June 28, 2024 a thought for today, It is the tree that gives its nature to the fruit. Latin Proverb

One of the uploads for yesterday was another of the “photographers choice”. In the Spring, Summer and Autumn the city park near my home always have several small impressive gardens. This is one of the group of flowers in one of the spaced out small gardens.  

The next upload for yesterday was “window”. This is the window right next to my computer monitor. I stop typing now and then to glance out to see the weather condition and anything else of interest that might be going on. 

The last challenge and upload for the 27th of June 2024 was “I live.....”. This is my front porch. I enjoy taking a break, usually at the end of the day and beginning of evening sitting on the porch swing. Sweet Pea enjoys the daily visit to our part of the neighborhood without a fence to look thgough. 

Life today. Friday is one of the days this week that I can go slow and easy. I was thinking of defrosting the chest freezer but when I woke up I decided it wasn’t a good day for it. Tami has agreed to come over and help me with it. Maybe we will do it next week. It really isn’t a job I am looking forward to even with help. I like days when I can take minutes now and then throughout the day to sit and glance out the window to day dream enjoying the view and then to  watch what’s going on on the TV at the moment instead of just half hearing it. 

Today is almost perfect for a summer day. It’s not too hot at all and the sun is bright and enjoyable. I have the AC off and the doors open. 

Sue is with the twins today. She enjoys whatever time she can spend with them.

My first challenge and upload for today is “I wore this....”. I think this is one of my sister’s old hats. It is warm in the cooler weather and partially concealing any time of the year.

I got the laundry out of the way and I cleared the dishwasher and frig yesterday so there isn’t anything time sensitive on the todo list today. 

Brian has been around today. He stopped by to see if I had anything for him to do. He also checked with my neighbor. He is thoughtful about checking with us. I know a lot of the time it is because he needs the money but I think he really is sincere about wanting to help where and when he can. He has built up a kind of bond with us. I think he has had some troubles in his life but he is trying to keep some sort of normalcy in his life. 

Next image for viewing is another of the “photographers choice”. I always thought pine cones dropped mostly in the autumn. Our tree must be a bit confused because this pine cones are dropping frequently. Just a bit of nature calling attention to itself...and nicely so.

The word today is gray. All theory, dear friend, is gray, but the golden tree of life springs ever green. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.  Worry - a God, invisible but omnipotent. It steals the bloom from the cheek and lightness from the pulse; it takes away the appetite, and turns the hair gray. Benjamin Disraeli.  It is not by the gray of the hair that one knows the age of the heart. Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton.  No rival will steal away my sure love; that glory will be my gray hair. Propertius.  Magnificent autumn! He comes not like a pilgrim, clad in russet weeds; not like a hermit, clad in gray; but like a warrior with the stain of blood in his brazen mail. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.  Dreams are the eraser dust I blow off my page. They fade into the emptiness, another dark gray day. Dreams are only memories of the plans I had back then. Dreams are eraser dust and now I use a pen. Edgar Allan Poe.  In the night all cats are gray. Miguel de Cervantes.  Where should the scholar live? In solitude, or in society? in the green stillness of the country, where he can hear the heart of Nature beat, or in the dark, gray town where he can hear and feel the throbbing heart of man? Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.  A gray day provides the best light. Leonardo da Vinci.  The gray silence, the gray waves, the gray wastes of the sea. William Sharp. What then is the wisdom of the times called old? Is it the wisdom of gray hairs? No. It is the wisdom of the cradle. Thomas Browne.  

The last challenge for today is “blueberry”. The story is I don’t have any blueberries on hand today. I  decided to substitute on of our blackberries that a producing like crazy this year.  

Article. Memory is an important part of life. A very dear church friend of mine told me to keep a diary not so much for myself but for my children and on to their children. Our lives are building stones for others, for the future and for bonding with others. This article caught my attention along with the desire to pass on knowledge that has come my way through experience about life from another view.  That’s part of the reason for this blog. The sharing may help others in the times of trouble, sadness, love, aging, all areas that I have lived and can share. The memory talked about here is a little different. This article is about how to improve memory. The beginning sentences were interesting “Memory usually means remembering things that have already happened. But prospective memory is the ability to remember to do something in the future”. This “future intention” comes about in two different ways. One is brought about by sight or sound causing a response, this is called and “event”.  You may see someone that you need to give a message to, or hear a sound that reminds you to turn on or off a light. Sometimes you have to make the effort to check the time often to be about to complete a task at a given time. Other times there is a “reminder” such as sound like the dog barking at the back door wanting to come in. It went on to relate that brain changes as aging takes place prospective memory fades. As unique as life is for each individual some situations are easier for older folks recall....age-prospective memory paradox. Memory can be effected by several things, medical, alcohol and cultural. Some difficulty in memory could be related to having “difficulty judging the passing of time and miss the window to get it done”. In regard to the cultural type of memory retention and action there was a test given in 2023 to people who spoke Spanish. The text had a different effect than on others giving it a different result than another test group. The tests “were created in the U.S. and so have a cultural bias, or it may be due to cultural differences, such as in the perception of time”.  There were trial tests to see how some techniques might help to “improve prospective memory functioning”. One method was “using rote repetition and visual imagery”. This test worked so people were told that in “exactly one minute, please clap your hands.” As they succeed in that time was slowly increased. Another method was visual imagery where something will happen at a time when you needed to complete an action. That action could be something you would see, hear or smell. Using a watch, phone or calendar with “alarms”. They could be setting an alarm on you watch or phone or taking a photo with your phone camera of where you parked a car. Items can be left by the door so you remember to take them when you go out. Put a calendar somewhere that is noticeably visible. Routine also helps spark the memory. Examples of routine would be doing exercise or other daily task at a certain time of day. Another way to spark memory is called “implementation of intentions”. According to the article, when a certain thing happens I will do such or such. An example is “to water your plants when you get home, pantomime doing it.

