January 29, 2026 a thought for today, Where the minute hand suffices, the hour hand is not needed. Dutch Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday

This first upload challenge was “the sky today”. Though we are having a “trying” period of extra heavy snow drifts and their accompanying problems, we are also have gorgeous blue skies. 

This second upload was “lunch”. This has become a pretty common lunch since
I am not getting out to fast food places as often as I was doing.

The last one for yesterday was “evergreen”. I have several images of this tree. This one is different from most of them with the snow decorating the branches. 

Life today. I got to my doctor yesterday for my “infected” tooth. As we suspected I did/do need antibiotics. My doctor called the prescription over to the pharmacy for me, it was ready when I got there. She also said I must see a dentist within a week. I have that appointment for Monday. 

I didn’t get to the church to print the bulletin this morning. There was still twelve inches of snow on the top of my car. Around noon when the temperature was about 16 instead of 3, I ventured out to see what I could do to push if off. I was able to do that. I also moved the car more to the center of the driveway hopefully more away from the snow drifts along the sides. I plan to try to make it to the church tomorrow after sunrise. 

Sue was parked at the curb during this snow storm so her car is blocked in quite securely. We are trying to find someone to come and dig her out and get the snow around the car out of the street. So far we haven’t been able to get someone. We have a list of three people to call, none are answering their phone. 

When I came back in the house I got things together to start the laundry. I have to take care of kitty chores now. Then I think that is it for today except for making dinner.

The word today is rational. Do not think of knocking out another person's brains because he differs in opinion from you. It would be as rational to knock yourself on the head because you differ from yourself ten years ago. Horace Mann. Good and evil, reward and punishment, are the only motives to a rational creature: these are the spur and reins whereby all mankind are set on work, and guided. John Locke. To wisdom belongs the intellectual apprehension of things eternal; to knowledge, the rational apprehension of things temporal. Saint Augustine. I am an Epicurean. I consider the genuine (not the imputed) doctrines of Epicurus as containing everything rational in moral philosophy which Greek and Roman leave to us. Thomas Jefferson. A man has free choice to the extent that he is rational. Thomas Aquinas. I add this, that rational ability without education has oftener raised man to glory and virtue, than education without natural ability. Marcus Tullius Cicero. The happy medium - truth in all things - is no longer either known or valued; to gain applause, one must write things so inane that they might be played on barrel-organs, or so unintelligible that no rational being can comprehend them, though on that very account, they are likely to please. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Original sin is the only rational solution of the undeniable fact of the deep, universal and early manifested sinfulness of men in all ages, of every class, and in every part of the world. Charles Hodge. It is not to be forgotten that what we call rational grounds for our beliefs are often extremely irrational attempts to justify our instincts. Thomas Huxley.  The being cannot be termed rational or virtuous, who obeys any authority, but that of reason. Mary Wollstonecraft. If we did not have rational souls, we would not be able to believe. Saint Augustine. In everything one thing is impossible: rationality. Friedrich Nietzsche. We owe to memory not only the increase of our knowledge, and our progress in rational inquiries, but many other intellectual pleasures. Samuel Johnson. The rational and peaceable instrument of reform, the suffrage of the people. Thomas Jefferson. A person is an individual substance of a rational nature. Boethius. 

Article summary. In my adventures with photography I have found that abandoned buildings can be a place for excellent and interesting images. I have been on the outside of many forgotten properties. I have been inside only one many years ago. It was an abandoned elementary school. I only wish I had had the kind of observation then that I have developed at this point. I can see in my memory many of the things I missed taking photos of, left over pieces of paper, overturned chairs, and so much more. It looked like other people had been in there after it was abandoned. There were broken windows along with other evidence of destruction. There was a feel of history and past life in all those left behind things. All of this is why this article drew my attention. My memories were of thoughts of what I could have gained from what was left, the ideas in the story are what could have been made of them today. The title to the article is Artists’ installations raise questions about abandoned buildings. Aimee VonBokel, Assistant Professor/Faculty Fellow of Museum Studies, New York University. At theconversation.com. I was drawn to the opening sentence that told about a street artist and a cinematographer who separately “ installed a series of portraits in crumbling New York buildings”. That sounded exciting to me, beautiful art work in a “dilapidated” space. One of projects was “large scale” photos of immigrants pasted “here and there” on the walls of Ellis Island’s abandoned hospital. The images are fading as did the buildings through the years. At another place in Brooklyn the cinematographer set up a giant video featuring “elders from the Bethel Tabernacle AME Church in Bedford-Stuyvesant”. The video set up was in a boarded up and dark building that was once a public school. There is “white glow” presumably from a proctor that shows “silhouetted visitors float into the space” across pews and then to a “dusty altar”. Along with the video is a emotional “soundscape”. I like the way the author described the art work as a combination with the decay of the ageing buildings of over a hundred years ago described as “reclaimed wood dining tables and industrial-era typography”. The author describes a visit to these buildings as a time to “embark on tours of the past”. As this story goes it is an experience in “intellect and taste” tied to a bit of history. As it happens these two buildings and places like them are bought by “private developers” who ultimately “repurpose” the structures.  The article ended by saying “these artists bring the melancholy of abandonment to the surface.” I would like to see more of this kind of attention instead of tearing down old, rejected, past and once repeated structures to turn them into parking lots.

