December 30, 2022 a thought for today, Words show the wit of a man, but actions his meaning. Jewish Proverb

The first upload for yesterday was “us”. Yesterday there weren’t any “us” present except me and Sweet Pea. So that was the logical and chosen image for the day. 

 It appears that I misjudged the character of a person that has been in my life often. I am dealing with the lessons that come with that and with the disappointment. 

Today has been a “catchup day”. I have managed to get a difficult track of winter “‘muck” on the hardwood floors cleaned up. Then I took the Christmas tree down . Next on the agenda was cleaning out the frig and running the dish washer. I also got the bill paying for the month out of the way.  So it has been an all around good day. All of that not to mention that the temperatures are back up and the sun is shining. The snow has melted. I guess we are ready for a new year. 

The next upload for yesterday was “ joy”. For me right now there is so much to be joyful for so I glanced out the window that my monitor sits next to and noticed the birds sitting, maybe joining in “conversations” with each other, on the now leafless bush. At that moment I felt the “joy” of life in nature, in life, in community so I snapped the photo. 

Next week looks to be on “calm” and peaceful side of things. Twenty twenty-two brought some “hard pills to swallow”. The final out comes were satisfactory but were a little hard to travel through. Hopefully this coming year is a little better. However, there was one amazing happening that brought me joy that made the rest only a life’s lesson. 

The fist upload today was “how I relax”. The best time of the day is when I relax in the lounge chair with my afghan blanket and my ipad that has my memory games and my current book along with my other hobby supplies on the side table next to me. 

The word for today is wisdom.  Wisdom begins at the end: remember it, John Webster. Wisdom is the most beautiful ornament of the human race, Annæ Mariæ à Schurman.  Wisdom is oft-times nearer when we stoop Than when we soar...William Wordsworth.  The young man knows the rules, but the old man knows the exceptions, Oliver Wendell Holmes. We can be knowledgeable with other men's knowledge, but we cannot be wise with other men's wisdom, Michel de Montaigne. Every wise man lives in an observatory, Augustus William Hare. "Some persons hold," he pursued, still hesitating, "that there is a wisdom of the Head, and that there is a wisdom of the Heart.. Charles Dickens. Knowledge is a process of piling up facts; wisdom lies in their simplification, Marti  H. Fischer.  ...common sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom, Samuel Taylor Coleridge. To know how to grow old is the master work of wisdom, and one of the most difficult chapters in the great art of living, Henri Frederic Amiel.  A proverb is one man's wit and all men's wisdom, Lord John Russell. Never, no, never did nature say one thing and wisdom say another, Charles Dickens. The invariable mark of wisdom is to see the miraculous in the common, Confucius. Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens, Horace.  Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it, Sophocles. 

The second upload today was “flames”. The best I could do was my three wicked candle....I think it made an interesting image....warm and comforting. 

I like the period in history that this article touches on especially the buildings. I like to discover how life was lived in different times in history. Really, I like most periods in history for it’s own special features. This article covers the underground railroad and how it was part of one of our communities....the village of Granville. There was a building called the Old Academy Building where “abolitionists” met to talk and plan for happening of this time in history. This part of Licking County enjoys “rolling hills”and a peaceful atmosphere. It was a place of “hidden refuge” for escaping slaves. In 1836 there was a riot “over the issue of abolition”. There are still “traces of the antislavery movement” left in the area. There is a structure that was used for student housing on Denison University campus to a coffee shop. There are landmarks along the “historic paths to freedom”. For instance the Granville and Buxton inns, the Timbuk Farms. The article mentioned that “Most students, residents and visitors aren’t aware of what transpired nearly 200 years ago on the streets they frequent today”. According to the article: “Slavery flourished within a hundred miles of Granville; it was as close as the Ohio River.” A few of homes that were in the Granville area at the time served as “rest stations for weary travelers”. The article mentioned that there were places of concealment in the village. Some of these can be authenticated. However, because of the threats of imprisonments people weren’t “foolish” enough to leave evidences on paper. 

Time for pizza again.... I think we will go back to Josie’s tonight, a rest from Donato’s for a while. 

Joy

                        Awwwww

 December 28, 2022 a thought for today, A man is not where he lives, but where he loves. Latin Proverb

One of the uploads for yesterday was “colourful” . I think of something more “colorful” than something red and no more perfect colors for the seasons as red and green. 

The sub zero temps seem to be subsiding, thank goodness. I am back in my bed at last. My room was not warm these past few days (nights) so I was sleeping in a lounge chair. 

I got a late start, a couple of days late as a matter of fact, on the church bulletin this week. The holidays seemed to have slowed me down a little. Anyway, I finished, started and finished it, this morning and sent it for proofreading. It was nearly time to get ready to go to food pantry by the time I got it done. 

Another upload for yesterday was called “food”. I love a nice garden salad and Spanish rice. This is an archived photo and made my mouth water as I was searching for an appropriate “food” image to upload

The last two days of food pantry have been on the slow side. It may be due to the weather or maybe the holiday events. Today was a little busier than yesterday. Interestingly, we had one client come in today who told us that a sheriff had recommended us for both the food pantry and for our weekly HM3 free meal.

An upload for today is “a book”. I chose more than one book. I was lazy and didn’t want to move anything so I shot them “as is”. 

