December 27, 2024 a thought for today, Let your practice keep step with your knowledge. Chinese Proverb

The first upload for yesterday was “food”. Holidays have a lot of food connected to them. In this photo my sister is fixing a breakfast egg for one of her great granddaughter twins. 

The next upload for yesterday was “peace”. My thinking for this assignment wasn’t particularly leading toward  artistic area of creation but the words have meaning, especially “perfect” peace. 

The last upload for yesterday was “us”. You can probably tell from the positioning of a certain someone that having a photo taken is not the pleasure of the day. 

Life today. It has been a wonderful day. 

I started the day with getting a list done that had been put aside too long. Some of that was sending the gift cards to the kids then transferring my car insurance. Then I place my grocery order for tomorrow’s pick up. By that time it was time to get ready to go to Lowell and Rebecca’s for a holiday celebration with Lowell, Rebecca, Mick, Kim, Jessie, Matt, Lexie, Drew, William, and Benjamin. It was such a joy to see Mick and Matt together in their boyhood home one more time together. It was good to see the kids with such joy in their hearts and smiles on their faces. It was good to see their surprise at the gifts that were under the tree. The meal was ordered-in to each persons request for their favorite from City Barbeque. That way no one had to cook or clean up. My surprise gift was a new office chair, a perfect choice since I spend most of my waking hours in that spot. And Lexie had made me a tiny little wooden statue of Mary.

The first photo upload for today is “fire/flame”. I just realized I only have one “fancy” candle in the house. So I had to us some birthday candles to get the feel I needed. 

Here’s a bit of a downer but nothing to do with the celebration and no where near enough to dampen the day. But still a thing to consider from yesterday. The saga of my car isn’t over after all. The minor check up as a “new” car for me cost over nine hundred dollars. That isn’t the “worst” of it. While the car was sitting on the lot waiting for the check up and minor repairs someone backed another car into the Ford’s driver door. The door has to be replaced. So another delay in my getting the car back. Another delay in transportation to obligations. The mechanic says it is a very good used car with low milage and had been taken care of in all other ways. I will be happy to get it back the day after New Years Eve. 

Now I am going to stop on the letter and revel in this afternoons smiles, happiness and memory maker.

The second photo upload for today is “food”. Another of the holiday favorite parts of the festivities. This was a part of one of our Christmas celebration meals.

The word today is reflect.  Reflect upon your present blessings of which every man has many - not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some. Charles Dickens.  What is the good of experience if you do not reflect? Frederick the Great.  Every friend to the liberty of his country is bound to reflect, and step forward to prevent the dreadful consequences which shall result from a government of events. Henry Knox.  One can not reflect in streaming water. Only those who know internal peace can give it to others. Lao Tzu.  To read without reflecting is like eating without digesting. Edmund Burke.  Nature is the glass reflecting God, as by the sea reflected is the sun, too glorious to be gazed on in his sphere. Brigham Young.  A moral being is one who is capable of reflecting on his past actions and their motives - of approving of some and disapproving of others. Charles Darwin.  Education begins the gentleman, but reading, good company, and reflection must finish him. John Locke. When you meet someone better than yourself, turn your thoughts to becoming his equal. When you meet someone not as good as you are, look within and examine your own self. Confucius. 

My last photo challenge upload for today is “decor”. In this particular season of celebrations decor seems to be everywhere. Duly so since it is the season of Jesus’ birth for all living and non living places on earth. 

Article: I am not always in favor of long stories as this one is but it seemed, from the title, as one to take a look at. The title is “What if you could rank food by ‘healthiness’ as you shopped?” The author mentions how useful it would be and is in some areas of the world to be ale able to in stores that offer “simple, research-backed scores”. It’s called “Nutrient profiling systems, or NPSs”, a system of “clear front-of-package labels that assess food quality based on nutrient content”. Here are some of the offers in France it is a rainbow-colored system grading foods from A to E.  In Australia is it a five-star system rating foods in half-star increments. In the UK nutrient as labeled in green, yellow and red. In the US there is no front-of-package ranking system for food. The author of this article is a gastroenterologist and physician-scientist and is working on making nutrition data “more accessible”. As nutrition is labeled today in the US there are food’s nutrient content, including calories, macronutrients, and key vitamins and minerals. These “values are determined through laboratory analysis and nutrient databases based on standardized serving sizes regulated by the Food and Drug Administration”. The system that the author is talking about “differ in that they combine nutrition information into a single actionable score. This means you don’t have to spend time deciphering Nutrition Facts labels”. One of the goals is to “help people rebalance their diets that have been skewed by food processing, or the degree to which the ingredients have been altered”.  Further in the article it is mentioned that another goal is “empowering smart choices”. Since peoples health issues and choices enter into the equation  it is necessary to keep in mind in labeling process is that “personalized algorithms could help refine these scores for tailored recommendations”. The article related that all in all the “nutrient profiling systems are promising tools to combat rising rates of metabolic disease.” The ending sentence is promising in these endeavors: “Until then, smartphone technologies can offer a practical way to help consumers make smarter choices today.”

We had food from City Barbeque so dinner will be snacks. 

Joy    

the artful views of this image are the lines and textures in and for our surroundings