I thought I had chili in the freezer for dinner last night but it was gone. So I think I will make it for dinner tonight. 

Photos in my life today

The first challenge today is “frozen pond or lake”. This is the pond in the park a few blocks from my house. 

The next upload is “a moment of joy”.  I should have used one of my kitten or one of my great grand children. This one was more readily handy today. 

The last upload for today is “pickle”. I don’t always have pickles on
hand. Usually is more like pickle relish. This one just happens to be in the frig. 

Joy

          As a bonus a weed like one that will follow the snow

 January 27, 2026 a thought for today, The nail suffers as much as the hole. Dutch Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday

This first upload is “a snow trail”. There are plenty of snow trails around here right now. This is one taken before more tracks were made to disturb the beauty of the white land cover. 

Next is called “leading lines”. These are the tiles in may kitchen leading into the next room.

The last challenge was called “in the kitchen”. Again this is a part of my kitchen. With the typical refrigerator magnet, this has family photo on it. 

Life today. The twelve inches of snow is still here and isn’t going anywhere soon. We are having below zero temperatures for the rest of the week. I feel stranded like a lot of my neighbors probably are. The neighbors around me have managed to clear their driveway. Mine is still untouched and still perfectly white. Our street is still nothing but six or eight inch high ruts. I would most likely get stuck in one of those if I were able to first get to my car and next get out of the driveway.  I’m not sure how I will get the church bulletin printed this week. Someone who is able to get to the church may have to print it. I can send the file by email for that purpose.... I just this minute got a call about someone who will be coming to shovel the drive way! Now if the snow plow goes down the street this afternoon or tomorrow my spirits will lift a bit. 

I think I may be able to get a ride to a dentist or doctor in a day or two. The home remedies are mildly working but it doesn’t look like that is going to be a cure.

I have been considering taking an online master course in still life photography. Being “shut in” would be a perfect time for that. 

Right now for the time being anyway I don’t have a “full” agenda. We cancelled our food pantry for this week. 

The word today is pure. The truth is rarely pure and never simple. Oscar Wilde. When men are pure, laws are useless; when men are corrupt, laws are broken. Benjamin Disraeli. In a state therefore of great equality and virtue, where pure and simple manners prevailed, the increase of the human species would evidently be much greater than any increase that has been hitherto known. Thomas Malthus. It seldom happens that any As to the pure mind all things are pure, so to the poetic mind all things are poetical. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. It is pure illusion to think that an opinion that passes down from century to century, from generation to generation, may not be entirely false. Pierre Bayle. Although a man may wear fine clothing, if he lives peacefully; and is good, self-possessed, has faith and is pure; and if he does not hurt any living being, he is a holy man. Denis Diderot.  Works of imagination should be written in very plain language; the more purely imaginative they are the more necessary it is to be plain. Samuel Taylor Coleridge. What are riches - grandeur - health itself, to the luxury of a pure conscience, the health of the soul; - and what the sufferings of poverty, disappointment, despair - to the anguish of an afflicted one! Ann Radcliffe. Times of general calamity and confusion create great minds. The purest ore is produced from the hottest furnace, and the brightest thunderbolt is elicited from the darkest storms. Charles Caleb Colton. The purest treasure mortal times afford is spotless reputation; that away, men are but gilded loam or painted clay. William Shakespeare. We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves. Buddha. There is no such thing as pure pleasure; some anxiety always goes with it. Ovid. The purest and most thoughtful minds are those which love color the most. John Ruskin. Iron rusts from disuse; stagnant water loses its purity and in cold weather becomes frozen; even so does inaction sap the vigor of the mind. Leonardo da Vinci. A life of peace, purity, and refinement leads to a calm and untroubled old age. Cicero. It is astonishing what force, purity, and wisdom it requires for a human being to keep clear of falsehoods. Margaret Fuller.

