February 2, 2026 a thought for today Even a crust is bread. Finnish Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday

This first image is my choice and is one of my series of still life. This was taken before I have completed the on line master class I am taking in still life photography.

The next photo is “something I shared”. These seem to be a kind of cookie that attracts people. I use them because the are zero sugar. Th man who use to do my lawn would ask for some before he left. My sone in law and my sister seem to be drawn to them also. 

The last challenge for yesterday was “food”. There are all kinds of food in the frig and cupboards. It just needs to be put together. I decided on a cheese sandwich for my lunch and used it for the upload.  

Life today. I started the letter a this morning. I had to leave the photo work for the day until later this afternoon. I have the dental appointment today to take care of the infected tooth. I just shot the photos and got them ready in the Photoshop “darkroom”. 

Lowell and Rebecca took me to a dentist who goes to their church. It’s done now and I am back home. He had to dig out a broken off tooth. The infection was in the root of that tooth. So as I am writing this letter I have a thick gauze in my mouth. The numbing is beginning to dissipate. I am glad it is over. I am also glad that he did not have to do any further work. I was so nervous thinking I would have to wear dentures. The dentist called in a script for a heavy pain medication if I needed it. We, he and I, hope Tylenol will do the trick. 

On the way home I got a Wendy’s single burger and a tiny slushy. I was able to eat keeping the food on the opposite side of my mouth. 

The rest of the day I will rest. I will do the uploads tomorrow. 

The word today is ready. As I know more of mankind I expect less of them, and am ready now to call a man a good man upon easier terms than I was formerly. Samuel Johnson. We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge us by what we have already done. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Always be ready to speak your mind and a base man will avoid you. William Blake. Before we set our hearts too much upon anything, let us examine how happy those are who already possess it. Francois de La Rochefoucauld. Reading maketh a full man, conference a ready man, and writing an exact man. Sir Francis Bacon. The summit of happiness is reached when a person is ready to be what he is. Desiderius Erasmus. There is no such thing as luck. It's a fancy name for being always at our duty, and so sure to be ready when good time comes. Edward Bulwer-Lytton. What is the first business of one who practices philosophy? To get rid of self-conceit. For it is impossible for anyone to begin to learn that which he thinks he already knows. Epictetus. God grants liberty only to those who love it and are always ready to guard and defend it. Daniel Webster. The man who goes alone can start today; but he who travels with another must wait till that other is ready. Henry David Thoreau. I will study and get ready, and perhaps my chance will come. Abraham Lincoln.  Fraud is the ready minister of injustice. Edmund Burke. Do the duty which lieth nearest to thee! Thy second duty will already have become clearer. Thomas Carlyle. Truth emerges more readily from error than from confusion. Francis Bacon. A true friend freely, advises justly, assists readily, adventures boldly, takes all patiently, defends courageously, and continues a friend unchangeably. William Penn. Noble character is best appreciated in those ages in which it can most readily develop. Tacitus. 

Article summary. I have always considered friendships important if not vital. I did some research to back up my thinking. I found as I thought that friendships contribute to our mental well being as well as to relieve loneliness. I wanted to see what Aristotle had say about it all those years ago. The title to this article is Three lessons from Aristotle on friendship. Emily Katz, Associate Professor of Ancient Greek Philosophy, Michigan State University. At theconversation.com. Aristotle was an ancient Greek philosopher. He was important in sharing in the defining of thought in logic, and science. I learned in a research other than this article that he had been a student of Plato for 20 years and tutor to Alexander the Great. This article opened with an Aristotle saying that “no one would choose to live without friends”. Though he was known for his activities in science and politics he had three “lessons” about friendship that are mentioned in this article. First his “definition” was friendships are shared experiences, both parties feel the experience. They have a feeling of goodwill for each other. The study in Aristotle’s thoughts on friendship went on to explain that he had a distinction between three kind of friendship, according to the article they are “utility-based, pleasure-based and character-based friendships”. These types are formed by the value that the friend has for the individual, or usefulness, or pleasure of their company or their character. The article says that the character based is the “highest form”. It goes on to say “you can only have a few such intimate friends” to form the character based. This kind takes time to grow. So the article relates that most friendships are “based on pleasure or utility”. Using the term “utility” in a friendship means that they are “mutually benefitting one another”, both parties understand this friendships purpose. The third point in the article went on to mention how Aristotle said to make friendships last. It begins saying it is like “fitness”. I had to read a little further to grasp the meaning of the relationship needs to be “maintained by activity”. It looks like he meant maintained by doing things together relatively often. If inactivity goes on for to long the friendship fades. The article mentions that due to postal service and modern social connections like Facebook that friendships can go on “across great distances”. In closing the article relates that Aristotle’s definitions still holds some truth. It mentioned that during the COVID pandemic there was a decrease in friendship activities even with the modern accesses in communication which showed a “decrease in the quality of their friendships”. It ended by saying “Aristotle’s writing on friendship continues to resonate.” Although I learned in another search on the subject that a saying I have always known and thought to be true was something also by  Aristotle who said "a friend to all is a friend to none”. I think after this article it’s meaning is the character-based is the “truest” friend. 

I think is will be creamed cheese on toast for dinner. 

Photos in my life today

This upload challenge is titled “something pink”. These are a couple of Sue’s hair scrunchies. My hair is too short for them. Another very useful purpose it that my kitten, Bobbi, loves to play with them.

The next upload for today is “book”. I do keep a few “hard copy” book in my “library” (a three shelf book case). Most of my reading except for the bible is done on my tablet as ebooks and search sites. 

