December 29, 2024, If you wish to succeed, consult three old people. Chinese Proverb

The first upload for yesterday was “peace”. I asked my sister for a suggestion. This is the first thing that came to her mind. I like it. 

The next upload for yesterday is titled “shiny”. I like this image. It seems “warm” and inviting. 

The last image upload for the 28th was “my choice” for me it is one of the series of faceless portrait I have been doing. 

Life today. I am missing church this morning. I still don’t have my car, I didn’t want to ask for a ride and was up most of the night with stomach problems. Instead I watched and listened through the streaming on facebook. I find I feel a little better since I got to take part in the praises and noticing others, friends and church family, who were able to get there today. It’s not as uplifting and revitalizing as being in the physical company but it will help begin the new week and the new year for me. 

I don’t think I will be getting much done today, one, because it is Sunday and another because I don’t have much stamina from not sleeping well. 

The first upload for today is “reflection”. I like this reflection of the tree on my wood floor. 

It is a rainy day, gray skies and gloomy views. I heard that we may have a storm later today. At least that’s one nice thing about staying at home and in the house. 

I am looking forward to next week. I get my car back so Sweet Pea and I can go on our photo excursion. I can get back to getting to where I need to be. I am looking forward to the next week welcome the new year....I won’t be awake at the stroke of midnight but I will start the new year in the morning. I am also anxious to get back on my schedule of house hold routines that I let go in the preparations for the holidays. I will be taking the tree and a few other decorations down. 

The next upload for today is “joy”. It is and was a joy to spend some of the holiday with family. This is it....part of it....a couple of the kids were somewhere behind the camera enthralled with new toys. 

The word today is regard. There is never jealousy where there is not strong regard. Washington Irving.  We regard wealth as something to be properly used, rather than as something to boast about. As for poverty, no one need be ashamed to admit it: the real shame is in not taking practical measures to escape from it. Pericles.  For a man to achieve all that is demanded of him he must regard himself as greater than he is. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.  Whoever does not regard what he has as most ample wealth, is unhappy, though he be master of the world. Epictetus.  We do not know it because we are fooling away our time with outward and perishing things, and are asleep in regard to that which is real within ourself. Paracelsus.  We have been taught to regard a representative of the people as a sentinel on the watch-tower of liberty. Daniel Webster.  Men whose sense of taste is destroyed by sickness, sometimes think honey sour. A diseased eye does not see many things which do exist, and notes many things which do not exist. The same thing frequently takes place with regard to the force of words, when the critic is inferior to the writer. Saint Basil.  Temperance is a mean with regard to pleasures. Aristotle.  He who has felt his own ruin will not imagine the case of any to be hopeless; nor will he think them too fallen to be worthy his regard. Charles Spurgeon.  Mankind have their local attachments. They have a particular regard for the spot, in which they were born and nurtured. Thomas Clarkson.  We should not have a petty regard for God's gifts, though we may and should despise our own imperfections. Saint Ignatius.  The life which men praise and regard as successful is but one kind. Why should we exaggerate any one kind at the expense of the others? Henry David Thoreau.  

The last challenge upload for today is “my choice”, another of my series of faceless portraits. 

Article: This is another story about animals. This one can bring us smiles and a unique chance to swim with some of the best swimmers in the world. The title is “Swimming with otters. USDA-licensed encounters barn opens in the region”. There is a new experience here in Ohio. Now you can experience an up close visit with an otter. One not made to be “behind a glass barrier at a zoo, you can hop in the water with them right here in central Ohio”. There is a place in Bremen Ohio  called “Paws and Claws Animal Encounters”. They have opened a “barn equipped with a heated pool, where people can swim with Asian small-clawed otters”. As it happens there are 99 animals on the 21-acre property. The owner has a love for animals and says that once she met people who own animals and she knew they loved them to they “start to trust you and they started giving me animals.” In order to care for the animals’ she  “began offering encounters”. She has been in business with the Paws and Claws director, Lyle Hicks, for eight years and opened the first “encounter barn” two years ago. I learned that about half the animal they have on the property are rescues. Owners give pets they can no longer care for, seizures are turned over, and abandoned animals are “rescued” to the center. The six Asian “small-clawed otters are from two zoos in Florida and one in Louisiana who both had a surplus of otters and needed to give some away to a safe environment”. These guys, the otters, are from to 10 month old to 3 years. A few years ago as they were cleaning the pool that was being used then the pool was being cleaned the otters and the cleaners were having a good time, especially the otters. That sparked the idea for the indoor pool and eventually planning for a way to let other people discover the fun for themselves. When the pool was ready the plan was tested. They let the otters “take the lead” on how things would go. The priority was to be sure the idea wasn’t overwhelming for the well-being of the animals. They allowed six people at a time and only three sets a day on Saturdays and Sundays. There is a fee for the swim with the animals. Part of that fee is “donated to different wildlife organizations around the country”. The care of all the animals on the property is being handled by the owners and mentors. Some of the other animals include “raccoons, bear cats, porcupines, a lesser anteater, kinkajous, camels, a water buffalo, kangaroos, a baby wallaby, an eagle owl and more”. The article mentioned that for their animals that “don’t like people or get stressed by encounters are off the table for interactions”. There are other animals for “encounters” with visitors. Those creatures are “sloths, foxes, capybaras and painting with otters”. The visits to this Paws and Claws Animal Encounters is by appointment only. They are not ope to the general public. For more information, visit their website at pandcencounters.com.

