November 15, 2023 a thought for today, Nature does nothing in vain. Romanian Proverb 

One of the uploads for yesterday was “moody”. I used the cleaning ladies satchel of cleaning materials for my “mood” shot. To add to the sense of a mood I added the dark vignette. 

The next upload for yesterday was “minimalism”. This fallen leaf on the blacktop of the driveway is minimalist to me. 

The last upload for yesterday was “flying”. I took a while back as I passed by the  local airport on my way for an errand. 

Life today. This is one of those days without a deadline. So I can move through the day as I want to wander. I may be working on a project the come to what I am calling the end of it for the day and move onto whatever else that fits my fancy at the moment that is on the todo list.....what a wonderful world.

My first upload for today is “I learnt this....”. In using the hydroponic planting methods, I am learning how the roots of a plant form and shape as the upper part of the plant grow and ages. 

So far I have worked on a large amount of the newsletter and put it aside for any incoming information for it. Next I moved on to binding some of the calendars that I have already printed. Then decided to refill the ink in the printed and print another copy of the calendar (I think I need about ten more copies). 

I noticed that my iced tea pitcher in the frig was nearly empty so I made another pitcher and set it in the sun to finish steeping gently. My photo a day images for today are things I have around the house to shoot rather than going on a “photo safari”. Which means I won’t be stopping for iced tea at McDonalds.   

One of the other uploads was “junk”. This is one of my two junk drawers. It’s not all junk because it is still useful but it is kept and stored in a junky way. 

Next on my daily todo list is making Sweet Pea’s meat ball treats to freeze and have ready for the next several weeks. After that there will be the four, instead of three, photos of the day to set up and shoot. 

Another upload it is “found in junk drawer”. Here is one of the tiny pieces of “junk” I found. 

The word for today is education.  An investment in knowledge pays the best interest. Benjamin Franklin.  It is better to learn late than never. Publilius Syrus.  The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next. Abraham Lincoln.  The foundation of every state is the education of its youth. Diogenes. Poor is the pupil who does not surpass his master. Leonardo da Vinci.  He who opens a school door, closes a prison. Victor Hugo. Cultivation to the mind is as necessary as food to the body. Marcus Tullius Cicero.  It is always in season for old men to learn. Aeschylus.  The love of learning, the sequestered nooks, And all the sweet serenity of books. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Books, the children of the brain. Jonathan Swift.  What sculpture is to a block of marble, education is to the soul. Joseph Addison. Music is the movement of sound to reach the soul for the education of its virtue. Plato.  Education then, beyond all other devices of human origin, is the great equalizer of the conditions of men, the balance-wheel of the social machinery. Horace Mann.  Education is the art of making man ethical. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel.  The mind once enlightened cannot again become dark. Thomas Paine.  Do not train a child to learn by force or harshness; but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each.  Plato. 

I had a fourth upload for today, it is called “lock”. I am showing this double lock on the garage door as my image for today.

This story is about animals, St. Francis and his relationships to them. The article also relates that St. Francis loved them all but some of the pet blessings today would seem strange to him in the 13th century. In the beginning of the article it mentioned that around October 4 around many churches there will be a “menagerie” of animals gathering. It has become a tradition to honor him on his feast day by blessing animals of many varieties that many be pets. Some of these celebrations are more elaborate than other. There is a liturgy with a procession into the sanctuary where the animals are blessed. Followed by a blessing of individual animals outside. The person who wrote the article is a “scholar of medieval Christianity” and says that many Catholic saints are “models of caring for all creatures within creation.” Another of those saints is St. Anthony the Abbott who lived in Egypt in the 3rd and 4th centuries. He was noted to have had an experience with a lion who helped him and a companion pig. He was said to have bred pigs to feed people in need. Another association of saints with animals is a man named Blaise, a “bishop of Sebaste”. According to legend in a cave where he took refuge birds brought him food and “wild animals flocked to him and would not leave until he had laid hands on them in blessing.” Now the connection of St. Francis to the animal kingdom. Some early texts have him preaching to birds. One story about his connections to birds was that once when he was traveling he encountered a “great multitude of birds” and ran toward them.” But they didn’t fly away. He preached to them and told them they should praise the Creator and gave them permission to fly away. A biographer of Francis described that other creatures recognized a “feeling of tenderness” toward them. It was reported that he released a rabbit from a trap and tenderly released it. It kept returning to him.  The article went on to mention the relationship to everything in nature. Francis didn’t approve of riding on horses or keeping companion animals. These practices were “distracting and frivolous”, he felt they should be freed. On the other hand, there is the story suggesting that he wasn’t opposed to pets as it may have seemed. There is another story about Francis and a connection to a wolf. It had once terrified the townspeople. At some point St. Francis tamed him and he went door to door for food. He did not especially “embrace the idea of pets” he did “promote harmony among animals and humans”.

I am having salmon patties and egg roll for dinner. I usually have melon with my dinner but my shopper at Kroger forgot it in my order this week.  

Joy

                                a marker? Or a stunt?