May 7, 2024 a thought for today, Education serves our life, wisdom commands it. Latin Proverb

My first upload for yesterday was “macro”. My sister has planted a blackberry bush in the back yard. It is loaded with blooms preparing for the berries (and bees too).  It was my inspiration for this assignment.

The next upload for yesterday was “morning routine”. Mine may be a touch strange....it is a cup of tea and a hand full of cheese crackers, an appetizer for breakfast.

The last upload for yesterday was “flags”. I took several shots in my cruise through the neighborhood. I liked this one the best for this upload......OSU and the USA.

Life today. I finally got my hair cut. I usually wait until it is so full and heavy that I can’t keep it looking “nice”. Then I have to get to the hair salon. Now I feel lighter. It will be so much easier to control. 

I got the last little things ready for the printing Thursday and sent out the draft copies of the bulletin.

The first upload for today is “a red barn”. Since I am a city girl I don’t visit the country to often ergo no barn on my daily horizon. I shot this one on my way to Mt. Sterling a while ago.

Sue left to go visit with one of the twins who is not feeling well and is home from school. Tiffany is working so Sue went to keep the twin company.

I got to speak with William yesterday. It felt so good to see him, how he has grown. He is talking so much more now. Ben wasn’t quite up to a visit at that particular time. Hopefully we will visit again soon. I want so much to keep in contact with all of my great grandchildren. 

The second upload for today is “skyline”. This is an image of one city girl’s skyline.

The word today is deliver.  Better to illuminate than merely to shine, to deliver to others contemplated truths than merely to contemplate. Thomas Aquinas.  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.  Beg of God the removal of envy, that God may deliver you from externals, and bestow upon you an inward occupation, which will absorb you so that your attention is not drawn away. Rumi.  I went to America to convert the Indians, but, oh, who shall convert me? Who, what, is he that will deliver me from this evil heart of unbelief? John Wesley.  It may be you fear more to deliver judgment upon me than I fear judgment. Giordano Bruno.  But Paul, in his preaching of the Gospel, is a debtor to deliver the word not to Barbarians only, but also to Greeks, and not only to the unwise, who would easily agree with him, but also to the wise. Origen.  We promise in proportion to our hopes, and we deliver in proportion to our fears. Francois de La Rochefoucauld.  There are many events in the womb of time, which will be delivered. William Shakespeare.  

My last upload for today is “friendship”. These are two of my great grandchildren taken when they were much younger. I had some other photos that would have fit the this day’s assignment but this one “tickled my fancy” today. 

Article: The fact that the title to the article started with how neighborhoods can be happier made me think it was something of wide interest. It starts by talking about how some lawns are ‘lush’ with plantings as well as comforting porches and attention grabbing features. Other lawns say “stay away” having fences that are foreboding and imposing. With these in mind a study was put together to find to what extent these features are a “window” into those who “tend to them”. One of the findings was that the “livelier” the yard the more content the people who lived there. This study also set out to find ways folks found to “cultivate a stronger “sense of place””. The “sense of place” signifies an “attachment and belonging” leading to “stronger ties among neighbors”. One neighborhood in the study leaned toward parkways and large, historic homes. The residents of this neighborhood were invited to add things to the few feet in front of their homes to make them more “inviting”. The things suggested to add were garden gnomes, free libraries, and fancy gardens. While adding elements to the yard they would be chatting with neighbors. Some of these neighborly relationships would “bridge” to other neighbors being included. On the other side of the coin, yards can  “cordon off the home, blocking views or discouraging access with fences, hedges and (silent) warnings”. During a pilot study the students picked to aid in the study were to observe lawns and “measure: flags, expressive signs, flower pots, landscaping, toys and games, seats, porches, fences and hedges, and welcoming or unwelcoming signs”. The “data from the students’” was compared to surveys that had been taken from the residents about their feelings of home, neighbor and neighborhood. One thing that was noted was that on property where toys and other items were out on the lawn seemed to note that their property wouldn’t be stolen and it was safe to let the kids play outside. Another result was that a garden chair, a porch or bench boosted a sense of place. So one of the final determinations was that “lively front yards make better neighborhoods”.

I think we will have baked Tilapia for dinner. 

Joy

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