Monday, January 30, 2023

 January 29, 2023 a thought for today, You can't move faster than your shadow. Russian Proverb

My first upload yesterday “I am....”. So this can be done several ways. I could have made a selfie of something I was working on or just a selfie. Here is what I came up with.

We had our new choir member, David, sing a solo today. It was strong and powerful and touching. His voice and feelings filled the entire church. Then we had another member of the choir give the message today. It was simple and easy to relate God’s teachings to today’s world. All in all my choices for refreshing my sole for the coming week.

The second upload for yesterday was “horizon”. This one is from the archives. After some time searching it was the one I felt best one I could find to show something that looks like the sky meets the land. 

As is usual for my particular view of Sundays I will be continuing the aura of today’s church service ..... to refresh and restore myself by honoring the Sabbath. I am going to bend it just a tiny bit by making and baking Sweet Pea’s treat. 

Next week will be lighter than the past two weeks and there are no deadlines. Monday will be the bulletin day and ordering Sweet Peas meds. The rest will take care of itself by me seeing the need to tend to chores as they present themselves. 

An upload for today was “lunch”. This is a frequent kind of lunch for me when I am out of the house around lunch time....a hamburger, french fries and iced tea. 

The word today is blame. Men are only clever at shifting blame from their own shoulders to those of others, Titus Livius.  Great tranquility of heart is his who cares for neither praise not blame, Thomas a Kempis.  To find a fault is easy; to do better may be difficult, Plutarch.  I like to praise and reward loudly, to blame quietly, Catherine II.  They have a right to censure that have a heart to help, William Penn. The blame is his who chooses: God is blameless. Plato.  The secret thoughts of a man run over all things, holy, profane, clean, obscene, grave, and light, without shame or blame. Thomas Hobbes. In short, Luck's always to blame. Jean de La Fontaine.  Whatever one of us blames in another, each one will find in his own heart. Lucius Annaeus Seneca.  It is more difficult to praise rightly than to blame. Thomas Fuller.  Blame is safer than praise, Ralph Waldo Emerson.  The easiest thing to do, whenever you fail, is to put yourself down by blaming your lack of ability for your misfortunes, Washington Irving. Things that are done, it is needless to speak about...things that are past, it is needless to blame, Confucius. You must not blame me if I do talk to the clouds, Henry David Thoreau.  What cannot be changed cannot be blamed, St. Jerome.  Be not too hasty either with praise or blame; speak always as though you were giving evidence before the judgement-seat of the Gods, Seneca the Younger.

The next upload for today is “your choice”. I took this one some time ago. It is my version of a fairy garden.

This article is about a plant you may want to add to your yard and a bit of history about it. It is called a Pawpaw (maybe brings back memories of “way down yonder in the paw paw patch).The article started out mentioning how this kind of weather may be the time to start thinking of your yard and landscape in planning for spring time. The author of the article has a large yard and likes to plant a new tree nearly each year. He plans to “plant one of Ohio’s most interesting native tree species—the pawpaw, which is the state native fruit of Ohio”. Then the article goes on with a bit of history about the Pawpaw tree. The fruit of this tree was eaten by “both Native American and early European settlers”. There were also two US presidents who enjoyed this fruit, George Washington ate them as dessert. Thomas Jefferson grew them in Monticello. Native Americans used the fruit in making small cakes, dried, stored and then used to make sauces and relishes served on cornbread. They used the inner bark to make string/rope. Pawpaws ripen August through October. It is said the taste is similar to mango and papaya. The plants can spread through their root system. When grown on their own they can reach 25 feet tall and 15 feet wide. In a landscape area it grows to a medium sized tree and can be useful as shade. According to the article it can be used for shade where “larger shade trees such as oaks and maples” are not suitable. It is recommended not to plant them along curbs. It went on to say that they are not usually prone to insects or disease. Two trees would be necessary for cross pollination. 

It’s going to be Mexican pizza from Taco Bell for me for dinner tonight. 

Joy

                                            uh oh



Saturday, January 28, 2023

 January 27, 2023 a thought for today, What was written by a pen, cannot be taken out with an axe. Russian  Proverb

My fist upload for yesterday was “my day”. This is an image I captured from the first part of my day. As I was leaving from doing the printing yesterday. Our “trusty” copier that does all of our heavy work for the week/month/year.

It’s been a great day so far....except maybe for getting up at 6:30. I met Dorothy at the church so that we could finish the bulletin. I think we got it done in record time. We were in and out having finished “binding”, labeling and stamps, in about forty-five minutes. As usual it was nice having a chance to chat with Dorothy. We have a lot in common with our age and our families. Now I have the rest of the day mostly free. 

On my way home I was on the alert for subjects for my two photos of the day. I think I found them both mostly in one spot for a change. 

The second of the two uploads for yesterday was “breakfast”. I joke about this.....I love the white Cheezits and have a handful of them as I am getting “up and at ‘em” in the morning....so, maybe call it an appetizer to breakfast which I don’t always have so the Cheezits may carry me through til lunch. 

