August 29, 2023 a thought for today, Everyone pushes a falling fence. Chinese Proverb

One of the uploads for yesterday was “my choice”. As many of these of my choice are this one is from my archives. I have forgotten about many of them and when I run across them I remember the feeling when I made the shot. 

Bob is having more of a reaction to either the chemo treatment or one of the new medications. I needed to cancel my work at food pantry again today. We need to decide what is the best way to manage this most current event.

The second upload for yesterday was “fresh”. I looked around to try to find something “fresh”. The freshest thing in the house today seems tp be this new bloom on the spider plant. 

I just received the information I need to finish the bulletin so I can get that finished today. 

I think I mentioned that I had two huge plants upstairs that I have been tending to for years in the spare bedroom. The two have nearly out grown their containers but are the healthiest I have ever grown. I can no longer care for them so I am going to put them out by the curb for someone to take. I was able to get the Boston Fern down Sunday and out to the curb (no one took it yet). Next I tried to get the Snake Plant down but it is far to heavy for me to move. It will have to stay there, I will water it weekly until someone else can move it for me or it finally gives up.  

The first upload for today is “a mountain landscape”. I live in the city and one where there are very few mountains and none close enough for a quick trip for the day. So I found a package with a photo of a mountain range and decided to use it. I used a couple of filters to “dress it up.” 

The word for today is doubt. We know accurately only when we know little, with knowledge doubt increases, Johann von Goethe.  If we begin with certainties, we shall end in doubts; but if we begin with doubts, and are patient in them, we shall end in certainties, Francis Bacon. There is no despair so absolute as that which comes with the first moments of our first great sorrow, when we have not yet known what it is to have suffered and be healed, to have despaired and have recovered hope, George Eliot.  Doubt is an uncomfortable condition but certainty is a ridiculous one, Voltaire. Our doubts are traitors and cause us to miss the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt, William Shakespeare.  Doubts and jealousies often beget the facts they fear, Thomas Jefferson.  Doubt, of whatever kind, can be ended by action alone, Thomas Carlyle.  Skepticism is unbelief in cause and effect, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Great doubts deep wisdom. Small doubts little wisdom, Chinese Proverbs. Uncertainty is the refuge of hope, Henri Frederic Amiel.  A doubtful friend is worse than a certain enemy. Let a man be one thing or the other, and we then know how to meet him. Aesop. What loneliness is more lonely than distrust? George Eliot.  Despair is the conclusion of fools, Benjamin Disraeli. Beware prejudices. They are like rats, and men's minds are like traps; prejudices get in easily, but it is doubtful if they ever get out. Francis Jeffrey. He who replies to words of doubt doth put the light of knowledge out, William Blake. Denying, believing and doubting are to men what running is to horses, Blaise Pascal.  

The second upload for today is another “my choice”. This is one of my family’s furry members from long ago. He has crossed the Rainbow Bridge and leaves behind a basket full of loving memories. 

Here another of the questions kids ask about history. This was a question asked by a eight year old girl from Ireland.... “who was the first person to speak English?” A Professor of Medieval English Literature answered and explained this question and said: “The first speaker of English did not sound like you or me. That’s because language changes all the time.” The birth of Engliksh was first spoken in Britain centuries ago, at that time it was called “Old English”. It began in a “turbulent period of British history.....after the Romans had left Britian, around 1,600 years ago.” The Romans left in the fifth century. During the time they were there they spoke Latin. But the people who lived there before the Romans spoke a Celtic language, something like an early version of the Welsh language. A Germanic tribe moved through Europe in the fifth and sixth centuries. After hearing all of these languages the people then began speaking “Old English sometimes called “Anglo-Saxon”. This was the most spoken and written language in England from the Middle ages, 450 to 1050. To more percisely answer the question at the beginning of the story anccient legends say that when some of the tribes of people came to Britain some of the British leaders (then called Celtic speakers) asked “two Germanic leaders, Hengest and Horsa, to come to Britain to help protect the country after the Romans had left.” These are the people bring the basics the Old English. There was a poet named Caedmon who furthered the use of the “English” language. The story of Caedmon came form a monk and historian named Bede. He told that Caedmon could not read or write and was a cowboy (looked after cattle) but he “received the ability to compose beautiful poetry as a gift from God.” He wrote a poem to praise God. Some of the words in the poem were different than we use today but a few like and, his, might and now have survived that era of English to this time. Part of the poem read like: “when he of wonders of every one eternal Lord the beginning established. He first created for men's sons heaven as a roof, holy Creator.” So we see that words sounding like those we hear and use put arranged in a different order than we are accustomed to. 

It will be left overs for dinner tonight.....meatloaf and mashed potatoes. 

Joy

                   may just a little TLC

August 27, 2023 a word for today, Accusing the times is but excusing ourselves. English Proverb

The first upload for August 26 was “cloud patterns.” Early in the morning it looked like I would not be able to capture this one for today. But the sun came out and the sky presented all these fluffy looking white clouds. 

Sunday.... the day of reflection and renewal. Church service was nice today. We had a lay (church member) do the service today. He did a very good job, the message was better than some that we have had. As we entered the sanctuary there was a beautiful surprise. The church had been decorated for a wedding that will be happening this afternoon. Huge gorgeous bouquets of all white flowers near the altar.  I’m not sure what the flowers were. Then the whole center aisle was lined from back to front on both sides (quite a long distance) with peace lilies. Each were about two feet tall, much larger than my peace lily plant, and in full bloom.  Simply gorgeous.