I am thinking maybe taco salad for dinner. 

Joy

                             boarded up and forgotten

 December 27, 2024 a thought for today, Let your practice keep step with your knowledge. Chinese Proverb

The first upload for yesterday was “food”. Holidays have a lot of food connected to them. In this photo my sister is fixing a breakfast egg for one of her great granddaughter twins. 

The next upload for yesterday was “peace”. My thinking for this assignment wasn’t particularly leading toward  artistic area of creation but the words have meaning, especially “perfect” peace. 

The last upload for yesterday was “us”. You can probably tell from the positioning of a certain someone that having a photo taken is not the pleasure of the day. 

Life today. It has been a wonderful day. 

I started the day with getting a list done that had been put aside too long. Some of that was sending the gift cards to the kids then transferring my car insurance. Then I place my grocery order for tomorrow’s pick up. By that time it was time to get ready to go to Lowell and Rebecca’s for a holiday celebration with Lowell, Rebecca, Mick, Kim, Jessie, Matt, Lexie, Drew, William, and Benjamin. It was such a joy to see Mick and Matt together in their boyhood home one more time together. It was good to see the kids with such joy in their hearts and smiles on their faces. It was good to see their surprise at the gifts that were under the tree. The meal was ordered-in to each persons request for their favorite from City Barbeque. That way no one had to cook or clean up. My surprise gift was a new office chair, a perfect choice since I spend most of my waking hours in that spot. And Lexie had made me a tiny little wooden statue of Mary.

The first photo upload for today is “fire/flame”. I just realized I only have one “fancy” candle in the house. So I had to us some birthday candles to get the feel I needed. 

Here’s a bit of a downer but nothing to do with the celebration and no where near enough to dampen the day. But still a thing to consider from yesterday. The saga of my car isn’t over after all. The minor check up as a “new” car for me cost over nine hundred dollars. That isn’t the “worst” of it. While the car was sitting on the lot waiting for the check up and minor repairs someone backed another car into the Ford’s driver door. The door has to be replaced. So another delay in my getting the car back. Another delay in transportation to obligations. The mechanic says it is a very good used car with low milage and had been taken care of in all other ways. I will be happy to get it back the day after New Years Eve. 

Now I am going to stop on the letter and revel in this afternoons smiles, happiness and memory maker.

The second photo upload for today is “food”. Another of the holiday favorite parts of the festivities. This was a part of one of our Christmas celebration meals.

The word today is reflect.  Reflect upon your present blessings of which every man has many - not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some. Charles Dickens.  What is the good of experience if you do not reflect? Frederick the Great.  Every friend to the liberty of his country is bound to reflect, and step forward to prevent the dreadful consequences which shall result from a government of events. Henry Knox.  One can not reflect in streaming water. Only those who know internal peace can give it to others. Lao Tzu.  To read without reflecting is like eating without digesting. Edmund Burke.  Nature is the glass reflecting God, as by the sea reflected is the sun, too glorious to be gazed on in his sphere. Brigham Young.  A moral being is one who is capable of reflecting on his past actions and their motives - of approving of some and disapproving of others. Charles Darwin.  Education begins the gentleman, but reading, good company, and reflection must finish him. John Locke. When you meet someone better than yourself, turn your thoughts to becoming his equal. When you meet someone not as good as you are, look within and examine your own self. Confucius. 

My last photo challenge upload for today is “decor”. In this particular season of celebrations decor seems to be everywhere. Duly so since it is the season of Jesus’ birth for all living and non living places on earth. 