I got the laundry and some other chores out of the way yesterday after the Thursday printing tasks.

We didn’t get the predicted heavy storms on the horizons for these past three days as according to the weather announcers. Which is a good thing albeit confusing as to making plans. Today is cold but sunny, no snow or rain. There are still small patches of snow but nothing in the way of mobility. 

My first upload for today is “something blue”. Once you start looking for a color you can usually find it all around, except for some unique and/or less familiar colors. If you stop at White Castle you will see a lot of items in the same blue shade....security poles, awnings, logos and light covers as well as trash cans as in the shot. 

The word to day is between. Genuine tragedies in the world are not conflicts between right and wrong. They are conflicts between two rights, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel . The whole difference between construction and creation is exactly this: that a thing constructed can only be loved after it is constructed; but a thing created is loved before it exists. Charles Dickens. Love is not a union merely between two creatures, it is a union between two spirits, Frederick William Robertson.  Opinion is the medium between knowledge and ignorance. Plato.  Lost - yesterday, somewhere between sunrise and sunset, two golden hours, each set with sixty diamond minutes. No reward is offered, for they are gone forever. Horace Mann. The function of wisdom is to discriminate between good and evil. Marcus Tullius Cicero. A quarrel between friends, when made up, adds a new tie to friendship. Saint Francis de Sales. Man is the only animal that laughs and weeps; for he is the only animal that is struck with the difference between what things are, and what they ought to be. William Hazlitt.  The years between fifty and seventy are the hardest. You are always being asked to do things, and yet you are not decrepit enough to turn them down. George Eliot. 

The second upload for today is “knotholes”. I found this fence as I was leaving the White Castle parking lot. Later I passed a neighbor’s aging wooden privacy fences that would have been a better choice since it had “gobs” of knotholes. 

This is another story mentioned on the Curious Cbus (and columbusneighborhoods.org both following the Thursday evening PBS show Broad and High) about a historic school that has been renovated/re-purposed. Its name is the Open Air School located at 2571 Neil Ave. I think I have heard about these kinds of schools in other parts of the world. This school was built in 1928 in an effort to educate and be a healthful setting for the prevention of Tuberculosis in vulnerable children. It has been renovated and kept with the history-inspired features. In its day it was a natural setting with outdoor play areas, a large “rest room” (not the kind of rest room we refer to today...an actual room to rest in for naps), a kitchen and cafeteria and, of course classrooms with “abundant windows” that stayed open all year (even in the winter...kids dressed in outdoor gear and there were small heaters in the room). The school eventually closed and was left empty for many years until it was sold in 2018. During the renovation, materials and spaces were considered in keeping it historically correct. The building was in good condition with brick walls, “quarry tiles” in the hallways and stairs as well as wood flooring. During the renovation the original covered play area has been converted to a breakfast and lunch cafĂ©. What was once the cafeteria and terrace are now a restaurant. What was the classrooms and the “rest room” are now event spaces. Old lockers along the hallway are still there with new built in seating added. Old interior doors remain. A new elevator was ‘skillfully’ tucked into an old storage area. Bathrooms were “upgraded” with modern fixtures.  The former terrace overlooks the Olentangy River. There were some missing front doors that were restored by using historic photos of the old doors. It is listed in the National Register of Historic Places now.”

It’s pizza time again. 

Joy

        recycling missing the can, tipped over and forgotten chair or ......??? 



Thursday, January 26, 2023

 January 25, 2023 a thought for today, Something well cared for lasts two centuries. Russian Proverb

One of the uploads for January 24 was “something I love”. She appears a lot in my uploads. She is a big “love” in this house and in this part of our lives right now. 

I have been busy again today. This would be a food pantry day, but it had to be canceled because of the weather. It was predicted through yesterday afternoon and last evening that we were getting up to three plus inches of snow with rain and sleet on top of it. It doesn’t look that severe to me this morning but I don’t have to be out driving in it either. Hopefully there won’t be ice tomorrow so I can get the printing done. 

I finished the bulletin and most of the newsletter this morning along with the extra data to goes with them. Then made a couple of phone calls and important email. After that some cleaning in the kitchen.  

A second upload for yesterday was “J is for....” other than my name,    J is for jar (and a lot of other things to) but this was my choice for today. 

I had to make a trip to Kroger yesterday hearing what the weather would be today. Sweet Pea was out of her food and treats and I needed a couple of things that I had forgotten to order last week. I couldn’t find the kibbles I had been getting for her so I bought a different one. I was surprised at how much she seemed to like this one.

An upload for today is “food”. I was making sloppy joe for dinner and grabbed that along with the tomatoes for the salad for my upload for today. 