Bob is having a mild reaction to his first chemo treatment. Food doesn’t seem to be a want right now. Milk shakes do some good and I am insisting on 8 oz. protein supplements. 

There was some trouble with the streaming of the service this morning so I am multitasking by uploading the service to the church Facebook page as “we speak.” 

The second upload for yesterday was “slow shutter speed.” I’m not so good at adapting to slower or faster shutter speeds. This one isn’t too bad in showing the blur that happens when stopping action but I am not happy with the greenish tone to the overall image. 

It is sadly obvious that summer is creeping to a close. The leaves haven’t begun to change, that will be at least another month but it’s just the feel. At night time the train whistles in the distance catch my attention (for me that is an autumn and winter note) and the football talk and games add to the “feel.” Being an Ohio native I am use to all the seasons and for a reason special to each change I look forward. I will have to admit that that wasn’t the case in my younger years. Summer was my favorite for a long time then spring and fall became comfortable. Winter has always been a little more difficult to dwell on but all the same has some interesting and engaging moments and memories.

While on my way home from church I was on the lookout for one of today’s photos, the coffee shop scene. We have a café a few blocks away that I pass on the way so I left early to get the shot. I discovered that they are moving and all the windows were covered over. I learned on more research on the subject they are moving just across the street. Anyway I found a different shop for the “assignment.” Both of my photos for today are already processed and ready to upload. So.....

For the rest of the day I am going to relax except for preparing dinner.

The first up load for today is “a coffee shop scene.” There is such an establishment on my way to church. I left early to capture the shot.....there were cardboards all over the windows saying they were moving so I had to take a different direction. After church I went by the Tim Hortons. I always considered them a “coffee house” type establishment. So that saved the day. 

A word for today determine. Imagine for yourself a character, a model personality, whose example you determine to follow, in private as well as in public. Epictetus.  Determine never to be idle. No person will have occasion to complain of the want of time who never loses any. It is wonderful how much may be done if we are always doing. Thomas Jefferson. The direction in which education starts a man will determine his future in life. Plato. Our deeds determine us, as much as we determine our deeds. George Eliot. There is nothing impossible to him who will try, Alexander The Great. Every man is an impossibility until he is born, Ralph Waldo Emerson.  It is not a lucky word, this name impossible; no good comes of those who have it so often in their mouths, Thomas Carlyle. Start by doing what is necessary, then do what is possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible. Saint Francis of Assisi. Times of great calamity and confusion have been productive for the greatest minds. The purest ore is produced from the hottest furnace. The brightest thunder-bolt is elicited from the darkest storm, Charles Caleb Colton. To the timid and hesitating everything is impossible because it seems so, Sir Walter Scott. It will never rain roses: when we want to have more roses, we must plant more roses, George Eliot. The truest wisdom is a resolute determination. Napoleon Bonaparte. 

The second upload for today is “a wild animal.” I had to go back to the archives for this one. I don’t see many wild animals in the city except now and then when one visits and I am aware. 

There are all kinds of help these days and I think this is a good one. What caught my eye about this article is a “pet food pantry” has been established in a part of Columbus. It is called “the Essential Care Center.” It is offering “lowcost veterinary care, a pet food pantry and classes to help develop the future veterinary workforce.” According to the article it is the only one of “its kind” in the United States. “At 3772 S. High St., the center is open 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and closed on weekends. Appointments are required and can be made online at www.columbushumane. org/essential.” An interview related that labor shortage in the field is a problem and prices of veterinary care has increased. The property was purchased for the Columbus Humane department. As part of the service there is a drive-thru pet food pantry along with a “subsidized veterinary clinic with reduced fees for services, exams, vaccinations, surgery, and sick and injured care.” Appointments can be made online. There is also a veterinary assistant training program under the name of Rachael Ray Foundation Pathways to Careers in Animal Health program. This service may help find employees for other vets offices. It is hoped that this training will help other vet clinics with staffing and may lower costs some. The article reported that there are over 106,000 pets living in poverty in Franklin County. It is stated that “Everyone deserves a companion.” The article said that the pantry serves around 800 families living in the area of the building and also investigates many animal cruelty cases. Some of the “cruelty” cases are not due to purposeful neglect it may be only to  “lack of access to services”

I am going to try making chicken spaghetti for dinner tonight. 

Joy

      street maintenance with an observation point

 August 25, 2023 a thought for today, Everything must have a beginning. French Proverb 

My first upload for yesterday was “a throwback”. This is of my granddaughter many years ago on one of her first visits to the beach, sand and sea. 

Bob finally got his first round of chemo yesterday. This one seems to be going ok for him. We have never experienced this kind of health treatment so we are playing it by ear.

I met Dorothy at the church to finish the newsletter earlier today. As usual we work well together and things got done with no hiccups or problems. So this week is coming to an end. The things that had a deadline are all out of the way for a month now. 

My second upload for yesterday was “my choice”. I am finding many shots that made me realize I forgot where I had captured a moment of beauty. 

I forgot a couple of things in the laundry yesterday so I have to do another small load today. The “senior moments” seem to come more frequently as time goes by. ☺

We are having some high temps today but it seems a little overcast even though I don’t think rain is in the forecast. 

I hope to put the plants that I won’t be keeping out by the curb tomorrow for anyone interesting in them to take. I checked the weather calendar and found that it won’t be storming. 

The first upload for today is “on the shelf”. This is my peace lily in it’s new hydroponic container. Most of my plants are in the mason jars, this one happen to be a decorative set of “vases” I found. I am enjoying watching roots formations as well as the tops. 