PIZZA!

Joy

                  just a peek at some disrespect

 

 June 26, 2024 a thought for today, My conscience is more to me than what the world says. Latin Proverb

My first challenge upload for yesterday is “I can...”. One of the several things I can do is crochet. This is my collection of crochet hooks that I have used over my crocheting “career”. 

The second upload was a quick decision type of shot. The challenge was “turquoise”. I had the TV on while I was working on the computer, as I always do, for news releases and learning from pop up tips and information that come up and happen on most communication devices. I knew I needed this image today....I glanced at the TV to catch something someone was saying when I noticed a lady who had this jewelry on. I feel it shows the color and the stone, turquoise. I snapped the shot and here it is.  

The third upload for yesterday was another of the “photographers choice”. I was on a trip with Lowell to visit family when I was drawn to this view. I call it on the road again. I love this area of the Ohio country side and especially the blue, blue sky and the awesome art at the hand of God in the clouds. 

Life today. Food pantry yesterday moved on the slow side. Meaning there were breaks between sign ins. That’s why the ending number of clients was a surprise. We had about twice as many guests as we would have considered a “slow” day.

Before I went to food pantry I went to pick up the flea protection medicine that I had ordered for Sweet Pea. She has always been prone to seizures so I wanted for her to have the meds before I left the house so that I could see if there may be a reaction. I had about an hour and a half to observe her after giving her the meds before I left for church. She was ok and still alert and active when I got home. 

This first image upload for today is not a prize winner but..... The challenge is “sandwich”. This was part of my lunch and I didn’t remember I needed this photo until I had taken a bite. Yes....I like McDonald’s fish sandwich with tartar sauce and I had a dollop of catsup to top it off.   

Today has been on the easy side. I have the weeks agenda updated ahead of schedule. We are getting a relief from the high temperatures today. We had some rain yesterday, it looks like we are going to get some more today. That has made the outside temperatures much more tolerable. The problem is Sweet Pea is nervous when there are storms with thunder. I have to be out of the house today as I was yesterday when the storm went through. 

There is a story and an admission behind this photo. The challenge is “I can’t....”. I get very upset when people break the rules, small and seemingly insubstantial rules as well as very strict rules.  Maybe it is because I am from a military and community service family. My reaction and responses are not ‘lady like’ but there it is. This image is one with two, not one but two, arrows and written direction that show that the space is an exit not an entrance. I can’t abide with people completely ignoring those directions and going the wrong way, in instead of out. Rules are made for reasons not just to be a nuisance. They are made for many reasons, protection, keeping things organized and for fairness. I believe in rules, manners and respect. I, myself, sometimes slip but I am ashamed when I do.

The word today is great. Great things are done by a series of small things brought together. Vincent Van Gogh.  Great things are done when men and mountains meet. William Blake.  A man's worth is no greater than his ambitions. Marcus Aurelius.  It is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness. Lucius Annaeus Seneca.  Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other's eyes for an instant? Henry David Thoreau.  The great man is he who does not lose his child's-heart. Mencius.  Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune; but great minds rise above them. Washington Irving.  To become truly great, one has to stand with people, not above them. Montesquieu.  To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment. Ralph Waldo Emerson.  The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches but to reveal to him his own. Benjamin Disraeli. Trust men and they will be true to you; treat them greatly and they will show themselves great. Ralph Waldo Emerson.  Great men are seldom over-scrupulous in the arrangement of their attire. Charles Dickens.  Wisdom is the right use of knowledge. To know is not to be wise. Many men know a great deal, and are all the greater fools for it. There is no fool so great a fool as a knowing fool. But to know how to use knowledge is to have wisdom. Charles Spurgeon.  Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance. Samuel Johnson.  He who learns but does not think, is lost! He who thinks but does not learn is in great danger. Confucius.  Half a truth is often a great lie. Benjamin Franklin. 

My last entry for today is another of the “photographers choice”. I like the two flags, peace and honor. 

