Friday, August 30, 2024

 August 29, 2024 a thought for today, If you add to the truth, you take something away from it. Jewish Proverb


My first upload for yesterday is "window”. This is another in my neighborhood. It’s amazing to me how little I have paid attention to windows until now. I was thinking there were more ornate windows in the area than I am able to find right now. Live and learn.



The next upload for yesterday is “cheesy”. This is an image of all but one
of the cheeses I had in my house yesterday. I also had a bag of shredded mozzarella. 



My last challenge upload for yesterday is “round”. I was able to have three round object in the image along with the shadows. I don’t know the purpose of these objects but the look “important”. 

Life today. This Thursday was a bit different. The printing went well. Then there was a problem. When I opened the rooms for the group who was meeting there today they discovered that there had been a break in. One of the windows had been knocked in and a free standing air conditioner knocked over. I had noticed that one of the end doors that was supposed to be closed was open. One of the fellows checked it for me and said it was ok. That was before others had entered the room and found the damage. In the mean time I had gone the other way, thinking all was ok to open another door. After I went upstairs one of the men came up to tell me about the damage. So I started to make a couple of calls for help when Patti came in. She handled it from there. 

On the way home I looked for my photos for the day. One of them was to use another camera. Since I have been using my Samsung phone camera almost entirely lately, I got my Sony 100VI out. I found the dial that I needed to adjust one of the settings and been stuck so I had to work with it to fix the problem. It’s working like it should now so I got the photos I needed.

This first challenge for today is “vegetables”. This looks like it would, and it did, make a nice salad. I generally have more vegetables on hand  to photograph than I do fruits. 

After a few other side chores I got the laundry started. Now I need to take another break to take care of some seedlings.  

We are having what I hope will be the last deep heat wave of the season. I feel a little guilty mentioning that because I may be complaining about some really cold temperatures in a couple of months. I think it is a “spice of life” living in Ohio weather. 



The next upload for today is “window”. I think this is my third in this series. The surrounds on each of them are different and give a separate character.

The word today is many. A single sunbeam is enough to drive away many shadows. Francis of Assisi.  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.  Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. Henry David Thoreau.  I have held many things in my hands, and I have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God's hands, that I still possess. Martin Luther. We build too many walls and not enough bridges. Isaac Newton.  The garden of love is green without limit and yields many fruits other than sorrow or joy. Love is beyond either condition: without spring, without autumn, it is always fresh. Rumi. The way to know life is to love many things. Vincent Van Gogh.  Things are not always as they seem; the first appearance deceives many. Phaedrus.  The general who wins the battle makes many calculations in his temple before the battle is fought. The general who loses makes but few calculations beforehand. Sun Tzu. However many holy words you read, however many you speak, what good will they do you if you do not act on upon them? Buddha.  Prosperity is not without many fears and distastes; adversity not without many comforts and hopes. Francis Bacon. 

My last challenge upload for today is “use a different camera”. I have gotten into the habit of using my Samsung 24+ phone camera. For this image I pulled my Sony 100VI  into use. It has been in “semi-retirement” for so long that it needed some attention and adjustments. 

Article: This sounded interesting, a little more history about Columbus.  Actually, it was one of the old photos that was with the article that caught my eye. It was vintage, meaning early history of Columbus. The title: The Secret Waterway That Helped Build Columbus—And Why It Disappeared. Columbus was apparently a bustling canal system back in the 19th century when canals “were all the rage”. There was the “Columbus Feeder Canal, a 12-mile stretch of waterway that played a crucial role in connecting Ohio’s capital to the grand Ohio and Erie Canal”. The article mentioned it as one of the canals that “once flowed with goods, water, and dreams of prosperity”. The canal systems began in the early 1800s when “rough, muddy roads and the absence of railroads” made transporting goods difficult. The formation of the canals created “waterways that connected cities and towns, making trade and travel more efficient”. Construction of the Columbus Feeder Canal began in 1927. The canal connected with the Erie Canal at Lockourne, 11 miles south of Columbus. The canal was completed in September of 1831. Taking a ride on the boat amounted to “leisurely floating down a 40-foot-wide, 4-foot-deep canal, pulled along by horses or mules at a blazing top speed of five miles per hour”. Of course it wasn’t fast but was “cheap” and efficient. Farmers, manufactures and merchants were happy. The article went on to point out that is wasn’t just the moving of products and people it also “provided much-needed water power for mills and factories along its route”. Lockbourne, where the two canals met “became a lively hub”. There were taverns and “bustling trade” in the town. By the 1850s the steam engine came along as “railroads were starting to crisscross the nation” so the life of the canals became less important. Of course trains were faster and more reliable as well as more comfortable especially in year around travel. The article went on to say that the canal went on for a while but by 1904 they were abandoned. The article ended with “It’s a small, but fascinating, chapter in the story of how Ohio—and America—grew and thrived.”

