February 15, 2022 Knowledge is like a lion; it cannot be gently embraced. South African Proverb

My first photo challenge for February 14 was “n is for....”. I was at Kroger and as shopped I looked around for photos to fit my theme for the day. I liked the look of this package of Pistachios. I liked the hint of green. When I pulled it up in the “darkroom” (Photoshop) I was happy with the way the cellophane packaging gave the background a textured look. 

I am so surprised at all I was able to accomplish today. I knew I had food pantry today so I didn’t let myself sleep in. I had a mental list of things I would like to get done and I seemed to be adding to it the longer I was awake. I had started the bulletin yesterday and put a little time on it today. Then I got to my daily letter. After that I worked on getting old dishes out of the refrigerator, loaded the dish washer and washed a few by hand. With all the ice snow, salt on shoes, and mud the kitchen floor was screaming for attention, so I mopped it, not scrubbed but mopped....looks a whole lot better. I had a few minutes before I had to leave so I made a meat loaf so that I could put it in the oven when I got home from pantry. 

The second photo theme for yesterday was “heart”. This is something else found at Kroger this

morning. I did a little more Photoshop work on this one too. In the original photo there were a couple of floral arrangement. After I cropped the photo, I “removed” the parts of the floral arrangements that were left in the image. Otherwise the photo is the same, a heart mounted on a background of white slatted material. 

Food pantry was slow paced today so I got some stamps on some important paper for Patti. A friend took them to be mailed for me/her.  

The first photo theme for today was “o is for...”. I made a list of things that begin with “o”. When I volunteered at food pantry today I looked for things that begin with “o”. ...perfect...a bag of onions. 

On my way to the church I made some shots for the photo of the day, and got some more while I was at the church. 

When I got home, I peeled the potatoes and got them started cooking and the meatloaf in the oven. This is the evening that Bob gets home early so we generally have dinner early.

The second photo for today is “street scene”. As I pulled out of the driveway to head for church I shot this one through the car window.  

The word is present. In order for the light to shine so brightly, the darkness must be present. Francis Bacon.  You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment. Henry David Thoreau.  Life is divided into three terms - that which was, which is, and which will be. Let us learn from the past to profit by the present, and from the present, to live better in the future. William Wordsworth.  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 dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew. Abraham Lincoln.  It is said that the present is pregnant with the future. Voltaire.  Conscience is God present in man. Victor Hugo.  In rivers, the water that you touch is the last of what has passed and the first of that which comes; so with present time. Leonardo da Vinci.   The past, the present and the future are really one: they are today. Harriet Beecher Stowe.  We must never undervalue any person. The workman loves not that his work should be despised in his presence. Now God is present everywhere, and every person is His work. Saint Francis de Sales.   Whenever you are angry, be assured that it is not only a present evil, but that you have increased a habit. Epictetus.  The absent are never without fault, nor the present without excuse. Benjamin Franklin.  Rejoice in the things that are present; all else is beyond thee. Michel de Montaigne. 

I had a third photo theme for today, “ altered state (a photo image turned into a design)”. After I got home, I started dinner. I pulled the groceries out of the frig and found some sliced onion. This is one of the onion slices with a Flexify filter to rearrange the lines and texture and colors to get this image. 

Here is a bit of a story about another section of our town, the Brewery District. It is “traditionally known as Old German Brewing District”. It is located west of German Village. The article related that the spring-fed ravine at the confluence of the Scioto Rive and the “Columbus Feeder canal, made it the perfect spot for brewing beer. The first of this type business was opened in 1836. It became so successful that other locals opened more breweries. Now it was time for homes to be built. The houses were “German style 1+1/2 story brick homes”. Also included in a housing style that was Italian in character. Many of these historic homes still exist in the area and add the character their unique features display, “carved stone lintels, round and curved windows and doors and hood moldings”. There was a commission formed in 1993 which is “charged..to...preserve, protect and enhance” these homes and other features surrounding them. During the Civil War the breweries flourished. Later new ways of producing beer came along, the modernization and the depression affected the industry. Some were able to keep up with the new modern ways like malting and bottling, others couldn’t. In 1904 the three large brewers merged into the Columbus Brewing Company due to the Temperance movement and the start of World War I. In 1919 the breweries had to shut down with the 18th Amendment that began Prohibition. Over the next seventy years the buildings were sold and used for other kinds of businesses. The German “character of the area” faded. 

I am making meat loaf for dinner. 

Joy

out to lunch perhaps?