Article: I am not always in favor of long stories as this one is but it seemed, from the title, as one to take a look at. The title is “What if you could rank food by ‘healthiness’ as you shopped?” The author mentions how useful it would be and is in some areas of the world to be ale able to in stores that offer “simple, research-backed scores”. It’s called “Nutrient profiling systems, or NPSs”, a system of “clear front-of-package labels that assess food quality based on nutrient content”. Here are some of the offers in France it is a rainbow-colored system grading foods from A to E.  In Australia is it a five-star system rating foods in half-star increments. In the UK nutrient as labeled in green, yellow and red. In the US there is no front-of-package ranking system for food. The author of this article is a gastroenterologist and physician-scientist and is working on making nutrition data “more accessible”. As nutrition is labeled today in the US there are food’s nutrient content, including calories, macronutrients, and key vitamins and minerals. These “values are determined through laboratory analysis and nutrient databases based on standardized serving sizes regulated by the Food and Drug Administration”. The system that the author is talking about “differ in that they combine nutrition information into a single actionable score. This means you don’t have to spend time deciphering Nutrition Facts labels”. One of the goals is to “help people rebalance their diets that have been skewed by food processing, or the degree to which the ingredients have been altered”.  Further in the article it is mentioned that another goal is “empowering smart choices”. Since peoples health issues and choices enter into the equation  it is necessary to keep in mind in labeling process is that “personalized algorithms could help refine these scores for tailored recommendations”. The article related that all in all the “nutrient profiling systems are promising tools to combat rising rates of metabolic disease.” The ending sentence is promising in these endeavors: “Until then, smartphone technologies can offer a practical way to help consumers make smarter choices today.”

We had food from City Barbeque so dinner will be snacks. 

Joy    

the artful views of this image are the lines and textures in and for our surroundings

 December 25, 2024 a thought for today, He who sits in a well to look at the sky can see but little. Chinese Proverb

                                                        Merry Christmas!!

One of the uploads for the 24rh was “ a gift”. A friend gave me this poinsettia gif for the holiday. 

The next upload for yesterday was “Christmas reflect”. This angel statue gave me pause to “reflect on the holiday and it’s meaning. 

The last upload for yesterday was also “Christmas reflections”. This one gave me pause to think of Christmas’s past and their meanings and memories.  

Life today. I didn’t make it to the candle light service last night but I did watch it on streaming. I tuned in a little late but I got to see the message and the rest of it.  

It has been an unexpected day actually. I expected total isolation for Sue and me today. Tami and Andy surprised us with a visit. That made for a nice Christmas. 

I got the newsletter done except for the financial page. I don’t expect to get it printed before Monday morning. I was hoping to have my car back yesterday afternoon but that didn’t happen. So I an going to have to have a ride to church to print Sunday’s bulletin. I think Lowell is going to drop me off and Sue may pick me up. Hopefully I will have the car before Saturday for the grocery pickup. If not I will have to make other plans.

This first upload for today is “Christmas highlight”. This wreath at the back of our Sanctuary is one of the many highlights of Christmas at our church. 

I got my photos from today from my archives. Then, I had a light load of laundry to do. I needed some things now. The rest of the laundry will be for tomorrow. 

I have to do some plant watering before I quit for the day so I think I will get to that chore as soon as I upload the photos.

The next upload for today is “Christmas wishes”. My wish is for peace. I was hoping th the angel on the tree top with a dim light showing would signify that wish. 

The word today is receive.  For it is in giving that we receive. Francis of Assisi. All who call on God in true faith, earnestly from the heart, will certainly be heard, and will receive what they have asked and desired. Martin Luther.  We should give as we would receive, cheerfully, quickly, and without hesitation; for there is no grace in a benefit that sticks to the fingers. Lucius Annaeus Seneca.  A weak mind is like a microscope, which magnifies trifling things, but cannot receive great ones. Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield.  Even a poor man can receive honors. Sophocles.  There is nothing which we receive with so much reluctance as advice. Joseph Addison.  Amnesty is as good for those who give it as for those who receive it. It has the admirable quality of bestowing mercy on both sides. Victor Hugo.  Bounty always receives part of its value from the manner in which it is bestowed. Samuel Johnson.  No man was ever so completely skilled in the conduct of life, as not to receive new information from age and experience. Jonathan Swift.  You should not believe your conscience and your feelings more than the word which the Lord who receives sinners preaches to you. Martin Luther.  For every benefit you receive a tax is levied. Ralph Waldo Emerson.  The person who receives the most favors is the one who knows how to return them. Publilius Syrus. Do not overrate what you have received, nor envy others. He who envies others does not obtain peace of mind. Buddha. Sunlight fell upon the wall; the wall received a borrowed splendor. Why set your heart on a piece of earth, O simple one? Seek out the source which shines forever. Rumi

The last upload was “celebration”. Since our Christmas celebrations this year are split and not on Christmas day I chose a shot os some of the family celebrating each other in a gathering and meal together which is how Christmas is celebrated....family in remembering the reason for the season and each other.  