I am making a Mini Chicken Pot Pies with Pillsbury refrigerator biscuits for dinner. 

Joy 

                          queen of the hill (or this porch at least)



Wednesday, August 28, 2024

 August 27, 2024 a thought for today, It is bad luck to fall out of a thirteenth story window on Friday. American Proverb


The first entry from yesterday is “a perfect paring” . For me, one perfect paring is tomato soup and grilled cheese.  




The second upload yesterday was “photographer’s choice”. Here is another of the park that, as you know, I often visit. Although it is touched by some of the “nasties” in this world today it is also a place with peaceful spots guarded by God’s natural gifts. I hate to not take advantage of His gifts for the antics of uneducated and pitiful ignorance of some.



The last upload for yesterday is “ice cream”. This is a Klondike bar. One of my favorites. Sometime I miss the “pushup” bars that were popular in my youth.

Life today. It is not often that I can get the complete bulletin done on Monday, that was the way it happened this week. So today is a day for catch up on little things I have put on the back burner. 

I got phone calls taken care of, an upload for church to Instagram and Facebook. Then took some time to water a few plants. I even had time to order a new book since I am near the end of this one. 

Food pantry was a bit slow today. It was a little different. We have been opening to a large group of people. Then kept busy the full hour and a half with few breaks. Today we had a good number of people, about five under what has been the norm. However, there were long periods of time between each instead of a steady flow. Actually I think that is more stressful than when it is steady. There were no glitches as there can be. Some of the other volunteers could take a few minutes to come in to the check-in/waiting room. This room is cooler than the other rooms so on a hot day like today it is a relief. 

The first upload for today is my first in a series of “windows”. This is one found in my neighborhood. I like not only chose the window itself but its surround of block and their placement and shapes. 

A photo friend of mine has established a photo a day system of her own. I have been admiring her work. I have decided that, with her permission, I am going to use some of her topic choices as my own.  She does one photo subject a week instead of a new one each day. I think in the days that I have been doing the photographer’s choice I will be using the new topics to be each day for a “work day” week for this one of my photo groups. This week I will be using the “assignment/topic” of windows. On my way home I was on the look out for interesting windows. I chose to use the image above as my first.

The next upload for today is “inspirational person”. This is my father holding my sister and me. I’m probably prejudice on the subject but he was/is the wisest man I have ever known. His inspiration to be a good person was and is always with me not only in his teachings but the way he lived his life.

The word today is made. Everything that is made beautiful and fair and lovely is made for the eye of one who sees. Rumi.  Paradise was made for tender hearts; hell, for loveless hearts. Voltaire. There are four questions of value in life, What is sacred? Of what is the spirit made? What is worth living for and what is worth dying for? The answer to each is the same. Only love. Lord Byron.  Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of. Benjamin Franklin.  Such as we are made of, such we be. William Shakespeare.  Trials teach us what we are; they dig up the soil, and let us see what we are made of. Charles Spurgeon.  He who commits injustice is ever made more wretched than he who suffers it. Plato. Life is made up of marble and mud. Nathaniel Hawthorne.  Men are what their mothers made them. Ralph Waldo Emerson.  By a Carpenter mankind was made, and only by that Carpenter can mankind be remade. Desiderius Erasmus.  Life is made of ever so many partings welded together. Charles Dickens. With an eye made quiet by the power of harmony, and the deep power of joy, we see into the life of things. William Wordsworth. Hide not your talents. They for use were made. What's a sundial in the shade? Benjamin Franklin.  The wounds of love can only be healed by the one who made them. Publilius Syrus.  Everyone has been made for some particular work, and the desire for that work has been put in every heart. Rumi.  

The last upload for today is “fruit”. This is one of my favorite, cantaloupe. That along with honeydew are my favorites. 