Article summary. Here is a another view at dieting. Since I am on a diet of sorts, I have three health issues that require diet considerations. This article looked like something among all the other information on this subject to consider. The title to the article is All foods can fit in a balanced diet – a dietitian explains how flexibility can be healthier than dieting. Charlotte Carlson. Director of the Kendall Reagan Nutrition Center, Colorado State University. At theconversation.com. It started with all the many reasons people may be talking about how to eat as what to eat or not to eat, when to eat, try this, or a particular diet. The author is mentioning how most of this isn’t necessary to an extreme extent. She mentions that health and nutrition are necessary and it may be just as simple to accept an antidote of “all-foods-fit approach to nutrition”. In this story it is mentioned that most food can “fit to a healthy diet” by working to balance food and nutrition in a healthy way. All foods have at least a portion of health and nutrition allowances. It is a question of flexibility and paying attention to your body’s “internal cues”. In the “diet” setting food is “black and white”. In a nutritional setting it is more “complex”.  It depends on how our living is involved with “exercise, sleep, stress, mental health, socioeconomic status” and  access to food. It appears that the article is saying that when you learn the value or benefits of different types of food as vegetable and fruits to those considered “untouchable on a diet” you can achieve a balance of what is in a full meal or period of eating and snacking. For instance instead of eating several pieces of pizza eat one or two pieces balanced with vegetables or more nutritional food.  This gives your body more of a “healthy” full feeling. This article suggests on how to get started in this way of eating. Instead of thinking of a food as good or bad for a diet think about the nutritional elements. Think of how your body feels as far as hunger or fullness. Eat on a regular basis. If there is a long gap between regular meals have a small heathy snack. It may become possible with a balance and more attention to food nutrients you can add what use to be considered “bad” food in small portions back to parts of your meal plans. 

I think it will be chili for dinner tonight. 

Photos in my life today

This first challenge upload is “something tiny”. This is a tiny little gnome I have to join some of my garden house plants. 

The second upload is “crisp”. I used a small plate of “crisp” potato chips. 

The last upload is “winter birds”. I took this one in a different winter. I it is too cold right now to go out and shoot.

Joy

                                     wish for spring

 January 25, 2026 a thought for today, Proverbs are the daughters of daily experience. Dutch Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday

This first challenge was “a plant”. This is my “baby” fig tree. A person my son Bob worked with had a full grown one by his desk in a huge warehouse like building, a car dealership.

The next is “my choice”. This is one of my “texture overlay”. 

The last upload is “shallow depth of field”. It is one of my wind chimes, the one dedicated to my son Bob, with the background out of focus. 

Life today. Well, as of 1:00 this after noon we have 11.2 inch of snow on the ground and it is still coming down. I don’t know how long it will be before we can get out of the house. I am having a tooth problem and mostly likely should see a dentist. I will do the best I can with “home remedies”. 

My neighbor is using a huge snow blower to move the snow on his drive way. That will be putting a double amount of snow next to my basement windows, maybe there will be a bit of a remembrance when we have the snow thaw. We are all going to have to move it wherever and whenever we can so that we will be able to get out. 

We cancelled the church service this morning. There really wasn’t much of a choice since it would have been unwise and unsafe for many of us to try to get there. I have a feeling it will be at least mid week before Sue or I will be able to get out. 

Twenty-twenty-six needs as little bit of an upturn in direction, for me and for Sue I think. We have each had a bit of unexpected and/or stressful events since the beginning of the year. They have been solvable and turned out on the upside after some worry. I guess we need some surprises to make life exciting. They should of those be less and less of those as we age more and more, smile.

The word today is public.  There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty. John Adams. You should not live one way in private, another in public. Publilius Syrus. Never be entirely idle; but either be reading, or writing, or praying or meditating or endeavoring something for the public good. Thomas a Kempis. Public opinion is a weak tyrant compared with our own private opinion. What a man thinks of himself, that is which determines, or rather indicates, his fate. Henry David Thoreau. When people have no other tyrant, their own public opinion becomes one. Edward Bulwer-Lytton. Show me the man who keeps his house in hand, He's fit for public authority. Sophocles. A republican government is slow to move, yet once in motion it's momentum becomes irresistible. Thomas Jefferson. The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the republican model of government are justly considered... deeply, ...finally, staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people. George Washington. Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are ruined. Patrick Henry. No place affords a more striking conviction of the vanity of human hopes than a public library. Samuel Johnson. Our life, exempt from public haunt, finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything. William Shakespeare. The public is wonderfully tolerant. It forgives everything except genius. Oscar Wilde. The time comes upon every public man when it is best for him to keep his lips closed. Abraham Lincoln. 

