September 16, 2023 a thought for today, If one man guards a narrow pass, ten thousand cannot get through. Chinese Proverb

The first upload for yesterday was “environment.” This is a bit of my neighborhood environment. A look over a privacy fence to the tops of what lies beyond, peaceful yard umbrellas and summer green trees and a bit of blue sky.   

This is turning out to be another busy day here at my house. The young man who mows our lawn is painting the trim on the garage today. I think it may take more than one day. Lowell is doing some cleaning in Bob’s ham shack. Bob had a lot of hobby things in his “shack” so it is going to take some time to clean it out. That, tied to the emotional part of clearing it, will also take some time for breaks. It is surprising how much people can collect when staying in one home location for such a long time. I haven’t gotten the courage to begin going through his things yet. 

The second upload for the 15th was “my choice,” a close up of a summer gift of flowers in bloom. 

Sweet Pea and I did the usual curbside grocery pick up. I have just finished getting the groceries put away. Now I am going to tackle cleaning out the frig.

We are having a gorgeous early autumn-like day though we have a week or so before it is here officially.

I had a third upload for yesterday “get your game on.” I use to play backgammon with my husband nearly every evening on the front porch in the summer time.

Yesterday Lowell took me to the Apple store at Eastland, wow, what an experience. First of all I haven’t been to Easton in years and forgot how huge it is, honestly I think it has grown since I was there last. Then there is the Apple store, it’s also huge and crowded and noisy and full of techy things. After that we needed to take care of some necessary paper work for Bob. On the way home we picked up the Friday night pizza. 

My first upload for today is “last one,” a lone egg in the carton waiting to be boiled or fried. 

The word today is humor. The secret to humor is surprise, Aristotle. Imagination was given man to compensate for what he is not, and a sense of humor to console him for what he is, Francis Bacon. Melancholy men are of all others the most witty, Aristotle.  Wit lies in recognizing the resemblance among things which differ and the difference between things which are alike, Germaine De Stael. Avoid witicisms at the expense of others, Horace Mann. The comic and the tragic lie inseparably close, like light and shadow, Socrates. In the midst of the fountain of wit there arises something bitter, which stings in the very flowers, Lucretius. Fortune and humor govern the world, Francois de la Rochefoucauld. Jests that give pains are no jests, Miguel de Cervantes.  A jest often decides matters of importance more effectively and happily than seriousness, Horace.  

The second upload for today is “blue but not sky.”  I also like the tough of red in the hydrant.

A very dear friend and my church family member lived there for years and years. He was asked to move out over three years ago. He missed his “home” and all he had become use to. This story is about “redevelopment” of the Downtown YMCA building. They are hoping to make it an “affordable” apartments with 110 to 120 units. The building has now been empty for several months. It will be called the Lofts at the Y. If financing for the project works out the plan is to start construction in early 2025 and finish by then end of 2026. Another part of the plan is to keep most of the building in tact. They closed the building in 2019 with 400 residents in “single, dorm-style, rooms, making it one of the largest residential YMCAs left in the country.” The seven story building was built in 1924 “with ornate trim.”  In 1993 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places “and this year landed on Columbus Landmarks' Most Endangered Sites list.” The article shared that "It is described as castle-like, with stone buttresses, crenellated battlements, belt courses, copings, and finials.....with varnished wood paneling, built-in bookcases, fireplaces, and doors with pointed arches and leaded-glass windows within its first-floor social spaces." Several things must be in the plans to update it such as lack of enough bathrooms and parking and duct work that reduced ceiling height. I hope there will be a successful redevelopment with historic features kept in tact. 

I haven’t decided on what dinner will be for tonight. Maybe taco salad.

Joy

                 boarded up