Article: The weather temperatures seem to be a popular topic these days. Here is another persons, two persons, view of this happening to nature.  The beginning of the article said “Extreme heat waves aren’t ‘just summer’”. It is written by two professors, one of climate science, the other professor of meteorology.  They are talking about how climate change is adding to the way temperatures heat up.  There is mention of high prolonged high temperature dry soil and cause “rapid onset drought”. Agriculture, water resources and the water the helps to supply energy are affected. This summer “emergency room visits for heat-related illnesses surged”. In some areas schools have been closed due to the heat. Another mention of heat related affects that I hadn’t thought of was electric wires sagging in the heat and shutting down trains and other equipment needed for daily living. Apparently the “heat wave” of 2024 has been “unusually early and long-lasting compared with typical patterns for the Northeast U.S.”  It caused a “heat dome” that caused a high-pressure system to by more that 10 miles up from the ground. This allows for a “greater potential for higher temperatures impacting more people”. This heat wave is affecting people over most of the earth not just here and there around the globe. It has already led to water shortages and deaths. The article states that the heat this summer is not normal. They say that heat waves are “a natural part of the climate” but the severity and extent this year is not “just summer”. It went on to claim that a “scientific assessment of the U.S. heat wave estimates that heat this severe and long-lasting was two to four times more likely to occur today because of human-caused climate change than it would have been without it”. Further is says that more “greenhouse gas emissions”are being “released”. Some studies have noted that over 20,000 years ago in the ice age the average temperature was 10.9 degrees cooler than now. So a “2.2 F (1.2 C) of warming so far is already rapidly changing the climate”. The studies seem to indicate that the rising temperatures will more than “double again by the end of the century”. On thing that caught my attention was that “this summer is likely to be one of the hottest on record, it is important to realize that it may also be one of the coldest summers of the future”. This noted and considered the damages this can be caused to children, senior citizens, people who work outdoors, lower income folks without air conditioning. It also affects economics. Infrastructures are affected such as railroad tracks and wires will sag causing transportation, communication and energy problems. Science and industry are looking for ways to help reduce the problems. Not mentioned in the article are the efforts for more greenery and switching ways to supply energy for heating, cooling and commnication to help in the efforts of negative climate changes.

I think I will have some salmon patties in the freezer that will be dinner this evening. 

Joy

              I hope there are no fires where this hydrant is needed 

 June 24, 2024 a thought for today, All things change, and we change with them. Latin Proverb

 

My first upload for yesterday was “I once...” was young and carefree (of course I didn't shoot this photo but I scanned it....the original is more than eighty years old). Me and my Scotty dog....my very first furry friend....he apparently wasn’t interested in the Easter Basket.

The next upload yesterday was “upside down”. I don’t know if the limb was once
totally upright then took a downward slope. Whatever the circumstance it has character. 

The last upload challenge for yesterday was “this motivates me”. More like gives me peace and hope. 

Life today. I had a visit with two of my great grandchildren yesterday. They were in town expecting a visit with their dad also. However, due to a problem that part of the plans were changed. We spent about an hour here at the house then Lowell took us to dinner at York. They had not visited York before so the walking through to place your order then having the entree delivered to the table was a little different experience for them. 

It’s been pretty much a “normal” Monday here at my house. Brian called to see if I wanted the lawn mowed. Since it is a little cooler today and supposed to rain some more during the week I told him to go ahead with it today. 

Sue is spending the day with the kids again this Monday. She will probably be with them most of the week. 

My first upload for today is “sunglasses”. I have a extra pair, one that I keep in my car and another that someone left a while back as they were leaving. 

My chest freezer is in need of defrosting. I just didn’t have the time to tackle that today so I decided just to chip away some of the ice so that the lid would close more securely. When I can get some help with it, so that I won’t have to leave it empty for too long, I will tackle the defrosting. 

I got most of the bulletin done earlier today. Then I had time to take care of paying some bills. I had to order some flea medicine for Sweet Pea. She has been scratching a lot lately. Earlier today she got her toe nail caught in her fur to the point she couldn’t use one leg.  I had to spend some time making her lay down while I got scissors to cut her lose. 

This is one of the days for photo challenges that I could find right around here so I didn’t have to go out anywhere. I spend time in the “digital darkroom”....Photoshop.....processing the images.

The second upload today is “I sat here....”. This is “my place” after dinner and dishes cleared, Sweet Pea fed and let out. This is the time for “brain games” (to hopefully keep me as alert and thinking as possible for as long as possible). Along with that are breaks for crocheting, right now finishing something for all six great grandchildren. It’s a time for a last check of text messages for the day too. All of this with a little TV sound in the background. 