The word for today is criticism. Animals are such agreeable friends - they ask no questions; they pass no criticisms. George Eliot   I much prefer the sharpest criticism of a single intelligent man to the thoughtless approval of the masses. Johannes Keeler. In criticism I will be bold, and as sternly, absolutely just with friend and foe. From this purpose nothing shall turn me. Edgar Allan Poe.  The strength of criticism lies in the weakness of the thing criticized. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Few people have the wisdom to prefer the criticism that would do them good, to the praise that deceives them. Francois de La Rochefoucauld. Sympathy is the first condition of criticism. Henri Frederic Amiel. Silence is sometimes the severest criticism. Charles Buxton.  Action and faith enslave thought, both of them in order not be troubled or inconvenienced by reflection, criticism, and doubt. Henri Frederic Amiel.  Fix the problem, not the blame, Japanese Proverbs. You do ill if you praise, but worse if you censure, when you do not rightly understand, Leonardo da Vinci.  Criticism is a study by which men grow important and formidable at very small expense, Samuel Johnson. When men speak ill of thee, live so as nobody may believe them, Plato. A wise skepticism is the first attribute of a good critic, James Russell Lowell. There is only one way to avoid criticism: Do nothing, Say nothing, and Be nothing, Aristotle.   

Today’s second upload is another of the “my choice” and another of the ones I found in my archives. 

It’s interesting to learn about how and why things that can be used to teach. I think most things can improve sensory and cognative growth if used intelligently and correctly. This article is about a professor uses the idea of graphic novels to teach math and physics. In an effort to “reengage students with technoloby” teachers are finding an “uphill battle.” Teachers have trouble holding attention spans while competing with “social media.” They seem to be finding that graphic novels (Graphic Novel" is a format, not a genre. Graphic novels can be fiction, non-fiction, history, fantasy, or anything in-between. Graphic novels are similar to comic books...a novel in comic-strip format) along with text hold the attention stronger and longer. This seems to work with all levels of learning.  Graphic novels offer a “wide range of topics and audiences, graphic novels can explain tough topics without alienating student averse to STEM – science, technology, engineering and math.” An explanation for this is, “studies show that students learn better using print rather than digital formats.........integration of text with images and diagrams is especially useful.” In one case in the article the subject is more conceptual offering intuition and fundamentals before equations. Many students suffer anxiety and trauma in the study of math and physics. It is believed as stated in the article that the graphic novel method makes math more “accessible.” There is hidden geometry in relationships leading to forgetting that it is math involved. This method of teaching also improves “written communication skills, reading comprehension and critical literacy skills.” Here is something I learned from the article: “graphic novels support long-term memory for those who have diagnoses like dyslexia.” This method of learning is a starting point for a “broad range of ‘niche’ topics.” 

Dinner is easy tonight.....pizza.

Joy

there was a street fair in a village near Columbus where this capture was made

 August 23, 2023 a thought for today, Everything goes by favour and cousinship. French Proverb

The first upload for yesterday was “my choice.” I was experimenting with my camera as I sat in the lounge chair and saw these angles, lines, patterns and textures. I saw the art and snapped the button. 

I am getting things on my list checked off better than I thought I would. When laying in bed at night thinking of all that is on the list or all that needs to be done things seem impossible but in the day light ..... not so much, though still, it takes focus and persistence. 

I finished the newsletter and paid the bills while I was uploading the last sermon to Facebook. I left a sink full of dirty dishes until I get home from food pantry this afternoon. 

The next upload for yesterday was “a bicycle.” I see bicycles almost every time I am out of the house for one errand or another. But for some reason I couldn’t find one today so I found one in the archives. I wasn’t particularly fond of the sharpness on the original image so I added a painterly filter to it. 

We seem to be getting some of the predicted heat but not as oppressive as many in the country and around the world have had this year it seems. I think it has been a relatively comfortable summer. Bob just came in from outside, I caught a sound of the new bamboo wind chimes that Sue brought home earlier this month. 

After the dishes this afternoon and the photo uploads I will finish the envelopes and cards for tomorrows printing session at church.

Today’s first upload was “the colour green.” While I was at food pantry I found several items that were green and generated images of each of them then decided on this one when I got them in the darkroom (Photoshop). 

A word for today is creative. Great indeed is the sublimity of the Creative, to which all beings owe their beginning and which permeates all heaven. Lao Tzu. The unlike is joined together and from differences results the most beautiful harmony, Heraclitus. When I am ..... completely myself entirely alone... or during the night when I cannot sleep it is on such occasions that my ideas flow best and most abundantly. Whence and how these ideas come I know not nor can I force them. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. If we were to bring creativity down to earth, it would not have to be reserved for exceptional individuals or identified with brilliance. In ordinary life creativity means making something for the soul out of every experience, Thomas Moore.  Don't be satisfied with stories, how things have gone with others. Unfold your own myth, Rumi. Write while the heat is in you. The writer who postpones the recording of his thoughts uses an iron which has cooled to burn a hole with. He cannot inflame the minds of his audience, Henry David Thoreau.  All our knowledge has its origin in our perceptions, Leonardo Da Vinci. What does education often do? It makes a straight-cut ditch of a free, meandering brook, Henry David Thoreau.  The public wants work which flatters its illusions, Gustave Flaubert.

This is another “my choice” and another from my archives. I may have used this same image in another blog some time ago. Sue’s granddaughter took horseback riding lessons on a farm not far from our house. I went to watch one of her lessons and had a good time finding horses that made good photo subjects and they didn’t seem to mind being my model.

