May 30, 2022 a thought for today, Candour will lose you some friends, but not as many as deceit. Albanian Proverb

My photo of the day for yesterday was “a car”. As you know I don’t have a car right now so I used Bob’s, showing his backup camera and all. 

It’s a holiday......a nice relaxing holiday. Well, I have a list of things that need done today. Already done are two loads of bed cloths and remaking the bed. As well as paying some bills. I managed a short start on the bulletin. I also cleared some photos from my archives. Next on the agenda is to clear out the frig and run the dish washer. Then transplanting one of my large hanging basket planters. I think that will be the end of the chores for today except for peeling potatoes and starting dinner then the following clean up. 

The photo yesterday for the Canadian group is this drawing and batch of crayons. My title was “Some Kids Were Here”.

There were some more things to take care of with the insurance company. I have a copy of some information that may be helpful in the continuing information gathering. I sent part of it on Friday but this being a long holiday weekend it will be a few more days before we can take that next step. This is lasting much longer than I expected. 

Today’s photo of the day is “sky”. This one is of the bright blue sky with several fluffy white clouds. 

The word for today is worry.  If you look into your own heart, and you find nothing wrong there, what is there to worry about? What is there to fear? Confucius. Concern should drive us into action and not into a depression. No man is free who cannot control himself, Pythagoras.  He is rich who owns the day, and no one owns the day who allows it to be invaded with fret and anxiety, Ralph Waldo Emerson  Worry often gives a small thing a big shadow, Swedish Proverb. Do not anticipate trouble, or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight, Benjamin Franklin.  Happy is the man who has broken the chains which hurt the mind, and has given up worrying once and for all, Ovid.  Fear is pain arising from the anticipation of evil, Aristotle.  What worries you, masters you, John Locke. Sorrow looks back, Worry looks around, Faith looks up, Ralph Waldo Emerson.  Do not worry about not holding high position; worry rather about playing your proper role. Worry not that no one knows of you; seek to be worth knowing, Confucius.  It is not work that kills men; it is worry. Worry is rust upon the blade, Henry Ward Beecher.  Little minds have little worries, big minds have no time for worries, Ralph Waldo Emerson.  Be careful what you water your dreams with. Water them with worry and fear and you will produce weeds that choke the life from your dream, Laozi. Every tomorrow has two handles. We can take hold of it with the handle of anxiety or the handle of faith, Henry Ward Beecher. Heavy thoughts bring on physical maladies; when the soul is oppressed so is the body, Martin Luther.

This other upload for today is “working feet”. This if from the archives and was from one of the Ohio State Fairs when I came across the Clydesdales. There gorgeous “beasts”. 

This story is a bit of history about our community that I had no idea about. It’s about a little known set of graves of twelve soldiers dating back to the American Revolution. The article starts: “Behind a row of shops on Route 256 in Reynoldsburg, past the coincidentally patriotic dumpsters of BIBIBOP Asian Grill — one is blue, two are red, all three have white lettering -- are the graves of 12 soldiers....”. There about three hundred graves in this tiny cemetery. There are shops a golf course and an apartment complex nearly bumping up against this eternal resting place. Hundreds of drivers pass by on Route 256. The only mark of it’s existence is a sign “high on a light pole at the entrance to a retail plaza ...."Historical 1819 Seceder Cemetery Behind Shops." It seems every Memorial Day there are those, family, history lovers, who visit and pay respect. There is a short service and a gun salute. The “Seceders” were a group os Scotch-Irish Presbyterians who came to America in 1765. They came to Ohio and settled in the Five Points area where East Livingston Avenue meets Route 256 and Graham Road. A man named John Logan deeded the elders of Secession Church one acre for the graveyard. The five of the twelve veterans fought in the Revolutionary Way, two in the War of 1812, one in the Mexican War and four in the Civil War. There were tours of the cemetery by a naturalist at Blacklick Woods Metro Park until 2015. Early on the tours were on Halloween. A Civil War preservation group spruced  up the veterans’ graves. Then the tours changed to Veterans and Memorial Days. During the tours there were stories of the soldiers and some of their lives. It was mentioned that the “cemetery’s obscurity is part blessing and part curse. Its out-of-the-way location has spared it from the vandalism that plagues better-known cemeteries. But with so few people aware of it, the cemetery also is a little rough around the edges and is showing its age”.

I think we will have potato soup and fried bologna for dinner.

Joy

once was shinny and new

this is the last day of the month so I have two calendars of the uploads I did for the month of May, 2022

 May 28, 2022 thought for today, Authority without wisdom is like a heavy axe without an edge. Albanian Proverb

Just an update.....we are making a little more headway on my car situation. Another person on the executive side of the insurance action has come into the picture. We will see where that takes us. This is an interesting event. In all my years I have never had such a long, involved activity of this kind. I’ve never had an auto accident that required so much attention. Educational....

The photo of the day for My 27 was titled “lucky”. I didn’t have any rabbits feet or Lucy Strikes or Lucky Charms but I have lots of pennies. 

