. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. All men are by nature equal, made all of the same earth by one Workman; and however we deceive ourselves, as dear unto God is the poor peasant as the mighty prince. Plato. Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other. Benjamin Franklin. Life every man holds dear; but the dear man holds honor far more precious dear than life. William Shakespeare. Plato is dear to me, but dearer still is truth. Aristotle. A sympathetic friend can be quite as dear as a brother. Homer. Knowledge is never too dear. Francis Walsingham.  What wild imaginations one forms where dear self is concerned! How sure to be mistaken! Jane Austen. Watch and pray, dear, never get tired of trying, and never think it is impossible to conquer your fault, Louisa May Alcott. Life, although it may only be an accumulation of anguish, is dear to me, and I will defend it, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley. We are but older children, dear, Who fret to find our bedtime near, Lewis Carroll. 

Today’s photo of the day in the “month of gratitude” is a fire hydrant. I am grateful that they are all throughout our cities ‘stationed’ at required distances from structures and other areas for the safety of our communities.  

I didn’t know there was a museum set up in our area for Johnny Appleseed. COVID-19 led to the “death” of the Franklin University branch on the former campus of Urbana University. When this branch closed it affected the area where the collection of Johnny Appleseed memoribilia was stored. It had been stored in the 1880s mansion, Browne Hall. The president of the Johnny Appleseed Foundation said they had no place to move their collection in the middle of a pandemic. The Foundation was given the chance to buy the property at a discount. A pledge of an anonymous donor “covered the bulk of the $250,00 to purchase the mansion” along with other items left in the building. Appleseed was born John Chapman and has roots in Champaign County. He had sown apple seeds in that area in the 1800s. That land was donated to the group creating the Urbana University campus. Since the museum now owns the mansion they are revitalizing the main floor and reinstalling the exhibits. Along with those changes it is filing the historic documents and making them available for researchers. Plans are for the museum to reopen for school children on Chapman’s birthday, September 26. The anonymous benefactor of the $250,00 to buy the mansion has offered another $50,000 to help in the new setup. The foundation says they have changed the role of fundraisers to stewards. 

No meal planning tonight....pizza. 

Joy

highlights, shadows and a can

 August 11, 2021 a thought for today, The heaviest thing in the world is an empty pocket. Yiddish Proverb

The twins spent the night and yesterday with us. So we made a trip to the park with them. They walked Sweet Pea and then spent some time on the play ground equipment. Later we had lunch at McDonalds. 

The photo theme for yesterday was “month of gratitude”... “watching the twins and Sweet Pea enjoy a green space”. We had a walk at my favorite and well-frequented city park. 

Yesterday, Kim, Chrisy, and Lowell planned an evening supper/birthday party for Rebecca. It was fun. Kim arranged the yard with a collection of pink flamingos (“flocking”). William had a ball lifting his leg to get over each of them. Chrisy brought sacks of food from Arby’s. Lowell bought cake, ice cream, snacks and pizzas. Part of the route I take to get to their house is blocked with a detour. I am bad with detours and getting lost so Sue was my navigator. We had the twins with us. Their mother picked them up at the party. I got to play with two of my great grand babies. There were three other couples at the party and the companionship was great. 

Today was back to the ordinary. Sue and I made our weekly trip to Kroger early. Before we left, I had time to finish the bulletin and send it to the proofreaders.

I had a second photo of the day for yesterday it was called “pareidolia” (the human ability to see shapes
or make pictures out of randomness.) To my mind’s eye I saw the shape of a bear or teddy bear lying down, resting in a cloud. 

It’s cloudy off and on but it’s still a beautiful summer day.

The word today is dance. Never give a sword to a man who can't dance. Confucius. In life, as in art, the beautiful moves in curves. Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton.  When the music and dance create with accord...their magic captivates both the heart and the mind. Jean-Georges Noverre.  There is nothing more notable in Socrates than that he found time, when he was an old man, to learn music and dancing, and thought it time well spent. Michel de Montaigne. Let us read and let us dance - two amusements that will never do any harm to the world. Voltaire.  All the dancer's gestures are signs of things, and the dance called rational, because it aptly signifies and displays something over and above the pleasure of the senses. Saint Augustine. Dance, when you're broken open. Dance, if you've torn the bandage off. Dance in the middle of the fighting. Dance in your blood. Dance when you're perfectly free, Rumi. Whoever would have his body supple, easy and healthful should learn to dance, Socrates. There is a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance, Solomon. How inimitably graceful children are in general-before they learn to dance, Samuel Taylor Coleridge. To chase the glowing hours with flying feet, Lord Byron. Dancing is like dreaming with your feet! Constanze Mozart.  You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,  Psalm 30:11.  