The word today is grasp. Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, Or what's a heaven for? Robert Browning.  I am following Nature without being able to grasp her, I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers. Claude Monet.  Surely God would not have created such a being as man, with an ability to grasp the infinite, to exist only for a day! No, no, man was made for immortality. Abraham Lincoln.  I believe though I do not comprehend, and I hold by faith what I cannot grasp with the mind. Saint Bernard.  To know the laws is not to memorize their letter but to grasp their full force and meaning. Marcus Tullius Cicero.  Beware lest you lose the substance by grasping at the shadow. Aesop.  Mishaps are like knives, that either serve us or cut us, as we grasp them by the blade or the handle. James Russell Lowell.  Why harass with eternal purposes a mind to weak to grasp them? Horace.  The contest for ages has been to rescue liberty from the grasp of executive power. Daniel Webster.  In grasping at uncertainties we lost that which is certain. Plautus.  A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds. Francis Bacon. Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you. Nathaniel Hawthorne.  

The last upload for today is one of the “photographer’s choice”. No particular reason for this photo except for its “artful” aspect. The individual shape in each of the natural block and the texture of the bark on the tree with the added touch of green moss attaching itself to the tree trunk sharing in its life. 

This article is about Columbus history before my time but I remember some of the stories. It affected the Franklinton area of Columbus which is now in the news a good bit with the revitalization goings on. Several years after the Great Flood, my mom grew up in that area of town. The “Great Flood” took place in 1913. The opening line pretty much explains it “Columbus found itself at the mercy of nature’s raw power in an event that would become the city’s most profound catastrophe”. It was a learning event that led to how the city handles disaster, communities in general and resilience. It all led to a “century-long aftermath”. It began with a heavy winter snowfall. Then in March following the long winter there was rain that brought more that five inches of water. It began “saturating the ground and overwhelming the Scioto River’s defenses”. The levees that were in place at the time were “no match for the deluge”. Franklinton founded in the low lying location near the Scioto River received the brunt of the “flood’s fury”. Some homes were totally submerged. One of Columbus’ famous citizens and the publisher of the Columbus Dispatch, Robert Wolfe, put together a “daring rescue mission”. Boats form Buckeye Lake were used to save stranded people. There were volunteers, local government and the National Guard to help in this disaster. The area was left in ruins but people were determined to rebuild and find a way to prevent it from happening again. Among other infrastructures renewed and built there was a 7.2-mile flood wall built. That flood wall was in periods of construction into 2004. The article related that the disaster left a legacy leading to more than physical structure considerations. There was reevaluation of urban planning and support systems.  It also led to better management in natural disasters and community participation. Today there is little if any “visible” from of the ruins but its memory it “embedded in Columbus’s identity”. The disaster was a hallmark in how the community worked together highlighting “resilience, unity, and the enduring human spirit. It reminds us of the importance of community and the value of preparedness.” Today Franklinton is a bustling community with art as part of the growth and revitalization. 

Hamburgers and fries for dinner.

Joy

all in a row....about an eighth of a mile from where they are supposed to be

 June 22, 2024 a thought for today, If you have no one else, then confer with your knee. Japanese Proverb

One of the uploads for yesterday was “national selfie day”. It seems like we are having an awfully lot of selfie challenges lately. 

The next upload for yesterday was “photographers choice”. This one looks “historic” to me. I don’t think it is over one hundred years old, if that, it just has that kind of feel. 

T

The last upload for yesterday was “I went here....”. I didn’t go in today but I made a pass by for this challenge. I was out and about and in this general vicinity so I used it. 

Life today. Dorothy and I got to the church extra early yesterday to get the newsletter done so that it would still be cool enough to get it done before the temps went up. We had a window air conditioner that helped too. 

The heat is still top of the topic of conversation and the top of the list for keeping safe and comfortable. The grass is looking like it is suffering along with the rest of us.  

The first upload for today is “j is for....”. Today, for me j is for .... jar. This one is a mason jar that happens to have my Pothos plants in its hydroponic form. 

I am going to have a visit with two of my great grand children today. I don’t know how long they will be here but I ordered a few extra treats with my grocery pickup. 

Since we will be having company I don’t have much on the agenda. Sweet Pea and I will be going to the store shortly to pick up the groceries. It will take a while to put them away before they will be here. I am going to try to have the photo upload ready before that. 

The second upload challenge for today is “summer reflection”.  This is a twice in one blog. There is another photo of Kroger and a selfie too. 

The word today is gold.  As every thread of gold is valuable, so is every moment of time. English Proverb.  All the gold which is under or upon the earth is not enough to give in exchange for virtue. Plato.  The desire of gold is not for gold. It is for the means of freedom and benefit. Ralph Waldo Emerson.  Gold's father is dirt, yet it regards itself as noble. Yiddish Proverb.  It is much better to have your gold in the hand than in the heart. Thomas Fuller.  Truth, like gold, is to be obtained not by its growth, but by washing away from it all that is not gold. Leo Tolstoy.  It is better for you to be free of fear lying upon a pallet, than to have a golden couch and a rich table and be full of trouble. Epicurus.  Rich people without wisdom and learning are but sheep with golden fleeces. Solon.  Silence may be golden, but can you think of a better way to entertain someone than to listen to him? Brigham Young.  Intelligence and courtesy not always are combined; Often in a wooden house a golden room we find. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.  The goose that lays the golden eggs likes to lay where there are eggs already. Charles Spurgeon.  Whoever cultivates the golden mean avoids both the poverty of a hovel and the envy of a palace. Horace. Where children are, there is the golden age. Novalis.  The Earth turns to Gold, in the hands of the wise. Rumi.  Happiness resides not in possessions, and not in gold, happiness dwells in the soul. Democritus.  Love is the only gold. Alfred Lord Tennyson.