The curb side grocery pick up was on the agenda today as well as a stop at the vets office to pick up Sweet Peas phenobarbital. There is a vet tech there whom I worked with when he was a teen oh so many years ago. We both worked at a florist then, our paths have moved on.  He still needed to count out Sweet Pea’s tablets this morning. I mentioned that I use to do that when I was a doctor’s office nurse. He told me there is a new application attached to that. Then he demonstrated it for me. We use to place a hand full of meds on a counting plate and individually count them to fill the script. With this app, the hand full of pills is photographed with the smart phone...a true and full count is immediately shown on the screen. The old method of counting then takes place. For accuracy a new “photo” can be taken to show that the count is correct. Amazing. 

The photo I sent yesterday to the Canadian group is “rough and soft”, the delicate flowers against the
rough texture of wood.

Sue needed some meds picked up and since we only have Bob’s car available right now he was picked to go get them. Since he has never picked them up before I went with him...and we took Sweet Pea along for a ride. 

Back at the ranch (home) it was time to put groceries away. Once that was out of the way I was back on the computer. I took some photos for the images I need for today while we were out but I wanted to spend some time checking the archives for something more suitable for what I wanted to display. I have two full external hard drives for old and very old images that I have taken and kept over the years. It’s fun to go back to those. It’s similar to looking through an old hard copy photo album. It’s crammed full of memories. It’s heart felt watching my three kids growing to adulthood and then their children and their children’s children now adventuring into life.

The photo a day for today is “horizon”. I have many images showing verities of horizon lines in different seasons and locations. This one grabbed my attention. 

The word for today is words.  Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning. Benjamin Franklin. Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love. Lao Tzu.  Where words fail, music speaks. Hans Christian Andersen. The written word has this advantage, that it lasts and can await the time when it is allowed to take effect, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.  Words empty as the wind are best left unsaid, Homer. Words are in this respect like water, that they often take their taste, flavour, and character, from the mouth out of which they proceed, as the water from the channel through which it flows, Charles Caleb Colton.  Words have no power to impress the mind without the exquisite horror of their reality. Edgar Allan Poe.  False words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the soul with evil. Socrates  A torn jacket is soon mended; but hard words bruise the heart of a child. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.  There is no sickness worse for me than words that to be kind must lie. Aeschylus. 

The other upload for today is an image of a tree beginning from a seed that was dropped somewhere along the way without a laid out plan for growth. 

I like when old things are being renewed and reflect history. I liked the title to this article, “HIDDEN FEATURE, HISTORIC CHARM, Apartments have century-old details with modern design”. The renovation is happening in a downtown apartment building. The project is called Discovery Park Place apartments. There are twenty nine apartment in a new building that is behind two older homes that have been renovated. The two older homes were built in 1900. There were connected by a cinder block addition. The addition was demolished and replaced by a five story building. The restoration includes covered parking, a fitness center, an interior courtyard. This part is overlooked by three level of apartments and exterior hallways. They say it is a European/New Orleans feel. Ten of the apartment on the top level are two-story. The two older buildings have high ceilings and porches with the four apartments. In order to meet the “historic requirements.... trim and stair railing had to match the century old features”.

I think I will make sloppy joes and cheesy potatoes (first had these at Tami’s house) for dinner. 

Joy

Layers

May 26, 2022 a thought for today, You can shut the door on a thief, but you can do nothing about a liar. Albanian Proverb

The photo of the day for yesterday is “something warm”. All I could get my hands on for this assignment was a pair of gloves and earmuffs. 

Another printing day is over and done and “in the books”. Once again Chris and I had a great conversation in a trip to and from the church. He is like a sponge in learning about things that happen in life and how they turn out and what makes them turn out the way they do. Its refreshing to feel knowledge being past on and accepted. 

Today’s upload to the Canadian group is the set of grocery carts along with the colors. 

Once back home it was back to the hum drum of house work and back to my desk chair and the computer. The first load of laundry is in the dryer and the second in the washer. Things are rolling right along. The kitchen needs some attention but I may put that off until I get home from finishing the newsletter with my wonderful helper Dorothy tomorrow.

I had another wonderful and informative, for both of us, text-type conversations with one of my grand daughters-in-law last night. These conversations give us both new insights and “study” material. For me it is exciting and growth in knowledge about life’s many roads.

The photo of the day for today is “pink”. I liked the rough textures along with the softness of the pink flower.

Gotta’ run.....laundry is calling....

The word for today is wonder.  Men go abroad to wonder at the heights of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motions of the stars, and they pass by themselves without wondering. Saint Augustine.    Wisdom begins in wonder. Socrates.  Wonder is the desire for knowledge. Thomas Aquinas.    Wonder is the basis of worship, Thomas Carlyle.  Wonder implies the desire to learn, Aristotle.  Wonder is involuntary praise, Edward Young. All understading begins in wonder, Johan Wolfgang Von Goethe.  From wonder into wonder existence opens, Lao Tzu.  We are beginning to regain a knowledge of Creation, a knowledge forfeited by the fall of Adam. By God's mercy we can begin to recognize His Wonderful works and wonders also in flowers when we ponder his might and goodness. Martin Luther. It is a wonderful subduer-this need of love, this hunger of the heart, George Eliot.  Solitude is an ocean with wonderful places hidden in its depths, Isaac of Nineveh.  Losses and crosses are heavy to bear; but when our hearts are right with God, it is wonderful how easy the yoke becomes, Charles Spurgeon.

My other upload for today is this large growth of yellow pansies. 