My photo to meet the theme (“month of gratitude”) for today is my great grandson trying to hop over a pink flamingo (part of a “flocking” birthday surprise for his grandma). I’m grateful for time with him as I am with my other five great grandchildren). 

The article is about some revitalizing of a historic building in the Brewery District. There is “a collection of vacant historic buildings near the entrance to the Scioto Audubon Metro Park” at Front and Whittier Streets.  There are plans to renovate the largest of the buildings. The building in question is six-stories in height and was once a shoe heel manufacturing company. In the process of updating this structure a warehouse, a garage and a single family home will be demolished to make way for a new parking garage with about 100 apartments included. There is a group of people concerned that the new architecture will harm the historical significance of the area. However, it is felt by others that the “architectural team can work.....to deliver a plan .....with respect for the existing architecture”. On the one side it is felt that the warehouse building and the single family home are “contributing structures” to the history of the area and shouldn’t be demolished. From the other point of view the warehouse would be problematic in a restoration. And the single family home doesn’t fit into the picture of the reuse for the site.  So there are some further planning discussions before the restoration would begin. 

We are having a casserole from the freezer along with cold cuts and left over macaroni salad for dinner. 

Joy

resting on thin blades of grass

 August 9, 2021 a thought for today, Look down if you would know how high you stand. Yiddish Proverb

It’s been a busy day with a few loose threads to straighten up. I had a sticky note with a list of things to get done today. I got all but one done and added another. I got a good start on the bulletin. I got an address updated on four church documents. I updated a page in the coloring book I am putting together for the Saturday night kids at church. 

On August 8 out of all the maybes that I shot my choice for the “month of gratitude” photo was this one. I am grateful for signs any other methods to protect the children. 

I have been looking for a recipe for pasta salad. I can never seem to get it right. I found one on the web that I am going to try. This one has cream cheese in it, actually it called for blue cheese but I am substituting cream cheese for the blue cheese. We’ll see what Sue and Bob think of it. 

Another of the “loose ends” I worked on is for a crochet project. It is a ring toss game for the kids. It calls for a rock to weigh it down. I am baking a hand full of large stones that I think will work. I am baking them to sterilize them.  

I have been looking for a dentist for the last week or so. I made a call today but I don’t think it is going to work out. I don’t have dental insurance so I have to find a place that has another system for payments. That was another of the “loose ends”. 

To finish the list I worked on the frig and the dishes. 

The word for today is customs.  Those who visit foreign nations, but associate only with their own country-men, change their climate, but not their customs. They see new meridians, but the same men; and with heads as empty as their pockets, return home with traveled bodies, but untravelled minds. Charles Caleb Colton. The customs and fashions of men change like leaves on the bough, some of which go and others come. Dante Alighieri.  Now it is evident that a little insight into the customs of every people is necessary to insure a kindly communication; this, joined with patience and kindness, will seldom fail with the natives of the interior. Charles Sturt. Customs form us all, our thoughts, our morals, our most fixed beliefs; are consequences of our place of birth. Aaron Hill.  Customs will often outlive the remembrance of their origin, Thomas Paine. The empire of custom is most mighty, Publilius Syrus.  Customs represent the experience of mankind, Henry Ward Beecher.  Nature is seldom in the wrong, custom always, Mary Wortley Montagu. Ill customs and bad advice are seldom forgotten, Benjamin Franklin.  Be not so bigoted to any custom as to worship it at the expense of truth, Johann Georg Ritter von Zimmermann.  Custom and authority are no sure evidence of truth, Isaac Watts.  Freedom is where you can live, as pleases a brave heart; where you can live according to the customs and laws of your Fathers; where you are made happy by that which made your most distant ancestors happy, Ernst Moritz Arndt. Habit had made the custom, Ovid. Nothing is more powerful than custom or habit, Ovid.

Today my photo for the “month of gratitude” photos was this one of the sun coming up. I was up early enough to catch the sun as it came visible over my neighbors’ houses. I am grateful for another day of life. 