The word today is benefits.  Write injuries in dust, benefits in marble, Benjamin Franklin.  For dogs we kings should have lions, and for cats, tigers. The great benefits a crown, Victor Hugo.  Happiness comes when your work and words are of benefit to others, Gautama Buddha. A benefit is estimated according to the mind of the giver, Seneca The Younger. The sage does not hoard. The more he helps others, the more he benefits himself, The more he gives to others, the more he gets himself. The Way of Heaven does one good but never does one harm. The Way of the sage is to act but not to compete. Lao Tzu.  Those who want to reap the benefits of this great nation must bear the fatigue of supporting it. Thomas Paine. Friendship always benefits; love sometimes injures. Seneca.  That the Jews assumed a right exclusively to the benefits of God will be a lasting witness against them and the same will it be against Christians. William Blake.  Let your cares drive you to God. I shall not mind if you have many of them if each one leads you to prayer. If every fret makes you lean more on the Beloved, it will be a benefit, Charles Spurgeon. 

The second upload for today was “fire”. I decided to make one chore the subject of both photo uploads for today. 

Here’s another story, a little more history about how Columbus grew sharing a side effect of that growth. The title of the article was a questions....”Was Colonial Hills Built For World War II Workers?” This is another of the articles I have found at “Curious Cbus” (related to the Broad and High PBS show). This community is a quiet and “family-friendly” suburban neighborhood in Worthington. The article reported that it is a development that began during the war and“boomed in the post-World War II period”. The article went on the say that in 1927 construction began but stopped because of problems in the depression. Years later when the war began housing was in demand for “defense industry executives to live”. It went on to relate that 200 homes were built in 1942 for workers in the executive level, possibly at Curtiss-Wright, not workers, soldiers and veterans. Curtiss- Wright employed 24,000 people and made naval aircraft during the war. This number of people caused the need for housing in many areas of Columbus. Another note of interest in the article was that Colonial Hills was not only exclusive to executives it also restricted African Americans as well. It is interesting as well to recall that in WWII African Americans were permitted to hold high ranking offices in the military. Over time this restriction stayed in place even though there were attempts to change the policy. The deed of 1938 established in Colonial Hills (relating to the African Americans) was never removed, but when segregation was abolished by the Civil Rights Act in 1964, the deed was no longer in effect. “Today, Colonial Hills is a patchwork of houses built at different times for different reasons” and is a highly desirable neighborhood.

I think it will be sloppy joe for dinner tonight. 

Joy

                            looks like another “sink hole” presented itself




Tuesday, January 24, 2023

 January 23, 2023 a thought for today, One is wiser in the morning than in the evening. Russian Proverb

One upload for yesterday was “skyline”. This is an image of part of Columbus’ skyline taken from under one of the Broad Street bridges. 

It’s been productive day.....bills paid, insurance policy set up.....bulletin done to a point...bean soup started.

There’s not much more on my to-do list for today but then all of those above have gotten me into the middle of afternoon. It will soon be time to work on the rest of dinner. In the mean time I think I will finish the “darkroom” (Photoshop) work on my photo uploads for today. 

Another upload for yesterday was “white”. This image is of the snow before while it was still beautiful before it got tramped down and dirty.

The word today is behind.  Time flies over us, but leaves its shadow behind. Nathaniel Hawthorne. What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you. Ralph Waldo Emerson. What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others. Pericles.  Men lose all the material things they leave behind them in this world, but they carry with them the reward of their charity and the alms they give. For these, they will receive from the Lord the reward and recompense they deserve. Francis of Assisi.  Christ beside me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ within me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me. Saint Patrick.  To lead people walk behind them. Lao Tzu.  He's my friend that speaks well of me behind my back. Thomas Fuller. Old age is not a matter for sorrow. It is matter for thanks if we have left our work done behind us. Thomas Carlyle.  Letters are among the most significant memorial a person can leave behind them. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Every heart that has beat strongly and cheerfully has left a hopeful impulse behind it in the world, and bettered the tradition of mankind. Robert Louis Stevenson. They who go Feel not the pain of parting; it is they Who stay behind that suffer. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.  

An upload for today was ““today’s weather”. Snow covered most everything today and yesterday. It’s beautiful watching from the inside. 

I think this is kind of a human interest story and can relate how city services can help people. It is about an “on-demand transit” program that took place in Chillicothe. A bus driver in Chillicothe started his day at 5:50am. His first stop was at six o’clock for a person to go to the YMCA. This person once weighed 500 pounds and began his weight loss in 2019 after he had developed a heart problem. It along with a bypass surgery led to a 300-pound loss. Part of his journey was riding a bicycle to the Y but in cold weather and after a shoulder replacement he had to stop this 2-mile journey.  It so happened that the Chillicothe Transit System started a twelve-month pilot program of free on-demand rides within the city. It served about 1,400 people in over 9,000 trips. Employers and senior citizens relied on this transportation. Another person enjoying the free ride to the YMCA was a 93-year old retired teacher who needed the aquatic exercise for her arthritis. After their exercises they were picked up and taken home. The bus driver didn't mind this job, he says was a change of pace in his life. He toke people to doctors’ appointments, grocery stores, pharmacies, mental health appointments. He got directions for many of the pick up and drop off locations through an iPad on his dashboard. There are more stories in this article about other people with other types of needs. “Riders could get text alerts and track the location of the driver online. All vehicles are wheelchair accessible. It has not been determined yet if the Chillicothe Transit System will continue to offer free transportation in 2023.”

