March 26, 2026, a thought for the day, Time is the best counsellor. German Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday

This first challenge upload was “macro.” I picked the first batch of daffodils in the yard the other day and want to get as many shots of them as I can before they are gone.

The next upload assignment was called  “neighborhood.” This is one of the
streets in my neighborhood. 

The last upload for yesterday was “stick.” With all of the wind we have been having in the last few days there have been several samples of sticks to use. 

Life today. It has been one of those on the cusp “busy” days. I had some conversations about an oversight in my last news letter. There was an error that I should have caught before printing but I didn’t know about it until after the fact. One of the members asked about a particular date in the calendar portion and it’s content. The person who was mentioned in that part of the calendar apparently missed it also after the printing and seemed concerned. That is evidently a message of how certain parts of the newsletter are read completely. There wasn’t anything I could do at this point. The good part of it is I can make the correction in a corresponding position on the upcoming bulletins. I was in contact with a friend who was helping me with it today. The bulletin correction seems to be the way to go. 

I got to the church for the printing. The printing and put in appropriate places was done in good time. I mailed them on the way home. 

Once at home there were chores to be done so I got those out of the way. One of the chores on the list was the laundry which is done in stages so I will be completed later. As I ran the sweeper in the bed room, the cat nearly climbed the wall getting out of the way. 

It seems spring is here at last. I am expecting a drop in temperatures off and on for the next week or so but other than that it is creeping up slowly. The sun feels good today. 

The weather has put me in the mood for tending to my four window boxes. I think they are going to have to be pretty much replanted this season. So I have been checking out nurseries on line. 

The word today is song. I value my garden more for being full of blackbirds than of cherries, and very frankly give them fruit for their songs. Joseph Addison. A bird does not sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song. Chinese Proverb. I'll publish right or wrong. Fools are my theme, let satire be my song. Lord Byron. Sooner of later that which is now life shall be poetry, and every fair and manly trait shall add a richer strain to the song. Ralph Waldo Emerson. Next to theology I give to music the highest place and honor. And we see how David and all the saints have wrought their godly thoughts into verse, rhyme, and song. Martin Luther. One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Among all men on the earth bards have a share of honor and reverence, because the muse has taught them songs and loves the race of bard. Homer. If a man knows the law, find out, though he live in a pine shanty, and resort to him. And if a man can pipe or sing, so as to wrap the imprisoned soul in an elysium; or can paint a landscape, and convey into souls and ochres all the enchantments of Spring or Autumn; or can liberate and intoxicate all people who hear him with delicious songs and verses; it is certain that the secret cannot be kept; the first witness tells it to a second, and men go by fives and tens and fifties to his doors. Ralph Waldo Emerson. Men, even when alone, lighten their labors by song, however rude it may be. Quintilian. Walt Whitman defended the sacredness of love, the purity of passion - the passion that builds every home and fills the world with art and song. Robert Green Ingersoll. Because the road is rough and long, Should we despise the skylark's song? Anne Bronte. Would you have your songs endure? Build on the human heart. Robert Browning. 

Article summary. Most of us think of ants as pests but beyond the fact of being a creature of Creation there is something to learn from them. My interest in animals, more to the point all critters, leads me to this article as well as the reference to Solomon’s reported thinking about ants.  I did more research when I saw the reference to Solomon. Here is what I found:  “Solomon’s wisdom, his ability to understand animals, and his humility are facts of history. There is one story that says “while traveling with his vast army, Solomon hears an ant warn its colony to hide to avoid being unintentionally crushed. Solomon stops his army, smiles, and orders the army to change course, showing humility and care for the creatures despite his immense power.” Also mentioned  in Proverbs 6:6-8 and 30:25, where Solomon uses them as an example of hard work and wisdom. The title to the article is Ants – with their wise farming practices and efficient navigation techniques – could inspire solutions for some human problems. Scott Solomon, Associate Teaching Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Rice University. At theconversation.com. Much of what is in the first sentences quantifies what I found on my individual research mentioned above. The author goes on to mention the obvious that he shares Solomon’s name. Also mentions that he shares the idea of the wisdom of ants. He says that humans may learn from the habits of ants while sharing the fact that in recent history “scientists have learned about their biology.” The author has spent time in studying ants. One thing he says he was “intrigued” by was how they went about growing their main source of food, fungi. They use cut leaves that they carry to their nests where it is processed into the fungus food. The ants are particular to type of “crops they cultivate”, a crop they have been growing over 55 million years ago. They have to “fight off” pests to their crop as human farmers do. They must use a form of pesticide just as farmers do. The story goes on to say that the ants answer to pesticides is to allow the bacteria to grow and “live” which allows them to “serve as pharmaceutical factories that can keep up with ever-changing pests”. They allow the bacteria to grow in their nests. The procedure of keeping the bacteria alive as they did 55 million years ago allows the “microorganisms to make useful product.” The article says that our “researchers are currently experimenting with applying live bacteria to crop plants”. Next the article studied transportation of ants. Ants have their own system of finding the shortest distance from one place to another. They leave an inner body “chemical” trail as they move from one place to anther. The trail with the most “chemical” shows that it is the most used, a signal to others for which path to take. I was surprised to learn that in the 1990s “computer scientists formed an algorithm that much like the ant allowed them to find the shortest way between two or more locations”. This approach has helped engineers in telecommunication and in mapping delivery routes. Another thing that was a light bulb moment for me was that scientists are using cameras to track ant by ant to see how they each respond to obstacles. They may be able to use the answers they find with that to help in self driving cars. There are some ants have their “bad” side as in our human society in “indiscriminate killing, and others for enslaving babies”.  On the other hand, they cooperate to raise the young and “accomplish remarkable engineering feats”. Along with the other things we have discovered they can and do build structures “with air funnels that can house millions”. The article points out that the colonies are run “entirely by females”. Certain of the females “can live 20 years and lay millions of eggs” others and workers may live less than a year while keeping the colony going. The article ends by saying by “considering ants and their many fascinating ways, there’s plenty of wisdom to be gained.”

I think salmon patties and rice for dinner. 

Photos in my life today 

My first upload for today is “inspiration” . This was taken as I passed through the Sanctuary at church. The low light, the total silence and the feel of a higher presence is inspirational for me. 

The second upload for today is “fire”. I made several shots while I was out today. One was of the sign in front of a firehouse, another was of one of the fire truck. One of the shots was of a fire extinguisher at the church. After checking them all on Photoshop I decided to use this one of actual flames instead of one of the others. 

The last upload for today is “mailbox”. Here again while I was out and about I took several photos. They were of all kinds of different types of mail boxes. I ended up using one of image of my own mailbox. 

Joy

                                    I seem to pay more attention to birds in the spring time.