January 22, 2024 a thought for today, If you take care of your character, your reputation will take care of itself. Albanian Proverb

One upload for January 21, 2024 was “in the sun”. There was no sun to be seen today. Only the reflections of its light as it was hiding behind the snow clouds. So I used a capture in time from my archives. 

The next of load for the 21st was “people”. I don’t do people photos very easily, I can, I just don’t want to infringe on folks who don’t appreciate it. On some occasions I must. I added what I hoped would be a painterly filter to soften the image.

The third upload for yesterday was “homemade”. This is one of my crochet projects. Nice and comfy and cozy. 

Life today. It has been a productive day for me so far. We are having a person give the message at church next week who hasn’t been with us before. Whenever we have someone, new I am a little tense hoping that I do the bulletin the way they want it. This person has a page and a half document that he wants for the congregation to have. So I pulled up his copy off of his email, made a copy, then redid the formatting to fit the sizes of print material we use in our services. This will be an insert so I wanted it to fit on both sides of a half sheet. It took some adjusting, it looks pretty good.

I wanted to put something in both instagram and facebook about our Sunday School classes. Donna took some photos in her class yesterday and sent them to me. I wanted to arrange them in a pleasant way so I had some Photoshop work to do. There were shadows on some of the images that I was able to eliminate. I created a composite of four pictures and used an algorithm to fit on the instagram site. Then typed the description of the what was covered in that class. I got them done and uploaded to both sites. 

My first photo a day for today is “one”. As I was contemplating on what I would want to use for a photo depicting “one”, I was snacking on Ritz crackers and had one left on a styrofoam plate....so question answered.

Next I started on the bulletin. The gentleman who is doing it this week sent me the information I need this morning. I was able to get the whole thing done.  

This is newsletter week so I am hoping to have it done for Thursday printing. I have the majority done but needed three items to finish it. I received one of the three an hour ago so I took some time to get it formatted and entered. Now to wait for the other two. I’m sure at least one of them will be last minute. 

It is still cold but beginning to crawl up the thermometer scale. I have been using the space heater that I found last week in Bob’s things. It is helping immensely but...last night before dinner I blew a fuse or tripped whatever controls the fuses. I hade the dishwasher running, the TV on, the computer on as well as the heater. It was all on the same circuit. Anyway, I am a dork when it comes to such things so I called Sue to come down stairs and help me out. She has always been the one who figures how to “fix” things like this. She comes to me for computer things, searches and on line orders and such. We balance each other this way, not always but some. Anyway she found the switch that had shut off. Problem solved. 

Now I have to go find two of my photo a day uploads for today......

The second photo today is “lines”. I was on my way down the driveway to move the recycle container to the back yard when I saw the line in the asphalt. Another question answered.  

The word today is understanding.  If one is master of one thing and understands one thing well, one has at the same time, insight into and understanding of many things, Van Gogh.  To know someone here or there with whom you can feel there is understanding in spite of distances or thoughts expressed -- That can make life a garden, Johann von Goethe.  The improvement of understanding is for two ends: first, our own increase of knowledge; secondly, to enable us to deliver that knowledge to others, John  Locke.  The highest activity a human being can attain is learning for understanding, because to understand is to be free, Baruch (_Benedict de) Spinoza.  Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore seek not to understand that thou mayest believe, but believe, that thou mayest understand, Saint Augustine of Hippo. Men are admitted into heaven not because they have curbed or governed their passions, but because they have cultivate their understandings. William Blake. Everyone hears only what he understands, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.  Everything that happens happens as it should, and if you observe carefully, you will find this to be so, Marcus Aurelius.  True love is born from understanding, The Buddha.  A man of understanding finds less difficulty in submitting to a wrong-headed fellow, than in attempting to set him right, François de La Rochefoucauld. Much learning does not teach understanding, Heraclitus.  The power of intuitive understanding will protect you from harm until the end of your days. Lao Tzu. 

Today was an easy day to find photos of the day. This one is suppose to fit the title “white”. This tiny snow bank is lining the driveway after it had been shoveled. 

This article may have a timely tip about winter weather problems and plants that we will want to see in the spring. It talks about putting salt down to avoid slipping and how it may “impact” plants. Salt and de-icers help with safety issues though they may have a “toxic” effect on plants as well as waterways. Rock salt has been the most common product used for many years. It is the same as table salt, sodium chloride. It works well on the slippery surfaces when the temperature is freezing and below, relatively inexpensive and “widely available”. This “chemical” is corrosive and “easily damages plants” as well as many areas of certain surface finishes. Some of this type “de-icers” that tend to damage roads and walkways are salt spray and “soil-borne salt”. Salt spray can spread in the air up by traffic and wind to 1,000 feet. This spray “pulls water out of the foliage of plants and also from the buds of deciduous trees”. Soil-borne salt can accumulate in the soil from runoff as the ice and snow melts. Soil born salt is made of clay and holds more salt than sandy soils. The salt spray can cause injury quickly. Soil-borne salt causes injury more slowly by preventing root from absorbing life giving water as well as essential nutrients. Plants that have been damaged by salt are “more susceptible to insects and diseases”. Any damage to plant form “soil-borne salt” is more difficult to “diagnosis” because it is similar to damage caused by insects and diseases. In examining the effects of the salt used for deicing as it spreads with melting ice and snow on water quality should be considered. The “waterways to become more saline over time, which negatively affects aquatic species that are sensitive to salt”. The article suggests that instead of using salt and other de-icers “using anti-skid products, such as sand, instead of salt when possible” although in my experience these can me messy to clean up after a thaw. The article goes on to report that “calcium chloride, potassium chloride, and magnesium chloride de-icers are less harmful to plants than rock salt when used as directed”. Another answer to the problem with the damage to plants is to move the plants from a direct contact point of these materials. Using some additives to affected soil may help, apply gypsum (calcium sulfate) in the spring. Also adding organic matter may help as it will be “drenched to remove the salt”. Some salt tolerant plant are eastern red cedars, inkberry holly, blue spruce and mugo pine. 

I think I will have beef and noodles that I saved in the freezer for dinner. 

Joy

                                many years ago in a park along the Olentangy River