November 28, 2022, Some men wonder over God's values, others over the cut of a garment. Afghan Proverb

After my usual virtual visits I started the bulletin and pretty much finished it. I have just two points of information to make it complete. That may get to me tomorrow...maybe. 

An upload for yesterday was “a splash”. As I was headed home from church, I was looking at all kinds of puddles trying to capture a “splash” of a rain drop. I wasn’t able to get a clear image of a drop of rain and the ripples but I got this reflection of my car and an indistinct ripple. 

There is not a lot of things on my agenda besides that today, except for a couple of hours in the kitchen. That will come at a break time around noon. There are a couple more computer and portions of photo projects to get done first. 

Over the week end the temperatures were comfortable for the season but today they seem to have dropped again. 

Another upload for yesterday was “farm animals”. It seems we have had several photos in a row that were a little difficult for city folks to find close by. I gathered these photos from an ad brochure seeking help to feed the animals.

Some of my family have their Christmas decorations up....I haven’t started on that yet....besides my stamina and strength now days offers very little fortitude.....I have been spending a lot of time on Christmas “give aways” that I am making.

One of today’s photo assignment was “something hidden”. That one was an easy one considering we have a lot of hidden items in our “storage” areas. These light bulbs and the fishing net behind as well as a few other odds and ends fill the bill for this title. 

The word today is solitude.  Man loves company even if it is only that of a small burning candle, Georg Christoph Lichtenberg. In solitude the mind gains strength and learns to lean upon itself, Laurence Sterne. A solitude is the audience-chamber of God, Walter Savage Landor.  Conversation enriches the understanding; but solitude is the school of genius, Ralph Waldo Emerson.  By all means use sometimes to be alone. Salute thyself; see what they soul doth wear, George Herbert. Solitude, though it may be silent as light, is like light, the mightiest of agencies; for solitude is essential to man. All men come into this world alone and leave it alone, Thomas De Quincey. Oh to have a lodge in some vast wilderness. Where rumors of oppression and deceit, of unsuccessful and successful wars may never reach me anymore, William Cowper. To give thanks in solitude is enough. Thanksgiving has wings and goes where it must go. Your prayer knows much more about it than you do. Victor Hugo.  There is a fellowship more quiet even than solitude, and which, rightly understood, is solitude made perfect. Robert Louis Stevenson.  The heart beats louder and the soul hears quicker in silence and solitude, Wendell Phillips. The worst solitude is to have no real friendships. Francis Bacon.. Retire at various times into the solitude of your own heart, even while outwardly engaged in discussions or transactions with others, and talk to God. Saint Francis de Sales. 

The other photo for today was titled “old”. We have a few items that might be considered antique or vintage. This old style toaster is one of them. We have an old clothing iron, a pair of old hand cuffs and an old stove top waffle iron of about the same era as the toaster.

I was drawn to this article due to my attachment to house plants and the “green” and health they bring to the indoors. The article is about “Oakland Green Interiors Bringing the Outdoors In Across the City”. It started out mentioning how the “dark, colder month” affect people mood and mental health. Oakland is creating biophilic (“life” (bio) and “love” (philia)) areas in the city. They are accomplishing this by bringing parts of nature indoors with plants and other natural materials indoor in the form of “elaborate plant displays”. Some of these are called “living walls”.  As I have maintained for along time the article states that studies support the “humans’ need for plants”. In 2020 the nursery noticed how people “were looking for ways to get out when they had to stay in”. It was then they noted more how people seemed to need plants to dope with these feelings. One of the main ways to display these is by living walls as the company did at the Huntington Center. This wall “garden’ is over 2,000 square feet in size and contains 8,500 plants. Professionals are hired to maintain and do the upkeep as well as “rehabbing” the installation.  During the holiday season other forms are used to give the feel of nature and the outdoors. Christmas trees and poinsettias and other plants are used to decorate. 

I am making beef stew in the pressure cooker for dinner tonight. 

Joy

In my daily search for photos to meet my photo a day tally I see other things along the way that I would normally have missed or not paid attention to. I think this broken piece of plastic was a cover for some kind of cabling.

 

 November 26, 2022 thought for today, When there is no enemy within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you. African Proverb

One of the uploads for yesterday was called “bears”. I couldn’t imagine how a city girl could find a bear without making a half hour trip to the zoo. I searched in some of the books and toys the twins have left here with no luck. When I went to the last place to look for a book, right at eye level was this small statue of a bear in winter gear. 

It’s a pretty normal Saturday starting out with the virtual checks then moving onto whatever needs done the most. Today I have to do some minor cleaning around my desk. Over and above that there is not much on the agenda.

We picked up the groceries and stopped to fill the tank. Then home to put the groceries away and move on. Bob “moved on” to watch the OSU game....THE BIG GAME of the year....OSU vs. Michigan. 

Another upload for yesterday called for an image of a “spider web”. This one has been around for a while by the garage door. It has been hanging there for so long that the spider gave up and left. 

I moved onto some computer work and research on projects I am interesting in getting on with or getting started. One is setting up my new printer. I was planning on it being wireless so that I could use it along with the new one for a while. But the new one does not set up wirelessly. So, today, Bob suggested I try setting the old one up wirelessly....good idea. But both will have to be put off until Monday. I have other things to get done today and tomorrow will be church and reflections. 

My fist upload for today is “a funny shape”. I have a very dry sense of humor so I had difficulty finding a “funny” shape. I thought this shape was a little on the weird side if now funny.

