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

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