Article: This seems like a day for the kind of sentiment in the title to this article. The title is: :An upward spiral – how small acts of kindness and connection really can change the world”. It opened with talking about the problems of the world today. It proceeds to say “it might feel like the small acts of human connection and solidarity that you do have control over are like putting Band-Aids on bullet wounds”. The author relates that she “was inspired to hear musician Hozier offer a counterpoint at a performance this year”. Part of what he said is “I believe the core of people on the whole is good – I genuinely do. I’ll die on that hill.” It appears that kindness and connection has a real impact on global change “when these acts are collective”. I like the fact that it was said in the article “unlike global-scale issues, these small acts are within individuals’ control”. In real relationships small acts have a “large-scale impact”. It appears that the more a relationship is strengthened the more empathy can take place between people with individual perspectives. “Abstracts” become real when people connect with those that they care about. Even small acts can lead to a shift in attitudes. Researchers have studied this theory in connection with “the political divide in the U.S.”. Even though one “political group preferred (certain) traits” “they also all valued traits that benefit relationships”.  It was learned that the more they see the same likes in each other the more the more they “want to prevent harm to others, the more they might soften large-scale social and political disagreements”. In some tests that were conducted the question was to ask “participants to reflect on the positive qualities of someone they knew, or on their own positive characteristics”. They found that the more the people “wrote about the positive qualities of someone else, rather than themselves,”  they saw lower levels of prejudice. So the conclusion is that “simply put, science supports the idea that moving toward each other in small ways can be transformational”.

It will be something from the freezer for dinner, probably the Welsh rarbit that I didn’t have the other day. 

Joy

                                                                 just a little bit of color

 December 23, 2024 a thought for today, When there is wind in the clouds there are waves on the river. Chinese Proverb

The first upload for yesterday was “partial” . I like this subject matter. I may use it as a series a little later. This is of part of the decoration a church. I like the shapes and lines. 

The next upload for yesterday was “Santa”. There are all kinds of “Santas” in the neighborhood right now. Some have lost some of their air. Some have been blown over by the wind but this guy was standing and waving hello. 

The last upload for yesterday was “my choice”, it is another of my series of faceless portraits. 

Life today. It has been a busy Monday. Sweet Pea had her monthly injection. I had to get the car back for Lowell to take it to be looked over for anything that may need some attention. Yesterday I sat in the car in the driveway learning the parts that I will need to know to make our journeys more relaxed and safe. I found the release to the trunk, located in a different place than on other cars I have driven. The same learning experience for the control of the headlights and how to adjust the seats. The thing that gave me some moments of thought and trial and error was changing the time on the onboard clock. 

Soon after Sweet Pea and I got home from the vet Sue left to go to Lancaster to visit with the twins. Then Lowell came to get the car to take to the mechanic. 

Before I left this morning, I was able to get a good start on this letter. Once Lowell left with the car I started on the rest of the list. I had emailed Patti before I left for the rest of the names for the poinsettia dedication pages. They were on my email when I got home so I got to work on them. They were finished in about an hour. Next I was able to get a start on the bulletin and the newsletter. I got the calendars done on both of them. I will get a better start on the bigger parts of them tomorrow. 

The first upload for today is “silly”. I don’t think this is really silly but I picked it anyway. I don’t think dressing up pets in costumes is dignified not even on cardboard ones (smile). 

Sue and I won’t be doing much on Christmas day. We will have some holiday time with Lowell’s family on Friday, when the marines and families are home on leave. We got to spend time with Tami and family for birthday celebrations.....these December birthdays are, because of their dates, part of the holiday surroundings and festive feel.  In all my years on earth I have come to know that the “feel” of holidays changes as families grow. Some of the changes are bittersweet but full of shining and happy memories. Albeit a little sad that they can’t stay that way year after year but that’s not practical or even expected. They still have their happy and meaningful side. Life moves on with new experiences and old memories. That’s the way it goes and the way it was meant to be. All resulting in the fullness of life. The “over the river and through the woods” time was many years ago for me. (Still in my heart and in my head). 

Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all of you. Enjoy and hold tight.

The next upload for today is “candy cane”. For some reason I had a hard time finding interesting candy canes for a photo this year. This one is a package of several small sized candy canes. 

The word today is rare.  Truth is so rare that it is delightful to tell it. Emily Dickinson.  Rare as is true love, true friendship is rarer. Jean de La Fontaine.  Rare is the union of beauty and purity. Juvenal.  In youth and beauty, wisdom is but rare! Homer.  A well-written life is almost as rare as a well-spent one. Thomas Carlyle.  Suddenly, as rare things will, it vanished. Elizabeth Barrett Browning.  One rare and exceptional deed is worth far more than a thousand commonplace ones. Saint Ignatius.  And what is so rare as a day in June? Then, if ever, come perfect days. James Russell Lowell.  Well, for us, in history where goodness is a rare pearl, he who was good almost takes precedence over he who was great. Victor Hugo.  If you can speak what you will never hear, if you can write what you will never read, you have done rare things. Henry David Thoreau.  To rise from error to truth is rare and beautiful. Victor Hugo.  Courage and wisdom are, indeed, rarities amongst men, but of all that is good, a just man it would seem is the most scarce. Plutarch.  The right word fitly spoken is a precious rarity. John Boyle O'Reilly.  Kind thoughts are rarer than either kind words or deeds. They imply a great deal of thinking about others. This in itself is rare. But they also imply a great deal of thinking about others without the thoughts being criticisms. This is rarer still. Frederick William Faber.  

