March 8, 2024 a thought for today, Turn yourself into a sheep and the wolves will eat you. German Proverb

One of the first uploads for yesterday was “tiny details”. The “tiny” details in this particular image are not so tiny. Comparatively some are at least smaller than the others. 

The second upload for yesterday was “fence post”. In this city as in most I imaginethere are a lot of fence posts. I happened to snap a couple of shots of the “fence” post at McDonalds as I passed by. 

The third and last image upload yesterday was “clouds”. Yesterday was an overcast day so I didn’t see any clouds except for huge masses of gray sky. 

Life today. The annual report is done. Now I can move on. The printing was done in good time. Patti and I had time for some conversation. 

I had another meeting last night. We got a lot accomplished and were finished in good time. Sweet Pea was waiting patiently when I got home. 

I am taking today at an easy going pace. I have worked on the newsletter for a while. The calendar is set up. I took a break for a bit. This time Sweet Pea and I went to White Castle. Then on a bit of a photo search. It ended up that I got the photos I need for today right here at home. 

The first photo a day upload for today is “feet”. What better model than Sweet Pea. I had to chase her around for several shots. Then when see decided to relax under a table and a chair I got this one of two of her four feet.

After pushing to meet deadlines the aftermath can be like a balloon losing air. One effect it is having at this moment is that I seem to be missing my great grandchildren more on days like this. With the technology of today I can reach out and touch them for a few minutes at a time. I count on that. They know I am . And I know and see that they are on their on lifes journey. Two of them seem to be out of my “reach out and touch” capabilities on a quick and regular basis. My hope is that if I can’t reach them now at least my words in letters will reach them one day and they will know I was.....and do love and loved them. I love them all.

For one of my photos today I couldn’t get my mind going in the right direction to decide how to approach getting the shot. I emailed a friend and asked if she had any ideas. Her words started my creative thinking and I think I have some usable ideas. It is still hard to match the dictionary meaning of the title....style.

The photo upload is the one I mentioned in the paragraph above. The “assignment” is “style”. I just could not think of something for that word. In the response email from my friend she said maybe something compared to another each having a different style. Maybe a style in the age difference (that was the tickler for my thinking cap) or maybe different types or types of use of the item. Anyway that opened the idea process. Thanks, Donna. In this case they are scarves, one a bandana, a mantilla and a silk head scarf. Donna had mentioned hats.

The word today is attention.  Pray thee, spare, thyself at times: for it becomes a wise man sometimes to relax the high pressure of his attention to work. Thomas Aquinas.  Pay attention to your enemies, for they are the first to discover your mistakes. Antisthenes.  The eye of the master will do more work than both his hands. Benjamin Franklin.  Since you cannot do good to all, you are to pay special attention to those who, by the accidents of time, or place, or circumstances, are brought into closer connection with you. Saint Augustine. Genius is nothing but continued attention. Claude Adrien Helvetius.  In the first place, you must pay great attention to the key note. William Billings.  I never knew any man cured of inattention. Jonathan Swift.  Thus every matter, if it is to be done well, calls for the attention of the whole person. Martin Luther.  Friendship demands attention. Thomas More. When you let go of your attention for a little while, do not think you may recover it whenever you please. Epictetus.  I endeavor to keep their attention fixed on the main objects of all science, the freedom & happiness of man. Thomas Jefferson.  The true art of memory is the art of attention. Samuel Johnson.  The tongues of dying men enforce attention like deep harmony. William Shakespeare. (for those of intellect). 

The last upload for today is “photographers choice”. Remember the daffodil experience I mentioned aw letters ago? I was looking for a daffodil but none were blooming so I “plucked” one in my yard. The “bloom” was still in its “pod” so I put it in hot water and then in the sun to try to force it to open. It didn’t then. But here it is now. 

The article; I found this article written by a Professor of comparative literature, Arts & Sciences on the subject of saying I’m sorry. It is a subject many of us would benefit from by knowing more about the “science” and all effects of it. To begin the article there are apologies mentioned at well known and newsworthy times in history. Some of these apologies are: “Ronald Reagan’s apology to Japanese Americans for WWII internment, and Bill Clinton’s apologies for marital indiscretion, to Hawaiians for the U.S. overthrowing their monarchy and for the Tuskegee syphilis experiment.” The professor mentioned that we hear and experience apology from “politicians and other public figures to friends and family......(apology) given or withheld.” In the course this professor explored “the anatomy of an apology and what makes an apology succeed or fail”. He wanted the students to consider historical events, interpersonal relationships and culture and gender. They studied apologies from political people, different circumstances and the affects of the actions. There was an event in 2015 where a government forced Indigenous children from their home to be taught in residential schools. An apology was necessary because of “the very cultures the forcible removal was meant to erase”. An apology was necessary in 1982 when an over the counter medication was laced with cyanide and people died. The article mentioned some apologies from people in TV and movies who were a position that apologies needed to be made after various misuses in their professional positions. Some of the assignments in this course “include a case study that each student chooses and a short research paper on a related topic, such as shame, confession, guilt, forgiveness and absolution”. The course is “relevant” due to a “post-shame era in which outrageous and offensive behavior is often accepted and even applauded”. The course brought to mind that “a good apology – that is, an effective one – offers a reset, restoring balance or repairing a rupture”. To begin this course the students write their own personal apology to whomever they felt they had offended. At the end of the semester they reread them. The professor hopes that at the end of the course the students can understand human expressions and responses with more feeling. 

It’s pizza night. We are waffling between frozen pizzas and homemade pizzas. 

Joy

there is construction going on in my neighborhood in preparation for a community wide rain garden. Part of the program, “Blue Print Columbus”, in improving and beautifying the neighborhood this is some the areas of construction/maintenance material for such projects.