We like butterflies, why not moths?  This article is a note about an Ohio naturalist and friends who set out to prove that moths are crucial. They started out spending a “late night at the Lowe-Volk Nature Center shining a light on some unfairly maligned butterfly siblings: moths.” The article went on to say one of the noticeable differences is butterflies are “warm and fuzzie”.... while moths “give people the creeps.” One of those reasons is that they “emerge in the dark and folks are nervous about the dark. I learned from the article that “moths predate butterflies....... by millions of years.” According to my math using the figures in the article there are about “nine times” the variety of moths compared to butterflies, about a 132,500 difference. On of th persons in this interview worked for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources for many years. In that time he photographed and shared “ornately patterned moths” in his hobby of “mothing.” On this “mothing” trip there was a period of time they had to seek refuge from a thunder storm. The dampness of the storm seemed to be an advantage, moths “like still, muggy nights, and the warmer the temps, the better.” To give some feeling to the night time “mothing” adventure a description of the surroundings was in the article: “high-pitched trills of gray tree frogs fill the air. A big brown bat, hanging silently in the eaves of the nature center.” Bats find moths their “primary food source.” In order to get photographs of the moths a “standard mothing setup” was used....a white sheet and bright lights. Bed sheets and lights such as mercury vapor bulbs and LED bulbs were used. On the mothing trip in the article 20 species were “caught” and photographed in two hours. There are large numbers of colors or markings and shape of theses small bits of nature. The mothing trip “revealed a hidden world, ripe for discovery. You just have to open your eyes in the dark.”

We are going to try a frozen packaged meal for dinner something like cheese burger noodles. 

Joy

not too much of a tangle of these wires ..... someone was neat about it

 August 21, 2023 a thought for today, Better to wear out than rust out. French Proverb

The first upload for yesterday was “a hidden gem.” This is a “hidden gem” in my neighbor’s yard. I see it when I park my car and realized it would be the photo for the day. 

Monday.....

I have all the information for the bulletin but I rearranged the “agenda” a bit. I have such a long list for today that it is never going to make it to completion, some will be moved to tomorrow, maybe the next day too. However, I did get a portion of the newsletter completed. I found one of the pieces I like to put in blank spaces on the calendar. So while I had it available I went ahead and put that in front of the bulletin for today. 

I rescued some tiny little statuettes I have for a “fairy garden” and decided to clean them and put them in the new indoor houseplant/hydroponic garden. They were in an old pot that I had put together a couple of years ago. It was overgrown with weeds and the mushrooms and elves were covered and hidden. They would have been thrown out soon. 

The second photo of the day for yesterday was “negative space.” This caught my eye. I don’t know what the object is but it stands out on the otherwise empty portion of the brick wall. 

I am a bit overwhelmed. I had an extra item to do for church that I didn’t know about until I had left on Sunday...I have to download the service to Facebook. I haven’t picked up the memory card yet, my time now days is in increments and scattered with last minute changes along the way. Had I been told about the plan before the service I would have known to wait. The cleaning lady is coming a week early and I have a few things that normally are left out for convince away when she is coming, so that is another item on the list for today. All of that and this is newsletter week which is always a long and convoluted few days. 

The weather had been cooler than normal these last few days but from what I hear on the news it is going to catch up to us today. It is predicted to get to around 90 degrees. 

Oh, I finished that book I told you about a few days ago. It was like the Twlight Zone but there were things to think about beyond the strangeness and in my opinion the writing was superb. I am now reading Deliver Us from Evil by David Baldacci (the same author). 

I had a third upload for yesterday called “watching paint peel.” My garage is in desperate need of some scraping and painting. We are in the process of hiring someone to do it. 

A word for the day conversation. Silence is one of the great arts of conversation. Marcus Tullius Cicero. True happiness arises, in the first place, from the enjoyment of one's self, and in the next, from the friendship and conversation of a few select companions. Joseph Addison.  There is no conversation more boring than the one where everybody agrees. Michel de Montaigne. Wit is the salt of conversation, not the food. William Hazlitt. Conceit causes more conversation than wit. Francois de La Rochefoucauld. The true spirit of conversation consists in building on another man's observation, not overturning it. Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton. What is reading, but silent conversation. Charles Lamb. The most fruitful and natural exercise for our minds is, in my opinion, conversation, Michel de Montaigne. Speech is power: speech is to persuade, to convert, to compel. It is to bring another out of his bad sense into your good sense, Ralph Waldo Emerson.  All speech, written or spoken, is a dead language, until it finds a willing and prepared hearer, Robert Louis Stevenson.  Speeches that are measured by the hour will die with the hour. Thomas Jefferson.  Speech is human, silence is divine, yet also brutish and dead: therefore we must learn both arts, Thomas Carlyle.  They are eloquent who can speak low things acutely, and of great things with dignity, and of moderate things with temper, Marcus Tullius Cicero.  He speaketh not; and yet there lies conversation in his eye, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

The first upload for today is “musical.” This is about the only thing I have that is  “musical.” I use to have a keyboard that the twins play with but at some point it became “lost.” 

Here’s more about a fast growing part of the Columbus community....and the earliest part of Columbus. It is growing and changing by leaps and bounds. The article is “More Plans Revealed for ‘Gravity Experience Park’ in Franklinton” in the form of a community gathering space. The space will include pickle ball courts, a stage for concerts, space for food trucks and more. Right now there is a half-acre gravel lot at McDowell and State Street next to the Idea Foundry and across from the Gravity development. It will be a privately-run park but open to the public. There will be more modern art in the space, a sculptured tree filled with LED illuminated stained glass birds along with other art pieces and a piece by a “world-renowned muralist.” There will be shaded seating, picnic tables and fire pits. The pickle ball courts will be turned into an outdoor skating rink in the wintertime. The plan is to open the park in October. 