The last upload for today is “candy”. I don’t have candy in the house right now so I used this image of a chocolate covered cherry from my archives. My father was a firefighter for the city of Columbus many, many years ago. He use to bring a variety of candies home at Christmas time.  

Article: I like to learn something new about old traditions. This title sounded worth digging into. The title is: How nostalgia led to the invention of the first Christmas card. It was written by an associate professor of history. The author mentions in the opening that many say “Christmas just isn’t like it used to be.” She further writes that “history shows that “Christmas traditions are just as subject to change as any other aspect of human societies,” and that many wish they could “turn back the clock”. In the 1830s there was a Englishman who paid attention to the idea of keeping a tradition and the feeling that “hospitality and innocent revelry” where a thing of the past. It was also recognized that new holiday customs came around and eventually became traditions. Thoughts then extended to the “humble” Christmas card. It seems that a British tradition of Christmas card sales “declined” forward from the 1990s. It seems that some historians saw that in the “20th century the Christmas card was viewed as just as essential a part of Britain’s distinctive blend of holiday traditions as children hanging stockings”. The sending of Christmas card began in the middle fo the 19th century and “was a product of the industrial revolution”. More people could afford to use and send them since they were more affordable due to new ways of printing and papermaking as well as a more “efficient” mode of transportation....the railways. In the 1840s there was a thing called the “Penny Post” that “allowed Britons to mail letters to any address in the United Kingdom for the small price of a penny stamp.” So the story of the Christmas card began in 1843 “the same year in which Charles Dickens published “A Christmas Carol.” The problem was that at that time they cost a “high price of one shilling apiece” which most people couldn’t afford. From there other printers were “inspired” to “produce similar but more affordable Christmas cards”. One interesting point in the article was an “imagery of the card – as a “paper visitor” to the home of the recipient ”. Early Old English cards featured “carolers, acts of charity,...... copious greenery, feasting and the toasting” images of Christmases past. The newer versions of Christmas cards didn’t feature “revitalizing” those traditions. Toward the ending of the article it mentions that “declining Christmas tradition thus proved instrumental in helping to create a new holiday tradition” maybe has  caused some to predict the “death” of the Christmas card”. And the last sentence says “history of the 19th century suggests, however, that should the tradition die, whatever replaces it will thrive by drawing selectively on the Christmas customs of the past.”

I think it will be Welsh rarebit for dinner or meatloaf. 

Joy

                             a clear city sky

 December 21, 2024 a thought fo today, There is no wall through which the wind cannot pass. Chinese Proverb

One of the uploads for yesterday was “Santa”. This is one of the decorations in the neighborhood.

The next upload for yesterday was “decoration”. One of the pillars in the
Sanctuary decorated with the red bow and greenery. 

The third upload for yesterday, another “decoration”. Another part of the Sanctuary in my church. 

The last up load is one of those day that I have a fourth upload for the day. It is “patterns and repeating”. I chose just a bit different than Christmas images. 

Life today. aaaah ..... Saturday!! The car saga is nearly over! I took the rental back yesterday. I love the car, a 2024 Toyota Camry, who wouldn’t. But not in the vicinity of my pocket book. I labored over what I wanted to look for. A used Toyota was at the top of my list so with Lowell’s help we made a trip to the auto mall. On the way we had breakfast, there I told Lowell about the 2018 Ford Focus my cousin had for sale. We decided on looking at that possibility. We did and then I did, buy it on Thursday. Being the scardey-cat that I am I was nervous about driving it for the first time. We took the least traveled route home, so I could avoid any heavy Christmas traffic. I decided to have a mechanic check it out for any unseen problems. Lowell made an appointment for that with a third-cousin-once-removed car maintenance owner for Monday morning. Depending on the outcome I will have it back on Tuesday or after Christmas. 

The first upload for today is “on the floor”. Sweet Pea likes to map under the table and a chair by a window near my computer.

Today Sweet Pea and I made our first errand out in the Ford to pick up the groceries at curbside pickup. She seemed to enjoy “her new ‘ride’”. So it has been officially initiated.  

As I was bringing in the last of the groceries from the back porch Tami and Andy stopped. I seem to have a quick little chore for them to do for me when ever they drop by. I had un-boxed the table-top humidifier that they had given me for my birthday but hadn’t gotten it working yet. Tami took care of that. It looks like a large mushroom and has a rain-like feel to it. I told Tami it would be perfect for a gnome to be sitting in the falling “rain”. (So after they left I ordered a tiny gnome). I wanted a couple of pictures on our new photo rails rearranged. She did that for me too.

The groceries are all put away and I had a late lunch. Now I think I will get to my series of photos a day to shoot, choose, “darkroom”, and upload. 

The second upload today is “my choice”. This is a series of “faceless portraits”.  This lady was carrying  her groceries rather than using a cart. 

