Thursday, December 30, 2021

 December 29, 2021 a thought for today, If you cannot heal the wound, do not tear it open. Danish Proverb

I got the bulletin done in one setting this week. Usually I do the back portion and parts of the inside before I get the last portion of the information I need to complete it. So it takes a couple of days to finish. 

Yesterday’s photo a day title was “my fave bit of 2021". For a whole 365 days and a full life there are a lot of “fave”. So I picked one that I experience at least once a week....fast food stops. This one is a part of White Castle. 

We had our second day of pantry today. Yesterday we were about half way through when our internet went down. So we had to complete the day with the “old fashioned” way with paper and pen. That meant that those signed in by the paper format had to be entered today when we came back in. The internet system was back up and running. Two of us got that done in short order and were ready for the guests coming in today. It was slow moving today so we got some other things that would have been carried over for another day done. The slow times also gave some of us time for some bonding and chatting with each other. 

When I left the church, I passed by two of my favorite lunch stops. Both were crowded and cars were backed up so I skipped that stop for this day. 

I had some catch up to take care of when I got home. Then it was time to start dinner. 

The word today is moments.  Know the true value of time; snatch, seize, and enjoy every moment of it. No idleness, no laziness, no procrastination: never put off till tomorrow what you can do today. Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield. You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment. Henry David Thoreau. This is love: to fly toward a secret sky, to cause a hundred veils to fall each moment. First to let go of life. Finally, to take a step without feet. Rumi. Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place, but far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment. Benjamin Franklin.  Lose not yourself in a far off time, seize the moment that is thine. Friedrich Schiller.  Every particular in nature, a leaf, a drop, a crystal, a moment of time is related to the whole, and partakes of the perfection of the whole. Ralph Waldo Emerson.  Catch, then, O catch the transient hour; Improve each moment as it flies! St. Jerome. Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world. John Milton.  There is no despair so absolute as that which comes with the first moments of our first great sorrow, when we have not yet known what it is to have suffered and be healed, to have despaired and have recovered hope. George Eliot. There are thoughts which are prayers. There are moments when, whatever the posture of the body, the soul is on its knees. Victor Hugo. No mortal man, moreover is wise at all moments. Pliny the Elder. 

Today’s photo of the day challenge is “a book”. I have a few on the book shelf, not many since I do
most of my reading via the internet and ebooks. I had shot this image showing several of the books then realized the title said “a...book”. So I separated the red book from the rest, reversed the Photoshop capture and turned the rest of the books to black and white format....hense.... a book.  

Ice and its byproducts are often taken for granted in most households. It use to be it, ice, wasn’t so easy to come by. This article relates to that.  Its title is: “As It Were: Harvesting chunks of frozen rivers put Columbus on path to ice production”. If we want an ice cream cone we go to the store and get one....not so much once upon a time. Even now if we want homemade ice cream we need a bucket of ice. There was a time when people wanted ice in the winter time.....frozen rivers and streams were the place to go. The “harvest” of ice meant that it had to be stored in a cold place. It could also be sold to others in need. In the early 1820s “and probably even earlier in frontier of Franklinton across the river” people searched and found patches of ice that was not suitable for ice skating. It was these area that became the supply. People would use large saws and cut pieces of ice from the river/stream. The article mentioned that the desired size was 2 feet by 2 feet and 1 foot thick, sometimes weighing 100 pounds. Once successfully cut they would be carried to a ramp and moved to an “icehouse” that would be located above the frozen stream. There they were lowered to a pit full of ice sitting on sawdust and then were covered with more sawdust. If these “icehouses” were properly insulated with ice would last “well into the summer”. As time went by the necessity for storage developed so a man named Thomas Moore in 1802 developed a “wooden cabinet lined with tin, with an upper shelf able to hold a 50-pound block of ice and the lower section for perishable food”. This technique lasted into the 1900s. So many “ice boxes” came into existence that it was difficult to keep them supplied, that’s when a new device was invented....the ice machine. The early ice machines used ammonia to work so weren’t very popular. The article went on to say that after the Civil War the number of people wanting and using ice was so big that ice machines became better made and profitable. Some men here in Columbus developed the Crystal Ice Co. In 1876 a couple of brothers came to Columbus and opened some other businesses, a cigar and billiard place, later they opened the Clock Restaurant, then a brewery. After that they went into business with friends and opened the Crystal Ice Co. On West Broad Street in1891. The article stated they were making 250 tons of ice a day, “with cold storage for 100,000 tons more”. That building is now the Spaghetti Warehouse. 

Creamed chicken on biscuits will be dinner tonight. 

Joy

again, points of art....lines, shapes, colors, textures and a little extra



Tuesday, December 28, 2021

 December 27, 2021 a thought for today, One word beforehand is better than ten afterwards. Danish Proverb

Our church service this Sunday was a bit difference for us this year. At first I had my doubts about it but once we got started I changed my mind. We had a hymn fest with the congregation choosing the Christmas songs we wanted to sing. My choice wasn’t entirely Christmas but fit the season in part, I Danced in the Morning. The minister gave an interesting message and then introduced a hymn that I hadn’t heard of about children picturing Jesus each with the thought that He looked like each of them, Some Children See Him. It touched my heart. Only one thing marred the service. There was a huge photo screen hiding our old and traditional altar with the cross, the open bible and the alar flowers of honor on it. 

The photo of the day title for yesterday was “free choice”. Well I checked my recent archives and found this one. One of my four gorgeous and precious great grandsons as though looking .....for the next wonderful life experience. 

I hope busy days lighten natures progress of aging. This was one of those days. I was out of so many things in my kitchen and health items that there was no excuse good enough not to go to the store today. I had the newsletter on my mind and agenda but I had to squeeze in the time for the store. Bob is on vacation and that is always a handy time for me to go because I have his help, which is an unbelievably great relief . He brought everything in from the car as I emptied bags and put the cold things away. 

As soon as I got that done and Bob and I had lunch I left for church to print the newsletter. I got it printed and stapled by hand since the copier is being obstinate and not stapling. It is ready for Dorothy and I to finish tomorrow morning before I volunteer for our food pantry.  