The word for today is someone.  Electric communication will never be a substitute for the face of someone who with their soul encourages another person to be brave and true. Charles Dickens.  A friend is one that knows you as you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become, and still, gently allows you to grow. William Shakespeare. A true friend unbosoms freely, advises justly, assists readily, adventures boldly, takes all patiently, defends courageously, and continues a friend unchangeably, William Penn.  A friend is one who has the same enemies as you have, Abraham Lincoln.  Every time I appoint someone to a vacant position, I make a hundred unhappy and one ungrateful. Louis XIV.  To bear with patience wrongs done to oneself is a mark of perfection, but to bear with patience wrongs done to someone else is a mark of imperfection and even of actual sin. Thomas Aquinas.  Something opens our wings. Something makes boredom and hurt disappear. Someone fills the cup in front of us: We taste only sacredness. Rumi.  Someone may ask, 'How is justice greater than all the other virtues?' The other virtues gratify the one who possesses them; justice does not give pleasure to the one possessing it, but instead pleases others. St. Jerome. 

The next upload was titled “bridges”. We don’t have to many the bridges over water kinds of bridges near my home but one of the definitions for bridge is a structure carrying a pathway or roadway over a depression or obstacle. So this one fits. We seem to have a lot of this style bridge.  

I know I have mentioned some of our city’s history before but maybe some has been missed or left out so here is a little more. According to the article I read today it is said that the French colonized Columbus. The article also said that Christopher Columbus discovered the city. It went on to say that in the 18th century there was European fur trade in the city. There were “conflicts” between different parts of visitors to Columbus. There were the Americans, the Indians and the French people. Between 1754 and ‘63 there was a war between the French and the Indians. At the end of the conflict there was a treaty signed that ultimately brought Ohio under the rule of the British empire. Finally, Ohio became a state in 1803. Columbus officially became Ohio's permanent capital in 1816. The city steadily grew. Developing the city improved. In 1831 the national road “reached” Columbus from Baltimore and that helped in linking the Ohio and Erie Canal. That increased the growth of Columbus. 

This is our ‘left over’ night. So we are having some of the bean soup I made at the beginning of the week for dinner and a few other odds and ends. 

Joy

                                Almost....

 November 24, 2022 a thought for today, No matter how old you may be the future will always be ahead of you. African Proverb

We started with a holiday a day early with part of my family. A memorable event, not a pleasant as the gathering, but nonetheless a memory, also was an experience....coming out of the restaurant we were caught in the worst traffic tie up in my eighty plus years. We still don’t know for sure what happened. Bob got us out of the mess and on our way with patience and driving talent. 

The first upload for yesterday was “abstract”. I had this photo in the archives, a bowl of apples and oranges. I used one of the Photoshop plug-in filters to generate this mild abstract.

This morning I started out with a trip to the church to print and distribute the bulletin and newsletter. The quiet and peace filled sanctuary was a light in my life. 

As I was on my way home, I stopped at White Castle for brunch for Bob and me. Then I stopped along the way to get a photo shot of the downtown skyline from this side of town.

When I got home, I started a pumpkin cheese cake since it has to stay in the frig for a while before it is set. After that I started the laundry. I’ll work in my ‘darkroom’ in a little while before I start the rest of the dinner, out little Thanksgiving.

The second upload was “an ugly food”. I searched and searches for something that would fit that title. Most food is interesting to me. This one, a cup of sauerkraut, is a little on the “not-so-pretty” side. So I used it as my “ugly food”. 

The word for today is sincere.  It is an old and true maxim that a drop of honey catches more flies than a gallon of gall. So with men, if you would win a man to your cause, first convince him that you are his sincere friend, Abraham Lincoln. Sincere repentance is continual. Believers repent until their dying day. This dropping well is not intermittent, Charles Spurgeon. The sincere alone can recognize sincerity, Thomas Carlyle.  Sincerity is the way to heaven; to think how to be sincere is the way of man, Mencius. Nothing gives rest but the sincere search for truth, Blaise Pascal. The truly patient man neither complains of his hard lot nor desires to be pitied by others. He speaks of his sufferings in a natural, true, and sincere way, without murmuring, complaining, or exaggerating them, Saint Francis de Sales. I want people to be sincere; a man of honor shouldn't speak a single word that doesn't come straight from his heart, Moliere. Some happy talent, and some fortunate opportunity, may form the two sides of the ladder on which some men mount, but the rounds of that ladder must be made of stuff to stand wear and tear; and there is no substitute for thorough-going, ardent, and sincere earnestness, Charles Dickens. The cry of a young raven is nothing but the natural cry of a creature, but your cry, if it be sincere, is the result of a work of grace in your heart, Charles Spurgeon.

The first upload for today is a “a tall building”. I live on the edge of city where there are no “tall” buildings so as I drove along Broad Street I could see the downtown skyline because of the tall buildings in what looks like an apparent mist. That is my photo for today. 

It seems like it is time to begin getting ready for Christmas. Advent starts Sunday and all the stores are doing their seasonal advertising. So I found this article that I will share... “ Nostalgia is in store for holiday shoppers, from Lazarus relics to vintage toys”. At the mention of Lazarus and Christmas memories popped up. My dad, a Columbus firefighter/squad man, worked on off days at the Lazarus parking garage at Christmas time. I also remember the gorgeous decorated windows at Lazarus and the place for kids “shop” on their own at Christmas time. Not to mention the Lazarus Christmas parade every year. This article mentioned where there are places to help stimulate memories of the past. “Horse-drawn carriage rides, vinyl records, old-fashioned-style candies and iconic toys can be found at central Ohio businesses”. One of the places mentioned was “Big Fun” on North High street for vintage toys. A place called Flower Child on Fifth Avenue also offers vintage items and a museum. It is said they also have a moving figurine that once was in the Lazarus Christmas window display. They also have items from Woolworth’s in its day and Kresge’s. Another place with musical memory items is A Gal Names Cinda Lou on North State in Westerville. Another place to mention is a place that offers candy, Schmidt’s Fudge Haus on Kossuth Street. The candy is made in an old-fashioned way in a copper kettle and rolled out on a marble slag. There are peanut butters, Belgian chocolate fudges, something called a turtle with a scoop of peanut butter then ones with handmade caramels.  More candy At Buckeye Candy Co. in Gahanna offering ribbon candy and more. For a “traditional family outing” there is a place to cut your own Christmas tree at the Mr. Tree Farm in Blacklick. The last suggestion in the article are horse drawn carriage rides at Willow Wind Carriage Service at the Easton Town Center. 