The word today is windows. Without stirring abroad, One can know the whole world; Without looking out of the window One can see the way of heaven. The further one goes The less one knows. Lao Tzu. The Eyes are the window to your soul. William Shakespeare. Your days are numbered. Use them to throw open the windows of your soul to the sun. If you do not, the sun will soon set, and you with it. Marcus Aurelius.  Wherever you have seen God pass, mark that spot, and go and sit in that window again. Henry Ward Beecher. This world is full of remedies. But you have no remedy until God opens a window for you. You may not be aware of that remedy just now. In the hour of need it will be made clear to you. The Prophet said God made a remedy for every pain. Rumi.  Faith goes up the stairs that love has built and looks out the windows which hope has opened. Charles Spurgeon. Open wide the window of our spirits and fill us full of light; open wide the door of our hearts, that we may receive and entertain Thee with all our powers of adoration and love, Christina Rossetti.  If the house of the world is dark, Love will find a way to create windows. Rumi.  If I were a physician I would try my patients thus. I would wheel them to a window and let Nature feel their pulse. It will soon appear if their sensuous existence is sound. The sounds are but the throbbing of some pulse in me, Henry Thoreau.  An evil person is like a dirty window, they never let the light shine through, William Makepeace Thackeray.  There is a window from one heart to another heart. Rumi.  Maturity is when all of your mirrors turn into windows, Henry David Thoreau. It is the color which love wears, and cheerfulness, and joy--these three. It is the light in the window of the face by which the heart signifies to father, husband, or friend that it is at home and waiting, Henry Ward Beecher. 

So, for another up load today I came back to the poinsettia. The plant is sitting beside my monitor and I couldn’t help but notice as I glanced at it how the sun was so bright it was causing the plant to cast a wonderful shadow and a bright little starburst at the top of the planter. 

It is a little interesting to me about how many people go for walks in the metro parks during the winter months. I’m not sure many did during these last few sub-zero temps that we have been experiencing. But, I am sure there are a lot of winter loving people who will enjoy the adventure. I came across this article about “50 years of winter hikes” and thought I would take a look and share it.  According to the article the Metro Parks in our area started a Winter Hike Series in 1974 as a way to get people to visit the parks in winter time. The author said that in the early 2000s they were getting 100 people come out for visits in the park during the winter. It went on to relate that for some reason the number of visitors has grown too over a thousand people “showing up for winter hikes”.  Then the parks started a combination of guided and unguided hikes on certain days in January and February. On these hikes people are encouraged to look for “custom wooden ornaments at certain parks”. Some of the parks also offer refreshments at certain times. The mentioned custom wooden ornaments can be found at Walnut Woods the week of January 7, Slate Run January 14, Rocky Fork January 21 and Scioto Grove January 28. In February hot drinks and treats are available. Then in February the ornaments are available at Pickerington Ponds February 4, Heritage Trail February 11, Quarry Trails February 18. There will be a “Winter Hike celebration” on February 26 at Blacklick Golf Course. There will be ornaments and hot chocolate around a warm fire. 

It will be a quick air fry dinner again tonight, beer battered fish and fries. 

Joy

                                                                    curbside pick up 

 December 26, 2022 a thought for today, A hero is someone who can keep his mouth shut when he's right. Jewish Proverb

For obvious weather and minor health reasons I had to miss the candle light service Saturday evening, I spent that time in thought as a personal celebration of that very special event with my sister and one of my sons close by. 

On Christmas day one of the uploads was “my day’. My day is pretty much described in the paragraph below. This image is one of the few I took time to capture. I was to busy enjoying the nearness of this part of the family and the love we all share. 

Yesterday, Christmas Day, was uniquely wonderful for us. The family is splintered of late, parts in different sections of the country and situations. So our gathering was small but as warm and happy as it could be, thanks to Lowell and Rebecca. Rebecca made chicken noodle soup and chili. They bought and brought all kinds of cold cuts and fixings for sub sandwiches. One of our members who couldn’t be here but was invited furnished several “Nothing Bundt Cakes” for desserts. There was an exchange of small, some homemade, gifts. There was happy “small” talk of family loved and not present for this year and talk of ancestors thought of lovingly.  All in all a heartfelt day to go in the memory book. For me a true touch of the “reason for the season” of love that was born that day over two thousand years ago. 

The second upload for Christmas Day was “Christmas lights”. I liked the “faded” feeling of the lights and the “bokeh” (the effect of a soft out-of-focus background) I was able to capture in this image of this years Christmas tree. 

Not quite a typical Monday. The usual Friday after newsletter printing was moved to Monday this month (as it turned out weather wise it was better....there is still the deep freeze in temps and ice and snow still on the ground but there is a bit of an upward direction in “back to normal” winter weather). Dorothy and I took care of the newsletter duties in good time as usual and added a couple of other small chores for the church while we were at it. Then we were both on our separate ways to other adventures of the day.

When we did the curbside pickup this week, they were out of two of the items I use most often so when I left the church I stopped by Kroger to pick those up. Then a swing by White Castle for brunch for Bob and me.  

One of the uploads for today was “delicious”. This image is of the “Nothing Bundt Cakes” we had for our Christmas dinner dessert. This bakery and the “famous” cakes have become one of our favorite and often used special occasion desserts.  