This is a bit about our city as well about the lives of children as they grow. I for one have enjoyed looking through the Highlights for Children magazines. I like, mostly, the pictures with hidden objects in them. I was also surprised when leaned that the magazine was put together right here in Columbus. It began here in Columbus in 1946. A pair of teachers created the magazine for both parents and children. They wanted to spread their knowledge and education. The “first print run” in 1945 was 20,000 copies. They all sold and were delivered door to door. Now there are all sorts of interactions of children with the Highlights products. According to the article “Last year was about 10 million kids interacting with our content across 40 countries.” It was noted the seventy-five years ago there was no tablets, smartphones, YouTube and children’s TV shows. They have tried to keep the goal of the magazine the same now as it was in the beginning. Highlights is aimed at kids from birth to 12 years old. The magazine has grown and added an interactive website, Highlight apps, a podcast and a You-Tube channel. As the magazine grew the section called Hidden Pictures was added. It was quoted that ‘you never outgrow being a child”. The hidden pictures were favorites of many adults. The magazine has helped parents connect with their children on many levels.  The magazine allowed people to get in a safe environment and have important discussions dealing with “bullying, social justice, equity and inclusion”.  There is a Dear Highlights column where kids can write to them for answers. There are “multiple experts “on call” to answer the questions. There is a book called “Dear Highlights” that includes some of the questions kids have asked along with the answers. It has been said that many of the questions from the beginning of the column are much like the questions of today.  

I am making macaroni salad and creamed beef on toast for dinner. 

Joy

close but no cigar

 August 7, 2021, a thought for today, Nothing can exist long without occasional rest. Latin Proverb

I love Saturday’s.....that’s another one of those hold-overs from childhood school days. The problem is I can’t seem to sleep-in as long now as I use to when I was school aged. 

For the “month of gratitude” photo of the day on August 6, I chose an image of a city bus. I haven’t used this type of transportation for years and years but when I did I found it to be an interesting adventure. 

So far it seems gorgeous outside as I look through my window. The sun is shining and no rain. There’s not enough of a breeze to cause the wind chimes to sing which would make it even more perfect. And now days it helps with reducing the pollution problem of too many other vehicles on the road.  

I am getting my hair cut in a couple of hours. That is the main productive activity I am going to get accomplished today. 

Sue and I got errands out of the way yesterday.  We took Sweet Pea along with us. Before Sugar crossed over the rainbow bridge, Sweet Pea didn’t mind being left at home. But now that she is alone, she seems to get the neglected look just before we go out of the house. I take her with us when I know one of us will be in the car with her while the other slips into a store to take care of business. I would never leave her alone in the car. 

The word for today is courage.  The secret to happiness is freedom... And the secret to freedom is courage. Thucydides.  Courage is knowing what not to fear. Plato. You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor. Aristotle. What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything? Vincent Van Gogh. To have courage for whatever comes in life - everything lies in that. Saint Teresa of Avila.  Happy are those who dare courageously to defend what they love. Ovid. Life is to be entered upon with courage. Alexis de Tocqueville. Remember that when you leave this earth, you can take with you nothing that you have received - only what you have given: a full heart, enriched by honest service, love, sacrifice and courage, Francis of Assisi.  Courage is the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees the others, Aristotle. A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is brave five minutes longer, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Courage is what preserves our liberty, safety, life, and our homes and parents, our country and children. Courage comprises all things, Plautus. He who loses wealth loses much; he who loses a friend loses more; but he that loses his courage loses all, Miguel de Cervantes.  To dare is to lose one's footing momentarily. Not to dare is to lose oneself, Soren Kierkegaard. True courage is like a kite; a contrary wind raises it higher. John Petit-Senn.

Today my “month of gratitude” photo of the day is my hair salon. I am grateful for the luxury, actually
the necessity, of a good hair cut. 

I thought it would be good for us to learn something about nature that we should be aware of. Nature is beautiful and has its dangers too. According to the article the Hemlock plant is “one of the Earth’s deadliest plants” and it is spreading through Ohio.  It first began its spread here Ohio in the southern parts and originally came from Europe, West Asia and North Africa in the 1800s as an ornamental plant.  “This non-native plant is among the most deadly plants on the planet, containing highly toxic piperidine alkaloid compounds that cause respiratory failure and death in all mammals when ingested”. Socrates, Theramenes and Phocion were killed with Hemlock. The poison from the plant can be lethal by entering by ingestion but also through the eyes or nasal passages. The plant can grow in almost any type of soil and seems to be “most prevalent” near woods and streams, ditches and waterways. They produce thousands of seeds that spread as other plants do by wind, water, birds and mowing. The seeds stay fertile for up to six years. The article reported that in our area these plants can be found in Clintonville, Franklinton, and on the Ohio State campus. Here’s something interesting, it is a member of the carrot family. It is also sometimes mistaken for Queen Anne’s lace.  The article went on to say the simplest way to “identify” the plant is by purple-colored spots on the main stem. The worst time to try to control the plaint is when it is flowering, the best time is when it is in its “vegetative stage” when it is small and by using Roundup. It is dangerous to try to control the plant by mowing, hand-pulling or cutting. 