Article summary. Besides being an animal lover I am a plant enthusiast also. This article is right up my alley. I thought I would read and share it. The title to the article is Owning houseplants can boost your mental health – here’s how to pick the right one. Jenny Berger, Post-Doctoral researcher, University of Reading. At theconversation.com. In the opening of the article it is mentioned that people spend 90 percent of their time indoors. They further relate that affects your mental health which include depression, stress and anxiety. They feel that even small “improvements” can be useful to those kinds of problems. I read that, and with first hand experience, find that houseplants “are an easy way of connecting with nature.” The article goes on to explain some of the several ways they accomplish those improvements. The are calming and “boost” a mood along with a connection to nature. The story tells about a study measured what different house plants offer. Eight plants were used in the study, they were “weeping fig, mother-in-law’s tongue, cactus, prayer plant, bird’s nest fern, golden pothos (or devil’s ivy), dragon tree, and palm.” They named three that they felt gave the “best sense of wellbeing”, they are pothos, weeping fig and palm especially when they were green and healthy. Ones that add to air quality were mother-in-law’s tongue, a ZZ plant, pothos and spider plant. Here is another interesting point, curved objects tend to bring about positive emotions. Therefore, plants with rounded leaves should be considered for  those preferences. Those would be weeping fig, pothos and palm. Another interesting point brought out was that plants with sharp spikes may be associated somehow with danger, but can add to comfort at the same time. For a calming affect plants with “trailing vines” like a pothos. You may want to select plans with patterns and “bold colors”, or ones that stand out as a focal point. One thing that was mentioned is that at some point too many plants may be a distraction. Keeping the plants green and healthy is a must for your enjoyment and well being.

I am having grilled salmon patties with quick and easy beef and noodles for dinner. 

Photos in my life today

The first upload is “j is for....”. I used a jar with some change in it as my upload choice. 

The next upload is another of the “my choice” and another of my “texture overlay”. 

The last upload is “a favorite thing”, my cat of course. This is one of her favorite positions. 

Joy 

    this was taken on another stroll in the alley behind my home

 

 January 23, 2026 a thought for today, What is wrong today won't be right tomorrow. Dutch Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday

This challenge upload is “white”. We seem to be having a lot of that right now. This one was taken at the park down the street. 

Next is “a snack”. This is a typical lunch or quick snack. A deli thin sliced chicken sandwich, ten potato chips and a few dark chocolate chips. 

The last on is “far away”. This is one is a few miles from where I live. It has one of the icon structures from Columbus Ohio.

Life today. A major snow event is heading our way. That is one of the kinds of things that makes me want to do research. I remember one “blizzard” when I was driving and had to pull over on West Broad Street . You couldn’t see the hand in front of your face let alone a car distance away. That was  around 1979. I remember another vaguely. When I was around seven years old. When I looked it up today I was reminded in that winter of 1947 there was 28 inches of snow. I wonder how this one will rank. 

I did my curb side grocery order early this morning hoping to pick it up today. When I finished the order and was ready to choose a time to pick it up there were no times left as a choice for today. So I picked the earliest for tomorrow. I hope the snow won’t start until I am back home. 

I missed church last week and was looking forward to going this Sunday. I have a feeling they will either cancel the service or I won’t be able to get out of the driveway. Maybe there will be a miraculous change in direction of the storm. 

I wasn’t sure about the weather due to all the hoopla from the forecasters. I thought I heard some saying the early part of storm and drastic temperature drop was starting Friday so I let Dorothy know that I would bring the newsletter home to finish on my own. That’s what I did. I was able to get it in the mail this morning. 

I got paying the bills out of the way and an important letter written to a very generous friend. With the grocery order out of the way, the bills paid, researches done, the photos out of the way now it’s time to sit back and wait for the storm and it’s lessons. 

The word today is proportion.  There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion. Sir Francis Bacon. A man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford to let alone. Henry David Thoreau. Men are wise in proportion, not to their experience, but to their capacity for experience. James Boswell. Remember this-that there is a proper dignity and proportion to be observed in the performance of every act of life. Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. Let your heart feel for the afflictions and distress of everyone, and let your hand give in proportion to your purse. George Washington. Liberty exists in proportion to wholesome restraint. Daniel Webster. We promise in proportion to our hopes, and we deliver in proportion to our fears. Francois de La Rochefoucauld. Only nature knows how to justly proportion to the fault the punishment it deserves. Percy Bysshe Shelley. Men have a respect for scholarship and learning greatly out of proportion to the use they commonly serve. Henry David Thoreau. An error is the more dangerous in proportion to the degree of truth which it contains. Henri Frederic Amiel.  Every man is rich or poor according to the proportion between his desires and his enjoyments. Samuel Johnson. Ones reputation is like a shadow, it is gigantic when it precedes you, and a pigmy in proportion when it follows. Charles Maurice de Talleyrand. The pleasures of love are always in proportion to our fears. Stendhal. Music assists him in the use of harmonic and mathematical proportion. Vitruvius. Poetry fettered, fetters the human race. Nations are destroyed or flourish in proportion as their poetry, painting, and music are destroyed or flourish. William Blake. Our admiration of fine writing will always be in proportion to its real difficulty and its apparent ease. Charles Caleb Colton. A man is hindered and distracted in proportion as he draws outward things to himself. Thomas a Kempis. Let proportion be found not only in numbers and measures, but also in sounds, weights, times, and positions, and what ever force there is. Leonardo da Vinci. Our energy is in proportion to the resistance it meets. William Hazlitt. Prayers are heard in heaven in proportion to our faith. Little faith gets very great mercies, but great faith still greater. Charles Spurgeon. The worth and value of knowledge is in proportion to the worth and value of its object. Samuel Taylor Coleridge. 