The word for today is welcome. The soul should always stand ajar, ready to welcome the ecstatic experience, Emily Dickinson. Beauty is everywhere a welcome guest, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. This being human is a guest house. Every morning a new arrival. Welcome and entertain them all! Rumi.  Get a friend to tell you your faults, or better still, welcome an enemy who will watch you keenly and sting you savagely. What a blessing such an irritating critic will be to a wise man, what an intolerable nuisance to a fool! Charles Spurgeon. The worse the passage the more welcome the port, Thomas Fuller. Every day the increasing weight of years admonishes me more and more, that the shade of retirement is as necessary to me as it will be welcome, George Washington.  Never lose an opportunity to see anything that is beautiful. It is God's handwriting a wayside sacrament. Welcome it in every fair face, every fair sky, every fair flower, Ralph Waldo Emerson.  Silence is the universal refuge, the sequel to all dull discourses and all foolish acts, a balm to our every chagrin, as welcome after satiety as after disappointment, Henry David Thoreau. 

Another upload for today was titled “Christmas wishes”. I have used this image earlier in the month and felt that is was a good fit for today’s upload too. When I look at it I get the feel of hope from the light. I wish that the light that only comes from One source will overpower all of the evils in this world today. It does and it will. 

In my last blog I mentioned that I watch a PBS show on Thursday evenings and that on their last show they mentioned the history of Children’s Hospital. On the same show they mentioned the history of the Deaf School in Columbus. At the end of that short story they mentioned that the Topiary Garden grew out of the space where the original Deaf School was located. That part is what really caught my eye (ear). So I though I would share a bit of both entities in our city. Also the Deaf School has a bit of a personal connection. There was a person I worked with when I worked in a flower shop who was also a teacher at the deaf school.  In 1929 the “Ohio Institution for the Deaf and Dumb” opened in a rented house in Columbus at Broad and High Streets. At that time there was only one student. In the beginning there was a tuition of eighty dollars a year. There were nine scholarships that would allow some to attend free. Children from twelve years old and older could participate in a five year program studying subjects of English, math and vocational training. In 1934 a new building was erected for the school on East Town Street. For over seventy years there were new buildings built some included dormitories. By 1899 there had been three thousand and eighty-one children who had attended. By 1904 the name was changed to the Ohio State School for the Deaf and the Ohio Department of Education took over control. Apparently the building had not been well maintained because by 1941 it was in a “dilapidated” state. Around that time other land was purchased to relocated the school. Because of World War II construction was put on the back burner. As the new location grew, eleven buildings were constructed. By 2005 the age range of students had grown from three years to twenty-two years old. So onto the part where the Topiary Garden Park came into being at the Town Street location of the first building of the Deaf School. The Topiary Garden is the “only public park of its kind, not only in Ohio, but in the world as well”. It is a “living recreation of Georges Seurat's famous post-Impressionist painting, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of LaGrande Jatte”.  The garden was “conceived and sculpted in 1989" by an artist and his artist wife. There is a pond in the park that represents the River Seine, it is bordered by artificial hills. At one point in time the garden even appeared in the National Geographic magazine and the Wall Street Journal not to mention as a program on the BBC. 

I don’t feel a bit like cooking tonight so I think we will order in instead. 

Joy

                                Left over

 December 24, 2022 a thought to ponder for today,   A lie can take you far away -- but with no hope of return. Jewish Proverb

Friday was a horrendous surprise...well, not so much of a surprise, the weather men talked about it for several days but I was stubborn and a doubting Thomas until it hit. Temperatures were in such a state that I can’t remember clearly having experienced such as this for a long time at least not that lasted as long as this is predicted. The high temp was below zero all day long. My bed room is unheated so I chose a different area of the house to sleep for the night...a little less comfortable so a little more toss and turn.  I have a heat blanket but there are limits, as: the length of the cord, access to an outlet and the time the blanket will stay on before it shuts off. There was some snow and awful winds joining and adding to the drastic drop in temps. Needless to say I stayed in all day. Bob cleared the cars, the driveway and the porches (in ten to fifteen minute intervals) and started both cars to warm up. Today the temps are not much better. We have an event at church tonight that I think I am going to have to miss due to temps, slippery streets and darkness as well as my age and physical mobility. It is better all the way around that I stay home. I will be thinking of what the evening means being Christmas Eve and will be thinking of the meaning of the season if not joining in on all the celebration, it will have to be a personal celebration this year. Hopefully tomorrow will be somewhat better for the mobility issue and the state of the streets as well as being day light....for better eye sight. 

The first up load for yesterday was “a tradition”. I used this one from last year of two of my great grandchildren as they enjoyed a Christmas morning together.

We needed groceries so Bob warmed the car to a temperature much better than is offered in the kitchen and dining room at the moment, escorted me to the car and took care of helping the clerk load the car as I waited in the nice warm car. On the way to and from we slid once and nearly got stuck in a mound of snow once, he was driving...experienced....not me.

The second upload for yesterday was “candy”. I don’t have an candy on hand except for the tin or fudge and cookies one of my neighbor’s gave us.

We have a few family coming to share Christmas day so Bob and I did a little cleaning while we were house bound yesterday. I/we used the shop vac for the first time, rather than a standard electric sweeper or my irobot roomba sweeper. I am pleased with the ease of use and how well it did. Then I straightened the regular “clutter” catcher spaces, ie, my desk area, the kitchen counter and my hobby work spaces as well as the dish washer. I think we’re ready. 

I sent out my Christmas gift cards (online) for my great grand kids and wrapped the few gifts I will be handing out. Some of my gifts for the adults this year, my homemade annual calendar, will have to be mailed so they will be getting them a bit late. 

