September 18, 2024 a thought for today, A questioning man is halfway to being wise. Traditional Proverb

The first challenge photo upload for yesterday was “memory”. Wow, what a subject. One that popped into my head was one of my memories from long, long ago. I remember the sliding boards. This one is a little different than the ones from my memories but I don’t know of any from all that time ago that are still around. These are plexiglass or something of that nature. Ours were metal of some kind. I think there were more and “serious” bumps and a longer distance along the glide from top to bottom.  

The next upload is one of my series of “black and white”. As I was driving thru the shopping mall I saw several closed and abandoned shops. This is one of them. 

The last upload for yesterday was “bubbles”. First I filled a bowl with a dollop of Dawn soap and water. I shot several photos of it but wasn’t satisfied with any of them so I dumped the water in the sink while I tried to think of a better idea. As the water went down the drain I saw the bubbles all around the opening. Some even reflected some color.....great shot.

Life today. Here is another food pantry day as was yesterday. Yesterday was a surprise to all of us. We had about a quarter the number of guests as we have been having. Maybe today will be a catch up day or maybe next week will be busier. 

Before I left, I tried making the ice cream made with ripe bananas. I put it in the freezer so it would be ready for a taste test later. I am anxious to taste it after dinner. 

...I’m back from this days food pantry. We were still not up to the numbers we have had in the past few months but it was up from yesterday.

The first upload for today is one in my series of “black and white”. This is of one of my church’s stained glass windows. I made several shots of some of the other windows and decided on this one for it’s particular and varied shades of grey. This window represents the translations of the bible....Our window shows three men of a translating committee. Following an old artistic tradition, the three represent the three ages of men: young, middle-aged and elderly, meaning that the Bible applies to all men. 

I was going to stop at McDonalds for “lunch”. As I was about to make my turn, I noticed that there was a car heading out in the in space. So I needed to make a quick change in heavy traffic. There is and has been for several months some kind of infrastructure change/maintenance going on in that area of Broad Street. It continues for about a mile or more with traffic and business interruptions. I’m sure in the long run when it is done it will all be worth it (??) At this point it is disrupting two fast food spots, a veterinary office and an auto supply business and more on down the road. 

We are now having chilly mornings and hot afternoons. A week ago I had the furnace on for an hour in the mornings. Now the AC is back on but not “running” all the time. The grass in the yards in this neighborhood is like straw. It would take a lot of rain to bring back the green. 

This upload is “a colourful mural”. My sister and I disagree about graffiti and street art. She doesn’t like any of it. I like some of it....the ones that show true artistic ability. As far as the term in the assignment “mural” I don’t know if that would include street art....I believe it does when the artist has a strong talent. (Def. of street art-a form of artwork that is displayed in public on surrounding buildings, on streets, trains and other publicly viewed surfaces. Def of mural- an artistic painting, illustration or decoration, which is applied to the wall of a building and which is not, or not intended to be, graffiti) 

The word today is note. Love, hope, fear, faith - these make humanity; These are its sign and note and character. Robert Browning.  Forward, as occasion offers. Never look round to see whether any shall note it... Be satisfied with success in even the smallest matter, and think that even such a result is no trifle. Marcus Aurelius.  I can forgive, but I cannot forget, is only another way of saying, I will not forgive. Forgiveness ought to be like a cancelled note - torn in two, and burned up, so that it never can be shown against one. Henry Ward Beecher. Note too that a faithful study of the liberal arts humanizes character and permits it not to be cruel. Ovid.  In every phenomenon the beginning remains always the most notable moment. Thomas Carlyle.  Tones sound, and roar and storm about me until I have set them down in notes. Ludwig van Beethoven.  In different hours, a man represents each of several of his ancestors, as if there were seven or eight of us rolled up in each man's skin, - seven or eight ancestors at least, and they constitute the variety of notes for that new piece of music which his life is. Ralph Waldo Emerson.  Seek not to know who said this or that, but take note of what has been said. Thomas a Kempis.  What is to reach the heart must come from above; if it does not come from thence, it will be nothing but notes, body without spirit. Ludwig van Beethoven.  All of one's life is music, if one touches the notes rightly, and in time. John Ruskin.  When I take up a book I have read before, I know what to expect; the satisfaction is not lessened by being anticipated. I shake hands with, and look our old tried and valued friend in the face,--compare notes and chat the hour away. William Hazlitt. 

My last upload for today is “unexpected”. This could be a difficult one to vision in an image. Maybe it  could be an accident or spillage of some sort or a surprise party. I chose to show an unexpected arrangement of cords and cables. It’s really not expected where there is technical equipment involved. 

Article: I haven’t come to terms with manipulating nature but maybe I need some more study on it. Maybe that is a sign in all instances to give the subject more thought and study. This article is about “Plants getting ....Genetically modified varieties are coming out of the lab and into homes and gardens”. It started out mentioning how many plants have thistles and thorns that would be better received without them. Really? My way of thinking they are there and were “Created” with and for a purpose. The article went on further to relate that “plants and other organisms evolve naturally over time”. That part I am agreement with because nature is taking care of that. Then is mentions the fact that “plant breeders have taken advantage of these variations to create high-yielding crop varieties”. It pointed out that in 1983 golden rice was generated “to combat vitamin A deficiency”. More recently there has been something called “gene editing using a technique known as CRISPR has made it possible to modify plant traits more easily and quickly” which was likened to being “akin to adding or removing a sentence here or there”. (What would ‘adding or removing a sentence” do to our knowledge and understanding?) In using this kind of technique in “eggplants, we got rid of prickles in a desert-adapted wild plant species with edible raisin-like fruits”.  Something similar was used to yield “a rose without thorns”. Another part of this manipulating “what is to what can be”....“permanently transfer genes from one species to another, using recombinant DNA technology to yield what scientists call a transgenic organism”.  They say that people can grow purple tomatoes that have been “genetically engineered to contain pigment-producing genes from the snapdragon plant, resulting in antioxidant-rich tomatoes with a dark purple hue”.  The article mentions how there are “risks and rewards” to these manipulations for example some “unforeseen ecological consequences”and “new or more vigilant consumer protection laws”. I agree that these techniques can be life savers as far as curing diseases and illnesses but other wise I still need some convening. If and when necessary to my life I will expand my knowledge. 

I think dinner will be straight from the freezer. 

Joy  

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