November 1, 2023 a thought for today, The gifts of fortune do not always benefit us. Latin Proverb

The first upload for yesterday was “rainbow.” I don’t think I have a natural rainbow even in my archives of photos. So I “created” this one. Is it a set of stained-glass windows that have that a motion blur added. 

The second photo for yesterday was one of the “my choice.” It is from the archives and is an image of one of my rubber tree plants. That one got so
large that I could no longer handle it and gave it away. 

This is one of my “slow” weeks. The week after the newsletter and food pantry days comes a week of nothing much on the agenda for the whole week except the bulletin and a meeting or two in the evening. I am taking advantage of that with a bit of relaxed movements. 

Last night was trick or treat. For the past fifteen years or so that was one of Bob’s activities. He seemed to enjoy watching the costumes, passing out candy and chatting with neighbors who were also sitting outside passing out candy. I enjoyed someone else tending to that particular task. It was up to me last night. I accomplished it for about one hour, maybe seventy-five or more goblins. I constantly thought of Bob. 

Here’s a catch up on where I am with some things in general: 1) I have added another photo a day online photo club to my repertoire. At some point I will have bitten off more than I can chew. When I can’t seem to get enough to do or some encompassing interest I think of one of the many things my dad tried to teach me as I slowly became an adult. He use to say ‘when you retire don’t be lazy, find something to do that you enjoy. People who become couch potatoes die young.’ So here I am, obeying my fathers word and enjoying it (so far). I have to choose things that fit my capabilities. I don’t move as well as I use to so much of what I do is done while I am sitting. My daily routines are enjoyable, healthy and keep me busy at this point. One of them of course is my volunteer ‘jobs’ at church as well as my hobbies and personal interests. 2). I downloaded a new book to my ipad/cell phone. I just finished “The Boys from Biloxi” by John Grisham and immediately down loaded the next (I don’t like to be without a book on hand). I ordered from the Columbus Public Library “The Runaway Jury” also by John Grisham. I had some difficulty getting interested in The Boys from Biloxi but kept at it because I wanted to find out what eventually happened to a couple of the characters. 

The weather here took a real drop in temps last night. That is a definite sign of what is approaching....the cold and the fewer bright sunlit days for a while. It is a different kind of anticipations. 

I don’t really like selfies but this assignment called for “here I am.....”. I shot some of my self as I was on the look out for uploads earlier to day but I choose this one from my archives because it was of better quality than I had from the ones today. 

The second upload for today is “reflection” and is a theme for my new online photo club. I found this one as I drove through a declining shopping mall. 

Another of the uploads for today is “abandoned.” I pass by this building nearly every day. I can’t remember how long it has set abandoned and neglected. I wish these kinds of building could be rehabilitated and put to good use instead of a blithe to a neighborhood. 

The word for today is city. This City is what it is because our citizens are what they are. Plato.  I found Rome a city of bricks and left it a city of marble. Augustus. The city is like a great house, and the house in its turn a small city. Leon Battista Alberti.  A great city, whose image dwells in the memory of man, is the type of some great idea. Rome represents conquest; Faith hovers over the towers of Jerusalem; and Athens embodies the pre-eminent quality of the antique world, Art. Benjamin Disraeli.  A great city is that which has the greatest men and women. Walt Whitman. If you would be known, and not know, vegetate in a village; if you would know, and not be known, live in a city. Charles Caleb Colton.  The city is recruited from the country, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Any city however small, is in fact divided into two, one the city of the poor, the other of the rich. These are at war with one another, Plato. Not houses finely roofed or the stones of walls well builded, nay nor canals and dockyards make the city, but men able to use their opportunity. Alcaeus.  The great city is that which has the greatest man or woman: if it be a few ragged huts, it is still the greatest city in the whole world. Walt Whitman.  Often an entire city has suffered because of an evil man. Hesiod.  

I thought this article might show as a small sample how the history of Columbus and Ohio may show what an interesting city/state we were as we grew and still are. The title mentions how wolves were among the creatures that hung out in central Ohio. When Ohio was not yet a state and settlers began to come to the area north and west of the Ohio River. The first permanent settlement at Marietta in 1788 began to grow with travelers and spread along the Ohio River and river valleys. There were Native American already here and they were being “displaced.” There was a peace treaty in 1795. After that settlements became more substantial and “Franklinton at the Forks of the Scioto and Olentangy rivers in 1797” grew. There was forest and rich top soil along with trees 20 feet wide and 100 feet tall. From what the article said it was called by some “like being in an immense green cathedral.” Along with that were animals who called the area home. They were deer, racoons, rabbits and foxes. Many of these animals are still here, there are others that are no longer here. Some of those are buffalo and elk. In 1803 a herd of buffalo found there way to about Muskingum but were gone when the settlers arrived. The settlers found antlers and other remains of elk ‘profusely scattered in the wilderness.’ Later to join the creatures in the  area were cougars. To join the cougars were a smaller version called a wildcat. Occasionally a bear would wander into settlements “at the Forks of the Scioto.” Then as the article ends “the last of the beasts of prey to disappear” were wolves. The article ended with “Verily, the ‘high banks opposite Franklinton’ deserved its title of those days of Wolf Ridge.”

Fish and chips for dinner tonight. 

Joy 

yesterday was the end of a month so I am offering the composites of the three online photo a day