September 14, 2023 a thought for today, Fruits of the same tree have different tastes; children of the same mother have various qualities. Chinese Proverb

The first upload for September 13 was one of the “my choice.” It speaks for itself as a part of a backyard garden. The shapes and textures are what captured my eye. 

This has been a productive day. First, printing the bulletins at church. It was good to get out of the house for a while and keep my mind and focus on obligations. There were friends (church family) there today taking in the food for next week’s food pantry. That was good also, sort of easing back into a routine for me. 

Later Lowell picked me up for some business at the bank where I was needed too. After that he took me to lunch at York. 

The second upload for yesterday was “nature.” I am kind of drawn to old trees with shapes that show part of what went on in the life of the tree. Wind, rain, snow, ice all effect its nature. 

I didn’t get my laundry done as I usually do after my church work on Thursday so that will have to be tomorrow. 

My ipad will not charge and is out of juice now. Since it is an Apple appliance and I have a warranty on it for one more month and a half I am going to take it to an Apple store at Easton tomorrow. 

The first upload for today was “on my table.” I had stopped at McDonalds for brunch. Here is the result of my food choices on the table. 

The word today is humility. After crosses and losses men grow humbler and wiser, Benjamin Franklin.  It is humility that makes men as angels. It was pride that changed angels into devils, Saint Augustine.  The fruits of humility are love and peace, Hebrew Proverb.  Modesty forbids what the law does not, Marcus Annaeus Seneca.  Humility is to make a right estimate of oneself, Charles H. Spurgeon.  So rare is the union of beauty with modesty, Juvenal. To be humble to superiors is duty, to equals courtesy, to inferiors nobleness, Benjamin Franklin.  The greatest friend of truth is Time, her greatest enemy is Prejudice, and her constant companion is humility, Charles Caleb Colton. Usually the modest person passes for someone reserved, the silent for a sullen person, Horace. Modesty is the conscience of the body, Honore de Balzac. Modesty is not only an ornament, but also a guard to virtue, Joseph Addison.  Sense shines with a double luster when it is set in humility. An able and yet humble man is a jewel worth a kingdom, William Penn.  One that does not think to highly of himself is more than he thinks, Johann von Goethe.   Modesty is the chastity of merit, the virginity of noble souls, Madame de Girardin.  Humility like the darkness, reveals the heavenly lights, Henry David Thoreau.  Humility is the solid foundation of all the virtues, Confucius. There is something in humility which strangely exalts the heart, St. Augustine.  No truly great person ever thought themselves so, William Hazlitt.   Alas in the clothes of the greatest potentate what is there but a man, Robert Louis Stevenson.  The humble are in danger when those in power disagree, Phaedrus.

The second upload for today is “my choice.” This is an image and a capture of a moment in time of part of one of my church’s gardens. 

Here’s a bit about climate and Florida and California, remember I am just a summarizing “messenger.” The title relates that in the 1900s “they grew on the promise of a perfect climate” and became two of the states at the top of the global warming list. Today “they lead the country in climate change risks.” Back in the early days pamphlets pictured orange groves, palm tree gardens and the promise of to “escape” winter.  According to the article the place in the sun and the accompanying climates were the American dream. Again according to the article those very climates may now threaten those ideals. Here in the 21st century in California there are “dangerous heat waves, extended droughts that threaten the water supply, and uncontrollable wildfires.” And in Florida, the sea level rise is worsening the risks of high-tide flooding and storm surge from hurricanes.” I read here that in the 1870s and 1880s it was believed that people “thrived” in colder climates and newspapers painted a picture of that not being true, that after the Civil War people actually did better or as well in the “sun-kissed climates.” The climate question became uppermost in crop growth and an “inexhaustible resource” for farming. One man wrote that California was a “beautiful, even climate.” Another wrote that Florida was “blessed by nature with a semi-tropical climate.” In the 1880s all of that led to “booms in settlement and tourism” in California and Florida. Each state had a separate calling card for which was most prefered, California for the mountains or Florida the flat land, one western the other southern. Comparing Florida and California was not only popular news articles it was also used in games such as mahjong and crossword puzzles. As this article was drawing to a close it stated that “snipes aside, climate and the lifestyle they offered to middle-class Americans set Southern California and Florida apart.” I learned from the article that people believed back then that precious metals and forests were “an infinite resource.......can never be exhausted by man in his ignorance or stupidity.” Now both states face natural disasters, wildfires, flooding from hurricanes, and dangerous heat. Insurance in both states are refusing coverage for several different damages incurred due to these occurrences adding to the mix a financial aspect. 

Dinner tonight is “catch as catch can.”

Joy  

         on the road