There was a bit of excitement in the neighborhood a few minutes ago. One of the fire ladder trucks came down the street and stopped at the intersection. Then one of the rescue squads pulled up along side it. It must have been a false alarm, both left after about ten minutes after a neighbor spoke with them. An interesting part was that the ladder truck was from the engine house my father was stationed at for several years and became captain there. The squad was the one my husband served on for more that two decades. These kinds of memories are always welcome and bring pride and comfort. 

The word for today is moral.  Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything. Plato. Moral excellence comes about as a result of habit. We become just by doing just acts, temperate by doing temperate acts, brave by doing brave acts. Aristotle. The great instrument of moral good is the imagination. Percy Bysshe Shelley. Everything's got a moral, if only you can find it. Lewis Carroll. Wisdom, compassion, and courage are the three universally recognized moral qualities of men. Confucius. Happiness and moral duty are inseparably connected. George Washington.   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. Scientific truth is marvelous, but moral truth is divine and whoever breathes its air and walks by its light has found the lost paradise. Horace Mann. It contributes greatly towards a man's moral and intellectual health, to be brought into habits of companionship with individuals unlike himself, who care little for his pursuits, and whose sphere and abilities he must go out of himself to appreciate. Nathaniel Hawthorne. The moral virtues, then, are produced in us neither by nature nor against nature. Nature, indeed, prepares in us the ground for their reception, but their complete formation is the product of habit. Aristotle.  Liberty cannot be established without morality, nor morality without faith. Alexis de Tocqueville. Truth is certainly a branch of morality and a very important one to society. Thomas Jefferson.  

Today’s photo a day challenge “I did this today”. I went to the grocery store today. This is part of the yet to be put away groceries. 

This is an interesting history of this icon in our city. Franklin Park is one of the gorgeous places to visit and enjoy in our city. As this article states it’s interesting and varied history “spans over 150 years”. In 1852 eighty-eight acres were found and used for the first Franklin County Fair. In 1884 this land became “official grounds of the Ohio State Fair”. There was a City Beautiful movement in the time era that prompted the building of a “grand Victorian-style glass greenhouse (called the Palm House)” opening to the public in 1895 and called the Franklin Park Conservatory. There were carriage paths in the park surrounding the “glass greenhouse” along with a lake and boathouse. The Columbus Recreation and Parks Department owned the structure and park until 1989. There were rare and unusual plants to be seen and offered a place for weddings and gatherings of all kinds of happy events. In 1989 the AmeriFlora ‘92 became a major event for six months “international horticulture exposition”. The original “Palm House” became the object of a $14 million expansion.  The additional 58,000 square feet included more plant collections, classrooms, a library, gift shop and offices. After Ameriflora “the Ohio Legislature created the Franklin Park Conservatory Joint Recreation District for long-term management of the Conservatory”. In 1994 there was a “Blooms & Butterflies” event. It was the first conservatory in the US to have a seasonal butterfly exhibition and it still occurs today. In 2003 Chihuly’s art entered the Conservatory . Much of his work became permanent collections. Over the years there have been many artists sharing their work at the conservatory. To back it up a bit, the park at the “Conservatory housed zoo animals for many years (from about 1920) until 1925" until they move the O’Shaugnnessy Reservoir.    

We are having taco salad for dinner tonight. 

Joy

some basic principles of art: line, shape, patterns, colors, textures...and angles and shadows











Sunday, December 26, 2021

 December 25, 2021 a thought for today, The curse on the hearth wounds the deepest. Danish Proverb

We have had a beautiful Christmas, different from years past but time has shaped changes. The adaptions have been good and precious memories of the past are stored for their warmth and contemplations.   

The December 24th photo a day theme was “party food”. I used some gifts I have been given during the holiday season. 

Before we left the house I got the photos in the church newsletter and Ed’s personal greetings for the congregation prepared as an insert. 

Yesterday as I was printing more of my “Christmas” calendars I discovered a method for printing that I should have considered earlier. In the method I’ve been using, document straight from computer file to the printer, I was missing a line in each of the months. This morning I decided the try saving the document as a pdf file and printing directly from that form. What a difference! The color is excellent, the lines that were missing in the other method are there and the print timing was faster. And I think, it took just a little less ink. 

Time with my two sons, daughter-in-law, grand son, grand daughter-in-law, my sister and two of my gorgeous great-grandsons was what I needed to make the day perfect. Last night candle light service was the beginning. It was a new experience to share with another congregation entwined with our own. I enjoyed their presentations and the newnes it contributed. 

Our streaming service from last night didn’t quite go as it should so I uploaded part of it to facebook before we left the house this morning. I am completing the upload now so I can return the memory card tonight when I go to observe the birthday party for Jesus that we are having for our free meal tonight.  

I must have created one hundred or more shots of the family in a couple of hours today. I think I captured the perfect one for the photo of the day.  I am going to download those to my archives before I quit for the day and get ready to leave for church. 

The word for today is lost. '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.  Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves. Henry David Thoreau.  No man knows the value of innocence and integrity but he who has lost them. William Godwin. I have held many things in my hands, and I have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God's hands, that I still possess. Martin Luther. Lost - yesterday, somewhere between sunrise and sunset, two golden hours, each set with sixty diamond minutes. No reward is offered, for they are gone forever. Horace Mann. Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost. John Quincy Adams.  Lost time is never found again. Benjamin Franklin. If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them. Henry David Thoreau.    He who learns but does not think, is lost! He who thinks but does not learn is in great danger. Confucius.  The soul which has no fixed purpose in life is lost; to be everywhere, is to be nowhere. Michel de Montaigne.  A dark cloud is no sign that the sun has lost his light; and dark black convictions are no arguments that God has laid aside His mercy. Charles Spurgeon.