The second photo of the day for today is another of the “my choice” uploads. I often search through my archives and find things I have forgotten that I had taken. This is one of those. Last year I had a “good crop” of Iris. I used another of them for one of the uploads a few days ago. 

I think it is going to be creamed beef on toast for dinner. 

Joy

        hidden .... well.... almost

 

 August 19, 2023 a thought for today, Rust wastes more than use. French Proverb

I wonder why Saturdays seem so special to me....still... after all these years. Is it a carry over from when we were in school and Saturday meant a day to be “free,” to do whatever popped into the mind....sleep late then drift along through the day? 

My first upload for yesterday was “on the ground.” That’s a wide-open subject. I just decided to take a shot of the shadows on the porch steps for this assignment. 

Saturdays, also a day now of the “tradition” for curbside pick-up groceries at our house. Most times now Bob doesn’t accompany me for that chore but Sweet Pea still does. She shows signs of knowing exactly what I am doing as I get ready to go. Isn’t it amazing how animals “know?” Her ears go up as she sits on her haunches while she watches me brush my teeth, comb my hair and gather up my purse. When I say “are you ready” she runs for her Angry Bird toy and rushes to the back door. 

My second upload for August 18 was “my choice”.  This was taken some time ago but caught my attention as I was looking through my archives for something that caught my mood. 

Once all the groceries were put up it was back to some things I enjoy doing. I finished the transplanting and started bringing the house plants back inside and “placed” in their indoor “garden” setting. I’m a little early bringing them in this year but our life, for now, is “catch as catch can” time wise with appointments and such going on almost daily....at least weekly. After I finish the photo a day project for today things will slow down and head for dinner time. 

Well, as an update we have had another date set for chemo to begin for Bob. The dosage, it seems, will be “set for him.” Hopefully all tests taken just before the infusions this week will be positive for a go ahead. 

My first upload for today is “a belonging.” This is Sweet Pea in the place suiting her....shot gun when on a ride to the store. 

A word for today is confidence. Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love. Lao Tzu.  Faith is a living, daring confidence in God's grace, so sure and certain that a man could stake his life on it a thousand times. Martin Luther.  If once you forfeit the confidence of your fellow-citizens, you can never regain their respect and esteem. Abraham Lincoln.   Confidence is that feeling by which the mind embarks in great and honorable courses with a sure hope and trust in itself. Marcus Tullius Cicero.  The man of genius inspires us with a boundless confidence in our own powers. Ralph Waldo Emerson. Confidence is a plant of slow growth in an aged heart. William Pitt.  Health is the greatest possession. Contentment is the greatest treasure. Confidence is the greatest friend. Lao Tzu. Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string, Ralph Waldo Emmerson. Public opinion is a weak tyrant compared with our own private opinion, Henry David Thoreau. 

 The second upload for today is “leading lines.” There are several in this shot...the highway, the orange barrels, and the telephone poles and the cables. 

To my way of thinking this may be a little on the “not so common” side for our part of the world, but I picture this is as a century's old custom for the rest of the world.....plants growing on the outside walls of buildings. My minds eye on this subject tends towards old castles and “chateau”-type homes. Today’s article is about a new “plant wall” in Columbus. In June on a wall in Franklinton an 18-foot-tall plant arrangement of 231 plants making it a “living wall.” The plants in this arrangement are perennial plants so they will be showy in every season. As I kind of expected it was “inspired by European vertical gardens such as French botanist Patrick Blanc’s, the plant wall is self-sufficient with a drip irrigation system.” Some of my thinking is concerning the “health” of the structure underneath, wood, brick, and such. I am sure these artists take that into consideration. They use a moisture retention mat made of form so the plants are nurished and watered without “much soil.” The local artists of this piece are a husband and wife who also own a business called Planthropy. It began with a hobby creating plant arrangements after work hours. Then arrangements sod at a farmers' market. The other partner brought to the business experience from a time spent in Switzerland after high school followed by deciding on a journey into landscape design. As the business and experience grew, they create walls of moss, living plants and bark. They also create “faux or preserved plant arrangements that hang from the ceiling.”  Added to their resumes they have created installations in twenty-five states. Their most popular items are moss walls that are “like a mosaic.” They like to try out new things. They draw ideas from nature itself taking hikes, taking pictures and look for “formations that stands out to them.” 

Taco Salad is on the dinner menu for tonight. 

Joy

  as I was getting gas this morning, I saw someone’s art on a couple of trash cans

 August 17, 2023 a thought for today, Who hears music feels his solitude. French Proverb

Bob has one of the long days seeing doctors today. So, he and Lowell will be away for a while. They left just after I got up this morning. 

The first upload on August 16 was “I did this today.” I began the annual house plant transplanting with this fit tree.  There is a story to why I have this plant. When I bought my car, the salesman had this huge plant standing behind his desk chair. It was gorgeous and was probably eight foot tall....impressive. So when I saw a baby one in the plant section of a store I was visiting I bought it. This is it....a good foot taller than when I bought it a year ago. 

The printing went well at the church today once I got the VERY slow computer cooperating with my “commands.” The church had more activity than is “normal” for a Thursday morning. There is some “tucking” going on in spots around the building and some light fixtures being updated. 

