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