October 8, 2023 a thought for today, There is nothing so bad but may be of some use. German Proverb

One of the uploads for yesterday was “purple.” Here is another from my archives. I don’t have much of an outdoor garden anymore, the years have passed and left their souvenirs. For me the gardening ship has sailed. I have my small house plant garden, easier to take care of. I enjoy the captured images of my once upon a time prolific outdoor garden. 

I was a little leery of the visiting pastor we were having today. But I found that I was mistaken. He managed the message the way I have professed to prefer many times before....he related happenings of today with happenings in the way of Jesus’ earthly life and as His words relate to life happenings today. I don’t understand how that seems such a difficult task for other pastor’s I have heard. The message today was a tiny bit simplified but still on track for relating how the principal events in this life follow the very same elements as those of over 2000 years ago. Basic life actions and reactions are nearly the same. People had then and still have doubts, fears and questions and need the same kind of guidances. I think it goes back to the use of parables and analogy to teach, comfort and heal. Parables last through the ages. Jesus taught in parables and I believe he was the wisest man ever to live.

The second image upload for yesterday was “detail.” There is “detail” in the leaf and its landing spot as well as the textures of the aged wood in the deck. 

As is my custom and as I have mentioned this being Sunday will be a day of rest, reflection and renewal. The renewal part I need most. 

The weather has made another change moving to the cooler side of the temperature scale. I think we are going to have a short warm up, used to be called Indian summer, in the next few days. But soon I am going to have to get the electric blanket out of the closet. 

An upload for today is “aqua”. As I drove through the neighborhood looking for this color I could only spot a few of this hue. This one was the closest I could find in the time I had to search. 

The word today is work. Without labor nothing prospers, Sophocles.  Elbow grease is the best polish, English Proverb.  A man perfects himself by working. Foul jungles are cleared away, fair seed-fields rise instead, and stately cities; and with the man himself first ceases to be a jungle, and foul unwholesome desert thereby. The man is now a man, Thomas Carlyle.  We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid, Benjamin Franklin. The sum of wisdom is that time is never lost that is devoted to work, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Next to us is not the workman whom we have hired, with whom we love so well to talk, but the workman whose work we are, Henry David Thoreau.  Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work, Aristotle.  Live your life, do your work, then take your hat, Henry David Thoreau. A man willing to work, and unable to find work, is perhaps the saddest sight that fortune's inequality exhibits under this sun, Thomas Carlyle.  Life grants nothing to us mortals without hard work, Horace. A windmill is eternally at work to accomplish one end, although it shifts with every variation of the weathercock, and assumes ten different positions in a day, Charles Caleb Colton. The important work of moving the world forward does not wait to be done by perfect men, George Eliot.  Work spares us from three great evils: boredom, vice and need, Voltaire.  A man at work at his trade is the equal of the most learned doctor, Hebrew Proverb.

The second upload for today is “simplicity.” How wonderfully simple are the fallen
autumn leave and a bit of harvest of the season. 

Here’s a story about autumn and “making the most of it.” All areas of the world don’t experience the changes of seasons as all other parts of the world may. Here in Ohio autumn is a colorful and serene experience. The beginning of the article is relating that the leaves are turning and falling a little to early with his little dog excited about that. The squirrels are gathering acorns. It’s beautiful but it carries the signs of winter and cold and dreams of spring. But lets enjoy the autumn while it’s here. Part of it are the memories of the autumns we saw when we were kids, gathering leaves and jumping in them. We can’t burn them in the driveway as we use to as we enjoyed the smells as the smoke rose to the sky. Another memory is of being a scout or knowing one as leaves were collected and flattened them in a book. Some would make a collection and identify each with notes. The author then wondered if kids still do those things. Another memory brought up in the article was the car rides on back roads to enjoy the colors and sights of autumn. There would be a cooler in the car and fishing rods so stops along the journey would most likely occur. On one such trip the author mentioned traveling along the Sandy Beaver Canal that “traversed 73 miles from the Ohio-Erie Canal at Bolivar to the Ohio River at Glasgow, Pennsylvania.” On one such autumn trip there were sights like aspen, oak and maple leaves by a river full of salmon and trout. It was one of the stops to go fishing. For him it is the memory of those experiences that make “autumn so refreshing. I like this thought in the story, “The season’s crispness is like giving your soul a big bite of a Red Delicious apple.” Autumn here in Columbus Ohio has begun there are birds preparing for their trip shouth, squirrels are looking for food to hide for later, sunlight is shorter, temperatures are dropping and other weather conditions are happening like chilled rainfall and wind along with the “bursts of color.” Another thing the author suggests is to add to the fun of the season, at least for we Ohioans, listen for the Buckeye Battle Cry and Hang on Sloopy and Carmen Ohio as we enjoy “hot chocolate mornings and leaping into leaves!” 

We are having spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. As I am exploring ways to reduce amounts of food and cooking time I bought ready made meat balls and will use bottled spaghetti sauce (with a little doctoring). We’ll see how that goes. 

Joy

                     stop!......see me....all alone