Article: It’s sad when animals are caught in pieces of thrown out plastic as well as all of the other problems that those deposits cause. The title to the article is “the US has its first national strategy to reduce plastic pollution − here are 3 strong points and a key issue to watch”. The article stated that every person is estimated to “generate” 1.6 pounds of plastic waste daily. There is a movement in the works for 175 nations to form a “binding international treaty on plastic pollution, with a completion target of late 2024". The US contribution approaches “five areas: plastic production, product design, waste generation, waste management and plastic capture and removal”. The author of the article sees three US proposals that are important. He feels that there are to be a standard for measuring microplastics, tiny fragments that appear in the “atmosphere, drinking water sources, wild animals and human food chains”. It goes on to mention that microplastic differ in the effects they cause depending on their size and shape and whether they are found in air, food or water. I learned that all plastics contain chemicals that add strength, softness, color and fire resistance to the plastic structure. It went on to explain that “a subset of these chemicals, including bisphenols and phthalates” add to “adverse health effects. Some  plastics waste have“particularly harmful ingredients or properties, including PVC, polystyrene, polyurethane and polycarbonate, should be classified as hazardous waste”. Only about 5% of US plastic waste is recycled. Nine percent are incinerated and 86 percent are taken to landfills. There are efforts to offer more incentives for production of more “environmentally friendly products and support recycling”. Many laws that have been “adopted” toward producers responsibilities which have led to “recycling rates” increasing. It is predicted that global plastic production will double by 2040. Apparently there are efforts involving several countries “to support stringent provisions in the global plastics treaty” concerning plastic productions. Other efforts in the plastic situation are “steps that would reduce plastic waste generation, such as using resins with more recycled content and increasing recycling rates”. More to the effort is that “there is a “global list of target chemicals to restrict”.

I think it will be something from the freezer for dinner since I will be at pantry today. 

Joy

                                      inside outside



Monday, August 26, 2024

 August 25, 2024 a thought for today, A speck on a jade stone won't obscure its radiance. Chinese Proverb



My first upload for yesterday was “create a framed image”. I chose these trees that seem to frame a part of a local shopping mall. 




The second challenge upload for yesterday was “my favourite dessert”. My
choice for the image is chocolate low carb ice cream with whipped topping on top.



The last upload for yesterday was “polka dot”. These are “almost” polka dots. Since I don’t have any other available I used them. I needed to fill a little bit of a curve into make them a full dot. 

Life today. It appears that Sunday services have become so relaxed that flip flop footwear and Bermuda shorts are the “Sunday go to meetin’ clothes” for some. When I was a teen age girl my Sunday dress attire was white gloves, nylon hose with a back seam, garter belt, hat and heels along with the nicest dress or skirt in the closet. At that time there were crinoline petty coats to gussy up the dress. I know that didn’t make us better Christians but it was the style for church back then. I think the time it took to get ready for church and the choice of clothing was supposed to be a sign of respect. It’s one of the many signs of change in society which seems to allow the young to feel freer and unrestricted in their choices. But then they watch the way their elders live and through example. Oh well, just a sign of the times and the way society evolves.

The first upload for today is “cherries”. My sister happened to have part of a bag of frozen left over  dark sweet cherries. I took advantage of that for this image. 

The Sunday school kids wanted to show me a project they were working on and on their own without instruction before church started. I took some photos of their excitement in the project. I’ll put them in the next newsletter.

I had one heck of a time setting up props for some of the photos today. It was another of those times of observing and learning..... can’t get enough of the learning thing. 

This upload is titled “your interpretation of a soft image”. The subject matter isn’t “soft” but part of the image are soft in focus and aura.

The word today is lose. Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful, for beauty is God's handwriting. Ralph Waldo Emerson.  Don't grieve. Anything you lose comes round in another form. Rumi.  Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset. Saint Francis de Sales.  To dare is to lose one's footing momentarily. Not to dare is to lose oneself. Soren Kierkegaard. The great man is he who does not lose his child's-heart. Mencius. Beware that you do not lose the substance by grasping at the shadow. Aesop. Lose not yourself in a far off time, seize the moment that is thine. Friedrich Schiller.  He who has lost honor can lose nothing more. Publilius Syrus.  Win as if you were used to it, lose as if you enjoyed it for a change. Ralph Waldo Emerson.  Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections. Saint Francis de Sales.  Remember that the good angels do what they can to preserve men from sin and obtain God's honor. But they do not lose courage when men fail. Saint Ignatius.  For everything you have missed, you have gained something else, and for everything you gain, you lose something else. Ralph Waldo Emerson.  

My last upload for today is “a bowl of ....” some Doritos for our taco salad dinner. 

