May 26, 2025, a thought for today, There are no secrets or mysteries, there is only common sense. Native American  Onondaga Proverb

My first photo challenge for yesterday was “calm”. I couldn’t think of much that could be more calm than nature. The closest I had for this image of quiet, trees, greenery and its calm was the park. 

The second challenge for yesterday was “peas”. The only ones we had handy in the house were the frozen verity. 

The last upload for yesterday was “underneath”. This is one of Sweet Pea’s napping spots. It is close to me as I work on the computer and a hidey-hole from disturbances. 

Life today. We have been looking for a piano player for our church services. The one we have had most recently was a music major at Otterbein University.  He just graduated and is moving on. On Wednesday at our Food Pantry one of our visitors asked if she could play the piano that sits in our check-in room. Of course we said yes. The sound was, to me, angelic. She was playing by ear. We asked her if she could read music. She said yes. We showed her one of our hymnals and asked if she could play from that. She said yes.  We asked if she would like to play for us. She said yes. We were excited. We passed her name and number on to our personnel committee. We found out yesterday they have an appointment with her this week. It seems we have Someone looking out for us and for her as well. 

The message yesterday at church was another that was about as near perfect as one could be. Only one thing bothered me some. The three hymns he had chosen were a near seamless fit to the message. One more than the others. The sermon was titled “When God Made the Wind and Waves”. The final hymn was called “Lonely the Boat” by Helen Kim. The problem for me was that we were told at the last minute we were singing only the first two versus. I read the other three. The words of the third and fifth verses fit the message like a glove. Most of the hymns chosen for our services don’t often totally fit the message that they were chosen to accompany. This one did. The man who gave this message seems to know how to pick them to fit like falling into place, extending the message with our accompaniment. To bad it was cut short.

The first upload for today is “in my hand”. That isn’t my hand so it is in ‘her’ hand. It is a chocolate cookie with chocolate chips. The hand belongs to one of our twins.

I had another uplifting surprise yesterday. One of my granddaughter-in-laws dropped by for a quick visit. She lives out of state so I don’t see her very often, maybe twice, if that, in a year.

I have gotten a lot of little things done today. One, of course, was the bulletin, part of it. I also got Sunday School information uploaded to Instagram and Facebook. I got Sweet Pea’s meat mixture cooked, some dishes in the sink cleared away and three of my “senior” gardens tended to. The hydroponic garden needs refreshed once every two week. The window gardens need water and tidied as needed. 

The weather is and has been for a couple of days on the chilly side. This years weather has been strange both the past winter and this early spring. It’s interesting, educational and a wonder. 

The next upload at “my choice”. It is another of my series of “partials” showing only part of the street corner.

The word is authority.  Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence. Leonardo da Vinci.  Truth is the daughter of time, not of authority. Francis Bacon.  It is not wisdom but Authority that makes a law. Thomas Hobbes.  Because power corrupts, society's demands for moral authority and character increase as the importance of the position increases. John Adams. Leave no authority existing not responsible to the people. Thomas Jefferson.  The faith that stands on authority is not faith. Ralph Waldo Emerson.  No man is to be credited for his mere authority's sake, unless he can show Scripture for the maintenance of his opinion. John Wycliffe.  The man whose authority is recent is always stern. Aeschylus.  The being cannot be termed rational or virtuous, who obeys any authority, but that of reason. Mary Wollstonecraft.  I was bold in the pursuit of knowledge, never fearing to follow truth and reason to whatever results they led, and bearding every authority which stood in their way. Thomas Jefferson.  

The last challenge upload was “funny”. This is my sister as she was about to sneeze as Sweet Pea is watching and waiting to see (why the tissue) and when. 

Article: It’s interesting to learn about people that come from our state who have made a name for themselves. Here’s one about Annie Oakley. The title, “How Ohio’s Own Annie Oakley Became America’s First Female Superstar”. It opened with saying that she was “a pint-sized powerhouse with a gun, whose aim was as sharp as her wit”. She was born in 1860 in Darke County Ohio. It also mentioned that she “learned to shoot out of necessity”. Her story is that she had to help support her “impoverished” family “by hunting game for the local grocer”. She eventually “transitioned from survival shooting to showbiz”. She began earning an income with her “prowess” in shooting.  Soon she participated in a shooting match against a “traveling-show marksman Frank E. Butler, whom she later married”. Together they joined Buffalo Bill in his Wild West shows. As part of her act she shot apples off her dog’s head. She put out lit candles with a bullet. She could split a playing card “edge-on”, as it was falling to the ground she shot a hole in the card. She used a .22 rifle at 90 feet. With Buffalo Bill’s show she traveled the world. Not only was she a sharp shooter with her accomplishments she “empowered” women. Her success inspired books, movies and “even a Broadway musical”. There is now an Annie Oakley Festival in Greenville, Ohio.

May be sloppy joe or taco salad for dinner. 

Joy

                                            symbol of farm life