October 14, 2024 a thought for today, By learning you will teach, by teaching you will understand. Latin Proverb

An upload for yesterday was “nuts”. I have a couple of kinds of nuts hanging around the house. I use nuts mostly in cooling but my favorite for a snack is cashews. 

The second upload was a challenge “Sudbury smoke stack...”The problem was
since I don’t live in Sudbury and don’t have a trip planned I needed a substitute. As far as I know we don’t have any relative to the height of the one in Sudbury near by. I drove around looking for the tallest in my vicinity. This one is on the elementary school in my neighborhood. There are some of some height on some churches in the area. This one was the easiest one for me to capture.

The last challenge for yesterday was “shapes in nature”. This one is easy to find. Just looking at any and all of natures presentations offer totally unique shapes with depth and character. 

Life today. Yesterday was another good day at church. It was an interesting message. Then we had our monthly fellowship hour. That’s a happy time for catching up and bonding. In a part of our order of worship we have a short period of “passing of the peace”. Some years in the past they occurred as people stayed in the pew and nodded to each other or touched each other nearest to them. As time went by we moved from our pews to walk down the aisle and greet each other. The time spent for this greeting seems to be getting longer almost like an intermission. It does feel so good to be in the presence of church “family”, just being there in the presence is comfortable. Maybe the time for the greeting should be just “PASSING of the peace”. Some folks graciously wait until the end of service to meet in the parking lot or as they leave the sanctuary to “catch up” on things as they leave church. Wow.....I really have become one of those complaining old ladies that I turned my nose up at when I was younger. 

The cleaning lady was supposed to be here today but she had an emergency at home so postponed until tomorrow. Usually when she is here I don’t have complete focus on my computer chores. So today I got some of those out of the way. 

I got the first and largest part of the bulletin done. Tomorrow I will get the rest of the information that I need to finish it. I transplanted some of the mint plants I have started and have been babying. Some weren’t doing as well as I had hoped so I did a little transplanting. Some of the ones that are doing well to the pots where they were not doing so well. I also had time to upload the Sunday School class information from yesterday to Instagram and Facebook. 

My first upload for today is “harvest”. Each Halloween season McDonalds has a collection of bales of  hay and pumpkins with scarecrows. That is the closest we have readily available all season long. 

In the process of the morning activities Sweet Pea and I took a break to go on a photo safari. It was successful. 

Today the temperatures have taken a slight nose dive. The highs will be in the mid fifties today. Which brings to mind one of Sweet Pea’s favorite things to happen on her outings....an open window on her side of the car. It was a bit uncomfortable on our journey today. But I can’t resist the look in her eyes when she glances over at me seemingly asking to open the window as we travel along.

A couple of days ago I missed texting my daughter. Since we have come together again I have enjoyed just a quick reach out and touch. I got busy and realized it was too late in the evening to text. I think I am back in my grove now. I like being in touch with my two kids even for a minute each day. 

The next upload for today is one of a series I will have for the next five days, “faceless portraits”. This one was taken outside of the grocery store. He seemed to be searching for something or for somewhere to put something to carry with him.

The word today is most. Simplicity is the most difficult thing to secure in this world; it is the last limit of experience and the last effort of genius. George Sand.  I am a most noteworthy sinner, but I have cried out to the Lord for grace and mercy, and they have covered me completely. I have found the sweetest consolation since I made it my whole purpose to enjoy His marvellous Presence. Christopher Columbus. Thinking is easy, acting is difficult, and to put one's thoughts into action is the most difficult thing in the world. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.  The highest and most beautiful things in life are not to be heard about, nor read about, nor seen but, if one will, are to be lived. Soren Kierkegaard. Curiosity is one of the most permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous intellect. Samuel Johnson.  He, who every morning plans the transactions of the day, and follows that plan, carries a thread that will guide him through a labyrinth of the most busy life. Victor Hugo.  The oldest, shortest words - 'yes' and 'no' - are those which require the most thought. The most successful war seldom pays for its losses. Thomas Jefferson.  Literature is one of the most interesting and significant expressions of humanity. P. T. Barnum.  Men are rather reasoning than reasonable animals, for the most part governed by the impulse of passion. Alexander Hamilton.  An imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics. Plutarch.  Noble deeds that are concealed are most esteemed. Blaise Pascal.

My last upload for today was “wildlife”. I took this one at th Columbus Zoo sometime ago and saved it in my archives.   

Article: Halloween is approaching so now there are stories about strange things going on around us. Here is one of those stories: “The Chilling Circleville Letter Mystery That Stunned Ohio”. Apparently there was a time when there were “creepy letters, scandal, and a mystery that’s remained unsolved for decades” in the small town of Circleville. In the 1970s something “very crazy” began to happen. “The residents of Circleville were terrorized by a mysterious letter writer”. The first letters were “targeting a school bus driver named Mary Gillispie”. The strange letter writing grew from there. One of the letters accused Mary of having an affair with the superintendent of schools and threatened that she would face dire consequences. The letters were “packed with personal details, suggesting the writer knew intimate facts about Mary’s life”. Then her husband started receiving letter suggesting that he “put an end to Mary’s supposed affair”. The letters carried frightening threats. They went to the police trying to “handle the matter privately”. After that the letters carried more aggressive threats and were posted around town. In 1977 Mary’s husband got a gun and left the house. Soon he was found dead in his car that had been crashed into a tree. The death was ruled an accident but the family “and other people in Circleville weren’t convinced”. Soon more letters continued which caused: suspicion amongst residents”. In 1983 Mary “became the target of a more direct attack”. There was a letter posted along the road that accused “her daughter of being involved in a scandal”. Mary pulled over and took the letter down. As she did this she “noticed a bit of twine going from the sign to a box. Inside the box was a loaded gun, rigged to fire when the sign was pulled”. The trap “malfunctioned”. After that the police got further involved. Their investigation led to Mary’s brother-in-law. People felt that since his life with his wife was “tense” and may have caused him to want to get even with the family. Eventually the police were able to link him to the gun used in the incident. He was sentenced to time in prison for the “attempted murder”. The article says :here’s the kicker: the letters didn’t stop”. People in Circleville “continued to receive the chilling letters, including one letter.....” that the brother-in-law received. So, if the brother-in-law wasn’t sending them who was? The letters stopped in 1994. The author of the letters “knew too many details that only those closely involved could know, from relationships to secret family matters”. This story was featured on Unsolved Mysteries then later on 48 Hours. During the 48 Hour show an investigation for a forensic analyst felt she knew who was responsible but that’s as far as the story goes on that note. The legacy of the “letter writer lingers”. 

Dinner tonight will be one of the dinners I made earlier and froze. I will pick and choose. 

Joy

                               Ornamented