When I left the church I stopped at the bank for some gas money then stopped to fill the tank. I have a dread to pumping gas for some reason so Bob has been doing it for me for months but isn’t able to be with me when I need it for now so it is up to me. I DID IT!! (I remember when a man came out of the station and pumped the gas for the driver). Then I headed to Kroger to drop off the mail (at the box outside the door) from church and to pick up the eye drops that were prescribed the other day. They weren’t ready.....the insurance company has to be contacted so.... I wait (I seem to be use to that).

The second upload for yesterday was “my choice.” This one was taken at the Franklin Park Conservatory during the butterfly season. 

I got the laundry started. Then I went out to enjoy the comfortable temps as I transplanted another house plant, fiddle leaf fig. I got that one done yesterday, the Ficus ginseng today. I have two more to go....a weeping fig (notice...three fig trees) and a Dracaena marginata. It will soon be ready for them to come inside from their “vacation.” 

As the day goes by the numbers are climbing on my steps for the day meter, Thursdays put me over my top goal. 

My first upload for today is “a golden hour landscape”. Like the one I entered a day or so ago for another “assignment” this one is from the archives because I am not awake for the “golden hours” most of the time anymore. 

A word for today is communication. Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something, Plato. When the eyes say one thing, and the tongue another, a practiced man relies on the language of the first, Ralph Waldo Emerson. The strong man is the one who is able to intercept at will the communication between the senses and the mind, Napoleon. There cannot be greater rudeness than to interrupt another in the current of his discourse, John Locke. It must be that evil communications corrupt good dispositions, Menander.  To speak little is natural. Therefore a gale does not blow a whole morning nor does a downpour last a whole day, Lao Tzu.  Pure truth cannot be assimilated by the crowd it must be communicated by contagion, Henri Frederic Amiel. We never listen when we are eager to speak, Francois de la Rochefoucauld. Talk sense to a fool and he calls you foolish, Euripedes. To have much learning, to be skillful in handicraft, well-trained in discipline, and to be of good speech -- this is the greatest blessing, Buddha.  I cannot speak well enough to be unintelligible, Jane Austen.  

The second upload today was another “my choice.” This was taken a while ago when I worked downtown. I like seeing the stairs through the windows or a high rise building. I like the lines, shapes and patterns and the differences in texture.  

I found a website that seems to have some very interesting information on it including questions kids want answered, as this one does. I think it sounds like a place where wisdom combined with news can sprout so I will be sharing my summaries of them when I don’t see other current “news” to share. This article is titled “Why do teachers make us read old stories?” and had been asked by a twelve-year-old from Chicago. The article relates that there is an infinite amount of old stories some may seem strange. There are “beliefs, values and ways of life”that are different from those in our daily lives. Teachers encourage reading old stories to “connect with the past and to learn about the present.” Reading old stories contributes to the growth of wisdom about history and the society and helps “develop empathy” besides being relaxing and some time exciting. One example is reading Shakespeare where one sees a “completely unfamiliar” language. Then as in Romeo and Juliet they fall in love get married upsetting their parents as some do today. The author pointed out that some “modern stories are based on older stories.” An example of these notions of the story of “Jane Eyre” can be found “The Princess Diaries” along with the “Twilight” series. There are stories that “builds brain power and empathy.” A “reading specialist Maryanne Wolf writes about the “special vocabulary in books that doesn’t appear in spoken language.” Also found in older writings are the “sentence structure” which gives pause for thought such “which makes the brain work harder.” The article goes on to state that “stories also make us feel. Indeed, they teach us empathy” and “think critically.”

This is one of those days I want a quick and easy meal so we will be using the air fryer....beer battered fish and fries (never wears out ☺)

Joy

        just a peek

 August 15, 2023 a thought for today, There is no love without jealousy. French Proverb

The first upload for yesterday was “heart shaped.” This is a pin my son gave me when he went into the military. 

I had an eye doctor appointment this morning that I have put off for one reason and another for a few months. I have worn glasses for most of my life so I am use to going regularly to get updated prescriptions for the lenses. Something was brought to the forefront of my thinking by the doctor today, I went for an appointment to keep track of what diabetes may be doing to my eyes as opposed to the normal changing of vision that took place earlier in my life. I don’t need a prescription change this time just some medication for dry eye which I have had for years. The diabetes part of it is there but not at a worrisome stage. 

The second upload for yesterday was another of “my choice.” This is from the archives, a photo I shot on one of my adventures in an alley at the back of peoples' homes. 

I was expecting the Southwestern City Schools to open today so that I would be running into school busses and slow downs but I didn’t see any on my way to the appointment this morning. 

I started another new book, I “recreationaly”(and eagerly) read every day, I just haven’t shared what I am reading for a while, so here is the newest one. I love this author’s works, I love the way he writes, the way he uses language. However, this book surprised the heck out of me. I didn’t know what I was getting into but I will read most anything he writes. This one is strange. The characters and happenings are “weird.” I can’t seem to give up on it and put it away. I am intrigued with the words and the way they are used, and what will the end be. I truly think in most and all kinds of writings (even fiction...it is born in someone’s mind so there is some basis in fact in it) we have to read “between the lines,” think and imagine, comprehend, learn and become wise. This one is “The Finisher” by David Baldacci.

The first upload for today is “makes me laugh.” I have a very dry sense of humor. About the only thing that actually makes me laugh are scenes from Big Bang Theory. But this one make me smile...broadly. 

I got the bulletin started yesterday but was “playing” with the new computer and got lost in what I was learning and forgot to keep track of time. So I have more to do on the bulletin at this point in the week than I usually do. I also need to put some “get ahead things” on the newsletter. Since there was a chunk of time out of the morning, I don’t have the time to spend on other things. I want to begin the transplanting of the few house plants I will keep in the soil method (there will be five of them to transplant). 

