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

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