December 5, 2023 a thought for today, Make yourself an ass, and every one will lay his sack on you. German Proverb

My first upload for yesterday was “start”. At this time of year there are all kinds of “stars” on ornaments and decorations. This is the closest one that I had on hand. Now that I think about it, no the only one, there is another style tree topper in my Christmas ornament storage container. 

The second upload for yesterday is “d is for...”. This time the d is for door. There are several different and distinct doors in my neighborhood. I like this one and the way it is framed, as well s the collection of fallen leaves below the steps. 

The last upload for yesterday was “a family pet.” Sweet Pea gets to be a model much more that she chooses to. But she is such a pretty girl. I enjoy showing her off. Beside at this point in time, she is my only “family pet”, though I have some grand and great grand fur babies.

Life today. The bulletin was done and proofread yesterday. I received additional information this afternoon. I will reformat the back side to make the additions. I also got the anthem lyric insert page typed and printed. I also got a request for a special printing for this coming Sunday.  

This is one of the rainy days of late autumn, very wet and gray. I think there might have been some snow flurries before the temperature got above 32 degrees. 

I took a break from the computer to make some of Sweet Peas meatballs this afternoon.

One of the uploads for today is “lit by candle light.”  At this point I only have these three candles on hand so I am using everyone in the house. They are lighting my houseplant garden with its elf village. 

I made some cheese sauce yesterday for the Stouffers tuna casserole I had last night. I made extra and froze it in four sections. I will add some Worcester sauce, mustard and beer to it for dinner.

Another of the uploads for today is “red.” As we went through my Christmas ornament storage bin, I came across the red bow. I hung it on the main entry door to my home. It adds something to the season. 

I have one last thing to do before I am ready for Christmas, for my personal Christmas I mean. There is still a good bit of work on church items to be done. There will be at least one full bulletin and between now and then four anthem inserts to be typed and arranged. For my own, I have some items ordered for my great grand children. I still need to pick up eight packets of canyons and pencils, and some wrapping to do. 

I also have to get update my license plates. I hate standing in that line. I am trying to do it on line but they have changed the process, I am having some problems with that. 

Another of the uploads for today is “candy canes.”. I don’t have any in the house and didn’t want to make a trip like this to the store. So Sweet Pea and I went out on another photo excursion in hopes of finding some candy cane lawn decoration. I found a block from home but one of the neighbors had the mailman cornered in the driveway for a chat. So I took a long way around the block and came back....they were still chatting (don’t know if the mailman is paid by the hour or other but...). So I let it go. They I found this one which in the long run I like better. As is the case on the image above I used separations of the subject from the background and then a filter on the background to call more attention to the main subject.

The word for today is leadership.  I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion. Alexander the Great.  A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves. Lao Tzu.  A leader is a dealer in hope. Napoleon Bonaparte.  If the highest aim of a captain were to preserve his ship, he would keep it in port forever. Thomas Aquinas.  The cautious seldom err. Confucius.  If you command wisely, you'll be obeyed cheerfully. Thomas Fuller.  Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody expects of you. Never excuse yourself. Henry Ward Beecher. A throne is only a bench covered with velvet. Napoleon Bonaparte.  Reason and judgment are the qualities of a leader, Tacitus.  What you cannot enforce, do not command, Sophocles.  Do you wish to rise? Begin by descending. You plan a tower that will pierce the clouds? Lay first the foundation of humility, Saint Augustine of Hippo.  An order that can be misunderstood will be misunderstood, Napoleon Bonaparte.  It is the Vague and Elusive. Meet it and you will not see its head. Follow it and you will not see its back, Lao Tzu.  To lead people walk behind them, Lao Tzu.  

This is one of the days that I have a fourth upload. This one is called “a candle.” This is one of the candles that is assisting the others in the above image. I didn’t realize until I got it in the Photoshop (darkroom) that it was so colorful. I like the shade of the base then the golden-like color that the firelight of the candle sheds on the rim of the holder. 

The article. Here is a story about the streetcars in Columbus. It might be because they are not a common form of transportation now that I often wonder what it would be like to ride on one. The title of the article says that in 1863 streetcars in Columbus with horse drawn and “expanded the city's boundaries.” There were several barns across the city for these streetcars and were full of activity. There is only one of the barns left standing. It was renovated in the East Market. According to the article the streetcars “transformed America.” In the “early history” of Columbus it is said we were an “isolated frontier village.” There was a change in this “isolation” in the 1830s when the Ohio Canal and the National Road came into being.  By 1860 there were 18,000 people residing in Columbus. We were connected with other cities by the canal, the national road and railroads. But in the city itself people walked to their destinations for the most part although they could get around on horse back or horse drawn private vehicles. Most personal travel, though, was by walking, to church, school, and work. People lived close together in villages due to the type of available transportation. As a note of interest, the homes in that period were so close together that the last of those houses of the village style living was located on Statehouse Square and was town down in 1946. The early city boundaries were “North Public Lane [Nationwide Boulevard], South Public Lane [Livingston Avenue], the Scioto River and East Public Lane [Parsons Avenue].” In 1963 a major change that transformed the city began with the “first modest horse-drawn streetcar appeared on High Street.” That was the beginning of several smaller lines. As the article mentioned, this allowed people to live further apart from work and school and other shops. Suburbs popped up. In 1890 electrified streetcars came along. They were more comfortable especially in the winter and even by cooled breezes in the warmer months. To make the trips better was the increased speed to the “unheard-of speed of fifteen miles per hour.” As more suburbs came people were able to live “two, three and even four miles from downtown.” Then, as we all know now, people live even further separated with the advent of the automobile. And as the article ends, “And it all began in 1863, with a modest car on rails pulled by a single horse.”

I am having Welsh rarebit and lumpias for dinner.

Joy                                                ???