Today’s photo theme is “a moment”. I shot over one hundred images today. There were many that would fit this title. This one grabbed my attention the most, 

Winter hikes might be interesting and bring new things to mind. This article is about hiking in our parks in the winter. There are group hikes available in most of the parks and of course you go on personal hikes in any of the parks at any time they are open, I think some if not all close to the public after dark. There is a 49th Annual Winter Hike Series in progress with the Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks. There are eighteen parks available to the  public with three into Madison County.  This winter program lasts through December and January. Certain parks are highlighted each month for a gathering of other hikers. There are “evening lantern walks and hot chocolate on certain dates. In January “featured parks” will offer refreshment from 10 to 2 on certain day. Noodle soup at Blendon Woods (Jan. 8), shredded chicken sandwiches at Sharon Woods (Jan. 9), hot dogs at Scioto Audubon, (Jan. 15), doughnuts at Clear Creek, Jan, 22), Prairie Oaks, cinnamon rolls, (Jan 23), and sausage biscuits at Three Creeks, (Jan.29). In Febrayr at certain parks you may can search for and take home wooden ornaments on the trails, Glacier Ridge, Pickerington Ponds, Rocky Fork, Scioto Grove, Slate Run and Walnut Woods. Hikers can even earn a “hikers patch” by hiking at seven or more of the parks. If all eighteen hikes are completed the hiker can be a member of the Friends of the Metro Parks and receive a hiking stick. There is a “hike card” at all of the featured parks in December. A park ranger can stamp the card after each visit. There is a windup celebration of the Winter Park Hikes at Blacklick Woods Golf Course on February 27 from 11 to 3. (The three parks that cross over into Madison County are Battelle Darby Creek, Glacier Ridge and Prairie Oaks.) 

We are having a Christmas lunch with family at Kim and Mick’s. Later in the day will be snacks. 

Joy

street cleaners on their way



Friday, December 24, 2021

 December 23, 2021 a thought for today.  They must stand high who would see their own destiny. Danish Proverb   

I had myself stressed with the amount of printing that needed to be done today. I had four separate documents to print and place before the Christmas Eve Candle Light service tomorrow night. It’s done!! One of the concerns I had was running out of the size paper I needed for two of the documents. We don’t often use legal sized paper for most of the printing, at least for the documents I am responsible for. I was about halfway through the second document that needed that size when the copier let me know it was out of paper. So I spent some time looking for what I needed. We had plenty of colored stock in that size but not white that is what I wanted. Finally I found one package left of the white that I needed. Other than that tiny detour everything else went “swimmingly”. 

Yesterday’s photo of the day was “santa”.....I searched the neighborhood for yard decoration Santas. There were many, some b
lown over on their tummies by the wind, some devoid of air so lying flat on the ground but this one was all decked out and ready for a photograph. 

Next on the agenda for me today was a stop at the post office. Then to McDonalds for Bob and me. 

Finally at home and time to get to other projects to get done before Christmas Eve evening. More calendars to print and bind. Then there is the everyday “stuff” like laundry that doesn’t take a day off.

I want to do a few things in the kitchen today to round out the to-do list.  I hope to get a few minutes to spend on the church newsletter. I have arranged to put of the final steps to getting it out until Tuesday. I think I have most of the information I need to complete it but with the other holiday plans going on time is a little limited. 

The word for today is lonely.  There is pleasure in the pathless woods, there is rapture in the lonely shore, there is society where none intrudes, by the deep sea, and music in its roar; I love not Man the less, but Nature more. Lord Byron. What loneliness is more lonely than distrust? George Eliot. The stars, that nature hung in heaven, and filled their lamps with everlasting oil, give due light to the misled and lonely traveller. John Milton. Always give a word or sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend, or even a stranger, if in a lonely place. Tecumseh.   What is man without the beasts? For if all the beast were gone, man would die of a great loneliness of the spirit. Chief Seattle. Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Ralph Waldo Emerson.  Remember never to say that you are alone, for you are not alone; nay, God is within, and your genius is within. Epictetus. All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone. Blaise Pascal.  No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path. Buddha.  A man thinking or working is always alone. Henry David Thoreau. Don’t feel lonely, the entire universe is inside you. Rumi.

Today’s photo challenge was titled “makes me feel merry”. What better way to make a mother/grandmother/great grandmother or any member of a loving family but among them sharing bits of each others life.  

Another bit of history about a past holiday in Columbus. The article stated that the New Years  celebrations in Columbus in 1922 were very cold, wet and quiet. The temperature on that December 31 dropped to 12 degrees in the city. There were snow flurries in Columbus and two inches in some of the suburbs. Since New Years day that year was on a Sunday Monday was the legal holiday. There was “Watch Night” services in many churches on New Year’s Eve. Home style fireworks were enjoyed both Sunday and Monday since the “official” holiday off was Monday. The most “elaborate” conclusion of the annual Yuletide Festival was at Memorial Hall (280 E. Broad St.) on East Broad Street which, according to this article, was near the “Columbus Woman’s Club” (I was unable to find more information about the “Columbus Woman’s Club”). The chair person of that club at this time said the club would make this evening the “most spectacular of any ever held in Columbus”. There were fortune tellers , dancing, “bargaining at the various booths”, and music. That same evening, at the Memorial Hall, thirty-five newly naturalized citizens were guests of a chicken supper. Again, according to the article, “the economy was booming, the stock market was advancing....prohibition of alcohol production ....America was entering a period that soon would be called the ‘Roaring Twenties’”. Life was busy in Columbus on that Monday after New Year’s Day. The article ended saying “in a letter to the editor, ....there was a plea for 1922 .....to the youth...teach the young girl to be a womanly girl with not too many frizzes and frills. And to the boy to be a manly boy – be polite and courteous and cast aside the cigaret and the swear word, both very common these days..... Happy New Year!”

I am going to try to make crab cakes for dinner....I have never made them before. We will have cheesy potatoes along with it. 

Joy   

hide and seek






Wednesday, December 22, 2021

 December 21, 2021 a thought for the day, Two may lie so as to hang a third. Danish Proverb

Yesterday I had a beautiful light in my life. I got to see all of my great grand children at one time and in
one place. I am not so sure but hope that will happen at least another time in my life time. My words can’t explain how much it touched my heart to be able to touch each one of them. Then to watch them move about with smiles on their faces in the being with each other as the blood of my family. I am adding a photo of me with my kids. 

I think this weeks food pantry is finding our guests even more grateful that we are here. They will have at least food from our pantry as well as a small gift of extra amounts in their boxes to honor the season. That’s where I spent part of this day. We had a constant movement of people for the hour and half that we were open. We have another pantry day tomorrow. 


Yesterday I had two photos of the day. The first was titled “gift”. I usually put my gifts in a gift bag now days. But my sister wraps her beautifully so this is one of hers. 

I hope to finish the poinsettia memory insert for the Christmas Eve bulletin tomorrow morning. I got an email this morning that the bulletin for the day after Christmas bulletin will be abbreviated. We don’t expect a large turn out of the service being the day after Christmas and will be mostly to honor the season. I am working through a different slant to this particular bulletin.  