The first upload for today is “someone I love”. I love a lot of people and didn’t want to leave anyone of them out of my choice of images for this assignment. I chose my trusty shadow and most favorite furry friend gracing my life right now.....Sweet Pea. 

The word for today is weeds.  Prejudices, it is well known, are most difficult to eradicate from the heart whose soil has never been loosened or fertilized by education; they grow firm there, firm as weeds among stones. Charlotte Bronte.  A good garden may have some weeds. Thomas Fuller.  Go oft to the house of thy friend, for weeds choke the unused path, Ralph Waldo Emerson.  A weed is no more than a flower in disguise, James Russell Lowell. He who hunts for flowers will finds flowers; and he who loves weeds will find weeds, Henry Ward Beecher. We bring forth weeds when our quick minds lie still, William Shakespeare. A good garden may have some weeds. Thomas Fuller. Learn the lesson that, if you are to do the work of a prophet, what you want is not a sceptre, but a hoe. The prophet does not rise to reign, but to root out the weeds. Saint Bernard.  With a tiny bit of effort, the nettle would be useful; if you neglect it, it becomes a pest. So then we kill it. How many men are like nettles My friends, there is no such thing as a weed and no such thing as a bad man. There are only bad cultivators, Victor Hugo.  A Man of Knowledge like a rich Soil, feeds If not a world of Corn, a world of Weeds, Benjamin Franklin.  Yet, though it is like this, simply, flowers fall amid our longing and weeds spring up amid our antipathy, Dogen.  Suspicion and persecution are weeds of the same dunghill, and flourish best together, Thomas Paine.  Anger is a weed; hate is a tree, Saint Augustine. 

The next upload for today is “Christmas Tree”. I am not happy with the way the lighting in this image panned out. But in the haste and hurry of the season I decided to use it as my upload for this entry. 

I watch a program on PBS on Thursdays evenings called “Broad and High”. One segment of it is about historic areas of Columbus and surroundings areas. Last week one of the short stories was about the history of Children’s Hospital and mentioned things I never knew about it. For instance that it started out in a private home type structure and, in the beginning, had a hand full of patients and oh how it has grown. I have pieces of two articles here so my summary may a bit disjointed. One hundred and twenty-five years ago the hospital came into being “with the belief everything matters in the care of a child”, founded in 1892. It was established with the belief and promise that care for all children whether the family could pay or not, that “commitment ..has never changed”. After all these years patients come from fifty-two countries all over the world. It has grown to more than sixty clinics across Ohio. In 2016 partners and community support led to the creation of “stunning new facilities.......unsurpassed atmosphere of care......and will continue to provide outstanding care....to patients across Ohio and around the world for coming generations”. The first Children's Hospital was located “away from (what then was) the heart of the city” but was reached by a trolley line. At first doctors donated their time and a women’s board supplied the furnishings, beds, food and did the fund raising. In the beginning there were nine beds which expanded to fifteen beds all located in a house near Franklin Park. In 1917 two lots now known as Livingston Park were donated as space for a new Children’s Hospital. World War I caused a pause in the new construction. When construction began again for some of the cost for the new growth OSU offered it’s “brand new Ohio Stadium to be used as a fund-raising venue”. The new hospital opened in 1924 with 75 beds and “two solariums and an outdoor children’s play area”.  Today  Nationwide Children's Hospital has continued to expand and is one of the largest and most comprehensive pediatric hospitals and research institutes in the United States.

I am pulling the chili I saved earlier in the week for dinner tonight. 

Joy            

    Reflections on a rainy day

 December 22, 2022 a thought for the day, Where the tongue slips, it speaks the truth. Irish Proverb

An upload for December 21 was “on the floor”. One of my favorite subjects was taking a nap under a table and chair. Reminds me of children throwing a sheet over the table and calling it a tent. 

Here it is Thursday again. This one is a little on the different side of the ordinary. I had Christmas papers ready for church and the Christmas days. Five separate items to print. Four to be folded, fifty copies each of the two and seventy-five copies of two of them. Then seventy-five copies of one of them inserted to another seventy-five copies. All to be placed appropriately and two mounded on bulletin boards. 

The printing is done. Now to attack the laundry for the rest of the day....those basement steps look like they go on forever. 

Another upload for the 21st was “presents”. There are no little ones in the house any more so the number of gifts under the tree are few. 

Bob is on vacation again this holiday season. It is a blessing that I have him here to help me with some cleaning before Sunday. Tomorrow we will work together do put a little spick and span on things. It will be a good day to stay in from what I am hearing about the weather. Friday after the printing of the newsletter is usually the day we finish getting it ready for delivery but my helper and I decided that doing it on Monday this time would be better. That helps with getting other things done. 

An upload for today is “a gift”. Some of the neighbors exchange gifts and these are two of them for us this year. The other was a plate of cookies but they didn’t last too long. They were delicious. 