The second photo for today is called “butterflies”. I don’t know if butterflies hang around in cold autumn weather but if they do I can’t find them. These butterflies are in a book of paper marbling patterns that I have. After I made this image I remembered that the local conservatory, Franklin Park, has a butterfly exhibit going on right now. I may have some of those images in my archives from past years at Franklin Park. 

Happy Thanksgiving to all.....we had a partial family gathering last nigh....Rebecca, Lowell, Lou Ann, Sue, Bob, Natalie, Gideon, John and me. We had a wonderfoul time and another memory to add to the internal memory book. So dinner tonight is air firued turkey pot pie, stuffing, turkey gravy, hot rolls, corn on the cob, and pumpkin cheese cake (air fried by the way). I may even make deviled eggs (cooked in the air fryer...the easiest way to cook them that  I’ve ever experienced).

Joy  

                                 misplaced?

 November 22, 2022 a thought for today, Man's goodness is a flame that can be hidden but never extinguished. African Proverb

One of the uploads for November 21 was “fill the frame”. This is the inside of a piano at church”. I think that filled the frame. 

What a day this has been. I finished and sent the bulletin for review. I have the newsletter done except for the financial information I need, hopefully it will be today or no later than tomorrow morning. 

The Session (Board)  meeting last night was full of information we are handling a present. It was a good and productive meeting. 

The other upload for yesterday was “half full”.  This is part of my iced tea for the day.

We had food pantry today. We had more visitors than we have had in probably a year or so. We were all moving the whole time we were open. I am glad that we can serve this many people. We had an extra person on the intake table today which was a big help. Toward the end of the day the other two on the intake helped in the back. So I was alert for any more coming in and then closed out all three computers and took all the necessary cabling and paper work and got it ready to be put away.

I was famished by the end of pantry so I stopped at McDonalds. On my way home I was on the alert for one of my photo’s of the day. 

An upload for today was “patterns”. I took this one as I was waiting in the pickup line at McDonalds. My car’s shadow on the wall. 

The word today is simple.  It is the proof of high culture to say the greatest matters in the simplest way. Ralph Waldo Emerson.  When a thought is too weak to be expressed simply, it should be rejected, Marquis De Vauvenargues.  Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, Leonardo da Vinci.  Simplicity is making the journey of this life with just baggage enough. Charles Dudley Warner.  That man is the richest whose pleasures are the cheapest. Henry David Thoreau.  It is simplicity that makes the uneducated more effective than the educated when addressing popular audiences, Aristotle.  Simplicity is a jewel rarely found, Ovid. We must not be wise and prudent according to the flesh. Rather, we must be simple, humble and pure. Francis of Assisi.  Sunlight fell upon the wall; the wall received a borrowed splendor. Why set your heart on a piece of earth, O simple one? Seek out the source which shines forever. Rumi. The words of truth are simple. Aeschylus. If you get simple beauty and naught else, you get about the best thing God invents. Robert Browning. Only great minds can afford a simple style, Stendhal. Beware the barrenness of a busy life, Socrates.  As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler; solitude will not be solitude, poverty will not be poverty, nor weakness weakness, Henry David Thoreau. How many things are there which I do not want, Socrates.  

The other upload for today is “graffiti. This one is on an old single story one or two room building that has be boarded up for quite a while located on a main artery on the Westside. On another part of the building there is a more artistic mural or, as some people would say, graffiti. For some reason this one “spoke to me” more than the other for this particular upload.

It is interesting to look at the first Thanksgiving another way. The article relates that there are misconceptions surrounding the first Thanksgiving. There was a history professor who interviewed members of the Wampanoag Tribe of American Indians about how the history of the first Thanksgiving was passed down in their culture. According to him it is understanding different perspectives. During the interview it was leaned that the  Native people may not have reached out to Mayflower passengers seeing them as “friendly, naive primitives,” welcoming the “religious freedom seekers” as has been the notion in history lessons. In reality the Wampanoag leader arrived not as a friendly move but one to “take advantage of the goods they brought”. Also to try to prevent the “violence to a nation already hit by diseases brought by previous Europeans”. There was a shared dinner but “a dinner of happy Pilgrims and Indians doesn’t capture that history in any way.....’It’s not black and white … it’s understanding different perspectives’”. The author of the article believes that “the number of teachers and schools teaching Thanksgiving in a “traditional fashion” — those dressing their students up and singing Thanksgiving songs — is diminishing”. We should remember “that they (Native Americans) have their own priorities, their own cultures, their own politics”. One of the teachers contributing to this article “suggests that teachers on a grade school level teach their students about the Native people indigenous to their local areas” so they learn more about the full and true history of Native American culture and society and how that would relate to the first Thanksgiving.  

We are have another air fry dinner.....maybe beer battered fist or maybe air fried chicken. 