The second photo of the day for yesterday was “c is for...” The Christmas tree is perfect.

The word for today is living.  Just living is not enough... one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower. Hans Christian Andersen.  God gave us the gift of life; it is up to us to give ourselves the gift of living well. Voltaire. The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living. Marcus Tullius Cicero. To the living we owe respect, but to the dead we owe only the truth. Voltaire.  I am indebted to my father for living, but to my teacher for living well. Alexander the Great.  Faith is a living, daring confidence in God's grace, so sure and certain that a man could stake his life on it a thousand times. Martin Luther. The man who makes everything that leads to happiness depends upon himself, and not upon other men, has adopted the very best plan for living happily. This is the man of moderation, the man of manly character and of wisdom. Plato. Expecting is the greatest impediment to living. In anticipation of tomorrow, it loses today. Lucius Annaeus Seneca.  He who postpones the hour of living is like the rustic who waits for the river to run out before he crosses. Horace.  In dwelling, live close to the ground. In thinking, keep to the simple. In conflict, be fair and generous. In governing, don't try to control. In work, do what you enjoy. In family life, be completely present, Lao Tzu.  The Way is not in the sky; the Way is in the heart, Gautama Buddha. 

Today’s photo of the day title is “candy cane”.  I did one shoot of candy cane decorations in a neighbor’s yard. But then found we had boxes and boxes of them at the church so I was able to get a shot of those too. 

Here’s a story about saving things from being thrown away at the same time receiving new purpose. The title of the article reads “Sew what? State workers repair inspected toys for charity donations”.I learned from the article that material inside stuffed toys must be inspected. Samples are supplied from the manufacturers to the Ohio Department of Commerce for inspection. It the required materials are within compliance the toys are good to go, to sell. Then the samples are due to be thrown away.  The article read “to prevent the toys from going to waste while also celebrating the spirit of the holidays, a group of Division of Industrial Compliance employees gather annually during their lunch breaks around Christmas to sew up a few hundred samples”. They call this the “sewing circle”. Some of the employees even take them home to work on them in their own time, some do it at their desks on breaks. This year fifteen of the employee sewed over 300 toys. For the inspection they are opened along the seams. After they are sewn back together, they are given to the St. Stephen’s Community House to be given to families for a variety of needs. 

I think we are having hot dogs for dinner tonight. 

Joy

                     just a touch of yellow for color

Monday, December 20, 2021

 December 19, 2021 a thought for today is A cloth is not woven from a single thread. Chinese Proverb

I set the alarm to get up this morning since we have a bible study before church. There was also a quick choir rehearsal before church since we are singing an anthem today.  

The photo a day challenge for yesterday was “sparkle”. There’s lots of that on a Christmas tree. I searched around for on of the bulbs that seemed to show the sparkle the best. 

After I went through the list of virtual visits and news headlines on the computer this morning, I got ready to leave for church. I had checked my photo a day list yesterday and saw I need a couple of photos in the next few days that I don’t have easy access to so I was on the alert for them on my way to church. I needed candy canes and Santa Clause. I found one of each as lawn decorations that will work. There were several folks at church this morning that don’t come every week. It was good to see them. 

I don’t have much on the agenda today. Next week will be another one of the whirl wind weeks that will spill over into the beginning of the following week. There are five separate pieces of materials that need completed this week. I have a running start on all but one of them. There will be a race to have those all ready for printing next Thursday. Then there are two days of food pantry, along with those are a couple of days of celebrating on my calendar. 

Hopefully a nice relatively quiet day today is what is called for to start things off. 

The word today is light. Light tomorrow with today! Elizabeth Barrett Browning.  Shadow owes its birth to light. John Gay. To love beauty is to see light. Victor Hugo. We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light. Plato.  A light wind swept over the corn, and all nature laughed in the sunshine. Anne Bronte. Come forth into the light of things, let nature be your teacher. William Wordsworth. If you have knowledge, let others light their candles in it. Margaret Fuller. Truth will ultimately prevail where there is pains to bring it to light. George Washington. Let no man imagine that he has no influence. Whoever he may be, and wherever he may be placed, the man who thinks becomes a light and a power. Henry George.  The stars, that nature hung in heaven, and filled their lamps with everlasting oil, give due light to the misled and lonely traveller. John Milton.  Light is the symbol of truth. James Russell Lowell. The love of a mother is the veil of a softer light between the heart and the heavenly Father. Samuel Taylor Coleridge.  Fond memory brings the light of other days around me. Thomas Moore. Reputation is only a candle, of wavering and uncertain flame, and easily blown out, but it is the light by which the world looks for and finds merit. James Russell Lowell. 

Today’s photo title is “I made this”. I decided to make my temperature blanket in sections. I have a summer one completed and the autumn one will be completed in the nest ten days. There will be two more, one for winter and one for spring. Each line of crochet represents a day and each color represents a certain temperature range. 

We have some architecturally gorgeous theaters in our down town/up town. Two are the Ohio Theater and the Palace Theater. This article is about one of the outstanding parts of the Ohio Theater. There are tid bits about the “Chandelier, the Flying horses and shooting sparks”. In June the chandelier was lowered for it’s first cleaning since 2018. The chandelier is 21 feet high, 11 feet wide and is adorned in crystals and in has 339 light bulbs. It weighs 2.5 tons and takes four days to clean. The article listed some “fun facts about the chandelier” for one workers can actually walk on it. When it is lowered to clean it is lowered to balcony level. But workers have to stand on it to reach the highest parts. One of the workers said that he “will throw my rappelling harness on, climb up onto the first set of arms and strap myself in”. According to the article in the late 2000s there were sparks coming from the chandelier. It was found that the original paper insulation had worn away, it had to be rewired to fix it. At one point, according to a story, the architect said he was unhappy with the original design. So the designer said that “he’d put everything on it .....except flying horses”. So there is an addition...horses on the arms of the chandelier. 

I’m trying to make up my mind if it will be Taco Bell for dinner or pizza (since we missed this past Friday).