The next upload for today is “shallow DOF”. This is one of the paper quilled designs I made for the outside of a gift bag. I arranged the flowers so they had a more 3D affect.

I am making lima bean soup and jiffy corn bread for dinner along with fried bologna. 

Joy

                            more orange cones







Sunday, January 22, 2023

 January 21, 2023 thought for today, The eyes believe themselves; the ears believe other people. Russian Proverb

An upload for yesterday was “I am passionate about....”. The thing that takes up a lot of my interest and time is photography. I have others to as we all do. I am interested in reading an hour or so every day. Then I have my hobbies at present crocheting and paper quilling, it changes from time to time. I am also engaged in volunteering in different capacities for my church. 

We have the twins for a visit today. It is becoming a regular for now on Saturdays. It brings energy and light to the house. Both my sister and I are exhausted when they leave but there is still a bit of the “life” they bring still lingering. 

Bob and I picked up our curbside groceries a little while ago. We have been taking Sweet Pea with us.... she gets excited when she knows she gets to go. We stopped at McDonalds on the home. When the lady at the take out window saw her she gave her a small bowl of whipped cream. Last week when the lady bringing out the groceries saw her she wanted to reach in the window and pet her on the head. 

Another upload for yesterday was “coffee”. My drink of choice is tea. But now and then there is a call for coffee in the house so this is my answer to that question. 

Another stop on the way home was to swing by the park so I could get one of the photos for today’s upload. 

Then when we got home it was time to put all the groceries away.....and enjoy the twins. 

I had a third upload for yesterday. That upload was named “K is for...”. I didn’t have a kite or a kitten in the house today so I grabbed the next handy “K”....keys. 

I had a cooking show on the TV as I was multi tasking, I noticed they were using a pasta that looked like a spaghetti noodle but it had a hole through the center (similar to a rigatoni noodle but much thinner like a spaghetti noodle) allowing sauces to get on the inside to. I just had to spend some time to do a Google search on it to find out what it was called....Bucatini pasta.  

I am reading another new book....I always have a book handy on the ipad....this one is Hornet Flight by Ken Follett. As I start out on a lot of his books, I think “maybe this one is a little slow”, then all of a sudden I am at point where I don’t want to put it down. 

One upload for today is “water”. As I mentioned above we, stopped by the park for that shot. I took a few photos of the fountain but this one with the geese enjoying the pond seemed to be the better choice. 

The word today is assume. We must never assume that which is incapable of proof, George Henry Lewes.  When a man assumes a public trust he should consider himself a public property. Thomas Jefferson.  Treat with utmost respect your power of forming opinions, for this power alone guards you against making assumptions that are contrary to nature and judgments that overthrow the rule of reason, Marcus Aurelius. Do not be the judge of people; do not make assumptions about others. A person is destroyed by holding judgments about others, Gautama Buddha.  Friendship with a man is friendship with his virtue, and does not admit of assumptions of superiority, Mencius.  Books are to be called for and supplied on the assumption that the process of reading is not a half-sleep, but in the highest sense an exercise, a gymnastic struggle; that the reader is to do something for himself, Walt Whitman. What can be explained by the assumption of fewer things is vainly explained by the assumption of more things, William of Ockham. 

The other upload for today is “homemade”. I used my “homemade” noodles in an image a couple of days ago. I have several of the crocheted pieces that are “homemade”. And several of the 8x10 framed paper quilled story boards I am doing for my great grand children....a ballet dancer, a basket of wild flowers, an undersea image, critters in a farm field, and two in the process...owls on tree branch, and balloons in the air. 

A while back I mentioned that I watch a WOSU PBS show on Wednesday evenings called Broad and High. There are a couple of sections to the show. one of them is called Driving with Darbee another is called Curious Cbus. The article today is from Curious Cbus about a history of Early Shopping Malls in Columbus.....their beginning and some of their endings. In the 1960s downtown stores “struggled” as new “large indoor and outdoor shopping centers" began popping up. The article mentioned that “the draw of a new mall also fades over time”. The first “major” mall in Columbus was Northland. It started in 1963. There were forty-three stores in the outdoor mall....the two major ones were Lazarus and Sears. Morse Road was widened to six lanes due to more traffic. The parking lot had space for 4,500 cars. Eastland was next and they were “fully enclosed” and climate-controlled. Next came Westland in 1969 when Lazarus had opened a store there in 1962 which “anchored” the new mall. These three malls pulled business away from downtown shopping. Improvements and expansions took place through the years. Northland and Westland became “enclosed in 1975 and 1982. Then bigger malls came along. City Center Mall opened in 1989. Then Tuttle Crossing in 1997. Easton Town Center opened in 1999. According to the article “the biggest battle in the war for Central Ohio shoppers came with the development of the Polaris Fashion Place”. There was a struggle between Northland and Polaris. JC Penney, Lazarus, and Sears—closed their stores at Northland. Westland managed to stay open until 2012. The article said that Easton Town Center is the only mall to “beat the odds and continues to thrive”. City Center was demolished in 2009. Polaris filed for bankruptcy in 2021. Tuttle Crossing has been “on the verge of foreclosure in recent years”. Eastland is being demolished. Easton is a “mixed-use development with both office and residential properties and therefore does not rely solely on retail”.