Article summary. I am back to the subject of animals. It seems there are endless connections between their lives and ours. I, for one, like to keep up with those connections. The creators were made by the same Hands that we were. The article title is  Dog owners take more risks, cat owners are more cautious – new research examines how people conform to their pets’ stereotypical traits. Lei Jia, Assistant Professor of Marketing, Kent State University. At theconversation.com. The beginning part of the story by comparing some ideas about the characteristics of the pets. Dog are “bigger risks”, cats more cautious. Dogs generally like to meet people. Cats on the other hand are more “suspicious” of strangers. The author and a colleague did some studies on the differences. Dog owners take risks in walking the dog being out in “exposure”. The studies also seemed to track how people invested in material items for the two different pets. In the studies there was a “reward-oriented rather than risk-aversion” study to product ads for the pets. For dogs the risk was higher on reward-oriented while higher on risk-oriented for cats.  In conclusion to the tests they felt the “mental association” with the “stereotypical temperaments and personalities” of the pets made the difference in people’s investments. As the article was ending it is mentioned that because pets offer “companionship” both dogs and cats are treated as family. It is also mentioned that in the studies it was determined that due to that relationship the pets influence us and our decisions as much as other friends and family do. 

I think I am going to use DoorDash for dinner tonight. 

Photos in my life today 

This is from my archives. The title is “fish”. I used to keep a large aquarium. It became quite a chore to
maintain a clean up chore so I had to give it up as my age crept in.

This one is “pattern”. This is just one tea cup and saucer left from my mother’s
sets.

This last one is called “looking down”. I went half way up the stairs to get this view of the chair below. I left the edges of the steps in the image. 

Joy

here is one hoping for spring flowers soon

January 21, 2026 a thought for today, Who watches not catches not. Dutch Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday

My first upload was titled “shallow depth of field”. It is a shot I used peeking under my gate leg table at the chair on the other side. 

Next is “coffee” . I don’t drink coffee anymore due to one of those health things that I had to change a few years ago. I drink decafe iced tea most of the time now. 

The third challenge was “my reelection”.  I shot this on when I was waiting in line at a fast food drive through.

The last one was “that’s so Gouda (cheese)”. I would have liked to use a roll of God cheese for this one but I didn’t have any of that flavor on hand, Swiss was my substitute. 

Life today. It’s been a good day. My visual test for the drivers licence was near perfect. Almost no difference from the one a week ago at the eye doctor’s office. I learned that apparently the Optometry department at the OSU has the ability to do the vision test with one piece of larger equipment. They are also trusted to make a determination that the visual requirement the BMV accepts is something that a normal eye doctors office can’t due to the larger equipment.  I have my new license. I was down in the dumps about it because I had to miss the scheduled appointment for the eye test at OSU yesterday due to the weather. I was able after several tries to connect with OSU yesterday and was lucky to get a new appointment for today.  I’d like to thank the team at the OSU Optometry Center are professional, kind and considerate all during the exam and process. My stress level has decreased noticeability. Not having a drivers licence would have changed my life drastically to say the least.

Another good thing for today is that my son-in-law will be released from the hospital after cancer surgery. 

One sad note for today was that a dear friend and neighbor died last night. She had two very serious health issues one being major cancer surgery another a new heart problem in the past several months.

All of the things I need to print for the bulletin and newsletter are ready for tomorrow morning. I just hope the snow holds off until I get home from that chore. I am sad that I had to miss both days of food pantry this week. 