The word today is raise. Let us raise a standard to which the wise and honest can repair; the rest is in the hands of God. George Washington.  Don't only practice your art, but force your way into its secrets; art deserves that, for it and knowledge can raise man to the Divine. Ludwig van Beethoven.  Whenever anyone has offended me, I try to raise my soul so high that the offense cannot reach it. Rene Descartes.  Ignorant men raise questions that wise men answered a thousand years ago. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.  The greatest sweetener of human life is Friendship. To raise this to the highest pitch of enjoyment, is a secret which but few discover. Joseph Addison.  Liberty will not descend to a people; a people must raise themselves to liberty; it is a blessing that must be earned before it can be enjoyed. Charles Caleb Colton.  What passions cannot music raise or quell? John Dryden.  Try to help others. Consult their weaknesses, relieve their maladies; strive to raise them up, and by so doing you will most effectually raise yourself up also. Joseph Barber Lightfoot.  It is courage, courage, courage, that raises the blood of life to crimson splendor. Live bravely and present a brave front to adversity. Horace.  Divine love does not weigh down, nor carry his servant captive and enslaved to the lowest depths, but raises him, supports him and magnifies him above all liberty whatsoever. Giordano Bruno.  Everything that is new or uncommon raises a pleasure in the imagination, because it fills the soul with an agreeable surprise, gratifies its curiosity, and gives it an idea of which it was not before possessed. Joseph Addison.  But from this earth, this grave, this dust, My God shall raise me up, I trust. Walter Raleigh.  Feathers shall raise men even as they do birds towards heaven. That is by letters written with their quills. Leonardo da Vinci.  True courage is like a kite; a contrary wind raises it higher. Jean Antoine Petit-Senn.  You must open a little, or rather raise on high your corolla so that the Bread of Angels may come as divine dew to strengthen you, and to give you all that is wanting to you. Therese of Lisieux.  

The last challenge upload for today is “presents”. I only have a few available for this shot. 

Article: This seems like an article that meets the time of year. There may be some interesting information to the story. The title: Santa, maybe? Why we have different names for who ‘hurries down the chimney’ on Christmas. It was written by a linguist who studies the social and historical paths. She writes that the names for Santa are many, St. Nick to Santa to Kris Kringle. The name Santa Claus does not appear in the U.S. until the late 18th century. I didn’t realize until I read this article that “it was alluded to in a mention of a religious event in the New York Gazette. She went on to mention that the New York Gazette at that time was “not unusual, given New York’s history until 1664 as a Dutch colony and the ongoing presence of Dutch settlers in that area” where the Dutch used the name “Sinter Klaas, which sometimes dialectally appeared as Sante Klaas.” St. Nick did not begin being used until the 1830s. In a magazine in 1808 it was noted that “St. Nicholas, (was) vulgarly called Santa claus”. By the 1820s “a children’s book introduced Sante Claus in a sleigh pulled by reindeer, suggesting that his modern reputation was established by then”. I also learned that his “uniform” didn’t appear until 1930 in A Coca-Cola ad. Before that it had been outfits of green and yellow to patriotic stars and stripes. The name Santa  was used before Saint Nicholas. Saint Nicholas came from the religious observance of the Feast Day of St. Nicholas on Dec. 6. The namesake “Saint Nicholas” came from a “highly charitable bishop of a Roman town called Myra during the fourth century. He had become the patron saint of children and was known as a man of great generosity”. Another thing about the name and the traditions came from a “legacy of the Dutch, for it was their tradition to give small gifts or sweets on St. Nicholas Day”. Another name for Santa was Kris Kringle which “came by way of the Germans who first settled in Pennsylvania and then spread out, particularly in the late 1800s”. The author of that article explained that “though, was unrelated to Saint Nicholas. Instead, it came from the German word Christkindlein, meaning “Christ child”.  And she said in the article that this name is more “related to the Christian celebration of Christ’s birth”. Eventually all of the mentioned names merged “with the celebration of Christmas in the U.S.” and became one single name, Santa Claus. She ended the article by saying that this “illustrates a wonderful melding of languages and cultures – a reminder of how differences can merge into a rich and varied part of a culture, celebrated by many”.

I didn’t have the spaghetti the other nigh so I think I will have it tonight. 

Joy

                                    Retired

 December 19, 2024 a thought for today, Words are the voice of the heart. Chinese Proverb

My first upload for yesterday was “red and green”. This is one of the gifts I have with a green bow and under the green branches of the Christmas tree. 

The second upload for yesterday was “tree”. This is one of the trees I have found as
I travel through the neighborhood. 

The last challenge upload for yesterday was also assigned as “tree”. This one is also in the neighborhood.  An everyday lawn tree decorated in Christmas attire. 

Life today. I now have both the Sunday bulletin and the Christmas Eve bulletin done. I am still working on the poinsettia pages. I am waiting for the rest of the information to be sent to me. 

We are going to get my car today. I was hoping to do it this morning.  I am a “morning” person. Lowell had another obligation so it was moved to early this afternoon. I am getting a few things done until he gets here to pick me up. 