My second upload for today is “my choice.” This is Timmy one of the two cats that shared a home with this family. He has crossed the rainbow but is in our hearts and memories. 

The word for today is commit. Every truth has two sides; it is as well to look at both, before we commit ourselves to either. Aesop. Strive to attain to the greater virtues, but do not neglect the lesser ones. Do not make light of a fall even if it be the most venial of faults; rather, be quick to repair it by repentance, although many others may commit a large number of faults, slight and grievous, and remain unrepentant. Saint Basil.  When about to commit a base deed, respect thyself, though there is no witness. Ausonius.  A person with half volition goes backwards and forwards, but makes no progress on even the smoothest of roads. Thomas Carlyle.  What one has, one ought to use: and whatever he does he should do with all his might. Marcus Tullius Cicero.  How like herrings and onions our vices are in the morning after we have committed them, Samuel Taylor Coleridge.  We mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honour, Thomas Jefferson.  All the passions make us commit faults; love makes us commit the most ridiculous ones. Francois de La Rochefoucauld. Those who commit injustice bear the greatest burden. Hosea Ballou. 

I picked this article today although it didn’t originate or pertain to our city in particular as I usually choose, however, the subject does concern us as animals on this planet. There were some “young environmental activists” (16 youth from age 5 to 22) who claimed that the state agencies were “violating their constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment by permitting fossil fuel development without considering its effect on the climate” and it made it to a trial. According to the article this is a “first-of-its-kind trial in the U.S.” This incident has been added to a small number of legal activity that is happening around the world concerning climate change. One of their District Court Judges found in this incidence in the young activists favor, “the policy the state uses in evaluating requests for fossil fuel permits .....is unconstitutional......causing climate change .... impacts to Montana’s environment and harm and injury.” The attorney for the youth mentioned another factor in the whole picture and that was a notation about the fires “raging” in the West “fueled by fossil fuel pollution.”  Of course there has been opposition. Some calling it a “taxpayerfunded publicity stunt.” Some of the attorneys mentioned the facts that“increasing carbon dioxide emissions are driving hotter temperatures, more drought and wildfires and decreased snowpack”. All of this are affecting mental and physical health, smoke in the air making it hard and unhealthy to breath, rivers drying up which ultimately affect agriculture and all other animal life. Even some Native Americans testified to the affects they are experiencing. The state of Montana claimed the if they stopped producing CO2 it would be little effect on the global outlook of this problem and that “Montana’s greenhouse gas emissions are insignificant.” Up to the time of this trial the “Our Children’s Trust has raised more than $20 million to press its lawsuits in state and federal court. No previous attempts reached trial.” The article pointed out that this spring “carbon dioxide levels in the air reached the highest levels they’ve been in over 4 million years......July was the hottest month on record globally and likely the warmest that human civilization has seen, according to scientists.”

I had a third upload for today its title is “Harris shutter effect” (The Harris Shutter effect was created by Robert Harris of Kodak. He made the effect by re-exposing the same piece of film three times. He did it through three different colored filters while keeping the camera steady. The three colors used were red, green and blue (the colors of the light spectrum). This is one I have no experience with but I gave it a try. 

I think we will have hamburger and fries for dinner. 

Joy 

 August 13, 2023 a thought for today, Suspicion is the poison of friendship. German Proverb

The first upload for yesterday was “a bowl full.” I decided to use the ramekin full of dark chocolate morsels.

The minister gave a very good message today but it didn’t quite hit the mark for me. It was on a subject at the forefront in my life right now but my grasp is just off a little from hers. The premise is the same; the “color,” if that makes any sense, is just a different “hue,” just barely. So it gave me cause for thought and that is the important part...a seed was planted. 

We will be missing a birthday party for one of my sweet great grandsons today but I don’t think Bob is quite up to a celebration away from home just now. I hope there will be many more for us to share a little later. 

The second upload for yesterday was “get close.”  I see this image every time I stop at McDonalds. It is on the outside wall of a building next to the drive through. I am not sure exactly what it is but it looks essential. 

Again and as usual, this being Sunday there is very little on the agenda. Just things slow and easy and restoring. One side thought though: a little thing came up the other day to spark a subject that pops up every now and then and may or may not tie in some small way to this weekly honored tradition. So I will reiterate something I may have said before. There is a difference between housekeeper and home maker. I was never a housekeeper, never will be and never wanna’ be. I am a homemaker......on Sundays and every day.

On the way home from church I stopped and got Bob a chocolate milk shake and went by the park for one of the photo-a-day shots. 

The first upload for today was “a walk in the park.” This is one of the images I shot when I took a quick trip through the park this morning. 

The word for today is choice. He that drinks his cider alone let him catch his horse alone, Benjamin Franklin.  It is your own convictions which compels you; that is, choice compels choice, Epictetus. Happiness is a choice that requires effort at times. Aeschylus.  I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere to go. My own wisdom, and that of all about me, seemed insufficient for the day, Abraham Lincoln.  Choose the life that is most useful, and habit will make it the most agreeable, Francis Bacon.  I have discovered that we may be in some degree whatever character we choose. Besides, practice forms a man to anything, James Boswell.  Choose well. Your choice is brief and yet endless, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Choose always the way that seems the best, however rough it may be; custom will soon render it easy and agreeable.  The strongest principle of growth lies in human choice, George Eliot. Happiness is a choice that requires effort at times. Aeschylus.  

The second upload “assignment” for today is titled “golden hour.” I wasn’t awake for a golden hour for the last few days so this one is from the archives. 