This article sounded interesting to me. It sounds like another and maybe new way to help young people learn to better their lives. There is a middle/high school course called “Kitchen of Life”. The space is set up on the order of “MasterChef”. There are cooking stations. The purpose is to teach children about cooking and resiliency. Food is a necessity shared by everyone. They are lessons designed “in social emotional learning” that is based in the curriculum.  Whitehall City Schools will be make a beginning in this are in the fall. It is a change to learn differently than in the traditional classroom. The idea for this program came about when the people who set it up took a trip to Australia and took a tour in a community kitchen called “Our Big Kitchen”. This set up will be different but inspired the idea of cooking for a purpose one of which is resiliency skills. There will be a social worker and a chef as well as some volunteers. The classes will be open to ages 12 - 18 in groups of 20 to 25 that will use the kitchen four times a year in two hour sessions. There is focus on mental health and this age group because of the increasing number of teens in with mental health issues. The article related the “suicide is an issue, and we want to build resiliency....The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines on building resiliency for teens”. It is planed that the cooling classes will the students to form bonds. The classes will have a theme of belonging, generosity, independence and mastery. The cooking classes should tach how to get along and reach goals. The growth comes when a recovering a failed recipes needs saved. Each person in the group will have an ingredient needed in the recipe. Through the cooking process they will learn “evaluating goals, adapting to changes, persevering through challenges and receiving feedback in a respectful way”. Competition comes with making a full meal in a given time. In creating the curriculum Global Psychological Services Educational Services in Michigan was use along with a professor of human development at Ohio State University. The skills they learn give a sense of independence and mastery. 

We will be having left overs again tonight....creamed dried beef on toast or biscuits. 

Joy 

behind the scenes

 

 May 24, 2022 a thought for today, You can run into debt, but you have to crawl out. Albanian Proverb

I got a little more done on the newsletter this morning. I had gotten both the newsletter and the bulletin as far as I could yesterday. I have been waiting for the rest that I need for both. I had one of the pieces of information in the email this morning so that one is done. Now to wait for the rest.

The photo of the day for the 23rd was “stairs”. I took this one a while back. It is a set of stairs on a storage tank. 

Here’s another food pantry day. This one was a busy one. Even heavier than our best day last month. 

I had an up and down day. I will try to summarize. The mechanic from the insurance company came out today to exam and photograph the damage on my car. He took several photos and checked the milage and made some estimations. The final figure was a surprise and a relief. He said he would be back to take care of the towing etc. after some final work with the adjusters/agents. I was excited, beginning to see the end of this “soap opera”. About half hour later the other agent called to say they were denying me again, due to no proof of who was actually at fault. It felt like the adjuster knew she was going to make that call before she sent the adjuster/mechanic out. There was a new story I hadn’t heard before...... the other man, th one who hit me, said he was in the street and moving forward when we hit. A total lie. What a downer. After some thought and discussion with friends and a reminder that the photos should show who was at fault. I called the agent back and left a message to that affect..had to leave a message as at every other occasion. So it looks like there will be another message to the corporate offices. I think in the long run I am going to be their “official” looser.

The image I up loaded for my Canadian group yesterday is of a house in the neighborhood with some very tall flowers to ornament the side of the house. 

The word for today is wish.  Great minds have purposes; others have wishes, Washington Irving.  What then is time? If no one asks me, I know what it is. If I wish to explain it to him who asks, I do not know. Saint Augustine. Plenty of people wish to become devout, but no one wishes to be humble, Joseph Addison.  Every man desires to live long, but no man wishes to be old, Jonathan Swift. Things we do not expect, happen more frequently than we wish, Plautus. There is not a truth existing which I fear... or would wish unknown to the whole world. Thomas Jefferson. Do you wish to rise? Begin by descending. You plan a tower that will pierce the clouds? Lay first the foundation of humility. Saint Augustine. When we quarrel, how we wish we had been blameless. Ralph Waldo Emerson. The one who cannot restrain their anger will wish undone, what their temper and irritation prompted them to do. Horace. You must become an old man in good time if you wish to be an old man long. Marcus Tullius Cicero.  Men who wish to know about the world must learn about it in its particular details. Heraclitus.

The photo of the day for today is “a pair”. These were two of my dearest friends. They have both died but left wonderful memories. 

Here’s a little bit about the history of our state.....the Ohio Valley. It began with prehistoric times and the Ohio River and its parts was a “conduit for human migration”...from the Atlantic to Appalachia to the Mississippi valley. Humans were here over sixteen thousand years ago. Woodland Hopewell culture. Then “protohistoric and historic Native American societies. The Ohio Rive got its name from the Iroquois language and means "Great River." Early maps showed the Ohio River flowing into the Mississippi. The French built forts on the Upper Ohio River in Pennsylvania. The British took over a fort built in 1758 and named it Fort Pitt. After the French and Indian War the British gained control of the Ohio valley. A majority of settlers came to the Ohio Valley through the “river’s headwaters”.Then the river became the major object of transportation. During the War of 1812 settlers from the Ohio valley and the Atlantic colonies came together against the British and the Indians. I learned that commercial traffic on the Ohio let to some growth of Pettsburgh, Cincinnati, and Louisville. The completion of the Erie Canal in 1825 slowed down the use of the Ohio River as a commercial route. The article went on to relate that by 1840 Ohio was a dividing line between free and slave states. Railroads became the major “means of transportating raw materials, general cargo, and passengers”.  It became necessary to form a US Coast Guard station. Major flood control became necessary after floods in 1847, 1881, 1913 and 1937. The ending sentence... “The river remains a major transportation artery, a distinct sectional dividing line in the United States, and a source of recreation and tourism.”