The first upload for today is “winter”. We don’t have any snow right now so I chose photos from my  archives. This on is of the city park just down the street from my home. 

I plan to go to the church tomorrow to do the printing. Then I will take the loaner car back to Enterprise. 

All of the peppermint plants have been passed out and a few of the Christmas calendars are also passed out. Christmas is almost here. Every year I am newly surprised at just how busy this month gets. This year has the added “business” with the car and the computer. I am looking forward to quieter day after Christmas already. 

The next upload for today is also “winter”. It is also from my archives since there is no snow typical of a winter scene in Ohio. This one is of my front porch and part of the neighborhood. 

The word today is race. Selfishness is the greatest curse of the human race. William E. Gladstone.  Viewed freely, the English language is the accretion and growth of every dialect, race, and range of time, and is both the free and compacted composition of all. Walt Whitman.  Music is the voice that tells us that the human race is greater than it knows. Napoleon Bonaparte.  He piled upon the whale's white hump the sum of all the general rage and hate felt by his whole race from Adam down; and then, as if his chest had been a mortar, he burst his hot heart's shell upon it. Herman Melville.  The great want of our race is perfect educators to train new-born minds, who are infallible teachers of what is right and true. Catharine Beecher.  It is the mark of a great man that he puts to flight all ordinary calculations. He is at once sublime and touching, childlike and of the race of giants. Honore de Balzac.  Architecture has recorded the great ideas of the human race. Not only every religious symbol, but every human thought has its page in that vast book. Victor Hugo.  Slow but steady wins the race. Aesop.  The race of mankind would perish did they cease to aid each other. We cannot exist without mutual help. All therefore that need aid have a right to ask it from their fellow-men; and no one who has the power of granting can refuse it without guilt. Walter Scott.  The propensity to truck, barter and exchange one thing for another is common to all men, and to be found in no other race of animals. Adam Smith.  If ye despise the human race, and mortal arms, yet remember that there is a God who is mindful of right and wrong. Virgil.  Jesus Christ belonged to the true race of prophets. He saw with open eye the mystery of the soul. Drawn by its severe harmony, ravished with its beauty, he lived in it and had his being there. Alone in all history, he estimated the greatness of man. Ralph Waldo Emerson.  The human race is governed by its imagination. Napoleon Bonaparte. 

The last upload for today is “wrapping”. As I mentioned in another message, I don’t do my “wrapping” any more with the use of decorative bags. I do have this bit of wrapping material here in the house. 

Article: There may not be any information here that is new but maybe some thought to refresh about winter illnesses. In this article a professor of nursing writes about the “science behind the season”. She starts out by mentioned what many say “Don’t go outside in the winter with your hair wet or without a coat; you’ll catch a cold.” She goes on to say it is more complicated than that. “Being cold isn’t why you get a cold. But it is true that cold weather makes it easier to catch respiratory viruses such as the cold and flu”. Viruses like rhinovirus, causes cold, flu, and COVID  “remain infectious longer and replicate faster in colder temperatures and at lower humidity levels”. That along with being inside and in “close” contact with others result more in the spread of disease. It was also mentioned in the article that COVID is not typically a “cold-weather respiratory virus” though virus transmission in easier in the cold. Cold weather “can change the outer membrane of the influenza virus, making it more solid and rubbery” making it easier to cause transmission from one person to another. Adding to the cold temperatures causing these problems is dry air.  The article shares that with “dry winter air” infections remain longer. The explication for this in this article is: dry air, which is common in the winter, causes the water found in respiratory droplets to evaporate more quickly resulting in smaller particles. The smaller particles make for longer lasting and farther traveling droplets in coughs and sneezes. The immune “response” in the cold air allows the virus to “take hold”. Wearing a cover over the nose and mouth assist in the effort to deal with the spread. One more problem with disease in the cold weather of winter is less sunlight. Less sunlight means less vitamin D, “essential for immune system health”. Still more additions to the effects that come with winter is less physical activity. So some of the obvious answers are washing hands often, stay hydrated, eat a more well balances diet (with vitamin D a part of it), stay active, consider a humidifier. The article also suggests getting the necessary flu shots. 

Maybe spaghetti in meat sauce for dinner.

Joy                                    a typical city scene 

 December 17, 2024 a thought for today, Only if one accepts suffering will one enjoy benefit. Burmese Proverb

One of the uploads for yesterday was “ornament”. This year I have a small tree. I stayed away from using my larger ornaments. This on is only about four inches long. It is from a collection of ‘vintage’ family ornaments used and kept over many years. 

The second image upload for yesterday and for another photo group is also
“ornament”. It has the same history as the image above. These ornaments are some I have been able to keep from my mother and from her sister, my aunt. 

My last upload is “mail”. I don’t get a lot of mail due to the advent of email and text. Most of the mail I get is ads or bills. These few are Christmas and birthday cards. 