Joy

 a touch of color


Saturday, December 18, 2021

 December 17, 2021 a thought for today, Distant water won't help to put out a fire close at hand. Chinese Proverb

It has been another of those days that my plans were detoured a bit. I am getting use to the saying “the best laid plans of mice and men”. I woke up remembering an email I got yesterday after I had printed the bulletin.....we are doing an anthem this week and I had totally forgotten so it wasn’t in the bulletin. So, after I checked the virtual messages and news, I made the additions to the bulletin and typed the shove with the lyrics to the song we would be singing. I got to church around nine o’clock. Chris came in before I left so we had a nice chat. 

I got it all done in about an hour then headed for home and the long to do list that I had made for myself.  

On December 16 the photo for the day's title was “peace”. I have candles placed among my indoor house plant “garden”. That seems to have the feel of peace. Hence, photo of the day. 

My to-do list for today is as follows...get the kids “stocking stuffer” type gifts ready, that was six for the great grand kids and three for the twins. Also, a small one for each of my next door neighbors. Next on the agenda was making a birthday card for one of the church members. The stove top was in need for a good cleaning so I tackled that job and got it out of the way. I got one more calendar done and two coloring books for Saturday evening. I also got a few of the coloring pages Patti asked me to do for a hand out to the kids at church on Christmas eve. I will to the rest of those tomorrow. I left getting the watering done and the kitchen floor until tomorrow. 

I had a call from my sister-in-law sending me a birthday wish and we had another nice chat. Lowell called and invited me out for dinner tonight.

The word for today is life.  The true secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life. William Morris. Every man dies. Not every man really lives. William Wallace.  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 one another, only a look and a voice, then darkness again and a silence. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it. Henry David Thoreau. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better. Ralph Waldo Emerson. To live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often. John Henry Newman.  The art of life is to know how to enjoy a little and to endure very much. William Hazlitt. Into each life some rain must fall. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The golden moments in the stream of life rush past us, and we see nothing but sand; the angels come to visit us, and we only know them when they are gone. George Eliot. Remember when life's path is steep to keep your mind even. Horace. Begin at once to live, and count each separate day as a separate life. Seneca. You can preach a better sermon with your life than with your lips. Oliver Goldsmith. Variety's the very spice of life, That gives it all its flavor. William Cowper. 

Today’s photo challenge is “small”. I took this photo of my great grandson when I had a chance to visit with him yesterday. It reminded me of the tiny life seemingly headed for the huge outside world.

Here’s another trip back in time to a Columbus of the past to a Christmas time in 1921. Columbus was growing successfully with people of “diverse backgrounds and origins”. It had grown and developed from a “modest Midwestern capital city”. The buggy business that was extreme in Columbus along with the steel mills contribute to the growth. Other things that helped its growth was the Ohio and Erie Canal, the National Road, the established institutions for the blind, deaf and mentally ill and the Ohio State University.  According to the article by 1921 Columbus was waited for a “slow and gentle season of peace and joy”. Earlier Christmas’ were a little less slow and peaceful with the Progressive Movement, changes in the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 and a federal income tax in 1913. Then came World War I. Again, according to the article, the election of Warren Harding (of Marion Ohio) promised a “time of normalcy”. There would be challenges coming in the future bur in “the winter of 1921, peace seemed to be present....”. After the “feverish” rush of shopping a “quiet descended on High and Street and business”. Local religious and other organization worked to help the needy along with the Volunteers of American and Salvation Army’s efforts to help with baskets of food and supplies. Charity Newsies raised money to help Columbus children in need. Another item covered in the article is that the Ohio Penitentiary promoted a vaudeville show for the season on Friday night by the convicts. Schools closed for a ten-day vacation. Restaurants and theaters actually stayed open for business over the Christmas weekend. The Deshler Hotel offered a “Christmas Dinner with all the Delicacies” for $2. 

Lowell is taking me to dinner at Red Lobster for my birthday today. 

Joy   

is that a small container of honey mustard, I see?




Thursday, December 16, 2021

 December 15, 2021 thought for today, Living in worry invites death in a hurry. American Proverb

It is another of the whirl wind days. I think that is a natural happening during special holidays such as this. I started this day, after the virtual visits, on updates to the weekly bulletin, next I moved on to work from a phone call I got with a request to make an addition to the poinsettia memory and honor sheet. Moved on to the updates I had for the Christmas Eve bulletin. About a half hour later was an email adding a whole full page, front and back, list of song lyrics to become an additional shove to the Christmas bulletin. So there was no time for the updates I planned for the newsletter and for the packages I wanted to prepare for the grandchildren. 

Yesterday’s photo theme was titled “treat”. I reached back in my archives for this one. I’m not crazy about strawberries. But smothered in whipped cream it’s hard to beat.  

As I was finishing up on the last document, I got a call from my sister-in-law. We had a nice long talk. Several things came to light that helped with a situation I have been struggling with for some time. And I think we had a few minutes of new bonding, something we both seemed to need. 

It was time for me to leave to be the photographer for the delivery of canned goods we were getting from one of the elementary schools in our area. They have a food drive every year at this time and donate all the food to our food pantry. It was amazing how many people came to help unload the U-Haul van crammed full of canned goods. It took nearly an hour to unload. There must have been twenty volunteers counting six from the church going up and down the steps with boxes of food. Our visitors to food pantry in the next few months will have a larger selection of food to chose from. 

I took time when I got home to download a new book....I just finished Deadly Cross by James Patterson ....I downloaded Winter of the World by Ken Follett but found it was very long but very interesting. I decided to save it for another day when there isn’t so much on my plate so I returned it and downloaded The Racketeer by John Grisham instead. 

One of the two photo challenges for today is “green”. I was at church photographing a major event for our food pantry and so was on the alert for one of my shots for today. I found this one among all the food boxes and packages.

The word for today is letters. The art of art, the glory of expression and the sunshine of the light of letters, is simplicity. Walt Whitman.  More than kisses, letters mingle souls. John Donne.  Letters are among the most significant memorial a person can leave behind them. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.  Philosophy is written in this grand book, the universe, which stands continually open to our gaze. But the book cannot be understood unless one first learns to comprehend the language and read the letters in which it is composed. Galileo Galilei.  Any one who chooses will set up for a literary critic, though he cannot tell us where he went to school, or how much time was spent in his education, and knows nothing about letters at all. Saint Basil.  Critics are sentinels in the grand army of letters, stationed at the corners of newspapers and reviews, to challenge every new author. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.  Without 'tis autumn, the wind beats on the pane With heavy drops, the leaves high upwards sweep. You take old letters from a crumpled heap, And in one hour have lived your life again. Mihai.  A person who can write a long letter with ease, cannot write ill. Jane Austen.  I have proved by actual trial that a letter, that takes an hour to write, takes only about 3 minutes to read! Lewis Carroll.  To know the laws is not to memorize their letter but to grasp their full force and meaning. Marcus Tullius Cicero.   