We are having the beef and noodles I froze from last Monday’s dinner for dinner tonight. 

Joy

                                       another sign of disregard 




Friday, January 20, 2023

 January 19, 2023 a thought for today, Good brotherhood is the best wealth. Russian Proverb

One of the uploads for yesterday was “kind”. Two “kindnesses” in this photo. First Sweet Pea is one of the gentlest and kindest dogs we have ever had. The second kindness is how my sister is petting Sweet Pea.

The printing is done along with some extra printing. I am beginning to feel like a full time secretary, pro bono. It took an extra hour for the extra printing. Then there was a bit of an unusual happening. As I was going though the church, I heard the front door open and close. There was no one else scheduled to be there at that time and I had left the office door open. I changed my usual path in order to check out who may have come in. It was Tom so everything was ok....just a few more steps for me and a chance to chat for a bit. 

On the way home I made a stop at White Castle then made a round of places I go for possible photo chances and found a few that will make it into the archives for future possible uploads. 

Another up load for yesterday was “wide angle”. This is the widest my lens will go. This the trees in the park near my house. 

We are having some typical Ohio weather. After the sub zero temps a couple of weeks ago we are having near sixty degree temperatures today. 

I may have mentioned in an earlier letter that I was seasoning my new cast iron grill/griddle. Well....I over oiled it. When it had cooled and I could touch it it was slightly sticky. So I did some research and decided it would be best to put it back in the oven for another hour or so. Along with the weekly laundry that went on the to do list for today too. 

Choir practice last night was another hour of uplifting words and sounds of the voices and piano sounds. 

An upload for yesterday was “the view from here”. This is the “view” from my desk chair as I glance out the window, over my porch and part of the neighborhood. 

The word today is aspiration. You aspire to great things? Begin with the little ones, Saint Augustine.  Aspire, break bounds. Endeavor to be good, and better still, best, Robert Browning.  If you aspire to the highest place, it is no disgrace to stop at the second, or even the third, place, Marcus Tullius Cicero.  If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them, Henry David Thoreau. If you would hit the mark, you must aim a little above it; Every arrow that flies feels the attraction of earth, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.  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. If a man constantly aspires is he not elevated? Henry David Thoreau. The true aim of every one who aspires to be a teacher should be, not to impart his own opinions, but to kindle minds. Frederick William Robertson.  The simplest words,--we do not know what they mean except when we love and aspire, Ralph Waldo Emerson. 

Another of the uploads for today is “composite”. This is a collection of three separate photos of a poinsettia and a Christmas cactus bloom. 

Here’s a story about local one billion year old rock and the history around it. There was a young man in the late 1800s who had tried time and time again to dig up the earth around a large rock in his parents yard. But despite all the effort he was never able to get all the dirt moved from around it. In 1905 a road crew building Iuka Avenue kept hitting the same rock. They gave up too and decided to re-route the street. A little later, sidewalks were being planed. The rock became a problem again. According to the article a construction crew worked on the problem and unearthed what turned out to be a boulder weighing somewhere around 15 to 20 ton. This rock drew the attention of “Dr. Edward Orton, Junior, Dean of the School of Engineering at The Ohio State University”.  He began thinking that this boulder would make a tribute to his father who was a noted geologist and one of the first teachers hired at the OSU and became president in 1873.  He was also an expert on the subject of rocks. In 1893 Orton Hall was named for him. Dr. Orton (Junior) made arrangements for the rock to be moved to the northwest corner of Orton Hall on South Oval Drive. To move the rock it took a wagon and eight horses to move it a half mile southwest of its original sight. Once the rock was in place, the movers wanted more money. In the move the “extreme weight” broke the wagon. He told the movers a “deal was a deal .....and that if he didn’t like the terms they had agreed to, then he was welcome to return the boulder to the construction site”.  Needless to say the rock is still there. The story seems to be that the rock had been carried by glaciers tens of thousands of years ago. Tests by the geology department determined the age of the rock to be just over one billion years old. A bit of a note about Orton Hall itself....it is the second oldest building on campus. It was built in 1893 with forty different types of Ohio stone. Along with some unusual ways it was laid out there are 24 gargoyle-like statues of prehistoric animals above the columns. It was also added to the National Register of Historic Places.

I think we are having creamed beef on toast for dinner. 

Joy 

                                there must have been a bit of extra weight needed for the block




Wednesday, January 18, 2023

 January 17, 2023 a thought for today, Each day learns from the one before it, but no day teaches the one after it. Russian Proverb

An upload for yesterday was called “teddy bear”. I don’t have any kids around the house any more and I lost my last stuffed teddy bear along, long time ago. But I do have two tiny little statues of a teddy bear. 