My up load to my other group is titles I see your “camera”.

I am making chicken carbonara for dinner tonight. 

Joy

                     has seen better days

 May 22, 2022 a thought for today, You can get far with a lie, but not come back. Albanian Proverb

Sunday.....a day to regather focus, to recharge productive energy, to reflect, to reconnect with the higher parts of existence. 

The photo of the day for yesterday was “waves”. That caused some thought at first. The only photos I have of ocean waves are of my sister and me when we were on a family vacation. I also have some when we visited San Diego but those would take a while to find in the archives. So I used this one of our flag as if “waves” in the breeze. 

Church was still small in attendance for folks celebrating together. We have a homeless person who is very familiar in all our missions at church. He recently lost his housing due to changes in management and higher rent. I think he has also recently found the Sunday morning church service a place to truly find relieve if only temporary....collecting a few minutes to cling to for the week. At least it’s warm and dry and safe.  Much of the time he falls asleep... a symptom of complete rest both physically and spiritually. I’m sure there are people who may frown on this but WWJD. I know....there has to be rules and consideration for others. 

The other photo for yesterday was the last of the three-day challenge with my Canadian group. It is green flowers, there really were green mums in a mixed floral arrangement. It was assigned to be in the selective color mode. 

I am becoming more and more frustrated over my car problem. The insurance “investigator” is coming out to see the car and give his opinion tomorrow. Maybe that will spark some real progress.  It’s been a month and a half that I have been getting rides from friends and family. 

I turned the AC on a couple of days ago......put on a sweat shirt this morning. 

My photo of the day for today is “flying”. I rediscovered this on in my one of my several archives. For a better balanced photo I would rather have had the tree on the other side of the geese. But this was the original capture.  

The word today is wisdom.  Wisdom comes alone through suffering. Aeschylus.  The invariable mark of wisdom is to see the miraculous in the common. Ralph Waldo Emerson. 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. Proverbs are short sentences drawn from long experience, Cervantes.  Wisdom is ofttimes nearer when we stoop than when we soar, William Wordsworth.   Of all whose words I have heard, no one attains to this, to know that wisdom is apart from all, Heraclitus. The more you meditate on the laws of Moses, the more striking and brighter does their wisdom appear. John Quincy Adams.  To live the greatest number of good hours is wisdom, Ralph Waldo Emerson.  A loving heart is  the truest wisdom, Francis Bacon.  We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility for our future, Henry David Thoreau. Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens. Horace. Turn your wounds into wisdom, St. Augustine.  Look for the answer inside your question, Rumi. Don't look where you fall, but where you slipped, Henry Ward Beecher. No man is wise enough by himself. Plautus. The wise man does not grow old, but ripens. Victor Hugo.

The photo I chose to enter into my Canadian group for today is this one of some structures that create an interesting set of lines and textures.

Franklin Park has been a major point of interest in Columbus for many years. They have the butterfly exhibits, they have the new children’s park, they have hosted the America Flora, they have had the Asian Festivals, they have had Chihuly glass exhibits and on and on. Now they are adding a unique topiary creations to their exhibits. These topiaries will come in the form of flamingos, tigers, peacocks and more. The exhibit runs from June 4 through September 11. There will be twenty-five topiaries. Twenty will be animals representing cultural, historical, scientific and offer other significance. The plants will be formed into animal shapes “mimicking colors and textures such as feathers, scales and skin”. Surrounding plants will complement the animals depicted. The planned line up is: Three flamingos, six tropical fish, five seahorses, and three jelly fish, a bison, a royal Bengal tiger, a peacock, a marine iguana, two camels, a cardinal...all of these be surrounded by the look of their natural habitat. 

This is the evening we have take out (or bring in)....taco bell, KFC or subway. 

Joy

clean up time

May 20, 2022 a thought for today, We judge others by their acts, but ourselves by our intentions. Albanian Proverb

The photo of the day for yesterday was “creative”. This is one of the many digital images I have generated from various original photos. This photo was of a pysanky egg that I had designed and painted. I used a Photoshop add-on filter called Flexify and manipulated through it’s algorithms until I got this particular image. It’s my contention that this design was “hidden” in the original, it just had to be coaxed out.

Fridays still hold the ahhh moments for me....the end of a week, Saturday and Sunday for home and home activities. I guess it’s a hold over from school days lasting through work years and now retirement. Fridays are magic. 

The second image I uploaded yesterday was to my Canadian photo group. I called it “help me”. This puppy was waiting in a car parked next to mine in the grocery store parking lot. 

We had a pretty powerful storm last night. Sweet Pea was nervous most of the night. She hears thunder before and when we don’t always hear it.  She still seems to be resting from the stress of the night.

There are no “deadlines” on my list for today so it is going to be an easy going day. 

