March 7, 2025 a thought for today, The way you prepare the bed, so shall you sleep. Yiddish Proverb

My first upload for yesterday was "a moment of gratitude"...gratitude for having this son, this angel unaware, in my life for 62 years. Memories of him daily are a hug to my soul. 

The second upload for yesterday was “friends”. These are some of the friends most active in this part of my life today. 

The last upload was “landscape early morning or evening”. Ohio countryside in the dimming light of the day. 

Life today. Last night’s outreach/worship meeting was productive. We talked about  and caught up on many plans. 

Today there has been pounding on three sides of the house since 8:30, it is now 2:30 and the workers are still going strong after a short break for their sack lunch. There is old siding laying all over the lawn. I think they are waiting for a dumpster to take care of that part. I am leery of leaving my car parked on the street especially over night, hope they are done by then. 

The annual report is at a stand still right now. I am waiting for the last three items and a overview from Patti 

The first upload for today is “rocks”. I have noticed more rocks than I realized were around and prominent as I searched for this challenge. 

I got a Sunday School upload to Instagram. I also uploaded my own blogger information that I had put off from yesterday. 

Sweet Pea got her monthly infection this morning. She doesn’t have much chance to inner act with other dogs which would be difficult for an every day occurrence due to her age. But while we were waiting to check out a the vets today there was a 4 month puppy who wanted to meet with her. She was mildly interested and they returned sniffs. It was good but when the pups energy presented itself Sweet Pea sadly backed off. Now that the workers are here it is hard getting her outside for her many “out in the back yard visits” that she gets daily. I just got back in from walking her around the back yard with her leash on. I don’t know if the men who are doing the work like dogs or not. I am keeping her out of their way while trying to let her enjoy the outdoors now and then. 

The next upload today is “clouds”. This is one of my favorite type of images. My sister like clouds too. She is constantly finding interesting shapes in them. 

The word for today is sweet.  A poet is a nightingale, who sits in darkness and sings to cheer its own solitude with sweet sounds. Percy Bysshe Shelley.  Through Love all that is bitter will be sweet, Through Love all that is copper will be gold, Through Love all dregs will become wine, through Love all pain will turn to medicine. Rumi.  Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow, that I shall say good night till it be morrow. William Shakespeare.  Sweet is the memory of distant friends! Like the mellow rays of the departing sun, it falls tenderly, yet sadly, on the heart. Washington Irving.  How sweet it is to learn the Savior's love when nobody else loves us! When friends flee, what a blessed thing it is to see that the Savior does not forsake us but still keeps us and holds us fast and clings to us and will not let us go! Charles Spurgeon.  The love of learning, the sequestered nooks, And all the sweet serenity of books. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.  That it will never come again is what makes life sweet. Emily Dickinson.  Humility, that low, sweet root, from which all heavenly virtues shoot. Thomas Moore. To me there is no picture so beautiful as smiling, bright-eyed, happy children; no music so sweet as their clear and ringing laughter. P. T. Barnum.  I have an affection for a great city. I feel safe in the neighborhood of man, and enjoy the sweet security of the streets. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.  Journey from the self to the Self and find the mine of gold. Leave behind what is sour and bitter and move toward the sweet. Rumi.  Only the actions of the just, Smell sweet and blossom in their dust. James Shirley.

The last upload is “growth”. This is from my archives. I lost my pussy willow bush when they put in my privacy fence. Don’t need to ask which I think was prettier. 

Article: I hadn’t read this article when I first put it in this letter. I saw that it was about children and their work expeieence in history. I thought I would take a look and share what I found. The title is: “The child boss in ‘Severance’ reveals a devastating truth about work and child-rearing in the 21st century”. I also didn’t know anything about what this show “Severance” was about. In this article the author has used a character from one of the episodes to study and write about this topic. The author felt that it “reveals a devastating truth about the role of work in the 21st century”.  It covered reaction as mentioned here to “childhood studies, I also see historical echoes”. It goes on to say today many believe “childhood as a time of innocence, with kids protected by doting adults”. There was a French historian that believed childhood “simply did not exist in the past”. The historian pointed out that “children were often portrayed as miniature adults”. He further said that many parents “gave siblings the same name, and he explained this phenomenon by suggesting that “devastatingly high child mortality rates prevented parents from investing the sort of love and affection in their children that’s now considered a core component of parenthood”. And that “children didn’t emerge as a focus of unconditional love until the 17th century.” These kinds of feelings led to the I realization that looking at a facts that emerged at the time of the “Industrial Revolution yielded accounts of children working 16-hour days and accorded no special protection because of their tender age and emotional vulnerability”. In the 20th century young children “routinely worked in factories, mines and other dangerous environments”. Since I have never seen the show, ‘Severance’, I have no first hand expeieence about how there is “the presence of a child supervisor in the sterile, oppressive workplace” as is a character in the show. This fictional story “violates” the modern day believe that children should be shielded from the “dog-eat-dog environs of competitive workplaces”. The article relates what the “work-obsessed future holds”, could hold. The article states that it seems today “the ideal childhood – access to play, care and a meaningful education – is increasingly under threat”. The author of this article sees the situation as “an apt metaphor for how market capitalism seeks to separate the slow, patient work required to raise children” in an effort toward “economic efficiency”. It seems there are some government officials in this day and age who believe women should not be overly concerned about having children and spending time raising them. This article didn’t do a lot for me except to give me time to revisit my thoughts on childhood and its value as a bottom line of this thing called life. It’s my personal believe children should be allowed to enjoy that part of their life. It only comes once. It is the time they develop by the experiences of youth to become the person their Maker meant them to be. All they need is honorable and fair-thinking parents and a connection to their peers.  

This is lent with some fish fries events happening. I am getting one of those meals for dinner tonight. 

Joy    

                                           icons in and of Columbus Ohio