The word today is property.  Our houses are such unwieldy property that we are often imprisoned rather than housed in them. Henry David Thoreau. I am a Conservative to preserve all that is good in our constitution, a Radical to remove all that is bad. I seek to preserve property and to respect order, and I equally decry the appeal to the passions of the many or the prejudices of the few. Benjamin Disraeli. The best ideas are common property. Seneca. When neither their property nor their honor is touched, the majority of men live content. Niccolo Machiavelli. Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is in an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob, and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe. Frederick Douglass. Wherever there is great property, there is great inequality... for one very rich man, there must be at least five hundred poor. Adam Smith. We take care of our health, we lay up money, we make our roof tight and our clothing sufficient, but who provides wisely that he shall not be wanting the best property of all -- friends? Ralph Waldo Emerson. Man was born to be rich, or grow rich by use of his faculties, by the union of thought with nature. Property is an intellectual production. The game requires coolness, right reasoning, promptness, and patience in the players. Cultivated labor drives out brute labor. Ralph Waldo Emerson.  Democracy is when the indigent, and not the men of property, are the rulers. Aristotle. Property is surely a right of mankind as real as liberty. John Adams. Where there is no property there is no injustice. John Locke. Truth is the property of no individual but is the treasure of all men. Ralph Waldo Emerson. By appreciation, we make excellence in others our own property. Voltaire. Avoid lawsuits beyond all things; they pervert your conscience, impair your health, and dissipate your property. Jean de la Bruyere. God hates violence. He has ordained that all men fairly possess their property, not seize it. Euripides. Government has no other end, but the preservation of property. John Locke.  Few rich men own their property; their property owns them. Robert Green Ingersoll.

Article summary. Things come along as time passes that come to light in science and other life changing events and new findings. That is a reason why we read and learn and decide to agree and help where and when we can or disagree and work to change it. This is something I feel I needed to take a look at and share with the prices, cleaning up a waists and possibly helping with issues of heating in modern times. The article title is America’s next big clean energy resource could come from coal mine pollution – if we can agree on who owns it. Hélène Nguemgaing, Assistant Clinical Professor of Critical Resources & Sustainability Analytics, University of Maryland. Alan Collins Professor of Natural Resource Economics, West Virginia University. At theconversation.com.  It begins with a description of abandoned coal mines in Appalachia. It’s a colorful description of rust colored water seeping from the mines as it drips staining rocks an orange color and flows into streams coating them with metals. Along with the unpleasant sight of it contributes to environmental problems. It seems there is a value in the drainage that is a valuable metal. The metals are called earth elements they are used in connection with smartphones, wind turbines and military jets. According to the article they are found  in over 13,700 miles of areas of mine wastes in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The hopes and plans seem to be to turn the acid waste domestically for the US to b able to use these critical minerals. The “extraction” could result in cleaner water and cleaner energy not to mention affect our economy and security. The article said we import 80 percent of these elements now. One of the problems leading to the process is finding who the land belongs to. The article relates that using the acid drainage and extracting the rare earth elements is a way to change pollution to profit while offering cleaner streams and offering a possibility to cleaner air.  

I have a new xtra sharp cheddar cheese that is acceptable to my three way health diet. I am going to try to make Welsh rarebit with it for dinner tonight. So far I have found that it doesn’t melt easily.

Photos in my life today 

 

The first challenge for today is “a little chaos”. This is one of the bins in my book shelves that has become a bit of a gathering place for things that don’t have a place of their own. 

Next is “homemade” this is one of the pillows my great grand daughter made
for several of us for Christmas.  This is the one she made for my sister. The one she made for me is in one of my other photos. 

The last upload is “something unique to you (me)”. This is another of my Christmas presents. My daughter and son in law gave me this terrarium kit. I haven’t had time to get started on it yet. I use to make them at a flower shop where I worked for several years. 

Joy

              I think I am eager for signs of spring so I use image from my archives to sooth the                                                                                                  urge 

 

January 19, 2026 a thought for today, A word is enough to the wise. Dutch Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday

This is my first challenge upload was “my choice” and one of my series of “partial”. 

The second was “technology”. There could be more. These were he ones I had
on hand easily. 

The last upload was “today’s vibe”. I felt a “vibe” when I saw the sun peeking through the clouds.  

Life today. I have gotten a lot done today. It has been productive. I was able to get the information I need to complete the bulletin in one day. I will send it for proof reading tomorrow. I got the photos I needed early in the day and had them cataloged and filed. They are ready for upload. I have the Instagram/Facebook Sunday School file composed and uploaded. I was even able to get the dishwasher loaded and running. 

On top of what I already listed I got some research done on a couple of subjects that have been on my mind. One of them was about the trip I am taking tomorrow. Sue is taking me to have the visual test for my license. I found a way to get there that I feel is quicker and a little less traveled. She seems to want to go the way she is familiar with. It takes about ten minutes longer. One thing we will have to deal with is the coldest day of the year so far. I think it is supposed to be well  below freezing.  

We had a dusting of snow but the sun is so bright today that it has already melted even though the temps are in the teens. 