The word today is view.  It's easier to go down a hill than up it but the view is much better at the top. Henry Ward Beecher.  People are not disturbed by things, but by the view they take of them. Epictetus.  There is nothing insignificant in the world. It all depends on the point of view. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Nature will bear the closest inspection. She invites us to lay our eye level with her smallest leaf, and take an insect view of its plain. Henry David Thoreau. It is a narrow mind which cannot look at a subject from various points of view. George Eliot. I have no other view than to promote the public good, and am unambitious of honors not founded in the approbation of my Country. George Washington.  I've always felt that a person's intelligence is directly reflected by the number of conflicting points of view he can entertain simultaneously on the same topic. Abigail Adams.  Upon the subject of education, not presuming to dictate any plan or system respecting it, I can only say that I view it as the most important subject which we, as a people, can be engaged in. Abraham Lincoln.  Do not view mountains from the scale of human thought. Dogen.  A celebrated people lose dignity upon a closer view. Napoleon Bonaparte.  

A second upload for today was “Santa”. As I mentioned earlier, there aren’t any children I the house now so Santa isn’t one of our familiar decorations or visitors. This was he in a neighbor’s yard. 

I find stories about revitalizing old buildings interesting and encouraged that some old things with history stay around. This article talks about several buildings in the city that are being considered for revitalizing and some re-purposing. The Continental Centre on Gay street is one of them. It was built in 1972 and was used by the Ohio Bell Southwestern. The plans are to convert it to 336 apartments with the first floor being used for retail. It will also have a rooftop pool. Another is a building that has a bit of personal history for my family. It use to be the “old West High School”. It was built in 1908. My mom lived in the area we now call the “bottoms” which includes Franklinton and that school....it is now called Starling Middle School. She only attended there for a short time before she was moved to Central High School which is now COSI (Center of Science and Industry). The plans for this old school building are to re-purpose it to 45 affordable residential units. There will be some new construction on the “site” also leading to 52 other units. Another building being considered for renovations is the Masonic Block Building on Marion Street. This building was built in 1897. It ‘housed the area’s Masonic organization and its related businesses' for several years. The plan is for retail storefront spaces. 

I think it will be chicken in the air fryer for dinner tonight. 

Joy 

                                                                           facelift

 

 December 20, 2022 a thought for today, Listen to that which is well said even if it is from the mouth of an enemy. Greek Proverb 

An upload for yesterday was “joy is....”. For this upload I feel that family is joy and as an extra in this image, unwrapping gifts is also a joy.

It looks like I have all the formatting and typing done for the season (except for one entry). Whew....Now I can enjoy the holidays (after a little cleaning). 

The meeting last night was productive and interesting. It is always good for me to be with peers and share ideas and information in hopes to make things the best they can be for the church.

A second upload for yesterday is “winter”. This one is that park down the street from my house that I use often in my photo uploads. 

I am getting things here at home done early this morning so that I can get ready to go to church for food pantry. 

My first upload for today is “begins with S...”. I chose the star at the top of one of my grandchildren’s Christmas trees. 

The word for today is useful.  Always desire to learn something useful. Sophocles.  Books are as useful to a stupid person as a mirror is useful to a blind person. Chanakya. We should not look back unless it is to derive useful lessons from past errors, and for the purpose of profiting by dearly bought experience. George Washington. A harmful truth is better than a useful lie. Thomas Mann. Can anything that is useful be accomplished without change? Marcus Aurelius.   It is useful to constantly observe, note, and consider, Leonardo da Vinci.  Have regular hours for work and play; make each day both useful and pleasant, and prove that you understand the worth of time by employing it well. Then youth will be delightful, old age will bring few regrets, and life will become a beautiful success. Louisa May Alcott.   Our duty is to be useful, not according to our desires but according to our powers. Henri Frederic Amiel. Where I am not understood, it shall be concluded that something very useful and profound is couched underneath. Jonathan Swift. Choose the life that is most useful, and habit will make it the most agreeable. Francis Bacon.  

My second upload for today was “a decoration”. This is one of the columns in my church that gets a red bow and greenery each Christmas season.

At this time of year even more help may be needed for people who suffer disabilities of one kind or another. This article points out one such situation for adult people with all sorts of disabilities. There is a group of social workers in the area who gather items they know their “clients” would enjoy. As they have worked with their friends who have needed their assistance they have learned many of their likes and things that give them comfort. After the individual social workers shop and gather their choices for each of their clients they meet with other social worker to wrap their gifts with the provided holiday paper and scissors and tape as they listened to holiday music. This article is focusing on focus who work with the “Franklin County Guardianship Service Board, a board that is part of the probate court and employs social workers who act as legal guardians of adults who need them”. This organization has a gift drive each year. Companies and private citizens buy gifts from places like Amazon, Walmart and Target and donates them for the holiday cause.  In 2015 Franklin County choose to use social workers as guardians for adults in need and have been declared incompetent. These social workers are licensed, trained, educated and know who and when  to call other professionals when necessary. They “are guardians of last resort – meaning they enter the picture only when no family member or other person can act as an individual’s guardian – they are sometimes responsible for nearly 500 clients....with a variety of needs”. There are 19 social workers with 40 people to work with. Some of the people in need are homeless others are aging and don’t have family, still other may have dementia or other disabilities. The social workers give all kinds of help through the year, just talking sometimes helps them to discover needs beyond just the attention of the conversation. Imagine the warmth these people feel for that moment in time and at this special time of year..... seems to me there is another Hand in the mix. 

I had a third upload for today. Its title is “3:00". The image is self explanatory. And along with the time we have some greenery added for interest. 

 I think I am having beer battered fish (air fryer) and potato salad from the deli section of the store with cole slaw for dinner.

