September 22, 2024 a thought for today, A man stands taller when he stoops for a child. Traditional Proverb

An upload for yesterday was “play time”. I reached for this one. The younger generations aren’t around here much any more so I went to the archives. This is an image of the twins on the side at the local park. 

The next upload is “country road with fall leaves”. There is a story about this one. I don’t like using too much touch up on photos as a rule. That is why I am hesitant about AI. Here’s the story, I am a city girl, no country roads close by. There is, however, a “lane” behind the shopping mall that is lined with some trees and no curb. With Sue and Sweet Pea I headed for that site to get the photo. We almost got there when I spied six fire trucks with hoses operating. I believe it was a training day due to the drought effects on the grass. Anyway, I couldn’t get close for the shot. This one is my street. The only Photoshop I used was taking out four cars and covering the curb with leaves under the curb.

The last upload for yesterday was “dirty”. I could have made a shot of the cracked earth under some dried patches of grass. Instead I used one of my great grandsons as he was enjoying his “smash cake”. That requires no clothes except for a diaper and a shower as quick as possible.  

Life today. Yesterday we had a surprise visit from Tami and Andy. It was great to see Andy up and about after his back surgery. 

I also had a phone call from Lowell later in the day. That made a perfect day for me, hearing from both of my kids. 

It’s been a pretty typical Sunday. Church was nice. We were having a “return to church” Sunday. There was an invitation out for some who haven’t been here for a while, maybe do to moving or other events, to come for a visit today. We had a special fellowship time to honor the event. The results could have been a little better but the fellowship was comfortable and a spiritual “hug”. 

The first photo challenge upload for today is “something you enjoy doing or seeing (other that photography)”. For me it is my collection of my house plants.  

I had most of my photo shots for the day before I left for church and the letter was started ahead of my leaving also. When I got home, I visited the darkroom (Photoshop) then finished the letter. That will be the todo list for today. 

The weather is wonderful. There is a decent temperature of about 82 degrees. There is still no rain on the horizon but soon maybe. 

Tomorrow is Sweet Peas annual check up with blood work, vaccinations and refills on medications. It should be on the costly side of the finances. But she’s family and her health is good for her age, we want to keep it that way. 

The second photo a day upload for today is “autumn”. What better than fallen leaves for that challenge. 

The word today is majority. A man with God is always in the majority. John Knox.  It is unnatural for a majority to rule, for a majority can seldom be organized and united for specific action, and a minority can. Jean-Jacques Rousseau.  If you are cast in a different mould to the majority, it is no merit of yours: Nature did it. Charlotte Bronte.  In a democracy the poor will have more power than the rich, because there are more of them, and the will of the majority is supreme. Aristotle.  In a republic this rule ought to be observed: that the majority should not have the predominant power. Marcus Tullius Cicero.  Neither current events nor history show that the majority rule, or ever did rule. Jefferson Davis.  One is a majority if he is right. Abraham Lincoln.  Shall we then judge a country by the majority, or by the minority? By the minority, surely. Ralph Waldo Emerson.  Though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will, to be rightful, must be reasonable. Thomas Jefferson.  A minority is powerless while it conforms to the majority. Henry David Thoreau.  A man in the right, with God on his side, is in the majority, though he be alone, for God is multitudinous above all populations of the earth. Henry Ward Beecher.  History shows that the majority of people that have done anything great have passed their youth in seclusion. Thomas Carlyle.  Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people. Giordano Bruno. It does not take a majority to prevail... but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men. Samuel Adams. 

The last upload for today is “a national flag”. There are several here. Sue has a wreath on the front entry door with eight flags mounted in it. These is also my neighbor’s flag a couple of houses away.  

Article: Weather has been a top of the list of discussions for most of this summer. Here is one side of the story for this area of the country. I try not to second guess the creator of nature. Could there be a message in this season? The article title is “Now there’s nothing’, Drought is one of the worst in state history”. At the beginning of the article a farmer’s wife was interviewed, she says that on the 60-acre property their trees in the past “have produced so much fruit that they were “literally giving bushels of apples away to people last year.” Now th applies are “shriveling on the tree”. There is also a 17-acre wetland on the property. She says it was used to “filter for runoff from conventional farms on three sides, has been dry for about a month”. The article went on to mention that Columbus “released” water from one of the reservoirs in September. One of the affected farmers reported that he had used an “off stream storage” that helped for a while. There has been “ongoing partnerships with Columbus to share some of the municipal backup water supplies”. There was “a burn ban (issued on) Sept. 6 for much of southeastern Ohio”. According to the article that a “demand is expected to decrease as fall begins and people stop watering lawns regularly”. Some “water that is getting released from the off-stream storage reservoirs”. Some of the interviewed say that if “we get a wet winter and a wet spring, and everything fills back up.” There is a long term plan for “boosting water supply for a growing population and increasing the resiliency of the systems”. Also there are plans to have “two more off-stream reservoirs will be built nearby within the next decade”. Further in the article it is mentioned that “the state is also expected to be hotter....... we can expect future droughts to also be more extreme”. My own question is would more trees help in some way, hold moisture in or shade to cut down on heat?

Hamburgers and cheesy potatoes for dinner. 

Joy

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