December 6, 2025 a thought for today, Every little fish expects to become a whale. Danish Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday

My first challenge was “a Christmas tree.” This is our little tree. It is a small one, easier for my sister and me to handle. I took this photo when the room lights were off. 

Next is “symmetry or balance.” This was taken as I was leaving the Springfield
Ohio Art Gallery. I like the feeling of the columns surrounded by the snow. In the background you can see a cliff wall. 

Number three is “b is for . . . ” I am using the image of a bug I captured on “film” this past summer. 

The last image upload yesterday was “candles.” I would like to have used single candles in a holder but the only candles I have on hand are in jars. 

Life today: I spent a good part of the morning yesterday working on “wrapping” the calendars. There were some that still needed “holed” and bound. I got all but two ready for Christmas. By the time I was nearly finished I saw that I needed to print two more. I only hoped that I had enough ink to print them. When I checked, I saw that there was plenty of ink for the task. I decided to print tomorrow (today). Other than that it was a pretty quiet day. I stayed in the house.

After the calendar project I finished the letter and the photo storage, filing and tagging. I had time to bake some toll house cookies with a boxed yellow cake mix. Then I made out the grocery pick up order. It was a DoorDash night but I decided on old fashioned oats and toast with a fruit smoothie. 

The first thing this morning after the customary digital news and mail check up I printed and packaged the last two calendars. With this day’s letter started it was time to go for the curb side pickup. I will get to the put away of that in a few minutes. 

After getting home from the pick up I got to work on todays photo uploads. Oh, as I was working on that I found out that there are some filters on my cell phone camera that do some really neat things. I may play with that soon and upload some of those to share. 

Now its time to put the groceries away and start the creamed chicken. Then I’ll get back to the uploads. If I have time, I will start wrapping a some small things that I have for the kids for Christmas. 

The word today is off.  Though familiarity may not breed contempt, it takes off the edge off admiration. William Hazlitt.  If a man walks in the woods for love of them half of each day, he is in danger of being regarded as a loafer. But if he spends his days as a speculator, shearing off those woods and making the earth bald before her time, he is deemed an industrious and enterprising citizen. Henry David Thoreau.  When the heroes go off the stage, the clowns come on. Heinrich Heine.  Friendships begun in this world will be taken up again, never to be broken off. Saint Francis de Sales. Practice is everything. This is often misquoted as Practice makes perfect. Periander.  Realize that illness and other temporal setbacks often come to us from the hand of God our Lord, and are sent to help us know ourselves better, to free ourselves of the love of created things, and to reflect on the brevity of this life and, thus, to prepare ourselves for the life which is without end. Saint Ignatius.  A short saying often contains much wisdom. Sophocles. Make friends with the angels, who though invisible are always with you. Often invoke them, constantly praise them, and make good use of their help and assistance in all your temporal and spiritual affairs. Saint Francis de Sales.  Persuasion is often more effectual than force. Aesop.  There is nothing so powerful as truth, and often nothing so strange. Daniel Webster.  Sometimes, if you begin to sing in a halfhearted mood, you can sing yourself up the ladder. Singing will often make the heart rise. Charles Spurgeon.  Youth is impulsive. When our young men grow angry at some real or imaginary wrong, and disfigure their faces with black paint, it denotes that their hearts are black, and that they are often cruel and relentless, and our old men and old women are unable to restrain them. Thus it has ever been. Chief Seattle.  

Article summary. Have you ever thought about how a uniquely shaped and designed building and/or accents to interior structures make you feel? What kind of emotion is brought to the surface? This article tells a little about that. The title is Build me up: how architecture can affect emotions. Alan Pert, Professor in Architecture / Director Melbourne School of Design, The University of Melbourne. At theconversation.com. It begins by sharing that as the author was talking to a friend he said “I suggested that architecture often forgets that one of its primary goals is to trigger an emotion.”  At that point they were beginning the plans of a new hospice center. According to this article it is important to balance serious reasons for a structure with social and emotional feelings. For instance, a library is a “root” of a quiet place to study and learn. It went on mentioning that some types of architecture may be a cause for “siesta or an aspirin.” One kind of architecture such as that designed for a place using WiFi with people use in for “power” in social exchange and could be designed with a cheerful atmosphere. On a different level maybe there is a place where “human noise is kept low.”  In describing the feel and sight of a library the author mentioned that atmosphere is a consideration and sound and light are other thoughts to be considered. On the other side of the coin would be the architecture of a train station and how it should be perceived. One point that was brought up was how in many instances places that were constructed for one purpose in mind are now being used for an opposite purpose. As examples, churches becoming pubs, schools become community centers and so on. These transfers seem to be indicating that architecture has lost its feel for what it was built for in the first place and has lost its fundamental beauty and touch. To me it looks like the author seems to feel that it is becoming more of a situation of cost, and “generic solutions.” I gather the article is mentioning that in the future architecture plans should apply consideration to the fact the structure they are building may change its purpose at some time in the future. The article ends with saying that “now we need to keep talking about the kinds of emotions we want to create.”

I am hankering creamed chicken on biscuits for dinner. 

Photos in my life today

The first assigned challenge was “wreath.” This is on my neighbors door and is a welcoming the coming season. 

The next upload is “giving.” This one is from my archives and is one of the meals  served at my church’s Saturday evening meal inviting homeless to attend.

The last photo for today is "my choice" which is one of my series of "black and white. I was sitting in the mall parking lot for this one. 

Joy

 a bonus beyond the gate