September 18, 2023 a thought for today, Study without reflection is a waste of time; reflection without study is dangerous. Chinese Proverb

The first upload for yesterday was “whole.” I took this one for a look at the “whole” sanctuary (almost)...but also as a metaphor for a wholeness of another kind. 

Mondays the start to a new week, a week of new experiences and adjustments and acceptances for me. I have a new knowledge of who Bob really was. I am remembering the things about him that I took for granted at the time and wish I could tell him how much I respected him for each of those “things.” It’s true what I have heard many time.....tell them how much they mean to you at every chance before it’s to late. 

The second upload for September 17 was “tree.” I like finding trees that show their “character” and the “ravages” of time, weather, and life. 

I got some work done on the bulletin and some done on the newsletter as well. Hopefully I will be able to get them both done along with the birthday cards and shut in envelopes before Thursday. There are a couple of other happenings to add to the week. I plan to help at food pantry  two days and I have a cleaning lady here tomorrow who slows down my work on the computer. I have two meetings at church in the evenings and one meeting with Lowell about some of Bob’s business. It looks like I will have plenty on my mind and keep me occupied. 

I spent some time in the kitchen, something I haven’t been doing in the past week or so. We have been grabbing food whenever we were hungry. It was something easy and quick to fix. Today I made more meatballs for Sweet Pea and some cheesy potatoes along with the salmon patties for dinner. 

Lowell and Rebecca are planning on relaxing on the beach for a few days. Sounds so peaceful. Maybe I can go with them some time. 

I was lucky and had an invitation for an afternoon out to an early dinner. We went to Cracker Barrel. I couldn’t resist at least one photo of all of the “things” that can be found in the front room of Cracker Barrel for the photo assignment “a place.”

The word today is laughter. Time spent laughing is time spent with the Gods, Japanese Proverbs.  Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face, Victor Hugo.  With the fearful strain that is on me night and day, if I did not laugh I should die, Abraham Lincoln. Loud laughter is the mirth of the mob, who are only pleased with silly things; for true Wit or good Sense never excited a laugh since the creation of the world. A man of parts and fashion is therefore often seen to smile, but never heard to laugh, Lord Chesterfield.  Beware of him who hates the laugh of a child, Johann Kaspar Lavater.  Laughter is the cipher key wherewith we decipher the whole man, Thomas Carlyle.  The person who can laugh with life has developed deep roots with confidence and faith-faith in oneself, in people and in the world, as contrasted to negative ideas with distrust and discouragement, Democritus. If we may believe our logicians, man is distinguished from all other creatures by the faculty of laughter. He has a heart capable of mirth, and naturally disposed to it, Joseph Addison.  Laughter is one of the very privileges of reason, being confined to the human species, Thomas Carlyle.  In laughter there is always a kind of joyousness that is incompatible with contempt or indignation, Voltaire. You have as much laughter as you have faith, Martin Luther. 

The second photo for today is “my choice.” This is my sister’s blue spruce, one of
my favorite evergreen trees. I like the depth of the branches in this image 

This is interesting how the X is used. It is used in technology extensively. The title is “X marks the unknown in algebra – but X’s origins are a math mystery.” The article started off with mentioning that X is the “least-used letter” in the alphabet but shows up “throughout American culture.” It goes on to say that it “often symbolizes something unknown, with an air of mystery that can be appealing.” I think the most “familiar” place that it shows up is in math, mostly algebra, and technology. Historians of mathematics say it is difficult to determine when the letter X was chosen for this “role.” Some say it happened in translations others say it is more suited to a typographic origin. The article says that Algebra today is where “abstract symbols are manipulated, using arithmetic, to solve different kinds of equations.” The article goes on to say that “ancient societies” used no symbolic notations where they were “written out in words as part of a little story.” One of the big problems was “limitations in communication” that prevented “standardization”. Somewhere along the way “abbreviations crept in”. This article goes on to mention the history of the “language” of mathematics and the probabilities of how X slowly found it’s way as a substitutes for words or abbreviations from one language to another. The article told of how the letter X may have been used in the math in the Middle Ages but there was “no consistent use of it dating back that far”. Through time in mathematics there was a “variety of words, abbreviations and letters to represent the unknown”. As we got further in the article it is mentioned that a French scholar Rene Descartes is credited for using the X in its modern state of math. Noted in the article is how X is used in context other than mathematics, X as in Xmas, an artfully shaped x monogram as a shorthand “for Christ in both Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox writings dating back as far as the 16th century”. There is the use of X in Xray in 1895 and there is the use of “X marks the spot” also x was used by people as their signature where needed when they could not read or write. 

Dinner tonight will be salmon patties (in the air fryer) and cheesy potatoes. 

Joy

                             leaning