Article: It’s about that time....for the clocks to be reset. Here’s some information about it...daylight saving time. Maybe some we already know, maybe a new tid bit. Columbus clocks get set back in a a couple of months to last for four months and the sun will set an hour earlier. According to the article, “while the winter solstice on Dec. 21 is the shortest day of the year, it doesn't have the earliest sunset because of how the solar day lines up with our Gregorian calendar days”. Daylight savings time started in 1966. Later congress passed the “Emergency Daylight Saving Time and Conservation Act in 1973". The reasons for daylight savings was/is an energy saving plan. Over the years there have been complaints. Parents complained of their children going to school in the dark from the last Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October. So the dates for the time change shifted. In 2022 there was another shift. Another act was passed “the Sunshine Protection Act via unanimous consent, which would keep daylight saving time in effect year-round”. It passed the Senate but not by the House of Representatives. As it turns out, as mentioned in the article about “Who's to blame for daylight saving?” It can be traced back to the ancient Romans. The Roman clock changed with the season. During the summer the “daylight hours” would be 75 minutes long and night hours, 45 minutes. This pattern would reverse in the winter. The plan then was so workers would “labor from sun up to sun down”. Some say Benjamin Franklin “invented modern daylight saving time”. He jokingly mentioned in 1784 that “Parisians wake up earlier to save money on candles, but he did not propose changing the clocks themselves”. In the story of daylight savings then came a person named “George Vernon Hudson, a New Zealand entomologist who proposed changing clocks on the equinoxes to align the working day with daylight in 1895". At first it was not accepted but in 1927 there was a “trial run”. In 2005 some “states and territories could opt out of daylight saving time without federal approval”. According to the article those who did are Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands and most of Arizona.

I am trying something I found in using biscuits other than just biscuits and butter. I am making a tuna pocket for dinner. 

Joy                     looking for lunch



Saturday, August 24, 2024

 August 23, 2024 a thought for today, A bit of fragrance clings to the hand that gives flowers. Chinese Proverb



My first challenge and upload for yesterday was “photographer’s choice”. This is just a tiny portion of the beautiful church that is my home away from home. I couldn’t resist this shot as I was passing through placing the bulletins in the morning. 




The second upload was “food and people. This is part of my family. Eating out is probably one of my treasured pass times. This was taken a few weeks ago.



The last photo upload for yesterday was “hard work”. I don’t know that driving one of these pieces of equipment is hard work but what the piece of equipment must be hard work. 

Life today. The newsletter is done now. I met Dorothy at the church. We finished in good time and had our nice monthly chat to catch up with each others joys and other life’s happenings. I did have a surprise today, a very nice surprise. Lowell showed up before anyone else was there. He had brought me something I needed, then he would be headed in to work. Before he left, he wanted to go into the sanctuary for a visit and a memory trip. It felt good to stand with one of my children together alone in a place of so many memories. It was good to have him by my side in that place and at this time in our lives. He touched the altar, the  baptismal font and other railings like memory and comfort was going from his finger tips to his mind.

Brian is here. He is going to brighten up my basement stairway with a coat of bright white paint. It is another good point for me today. Help in is fixing up a thing in the house that I can’t manage any more. 

My first upload for today is another of the “photographer’s choice”. This path catches my eye every time I come by it. It ponders my thinking toward a path leading to the mystery of a secret garden. It’s far from that but nice to dream...it actually is  beside the curve between the ordering station and the pick up window at a local McDonalds drive thru. 

To top off the nice feeling of the day is that the sun is shining and the air is almost perfect, a little cool but getting warmer. It can stop getting warmer at about seven more degrees. That will be perfect. A perfect way to let summer mosey on her way out a bit more at a time. 

I like to “take it easy” on the Friday after the newsletter is done. It has been a busy week for an old lady. What I am getting at is there is nothing on my agenda except what I want to do that makes me feel good. One of those things will be working with some of my plants. 

This second upload for today is “square”. Have you ever noticed how many square shapes there are around you? I took some shots of the tile on the floor, then glanced up and noticed this light switch cover along with the textures in it surround. 