This last upload for today is “on Saturdays I...”. Here is the second Kroger upload today. This is my now typical Saturday activity....grocery curbside pick up. This is one of my favorite clerks heading toward me and Sweet Pea waiting in the car. 

Article: I didn’t read this one all the way through. The title sounded interesting, more information about people getting along with each other, always a good idea. The title enticed by mentioning “how empathy is passed from parents to teens to their future children”. It was written by two professors, one in research psychology the other in psychology. My interest was in the word “empathy”(the ability to understand and share the feelings). In the part of my life that encompassed a nursing career, we learned how important empathy can be a significant component in life. This article talks about how it is important for parents to help their children develop this emotional or cognitive response toward others. There was a study that began in 1998 that brought teens and parents to a study center where videos were recorded of their conversations. Researchers observed how a mother can show empathy toward a their teen who needed help with a problem. They measured and rated the emotional support of many of the parent/teen pairs. They also measured how older teens showed empathy toward their closest friends. The study went on for a few years and surveyed how empathizes may have developed. One of the findings was that “the more empathic a mother was toward her teenager at age 13, the more empathic the teen was toward their close friends across the adolescent years”. The studies went on to find that the one who had more empathy for close friends “became more supportive parents as adults”. One of the points of the overall test was that learning this aspect of life in “adolescence is a critical skill for maintaining good relationships, resolving conflict, preventing violent crime and having good communication skills and more satisfying relationships as an adult”. During the studies it was determined, and logically so, that “simply telling them to be kind doesn’t always work........if parents hope to raise empathic teens, it may be helpful (to find ways) to give them firsthand experiences of being understood and supported”. Friendships in adolescent times are a “training ground” for this life enriching component and it helps to find and develop ways to “respond effectively to other people’s suffering, and supportive care giving abilities” in all areas of life. 

Maybe spaghetti for dinner..... maybe.

Joy

                on our way home ..... Sweet Pea and Me

 June 20, 2024 a thought for today, He who does not open his eyes must open his purse. Jewish Proverb

The first upload for yesterday was one of the “photographers choice”. This is one of the side lawns with a row of day lilies belonging to  a neighbor near my home.

The next challenge for yesterday was “kitchen”. This is not mine, mine is not so “commercial”. This on is the one at my church. 

The last upload for yesterday was “I like to drink . . . ”. Of course, it’s tea. I have one kind of tea or another every day. It used to be coffee but I gave that up sometime ago. I drink herbal, not caffeine tea most of the time. But a lot of iced tea also. 

Life today. I got the printing done in better time than I foresaw. Once the computer was booted up it all went smoothly. As the bulletin was printing and folded I was clearing the memory card to the camera. Once the bulletin was finished printing and as I finished folding I started the newsletter printing. Once the bulletin was folded, I began folding the newsletter. After all the printing I proceeded with placing of the bulletin and two bulletin board updates. As I was working, Patti and I had some time to talk about church issues.

My first upload for today is “I don’t like to....”. My biggest “I don’t like to...” is cleaning the oven. 

When I left the church I stopped at the bank and then went on to mail the shut-in envelopes. Once I got home, I got back to this letter and creating some of the photos I need for today. During those two happenings I took a break to start the laundry. 

The next challenge today is “made of wood”. This is my back deck, the one that needs replaced. The wood, as you can see, is really aged and in not such good shape. 

It is hot, hot, hot today so I was glad Patti was at the church before I got there today and had the air conditioner running. Although I started early enough that the temperature wasn’t at its peak for the day.  

Tomorrow Dorothy will meet me and help with finishing the newsletter. We will work together in a room where there is another air conditioning unit. 

Brian called me while I was at church. He wanted to do the lawn today but I told him I think it is too hot for that. The grass hasn’t grown too much in a week since it has been so hot. I am hoping to ask him to help me later with the back deck. The top part of the deck needs replaced. I think Lowell has some left over pieces of composite “wood” that I can have and use.  

The next challenge for today is another of the “photographers choice”. This one is bricks from the patio  along with all of the weeds that have crept in for a visit. 