I got the bulletin done and sent out for review. Yesterday was more productive at home than today is going to be. I got the dog’s badly needed water bottle cleaned. That sounds like an easy chore but it....wasn’t. I couldn’t get the base off so that I could give the whole thing a good scrubbing (that’s why I had put it off for so long). Then I got a large load of dishes washed and the refrigerator cleared. Besides all of that I got a big batch of homemade noodles made. Then there was the ususal flour (everywhere) to clean up....the noodles were delicious. 

Another upload for yesterday was “recommendation”. I tried to take a photo of my noodle making machine after I had made a batch of noodles but when I examined the photo in Photoshop I decided there was too much flour all over the place to use that photo so I took a shot of the noodles as they were cooking in the beef broth/gravy. 

I had a meeting at church in the evening. It’s hard to motivate getting out on a chilly and rainy night. But it’s always nice to spend some time with friends and getting important work done at the same time. 

Now it’s time to get ready to go to food pantry. 

.....I’m home from pantry.....we had a very good turn out today. It feels good when the pace is steady instead of in patches. It’s nice that we can help people this way. We had one ask about our free meal on Saturday to. 

My first upload for today was “kindness”. I think one hand touching another show a close and meaningful kindness. 

The word today is appearance.   ...and even polished brass will pass upon more people than rough gold, Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield.  Appearances are a glimpse of the unseen. Anaxagoras. You cannot judge by outward appearances; the soul is only transparent to its Maker. Hosea Ballou. It is not your outward appearance that you should beautify, but your soul, adorning it with good works, Clement of Alexandria.  First appearance deceives many, Ovid. The appearance of religion only on Sunday proves that it is only an appearance, John Adams. Humility is the foundation of all the other virtues hence, in the soul in which this virtue does not exist there cannot be any other virtue except in mere appearance, Saint Augustine.  The Lord prefers common looking people. That is why he made so many of them, Abraham Lincoln.  The beggar is the only person in the universe not obliged to study appearance, Charles Lamb. If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite. William Blake. The soul is placed in the body like a rough diamond, and must be polished, or the luster of it will never appear. Daniel Defoe.  

Another upload for today is “sunrise”. This was taken on an early morning a few months ago, overlooking my neighbors house.  

This article is talking about the renovation of a railroad station in our neighbor Delaware Ohio. There is a rail depot in Delaware Ohio that was built in 1885. After many years being used for a variety of purposes then sitting vacant for several years it has deteriorated. It was purchased in 2019 by a company that plans to redevelop the building into a “community destination”. It will include a restaurant and office space. In 1906 the depot became part of the New York Central Railroad. Passenger train services faded and the depot was no longer in use by 1950.  In 2018 it was “added to Preservation Ohio’s list of most endangered historic sites.” It is considered to have good prospects for its new uses because of it’s location and the growth of the city. As part of the renovation the plan is to be “removing an embankment to expose portions of the hand-hewn basement stone foundation to allow for walkout restaurant and patio space”. On the first floor there will be a walk out patio. The renovations with take place in “accordance with the historical character of the property”. Much of Delaware’s east side is being revitalized.  

It’s going to be a quick dinner in the air fryer tonight....chicken fires and potato salad. 

Joy

                                fog and age



Monday, January 16, 2023

 January 15, 2023 a thought for today, Do not measure others by your own yardstick. Russian Proverb

The first upload for yesterday was “inside my home”. This is a part of my kitchen. It was the chosen part for this title today.

I do believe we had a couple of new people at church today. That was nice. Hope they come back. It was refreshing. The choir sang again this morning. Once again, as with last week, we sounded so much richer with our new member. 

It’s still cold outside. I don’t know why I mentioned the cold temperatures, it’s going to be this way for a couple more months. 

The second upload for yesterday was “tools”. These are a collection of just a few of the “tools” I have used in hobbies/crafts over the years. As the years passed and I learned more and more ways of doing things I have come across some interesting kinds of tools and gadgets. It was fun learning about their origins and uses. 

I have to get some dishes out of the sink but I think that will be the extent of my “chores” for this Sunday afternoon. 

One of the uploads for today was “outside my home”. It was too cold to stay outside without a coat on so this is a quick shot of some of what we see outside of my home.....the porch swing, the wind chime, the bare tree branches and some of my neighbors home. 

The word for today is action. Action is eloquence... William Shakespeare.  And is then example nothing? It is everything. Example is the school of mankind, and they will learn at no other. Edmund Burke. Do you want to know who you are? Don't ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you. Thomas Jefferson. To every action there is always opposed an equal reaction. Isaac Newton. Thinking is easy, acting is difficult, and to put one's thoughts into action is the most difficult thing in the world. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. It is easy to sit up and take notice, What is difficult is getting up and taking action. Honore de Balzac.  Never confuse motion with action. Benjamin Franklin.  All the beautiful sentiments in the world weigh less than a single lovely action. James Russell Lowell.  The greatest pleasure I know is to do a good action by stealth and have it found out by accident. Charles Lamb. Take time to deliberate; but when the time for action arrives, stop thinking and go in. Andrew Jackson.  The only cure for grief is action. George Henry Lewes.  All speech is vain and empty unless it be accompanied by action. Demosthenes. Speech is the mirror of action. Solon. 