Joy

A crate left at a stop sign to be used as a small shelf by people holding signs and seeking assistance

 

 December 18, 2022 a thought for today, They sowed the seed of an 'if' but it didn't germinate. Greek Proverb

One of the uploads for yesterday was “had”. I thought the hat of the season is a Santa hat. So here is my model to display that hat. 

Well it’s been a mostly typical and good Sunday. The number of people at church was a little low but it looked like we may have had two or three new people. Hope they keep coming back. 

I had to make a stop on the way home for some Christmas wrapping supplies. And, of course, a fast food brunch for Bob and me. This time it was a visit to Wendy’s.

Another upload for yesterday was “musical”. I had been using my church choir folder for some information earlier in the day and decided that it met the title request. 

When I got home, I worked on the poinsettia dedication sheet to go with the Christmas bulletin. I have most of what will be needed at printing time next week done. I said most.....there will be last minute addition....there always are. 

The rest of the day will be the usual relax and reflect. 

My first upload for today was “I made this...” . These are two of the paper quilling pictures I have put together. 

The word today is unity. You see, don't you, how humanity can become one grand brotherhood if it only would, Alwyn M. Thurber. By faithfulness we are collected and wound up into unity within ourselves, whereas we had been scattered abroad in multiplicity, Saint Augustine.  Find the good. Seek the Unity. Ignore the divisions among us, Aristotle. Remember upon the conduct of each depends the fate of all, Alexander the Great.  He who experiences the unity of life sees his own self in all beings, Gautama Buddha. The reason why the world lacks unity, and lies broken and in heaps, is, because man is disunited with himself. Ralph Waldo Emerson. Hold firmly that our faith is identical with that of the ancients. Deny this, and you dissolve the unity of the Church. Thomas Aquinas. Take heed, then, often to come together to give thanks to God, and show forth His praise. For when you assemble frequently in the same place, the powers of Satan are destroyed, and the destruction at which he aims is prevented by the unity of your faith, Ignatius of Antioch.  Even the weak become strong when they are united, Friedrich Schiller.   Love is the cause of unity in all things, Aristotle. We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men, Herman Melville.

A second upload for today is trees. I didn’t really want to upload some more Christmas tree images so I made a trip to the park for some trees. Then I used a Photoshop filer on the image to give it a touch more interest. 

For the season I thought this article that I saw today would be an interesting bit to share about Mistletoe. There is a place in the town of Chesapeake Ohio, “hard on the banks of the Ohio River and about as far south as one can get in Ohio, American mistletoe grows wild in the boughs of silver maples, elms and other trees”. I didn’t think about different versions of the plant but learned from this article that there is the European mistletoe and the American mistletoe and nearly 600 species worldwide, with only one species in Ohio. In the little town of Chesapeake it is “easy to see” the mistletoe in the tree tops as forms of “roundish clusters that resemble poorly constructed bird or squirrel nests”. Some of the trees may have up to twenty “clumps” about the size of a basketball. Mistletoe plants in Ohio can be found from Cincinnati to Marietta. Here’s something else I learned: “Unlike some parasitic plants, mistletoe photosynthesizes and is quite green, even at Christmas. It derives nutrients from its host trees by way of specialized roots”. A question posed in the article is....  “How do mistletoe plants attain lofty perches in trees?” The answer, of course, is birds. The plants come into flower in late fall and winter then the “fruit”, the  berry, starts out pearly white which attracts the birds. Once they enjoy the gathering of the “fruit” they deposit their bounty which land in the tree tops.  The plants can live for several years. One point in their demise is the “host tree” that they are living on may be a “threat” due to disease. For photographers eager to shoot photo of the plant may have some difficulty since they are not “low growing plants”. 

It’s going to be take out for dinner tonight. 

Joy 

                        left behind

 December 16, 2022 a thought for today, Everything would be well were there not a "but." 

A photo upload for yesterday was “a star”. I have already used the star on top of my Christmas tree for one of my entries this month. So I visited last year’s archives and found this star that I had folded. I added a light filter to the image in Photoshop to the image. 

I am beginning to have waking ‘anxious’ dreams of what I have to get done in the next seven days. Yes....I am a worrywart and yes...things look much worse in the dark than in daylight.

As for today, I did some more minor changes to the almost completed newsletter this morning....those “changes to the point of almost completed...” are regular occurrences for me. I have learned to see it coming and move on. I also got a major start on one of the bulletins for next week.

A second upload for yesterday was “bracelet”. I don’t wear much jewelry but I had this Pandora bracelet my daughter had given me a few Christmases’ ago. 

I had to take a brake for a quick trip to the bank. I was surprised that I didn’t have to wait in line at all. I expected a long line and a long wait. 

I am hearing that we may be having some snow in the next few days. I am hoping that this winter is not one of those with lots of snow. I am not looking forward to driving my “new car” in the snow. 

I had a third upload for yesterday. The title was “office supplies”. Since I was working in the office yesterday I captured this image. 

With all the hustle bustle right now, all in all this is an exciting and happy season....I guess the hustle bustle adds to it.

The assignment title for one of today’s uploads is “candy cane”. This is another from my archives. I haven’t been in the store recently to be able to get a shot of candy canes and I don’t have in on hand in the house so it was back to the archives for this one.

