December 10, 2025 a thought for today, The older one grows, the more one learns. Dutch Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday

My first upload was “sparkle.” In this shot of our Christmas this year the lighting came out as a “bokeh” affect so I decided to use at as the sparkle in the house.

Next was “bare but beautiful scene.” This tree has shed it’s greenery but still has
beautiful shape and texture, character and history. 

The last upload for yesterday was “peace”. This is an image from my archives. I took it when my sister and I were in one of the memory kinds of times with each other. 

Live today. I mixed up the person who was preaching this week when I completed the bulletin yesterday. This is another of the reasons I like to do the bulletins early in the week. It gives me a chance to double check everything and make any kind of adjustment that needs to be done before printing. Today I was able to adjust the finished bulletin. It was fairly easy because a big part of it was already done. After I finished that I got the envelopes ready for mailing and the weekly activity sheets done for my great grand children. 

We had some rain last night that washed way most of what was left of the snow. The temperature  came to a more comfortable number. However, I am concern ed that it will freeze leaving sheets of ice. The near freezing temperatures are still in the forecast with a tiny break here and there as well as snow showers now and then. 

Today was a food pantry day. Yesterday we had a fairly normal number of families served but today was very slow.  

It seems with this being an important holiday month there are more things to be done both in my church obligations as well as getting things ready for family visits in the next few weeks. This means more of a daily push on getting things on a to-do list done adding more of a pinch not to have carry overs to the next day. This affects my photo upload selections.  I seem to be having to visit my archives to fit the challenges each day. I feel most comfortable taking that “assigned” photos on the day they are due. Today is no exception. An even portion of the four are from the archives. 

The word today is once.  The class of citizens who provide at once their own food and their own raiment, may be viewed as the most truly independent and happy. James Madison.  It is not once nor twice but times without number that the same ideas make their appearance in the world. Aristotle.  As long as a word remains unspoken, you are its master; once you utter it, you are its slave. Solomon Ibn Gabirol.  Language is the armory of the human mind, and at once contains the trophies of its past and the weapons of its future conquests. Samuel Taylor Coleridge.  Analysis kills spontaneity. The grain once ground into flour springs and germinates no more. Henri Frederic Amiel.  No star is ever lost we once have seen, we always may be what we might have been. Adelaide Anne Procter.  Knowledge once gained casts a light beyond its own immediate boundaries. John Tyndall.  There is a serious defect in the thinking of someone who wants - more than anything else - to become rich. As long as they don't have the money, it'll seem like a worthwhile goal. Once they do, they'll understand how important other things are - and have always been. Benjamin Jowett.  It is the mark of a great man that he puts to flight all ordinary calculations. He is at once sublime and touching, childlike and of the race of giants. Honore de Balzac. All this worldly wisdom was once the unamiable heresy of some wise man. Henry David Thoreau.  If once you forfeit the confidence of your fellow-citizens, you can never regain their respect and esteem. Abraham Lincoln. The opportunity for doing mischief is found a hundred times a day, and of doing good once in a year. Voltaire.  Youth comes but once in a lifetime. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.  Luck generally comes to those who look for it, and my notion is that it taps, once in a lifetime, at everybody's door, but if industry does not open it luck goes away. Charles Spurgeon. 

Article summary. I have always seen art as a part of health for us. When I saw the title to this article I decided I would take a look and share what I find. The title is “Making art is a uniquely human act, and one that provides a wellspring of health benefits.” Girija Kaimal. Professor of Art Therapy Research, Drexel University. At theconversation.com. The author of this article also wrote a book on the subject called “The Expressive Instinct” in which she stated that “art is intrinsic to human evolution and history.”  Exercise for the body is essential to health so is exercise to the emotional and mental parts of animal existence. The author says that “creative self expression” in any form of art affects physical and emotional processes. I like that she compared the human brain too not being a computer in “processing data.” We need memory and our senses to cope and as part of our journey.  She mentions that in nearly all of everyday activities we can use our “creativity and imagination.” Cooking can be a part of creativity. We are “wired” to want to “feel good.” When we ignore this feeling we are on a path to “distress, anxiety and fear.” When we are able to express ourselves in art and with nature we will find comfort. Art therapy is used in health care centers to help manage the effect’s fo trauma and stress. The use of art therapy goes back to when it was used to treat soldiers fighting post-traumatic stress in the two world wars. The author mentions that it helps when people can’t fully express their feelings by talking about them. It’s not about becoming a famous artist it is about living a healthy life and enjoying it.  She ends the article by saying “Plene vivere.” Live fully.”

I have a little of the potato soup left from yesterday. I will add a chicken salad sandwich for  dinner. 

Photos in my life today

This upload is “inside my house.” It is the corner where I have my hydroponic house plant garden. It gets the artificial light I supply and natural light from two near by windows.

The next upload is “something sweet.” This one of the images from one of my archives, a birthday cake from a while back. 

Next is “cookies.” This again is from the archives. One of my neighbors gave this as a Christmas gift. 

The last upload is “tiny”. I have other photo of more “tiny” things put this one struck my fancy for this upload. One of the dying feeds on a black background. I also like the lighting on this subject. Lighting is something I am still trying the master. 

Joy

the bonus image is from the archives. I like the shapes and textures of the branches and the bright red background