The last upload for today is “square”. Sue has a few of her collection of frames lying around.  Is paints and sketches. We both keep a few frames around in case we choose to mount and frame our work for hanging or sharing. 

Joy 

                               safe and secure

 

 

 January 31, 2026 a thought for today, Even a small star shines in the darkness. Finnish Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday

The first unload for today is “a goal I’m working on”. This is a view of my computer screen showing the online master class I am taking. It is in still life photography. 

The next upload was “boot, ski, or snow shoes”. This is my only pair of
“boots”. 

The last challenge in this group is “letters”. I don’t get too many letters any more since most of my communication now days are emails and texts. 

Life today. I messed around this morning looking up information for thoughts I was entertaining as I woke up this morning. To be more accurate I should say during the time Bobbi was waking me up to throw a plastic ball for her. The thoughts weren’t necessarily about her just things I was thinking of and plans I was making. Some were thoughts of friends and family and how much each mean to me. I was having questions in my head some that needed bits of biblical answers. 

Yesterday I was finally able to get out of the driveway. I made it to church for the printing and to drop off mail. Then to the pharmacy to pick up meds and Pepsi for Sue. It felt good to get the car out of the drive way for a bit. 

Sue and I had been trying to find someone to dig her car out of snow drifts by the curb. BTW, it isn’t that I haven’t been telling her to park at the back of the driveway with me, she just seems to feel it’s more convenient and easier for her to park in the front. Anyway, when I got home yesterday someone was digging her car out. We didn’t know who it was because we hadn’t been able to get hold of anyone. We found out it was Lowell out there doing all the digging and lifting. We didn’t recognize him in all the winter garb until he came to the door. 

When I got up this morning planning to pick up my curbside grocery pick up at eleven o’clock it was -7 degrees . I wasn’t at all sure that the car would start. About 10:30 I went out to see if the car would start and then let it run to warm up, I had stopped for gas while I was out yesterday. It started instantly. 

I have the groceries put away. I set up photo shoots for the day and worked in the Photoshop “darkroom” to process them for uploads.

I am going to take my online class for today and the get some dinner and shut the computer down. 

The word for today is reach.  The heights by great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight, but they while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. You never know till you try to reach them how accessible men are; but you must approach each man by the right door. Henry Ward Beecher. Seek not, my soul, the life of the immortals; but enjoy to the full the resources that are within thy reach. Pindar. The summit of happiness is reached when a person is ready to be what he is. Desiderius Erasmus. He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty, he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself. Thomas Paine. Nevertheless the passions, whether violent or not, should never be so expressed as to reach the point of causing disgust; and music, even in situations of the greatest horror, should never be painful to the ear but should flatter and charm it, and thereby always remain music. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. To reach something good it is very useful to have gone astray, and thus acquire experience. Saint Teresa Of Avila. Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp - or what's a heaven for? Robert Browning. By perseverance the snail reached the ark. Charles Haddon Spurgeon. Help thy brother's boat across, and lo! thine own has reached the shore. Hindu Proverb. On the mountains of truth you can never climb in vain: either you will reach a point higher up today, or you will be training your powers so that you will be able to climb higher tomorrow. Friedrich Nietzsche. The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential... these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence. Confucius.  Do not fear mistakes. You will know failure. Continue to reach out. Benjamin Franklin. Music is the movement of sound to reach the soul for the education of its virtue. Plato. The power of choosing good and evil is within the reach of all. Origen. And out of darkness came the hands that reach thro' nature, moulding men. Alfred Lord Tennyson.  He that loves reading has everything within his reach. William Godwin. If you wish to reach the highest, begin at the lowest. Publilius Syrus.

Article summary. Seashells seem to be an attraction for most of my family so this title seemed to hit home. The place where I choose the majority of my articles are  researched and written by academic researchers, PhD candidates, and scholars affiliated with accredited universities or research institutions. A few of the articles they research and answer are questions sent to them by young public school students. This is one of the questions. The title to this article is Where do seashells come from? Michal Kowalewski, Thompson Chair of Invertebrate Paleontology, University of Florida. Thomas K. Frazer, Professor of Biological Oceanography, College of Marine Science, University of South Florida. It opens by mentioning an estimate of 2 trillion shells along the Gulf of California. Sea shells are “skeletons on the beach”. They are actually “exoskeletons” the outside of the bodies of “mollusks”, animals with an outer shell. Some are “echinoids”, sand dollars. These animals are able to “build there on shells to protect their soft bodies”. This forming of the outer shell is called biomineralization, made with “biologically controlled” minerals. There are 50,000 species of mollusk on earth. Each species makes a different shell. These shells turn into fossils which are preserved remains of the animal. When the shells are found “seashell experts” can tell what sea creature made it. Seashells last for a long time. As they age scientists can determine their age.  The article said that some have been determined to be “hundreds or thousands of years old”. Shells carry with them information from the past like the place where they had lived. Scientists can even tell  what the climate and environment might have been. Marks on the shells may tell what happened to the creature during its life. The article ended by saying “each shell is a little diary”. 

I am going to have baked salmon and rice for dinner. 

Photos in my life today

This first upload is “feather”. This is one that was in my collection of hobby supplies. I also found a wee tiny one in the snow as I was coming in the back door, it got lost. It was so tiny a bit of my breath blew it away, I couldn’t find it after that. 

Next is one of “my choice” assignments. It is one from my series of “still life” (this is before the class I am taking). 

The last on is “a fruit”. This is some of the grapes in my grocery pick up
today. 

Joy 

composite of photo a day from my four photo clubs