The word for today is true.  Dare to be true. Nothing can need a lie: a fault which needs it most, grows two thereby, George Herbert. To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man, William Shakespeare. What is really beautiful must always be true, Stendhal. Opinion is a flitting thing But truth outlasts the sun, If then we cannot own them both, Possess the oldest one. Emily Dickinson.  Be true to your work, your word, and your friend, Henry David Thoreau. The only real failure in life is not to be true to the best one knows, Buddha. The true secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life. William Morris. True love is eternal, infinite, and always like itself. It is equal and pure, without violent demonstrations: it is seen with white hairs and is always young in the heart. Honore de Balzac.  For in the true nature of things, if we rightly consider, every green tree is far more glorious than if it were made of gold and silver. Martin Luther. True prayer is neither a mere mental exercise nor a vocal performance. It is far deeper than that - it is spiritual transaction with the Creator of Heaven and Earth. Charles Spurgeon. The true triumph of reason is that it enables us to get along with those who do not possess it. Voltaire.  True progress quietly and persistently moves along without notice. Saint Francis de Sales. 

My second upload for today is “shadows”. This one is on my front porch and shows a shadow of the rain chain and one of the columns. 

I think what may keep drawing me back to stories about Franklinton is that it is one of the oldest parts of our city. Thinking about what it was and what it is and can be and how the things that were and the things are compare while introducing the new. I question what the old would think of the new. The article starts with saying that Franklinton has become a magnet for artists and it is helping to give a kick start to the revitalization to the “once neglected section of the city”. Some of the things that are of interest to one of the “residents” are: there is an old factory at 400 West Rich Street that use to make refrigerated drinking fountains and porcelain toilets. That was “back then” and now it produces art. The halls there seem to be a maze with galleries for new artists. Another of the old buildings is now the Land Grant Brewing Co. where the community go to hang out and share ideas. There is an event in the area that occurs every month on the second Friday of the month called Franklinton Fridays. The streets are filled with hundreds of people “celebrating art”. There is a large art sculpture of a giant sling shot that is prominent in the area. Also found in the regenerating area is also a nonprofit “settlement house” that offers services to children, adults and family. Still more offerings in the new space an region that offers workshops, educational areas and entrepreneurial discussions space where portions work with the Columbus schools. 

Going out to eat for my (and Gideon’s) birthday dinner. 

Joy

                                                          old and abused with a signature

 December 14, 2022 a thought for today, When you cease to strive to understand, then you will know without understanding. Chinese Proverb

One upload yesterday.... “something green”. It’s winter in Ohio. There is not much green outside right now except forever green trees which at this time of year are a little over used in photos. This is my great grand daughter’s Christmas sweater. I have to pull it from the archives, last year’s Christmas photos. 

I have been slowly working on the Christmas activities both for family and church. It is moving along, slowly but moving. It’s like a battle with the clock. 

I finished the newsletter this morning except for two articles that usually come in at the last minute. A little while ago I received one of those articles by email. Also at the same time as the check in finding that message there was another containing the information I need for next week’s Christmas bulletin. Those give me things to work with that should reduce a good bit of the stresses that comes with last minute details. 

The second photo for yesterday was “sweater”. I’m sure you noted that it is the same sweater as the above photo....you’re right. When it fits it fits, in this case the title for the photo assignment.

I got a good supply of photos from the huge donation of food the church got from Harmon Elementary school yesterday. It’s amazing the amount of food that that particular food drive is able to collect for our food pantry each year. 

Now I am going to work on binding some more of the “Christmas” calendars that I make each year. 

My first upload for today is “decoration”. There all kinds of decorations around to fit the season....hard choice to pick anyone particular one for display. 

The word for today is trouble.  Trouble is the common denominator of living. It is the great equalizer, Soren Kierkegaard.  Troubles are often the tools by which God fashions us for better things, Henry Ward Beecher.  It is not in the still calm of life, or the repose of a pacific station, that great characters are formed. The habits of a vigorous mind are formed in contending with difficulties, Abigail Adams. Opinion has caused more trouble on this little earth than plagues or earthquakes. Voltaire.  Difficulties show men what they are. In case of any difficulty, God has pitted you against a rough antagonist that you may be a conqueror, and this cannot be without toil, Epictetus.  Worry is the interest paid by those who borrow trouble. George Washington. I've never known any trouble than an hour's reading didn't assuage. Arthur Schopenhauer. This is the mark of a really admirable man: steadfastness in the face of trouble. Ludwig van Beethoven. It is a light thing for whoever keeps his foot outside trouble to advise and counsel him that suffers. Aeschylus. Trouble springs from idleness, and grievous toil from needless ease. Benjamin Franklin.  The evils of mortals are manifold; nowhere is trouble of the same wing seen. Aeschylus.  

My second upload for today is “animal”. I caught this guy looking for food .... maybe trying to figure how to get the lid opened?!

This is a Columbus landmark of sorts at least in the German Village area. So just a note of good fun in the season. The title to the article is “The Red Coat Suspects: Who’s Responsible for the Umbrella Girl’s Holiday Wardrobe Change? Columbus Monthly investigates the mysterious tradition in German Village’s Schiller Park”. Apparently this is a tradition, putting a red coat on the statue. According to the article the neighbors enjoy the “playful, charming and quintessential German Village moment”. Part of the purpose of this article is to find out who it is that puts the coat on the statue....it seems to be a secret. So news  “investigators” went through a list of possibles. Could it be one of the Friends of Schiller Park and the German Village Society? Then there is the landscaping folks. One who spends hours in the park flower beds and landscapes. There is a good chance that it could be the sculptor of the statue. Also mentioned was a nearby school teacher who considers her (the statue) one of her honorary students. There is one of our former  “beloved” TV anchor’s who finds German Village a remarkable place. Even a ghost who was a prankster is considered as the wardrobe assistant for the statue at this time of year. Here is a little note or reminder about the “Umbrella Girl or The Umbrella Girl Fountain”. In 1996 this fountain and sculpture was constructed. The copper fountain and sandstone pool replaced an earlier one where the statue depicting Hebe was located , she (Hebe) is the goddess of youth that was a drinking fountain in that place in 1872. It had been moved to a pond in the 1920s with an umbrella added. In 1996 the now new fountain was installed. So now the statue is “mysteriously draped in a red cloak each holiday season.”