The word today is long.  Men go abroad to wonder at the heights of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motions of the stars, and they pass by themselves without wondering. Saint Augustine.  A man is what he thinks about all day long. Ralph Waldo Emerson.  As long as you live, keep learning how to live. Lucius Annaeus Seneca.  When from our better selves we have too long been parted by the hurrying world, and droop. Sick of its business, of its pleasures tired, how gracious, how benign is solitude. William Wordsworth.  Time stays long enough for anyone who will use it. Leonardo da Vinci.  A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right. Thomas Paine.  You think dogs will not be in heaven? I tell you, they will be there long before any of us. Robert Louis Stevenson.  Every man desires to live long, but no man wishes to be old. Jonathan Swift.  The rung of a ladder was never meant to rest upon, but only to hold a man's foot long enough to enable him to put the other somewhat higher. Thomas Huxley.  Things of this world are in so constant a flux, that nothing remains long in the same state. John Locke.  Success is sweet and sweeter if long delayed and gotten through many struggles and defeats. Amos Bronson Alcott.  Beware, so long as you live, of judging men by their outward appearance. Jean de La Fontaine.  Every man casts a shadow; not his body only, but his imperfectly mingled spirit. This is his grief. Let him turn which way he will, it falls opposite to the sun; short at noon, long at eve. Did you never see it? Henry David Thoreau. Beware of him that is slow to anger; for when it is long coming, it is the stronger when it comes, and the longer kept. Abused patience turns to fury. Francis Quarles.  Perseverance is a great element of success. If you only knock long enough and loud enough at the gate, you are sure to wake up somebody. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. 

The last photo challenge upload for today is “dinner”. This is one of my favorites. This portion of the  plate is beef and noodles and pork and beans. I like the pork and beans on the mashed potatoes with the beef gravy on top. 

Article: Here’s another view of the human-animal relationships in the coming future. It prompts me to remember, All creatures great and small the Lord God made them all.  We as humans are stewards of the earth and are called by our maker to “avoid wasting life and resources and use the bounty of the Earth”, Deuteronomy 11:12 states the message clearly. The title of the article is a little worrisome but enough to study what may be a way for a nurturing companionship. “As human population grows, people and wildlife will share more living spaces around the world”. This article was written by a professor of wildlife conservation and a  Deqiang Ma Postdoctoral Researcher in Environment and Sustainability. In the opening part of the article they say this will take place by 2070 with the reasoning being that the “main driver of these changes is human population growth”. One of the areas of concern are as people take up residence in forests and farming areas wildlife will “overlap will increase sharply”. Apparently, according to the scientists people moving into cities will also add to the growing phenomenon. Another observance is that animals move mainly due to climate changes. As mentioned earlier due to the human population growth there will be more of an overlap “across most lands”.  In a few areas there will not be a noticeable overlap but in others it will be more prominent. The article relates that Africa will experience the largest overlap, then South America.  Europe may be one area with “the largest proportion of land experiencing decreasing human-wildlife overlap”. The overlap can lead to conflicts and spread of diseases spread between both human and animal. According to the article the overlap can be beneficial also. Just one such instance is that birds help with pest control of farm crops. Not to mentioned that the mental health of humans is improved by animals. The writers for the article have determined that “it is important to manage these interactions in ways that minimize negative impacts and maximize benefits”. I learned from the article that there is a group called Global Biodiversity Framework with a goal adopted in 2022 “as a blueprint for conserving life on Earth and slowing the loss of wild species”. The studies of researchers has underscored the necessity to mange the coexistence of people and wildlife. The article mentioned that there is a need to study what the consequences and benefits might be in the overlap. Studies will help to find locations and corridors that “enable wildlife to move between critical habitats”. It mentions that “rewilding areas” where human population is decreasing or “preserving and enhancing wildlife habitats in places that are becoming more urbanized” must be considered.

Pizza .... tonight I am trying making a pizza using Pillsbury biscuits as the dough.

Joy                                             beyond



Thursday, August 22, 2024

 August 21, 2024 a thought for today, Silence is the answer to many things. Dutch Proverb



One of the challenge uploads for yesterday was “found on the beach”. This was taken some time ago. It is my granddaughter exploring the sand on a California beach. The feeling in her toes and hand and what else might be found there. 




The next upload was “photographer’s choice”. After I shot this and examined it in Photoshop I found that I have other images like it. The thing is they were each taken on a different day. The work is an on going situation.





Another upload for yesterday was “mouth-watering”. This batch of cookies is from a popular sweet shop in our area. They are, in fact, delicious. 



Yesterday was one of the days for a fourth upload. This challenge was titled
“pattern”. There is never two cloud patterns alike.  

Live today. What a day. My trying to get done ahead of due dates didn’t work out quite so well for the time. There are several last minute things to be plugged into partially completed documents. 

This is one of the days I have to make Sweet Peas chicken meat ball treats. She is completely out. I will hear about it, with eye contact, if there are none available tonight.