The word today is proper.  There is properly no history, only biography. Ralph Waldo Emerson. Exercise ferments the humors, casts them into their proper channels, throws off redundancies, and helps nature in those secret distributions, without which the body cannot subsist in its vigor, nor the soul act with cheerfulness. Joseph Addison. Our houses are such unwieldy property that we are often imprisoned rather than housed in them. Henry David Thoreau. Be you in what line of life you may, it will be amongst your misfortunes if you have not time properly to attend to pecuniary [monetary] matters. Want of attention to these matters has impeded the progress of science and of genius itself. William Cobbett. The proper method for inquiring after the properties of things is to deduce them from experiments. Isaac Newton. Consequently he who wishes to attain to human perfection, must therefore first study Logic, next the various branches of Mathematics in their proper order, then Physics, and lastly Metaphysics. Maimonides. I, schooled in misery, know many purifying rites, and I know where speech is proper and where silence. Aeschylus.  Those who know how to win are much more numerous than those who know how to make proper use of their victories. Polybius. I have the fault of being a little more sincere than is proper. Moliere.  God, that all-powerful Creator of nature and architect of the world, has impressed man with no character so proper to distinguish him from other animals, as by the faculty of speech. Quintilian. Speak properly, and in as few words as you can, but always plainly; for the end of speech is not ostentation, but to be understood. William Penn. It is not the rich man you should properly call happy, but him who knows how to use with wisdom the blessings of the gods, to endure hard poverty, and who fears dishonor worse than death, and is not afraid to die for cherished friends or fatherland. Horace. Man...is a tame or civilized animal; never the less, he requires proper instruction and a fortunate nature, and then of all animals he becomes the most divine and most civilized; but if he be insufficiently or ill- educated he is the most savage of earthly creatures. Plato. I do not distinguish by the eye, but by the mind, which is the proper judge. Seneca. Remember this-that there is a proper dignity and proportion to be observed in the performance of every act of life. Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. Honor is not the exclusive property of any political party. Herbert Hoover. 

Article summary. I believe in the value of reading, the benefits, the knowledge and much more. Consequently, that explains how the title to this article drew my attention. Furthermore: reading allows for experiencing multiple lives, exploring new worlds, and gaining wisdom from others' lifetimes; prevent cognitive decline and even contribute to a longer life. The article title is  Deep reading can boost your critical thinking and help you resist misinformation – here’s how to build the skill.  JT Torres, Director of the Harte Center for Teaching and Learning, Washington and Lee University. Jeff Saerys-Foy. Associate Professor of Psychology, Quinnipiac University. At theconversation.com. It begins by telling how reading among the people of America is dropping off. They say much of the reason is the “addiction” to their cell phones. It goes on to say that the “challenges” to read are as “relevant” as they have ever been. The authors’ example is parents aren’t reading to their children as was the custom earlier in history. Another example they presented is that some college students “cannot make it through an entire book.” I hadn’t thought of the digital age as offering the scrolling method many use and “passive engagement” with other people. Using what the author is calling deep reading we find our information in “critical, analytical and empathetic ways”. Reading “deeply” offers our making connections more effective along with seeing different perspectives and interpretations. As the article goes on I visited the idea that the attention and effort required for “deep reading” though the work is involved can be “difficult” it in reality adds to our sense of purpose. In my reading here I saw how some social media can be used to help with reading plans. Places like TikTok helps in offering a place that recommends books. In that line I feel a place on line called Goodreads can also help in the effort to encourage reading more in depth. In learning to “deep read” we have control our timing by slowing down when we need to digest a point in the words.

I think I will have poached cod for dinner. 

Photos in my life today

The first upload for today is “my desk”. This one is a little neater than it is at times. Those times would be when I am trying to get more than one thing done at a time. In here you could see a part of the TV that is on most of the time, my monitor, and my Frameo with a slide show of my family all day long. A corner of my printer is in the left corner. 

The second upload is “stars”. I don’t see to many stars in the sky here in the city so I am using the next set of favorite stars that I have on hand. 

The last upload in this series is “bare branches”. Note the gorgeous winter sky in the background of a bare branches to match the season. 

Joy 

         a bonus image of an old bench that had seen it’s better day

January 17, 2026 Virtue consists in action. Dutch Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday

This first upload challenge was titled “a corner or my home”. This corner is where we have a toy box full of interesting “toy” for our younger visiting family. The painting on the wall is one my sister did a few years ago. 

The next upload is “open water during winter”. This is a view along the Olentangy River. 

The last upload in this series to “fire”. I don’t have a fire pit in the year so I had to use candles or the burner on my gas stove. 

Life today. The snow here in Columbus has pretty much dissipated at least for today. We are excepting some over night in the area. The sun is bright and encouraging. We are also getting the lowest temperature readings of the year coming in the next two or three days. 

Sue took me to pick up my curbside grocery pick up earlier. Then we stopped and both got a McDonalds fish sandwich. Then we had lunch together for a change as we “supped” (la te da .....smile) on our fish sandwiches. The groceries are put away. 

As I was putting things away I dropped a jar and it broke. It took some picking up with a paper towel. Then I used the swifter mop, then the electric broom sweeper. I hoped to get any glass slivers up so Bobbi wouldn’t either get them in her feet or try to eat them. 