The second upload is “umbrella”. I didn’t want to open this huge umbrella so I chose to stick it in a corner and take a photo and part of its shadow. 

I am sharing an article for a bit of enjoyment/education aside from renovations and historic information about the city. This one is about how a bird leaned to get to a food that takes human hands to do. The bird is a “common herring gull”. I found in this article that only one state has more gull species than Ohio and that is California. According to the article California has 27 species of gulls, Ohio has 21 recorded species. Apparently two more have come to Ohio recently, the common gull and the “glaucous-winged gull” who were recorded in Cleveland in late December and early January. The most common gull in Ohio to this point has been the ring billed bull. This one “roosts” in parking lots and on the Scioto River. It looks for scraps in restaurant parking lots. They sometimes share their space with the Herring gulls. The article says they are intelligent, live along life and are adaptable. The herring gull lives around water and likes to eat mussels or clams. Clams are famously difficult to open. Here’s the interesting part of the story, herring gull has somewhere along the line learned about the meal inside the clam and “devised a clever trick to open clams”. These birds spot a mussel bed and dive down to “pluck a clam”, fly back to a spot of hard-packed gravel. From “a height of several stories, the gull would drop the mussel like a feathered B-24 delivering a bivalve bomb” with the gull close behind to gather the “meat morsel”. The article went on to say that other gull species can preform this trick also. 

 I haven’t decided which take out we will be ordering for dinner, taco bell, KFC, Ding Ho, or subway. 

Joy                                Is it a message or is it art



Saturday, January 14, 2023

 January 13, 2023 a thought for today, Chipped china lasts two centuries. Russian Proverb

An upload for yesterday was “I went here”. This is one of the hallways in the church. It is quiet today and peaceful. I like it this way when I am working. 

As I was printing the bulletin yesterday there were people bringing in food supplies for the pantry. This delivery was a little more difficult due to a heavy rain fall. Everything made it inside with all the help of the volunteers. 

I am taking a “day off”....just hanging out and doing whatever feels good. I thought I would go out for a bit looking for photos for my archives but I decided it’s just too cold outside so I’m staying in. I need to get the rest of my Christmas calendars in the mail....I just don’t have the energy to print, bind and package the rest of them right now. I hope I can get them out by the end of the month. 

Another upload for yesterday was “porches”. This is an interesting subject. When driving through the neighborhood it’s interesting to see how folks like to adorn their porches. Also I like to notice the architecture of the porches as I pass by. 

I missed another chance to go to North Carolina to visit some of my grand children and great grand children. This cold wasn’t a good match for a trip and a happy visit. I don’t know when I will get the chance again.

One of the uploads for today is “color”. This image was a nice one on it’s own but to bring attention more to the colors than the shapes, forms and patterns of the furniture and windows I used a filter to “spread” the colors in the room.   

The word for today is best. The best revenge is to be unlike him who performed the injury. Marcus Aurelius.  I do the very best I know how - the very best I can; and I mean to keep on doing so until the end. Abraham Lincoln. The best cure for the body is a quiet mind. Napoleon Bonaparte.  Grow old with me! The best is yet to be. Robert Browning. At his best, man is the noblest of all animals; separated from law and justice he is the worst. Aristotle. That best portion of a man's life, his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and love. William Wordsworth.  But I always think that the best way to know God is to love many things. Vincent Van Gogh. Good, better, best. Never let it rest. 'Til your good is better and your better is best. St. Jerome.  An investment in knowledge pays the best interest. Benjamin Franklin.  A wise man is superior to any insults which can be put upon him, and the best reply to unseemly behavior is patience and moderation. Moliere. We should remember that one man is much the same as another, and that he is best who is trained in the severest school. Thucydides. God's gifts put man's best dreams to shame. Elizabeth Barrett Browning.  

Another of the uploads for today was “tombstones”. That can be an interesting subject for observations and photo too. This one is on a monument that has been broken and leaned against the tree. There are several in the background too. The cemetery has many historic  members of society buried here. It is one of the oldest in the city.