The first challenge today is “picnic” this was a birthday party picnic. It is always fun to have parties for children in a park or play area. It gives them fun things to do besides cake and ice cream. 

Today is also another day of food pantry. Yesterday we had a goodly number of families to visit. Today we will most likely have about the same. 

I took a break to go to food pantry (after I picked up Sue at the mechanics). We had a lot of visitors today. I think about 35 families. Yesterday was busy but not quite as busy. 

The next upload for today is “crisp”. I like more “cakey” type cookies. But these crisp chocolate chip cookies taste just as good. 

The word today is little.  The little reed, bending to the force of the wind, soon stood upright again when the storm had passed over. Aesop.  To live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else. Emily Dickinson.  If the king loves music, there is little wrong in the land. Mencius.  Mix a little foolishness with your serious plans. It is lovely to be silly at the right moment. Horace.  May we have communion with God in the secret of our hearts, and find Him to be to us as a little sanctuary. Charles Spurgeon. Behold I do not give lectures or a little charity, When I give I give myself. Walt Whitman.  Little children are still the symbol of the eternal marriage between love and duty. George Eliot.  Speak the truth, do not yield to anger; give, if thou art asked for little; by these three steps thou wilt go near the gods. Confucius.  I have great respect for the semicolon; it is a mighty handy little fellow. Abraham Lincoln.  I have a Creator who knew all things, even before they were made - even me, his poor little child. Saint Patrick.  An idea, like a ghost, must be spoken to a little before it will explain itself. Charles Dickens.  Education commences at the mother's knee, and every word spoken within hearsay of little children tends toward the formation of character. Hosea Ballou. Wealth stays with us a little moment if at all: only our characters are steadfast, not our gold. Euripides.  He who obtains has little. He who scatters has much. Lao Tzu.  Stand a little less between me and the sun. Diogenes. 

The last challenge upload for today is another of the “photographer’s choice”. It is also another shot taken of one of the flower in a garden at the park. They are beginning to fade now. However, there are some autumn blooms beginning to show. 

Article: I don’t always know what I am getting into when I glance at titles of the articles. This one sounded like something I don’t know about or remember from school. So I am sharing as I am learning. The title: How Jefferson and Madison’s partnership – a friendship told in letters – shaped America’s separation of church and state”. According to the article 73 percent of adults agree that religion should be kept separate from government policies. On the other hand there are those who are against it and according to the article that number appears to be growing. I was surprised to see that one government member in 2023 said that  “The separation of church and state is a misnomer … it comes from a phrase that was in a letter that [Thomas] Jefferson wrote”. What he meant was that “they did not want the government to encroach upon the church — not that they didn’t want principles of faith to have influence on our public life”. Thomas Jefferson and James Madison shaped American views on the this topic. Jefferson wrote the “Virginia Bill for Religious Freedom in 1777, the most comprehensive declaration of religious freedom at the time”. It meant “religious opinions were outside the authority of civil officials”. Several years later Madison wrote “Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments”. This was to propose a protest “to support Christian teachers with tax money, affirmed the values of church-state separation and religious equality”. At some point “the religious right grew into a political force”. In the article it was mentioned that both Jefferson and Madison believed in a supreme begin but “thought science and reason were the best paths to understanding religion”. They were in “social standing and affiliation with the Anglican Church” and worked “to advance religious freedom”. Further in the article “both were convinced that government should avoid supporting religion, even if no particular religion was given preference” and “insisted that people should have broad religious freedoms”. Jefferson and Madison both believed that it was “entwined” with freedom of “inquiry and conscience”. They both also believed that separation of church and state is key to ensuring those freedoms”. By the way, they each held a “close intellectual and emotional affection” for each other

Maybe hot dogs for dinner. 

Joy

                           nature or purpose





Tuesday, August 20, 2024

 August 19, 2024 a thought for today, Don't trudge mud into the house of love. English Proverb



One of the uploads for yesterday was “golden hour”. I wanted to get the shot so that I didn’t need to get one from the archives. So I checked the time that for sundown and set my alarm to remind me one hour before that to take the challenge photo. This is what the golden hour looked like yesterday. Rain was moving in. 




The next challenge for yesterday was “on the floor”. This is one of Sweet Peas ‘pals’, angry bird. We  have two.  This one was closest to the camera. 




My last challenge for yesterday was “a stack”. I did a stack of books for another assignment like this so I decided to use the dishes this time. 