My photo of the day for today is called “I read this”.  I’m not totally happy with the image. It is too pixilated for my taste. This is a very old cook book that I have used time and time again...well worn. I tried to “cover up” some of the stains with a Photoshop filter but it over compensated ..... I probably could have and should have adjust to percentages on the algorithms before clicking on the finish button....my bad. (You'll see parts of pages sticking out....recipes from a cooking class my husband and I took at the French Market). 

I finally broke down and turned the AC on last night. It took a little while to adjust it to my liking. It seemed to be getting things a little too cool so we (Bob and I) moved the lever a bit at a time to get it to the right spot. From what I am hearing from the weather reports I will be glad it is on by this afternoon. 

My Canadian group is on a hiatus of photos of the day. But we are having pop up challenges at irregular intervals through September. This one is a three day series of flower images using a selective color presentation. I missed yesterdays (it was a red flower) today’s is a yellow flower and tomorrow’s will be a green flower. I like dandelions and I favored these partially hidden in the clover. 

The word today is virtue. The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts:
therefore, guard accordingly, and take care that you entertain no notions unsuitable to virtue and reasonable nature, Marcus Aurelius.  The whole of virtue consists in its practice, Marcus Tullius Cicero.  Virtue has a veil, vice a mask, Victor Hugo.  The greatest virtues are those which are most useful to other persons, Aristotle. Virtue is the health of the soul. It gives a flavor to the smallest leaves of life, Joseph Joubert. What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have never been discovered, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Moderation in temper is always a virtue; but moderation in principle is always a vice, Thomas Paine.  The firm, the enduring, the simple, and the modest are near to virtue, Confucius.  Will not a tiny speck very close to our vision blot out the glory of the world, and leave only a margin by which we see the blot? I know no speck so troublesome as self. George Eliot. Virtue is an angel, but she is a blind one, and must ask Knowledge to show her the pathway that leads to her goal, Horace Mann. Virtue alone is the unerring sign of a noble soul, Nicolas Boileau-Despreaux. Virtue consisteth of three parts,--temperance, fortitude, and justice, Epicurus.  

Today is one of the four days of the month that I have an extra photo of the day. This one is “feather”. I took this photo at Franklin Park last summer. I think I have used it in my uploads before in these blogs for the weed growing in the crack. I am using it today for the feather that found itself in the crack to neighbor with the weed. 

Here’s a story about the life, study and history of plants. There is a place in Columbus called Groovy Plants Ranch. It all started when the owner worked for Foertmeyer and Sons in Delaware, Ohio. He said at the time he wasn’t much of a ‘plant person’. As he worked he learned and began to be more interested. As he worked he noticed “little pieces of plants (that) would fall off the nursery shelves.” He began to notice that if the droppings hadn’t been removed little plants grew where the plant pieces had fallen. His new interest in what was happening grew so that he changed the career direction he had been pursuing in natural resources. He bought a “retail rack of succulents” that his boss wasn’t able to sell. Then he chopped them up into “thousands of pieces”. The thousands of pieces regrew. So this is how Groovy Plants Ranch came about. Now there are two owners, co-owners, of the Groovy Plants business. Their plants are grown from cuttings thus maintaining a continuous supply. Th co-owners always look for interesting species even when they are on vacation to add to their collection of ‘groovy plants’. In the article they related that one of their best selling plants has been propagated more that 40,000 times. The ranch is about two acres of “walkable, plant-lined greenhouses and outdoor spaces” as well as more acres for plant production. They say they are not a “curated plant store” or just a garden center. The “Ranch” has a “unique flavor and flair”. They continue to grow. They offer greenhouse tours. Through their constant interest in new species they have hundreds of rare plants. They say they are “plant nerds”. Groovy Plant Ranch, 4140 County Rd 15, Marengo, OH.

It’s pizza night again. 

Joy

nature’s deposit

 

 May 18, 2022 a thought for today, Youths are like waves of the sea, the elderly have strength instead of tide. Arabic Proverb

We are having a gray and moody day to our spring. It seems to rain a little then stop and leave a chill and a subdued sky. 

My first photo yesterday was the one I sent to my Canadian group. I added a “vintage” like layer to a photo of this beautiful orange posy that was in my small bask yard garden. 

I got the information that I needed to finish the bulletin so that is done and out for inspection before printing tomorrow. 

I got a call from the insurance agent last night but missed the call, it went to voice mail. I tried to call back right away but she must have made the call on her way out of the office. I tried again this morning but got the voice mail again. I’ll try again later today if she  doesn’t return my call.

The photo of the day for yesterday was “a shape”. I liked the shape of the piano keys along with the straight edge in front of the ivory. 

Food pantry yesterday moved along at pretty well. We had the average number of visitors. Today may be a little slower due to the weather. 

Lowell and I may go look at a car after he gets off work. I saw this one on the internet when I started my daily search. This is the first day that it was on the internet. We’ll see what this one has to offer ..... or not. 

My photo of the day for today is “door”. I was drawn to the framing of my neighbor’s door as I see it every day as I glance out the window by my computer key board. 

