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