More air fry for dinner. I am getting use to how it works and what works best. It is chicken nuggets and home fried potatoes. 

Joy 

                                 substitute table/trash receptacle 

 December 12, 2022 a thought for today, To be uncertain is to be uncomfortable, but to be certain is to be ridiculous. Chinese Proverb

An upload for yesterday was “free choice”. As I was driving home from church, I passed the sight. I thought I saw something dark against the tree trunk and slowed down seeing this black cat staring at me and not moving a muscle. 

This week is going to be busy building to the even busier week that will follow. I am going to do my best to get as much out of the way this week as I can so that next week won’t be a deluge. I hope to get the Christmas “gifts” I have been working on for two months done. I also hope to get as much done on the church newsletter as I can so I will be ready for the last minute cut and paste work to finish that one off. That will make the rest a little less stressful. I have two bulletins to do next week as well as the poinsettia dedication sheets. That along with typing two bulletin inserts for lyrics for the anthems. Then last minute fill ins for the newsletter. That is also the first week of our monthly food pantry. 

This next upload for yesterday was “gift wrap”. I still have to shop for some wrapping supplies but I had these handy so decided to use them for this theme.

I got this week’s bulletin done this morning barring any changes which could happen in the next couple of days. After that I moved to the kitchen. It needed some cleaning. 

After I make the noodles for dinner, I will try to get some more done on the newsletter. One of the things I need to do is the photo page. I have one set of photos from the carol sing we had last week. We are supposed to get a large delivery of donated food from an elementary school tomorrow. I will need to go get some photos of that for the newsletter too. 

One of todays photos is “lights”. What better lights in this season than the ones on the Christmas tree. I was a little lazy this year and only got two strands put on the tree. 

The word for today is travel.  Nothing so liberalizes a man and expands the kindly instincts that nature put in him as travel and contact with many kinds of people, Mark Twain.  There are no foreign lands. It is the traveler only who is foreign, Robert Louis Stevenson.  The use of traveling is to regulate imagination by reality, and instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they are, Samuel Johnson. Travel, in the younger sort, is a part of education; in the elder, a part of experience, Francis Bacon. The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page, St. Augustine. A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving, Lao Tzu.  Travel brings power and love back into your life, Rumi. Wherever you go, go with all your heart. Confucius.  Our deeds still travel with us from afar, and what we have been makes us what we are. George Eliot. The world is a country which nobody ever yet knew by description; one must travel through it one's self to be acquainted with it. Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield.  Take only memories, leave only footprints, Chief Seattle.  Look at the stars lighting up the sky: no one of them stays in the same place,  Seneca the Younger.  When you are everywhere, you are nowhere. When you are somewhere, you are everywhere, Rumi . A wise man travels to discover himself, James Russell Lowell.  

Another up load for today is “twelve things”. I didn’t have twelve drummers hanging around so I used twelve of my paper quilled snow flakes. 

Union Station and its arch are historic pieces of our community. Near the time that Union Station was closed my husband’s grandfather was married. He and his bride started their honeymoon on a train leaving from Union Station. That would have been a joy for him having been a railroad person for many years before he retired. I remember driving them to the station after the wedding. After the station closed they moved the arch way. I learned some things about the history of the Union Station in this article. For instance I didn’t realize the Union Station “as it is recalled today was actually the third Union Station in Columbus”. The first two were in existence in the 19th century. They were replaced because of “rapid growth in traffic....and railroads at that time”. The article related that in 1891 the traffic was at a crisis causing the roadway to be blocked for up to seven hours a day. One of the main designs in the plan for a new station was for a viaduct over the tracks. In 1893 there were 112 passenger trains a day.  In 1897 the new station opened and accompanying arcade was finished in 1899. The arcade offered stores and offices on top of the viaduct. In 1928 part of the Arcade was demolished so that a driveway to the station could be upgraded. There was another upgrade in 1931. In 1956 daily passenger trains had decreased. By 1962 there were only twenty-one, in 1970 just ten. Automobiles and interstates had come onto the travel scene. In 1971 Amtrak took over “what was left of passenger service”. The arch that became famous with Union Station came into existence in 1893 and was finished in 1899. The arch was listed on the National Register of Historic Places form 1974 to 1999. Preservationists managed to save the familiar Union Station Arch and moved it to storage in 1977 then it was placed in a new park called Arch Park in 1980.  Later a parking garage was built there and the arch was moved again in 1999 to become a “sculpture” and architectural and historical relic consisting of the original “four fluted round Corinthian columns” with other unique carvings and medallions. There are other parts of the original arch still in storage.

I am making tuna casserole for dinner tonight....that means making homemade noodles. 

Joy

                                            over flow