The word for today is value.   Know the true value of time; snatch, seize, and enjoy every moment of it. No idleness, no laziness, no procrastination: never put off till tomorrow what you can do today. Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield. The ultimate value of life depends upon awareness and the power of contemplation rather than upon mere survival. Aristotle. Sincerity makes the very least person to be of more value than the most talented hypocrite. Charles Spurgeon. There is no value in life except what you choose to place upon it and no happiness in any place except what you bring to it yourself. Henry David Thoreau. Bad times have a scientific value. These are occasions a good learner would not miss. Ralph Waldo Emerson.  You know the value of every article of merchandise, but if you don't know the value of your own soul, it's all foolishness. Rumi. The value of a principle is the number of things it will explain. Ralph Waldo Emerson. What nobler employment, or more valuable to the state, than that of the man who instructs the rising generation? Marcus Tullius Cicero.  Write down the thoughts of the moment. Those that come unsought for are commonly the most valuable. Francis Bacon.  Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants, Epictetus.  

My photo upload to Canada today is this sweet puppy, one I titled “puppy love”. It is one of my granddaughter’s family pets. 

This article is some more the history that gives value to our city. It is about one of the Indian mounds in the Columbus area and how Columbus grew around it. In 1812 when “the Ohio General Assembly chose the place to be the new capital city of Columbus” people were living in what was called “High Banks” an area a the fork of the Scioto river. The fact is that people had been living there for several thousand years....the Native American tribes of Wyandot, Delaware and Shawnee had lived here and left the area. Before that it “had been home to the prehistoric Adena, Hopewell for hundreds of years”. Artifacts of their existence were left behind....burial “enclosures”, ceremonial items, and evidence of defense article. According to the article the came to be known as the Mound Builders. Eventually, as streets were laid out and named in the development of our city,  Mound Street got its name related to some of those mounds. Specifically, as High Street was formed there was a 40-food-high mound smack in the middle of where the street was heading. The street was curved to go around the mound that crossing was called Mound Street. A point of interest is that local people used clay from the mound in some of their buildings.  Eventually it was “in the way”.  In 1888 it was announced that “One of the most pretentious mounds of the county was that which formerly occupied the crowning point of the highland on the eastern side of the Scioto River … on the southeast corner of Mound and High streets in Columbus. Not a trace of this work is left. …” When the first settlers saw it they called it a “wonder”. From what information that was available with much research there was a 40 foot high mound above the natural surface of the “river terrace (bluff)”. The earth was described as  shapely and graceful gradually extending downward all the way around except on the south side where the downward slope was “abrupt”. More information on its shape is it was shaped like a cone; the surface at the top was level and  reported to be one hundred feet or more in diameter. Oak trees, three feet in diameter, grew on the top along with five large locust trees. Its “destruction began in the early 1830s”as city street were formed. “Human bones were unearthed”.  Other things found in the demolition were utensils, trinkets, a large skull, a silver buckle “every trace of them having been lost”. One of the description in the article was that because of the height there was an extensive view of the Scioto Valley. It could have been used as a signal spot offering communication by a “signal light”. All that is left of the impressive mound is clay that was used to make bricks for the statehouse in 1816. Those bricks were saved from the fire of the statehouse in 1852 and used in the new statehouse now at Statehouse Square.  

Dinner is probably going to come from something in the freezer for tonight. 

Joy

PS I did get in touch with the insurance company....they are going to send someone out to look at the wrecked car on my driveway. 

man and nature

May 16, 2022 a thought for today, Sunshine without rain makes a desert. Arabic  Proverb

The photo of the day for May 15 was “upside down”. The first thing that came to mind was the catsup bottle that sits in my frig upside down. I also like the faint reflection under the cap (also another view of upside down).

I started the day doing what has become a daily habit these past few weeks....searching on line for a car. The search begins after the much older “daily habit” of my virtual visits.  I’ll have to admit I am picky in my search. Just some of the particulars are: age of the car, milage of the car certain features that don’t suit me and so on. I have found a few but for one reason or another have been unable to snatch onto one. I either miss them, being a day late or I miss them by being a day short (on cash). 

My photo for yesterday for my Canadian group is an image of some fresh produce. 

I’m going to back up a bit. I got up at about 2:30 this morning to take care of some business and at the same time realized it was becoming very windy outside. I have all of my indoor garden (house plants in various sized pots) outside for now. Some are sitting precariously on make shift “shelves”. So, in my night gown and slippers I went outside in the dark and moved them to the ground so they wouldn’t blow over, some already had fallen.

Today is much brighter, sunny and all, but the temperature has taken a pretty good dip. 

I also had another photo of the day for yesterday. It is called "geometric". It is one of the four days I have each month with this group. I was waiting for one of my meetings to start and realized how interesting the inside of the piano in the room was. 

Our Saturday evening family visit was all I had hoped it would be. The only thing that would have made it more perfect would have been that the other half of the family could have been there too. My house (where our roots are) felt “alive again”. Some of our family are away serving others and some are otherwise unavailable. There was laughter as the little ones were.....little ones with all that goes with that title. And some of we older ones were full of wonderful catch up stories. The pizza tasted better than when it is just the two of us sharing the pie. 

The photo of the day for today is “this season”. The spring flowers are in bloom right now so I couldn’t resist getting a shot of these now Iris’ (Flags). 