I found my second photo for today, “pattern” in the colorful tiles. I like the lines, shapes, and colors along with the pattern so it was a perfect and artful fit for the title. 

Here is an article that offers yet another way help comes from one to another. The title is linking “older foster kids with furniture (and).... ‘Feels like home’”. It starts out mentioning how seniors as they are downsizing find they have things they can or will no longer use and that those things can be more than welcome to teens “aging” out of foster care and can’t possibly afford all that they will need to start a new life. There is a Granville based business who has found they can help with the seniors they are presently helping by joining in a partnership with an organization for foster kids and families. Many of the items seniors give up through downsizing are given to the foster kids in need of help to start a new chapter. The helping organization is called Songbird Transitions and began in 2016. The seniors are helped in making their choices of the pieces of furniture that will fit in their new home. The goal is to make the new place feel “like home”. The organization helps set up the apartment even hanging artwork. They plan for safe space like room for walkers etc. Then they go back to the old place. There they “relocate what is left behind” by giving them to Fostering Further, begun in 2015, for the foster kids going out on their own. This organization also gives the foster kids aging out of the system welcome kits with cleaning and hygiene supplies.  Before the partnership with Songbird Transitions they purchased a few pieces here and there to help the kids. It used to be that all the kids had would be an air mattresses on the floor and a trash bag or duffel bag with their belongings. This newly formed system helps both the seniors know their treasured belonging that they had to leave behind have a new life and purpose as well as to help them bring a new beginning to the kids. 

I think it will be creamed dried beef for dinner tonight. 

Joy

cans and cracks



Tuesday, December 14, 2021

 December 13, 2021 a thought for today, The world is a pot, man but a spoon in it. American Proverb

We had what turned out to be a beautiful and unexpected visit last evening. While I was in church yesterday morning, I had a text that we were invited to a dinner with my granddaughter in law, my daughter in law and son. So I got to spend some time with two of my great grand sons. This was the most time I have had with my newest great grandson. I got to hold and snuggle now and then with him for a long time. While his brother got more familiar with my name of “grandma”. 

The photo challenge for yesterday was “decoration”. We had a beautiful sanctuary at church. At Christmas time it is decorated to the wonder of many. This is only one of the areas that pulls the eye. 

This has been a multi themed day.....First, of course, there were the virtual checks to start the day off with news and communications through email. After that I found the template for this weeks bulletin (that’s about as far as I got on this subject for today though). Then, I had gotten an email with some of the names for the poinsettia dedications for Christmas Eve so I got those entered while they are fresh in my mind. I also had a note about a zip code change on one of my newsletter mailing list so I made that change. After all that, Sue and I got on our go to shopping clothes. We started out by getting small kind of “stocking stuffer” gifts for the coming week. Next was a stop at the fabric store for some yarn that I need to finish a project I am working on. Sue needed a quick stop at another store in the strip mall. We had a quick stop for an early lunch and one more stop at the post office so Sue could drop off some mail. 

I had a good texting session with one of my “grand daughters in law”. It offered some deep thinking and some sad feelings about a major incident in our family harmony. But apparently a higher power offered it as a cleansing and learning life lesson. This “lesson” brought other people into my thinking and I don’t want to second guess the others so I am not mentioning names. It’s just enough to share that there are these times in life for all of us. 

I am slowly getting ready for Christmas. There have been some minor set backs with my ink supply for the calendars which puts a further delay in getting them done. And then another minor switch in a crochet pattern I have been working on. I also had to make a change in some obligations for this week. I had to cancel one meeting for another, its sort of like a triage sort of decision, which is more important at the moment. 

The word for today is late. It is never too late to be what you might have been. George Eliot.  Beware of missing chances; otherwise it may be altogether too late some day. Franz Liszt. Life's tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late. Benjamin Franklin. Better three hours too soon than a minute too late. William Shakespeare. It is never too late to give up our prejudices. Henry David Thoreau. Glory paid to our ashes comes too late. Marcus Valerius Martial. Let no one be slow to seek wisdom when he is young nor weary in the search of it when he has grown old. For no age is too early or too late for the health of the soul. Epicurus. Everybody, soon or late, sits down to a banquet of consequences. Robert Louis Stevenson.  Whilst we deliberate how to begin a thing, it grows too late to begin it. Quintilian. Let none think to fly the danger for soon or late love is his own avenger. Lord Byron.  Ah, Nothing is too late, till the tired heart shall cease to palpitate, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.  I have come too late into a world too old, Alfred de Musset.

This days photo theme is titled “us”. I reached back in my archives to find something suitable. This is
most of the family at a joyful summer party many years ago. I set the camera on a tripod and set the timer then rushed back to take my place. 

Here is yet another story of an animal helping a human while bringing a brighter future. It is about a high school student who is saving for a personal goal of getting her special dog who is trained to let her know when an epileptic seizure is about to occur. She began to experience seizures in 2020. A year later she suffered something called a tonic clonic seizure. This type of seizure causes both tonic (stiffening) and clonic (jerking) effects. These episodes causes her to become unconscious and fall. Later that year she was diagnosed with epilepsy and further developed a “tic disorder”. She said she had been aware of therapy dogs but hadn’t imagined that she would one day need one. Dogs trained for this type of illness learn how to alert and then respond to the seizure by finding help if and when it is needed. They cost 15 to 20 thousand dollars. So while her friends were saving for a car she was saving her own special dog. The article explained that now she is “paired” with a German shepherd mix who is in the training program at Obetz. He will be placed with her soon and then continue training. His name is Milo and will undergo three more months before he can go home with her. After that she will be trained along side him. She will be able to add things to the training that will be specific to her wants and needs. How to behave in crowds, mobility, counterbalance, interruptions to mention some of the things he will learn. To help earn money to purchase Milo she is working on her skills as a jewelry artisan. She is selling some of her designs to Harris Lane & Co. located in Canal Winchester. She has earned half of what she needs. She hopes to set up a web site to sell her earrings, necklaces, key chains and more online. Her mother explained when she was interviewed that she and her husband taught their children that the need to work for things in life. She is hoping that Milo will give her daughter the independence she needs. 

