March 11, 2022 a thought for today, Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Walk beside me as we may be as one. Native American Ute Proverb

This is one of those days where there were plans for how the day would go but the plans got changed. I had a dental appointment but didn’t know if it was for a cleaning or a follow up with other work planned so Lowell was going to take me. Something came up that caused a trip out of town for him and Rebecca so I rescheduled my appointment. After the appointment I had planned to take Sue out for a couple of her errands. We moved those up time wise since we have the whole day ahead.

The first photo of the day for March 10 was “a meal you made”. This is my chili with dumplings, crackers (Ritz by the way), and hash brown potatoes. 

Yesterday, after I printed the bulletin, I printed a draft copy of the annual report to check on the layout, formatting and placement of graphics and borders. When I got home and had a chance to study it, I saw that I needed to add one more page and add a deleted page back. I also noticed a situation I want to chance with some of the photos. I like to make the annual report booklet something in the order of a diary of history in our daily activities so the photos are an important part. They add visual history of capturing a moment in time. Anyway, all of the technical data seems to be where it should be so all I have left before the report is due late next week is arranging the photos and/or graphics. 

The second photo for yesterday was “ostentatious”. Well, I looked at the word as outrageous or vulgar. To me, this fits the meaning perfectly. Although even in probable ruin there is something of interest.  

Since I wasn’t going to be getting out of the car to shop today we took Sweet Pea with us. She gets so excited to take a car ride. As Sue was shopping, I took Sweet Pea for a short walk, she couldn’t seem to get enough sniffing. Later Sue and I went by the park so I could get a couple of photos, Sue walked Sweet Pea again. I thought sure she would try to investigate the “ gaggle” of geese that were enjoying the pond. She didn’t seem to be the least bit interested. I couldn’t get the exact photo I had in mind because there were workers cleaning out the drains in the pond. I wanted a view of the park with the length of the pond in the foreground then extending to the end of the park. 

Yesterday was one of the days I had three photos to look for, prepare and upload. This one is “silhouette”. What’s more perfect than a child looking upward with hope.

I finished my book World Without End by Ken Follett. I really got “involved” in it. I realized after I got into it that I had picked it up before. That time I skipped through it. This time I did a more thorough reading, it’s a very long book, and in my opinion very good. I “returned” it to the library for the person waiting and up loaded a new one, Stone Cold by David Baldacci. I started reading it last night. I haven’t read this one before but it appears to be a continuation of one I did read before. The characters are pretty much the same and one of the story lines connects to an earlier one. 

The first photo a day challenge a day for today is “somewhere with a good view”. This was the closest for me to get to today and I didn’t have to go through my archives. This is the theme I was looking for as mentioned in the paragraph above. 

The word today is return.  The mind ought sometimes to be diverted that it may return to better thinking. Phaedrus. Books, like friends, should be few and well chosen. Like friends, too, we should return to them again and again for, like true friends, they will never fail us - never cease to instruct - never cloy. Charles Caleb Colton. Never was a faithful prayer lost. Some prayers have a longer voyage than others, but then they return with their richer lading at last, so that the praying soul is a gainer by waiting for an answer. William Gurnall  This is the truth: as from a fire aflame thousands of sparks come forth, even so from the Creator an infinity of beings have life and to him return again. Marcus Tullius Cicero. The person who receives the most favors is the one who knows how to return them. Publilius Syrus.  The nearer people approach old age the closer they return to a semblance of childhood, until the time comes for them to depart this life, again like children, neither tired of living nor aware of death. Desiderius Erasmus. Love often leads on to ambition, but seldom does one return from ambition to love. Francois de La Rochefoucauld.  Return good for good; return evil with justice. Confucius.  In the woods we return to reason and faith, Ralph Waldo Emerson.  Return to the root and you will find the meaning, Sengcan.  If you say hard things you must expect to hear them in return, Plautus.  When the light returns to its source, it takes nothing of what it has illuminated, Rumi. For whoever knows how to return a kindness he has received must be a friend above all price, Sophocles. The mind ought sometimes to be diverted that it may return to better thinking, Phaedrus. Use your own light and return to the source of light. This is called practicing eternity, Laozi.

The second photo for today is “knotholes”. When Sue and I were out an about we checked out wooden fences (don’t find to many of them anymore, the plastic ones are moving in and taking their place). 

This article is more history about a part of town I am familiar with and some of the parts of it I enjoyed as a young person. Years ago at the closest “mall” to our neighborhood was an attraction call the “Walk O’ Wonders”.  It was the seven wonders of the world in miniature. The article begins with the only part of that exhibit that is left,  Eiffle Tower.  It now rests in a wooded suburbia of Columbus. It is a 22-foot-tall, 1/48th the size of the original, wrought iron replica of the real thing. In 1955 the Walk O’ Wonders took up a 700-foot-by-60-foot strip of the parking lot of the shopping center. Other parts of the exhibit was a 20-foot tall Leaning Tower of Pisa, a model of the Grand Canyon, 40 feet long and 8 feet deep. Moving on there was a miniature desert with the Great Pyramids and Sphinx. Then came the Niagara Falls, this one pumped a million gallons of water a day. Some of the stores that would eventually come to the site came from a larger mall down the road. The came with the knowledge of the “Walk O’ Wonders” drawing people in. Most of the “miniatures” were made of cement and plaster....except the Eiffel Tower. The whole project cost about $250,000. It didn’t take long to become a landmark in Columbus. It is believed that the Walk O’ Wonders was a way for people to “see the world without leaving Columbus”. There were busses of school children regularly visiting the exhibits. Mentioned in the article was a downside to the exhibit which was a security liability for the shopping mall. There were people interested in destruction of property even back then. They would come in the night and dump soap in the Niagra Falls. This caused the pipes to clog. There were other minor marks of vandalism. The adventure of the “Walk” lasted for more than a decade but then was bulldozed in the 1970s. The Eiffel Tower survived but was removed when the parking lot was resurfaced in 1979. One of the family members of the group who originally put the exhibit together brought in a flatbed truck and removed the tower. The exhibit was an “important cultural landmark at the time for the city and the neighborhood”. 

Pizza night has come again. 

Joy

oooops, someone is the turn?