Here is a story about an identity for Columbus. According to one of my favorite reporters Columbus doesn’t have an “identity.” Here is the reasoning behind the thought. It is the 14th largest city in the country, it is the state capital, a renowned football team lives here, we are drawing a “significant economic development, centrally located and we are still “anonymous.” And here are some of his conclusions: size doesn’t matter; being a capital is a “wash.” We may get a “star of roadmaps......(for) appearing as an answer on Jeopardy.” Here’s one: “Does the fact that a city is known for being riveted by the athletic performance of a few recent high school grads really help sell it as a major metropolis?”  He stresses there are “sprawling rectangular buildings that you will never visit without an invitation?” He asked the question, Intel will be significant but how much will that help Columbus?  He then mentioned that con chips will be a big deal economically, I have to ask: If the presence of Honda or American Electric Power or Victoria’s Secret hasn’t sent Columbus’ profile soaring, why would Intel? — Being located within 500 miles of nearly half the U.S. population doesn’t equate to prominence.  Columbus sits amid a lot of better-known places: Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Detroit, Chicago. I can only conclude it gets lost in the crowd. Maybe Columbus is just too complex to be easily branded with an identity. Or maybe acquiring an identity is something that can’t be rushed. Or maybe if we all take a deep breath and focus, something will come to us. In the meantime, we have quite a list of what doesn’t work”

Baked spaghetti and Stouffers chicken parm left overs for dinner tonight,

Joy

            seen the best days

 August 11, 2023 a thought for today, Jealousy is a pain seeking its cause. German Proverb

One of the uploads for yesterday was “my choice”. This is a companion image to one I uploaded a few days ago. It was taken on a lunch break when I worked downtown. It is a statue of several pieces representing children parts of education. 

Today is nice and quiet around here.....nothing much to rush to get done.....feels good.

Yesterday turned out to be a happy day here. After I got home from the printing at church, I got back to some writing and some work on the daily photo of the day projects. After a bit of that I got the laundry together. 

I was expecting some visits later today to celebrate a family birthday. As I was gathering the laundry I noticed two sweet little faces at my front door....my two beautiful boys who live far from me right now....are here to visit. I had planned to spend the afternoon running the shop vac where needed, clean a cast iron stove top grill that needed some scrubbing and wash a couple of dishes and start the laundry. In the night last night after all lights were out, I pulled my ipad into the bed to write (I have a tablet with a pen now and can actually write myself notes on the ipad) these things to get done in the afternoon before the party. I misunderstood the timing of things. I was expecting evening goodies but it turned out to be lunchtime goodies. 

A second upload for today is “on the inside”. This happens to be a drawer full of all sorts of supplies needed in a busy office. 

The party was a success and best of all I got hugs that will come from my memory vault to the forefront often until I get to see them the next time for more hugs and memories. 

Sue had gone out on errands and got home while the festivities were going on. As she was shopping she had come across a bamboo wind chime and brought it home. I love the sounds of wind chimes, I have at least five outside and two inside right now. And my neighbors on either side of my house each have them too. 

I had a third upload today. This assignment was titled “hands”. I shot this when we were having an involved and busy meeting. 

The word today is change. Life may change, but it may fly not; Hope may vanish, but can die not; Truth be veiled, but still it burneth; Love repulsed, -- but it returneth, Percy Bysshe Shelley.   Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world, John Milton.  To reform a man, you must begin with his grandmother, Victor Hugo. Observe always that everything is the result of change, and get used to thinking that there is nothing Nature loves so well as to change existing forms and make new ones like them, Marcus Aurelius.  They must often change, who would be constant in happiness or wisdom, Confucius. Change alone is unchanging, Heraclitus.  Let the great world spin for ever down the ringing grooves of change, Alfred Lord Tennyson.  Everything changes, nothing perishes, Ovid. Great innovations should not be forced on slender majorities, Thomas Jefferson.  Things do not change we change, Henry David Thoreau. True change takes place in the imagination, Thomas Moore.  It is not strange... to mistake change for progress, Millard Fillmore.  In pain is a new time born, Adelbert Von Chamisso. Our minds are like our stomaches; they are whetted by the change of their food, and variety supplies both with fresh appetite, Quintilian.  It is change; all yields its place and goes, Euripides.  Science arose from poetry... when times change the two can meet again on a higher level as friends, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.  Only the wisest and stupidest of men never change, Confucius.  Let no one be ashamed to say yes today if yesterday he said no. Or to say no today if yesterday he said yes. For that is life. Never to have changed-what a pitiable thing of which to boast! Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe.  

My first upload for today is “closeup of a texture”. I went to the back yard looking for textured objects and found several. I moved on to the alley and took this one, among some others, of gravel and debris . 

There will be another park in our area....one with some adventure to it. It will be called Edge Adventure Park and will be located in Westerville. There are “adventures” planned for this park that are not normally found in other parks and hopefully to be open in 2025. It is intended for all ages and hopes to show the natural wonders in Westerville. Some of the plans are for a “self-checkout kayak, a canopy skywalk that takes you far up into the trees, surrounded by platforms and treehouses”. One of the differences for the “Edge” park from other is that it is focused on “fitness and recreational activities”.  The plan is to have it located “near their economic hub” to offer a break in after work or on quick rest breaks. For even easier access than expected there will be a bridge crossing over Almum Creek. Another hopeful expectation is the park with offer residents will have a “higher quality of life”.

My second upload for today is “my choice”. I snapped this one when I took a leisurely driving along the river looking for good photos. 

Pizza night has rolled around again....

Joy

         Ooops