Joy

this is a tree stump....I pass it every day.....it looks like someone didn’t have the time to cut it all the way down and over time shopped at it....maybe hoping eventually it would be chipped away

 November 20, 2022, a thought for today, Knowledge is better than wealth, you have to look after wealth, but knowledge looks after you. African Proverb

November 19th upload.... “rock(s)”. I gathered several images of rocks. This one had the most detail in the shot. 

I left for church even earlier than usual today. I wanted to take the photos that I had hoped to get on Friday. The parking lot was empty but as I was opening the door and to turn off the alarm, Tom pulled in. I was glad he was there so he could turn the sanctuary lights on for me. I was able to walk around undisturbed for as many photos as I wanted to take. 

We had a bible study and a choir rehearsal before the church service.  I think there were a few more people there today than there was last week. I didn’t quite get the uplift I always hope for but there was some food for thought. 

The next shot for yesterday was “statue”. This first time I saw this image I thought it was a live deer in the front yard of a neighbor here in the city. I was driving so I had to look in the rear view mirror before I stepped on the brake to get a closer look. 

I needed to stop at Kroger for a couple of things I didn’t order for pick up. Then I circled around a bit in search of some photos. 

As is my custom and respect for the Sabbath the to-do list is short bordering on nonexistent.

The first upload for today is “afternoon light”. I think shadows would show a bright light best. But I like this overall light in this shot. 

The word today is slow.  Let no one be slow to seek wisdom when he is young nor weary in the search of it when he has grown old. For no age is too early or too late for the health of the soul. Epicurus.  Slow but steady wins the race, Aesop.  Wisely and slow; they stumble that run fast. William Shakespeare.  Imperturbable, resolute, tree-like, slow to speak — such a one is near to Goodness, Confucius. Perfection is attained by slow degrees; it requires the hand of time. Voltaire. 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. Confidence is a plant of slow growth in an aged heart. William Pitt. What most of all hinders heavenly consolation is that you are too slow in turning yourself to prayer. Thomas a Kempis  I am slow of speech and slow of tongue. Moses,  Hasten slowly. Augustus.  Knowledge slowly builds up what Ignorance in an hour pulls down. George Eliot. 

The second shot for today is titled “signs”. I drove around the shopping center looking for signs in the store windows. This one had the most interesting layout. 

I would like to have traveled on a horse powered and sreetcars just once. The title to this article is: “Columbus Horse Powered Streetcar System - 1863-1892". The fist horsecar line ran from Columbus Union Depot on North High Street, past the State House at Broad and High, then to Mound and South Streets....about one and a half miles. This route lasted until about 1888 when “electrification” took over. It took until 1892 for the “conversion” to be completed and electrified streetcars to take over. The “horsecar” era lasted 29 years. During that time the population of Columbus grew from eighteen thousand to ninety thousand. “Streetcar suburbs” began to form. There were two streetcar companies, the Columbus Consolidated Street Railway Co. and the Glenwood and Green Lawn Railway Company. There was a basic layout for the electric railway. Over the years the names of the lines were changed. In 1933 a modernization took place with the introduction of a “trolley coach” and motor bus service. So by 1948 the transition from street cars was complete, The End of The Streetcar Era. The last streetcar line was converted to route for trolley coaches. 

I had a third entry for today, November 20. The assessment title for this one is “black and white”. It was taken at the same time as the shot above . I used my Sony with a Zeiss lens for the first shot and my Samsung S20 cell phone camera for this one so I could switch the shooting mode on the camera to black and white instead of changing a color shot to black and white in Photoshop. 

Maybe, taco bell for dinner tonight. 

Joy 

slot of this style yellow ribbon around the city 

 November 18, 2022 a thought for today, Its better to stumble with your feet than to stumble with your mouth. African Proverb

The first photo upload for yesterday was “wrinkles”. I sure didn’t want to do a selfie and show all of my wrinkles so used an old piece of aluminum foil and smooched it around to make wrinkles especially for this capture. Then positioned it in front of my black core board background panel.

I like Fridays. Some times it’s feels like air coming out of a balloon must feel. So I made a short list of things to accomplish today. 

One thing I wanted to do today was stop at the church to take photos of the Christmas decorating that was supposed to be  going on. I had mentioned it in the bulletin this week in hopes others would come to help. I surmised a time of ten o’clock. When I mentioned that time to someone else I was told that was ok. So I went to the church at ten to take photos for the newsletter....no one was there. I’ll try to get some photos on Sunday.

The second upload for yesterday was “favorite colour”. Yesterday my favorite color was red. I have many “favorite colors depending on the day and the mood. This is an OSU sweat shirt that was in my pile of laundry and was handy to capture with the camera. 

I have an extra for you today.....this is the same image as the one above, the “favorite colors”... truly, it is...I just used a fexify Photoshop plugin filter on it to bring out the “art” that was hidden within

On the way home from my church stop, I stopped by the park in search of ideas for my two photos for today. I think I got some good ones. It’s cold outside so I didn’t want to get out of the car or keep the windows down for too long as I was searching and snapping.

It’s time to make Sweet Pea’s “special” meat balls. I almost forgot to take the meat out of the freezer so now I have to wait for it to thaw before I can start mixing and shaping and baking. 

Then to top off the afternoon I will make the online curbside pick up order.

This first photo upload for today is “an empty table”. I found this one as I drove through the park....the picnic table is nearly hidden behind the evergreens.

