November 25, 2021 a thought for today, Words are mere bubbles of water, but deeds are drops of gold. Chinese Proverb

It seems this Thanksgiving isn’t going to be a whole lot different than any other day for me and for Bob and for Sue. There is a memory I can’t quite forget that adds just a touch of a sting.....my mother passed away on this day about thirty years ago. I still see her face and feel her arms around me. 

First lets revisit yesterday for a minute....my photo challenge for the 24th was “matching”. The most handy thing I could find to fill the purpose on a very busy day was my red cloth and the matching, in color, red tin. 

Anyway, I got up at the “usual Thursday time” to go print the bulletin and newsletter that I had finished yesterday. For the past few months the copier wasn’t stapling the newsletter as it should. We had it fixed. It worked! at least for seventy-five copies. Then I ran five as extras. That’s when the copier started jamming and stopped stapling. I’m wondering now if perhaps there is something I didn’t find when I removed the jams. Maybe there is another one I didn’t catch. I will check that out the next time I am there.  I got the job done and everything placed at least. 

When I got home, I got to the daily computer “stuff” and started the laundry. 

So the only thing left on my agenda for today is to finish the laundry after our Thanksgiving dinner at Bob Evans.

The word (and food for thought) today is inspirational. Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible. Francis of Assisi. Out of difficulties grow miracles. Jean de la Bruyere.  If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants. Isaac Newton.  Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, Or what's a heaven for? Robert Browning.  Light tomorrow with today! Elizabeth Barrett Browning.  What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you. Ralph Waldo Emerson. Happiness resides not in possessions, and not in gold, happiness dwells in the soul. Democritus.  It is never too late to be what you might have been. George Eliot.  A great man is a torch in the darkness, a beacon in superstition's night, an inspiration and a prophecy. Robert Green Ingersoll.  Do not quench your inspiration and your imagination; do not become the slave of your model. Vincent Van Gogh.  The perfect knowledge of events cannot be acquired without divine inspiration, since all prophetic inspiration receives its prime motivating force from God the creator, then from good fortune and nature. Nostradamus. No one was ever great without some portion of divine inspiration. Marcus Tullius Cicero.  Our moments of inspiration are not lost though we have no particular poem to show for them; for those experiences have left an indelible impression, and we are ever and anon reminded of them. Henry David Thoreau.  

The photo theme for today is “natural”. The most natural thing in the world is nature’s gifts. So here is a shot of what nature had in store for us today, rain, puddles, reflections, and the dying (resting) garden in the church parking lot.

Here’s another story about a different view near our city. It is about bison....you know...buffalo. We have then “roaming” southwest of Columbus at a place called Cherokee Valley Bison Ranch. I is located on fifty acres in Thornville, Ohio.  The owner thought  about it after eating her fist taste of bison meat. Thinking the bison meat was so good she wanted to eat it more often.  She said she was thinking about raising goats and chickens on her farm but after the meal of bison she decided to try to raise bison instead.  So she spent time learning about it. Her grandparents had her 160 acres. She divided it with her five children. Her grandmother was a native American, Cherokee, so the bison ranch was given that name. People’s interest in trying bison meat and/or learning more about the “United States’ National Mammal” has kept her interest in the project going. People visit her ranch to buy the meat or to attend a workshop about the animals. Her herd has grown in size and she is proud to offer fresh meat to the community. She now offers a “Hipcamp Site” that has an authentic 22' Sioux-style tipi” where visitors can stay and have the opportunity to roam the ranch. At this point in time there is a baby bison, named Peaches, being bottle-fed. Visitor enjoy watching this event. She and her husband enjoy raising the bison and this time in their lives. In closing the article she relates that “They (the bison) are the epitome of resiliency—all that they have been through from nearly being exterminated to 600,000 plus and growing!”

Thanksgiving dinner at Bob Evans today....don’t have to cook or clear away....just relax, contemplate and enjoy. 

Joy

textures and colors and......a blob