January 24, 2024 a thought for today, It requires more courage not to fight than to fight. Albanian Proverb

This upload for yesterday was “fish”. I took this one long ago, it is in my archives. I had a beautiful aquarium for several years until it was a little too much for me to take care of. I miss those aquatic friends of mine but life goes on. 

The next upload for yesterday was “silhouette”. I don’t do this type of photo very often so I am using another image from the archives. It may be one I have used before since I only have three or four of this style. 

The next upload for yesterday was “vintage sign”. I wasn’t in an area to find a vintage sign. So I used this very old notice over a commercial dish washer in our church. 

Life today. It’s been a busy morning. I had some final touches to the newsletter. Then I got the envelopes and labels ready for the printing session at church tomorrow. Along with that I found that some addresses needed to be updated. Also there were things so research in the text messages I got about updates to the newsletter calendar. All of this took the whole morning and now I am getting ready to leave for food pantry at church...... 

I am back from food pantry. We have had two very busy days. Normally we have around 15 to twenty families. Yesterday we had thirty-eight, today thirty-five. The room was packed. Both days.

The first upload for today is “5 o’clock”. I used the idea of dinner for this image. We have out evening meal about that time of day. 

We had a tiny problem or two that may have slowed us down just a bit.

It is raining. It has been raining off and on for two days. According to the weather reports it will be raining for the next five days. At least the temperature is more comfortable. 

Now to finish off the “work” week. Tomorrow will be the printing of the bulletin and the newsletter. Then Friday Dorothy and I will finish the newsletter.

The next upload for today is “a pop can or bottle”. I was going to use some Yoohoos for this image but they were in cartons not in cans or bottle.  

The word today is unexpected.  If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. Henry David Thoreau.  No one is so brave that he is not disturbed by something unexpected. Julius Caesar.   If you do not expect the unexpected, you will not recognize it when it arrives, Heraclitus.  A sudden bold and unexpected question doth many times surprise a man and lay him open. Francis Bacon.  Fate, however, is to all appearance more unavoidable than unexpected, Plutarch.  There is frequently more to be learned from the unexpected questions of a child than the discourses of men, John Locke.  But speak the truth, and all nature and all spirits help you with unexpected furtherance. Speak the truth, and all things alive or brute are vouchers, and the very roots of the grass underground there do seem to stir and move to bear you witness, Ralph Waldo Emerson.  The unexpected connection is more powerful than one that is obvious, Heraclitus.  Great and unexpected successes are often the cause of foolish rushing into acts of extravagance, Demosthenes.  

The next and last photo upload for today is “shallow DOF”. This is a box of cantaloupes we had on hand for the food pantry guests this week. I was up close on one of them the rest are part of the out of focus background. 

This article is interesting, about getting around in a city without a car. I had a friend when I was a working lady, before I retired that is, who never owned a car. She got to work every work day on a city bus. She did her grocery shopping the same way except for times a neighbor would take her. The rent-a-bike and rent-a-scooter were not part of the scene at that time. The author started out talking about a trip to Japan and how she didn’t know the language but she was “fluent in Google Maps, which was the only language I really needed to know”. She went of to talk about transportation and touring not only in Japan but other foreign countries. She says they are “beyond enviable.....a sense of presence not experienced back home”. Further on she says that she was “challenged” to find a similar experience here in her own city without driving a car....it became “enlightening”. She says she lives near bus lines and within waking distance of several grocery stores, she also used online shopping, (another help when without transportation.) Making this “enlightening” challenge more easily adaptable she works from home and has no children.  In her challenge she noted that we do have bus lines along with scooters and e-bikes. She believes that “navigating” without a car “provides a sense of freedom”. Most of her transportation in this challenge was walking and biking. She related that she became more conscious of the community, seems much the same as I have with my photography. Simple everyday things become more noticeable and intriguing. Some of the things she found more noticeable were “Street art, pinecones, warm light brushing the top of trees” I notice these same things when looking for photos. People along the way are also more noticeable. The everyday thing I refer to as she does are sidewalks, ramps, bike racks. She noticed that “Columbus is not completely flat”. It only takes her three minutes longer to walk to her gym that going by car does, and she can skip the warm up. Shopping and other outings may take a bit more planning. Making lists for efficiency in places that will be on the trip. Impulse buying is cut down and only items that can be carried on a bike are considered. Also the areas of traffic that will come up in the trip have to be considered. Planning for longer periods away from conveniences should be considered such as necessary clothing for the weather, a charged cell phone. She says she learned more about Columbus and an “increased gratitude for my neighborhood”. Other people mentioned in this article say they didn’t see the need for two cars in the family. One member of this family rides a bike or takes a bus more often than driving. An interesting note in this story is that when one family decided to be a one car family they used Google calendar to keep track of appointments. Also to be noted that in using a bike for transportation one should have a good lock and use a helmet. Another much in riding a bike is to know the law, traffic laws....use a signal and “go with the flow of traffic.” 

If I get home from food pantry in time to catch up on other things I think I will make salmon patties for dinner. 

Joy

                        there were years of better days