The word for today is serious.  Mix a little foolishness with your serious plans. It is lovely to be silly at the right moment. Horace.  To think of shadows is a serious thing. Victor Hugo.  No one should fear to undertake any task in the name of our Saviour, if it is just and if the intention is purely for His holy service. Christopher Columbus. How can I be useful, of what service can I be? There is something inside me, what can it be? Vincent Van Gogh. The charity that is a trifle to us can be precious to others, Homer. In the master there is a servant, in the servant a master, Marcus Tullius Cicero. A good servant is a real godsend, but truly this is a rare bird in the land, Martin Luther. The work an unknown good man has done is like a vein of water flowing hidden underground, secretly making the ground green, Thomas Carlyle.  We cannot live for ourselves alone. Our lives are connected by a thousand invisible threads, and along these sympathetic fibers, our actions run as causes and return to us as results, Herman Melville.  No man is more than another unless he does more than another, Miguel de Cervantes.  

My next upload for today is “diagonal”. I spotted this roof of diagonal lines also as I drove through the park today. I didn’t get to take my photo of the Christmas decorating at church today but I got a slew of other shots instead...kind of like “make hay while the sun shines”.

This Ohio Village is a great place to visit especially for history buffs but also for the educational advantages. The article starts “Ohio Village is a living history museum”. When is was created in 1974,  “the intent was to provide a view of life in Ohio during the American Civil War”. The theme was built and stays centered toward life in the 1890's. I have visited the village several times, twice in an “official” nature. One time the group of calligraphers I belonged to visited and had lunch and a tour. The second time was of a more “personal” nature. I practiced the art of paper marbling at one point in my life. I sought an invitation to demonstrate the art one summer at the village. My daughter and my daughter-in-law joined me to help. We all dressed in period clothing. Both times were exciting and memory making for me. Back to a description of the village. The buildings are, of course,  “reproductions”. There is a John Hauck Foundation Welcome Center, a Village Schoolhouse, a Town Hall, The Telegraphic Advertiser, a Church, a Masonic Lodge, an American House Hotel and Tavern, a Bank, a Pharmacy, Blacksmith, Barn and much more.  A popular event at the village that happens every year is “All Hallow’s Eve”. It is an 1860s-style celebration of Halloween in October. It includes fortune telling, “interpretations of beliefs and superstitions related to the season”, and a parade. At the end of the evening there is a rendition of Washington Irving’s Legend of Sleepy Hollow. At Christmas time there are carolers, horse-drawn carriage rides, a Victorian Santa Clause and more. The village has it’s own baseball teams called the Ohio Village Muffins and Lady Diamonds. The article describes it as “both teams play by the 19th-century rules of the game, very similar to those followed by the New York Knickerbockers, an early baseball club, in 1845". There is a baseball festival at the village in the late summer where similar teams come to compete in a “tournament play by the old rules.”

Pizza! (It’s an old habit ...... but a nice one)

Joy

                            behind the scenes in a city

 November 16, 2022 a thought for today, If you travel with lies you will reach your destination but you might be unable to retrace your steps. African Proverb

My first upload for yesterday was “hand shadow”. Well, first I set a timer on the camera and tired to get a capture of a hand shadow of my own hand....no go. Later my sister was walking past and I said “hang on a minute” I need you to stand right here....make a shadow on the wall right there”. The lighting was just right at the spot on the kitchen wall. Here is one of the five shots I took. There was very little “darkroom (Photoshop) work on the “digital negative’ (memory card file). Perrfect...in my opinion. 

I am accomplishing a lot of little things that have been needing attention. Aside from that I have the bulletin completed. I got the changes and correction from the readers and they are made. The newsletter is on it’s way, a few more hours and a few more items from others to be processed and entered. 

The second “assignment” for yesterday’s upload was “mountains”. Again, I live in the city ..... no mountains near by and I haven’t been in the vicinity of one in years. But there have been “mountains” of plowed now drifts and “mountains” of dirty laundry. I chose this one from my archives of this snow plowed in the Consumer Square shopping mall. 

I got some more of the quilled snow flakes sprayed and another of the projects completed and framed. I have slowed down on the crocheting projects but still keeping up on a reduced time on each. There was some time to work on binding calendars too.

Sue is out on another window shopping trip. So the house is really quiet and kind of lonesome too. 

After getting the other to-do’s done I made time to get on line and make appointments for Bob and me to get our COVID boosters. I wonder how people who don’t have computers are able to make their appointments. The process on the computer isn’t the easiest thing either. I had to make it for when Bob isn’t working which is Saturday. With that in mind I had to schedule it between picking up groceries and the OSU game.

I had a third “assignment” for November 15.... “music”. This is one of the pianos in my church that offers music at choir practice and at Sunday service. 

Our Thanksgiving plans have changed. Part of the family are serving our country and can’t be home for this particular holiday so the “celebration” is limited. I learned this morning that tentative plans were changed again for those of us here. Those of us in Columbus will be having dinner together the day before. There are other plans for the actual day of Thanksgiving.....some specific  habits that take place on that one particular day of the year. It brings back memories of other Thanksgivings. There have been a lot of times where total family was not together for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. We are a “first responder” family and have been all of my life. We are filled with fireman, policeman and military people and a nurse too, me. That means all kinds of hours that call for duty time. So celebration times have always been made around times available to those who were needed elsewhere. Another factor that I am beginning to feel are the changes that come with age and growing families numbers and obligations ....more and different changes. I should be use to it after all these years. Then there is one very memorable Thanksgiving with my mother so many years ago.....I spent the last few hours after our traditional family gathering on that Thanksgiving with her in the hospital as she left us to touch the face of God.

The first upload for today is “running water”. This subject is hard for me to picture an idea that will work so I experienced with this one. I was running water and suds into my air fryer basket in the sink....hence, running water. 