Here is another story about renovations saving a piece of history near Columbus. This one is about an old mill near Lancaster Ohio. It is called Rock Mill. It is claimed to be one of the oldest mills in Ohio and is “falling to pieces”. It was built 110 years ago. Because of the shape that it was in there was some concern that a strong windstorm could cause it to “tumble to the pit of a 45-foot ravine” where it stands. One of the builders sons fell into deep pool of water at the bottom of the ravine when the mill was being constructed in 1820. One of the parts of the early construction was to build a “race” through solid rock. The race is 30 feet long, 18 feet deep and 3 feet wide. In addition a trough was needed for the waterwheel to work. The mill is six stories tall and made of “oak timber”. One piece of evidence showing that the structure was in such need of repair was the roof about to cave in. It is believed that there was a “bottomless hole” as a pit where the water poured from the dam to the creek. Over the years there have been several owners. After 2003, a labor-intensive restoration was begun. There was an excavation that revealed original mill stones and many artifacts from bygone days. New siding, wood windows, shutters, beams and posts were replicated to replace rotted and missing pieces. Stonework was done below ground to the foundation, a master carpenter was used to recreate stairs and the milling floor, massive new wood gears were constructed. A millwright was engaged to craft a replica of the 26 -diameter all-wood waterwheel. It was installed in September 2012; it is the largest of its kind in the state. In 2017, Rock Mill roared to life! People from all over the U.S. and beyond visited to see the mill in action.

It’s time for pizza again.

Joy

        Not sure what this is ..... some sort of tool or a lost piece of equipment




Thursday, January 12, 2023

 January 11, 2023 a thought for today, Tomorrow is often the busiest time of the year. Spanish Proverb

My first upload for yesterday was “red barns”. In my travels to and from Mt. Sterling I pass a lot of farm land and a lot fo barns some very old, some in decay and some not so old. I have several pictures of these barns. This one with the Mail Pouch ad catches my eye on ever trip. So I decided to share it here.

I am still battling a head cold. I am among the lucky, I think, that I don’t often experience a common head cold. But this one is giving me the whole bag of symptoms, runny nose, phlegmy cough, stuffiness in the head and weepy eyes. I have taken my temperature and even done the COVID test. It seems it’s just the old fashioned cold. It seems to force me to be slower in all my activities and for someone like me that’s a drag....it’s like being lazy. Oh....and it causes me not to be able to focus on anything for very  long. 

The second up load for yesterday was “currently reading”. As any of you who have followed this blog know I read ebooks on my ipad now. I am currently reading one of my favorite authors, Ken Follett, Nigh over Water. So I used the camera to shoot a photo of the ipad screen. 

I have the bulletin all ready to print so that’s a plus. And the house has been cleaned so there is no push to get a lot done which is a plus for now. I should just relax and enjoy the experience.

This is one of those days I had a third upload called “seeing spots”. I remembered this one from my archives that seemed to fit the bill for this title. It was taken on a rainy day through the windshield of my car of two ladies loading groceries into the trunk of their car. 

The word for today is belong.  Appreciation is a wonderful thing: It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well. Voltaire. You forget that the fruits belong to all and that the land belongs to no one. Jean-Jacques Rousseau.  Nature and books belong to the eyes that see them. Ralph Waldo Emerson.  Seldom, very seldom, does complete truth belong to any human disclosure; seldom can it happen that something is not a little disguised, or a little mistaken. Jane Austen. Nothing is more generally known than our duties which belong to Christianity; and yet, how amazing is it, nothing is less practiced? George Whitefield. Tell me with whom you associate, and I will tell you who you are, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.  Your actions are your only true belongings, Gautama Buddha. There are two things parents should give their children roots and wings. Roots to give them bearing and a sense of belonging, but also wings to help free them from constraints and prejudices and give them other ways to travel (or rather, to fly), Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.  Resolve to treat the things in your possession as belonging to others, Saint Basil.  We ought not to treat living creatures like shoes or household belongings, which when worn with use we throw away, Plutarch. 

The first upload for today is “sun”. It’s difficult to get a direct photo shot of the sun with a normal camera so I decided to share one of my photos of effects of the sun. 

Here’s another bit of history about a Columbus landmark since World War I. In 1918 places for troops and materials were “filled to capacity”. The article explained that though Columbus was “swamp and farmland” there was access to three railroad lines. At that time the US Army Quartermaster Corps bought 281 acres of land here in Columbus to form a “military installation”. It began with six warehouses to receive material to put in storage.  These warehouses were still in use until the 1990s. After the war, World War I, the facility was used to sale stockpiles of material left from war time. When World War II began, more land was purchased for civilian workforce which “the largest and busiest military supply installation in the world”. I learned from the article that in the last eleven months of the war there were 400 German prisoners “held” there. The work there during the war was for the employees to keep supplies moving to support troops all over the world. Later the facility became the Defense Construction Supply Center under what is presently known as the Defense Logistics Agency. In January 1996 the Defense Construction Supply Center” merged with the Defense Electronics Supply Center that had been in Dayton, Ohio. Changes took place over the years. Now it is a Land and Maritime Supply Chain headquarters with “ the Defense Logistics Agency with over 3,000 employees in 51 locations around the world” and “continues to have a profound impact on national defense by supplying the armed forces with $3 billion worth of materiel annually.”

Another upload for today is “B & W”. I used a filter on my original image of a red hibiscus to get this black and white image. 

We are having meat loaf for dinner tonight with mashed potatoes and gravy, rolls and cole slaw. 

Joy 

       common traffic happenings