The word today is use.  That which is used - develops. That which is not used wastes away, Hippocrates.  Wisdom is the right use of knowledge. To know is not to be wise. Many men know a great deal, and are all the greater fools for it. There is no fool so great a fool as a knowing fool. But to know how to use knowledge is to have wisdom. Charles Spurgeon.  I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use. Galileo Galilei.  It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching. Francis of Assisi.  Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens. Epictetus. They claim this mother of ours, the Earth, for their own use, and fence their neighbors away from her, and deface her with their buildings and their refuse. Sitting Bull.   We ought not to treat living creatures like shoes or household belongings, which when worn with use we throw away. Plutarch.  The bread which you use is the bread of the hungry; the garment hanging in your wardrobe is the garment of him who is naked; the shoes you do not wear are the shoes of the one who is barefoot; the acts of charity that you do not perform are so many injustices that you commit, Saint Basil. 

Today’s photo for my other group is my “grand dog” and my dachshund each wanting the blue ball on the floor.

I was interested in seeing what is new in the treatment of animals health and treatments. These are veterinarians in our area and I image around the world using methods of treatment for pets that are out of what most of us see as “normal”. Many procedures that are used on humans can and are used on our furry families.  Some of these treatments are,  acupuncture, physical therapy, herbal formulations, laser therapy and chiropractic services. In the opening there is an explanation from a vet who says her experiences in this area began with physical therapy. She started out making house calls. She feels it is important to combine alternative therapies with standard practices. It’s a way to supplement treatments. They provide pain control for arthritis, injuries, “post-surgical care” and neurological problems. In the article there is a dog named Razz brown and white dog with light blue eyes. He has neurological damage. His treatment began with physical therapy. He had been dropped off at the clinic. It was discovered that he could not walk. He was moved to the wellness part of the clinic and had some follow-up appointments. To make him a little more comfortable he was fed dry Cheerios. A couple of treatments were tried, acupuncture, physical therapy and laser therapy (he had to wear green glasses for the laser therapy). He began to be able to take a few steps especially when a cheeseburger was offered. Later in the day he was able to walk at a special adoption event. This vet mentioned in this article said that therapy is tailor-made for each pet “one size does not fit all”.  She also stands in for “relief work” at other clinics. 

I think it will be chicken cacciatore for dinner tonight. 

Joy

I took this shot a few weeks ago. I don’t remember the incident so I have no idea what this is but I like all the elements. I like the lines, the curves, the textures and the shapes....and the shadow. 

 

 May 14, 2022 a thought for today, More hideous than a say without a do. Arabic Proverb

Sixty-two years ago today at 2:00pm I was being married at Hoge Memorial Presbyterian Church. And four years ago tomorrow one of our great grandson’s was born. 

The photo a day for yesterday was “green”. This one needs no description. 

Surprise, surprise.....I got a call yesterday from the insurance company. One of my five letters worked. They are rechecking the facts of the accident. Just for the heck of it, I would like to know which of the five letters was read and accepted. 

I think I am about to lose one of the three cars I have seen on the internet and in my area that I have had my heart set on. The second one I lost was due to not having a way to see it in person before the lucky buyer. 

My photo for my group in Canada “outside the window”. I like the curved window along with the blue sky and the corner of a neighbor’s home.

Bob took me to the store today for our now weekly curbside pick up. I managed to get it all put away. I sometimes leave some on the back counter to be put away at a more convenient time but today I wanted the counters clear for company. 

I have two more plants to be put outside for the season. Bob will do that for me when he is done mowing. The two plants in question are hanging plants and will call for the use of a ladder.....that ship has passed for me...using a ladder I mean. 

The photo of the day for today is “sunshine”. I think a good way to show the sun is along with the shadows that are cast with bright sunlight. 

And....tada.... I have started a new book. I’m going back to mystery and intrigue from historical fiction for now. I just came off of The Judges List by Jon Grisham and uploaded John’s The Associate. 

The word today is understand.  True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us. Socrates.  Lets have faith that right makes might; and in that faith let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it. Abraham Lincoln.  Life is an unfoldment, and the further we travel the more truth we can comprehend. To understand the things that are at our door is the best preparation for understanding those that lie beyond. Hypatia. You cannot put the same shoe on every foot, Publilius Syrus.  No law or ordinance is mightier than understanding, Plato. The heart has reasons which the reason cannot understand, Blaise Pascal. You do ill if you praise, but worse if you censure, what you do not understand. Leonardo da Vinci. Be slow to speak, and only after having first listened quietly, so that you may understand the meaning, leanings, and wishes of those who do speak. Thus you will better know when to speak and when to be silent. Saint Ignatius. When he to whom one speaks does not understand, and he who speaks himself does not understand, that is metaphysics. Voltaire. 

