November 23, 2021 a thought for today, True words may not be pleasant, pleasant words may not be true. Chinese Proverb

The girls didn’t get to come on Sunday afternoon but came late and spent the night. Monday morning I did what I could on the bulletin and parts of the newsletter then took the kids to Dollar General to shop. Then we had lunch at McDonalds, I was proud of the way they behaved this time, much better than the last time. Then we had a stop by the park until Sonja slid down the sliding board into a puddle of water. 

Yesterday’s photo theme was “on my feet”. That is a true challenge, some thing on my feet. It could be lots of things as many of my peers in this photo group shared. Mine is my comfy slippers resting on the stool that lies below my computer desk. 

Today started with more work on the newsletter, I still didn’t have all the information I need for the bulletin. At this point I have the newsletter done up to the photos, the minister’s page and one of the blank blocks on the calendar. Hopefully I will be able to finish both tomorrow morning. 

I keep telling myself I really have to get to work on the family Christmas calendar but keep putting it off. I doubt at this point if I can possibly have it finished before Christmas. I will just have to let all of them know I will get it to them when I get it finished even thought it will be a little late. 

Bob will be on vacation for the next five days. He has to use up some vacation time before the end of the year or lose it. 

The word for today (and for thought) is insight.  The man with insight enough to admit his limitations comes nearest to perfection. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. If one is master of one thing and understands one thing well, one has at the same time, insight into and understanding of many things. Vincent Van Gogh. For passion, be it observed, brings insight with it; it can give a sort of intelligence to simpletons, fools, and idiots, especially during youth. Honore de Balzac.  The intuition of the moral sentiment is an insight of the perfection of the laws of the soul. These laws execute themselves. They are out of time, out of space, and not subject to circumstance. Ralph Waldo Emerson.  All good Literature rests primarily on insight. George Henry Lewes. When you want wisdom and insight as badly as you want to breathe, it is then you shall have it, Socrates.  A moment's insight is sometimes worth a life's experience, Oliver Wendell Holmes.  Knowing many things doesn't teach insight, Heraclitus. Wherever you are is the entry point, Kabir. The authentic insight and experience of any human soul, were it but insight and experience in hewing of wood and drawing of water, is real knowledge, a real possession and acquirement, Thomas Carlyle.  By exhaustively examining one's own mind, one may understand his nature. One who understands his own nature understands Heaven, Mencius. Our thoughts are ours, their ends none of our own, William Shakespeare. Returning to the source is stillness, which is the way of nature. The way of nature is unchanging. Knowing constancy is insight, Laozi.

Today’s theme is “my fave colour”. Blue has always been the color I declare as my favorite. However, as I get older, I find that I like most all colors. My “favorite” at any given moment would depend on my mood, the mood or aura that surrounds me at the time and the purpose of the color used on whatever I am seeing/experiencing. 

The title to this article put me in mind of the long ago Lazarus Christmas window as well as the Thanksgiving Christmas parade. The Columbus Library at the main branch has set up a train and accompanying village exhibit for the holidays. The train is called the Huntington Holiday Train. Apparently this exhibit has been on going since 1992 at the Huntington Bank on Capitol Square. It was moved to its library home in 2009 where it has found a holiday home in the center of the lobby next to the stairs. Workers are constructing the structure for a snow-covered mountain and village. The exhibit will be “fluffed” up fir trees from a few inches tall to several feet. There are many volunteer workers, some with experience in creating “labor-intensive” and unique exhibits around the country, putting the whole exhibit together. One of the volunteers worked on an exhibit at the Ohio State Fair and one at the Ameri-Flora. He owns an expansive Garden Railway exhibit at the Franklin Park Conservatory. The article described some of the activities went on during part of the set up of the exhibits, such as a tree in a miniature village falling across the train tracks. Layers and layers of batting are positioned to cover a wooden frame and chicken wire. There are lights shining through the village buildings. Trees and buildings are “strategically” placed in the batting. Simulated snow “from old Folgers’ coffee cans is sprinkled onto the buildings, trees and train cars on the tracks. Designers are constantly watching the layout to be sure it stays in form and proportion. Along with the exhibit there are other fun facts displayed. For instance, the year the display was first built, the materials used, like twigs, bark, leaves, pinecones, the towns that inspired the “architecture, days it took to set it up and so on. The exhibit will be on display from 9am to 7pm Monday through Thursday and 9am to 6am on Fridays and Saturdays. Oh, and masks are required. 

I am going to try making a chicken stew for dinner tonight. I was cruising through my facebook pages and saw a recipe that looked good and uses ingredients that I have handy. I didn’t save the recipe so I lost it. I went in search and found one that I am going to try in the pressure cooker. 

Joy

....look at all that this photo has to offer and the stories hidden in the image.....something disposed of in an unconcerned manner...then there is the art, the life that is going on, a broken tree limb, a puddle with a reflection indicating a recent rain, fallen leaves indicating the season, green grass, worn pavement and texture....