January 20, 2022 a thought for today, The bee has a sting but honey too. Swedish  Proverb

I got the information late yesterday afternoon so between food pantry, fixing dinner for the family and getting ready for choir practice I was able to get all but one point done on the bulletin. This morning I got up early and researched, typed and entered the last article, formatted all the parts and pieces in the bulletin, then saved to flash drive and left for church.

The photo theme title for yesterday was “lucky number”. I don’t think I have a particularly lucky number but for some reason I have always liked the number seven and three. So I used the number seven that was painted on the floor of one of the rooms at church where games have been played. 

There was a box I wanted to get in the mail so when I got home I finished packing it, taped and addressed it and left for FedEx for getting it on it’s way. On the way home from there I stopped back at the church to get some photos of the taking down of the Christmas decorations. 

Finally back home....made some phone calls and started the laundry. 

One of the photos for today is “a path”. This is one of the paths at the metro park a couple of blocks from my home and one I frequent a lot for photos. 

I finished the Law of Innocence by Michael Connelly Tuesday evening. I felt the need for a break in my usual and favorite genre of reading style. I tried again to download a book my grand daughter-in-law told me about a few weeks ago. I was able to get it this time (I had tried before and all copies were loaned out). It is called The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. It’s very interesting. I’m still digesting its meanings. Hint: The gist of it is not just about bees. It takes some “reading between the lines” much like some of quotes require.

The word today is others.  Great minds have purposes; others have wishes. Washington Irving. If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants. Isaac Newton.  Respect for ourselves guides our morals, respect for others guides our manners. Laurence Sterne.  Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others. Marcus Tullius Cicero.  What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal. Albert Pike. The improvement of understanding is for two ends: first, our own increase of knowledge; secondly, to enable us to deliver that knowledge to others. John Locke. What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others. Pericles. There is no respect for others without humility in one's self. Henri Frederic Amiel. Better to illuminate than merely to shine, to deliver to others contemplated truths than merely to contemplate. Thomas Aquinas. Those who are at war with others are not at peace with themselves. William Hazlitt. The jealous are troublesome to others, but a torment to themselves. William Penn. What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like. Saint Augustine. 

The second photo for today is “anything on ice”. This is a perfect subject for the weather we are having right now.  While I was at the park and watching the ground as I cruised the parking lots this is one of the many spots of ice I saw. 

We’ve seen dogs and horses used in therapy and other ways they help for people, here’s one about a bunny. This article is a story about some students at Briggs High School here in Columbus. Some of them have a very friendly white bunny named Briggsy. There is a place at Briggs called the calming room. This is where Briggsy spends her day. Her job, and it seems to come naturally to her is to help students “decompress”. At one staff meeting the subject of the stress students, all of us for that matter especially during this on going pandemic, was brought up. One of the members suggested bringing in a therapy dog. Then another staff member mentioned that she knew of someone who fostered rescue bunnies.  According to the article “the idea took off from there”. Apparently there were fifteen bunnies “living in a hoarding situation....they were released into a Columbus neighborhood to fend for themselves”. Briggsy was one of the fifteen, she was in bad shape when she was finally picked up. “The principal decided to give the bunny a one-week trial”. The affect she had on the students was “amazing”.  She has been at the school for several weeks. The article went on to note about one of the students who was so upset that she had trouble letting other know what was bothering her. They put the bunny in her arms in the calming room. The article said that as people watched her anger left then she was able to talk about her problems. The calming room is now outfitted for Briggsy with her own toys and bedding. There are even dresses for her for special occasions “such as honor roll celebrations and award ceremonies”. On the weekends she is not left in the calming room all alone she is taken home with a staff member or student caretaker. She is now a “member of our community” says the staff. 

I think I am going to order in from Ding Ho for dinner tonight.

Joy     

practicing their art