One for the Canadian group for today. ...more “sun and shade”

I saw this article about some of the buildings in Columbus that are “endangered”. ....thought I would share it. The article began: “Farmhouse dating to 1825 among sites on endangered list” The Columbus Landmarks Foundation list sites that are endangered on a regular basis. They say that this year the oldest building ever featured is on the list. It was built in 1825 and is located on the Far East Side. Another of the house listed this year is the south dormitory at the Columbus Public Health building in the Driving Park neighborhood. It is called the “I-House”. It is called that because it is a type of architecture found in “I”states...Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa. Typically they are one-room deep and two stories tall....usually part of farms. The Sprague House was given by President James Madison to Joshua Sprague who was from Canada. It was given as part of a “refugee Tract for compensation to Canadians who lost property in the Revolutionary War. The south dormitory at the Columbus Public Health was scheduled to be demolished but there is a comprehensive evaluation of the site. Another of the houses on the endangered list is East 17th Avenue garden apartments. This “represents an opportunity to help deal with the housing crisis”. The next listed is in our neighborhood, it is a Greek Revival-style house on the Hilltop, West Broad Street. It was built in 1900. It has arched and leaded windows. It is a two-story portico with Corinthian columns. It was once used as a funeral home, a photo studio and the home of the Hilltop Historical Society. Another one is the St. Stephen’s Community House which is in Hungarian Village. It was originally a theater. Next, the Ohio Avenue Church built in 1911. It was “patterned after the church that George Washington attended in Alexandria”. A couple more on the list is one on Cleveland Avenue that was built in 1915. Then there is the Main Theater that opened in 1937. 

We are having family together this evening for a pizza dinner here at my house...the old homestead for about the past fifty years .....Natalie’s warm and caring idea and she’s bringing the pizza and her own personal (and natural) sunshine. 

Joy

 

May 12, 2022 a thought for today, Lying is the disease and truth is the cure. Arabic Proverb

This is the usual bulletin printing morning. It wasn’t the usual “just me and Chris” in the church though. There were plumbers there working on a stopped up drain and our food pantry delivery was today with a huge load of food for our clients. Lots of activity. 

The photo of the day for May 11 was “something small”. I remembered some tiny little violets growing in the lawn with the dandelions. When I went out looking of them they had been mowed away but I found this tiny yellow weed flower that worked for the image.  

I treated Chris to a couple of White Castles again for all his trips picking me up and bringing me home while I wait to find the car that is out there waiting for me at my maximum price figure.... not so easy to find with my required options. All of this includes the hopes of hearing from the insurance company...that, after some further consideration of the facts of the matter, they may have seen a the normal “other” (and more factual) side to the story. This is a most likely a surreal happening, but I can hope. 

For my photo group in Canada I chose this one that I took at the historical village, a lone chair sitting with a delicate curtain at the window in the background. 

Once I got home, I started the laundry.....another of my typical Thursday chores. I am going to talk to a lady this afternoon about doing a couple of cleaning chores for me that my age has caused a decline in my capabilities. We’ll see if it is worth the cost after an estimate. I would like to get the laundry as close to done as I can and get some dinner supplies laid out. Soooo....back to work. 

The photo a day for today is “in nature”. I found this lonely daffodil with it’s natural shadow against the side of the garage.

Todays word(s), try/trials.  Trials teach us what we are; they dig up the soil, and let us see what we are made of, Charles Spurgeon. We are always on the anvil; by trials God is shaping us for higher things, Henry Ward Beecher.  Adversity is the first path to truth, Lord Byron. In heaven we shall see that we had not one trial too many, Charles Spurgeon. If we will be quiet and ready enough, we shall find compensation in every disappointment, Henry David Thoreau. The worst form of inequality is to try to make unequal things equal. Aristotle.  By letting it go it all gets done. The world is won by those who let it go. But when you try and try. The world is beyond the winning. Lao Tzu.  All intelligent thoughts have already been thought; what is necessary is only to try to think them again. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. I try to avoid looking forward or backward, and try to keep looking upward. Charlotte Bronte. Do not wish to be anything but what you are, and try to be that perfectly. Saint Francis de Sales. Trials and tribulations offer us a chance to make reparation for our past faults and sins. On such occasions the Lord comes to us like a physician to heal the wounds left by our sins. Tribulation is the divine medicine, Saint Augustine. Hug the shore; let others try the deep. Virgil. What old people say you cannot do, you try and find that you can. Old deeds for old people, and new deeds for new. Henry David Thoreau. I read, I study, I examine, I listen, I think, and out of all that I try to form an idea into which I put as much common sense as I can. Marquis de Lafayette. It is one of the beautiful compensations in this life that no one can sincerely try to help another without helping himself. Ralph Waldo Emerson.  

This one for my Canada group for today. I found the little fellow enjoying the solitude of the river. This one is from my archives. I made this image as I was walking across the Broad Street bridge from
parking my car at the Vets Memorial building to my job at the Federal Court Building just shortly before I retired. 

Here is some more history about Columbus and its people. This one is about the name “McDowell”. There is a street in Columbus called McDowell Street, one of the longest in Franklinton. Several McDowll’s lived in Columbus some were famous some not so much. One called John rode with William Henry Harrison in Canada in defeating the British. Another named Abram who marched with John Campbell who fought in the dead of winter and burned Native American villages in Indiana. Abram had a son named Irvin who was the most famous of the McDowells. The family moved from Franlinton across the river to the new state capital Columbus. The family lived in a huge home at Spring and Front streets. Abram was the 15th mayor of Columbus. The McDowell children went to private schools in Columbus.  Irvin was sent to college in Troyes, France. From there he went  to West Point and graduated as a second lieutenant. Next he became a tactics instructor then a Major. Eventually he was promoted to Brigadier General. Eventually he served in a variety of commands and became the commander of the Department of the Pacific. He designed a military facility at the Presido in San Francisco. 

I think it is going to be hot dogs/coney’s  and mac and cheese for dinner tonight.  

Joy