Dinner will be a sort of surf and turf.....tuna casserole (left over) and hamburgers. 

Joy  

plastic and gravel....texture and shape.....both ready for recycle



Sunday, December 12, 2021

 December 11, 2021 thought for today, Where the heart would go, there follows the foot. African Proverb

I have gotten my Christmas calendars done.....not printed yet but formatted and ready for printing. Normally I make the family calendars with family photos on each page but this year I have changed the design. I am using photos form the Westgate area and ones that have had some impact when I uploaded them to public sites. Now the trick is going to be getting them printed before the 25th gets here. I am printing them on my home printer which is very slow. That will mean only two or three calendars a day.....cutting it kind of close. It’s more likely that they will be “late” Christmas remembrances as getting the ink I need and other holiday constraints. Anyway, so far that is what I worked on so far this morning, and it is almost noon. 

One of the photos of the day for this December 10 was “silver”. I don’t have much shiny silver around the house. But I do have these two vintage pieces of silver, fork and spoon, that need polished badly. 

 I also finished the coloring books for the HM3 free meal tonight. 

I will take a break in a few minutes to make some homemade noodles for the tuna casserole. I  generally make a huge mess when I make noodles....flour all over the counter and my shirt. But the taste ooooh so good. 

They were predicting dangerous storms for our area over night and into today.  We had the rain and thunder last night but not as severe as I expected at least not where I am. The thunder bothered Sweet Pea so she got in bed with me and didn’t move all night. Ooops I spoke to soon, we just got a huge gust of wind. It is even howling against the windows...stronger than I have seen in a while. 

The second photo for yesterday was “footware”. I had found this pair of tennis shoes when I was out hunting for thrown away objects for my “captured images” collection. 

The word today and for some further thought is knowing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. Henry David Thoreau.  Wisdom is the right use of knowledge. To know is not to be wise. Many men know a great deal, and are all the greater fools for it. There is no fool so great a fool as a knowing fool. But to know how to use knowledge is to have wisdom. Charles Spurgeon. In most things success depends on knowing how long it takes to succeed. Montesquieu. If a man insisted always on being serious, and never allowed himself a bit of fun and relaxation, he would go mad or become unstable without knowing it. Herodotus.   Without the way, there is no going; without the truth, there is no knowing; without the life, there is no living. Thomas A. Kempis. Thinking is more interesting than knowing, but less interesting than looking. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. I pity my brother Ferdinand, knowing by my own feelings how sad a thing it is to live apart from one's family. Marie Antoinette. 

Today’s photo challenge is titled “tree”. What better tree for the season than a decorated Christmas tree. 

This article offers another view of a history of a part of Columbus. It is titled “Early pastimes in Columbus were more than child’s play”. In 1812 the first “town” was beginning at the “High Banks” also known as “Wolf’s Ridge” just opposite Franklinton. When it first began there was a forest in the area of walnuts, hickory and maple trees along with large sycamores along the river. As the article mentioned it took saws (not electric ones) and endurance to bring down the trees, some 100 feet tall, and do the building. Apparently the stumps “remained for years. Time was taken from the strenuous work relaxation and games. Some of the games may be unfamiliar to us now, called prisoner’s base, four-holed cat, hop scotch, round the stakes and roly poly. There were some times feuds between “boys of Franklinton” and boys “of Columbus”. There would be ‘epithets and throwing stones across the Scioto”. The Ohio State Journal once called attend to the kids and how the “infested” the street with disturbances and “profanity”. It was felt that part of the cause was “want of schools”. It wasn’t that education was ignored or religion or morally for that matter. For adults there was summer evening with violin music, and coffeehouses where for conversations and “gaming”. In the summer there were gatherings on sidewalks with chairs or benches at the coffeehouses and taverns. When ladies would walk by the men with rise and greet her. In the Fifties equestrianism became a popular pass time. Parties were held in May especially for children. If the weather was bad, the parties would be held indoors usually in hotels. It was custom to have a May festivals which took place in what was then called Stewart’s Grove now called Schiller Park. There were “necktie” parties, “leap year” parties, “ghost” parties. There were cooking clubs, and trace carnivals. Many were held for “charitable purposes”. 

We are having tuna casserole and Pillsbury/hazelnut/cream cheese desserts for dinner. 

Joy 

after lunch .... clean the car ..... toss at will  




Friday, December 10, 2021

 December 9, 2021 a thought for today, A wound inflicted by a friend does not heal. African Proverb

Wow what a day! I got an early start today for the usual Thursday printing because there is more on todays list than usual. When I unlocked the door at church there were stacks of boxes and still more being added. They were destined for one of the ministries we help each year at Christmas called Cowboy Bucks. Helping young people be able to purchase gifts for their families. I got the printing done and was able to chat with Susan and then with Christopher. I needed to make a stop at the post office before I got home to start the laundry and then get to the shop for a hair cut. 

The photo challenge for December 8 was titled “mail”. I have done stacks of mail before and decided to use the mail box in the image this time. 

After my hair cut, I picked Sue up at home so we could head out in search of a new microwave. The one we have now isn’t working right. At some of the cycles it doesn’t heat at all at others it over heats. Rather than worry about something more serious happening, like a fire, I decided its time to get a new one. We had a bit of a discussion on the qualities between two that we had chosen. After the final answer one was loaded in the cart and we were on our way to one more stop. That stop was Office Max for ink and card stork....well I got the ink but they were sold out of card stock. So when I got home I ordered the card stock through online at Sams Club. Problem solved! And it was promised delivery for this evening. 

I also got back to the laundry and answering some email that had come in while out on the excursions. 

It’s not quite so cold today and they are predicating close to sixty degrees tomorrow. 

The word for today is kind.  Wise sayings often fall on barren ground, but a kind word is never thrown away. Arthur Help.  A gentle word, a kind look, a good-natured smile can work wonders and accomplish miracles. William Hazlitt.   Life is short and we have never too much time for gladdening the hearts of those who are travelling the dark journey with us. Oh be swift to love, make haste to be kind. Henri Frederic Amiel.   Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle. Philo.  We all have our own life to pursue, our own kind of dream to be weaving, and we all have the power to make wishes come true, as long as we keep believing. Louisa May Alcott.  In our leisure we reveal what kind of people we are. Ovid.  Show me the man you honor, and I will know what kind of man you are. Thomas Carlyle,  Friends... they cherish one another's hopes. They are kind to one another's dreams. Henry David Thoreau. 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.   You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late. Ralph Waldo Emerson .  Kindness is the sunshine in which virtue grows. Robert Green Ingersoll.  Kindness is ever the begetter of kindness. Sophocles. 

