July 25, 2025 a thought for today, There is many a good man to be found under a shabby hat. Chinese Proverb

One of the uploads for yesterday was “watermelon”. I didn’t have watermelon on hand, I have some cantaloupe. But I have this image in my archives so it graduated to this upload. 

The next upload is “something I bought”. Why not one of my purchases at
McDonalds? This was one I got early before I could get the fish sandwich at 10:30, so it was a sausage sandwich and pie and tea.

The last upload for yesterday is one of the “my choice”. This one is another of my “faceless portraits”. 

Life today. Yesterday was a full day. I started out early to get the printing done. Lowell called last night to say he was coming to work some more on the steps for the deck. I wanted to get done as soon as I could so I could be home to help if I could . In the mean time Lowell had called Andy to come and offer suggestions on the deck as he is not suppose to do any lifting for a while. He came. Later Brian came in time to help clean up. So the deck steps are done. There are a few minor touch ups to be done when the guys have the time. 

Due to the heat we are having I called Dorothy and told her it is probably best to try to work in the church on the newsletters again this month since there is no air conditioning, she agreed. So I brought it home to do here. 

I spent the rest of the day multitasking from chores to watching the work on the deck. Sue was also watching. I asked her that while she was watching if she would put the seals on the newsletter. I took her a folding TV table and the folded letters. She did that for me. I did my family letter/blog, photos, and the laundry and Sweet Peas meals for the week. 

The first upload for today is “father”. He has been in heaven for a long now so this photo is from my archives. It was an oil painting from a photo. I photographed the photo then used another filter over it. 

They finished up with the steps and cleaned up about three o’clock. Now Sweet Pea goes up and down the steps as she always has. 

Today I finished the newsletters. I paid the bills and ordered meds for Sweet Pea. Then we, Sweet Pea and I, left for the post office to drop off the newsletters. As usual while we were out I got some of my photo shots. 

I worked on getting the photos ready for upload and put in some more work on the 2026 calendar. About 1:30 we had a storm pass through. Then the electric went out. Thankfully the laptop battery is fully charged so I am able to finish the letter. I will have to wait for the electric and the wifi to come back on before I can upload everything. 

The next photo is “unexpected color”. I caught this photo as my sister was going out the door. She wanted me to take it from a back view instead of a front view. 

The word today is ever.  No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. Aesop.  Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can. John Wesley.  Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm. Ralph Waldo Emerson.  Nothing great in the world has ever been accomplished without passion. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel.  All theory, dear friend, is gray, but the golden tree of life springs ever green. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.  No man ever got very high by pulling other people down. The intelligent merchant does not knock his competitors. The sensible worker does not knock those who work with him. Don't knock your friends. Don't knock your enemies. Don't knock yourself. Alfred Lord Tennyson.  Oh while I live, to be the ruler of life, not a slave, to meet life as a powerful conqueror, and nothing exterior to me will ever take command of me. Walt Whitman.  Nothing ever becomes real till it is experienced. John Keats.  And what is so rare as a day in June? Then, if ever, come perfect days. James Russell Lowell.  Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must first be overcome. Samuel Johnson.  Truth is ever to be found in simplicity, and not in the multiplicity and confusion of things. Isaac Newton.  The liberties of a people never were, nor ever will be, secure, when the transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them. Patrick Henry.  He that cannot forgive others, breaks the bridge over which he himself must pass if he would ever reach heaven; for everyone has need to be forgiven. George Herbert.  When I was a boy, the priest, my uncle, carefully inculcated upon me this proverb, which I then learned and have ever since kept in my mind: 'Dico tibi verum, Libertas optima rerum; Nunquam servili, sub nexu vivito, fili.' 'I tell you a truth: Liberty is the best of things, my son; never live under any slavish bond.' William Wallace.  

My last upload today is another of the “my choice” and another of my series of “faceless portraits”. 

Article: Some of us are into books and reading is a big part of our time so I thought this article was interesting. The title is “One Columbus Man Read 5,000 Books Over 6 Decades. Here’s What He Left Behind”. The man was Dan Pelzer. He passed away this year at the age of 92. What was discovered then was that from1962 he had been reading and making a “handwritten list of (the titles and dates) every book he read” in from ‘62 until 2025. According to the article there thousands of titles, “all borrowed from the Columbus Metropolitan Library”. Now there is an available list of everything he read during that time. There are 109 pages that include stories from “Cold War thrillers and literary fiction to courtroom dramas and historical epics”. His daughter made his lists about what he had read available to the library. It can be shared with the pubic at what-dan-read.com. In a note to the library his daughter told the library “In an era of algorithm-driven recommendations and digital reading goals, Pelzer’s handwritten archive is a reminder of the quiet joy of following your own literary path—and the power of a public library to shape a life.” She explained that when his children were young he would take them to the downtown library ever Saturday. He enrolled them in the summer reading program every year. He read until he could no longer read. The article mentions that in a “quick scan” of his “archive reveals a mix of popular fiction, history, biographies and more”. The article related that there can be a “quiet joy of following your own literary path—and the power of a public library to shape a life”. It puts me in mind of the Goodreads media platform.

It’s DoorDash night....haven’t picked a place yet. 

Joy

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