Life today. It is another productive Monday. I have the bulletin almost done. I still need information from Mike to finish it. I also got a Sunday School upload created and uploaded for Instagram and Facebook. In between all of that I took Sweet Pea for her monthly shot. It was probably my imagination but I don’t think she was as nervous this month as she has been in the past couple. 

Once I got home there were a couple of calls I had to make to straighten out questions about meds for both myself and Sweet Pea. 

My first upload for today is “photographer’s choice”. This is a line of trees in part of  the back of a closed shopping mall. It reminds me of a European style alley (a narrow passage between buildings or other structures).

While I was out I went in search for my photo challenges for today. I think I got what I needed. I have already had them in the “darkroom”. They are ready for upload. 

I think we are experiencing just the beginning of a slow change to our next season one of the four we have each year. They are kind of intriguing. There’s a gentle feel of going from one natural ambiance to another...from an old to a new.....a goodby and a hello. We are moving from summer into autumn. From the “good ol’ summer time” to golden leaves and harvest time. God made them this way, a gift of wonder. 

The next upload for today is “world photography day..your choice”. I saw this scooter sitting by an abandoned building. There was no one around and no parked cars....hard telling how long it had been there.

The word today is little. To be really great in little things, to be truly noble and heroic in the insipid details of everyday life, is a virtue so rare as to be worthy of canonization. Harriet Beecher Stowe.  Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking. Marcus Aurelius. Just living is not enough... one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower. Hans Christian Andersen.  That best portion of a man's life, his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and love. William Wordsworth.  The greatest wealth is to live content with little. Plato.  True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us. Socrates.  Beware of little expenses. A small leak will sink a great ship. Benjamin Franklin.  Good character is not formed in a week or a month. It is created little by little, day by day. Protracted and patient effort is needed to develop good character. Heraclitus.  The art of life is to know how to enjoy a little and to endure very much. William Hazlitt.  How far that little candle throws its beams! So shines a good deed in a naughty world. William Shakespeare.  Every day we should hear at least one little song, read one good poem, see one exquisite picture, and, if possible, speak a few sensible words. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.  A great man is always willing to be little. Ralph Waldo Emerson.  So many worlds, so much to do, so little done, such things to be. Alfred Lord Tennyson.  The essence of philosophy is that a man should so live that his happiness shall depend as little as possible on external things. Epictetus.  Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire, called conscience. George Washington.  He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that. John Stuart Mill.  

The last photo challenge upload for today is “ingredients”. I have a whole pantry full of “ingredients”.  This is just a few. Since I don’t cook much any more I could and probably should clean out the pantry. There are some outdated things especially spices. 

Article: Since heat seems to be a topic for this summer I thought this article was particularly interesting. The article is about how “Ancient Rome had ways to counter the urban heat island effect – how history’s lessons apply to cities today”. It talks about how many cities in the time in history have learned how to “heat themselves up and cool themselves”. It was interesting for me to read how cities in ancient Roam did it. One way mentioned in the article was in “narrowing streets to lessen late afternoon temperatures”.  This method allowed for “limiting the area exposed to direct sunlight”. Another thing they did to make things cooler when the temperatures were high was to whitewash architecture so that the heat of the sun was reflected. Thomas Jefferson proposed that “all new settlements employ a checkerboard pattern of heavily vegetated city blocks interspersed among dense construction”. It was supposed to allow air movement between “cool and warm zones”. The article mentioned that modern cities “unintentionally”allow for elevating their own temperatures creating “urban heat island effect.” Again according to the article, tree canopies disappear then construction “amplifies the heat. Asphalt and concrete along with dark roofs absorbs the heat witch heats the areas around them. “Waste heat is emitted” from tailpipes, air conditioners and other industrial processes. The article goes on to say the cities need to reduce “greenhouse” emissions coming from “industries, vehicles and buildings”. It would/will take “decades to measurably slow warming trends”. The health benefits from reducing the heat would be “expanded”. Some of the ways to do this is tree cover and “green infrastructure and using cool materials for roads and roofs”. Just creating tree canopies “could lower summer afternoon temperatures by 5-10 F (2.8-5.6 C), reducing heat-related deaths by 40%-50% in some neighborhoods”. I learned from the article that “New York City set and met a goal of planting 1 million trees across its five boroughs”.  In 2013 Los Angeles “became the first major city to require cool roofs on all new homes”. 

I think we will have chili for dinner. 

