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