July 19, 2025 a thought for today, If man cheats the earth, the earth will cheat man. Chinese Proverb

One of the photo uploads for yesterday was “yellow”. This is one of the flowers from my window gardens. 

The next challenge was “from above”. As I was walking Sweet Pea I saw this wild strawberry and figured I was looking at it “from above”. I decided to add part of my shoe too. 

The last upload for yesterday was “something out of the ordinary to photograph”. This is the cement steps that were under the wooden deck. It did get neatened up after I made the shot. 

Yesterday they started on my back porch. What a mess now....but it will be amazing in a few days and what a relief. 

Life today. Today will be another day on the back porch. I think it will be done today or tomorrow. They put a ramp at the back door so that Sweet Pea could get in an out. She does pretty good going down, now so much coming up. Under the porch/deck there was a set of crumbing cement steps. They are still there and mostly useable. The ramp only takes up half their width so she will do her best (with the weak hips and all) comes up them instead and very slowly and carefully. She and I are getting unplanned exercise with this event. It’s all well worth it, anyway its an adventure....we don’t get many of those in this time in life. 

The first upload for today is “something found”. This penny has been laying on the drive way for a few days. My great grandson found it an picked it up. 

I have my regular Saturday agenda, by that I mean curb side grocery pick up. I moved my car out of the driveway so that I wouldn’t have to ask others to move theirs when I need to leave. 

I also got a start on this letter so I could spend time with the family as they are working in a little while, probably for most of the day. 

It is mid afternoon and the sky is still clear. Hopefully the rain will hold off until the work is done. 

 I missed the funeral but I expected that since this work was being done. 

Next upload is another of the “my choice” and is another of my “minimalist” series. This one is one of the lights in the shopping mall parking lot. 

The word is employ. Employ your time in improving yourself by other men's writings, so that you shall gain easily what others have labored hard for. Socrates.  A youth, when at home, should be filial and, abroad, respectful to his elders.  How good is man's life, the mere living! How fit to employ all the heart and the soul and the senses forever in joy! Robert Browning.  Men use thought only as authority for their injustice, and employ speech only to conceal their thoughts. Voltaire.  Those who gave thee a body, furnished it with weakness; but He who gave thee Soul, armed thee with resolution. Employ it, and thou art wise; be wise and thou art happy. Akhenaton.  So long as the laws remain such as they are today, employ some discretion: loud opinion forces us to do so; but in privacy and silence let us compensate ourselves for that cruel chastity we are obliged to display in public. Marquis de Sade.  God employs several translators; some pieces are translated by age, some by sickness, some by war, some by justice. John Donne.  If a man is proud of his wealth, he should not be praised until it is known how he employs it. Socrates.  Look at the means which a man employs, consider his motives, observe his pleasures. A man simply cannot conceal himself! Confucius.  There are three schoolmasters for everybody that will employ them - the senses, intelligent companions, and books. Henry Ward Beecher.  He only employs his passion who can make no use of his reason. Marcus Tullius Cicero.

The last upload for today is “sundown”. This was taken some time ago and is found in my archives. 

Article: Here’s one of the “off the wall” kinds of article I may have brought here to share. This one is about peoples opinions about vacations. The title is “Why do so many American workers feel guilty about taking the vacation they’ve earned?” Some of the reasons listed are: questioned dedication, bosses looked down on taking time off, people around may think you are not “invested in the job”. It further stated that more that 88 percent of full time workers in the US are paid for time off. This is considered beneficial to “employee morale and well being”. There was a study done in 2024 that showed “that nearly half of American workers don’t take all the vacation days they’ve been allotted”. The article went on to relate many feel that as the vacation time approaches “feelings of doubt and guilt creep in”. The author conducted a study of the vacation question. Her team “interviewed 15 workers who had experienced feelings of guilt over taking time off”. Along with the interviews there was a survey to 860 full-time employees to add to the study. The study showed that “1 in 5 respondents to our survey experienced vacation guilt” and led to people not taking their full offered vacations, or they would take fewer days than allowed.  Some of what was a bit interesting was that the US is the “only advanced economy that doesn’t legally mandate a minimum number of vacation days”. I didn’t realize that only a few states require that workers be paid for unused vacation days. It goes on to say that the law in other “advanced economies” entitles a minimum amount of annual paid leave. In the US in some cases employees “face a “use-it-or-lose-it” situation, meaning unused vacation days don’t roll over from one year to the next”. The article ends by mentioning that employees need to have provided vacation days and a “supportive culture” to encourage the benefits of vacations with worry about negative interactions.

Maybe sloppy joe for dinner. 

Joy

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