Joy

                  a small guy enjoying the park




Sunday, August 18, 2024

 August 17, 2024 a thought for today, Craft must have clothes, but truth loves to go naked. English Proverb



The first upload for yesterday was “photographer’s choice”. This is another flower at the metro park down the street. I put is a digitally generated background created from another photo. 




The next upload was “blue”. I was looking for whatever I could find that was blue on my way home. This one seemed to fit the challenge.




The last upload for yesterday was “freshly baked”. I had a roll of Pillsbury biscuits and decided to make my second batch of donuts in the air fryer. They turned out so good the first time. 

Life today. I knew my vision was changing, I found out why yesterday. I have known for a long time that I have a condition that is not rare at all, dry eye. I had my annual eye exam yesterday where I got a bit of a surprise. My “bad” eye, the one that had the retinal detachment is fine. But the other, “good” eye is having a problem.  There was the whole series of tests before meeting the doctor. Then when it came to the on-the-wall letters twenty plus feet away was the surprise. The letters were all, even the top row, fuzzy. We couldn’t finish the part leading to a change in prescription. My dry eye has become more serious.  However, the internal parts of both eyes are healthy. So now there is a series of eye drops for two weeks before another exam. The doctor called in the prescription I need so on the way home I stopped to pick it up.

My first upload challenge for today is “day”. This was taken at the metro park when I stopped by on my way home.  

When I got to Kroger Pharmacy, they did not have the medicine I need. There would be a wait til tomorrow. But another store further out had it on hand. I made that trip and was pleasantly surprised that it was ready when I got to the counter. 

One of the daily photo challenges today that has given me pause for thought. I have to show an image that shows long exposure. After some research and practice I found that my new Samsung phone had a feature on it that helps with that kind of capture. I am excited with the new feature along with a couple of others I will be researching.

Today is grocery curbside pick up. Sweet Pea seems to sense that and is waiting for me to pay attention to the time. She is ready.

We’re back....now it’s time to put the groceries up. Then work on photos and house plants. That will be my Saturday for this week (well there is dinner to prepare and clean up).

The next upload was taken minutes before and a section in the next block of the one above. It is “favourite long exposure”. I mentioned the technique above and that I was learning to use it on my new cell phone. I want to practice with it some more.

The word today is like.  Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them - that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like. Lao Tzu.  I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me. Isaac Newton. True love is eternal, infinite, and always like itself. It is equal and pure, without violent demonstrations: it is seen with white hairs and is always young in the heart. Honore de Balzac.  I don't like that man. I must get to know him better. Abraham Lincoln.  In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. Thomas Jefferson.  I have learned that to be with those I like is enough. Walt Whitman.  Listen! Clam up your mouth and be silent like an oyster shell, for that tongue of yours is the enemy of the soul, my friend. When the lips are silent, the heart has a hundred tongues. Rumi.  Life's like a play: it's not the length, but the excellence of the acting that matters. Lucius Annaeus Seneca.  Like all great travellers, I have seen more than I remember, and remember more than I have seen. Benjamin Disraeli.  Tears of joy are like the summer rain drops pierced by sunbeams. Hosea Ballou.  I am like the sick sheep that strays from the rest of the flock. Unless the Good Shepherd takes me on His shoulders and carries me back to His fold, my steps will falter, and in the very effort of rising, my feet will give way. St. Jerome.

The last upload for today is “food in motion”. I decided to make myself a milkshake in my Ninja blender for this one. 

Article. I like that word....think.... it goes well with common sense. Both lead to the way that is our gift to learn. The bible one good place it is meant to work. The article is about something eye catching on a farm in Licking County. For more than twenty years there has been a sign in large black letters that spell ‘THINK’ position next to an American flag on a silo in a farm yard . It has been an object that has caused curiosity and amusement by people who have passed by. Drivers have stopped and asked about the sign. It helps to “stoke people’s intrigue.” One of the visitors was a man who was a veteran.  He stopped by to offer a flag to the owners. He said he would like his flag hanging there. When the farmer placed the sign on his silo, he hoped his daughters would be reminded “to think through any decisions before acting”. In the beginning it seemed to have meant for them to think about what they were doing around the farm so they wouldn’t get hurt. It grew to “You just need to use your head, regardless of whether you're farming or anything”. When the daughters messed up he  said they “had to think about how to fix it”. He wanted them to “use their heads”. As he was thinking where to put the sign he decided on the silo next to the flag. There was no “political” to it. Though it could “also mean think about your country and how fortunate we are to live where we do.” 

I think we are having hamburgers for dinner. 

Joy

                                    peace