The word today is glad.  Plant the love of the holy ones within your spirit; don't give your heart to anything, but the love of those whose hearts are glad. Rumi.  Let others praise ancient times; I am glad I was born in these. Ovid.  Youth is to all the glad season of life; but often only by what it hopes, not by what it attains, or what it escapes. Thomas Carlyle.  Stay close to anything that makes you glad you are alive. Hafez.  Sorrow for sin is indeed necessary, but it should not be an endless preoccupation. You must dwell also on the glad remembrance of God's loving-kindness; otherwise, sadness will harden the heart and lead it more deeply into despair. Saint Bernard.  Behold, my friends, the spring is come; the earth has gladly received the embraces of the sun, and we shall soon see the results of their love! Sitting Bull.  As long as I have health and strength, I will gladly work all my days. Frederic Chopin.  Gladly we desire to make other men perfect, but we will not amend our own fault. Thomas a Kempis. 

This is one of the days of the month that I have a fourth upload challenge. This one is “treasure from the sea”. This is one of Sue’s collection of sea shells with one of my new air plants is using as home for now.  

Article: Art is a universal language. Art can be and is used in several areas and purposes in our lives. To me it is a sustaining necessity in all of life. There is the natural God given kind called nature as well as the learned and practiced human kind. This article seems to “back me up” in those beliefs. The article states it is a “uniquely human act”. It was written by a professor of Art Therapy Research. Most people think art is a childrens activity or that of a person with talent. It actually “exercises the imagination and is essential to mental as well as physical well-being”. In studies conducted by art education specialists “self-expression – including drawing, painting, fiber arts, woodworking or photography – can reduce stress, improve mood and increase self-confidence”. A couple bits from the article are “creating art is my sanctuary .....to better understand myself and a way to recharge and learn from the challenges of life”. The article relates that brains are “biological prediction machines”. It recognizes the surroundings through memories and the senses leading to all “future scenarios” of daily living and “abilities to survive and thrive”. Art on the other hand helps “us all practice this imaginative muscle in a useful way”. For this practice the brain uses fewer cognitive resources to preform compared to the “rote task of conscious effort”. Normal daily activities can lead to “natural creativity and imagination”. An example would be creating a meal with leftovers or finding a new way to get to much used places, dancing to a song and planting gardens. These kinds of behavior can be the most “underrated seeds of well-being in the world”. Not finding ways of relief can lead to distress and anxiety. Think about our ancestors who carved stick figures on rock walls. Art expressions are a “workout” of sorts. This “exercise” supports confidence and hope, it is a kind of therapy, a treatment for managing transitions and adversities that are common to everyday living. I learned in this article that art therapy goes back to “attempts to treat soldiers struggling with post-traumatic stress during the 20th century’s two world wars”. Sometimes people can’t talk about experiences that have troubled them, art became a way to express “and externalize those feelings and memories”. These activities can help people “regain a sense of agency (organization) and control”. When exploring an art outlet “think about activities that made you feel free to explore when you were a child”..... singing, dancing, writing, drawing. Use things like making a gift for someone or observing the beauty around you. Make time for your personal creativity on a regular basis without excuses for delay or putting it off. The article ends with the Latin saying that goes: “Plene vivere.” Live fully.” On a personal note-photography is my art....my counselor and therapist....my release....my growth...my teacher. I have some side “hobbies” that supplement my “lead” exercise (photography). I have dabbled in calligraphy, tatting, paper marbling, paper quilling, house plant gardening and more. Maybe they too have all along in my life been my counselors through the years. I have enjoyed and practiced photography off and on since I was ten years old. Some of the others come and go and come back again when I feel pull that they are needed.

I am having Welsh Rarebit and potato salad for dinner. 

Joy 

another of the maintenance spots around the city along with a dropped now often used off electric scooters. 

 June 18, 2024 a thought for today, You are still a slave if only your limbs are free. German Proverb

An upload challenge for the 17th was “photographers choice”. It’s me and trees again. This one is a lone tree sitting at one of the many openings to a medium sized shopping mall in my area. 

The next shot was “street light”. I couldn’t make up my mind whether the challenge meant street lights like the ones along with street that were on at night. Or street lights directing traffic. So I chose the latter. In doing I found all kinds of arrangement for such lights defending on the area and volume of traffic.

The next and last upload for yesterday was “I bought....”. Here we go again....a stop at McDonalds and my not-to-be-forgotten iced tea....spring, summer, autumn and winter. (talk about creature of habit 😊

Life today. The “heat wave” is here. I haven’t noticed it too much yet. The air conditioning is running almost constantly. We met Lowell and Rebecca for dinner last night. Going from the house to the car  and the car to the restaurant was about the only amount of time I spent outside. I did have to take Sweet Pea for her monthly shot yesterday but that was early enough in the morning before the heat was too bad. 

Today is a food pantry day. I am wondering how busy we will be. I think it will be a real strain on the folks who have to walk to get to us. Our church is not air conditioned either. We do have several commercial size fans working and a few free standing air conditioners.

The first upload challenge to today is “closed”. I took this one Monday evening when we went to dinner. We met Lowell and Rebecca at York Steak House. It isn’t closed (yet) but the window shade was closed. I was reaching for that one wasn’t I? I used it to share because I like the ambiance of the chandelier and the window and the other accouterments (paneling, curtain and wood). 

