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