The rest of the day is work on the newsletter, my bi-daily letter, and photos. 

The word today is prefer. Houses are built to live in, not to look on; therefore, let use be preferred before uniformity, except where both may be had. Sir Francis Bacon. A good man would prefer to be defeated than to defeat injustice by evil means. Sallust. To know what you prefer instead of humbly saying Amen to what the world tells you you ought to prefer, is to have kept your soul alive. Robert Louis Stevenson. A likely impossibility is always preferable to an unconvincing possibility. Aristotle. Count it the greatest sin to prefer life to honor, and for the sake of living to lose what makes life worth having. Juvenal. I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence. Frederick Douglass.  Every man prefers belief to the exercise of judgement. Seneca. Be content to be what you are, and prefer nothing to it, and do not fear or wish for your last day. Marcus Valerius Martial. Which form of proverb do you prefer Better late than never, or Better never than late? Lewis Carroll. Esteem must be founded on preference: to hold everyone in high esteem is to esteem nothing. Moliere. In science, read, by preference, the newest works; in literature the oldest. Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton.  Do not discourage your children from hoarding, if they have a taste to it; whoever lays up his penny rather than part with it for a cake, at least is not the slave of gross appetite; and shows besides a preference always to be esteemed, of the future to the present moment. Samuel Johnson. There are as many preferences as there are men. Horace. The great way is not difficult if you don't cling to good or bad. Just let go of your preferences; and everything will become perfectly clear. Sengcan. It is the sign of a great mind to dislike greatness, and prefer things in measure to things in excess. Seneca the Elder. I prefer to be remembered for what I have done for others, not what others have done for me. Thomas Jefferson. 

Article summary. I thought this was an amusing story when I read it in the daily news a month ago. I am thinking this article will show more light on the subject and give pause for thought not only about the recent news article but in the life of an animal. It may give insight into that relationship to humans. They are not related to cats but this recent story put me in mind of a cats curiosity and playfulness. The title is Raccoons break into liquor stores, scale skyscrapers and pick locks – studying their clever brains can clarify human intelligence, too. Kelly Lambert, Professor of Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Richmond. At theconversation.com. It opened by mentioning the incident in December where a raccoon got into a liquor store, rummaged through the stock, upsetting some, eventually tasting a sample. The “sample” was enough to give him the incentive to lay on the bathroom floor where he passed out. The incident also went national on news stations. The author said she had worked in a area not far from where the inebriated racoon was found motionless on the bathroom floor. The work that she did at that time was studying the brains of raccoons. She mentioned that in these kinds of studies it has come to light that raccoons are intelligent, curious and good a problem solving. She went on to share that they have never been in the “scientific spotlight.” For many years mice and rats have been studied extensively. She went on to relate that “long before” those rodents were studied raccoons were the “leading candidate” model for scientists to study the problem solving and intelligence in the animal kingdom. In some cases the racoons out smarted the scientists. The author mentioned that they are too wild to be pets. On the other had too “endearing” to be seen just at pests. Though there is an interesting point being that President Calvin Coolidge took in a raccoon as a pet by saving it from being part of a meal. As time moved on they have been mentioned as “interacting” on playground equipment and breaking into classrooms. In her studies of the raccoon brain she has found that if the brain were the same size as a human brain they could have “roughly the same number of neurons as a human brain”. There is a biological “neural arrangement” found in their brain that may explain the problem solving and decision making. In the article it was mentioned that particular finding could offer “insights into the neural foundations of impulse control and distracted attention.” Another part of the raccoons’ body that was studied was the forepaw. The article related that it is “mapped” in the brain “in a similar manner as human hands”in the human. The author says that in understanding the intelligence of the raccoon it would be best studying them in their own environment rather than in cages as rats and mice. In ending the article the author mentioned something that a primatologist “introduced” saying that “it is a mistake to assume that animals cannot share emotional or cognitive capacities with humans”. The ending sentence was that in these kinds of studies it “may open new paths for understanding raccoon intelligence and, ultimately, the wonderfully complex human brain.”

We are having my three way diet pizza on a tortilla shell for dinner. 

Photos in my life today

My first upload in this section is “something soft”. This is the wearable blanket that was one of my Christmas gifts. It is very soft and incredibly warm, perfect for these cold winter days. 

Next is titled “boots”. These are my only pair of boots. They have not been warm often because there of the inexpensive line and don’t keep the rain and snow off the feet as should be their purpose. Bobbi thought they were worth a sniff. 

The last upload is one of the “my choice” verity and is one of my “partial” series. It may have appeared in some of my other photos. It is in a prominent place on the dining room table. It was another Christmas gift, a baking dish on our orange leaf place mat.

Joy

a bonus photo for today digitally generated image created from a photo of a daffodil in front of a peeling cement block wall