Life today. Tami, Andy and Natalie and John and kids all took me, and Gideon, to Olive Garden for my (and Gideon’s) birthday celebration last night. It felt so good to have them around me again. It was a good time and good food. 

This Sunday bulletin is done and out for proof reading. I have a pretty good start on the Christmas Eve bulletin and a tiny, tiny start on the poinsettia dedication sheet. I’m not sure yet when I will be able to get the printing done on all three. I need to take the rental car back on Friday and don’t have a “new” car yet so getting from “here to there” is in question for any necessary trips out of the house after Friday right now. 

Sue was driving and we were on our way home from the birthday dinner last night. I told Sue to slow down near interesting decorations and lights so I could get the photos for today’s “assignments”. The next three are the result. This one for today is “decoration”. These are lights and decorations from my neighborhood. 

Sweet Pea is out of meatball treats again. As soon as I get home from food pantry this afternoon I will be in the kitchen making meat balls. 

I have a meeting at church early this evening. So I want to have the chores out of the way as early as I can. 

This upload for todays is “lights”. This one was one of the several that I took that had the most different items in the complete arrangement. 

The word today is quick.  A good discourse is that from which nothing can be retrenched without cutting into the quick. Saint Francis de Sales.  Sad people dislike the happy, and the happy the sad; the quick thinking the sedate, and the careless the busy and industrious. Horace.  Strive to attain to the greater virtues, but do not neglect the lesser ones. Do not make light of a fall even if it be the most venial of faults; rather, be quick to repair it by repentance, although many others may commit a large number of faults, slight and grievous, and remain unrepentant. Saint Basil.  Anything for the quick life, as the man said when he took the situation at the lighthouse. Charles Dickens.  Youth is easily deceived because it is quick to hope. Aristotle.  To succeed, jump as quickly at opportunities as you do at conclusions. Benjamin Franklin.  Life is thickly sown with thorns, and I know no other remedy than to pass quickly through them. The longer we dwell on our misfortunes, the greater is their power to harm us. Voltaire.  How quick come the reasons for approving what we like! Jane Austen.  Who makes quick use of the moment is a genius of prudence. Johann Kaspar Lavater. We should give as we would receive, cheerfully, quickly, and without hesitation; for there is no grace in a benefit that sticks to the fingers. Lucius Annaeus Seneca.  The foolish are like ripples on water, For whatsoever they do is quickly effaced; But the righteous are like carvings upon stone, For their smallest act is durable. Horace.  Trees, though they are cut and loped, grow up again quickly, but if men are destroyed, it is not easy to get them again. Pericles.  A quarrel is quickly settled when deserted by one party; there is no battle unless there be two. Lucius Annaeus Seneca.  

This upload for today is another that has the same ‘assignment’ title as the one before, “lights”. This one was a block or so away from the first one. It doesn’t seem to have as many different items in the arrangement. I like the blue color and the darkening sky as well as the reflection in the pavement. 

Article: I hadn’t thought about earth quakes in Ohio so this article was educational for me. The title: Ohio Seismicity: Could A Relatively ‘Big One’ Strike The Buckeye State? The article began with what has always been in my mind when it comes to this subject “Ohio is not exactly known for its earthquake threat”. It went on to relay that Ohio does have a “system of seismometers that monitors activity in the state.” A “collection” of volunteers began operations in 1999.  Before that any activity was for the state was “recorded by out-of-state operations”. Apparently there has been only “about 1 earthquake on average each year, often too small to be felt- typically in the 2.0 range or less” in the state. There was one earthquake in April, 1900 near Berea Ohio. I caused some damage. The strongest earthquake in the state happened in 1937 near a town called Anna in Shelby County. There were no seismometers at the time but it was estimated to be in the 5.0 range on the Richter Scale. The article mentioned that that would cause “dishes and windows may break and large bells will ring. Vibrations like a train passing close to a house”. There was another occurrence in March of 1937 that was estimated to be about the same size in measurements. This one caused difficulty in sanding upright and furniture might be broken. There could have been more damage in “poorly built or badly designed structures.”  There was a second round to the 1937 quake. More widespread local damage. Chimneys were damaged and cemetery stones rotated. Water and gas were affected. Affects were felt in eight state. In 1986 there was another quake “northeast of Cleveland in Lake Erie. It was felt over 122,000 square miles”. As the article went on it mentioned that over the years there have been smaller earthquakes but “none have had damage”. It is believed by most geologist and seismologists that “the likelihood of a quake above 6.0 to be exceedingly low, as Ohio seems to lack major fault systems”. Over the years there have been aftershocks from quakes in other states felt in Ohio.  The author said that “Ohioans probably have little reason to rush out and buy earthquake insurance”. Apparently we are more likely to be affected by flooding or wind damage. 

I think it will be soup and sandwich for dinner tonight.

Joy                     

                                                                        always ready