June 14, 2026, a thought for the day, There is no corn without weeds. Polish Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday

The first challenge was “dark”. I took this one before bed time. It is from my room in the dark. 

The next assignment was “insect”. This one was caught on my back
porch. 

The last upload was “glimmer”. It is over the fence as I enjoy the sign of solitude under the seasonal umbrella. 

Life today. I had a good start on this letter before I left for church. I think I am still dealing with my BP going a little lower than it should and the heat of the day being a bit of a problem. But we had fans in the church which helped. I needed the church family visit and the sermon was awesome. I’m glad I decided to go instead of not trying as I had been thinking I would do. 

Mike gave the message today. As usual it was beyond “run of the mill”. I heard two of our younger followers, a member and her sister, compliment him on his description of our final home...heaven. They each said they had never heard heaven described like that before. They seemed impressed.  I told them his messages are all that outstanding. 

I also got a welcome complement on the beginnings of my gallery wall of photos.

Sue had forgotten to tell me she was out of Zero Pepsi when I ordered the groceries so I stopped on the way home to get her some. I made the stop at the Certified station so I wouldn’t have to be out of the car (AC) that long making more than one stop. I needed gas too. 

I got some of the photos I needed at church and some for the newsletter that I will need for this months issue. Before I left this morning, I made an origami butterfly. One of the assignments was “butterfly or bee”. I didn’t have an image of either of those. The one I made is the simplest origami butter fly I could find since origami is sadly not part of my forte. 

The rest of the day is for rest, refresh, and restore.

The word today is absorb. A man is not idle because he is absorbed in thought. There is a visible labor and there is an invisible labor. Victor Hugo. One should absorb the color of life, but one should never remember its details. Details are always vulgar. Oscar Wilde. When I am attacked by gloomy thoughts, nothing helps me so much as running to my books. They quickly absorb me and banish the clouds from my mind. Michel de Montage. You despise books; you whose lives are absorbed in the vanities of ambition, the pursuit of pleasure or indolence; but remember that all the known world, excepting only savage nations, is governed by books. Voltaire. A man is not idle because he is absorbed in thought. There is visible labor and there is invisible labor. Victor Hugo. How small a portion of our life it is that we really enjoy! In youth we are looking forward to things that are to come; in old age we are looking backward to things that are gone past; in manhood, although we appear indeed to be more occupied in things that are present, yet even that is too often absorbed in vague determinations to be vastly happy on some future day when we have time. C. C. Colon. For every seeing soul, there are two absorbing facts - I, and the abyss. Ralph Waldo Emerson. Beg of God the removal of envy, that God may deliver you from externals, and bestow upon you an inward occupation, which will absorb you so that your attention is not drawn away. Rumi. One should absorb the color of life, but one should never remember its details. Details are always vulgar. Oscar Wilde. I easily sink into mere absorption of what other minds have done, and should like a whole life for that alone. George Eliot. Be vast enough to absorb everything without losing your purity. Friedrich Nietzsche. 

Article summary. When I pick these articles to read and review I pick them by the title alone. I haven’t read them clear through so sometimes I may get a surprise, but then isn’t that what learning is all about? I play what I call “brain games” as a daily exercise hoping it will slow down any old age brain problems as I go in that direction. This article caught my attention for both the reason I just mentioned but how it may relate to the games young people seem engaged with. The title is Brain training games remain unproven, but research shows what sorts of activities do benefit cognitive functioning. Ian McDonough, Associate Professor of Psychology, Binghamton University, State University of New York. Michael Dulls, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Binghamton University, State University of New York. At theconversation.com/us. The article started out explaining that more than 4% of US adults over 65 show signs of dementia. It also says that some cognitive decline is normal as we age. I was surprised to see that they use the same term as I in mentioning “brain training”games. The authors say they are neuroscientists and focus on “brain health across the adult lifespan”. I noted the “across the adult life span” statement, to me would include older teens also. They have studied and noted that as brains normally change using forms of new learning show “a window into how people can sustain their brain health” and how it can include how brain games are part of it. The article goes on to tell how the games used for this purpose are “designed to help participants master one or more specific skills”. Some of the games show a letter and number that the user has to “identify” as odd or even/consonant or vowel. They increase in difficulty and time limit leading to attention and processing speed. There still seems to be some debate in the areas of brain growth that these actions may involve. To make this a little clearer they wonder if people may experience in certain of these games there is a better performance at work or school and how it may delay “cognitive decline”. There have been different studies on games and their results. People were tested in areas they were not familiar with like photography or quilting. Another group were tested on “active learning” as cooking, crossword puzzles, listening to music and movies. They each showed gains in memory and reasoning “relative to” the assigned less challenging activities as in showing an increased skill in remember a list of words or “solving abstract problems”.  Those brain scans showed the participants in the challenging activities “increased their neural efficiency” where their brains didn’t work as hard to solve a problem. The testing has shown that a specific task is not the answer. Some challenges showed that the answer was that something was new and there was a sense of effort. So, according to the article you may be “training your brain” with new and challenging activities as well as the brain games in the activities that are new to you and require an effort to complete. If you are using digital brain games choosing the kinds of games is the challenge. In ending the article “once you start feeling a sense of ease and familiarity, that’s a sign that it’s time to switch” to something more challenging, something that “feels just beyond your reach.” In my opinion and limited experience the “games” I have chosen and experience the efforts can increase as you progress and move to the higher level.

I haven’t made plain old hamburger for dinner for while, maybe that will be a way to do for tonight. 

Photography in my life today

The first upload is “glimmer”. It is a small part of the altar area of my church. 

The next challenge is “bee or butterfly” I made this origami butterfly before before I left for church. I am not good at origami but I didn’t have any images of either a bee or a butterfly. 

The last upload for today is “food”. I took this one at our donut fellowship hour. This is a friend’s chosen flavor.

Joy

this bonus image is of my fig tree with a filter added, it has been uploaded to Fine Art America to be added to household items, tee shirts and others

Want to shop? Visit: fineartamerica.com search for joy rector click on “view shop”  and redbubble.com search for jarector