The cleaning lady is here today. She likes very cool conditions in the house so the AC is really cooling things down right now.  I usually like it at about 74 but I think it is more like 60 right now. 

I have the bulletin done and the newsletter done up to one article. That feels good to have something off my shoulders. 

The second upload for today is “I love this time of day”. Almost like the one I share the other day. That one was the moon and at night. This one is as the sun is coming up.....dawn, day break, a whole new day to live. 

The word today is give.  Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world. Archimedes.  Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth. Henry David Thoreau. The life given us, by nature is short; but the memory of a well-spent life is eternal. Marcus Tullius Cicero.  You can give without loving, but you can never love without giving. Robert Louis Stevenson.  He hath given me rest by His sorrow, and life by His death. John Bunyan.  Wealth should not be seized, but the god-given is much better. Hesiod.  The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance. Wendell Phillips. This world is all a fleeting show, For man's illusion given The smiles of joy, the tears of woe, Deceitful shine, deceitful flow, Theres nothing true but Heaven. Charles Lamb.  Oh Lord, give me chastity, but do not give it yet. Saint Augustine.  The best way to keep one's word is not to give it. Napoleon Bonaparte.  Give light, and the darkness will disappear of itself. Desiderius Erasmus.  Never say of anything I have lost it, only say that I have given it back. Epictetus.  Let no man give advice to others that he has not first given himself.  Seneca the Younger.  You are making an inopportune rejection of what Nature has given you today, if all your mind is set on what men will say of you tomorrow. Marcus Aurelius.  Liberty is given by nature even to mute animals. Tacitus.  Your own reason is the only oracle given you by heaven, and you are answerable for, not the rightness, but the uprightness of the decision. Thomas Jefferson.  Physical excellence does not of itself produce a good mind and character: on the other hand, excellence of mind and character will make the best of the physique it is given. Plato.  

The last challenge for today. Guess what? A tree. The challenge was titled “photographers choice”. I guess it’s pretty obvious .....nature, one of (His) many gifts.

Article: Bean Dinner is a Hilltop tradition that dates back to the Civil War. There have been this kind of celebration “bean diners” around the country. This article is about our version the same reasons as the others. Bob looked forward to this event every year. He use to work at it in the area of parking cars and directing folks to areas of interest. There is music, a variety of food including the event’s famous “secret recipe beans,” arts and craft vendors, and a car show.  In years past there was a small carnival along with the afore mentioned activities. There was a greased telephone pole for those who could try their prowess and there were pony rides. “The bean dinner’s roots date back all the way to the Civil War when the area now known as Westgate Park used to be a Civil War prison camp called Camp Chase”. The bean dinner got its name from the habit noted about the prison camp. Imprisoned soldiers “were fed a ration of beans twice a day.” This year there will be a point where visitors can meet candidates running for some of the political offices “carrying on the tradition of community engagement that has long been a hallmark of these gatherings”. In the car show portion of the event there will be 50 trophies given along with door prizes in a drawing. Proceeds from the car show go to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. One of the music events will feature the West High alumni. One of the very early bean dinners from the past was run by veterans from the war who would gather for reunions and cook simple food – usually beans and coffee. In a report about these types of bean dinners it was said that “These events came across the Ohio River from Kentucky and West Virginia into southern Ohio.” Even at those early dinners politicians participated to get votes for future elections. It use to be that the bean dinner went on for three days, “Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, from noon until around 9”. As I mentioned earlier in the late 1950s and early 1960s, organizers added carnivals as attractions, drawing people from areas outside the Hilltop”. These festivity part of the event ended due to “security problems”. In the 1970s the bean dinner was canceled due to security problems and “decline of businesses on the Hilltop”. In 1981 it was restored. “Many folks return from across the country to see old friends and visit. It is truly a reunion, just like the first bean dinners.”

I think we will have hot dogs for dinner and maybe potato salad. 

Joy

                                     forgotten? or coming back?

 June 16, 2024 a thought for today, He who does not open his eyes must open his purse. German Proverb

 

The first challenge upload for yesterday was “I know....”. I like this image for that challenge due to the quiet and peace I know there seems to be under the shade of those trees at the park.

The second upload for yesterday was “low angle”. I mounted the cell phone on the small bendable tripod and flexed it to fit as flat on the floor as it would go. I offered Sweet Pea a treat and set the camera to snap at a ten-second span as she came to fetch the Pup-Peroni.

The next upload for yesterday was “mail”. Instead of collecting some envelopes I have handy, I decided the use the ones that were in the mail box and the mail box itself. 

 

Yesterday was another of the days I have four challenges. This one was called
“history of my home town”. The one icon I think of when I think of an earlier Columbus is the tower. So for this one I shot the photo from the far westside heading downtown so that a bit of it also shows Rt. 40 which is also a bit of the history of Columbus. 