The word today is seasons. Yet sunshine brightens after rain, The darkness comes and goes again, So solace follows bitter pain, As seasons wax and wane. Elizabeth Chase Akers Allen  How times and seasons are in concert! Spring is suggestive of morning, summer of noon, autumn of evening, and winter of night. Henry James Slack . Nature gives to every time and season some beauties of its own; and from morning to night, as from the cradle to the grave, it is but a succession of changes so gentle and easy that we can scarcely mark their progress. Charles Dickens.  I would go to the deeps a hundred times to cheer a downcast spirit. It is good for me to have been afflicted, that I might know how to speak a word in season to one that is weary. Charles Spurgeon. Silence at the proper season is wisdom, and better than any speech. Plutarch.  It is always in season for old men to learn. Aeschylus.  If we had not winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome, Anne Bradstreet. In seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy, William Blake  Who looks in the sun will see no light else; but also he will see no shadow. Our life revolves unceasingly, but the centre is ever the same, and the wise will regard only the seasons of the soul, Henry David Thoreau.  Many men walk by day; few walk by night. It is a different season, Henry David Thoreau. Youth is to all the glad season of life; but often only by what it hopes, not by what it attains, or what it escapes, In truth it is best to learn wisdom, and abandoning all nonsense, to leave it to boys to enjoy their season of play and mirth. HoraceThomas Carlyle.

The second “assignment” was “black and white”. This is also from my archives. One of my photos of a “best friend” who shared thirteen years of her life with me before she crossed the rainbow. Her name was sugar. This was one of her many naps. 

I seem to latch onto articles about the growth, revitalization, and/or history encircles places or events happening in and around Columbus. This one is about a place called Slate Run Living Historical Farm. The article starts with the author saying how the visions of a five-year old look... Little House on the Prairie, before cars, air conditioning , iPads brought excitement and wonder and mystery.  The milking of cows, working in fields and farm living were moments of quiet and one with nature. Slate Run, the 1880s farm, allows for the “visuals” of what those farms in the 19th century might have been like. On a visit there you can take a first hand part in chores and duties of the time period. You can feel the experience of tasks and rewards of a farm life. A description of the farm at Slate Run is a Gothic revival farmhouse built in 1856. The Metroparks restored the house. The barn on the property was built in 1881. To increase the feel of authenticity are volunteers dressed in costume going about the business of farm hands and owners. They may be snapping green beans or slicing cucumbers. You can watch horses work in the fields and pet farm animals. You can play games that may have been in played in the 1800s. There is a root cellar for canned good that may have been used in the winters, a smoke house with meat hanging to “cure”. To add to the whole feel and mental picture are farm tools and the smell of hay in the barn. The visits are so organized that there are programs that are age appropriate and add to the discovery of farm life. There are also riddles and scavenger hunts that are meant to teach about the history of farming life long ago. 

We are having another air fry dinner.....beer battered fish and french fries. 

Joy

                              a city corner

 November 14, 2022 a thought for today, He who is wise endeavors to learn how to understand the truth not less than that. African Proverb

Once again I “over booked” myself. By that I mean I made to long a to-do list for today. I managed to get the bulletin done. I will keep it to reread tomorrow for any typos then send to the a few people. I wanted to get started ahead of time on the newsletter today too but that is going to be put aside...maybe tomorrow. 

One of the uploads for yesterday was “a closed sign”. You wouldn’t believe how long I drove around looking for a closed sign. I drove to places I was sure t there would be one of those red closed signs. I found this one at the post office. 

I got some research done that I needed for the letter and I was able to catch a few minutes to look for one of the photos that is presenting a problem for me. It calls for a beach scene. I live in Columbus....no beaches near here except for Zoombezi Bay at the Columbus zoo and Aquarium. But not very close to that either, and I’m not sure it is still open for the season. I have some old photos I took in California years ago but it will take a while to find them. 

I made out a menu for the week to get a better idea for what I needed from the store last week. On the menu for today is beef and noodles. So I took some time at noon to make the home made noodles. I have learned to make the dough in the Ninja Blender so that part makes it a little neater and a little faster. I got that done and the cut up beef steak and put in the pressure cooker. So that part of dinner is ready. There is still the side dishes that I will do later. 

The next photo I uploaded yesterday was called “wildlife”. There aren’t a lot of wild animals roaming around the city streets at least not in day light. There are a few squirrels but they move so fast and erratically they are hard to capture. I decided to use this one I took at the park. 

Sue has gone out on another of her excursions. She has gone out almost every day since she got her car. She is enjoying herself so that’s all that matters. So far she’s been safe, hopefully I was worried for nothing. 

One of today’s photos uploads was captured at the same time as the one above that was shot yesterday. There is one difference....this was a separate group of geese from the first group.

The word today is safety.  They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. Benjamin Franklin.  The desire for safety stands against every great and noble enterprise. Tacitus.  The safety of the people shall be the highest law. Marcus Tullius Cicero. In skating over thin ice our safety is in our speed. Ralph Waldo Emerson.  Our insignificance is often the cause of our safety, Aesop. To keep oneself safe does not mean to bury oneself, Seneca.  Education is our only political safety. Outside of this ark all is deluge. Horace Mann.  A safe stronghold our God is still. A trusty shield and weapon, Martin Luther.  He that respects himself is safe from others. He wears a coat of mail that none can pierce, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.  Confidence cannot find a place wherein to rest in safety. Virgil.  A secret is seldom safe in more than one breast, Jonathan Swift.  Better one safe way than a hundred on which you cannot reckon, Aesop.  We are born subjects, and to obey God is perfect liberty. He that does this shall be free, safe and happy, Seneca the Younger. When Providence favors, you can make a safe voyage on a twig, Publilius Syrus,

This photo upload for today is from my archives. The assignment was “beaches”. I haven’t been near a beach in years. I took this shot when I was on a trip to California about thirty years ago. 

