July 10, 2026 a thought for today, Thinking is not knowing. Portuguese Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday

The first challenge for yesterday was “a meal on a plate”. This is a lunch meal, tuna salad toast with Swiss cheese slices, a green salad and tea.

The next assignment was “my choice”, my series of “black and white”,
poles, wires and railroad tracks. 

The last assignment is “time”. I have more digital time pieces than clocks, windup or battery and one with a short pendulum. I also have a vintage Mickey Mouse clock, I was going to use that one but this one was quicker to get to. 

Life today. A fine Saturday again. Since Bobbi came to live with me, I have been to bed earlier than before and up earier than before. It is probably my imagination but I think she knows when it is breakfast time, I think she can “tell time”, really, there are other circumstances. She seems to try to wake me about 6:00. She is more active about that time, up and down off the bed with soft meows, and some gently “digging” in my toes areas under the blanket. This morning I was able to ignore them until 6:30. 

After “opening the house” .... opening drapes and blinds to the morning light, I went through all my “first thing” computer checks, emails new checks and answers, facebook, news headlines. Then I made a start on this letter. Then I took time to set up a Kroger account that Sue had been wanting since she is getting better. 

I called to see if Sue’s meds were in yet. They said they were. So I took her to pick them up. Then I was going to get us fish sandwiches on the way home. She said she would rather have chili cheese burritos from Taco Bell so we went there then McDonalds for my fish and a pie for her. As we were coming from Taco Bell to McDonalds I stopped for a couple of photos. Then on the rest of the way home I drove by the park for one more photos. 

After we got here and before I got back to the computer I showed Sue how to use the Kroger account. She is not too computer savvy. I suggested that she practice on the ipad how to make her choices. 

We are supposed to get some rain today. We had one short down pour. I think there is more to come. 

It has been a good day with easy things on the agenda and no “deadlines” or pressing obligations. 

The word to ponder for today is been. It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues. Abraham Lincoln. The Romans would never have found time to conquer the world if they had been obliged first to learn Latin. Heinrich Heine. I prefer the company of peasants because they have not been educated sufficiently to reason incorrectly. Michel de Montaigne. Silence propagates itself, and the longer talk has been suspended, the more difficult it is to find anything to say. Samuel Johnson. Some have been thought brave because they were afraid to run away. Thomas Fuller. My heart, which is so full to overflowing, has often been solaced and refreshed by music when sick and weary. Martin Luther. Wait until it is night before saying that it has been a fine day. French Proverb. Don't make use of another's mouth unless it has been lent to you. Belgian Proverb.  As scarce as truth is, the supply has always been in excess of the demand. Josh Billings.  It is pleasant to have been to a place the way a river went. Henry David Thoreau. I once had a sparrow alight upon my shoulder for a moment, while I was hoeing in a village garden, and I felt that I was more distinguished by that circumstance that I should have been by any epaulet I could have worn. Henry David Thoreau. Emergencies have always been necessary to progress. It was darkness which produced the lamp. It was fog that produced the compass. It was hunger that drove us to exploration. And it took a depression to teach us the real value of a job. Victor Hugo.  Having been poor is no shame, but being ashamed of it, is. Benjamin Franklin. He knew the things that were and the things that would be and the things that had been before. Homer. Never has a man who has bent himself been able to make others straight. Mencius. The friendship that can cease has never been real. Saint Jerome. 

Article summary. If you have followed me along my written journeys you know I am a dog and cat lover. Really I care deeply about all animals/creatures and their purposes here with us. We can learn from them. We can enjoy their special given gifts of existence....if we allow ourselves the pleasure and understanding. The title is Hold up, humans. Ants figured out medicine, farming and engineering long before we did. Tanya Latty, Associate Professor in Entomology, University of Sydney, Chris R. Reid, ARC Future Fellow in behavioural ecology, Macquarie University. At theconversation.com. The article started by brining to mind how we feel when we move a couch, how heavy, where to place it, and it seems simple. Then we realize how heavy it will be. In that line of thinking we don’t often think about an ant moving an object relative to our couch in question. As we move on in the reading there is a description of ants in general, 20 quadrillion on earth, ‘most successful organisms on the planet’, live in “complex societies” that are “remarkably co-operative”. When they need food they “mobilise teams” of others. They work together to move the food to the nest. In some cases, according to the article, there is a Longhorn crazy ant (known most for its erratic, rapid dashing movements) that have been known to “clear debris for the path before a heavy object arrives” to help “prepare the way” as the others move the object. I was interested in the sentence that there could be an experiment that might explain what would happen if a set of humans was pitted against a set of longhorn ants. The humans would not be allowed to speak or gesture. The ants preformed better. It was called ‘collective intelligence’. The article talked about how ants are ‘expert farmers’. It says 12,000 years ago humans ‘invented’ agriculture. The leaf cutter ant preformed agriculture tasks “55 million years ago”.  They moved fresh leaves to ‘feed’ the fungus that was their food source and fed their colonies. Then the worker ants “patrolled” the “garden” area. They could use antibiotics from their own bodies to save infected parts of the fungus of invasive bacteria when necessary. Continuing the farming aspect, some ants can “farm” with aphids. The aphids produce a sugary liquid when they eat “plant sap”. The ants collect in turn then help * protect their “livestock” (aphids) from birds. The aphids are compared to human pets in the article. The article goes on to mention how ants can “cure” themselves of some injuries and infections. They have “antimicrobial secretions from specialized glands”. Further on we find that ants are “maser builders”. They can join their bodies to form structures. They can join together to form rope ladders to gather leaves from treetops. They can “glue” leaves together to form nests. In talking about fire ants the article explains when their nests are flooded by rain they join their bodies together to form “huge rafts” that float until they reach dry land. As the article ends it says they had achieved in “agriculture, medicine, engineering and building civilisations” millions of years before humans as they worked together in complex societies. Aren’t their inborn gifts awesome. My suggestion, watch where you walk (smile). 

We may do a DoorDash pizza for dinner....I am careful about that due to acid reflux (darn!).

Photos in my life today

The first upload is another “my choice” and another in my series of black and white. This one is from the park near my house. I wanted to get a little more of the reflection in the pond. I was at the section of the pond for a longer line of reflections.

The next challenge was “a treat to share”. I found one of the tins I had kept from Christmas and added a few cookies and candy to share. 

The last upload is “full”. I was getting ready to fill a glass with ice cream and
soda when I spotted this full jug of iced tea. 

Joy 

the bonus image is the red rose bud on a black cloth uploaded in a contest to Fine Art America

want to shop? Visit: fineartamerica.com search for joy rector click on “view shop”  and redbubble.com search for jarector (and take a look at flickr.com search for rectorjoyce)

** they protect aphids by “actively herding them, physically fighting off attackers, and releasing specialized chemical deterrents from their feet”.