Life today. Sunday at last.....a day to renew and refresh. Church was a little more lively today. We had some visitors and we had a soloist who sang How Great Thou Art with such purity and feeling it made hearts sing and eyes sting with gladness. Another pleasant surprise was that Sunday School for our children was kept in tact for the summer. It seemed there was going to be a summer hiatus but was rethought. 

I am sticking by my beliefs in Sunday as a day of rest and will keep things to a minimum. I am downloading part of todays Sunday church service and that will be it for today except for this letter and my photos which both to me are a form of reflection and renewal.

My fist upload for today is “favorite time of day”. I have several times of the day that are a “favorite”. One of them is in the late evening when I let Sweet Pea out and I sit to enjoy the evening. The moon is the only thing visible that early in the “night”. 

This is going to be the “busy” week of the month in my life. I have two days of food pantry and the monthly newsletter as well as homemaking chores to keep up to date. Sweet Pea gets her monthly shot brought on by the torn ACL incident this Monday. So my calendar has at least one additional personal obligation noted every day this week.  

The weather the last couple of days has been mostly gorgeous. There was one outburst of sleet coming down in bucket-like force one evening for about five minutes then bright sunshine until dusk. However the next few days, up to a week, are being auspicated as fearsome temperature wise. 

The next upload if “I create...”. I have a few “hobbies”. The most prominent right now is crocheting. This is a hood that I am starting for myself. I am also finishing another project for my great grandchildren. 

The word today is gain. Employ your time in improving yourself by other men's writings, so that you shall gain easily what others have labored hard for. Socrates.  The greater the difficulty the more glory in surmounting it. Skillful pilots gain their reputation from storms and tempests. Epictetus.  Belief is a wise wager. Granted that faith cannot be proved, what harm will come to you if you gamble on its truth and it proves false? If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing. Wager, then, without hesitation, that He exists. Blaise Pascal.  All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent. Edmund Burke,  There are three classes of men; lovers of wisdom, lovers of honor, and lovers of gain. Plato.  She who succeeds in gaining the mastery of the bicycle will gain the mastery of life. Susan B. Anthony.  To appreciate the noble is a gain which can never be torn from us. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.  One of the greatest victories you can gain over someone is to beat him at politeness. Josh Billings.  If God has given you the world's goods in abundance, it is to help you gain those of Heaven and to be a good example of sound teaching to your sons, servants, and relatives. Saint Ignatius.  Everywhere in life, the true question is not what we gain, but what we do. Thomas Carlyle. 

The last upload for today is “butterfly”. I haven’t seen any this season so I tried with a lame attempt at origami for this challenge. Origami is one of the “hobbies” I would like to learn but find my  dyslexia interferes with any progress I think I am making.

Article: Well, I am an animal lover so this one was interesting to me. Maybe it will be of some interest to others as well ......  as it was to the person who wrote it. The title is “When pets are family, the benefits extend into society”. It started out mentioning something I think most people have observed by now.....there is a growing number of people around the globe that “consider pets as part of the family”. Pets allow us to enjoy their companionship as well as “going for walks, playing and even talking to them”. They can be “particularly significant in single-parent families, where a pet can be an important companion to children”. Children develop a higher level of empathy and self-esteem “compared to those who do not have pets”. The article mentioned that thinking of pets as family member’s makes it easier to take care of them. The chores become less stressful “than they are for those who consider pets as property”. Care of the pets shows in studies that “showing that interactions involving pets, especially if we care about them, can have a health-protective effect”. Doctors in Germany and Australia found that visits to their office were 15 percent fewer than in those of non pet owners. According to the article studies show “a decreased risk of coronary artery disease, a reduction in stress levels and increased physical activity (especially through dog walking)”. Other studies show that during a stressful period in ones life blood pressure is lowered. Another shows that both humans and dogs show levels measuring health activities of the body are more beneficial in both the human and the dog. There is a higher survival rate in individuals of older adults, 65 to 85, who have been treated for hypertension. There is a sad side to the partnership of pet and adults. The loss of a pet can cause a “deep grief”. In some it “is common to mourn in a way that is very similar to the feelings and behaviors associated with the loss of a human family member”. The article claims that a “bond” between humans and animals “is not just good for human health, it can also help build community”. The bond can bring about “increased human-human interaction. In most societies there are laws and institutions to “protect companion animals from cruelty and neglect”. There is a side to animal welfare that is numbing to animal enthusiasts. There are some policies for euthanizations that need to be standardized and also some dark use of animals for experimentations and for animal fighting as a sport that need legal attention. I learned in the article that there is an “Underdog Railroad in Toronto, Ontario, rescues dogs and cats from high-kill shelters as well as those offered “free to a good home” online”. There is also an organization that “provides older adults with help to care for their pets as well as rescuing abandoned older dogs”. The article ended with this statement “Recognizing the ways that companion animals enrich human lives, and understanding the depth of the affection between many humans and animals, may be the key to not only better health, but to improving the welfare of society as a whole.”

I don’t know what dinner will be yet.

Joy 

                                 Oops....repair needed