Here is another story about animals helping humans. This article is about a K-9 officer in Grove City. He wears the special uniform for the furry part of the team. His name is Rakka. He loves to play and kind of like to lick people too. His “charming” personality can change when instincts warrant. He is a 77-pound Belgian Maliois. He can make a robbery suspect “stop in his tracks”. He once caught an “armed suspect” in a dumpster. His number one job is “narcotic interdiction”. He works and lives with one human officer (handler).  Rakka enjoys doing public relations appearances too. He “helped” pass out candy on Halloween, He has “worked” the Buddy Ball (baseball program for kids and adults with mental and physical disabilities. His “family” when he is not working is his partner, his partner’s wife and as well as his ‘sisters’ (two other dogs). Rakka replaced Max after he died of cancer. Max was a K-9 officer for six years and responded to 1,357 calls where 656 arrests were made.  During the training period of a K-9 they go through a process where officer and a dog come together to find a good match. Once matched they begin training together for six weeks with a professional trainer. Training of both is on going in both the narcotic area and in tracking and any other kind they may need. Sometimes they train together with other officer and their dogs. The dogs travel in a “designated SUV police cruiser, equipped with a custom back seat for him to travel in”. The article related that there are “heavy penalties for injuring a police dog. If the dogs are injured, they can be transported by the fire department squad. The article also said that Rakka hasn’t bit anyone yet and won’t unless commanded to do so.

Beef and noodles are on the agenda for tonight’s dinner. 

Joy

                               this corner needs be tided up a bit

 November 12, 2022 a thought for today, An old man may miss his target with a stone but never with his word. African Proverb

I’m feeling lazy today. I had planned on working some more with my new printer, as usual with a new techy product, I am having a slight problem getting it set up. But I think I will put it on the back burner for today....not in the mood to deal with it. 

On November 11 on of my photo a day “assignments” was “an arrow”. In my last blog I shared a photo of curves that I shot in the McDonald’s drive through. This arrow is from the same patch of pavement. 

We, Bob and I, picked up the curb side groceries a little while ago. Sweet Pea got to take what is becoming her weekly ride to the store with us. 

As we were leaving to go to the store, we saw a couple of snow flakes.....then when we got home it was coming down a bit heavier. I’m pretty sure there won’t be any sticking to the ground today. It’s cold outside but not that cold and hasn’t been long enough for the ground to be too cold. It’s just winter saying “here I come”. 

My second upload for yesterday was “night time”. I don’t do much with my photography at night outside. Every now and then there is a moon that grabs my attention. This one was taken as I glanced out a window in my bed room as I was getting ready to get quiet and read a book for an hour or so. . 

My trip to the doctor yesterday for a wellness check went very well.... considering. Age is descending steadily and leaving its not so subtle and sneakily mounting hints and impacts along the way.

I have been taking my time getting my new ipad set up the way I want it, as with the new printer. I use it for my daily cognitive exercises, I am moving toward my new adventure into the factime memory making part of the ipad/phone (exciting and modern communication) that so many have enjoyed before me, I do some of my daily reading on the ipad/cell phone. In line with getting it ready for the facetime adventure I have been generating and updating my contacts list. 

My first upload for today is “in my pocket”. I had my hooded jacket on for a quick errand. When I got home I cleared my pocket and this is what I had....some change, a mask, an unused Kleenex, a squished up register receipt and my ‘I voted’ sticker.  

The word today is reach.  The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential... these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence. Confucius. Music is the movement of sound to reach the soul for the education of its virtue. Plato. Do not fear mistakes. You will know failure. Continue to reach out. Benjamin Franklin. The power of choosing good and evil is within the reach of all. Origen. To reach something good it is very useful to have gone astray, and thus acquire experience. Saint Teresa of Avila. And out of darkness came the hands that reach thro' nature, moulding men. Alfred Lord Tennyson. Stretching his hand up to reach the stars, too often man forgets the flowers at his feet. Jeremy Bentham. You traverse the world in search of happiness, which is within the reach of every man. A contented mind confers it on all. Horace. Ambition is so powerful a passion in the human breast, that however high we reach we are never satisfied. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Like dogs in a wheel, birds in a cage, or squirrels in a chain, ambitious men still climb and climb, with great labor, and incessant anxiety, but never reach the top. Robert Browning. We all wish to reach a ripe old age, but none of us are prepared to admit that we are already there. Francisco de Quevedo . A true disciple shows his appreciation by reaching further than his teacher, Aristotle. 

The second upload for today is “minimalist”. I did a few captures for this subject and decided I liked this one the best.  

