December 24, 2025 a thought for today, Better return half way than lose yourself. Dutch Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday

This challenge is titled “holiday mode”. It is my tree this year once more along with a couple of the packages in front. 

The next is “candy canes”. These are a couple I happen to have on hand. 

The last upload for yesterday was “Christmas lights”.  My  neighbor has his fence decorated for the season. 

Life today. I got most of the printing done. When I started the printing I found that I had apparently not saved the poinsettia dedication to the flash drive that I print from. I tried downloading it from the email I had sent to Patti but that didn’t work. I decided that I will go in early on Sunday to print it and ask the Sunday School girls to pass them out. I had company coming today to start the holiday. Tomorrow and Friday are both open for the festivities of the biggest celebration birthday of all time, and though it is different than the way I celebrated when I was young. However, it is a family day. 

Tami and Andy were here today. It started the twelve days of Christmas one day early for me, a happy day. These kinds of days remind me I am loved and cherished as each of all of the  children, children in law, grand children and great grand children that God gifted to me are. Sue and I hope to spend some of tomorrow, Christmas Day, at Natalie and John’s with that part of us. The next day will be at Lowell and Rebecca’s with the other part of us. As age progresses time in one place is a little less comfortable than being in our daily surroundings so the visits will be short and sweet. The time spent is a hug that will last the Twelve Days and beyond. 

Tami and Andy and Gideon spent a whole lot of time on their Christmas gift to me (and Bobbie, the kitten). They handmade a cat tree for us. The tree branch base itself was tracked down by Tami and Gideon. It is a branch that had been struck by lightening so it really is a tree. Bobbi hasn’t given it a try yet. New things take time for her to be accustomed to. She also seems to have become a recluse when it comes to people in the house other than Sue and me.

I will not be at our Christmas Eve service but the feeling is already here for me. Driving at night is a problem now and needs to be curtailed for my own safety as well as anyone elses on the highway. 

So today has been a full day and I am about to call it quits except for dinner. 

The word today is perseverance.  By perseverance the snail reached the ark. Charles Haddon Spurgeon.  The difference between perseverance and obstinacy is that one comes from a strong will; and the other from a strong won't. Henry Ward Beecher. Courage and perseverance have a magical talisman, before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish into air. John Quincy Adams.  If you wish success in life, make perseverance your bosom friend, experience your wise counselor, caution your elder brother and hope your guardian genius. Joseph Addison.  Victory belongs to the most persevering. Napoleon Bonaparte.  Perseverance is more prevailing than violence; and many things which cannot be overcome when they are together, yield themselves up when taken little by little. Plutarch.  Few things are impossible to diligence and skill. Great works are performed not by strength, but perseverance. Samuel Johnson.  Permanence, perseverance and persistence in spite of all obstacles, discouragements, and impossibilities: It is this, that in all things distinguishes the strong soul from the weak. Thomas Carlyle.  Perseverance, secret of all triumphs. Victor Hugo. Failure after long perseverance is much grander than never to have a striving good enough to be called a failure. George Eliot. In the realm of ideas everything depends on enthusiasm... in the real world all rests on perseverance. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.  Perseverance is a great element of success. If you only knock long enough and loud enough at the gate, you are sure to wake up somebody. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Through perseverance many people win success out of what seemed destined to be certain failure. Benjamin Disraeli.  If your determination is fixed, I do not counsel you to despair. Few things are impossible to diligence and skill. Great works are performed not by strength, but perseverance. Samuel Johnson. If we bestow but a very little attention to the economy of the animal creation, we shall find manifest examples of premeditation, perseverance, resolution, and consumate artifice, in order to effect their purpose. William Bartram.  

Article summary. I’m looking at another article visiting on a subject concerning animals and their time in a holiday of humans. Why you should spend more time with a dog this Christmas. Panagiota Tragantzopoulou, Visiting Lecturer, University of Westminster. At conversation.com. It opened by saying what many of us know that as the days get shorter some of us tend to experience a mood change as well as less desire to be active in many ways. There may be a feeling of loneliness too. Now comes the notion to add a family member in the form of a pet, many times it is a puppy. There lies the companionship and as the article says it is “different from” the “human” kind. The author says they are most times  “emotional stabilizers.” I agree with the author in that they offer “a steady emotional tone at home” and allow finding that  “expressing emotions becomes easier – whether that is joy, frustration or sadness”. As he daylight grows less and less the need for the nearness “intensifies”. Even a little time with a therapy dog helps the mood. Research has shown that walking a family dog can lead to connection with other people adding a Pick Me Up and a sense of belonging. The article went on to mention that later in life loneliness may lead to depression as well as “cognitive decline” and heart disease. Companion animals can be near vital in these circumstances. Taking care of the animal can be important in itself allowing for exercise in the feeding and care as well as going outside with them for fresh air. Having a pet, the article is referring to a dog, I find a kitten too,  sitting comfortably in a room with you and waiting for you to come home is a great stress reliever and “central to their emotional well being.” This kind of relationship may not work for everyone but for people like me it is irreplaceable. There is always the cost in the health and care of your pet. After all they are family and need care too, that’s the best part of the whole story, the feeling that you are needed. The ending sentence is this says “connection and companionship long after the Christmas lights fade.”

It is going to be white chili and glazed salmon for dinner. 

Photo is my life today

This upload is called “Christmas Reflect”. What better way to reflect than on a day like today but the church Christmas decoration for ‘our head of staff”. 

The next upload is “magic”. This a kind of photo magic. It is one of the railroad bridges through our downtown. I used it to create a frame out of the original itself. 

The last is “goodies”. My father was a city fireman. Every year at Christmas he was given a box of chocolate covered cherries by a local candy maker. 

Joy 

     a yellow ribbon symbolizes hope, remembrance, and support