May 6, 2025 a thought for the day, In this world the unseen has power. Native American Apache Proverb

My first upload for yesterday was “pink”. I was in a store early in the day and this scarf on display. It met the pink challenge I needed do I generated the image and uploaded it. 

The next upload is “my choice”, one of my series of minimalistic images. The fire hydrant is nearly completely hidden in the tall grass.

Next upload was “a snack”, one of my favorite, white cheese crackers and a glass of iced tea. 

This is one of the days of the month that I have a fourth challenge for a photo a the day. This one is “mauve or other purple”. This is another of the images I saw in the store. 

Life today. Yesterday was another catch-up day working on back burner projects after a trip to Kroger for meds. I got just the calendar portion of the bulletin done. I have two relatively quiet days to get it finished. A big part of the morning was spent on uploading the Sunday photos and blog. I had put them aside to enjoy my day at the art gallery. 

Today I worked some more on the bulletin and daily photos. Both days have, as did Sunday, rain off and on during the day. I hope we will have some nice sunshiny days in a row of the soft and gentle spring days before we get the hot summer days. 

The first upload for today is “macro”. This is from the archives. It is one of my Christmas cacti. I don’t
have any blooming right now. As I was going through the archives I found this one and decided to share it. 

I may have mentioned before that our street has been “skimmed”, I think that is what one of the workers called it. It has taken the top layer of paving off the street leaving ledges where paving meets lawns and driveways. The “manhole covers” are exposed about six inches above what is left of the street. There will be more work on them and the sewer systems along the way for the next fourteen days. It’s difficult and uncomfortable driving in and out of the neighborhood not to mention possible damage to cars and parking situations.  

I want to put up a window box outside the window in my room but I want Lowell to look at the way I may have to mount it to see if that will work without any damaging. I ordered it and received it a couple of days ago. I hope to get the late spring and summer plants in while there is time for some blooming.

The next upload today “my choice”, another of my minimalistic images. This whirligig landed on my driveway on its way from a neighbors tree after the last heavy rain storm. 

The word is act.  Quality is not an act, it is a habit. Aristotle.  Every charitable act is a stepping stone toward heaven. Henry Ward Beecher.  Beauty awakens the soul to act. Dante Alighieri.  Whenever you do a thing, act as if all the world were watching. Thomas Jefferson.  Honor and shame from no condition rise. Act well your part: there all the honor lies. Alexander Pope.  However many holy words you read, however many you speak, what good will they do you if you do not act on upon them? Buddha.  The sage does not hoard. The more he helps others, the more he benefits himself, The more he gives to others, the more he gets himself. The Way of Heaven does one good but never does one harm. The Way of the sage is to act but not to compete. Lao Tzu.  Do every act of your life as if it were your last. Marcus Aurelius.  Act, and God will act. Joan of Arc.  The principal act of courage is to endure and withstand dangers doggedly rather than to attack them. Thomas Aquinas.  Old age: the crown of life, our play's last act. Marcus Tullius Cicero.  The instant formal government is abolished, society begins to act. A general association takes place, and common interest produces common security. Thomas Paine.  It is well to think well; it is divine to act well. Horace Mann.  The foolish are like ripples on water, For whatsoever they do is quickly effaced; But the righteous are like carvings upon stone, For their smallest act is durable. Horace.  Every good act is charity. A man's true wealth hereafter is the good that he does in this world to his fellows. Moliere.  Debauchery is perhaps an act of despair in the face of infinity. Edmond de Goncourt.  Education is the power to think clearly, the power to act well in the worlds work, and the power to appreciate life. Brigham Young.  All the goodness I have within me is totally from the Lord alone. When I sin, it is from me and is done on my own, but when I act righteously, it is wholly and completely of God. Charles Spurgeon. 

This is the last upload challenge for today “sky”. This was taken on a road trip along the Ohio countryside. The clouds seemed on a showy display along the way. 

Article: I wouldn’t have considered this as a possibility on my own but it makes sense.  Besides that I noticed that the writer of the article is a professor of special education which has a particularly special memory for me. My son could not read cursive writing. I decided to examine it further by reading this article. Though I don’t have small children around daily any more, this knowledge may show itself as useful in other-like situations. Increasing a knowledge base with new learning experiences and research never hurts. The title is “Can learning cursive help kids read better? Some policymakers think it’s worth a try”. The author is a professor of special education, something I am familiar with. She tells about a boy who got a birthday card from his grandmother but he couldn’t read it because it was written in cursive. She also pointed out that the practice of cursive handwriting is “making a comeback of sorts for K-8 students in the United States”. There is a kind of study to determine how and why to “improve cursive handwriting instruction”. In studies it has been looked at how learning and using cursive “affects the development of reading and writing skills”. The teaching of cursive faded out in the US over a decade ago especially in elementary grades. It was mentioned that teachers said they had “trouble finding enough time in the school day to teach all the expected writing skills”. One thing that interested me most about this article was that the cursive handwriting improves literacy performances in K-12 students. Further research “suggests” that there are other “benefits” to cursive writing such as to “improve spelling accuracy and storytelling ability”. It goes further to suggest that there can be an improvement in motor skills as well as help in “deep reading knowledge and requires the coordination of multiple cognitive and physical processes”. As the learning process move on the students need to observe “multiple aspects of each letter”. The shape, name and sound of the letter becomes a part of the learning process. The total process requires the use of motor and visual systems to write the letter and the entire word. In using the word “motor” movements it is in reference to how the use of the body and arm movement are adjusted in the writing process.  Another part of the body that is affected in writing is “visual-motor coordination”. The article goes on with benefits of cursive handwriting added to reading skills that can lead to communing. Here’s one that I wouldn’t have thought of “cursive is needed to read important historical documents, such as the Declaration of Independence”. The author even mentioned the digital age and the use of touch-screen tablets that come with an electronic pencil (as mine dose). 

Quick and easy spaghetti (spaghetti noodles, tomato sauce with Italian seasoning added and Parmesan cheese) for dinner. 

Joy

a few years ago I generated this image of the window with Venetian blinds (on the left) to this abstract  (below) of shapes, patterns and colors using a filter and a set of its adjusted algorithms.