I have talked about Ffanklinton several times. I guess I am enthralled with this area of the city. This article tells some about how it began and grew. Before Columbus became a city Franklinton was “nestled in the river-bend on the west side of the Scioto”. Early on there was a man named Lucus Sullivant was wanted to “make his place in the world”, Fanklinton and Mr. Sullivant would come together in time. Mr. Sullivant came from Ireland to Virginia in the 1700s. His father incurred many debts before he passed away and Lucas had to pay them off leaving only enough money to run a tobacco farm. At the age of 18 he moved to Kentucky where he became a surveyor. In 1784 Virginia gave up land it owned northwest of the Ohio River. In 1794 Sullivant lead a crew “into the wilderness of the Ohio territory”. For doing this job he was allowed to chose land that we wanted. He and his crew traveled on food and by canoe. In 1797 he took possession of 6,000 acres of land and laid out a village of 220 lots in Ross County. In 1803 Franklin County took over part of Ross County. This was the area that he named Franklinton in honor of Benjamin Franklin. As a side note: there is a cameo of Sullivant on a grave stone in Greenlawn Cemetery. Sullivant knew that the land in Franklinton was good because of Native Americans he met who grew corn fields near there. The Scioto River was deeper then and there was flooding so he moved the boundary further west than first chosen. He sold the land at twenty-five cents to three hundred and thirty-three. To encourage more people to buy and move to Franklinton, it he gave away some lots “near the eastern border on what would become Gift Street”.He ordered bricks and glass panes fo the “first and finest brick home in Franklinton”. Most homes were log cabins with oilskin paper stretched across the windows. He raised a family and became an honored member of Columbus. He also assisted in the building of the First Presbyterian Church. He made friendships with the Native Peoples and the European Settlers of the U.S. during the fighting of the British and in the War of 1812. In 1815 he “secured the right to build the first bridge between Franklinton and Columbus”. Until then crossing the river was by ferryboat. In 1816 the first toll bridge opened. Lucas allowed people attending religious services to travel back on forth free on Sabbaths. He allowed the free travel until he discovered much of the traffic on “Sabbath-day” was people having too much to drink ane were staggering home. He eventfully built the Columbus Academy Schoolhouse on Third Street and a milldam and grist-mill powered by the Scioto River. 

I think I am making taco salad for dinner. 

Joy

I’m feeling for the respect of the hydrant....I don’t think it was been used that much but harsh and heavy traffic residues have affected its appearance 

 November 10, 2022 a thought for today, A river that forgets its source will soon dry out. African Proverb

One of the photo uploads for November 9th was “an unmade bed”. I forgot that I would need this photo before I made my bed yesterday so I checked around the house for another unmade bed. I found one but decided to come back to my bed an “unmake” a little part of it. Sometimes Sweet Pea will do that for me if she is looking for a “nesting kind of spot”.

My “busy day” has rolled around again. I was up a little early to tick a couple of things off my list before I got on a roll. 

A second capture for yesterday was called “curves”. This one I shot at a regular stop on my outings. It is a part of a McDonalds parking/drive through lot. 

While I was finishing up the printing and getting ready to distribute the bulletin throughout the church there was a knock on the door. The Mid Ohio Food delivery was here early.... no volunteers at the church yet because the reported schedule was supposed to be at 10:30. I chatted with him for a few minutes and we decided he would come back after he made a few other deliveries.

One of my photos for today is “power lines”. I remembered that there is some sort of power station on Wilson Road so, when I left the church, I headed that way to get one of my three photos for today. 

This first photo upload for today was as I mentioned in the previous paragraph. It is the power station on Wilson Road. 

When I got home, I started the laundry for the week. That will take up the rest of the day as I finish some more multi tasking. 

The second upload for today was called “wood”. I used this one of an old wooden privacy fence. When I shot this one, I had taken several captures of wood. I liked one of an old and knurled tree trunk that I wish now I had used for the upload instead of this one. 

A word for today is promise.  We must not promise what we ought not, lest we be called on to perform what we cannot, Abraham Lincoln. Promise is most given when the least is said, George Chapman. We promise according to our hopes and perform according to our fears. Francois de La Rochefoucauld. Our Lord has written the promise of resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in springtime. Martin Luther. Those that are most slow in making a promise are the most faithful in the performance of it. Jean-Jacques Rousseau. How little is the promise of the child fulfilled in the man. Ovid. The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep. Robert Frost. Everyone's a millionaire where promises are concerned. Ovid. An acre of performance is worth the whole Land of promise, James Howell. Commitment Is what turns A Promise Into Reality, Abraham Lincoln. Daily I expect to be murdered or betrayed or reduced to slavery if the occasion arises. But I fear nothing, because of the promises of heaven, Saint Patrick.   

This was another of those days for a third photo upload. This one is titled “buttons and zippers” ( I kept going around with the mantra “buttons and bows” while I was looking for the shot). Anyway, after checking some coats/jackets for buttons and zippers on the same piece of cloth, I was finding mostly zippers and snaps until I found this pair of trousers that I have in my stack of hemming to do. 

Franklinton continues to “spruce up” one of the oldest historic areas of this city. This article tells about one of the newest structures to be introduced in its growth and revitalization. There is a new eight story hotel being planned with six food, drink and entertainment spaces. The name is Junto Hotel at 77 Belle Street. There will be 198 hotel rooms. There will be a main restaurant described as a “wood-hearth neighborhood tavern” which is a family environment. There will be a rooftop patio and bar. Another eatery/coffee shop named Maudine’s is planned. Its name “references” the 1926 homecoming cow from OSU. In this shop there will be pastries, baked goods and “an assortment of grab-and-go items in addition to coffee”. Next on the list of six additional spaces is “a street food style walk-up window that will be serving the famous Québécois dish”. The lobby will double as a check in and a gathering place “for workers by day and cocktails by night with its own separate bar”. The last space described in the article is a back patio attached to the lobby. Here there will be fire pits and an indoor/outdoor integration with the lobby. 

This being my “busy day” of the week I think dinner will be quick and simple....air fry chicken fries and fish stick and french fries. (I think I am beginning to get use to cutting down on time in the kitchen...it’s about time to go along with what strength and energy that years of life have determined for me has begun its inevitable ebb). 

Joy

                             Just another orange cone that got knocked over