Today’s photo theme is “I bought this...”. I bought a couple of much smaller items today when we went
shopping for the microwave but this one was a better subject. The problem is I would like to have shown the microwave itself but I had to wait for Bob to get it out of the car and into the house.  He wasn’t home before I needed to upload so the box had to do with a filer that emphasized the shapes on the box as an added artful touch too.  

I hadn’t read this article all the way though before I chose it but it sounds like an interesting way of seeing this problem. The article is about archaeologists and climate change. The beginning of the article started with saying that for 10,000 years agriculture, city living and technology were possible with the climate that existed. Things happened to change balances. According to the article the burning of fossil fuels has pumped carbon dioxide into the air where it is “trapped”. It went on to mention that in 2008 it was expressed that archaeologists were in a “privileged position” that allowed them to understand the impact of climate change on human populations. For one thing they can report how humans have “faced similar challenges in the past”, times of environmental forces, such as from the Ice Age to a “warm and stable climate”. It went on further to relate that by doing little to reduce “greenhouse gasses” we may find ourselves in another rapid climate change. Ancient Native Americans called Ancestral Puebloan from the American Southwest suffered “the coldest decade across the Northern Hemisphere.....” This “catastrophic episode” caused massive volcanic eruptions in AD 536-541. The people of that period began forming their societies in larger “settlements” so that they could live in the comfort of shared beliefs which eventually grew into the UNESCO World Heritage sites (that seeks to encourage the identification, protection and preservation of cultural and natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity,,,,.such as Pyramids of Egypt, the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, Galápagos Islands in Ecuador, the Taj Mahal in India, the Grand Canyon in the USA, or the Acropolis in Greece). The last sentence of the article shared that “we need to make fundamental changes in our society if we are to survive our climate crisis.”   

We are having baked spaghetti and fried bologna sandwiches for dinner. 

Joy

really??? proof of no manners?





Thursday, December 9, 2021

 December 7, 2021 a thought for today, There is a doorway that connects two hearts. Afghan Proverb

It’s cold. I guess winter is here, except not by the dates on the calendar. The temperature is offering a taste of what is on its way to stick around for a couple of months. 

Yesterday’s photo challenge title was “something red”. I looked for and several objects in red as I went about my morning. This one seemed to fit especially for the season.  

I had the bulletin done yesterday and took another quick look at it before I sent it out to be read for corrections this morning. Then I worked on the Christmas Eve bulletin. I got started on it and decided to keep going to the finish. At least to the finish of information that I was given so far. That way it is not going to be a total last minute thing with so much else popping up at the time of year. 

When I finished the bulletins, I got to work on the frig. It was time to get it cleaned out. So the dish washer is running now. Since I was tiding up, I decided to make some sun tea and also put a few more ornaments on the tree. Decorating the Christmas tree takes me more than one day now. It use to be done in a few hours. I do have the lights on so it’s nice to enjoy them in the evening. I am just adding some of the ornaments now. Some of them have been in the family for years and bring back memories that take time to savor as the ornaments go on the tree. 

The word for today is justice.  Revenge is an act of passion; vengeance of justice. Injuries are revenged; crimes are avenged. Samuel Johnson. Justice is the sum of all moral duty. William Godwin. There is no crueler tyranny than that which is perpetuated under the shield of law and in the name of justice. Montesquieu. At his best, man is the noblest of all animals; separated from law and justice he is the worst. Aristotle.   Justice without force is powerless; force without justice is tyrannical. Blaise Pascal.  I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice. Abraham Lincoln. If we do not maintain justice, justice will not maintain us. Francis Bacon.  Fidelity is the sister of justice. Horace.  Next in importance to freedom and justice is popular education, without which neither freedom nor justice can be permanently maintained. James A. Garfield. Peace is more important than all justice; and peace was not made for the sake of justice, but justice for the sake of peace. Martin Luther. Knowledge without justice ought to be called cunning rather than wisdom. Plato. I believe in the equality of man; and I believe that religious duties consist in doing justice, loving mercy, and endeavoring to make our fellow-creatures happy. Thomas Paine. Justice is a temporary thing that must at last come to an end; but the conscience is eternal and will never die. Martin Luther.

The photo theme for today is “the weather outside”. There was no snow anywhere today so I thought the next best image for the weather outside in the part of the world is bare tree branches.

There seems to be a lot of this going on now days. Here’s another view point on the subject. I think this kind of art has been going on in Europe and in other parts of the US for a long time.  The following few sentences are from Google meant as an introduction to the article for today. “According to art historians, mural painting dates back at least 40,000 years. Street art is visual art created in public locations for public visibility. It has been associated with the terms "independent art", "post-graffiti", "neo-graffiti" and guerrilla art. Street art has evolved from the early forms of defiant graffiti into a more commercial form of art, as one of the main differences now lies with the messaging. Street art is often meant to provoke thought rather than rejection among the general audience through making its purpose more evident than that of graffiti”. The article today is about some of this street art in Old Hilliard. This one is on the wall at the Hilliard Civic and Cultural Arts Center. The 24 x 40 foot art work was started in September and was planned to be completed by mid December, depending on weather conditions. That artist said he loves being outside and feeling the seasons change.  He listens to music or pod casts as he works. This work features sunflowers, according to the possibility that it stirred the creation of the creation of the Hilliard Public Arts Commission. It is noted in the article that a resident painted a sunflower on her garage but it didn’t meet the colors of the city code. So it had to be hidden. The vision of the people who selected the artist was to promote public art. There are hopes that it will increase visibility of the arts commission. The artist of this mural attended Columbus College of Art and Design. He also completed a 100 x 20 foot mural on Gift Street in Franklinton, “Dream Together”. He has created several for the Harmony Project in Columbus. He has painted portraits for the nursing department at OSU. 

 I am making chili mac and grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner. 

Joy

left overs?