For dinner, hamburger helper, cheesy shells. 

Joy

                                                   two touches of yellow to dress things up a bit

 August 5, 2021 a thought for today, He who divides and shares is left with the best share. Mexican Proverb

It’s been another busy Thursday. There had been some cement work in front of the parking lot entrance to the church. I was concerned about whether we could walk on it or not. It seemed dry and I think it was just under twenty-four hours since they poured it. So I walked on it. 

On August 4 I chose a photo of my large glass of cold iced tea (before I devoured it) on a hot day as my gratitude for this day of the FMS “month of gratitude”.

The printing went smoothly. I made the round of looking for photos on my way home. Once at home I got the laundry started and worked in the kitchen for an hour or so. 

I have a meeting at church tonight so I want to get the laundry done and the dinner dishes cleaned up . 

The word for today is concern.  Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right. Abraham Lincoln. Concern should drive us into action and not into a depression. No man is free who cannot control himself. Pythagoras.  The least pain in our little finger gives us more concern and uneasiness than the destruction of millions of our fellow-beings. William Hazlitt. It is your concern when your neighbor's wall is on fire. Horace. Keep your attention focused entirely on what is truly your own concern, and be clear that what belongs to others is their business and none of yours, Epictetus. The truly proud man knows neither superiors or inferiors, William Hazlitt.  To be curious about that which is not one's concern while still in ignorance of oneself is ridiculous, Plato. Small minds are concerned with the extraordinary, great minds with the ordinary. Blaise Pascal.  Instead of being concerned that you have no office, be concerned to think how you may fit  oneself  for office. Instead of being concerned that you are not known, seek to be worthy of being known. Confucius.  Truth is always in harmony with herself, and is not concerned chiefly to reveal the justice that may consist with wrong-doing. Henry David Thoreau. We are certainly in a common class with the beasts; every action of animal life is concerned with seeking bodily pleasure and avoiding pain. Saint Augustine. Even were sleep is concerned, too much is a bad thing. Homer. What is it but a map of busy life, Its fluctuations, and its vast concerns? William Cowper.  Where love is concerned, too much is not even enough, Pierre Beaumarchais. I will not be concerned at other men's not knowing me; I will be concerned at my own want of ability, Confucius. Where observation is concerned, chance favors only the prepared mind, Louis  Pasteur.

Today my photo of the day for this day in the “month of gratitude” was of one of the many park benches in the local park and bit of greenspace in this city. 

I thought it would be interesting to learn about the metro parks. I didn’t realize until I read this article that some of the Metro Parks owned rental properties that could be used as private residences. Apparently there is an investigation into this practice as it has been overlooked for some time. One person living in one of the structures says it has been “to make sure vandals don’t damage the property”. The goal of the investigation is to keep up with the “land and how the land best serves the public.” The Metro Parks owns six homes that it is renting. They were purchased when the land was bought for the parks. There are homes at Prairie Oaks, 3 homes, Chestnut Ridge, one home, Battelle Darby Creek, one home. One of the residents of one of the houses says he has provided security and care for the property “like it was my own.” The homes are apparently inspected periodically by Metro Parks staff. The leases for these homes contain clauses stating that the tenants are responsible for maintenance.  The leases on the residential and farm leases will be reviewed. Some structures, in some of the parks are rented to businesspeople, there will be review on the rental charges. Part of the rental issues of such property includes parks in the Hocking Hills. The investigation and review of these public properties are to benefit the public and maintain the usage of the parks. 

It’s going to be hamburgers and left over homemade vegetable soup for dinner. 

Joy

PS....on August 5 I had a second photo of the day that I was late entering into that photo group and late to add here.....It is one of my 'left behind/trash' kind of shots....a can among the weeds with a dandelion to accompany it. The theme title was "hobbies". Well, taking photos of trash and trying to make the image art is a new hobby of mine.