September 4, 2026, a thought for today, The butterfly often forgets it was a caterpiller. Swedish Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday 

The first challenge was “my choice”. It is one of my series of “still life”. This is an old menu from a long ago local restaurant in my area.

The next assignment was “on the floor”. I used a photo of the wood grain
floor with part of a throw rung on a portion of it. 

The last upload was “back to school”.  This one is from my archives.  I wasn’t out and about yesterday and the school buses are back on the road since school just started after the summer break.

Life today. This has been a kind of “put together day”. I mean there has been no “direction”. Every time I got started on one thing another popped for immediate attention. But surprisingly it all seems to be getting done, even my “check list” is being filled in. One more major thing to be done is order the curb side grocery pickup.

Sue had a flat time and called AA our to fix it. As he was beginning to work on it the rain stared and got heavier with each second. 

We lost touch with our Spectrum television service yesterday. So I did some research and found that all we need with these smart tvs is an antenna. We have four tvs of different sizes in the house. Two of them have antenna. Sue’s is one that doesn’t. I tried to attach a small one that I have for an old portable tv to Sue’s but it didn’t work. So we have to get two more antenna. The two that have them are working great.

The word to ponder today is deep.  Under all speech that is good for anything there lies a silence that is better. Silence is deep as Eternity; speech is shallow as Time. Thomas Carlyle. If you would be pungent, be brief; for it is with words as with sunbeams - the more they are condensed, the deeper they burn.  Robert Southey. The secret of a good memory is attention, and attention to a subject depends upon our interest in it. We rarely forget that which has made a deep impression on our minds. Tryon Edwards. Storms make oaks take deeper root. George Herbert. To regret deeply is to live afresh. Henry David Thoreau. The books that help you most are those which make you think that most. The hardest way of learning is that of easy reading; but a great book that comes from a great thinker is a ship of thought, deep freighted with truth and beauty. Theodore Parker. The deepest sin against the human mind is to believe things without evidence. Tomas H. Huxley. In all the affairs of life, social as well as political, courtesies of a small and trivial character are the ones which strike deepest to the grateful and appreciating heart. Henry Clay. Advice is like snow; the softer it falls, the longer it dwells upon, and the deeper it sinks into, the mind. Samuel Taylor Coleridge. True humor springs not more from the head than from the heart. It is not contempt; its essence is love. It issues not in laughter, but in still smiles, which lie far deeper. Tomas Carlyle. Time is but the stream I go a-fishing in. I drink at it; but while I drink, I see the sandy bottom and detect how shallow it is. Its thin current slides away, but eternity remains. I would drink deeper; fish fill the sky, whose bottom is pebbly with stars. I cannot count one. I know not the first letter of the alphabet. I have always been regretting that I was not as wise as the day I was born.  Henry David Thoreau.

Article summary. It seems like this one may cover two areas of interest, dogs and socialization. I thought it would something that may be worthy of attention intellectually and socially. The title is Dog parks are an antidote to the isolation and divisions that social media can fuel. Kevin B. Johnson. Professor of Pediatrics, Biomedical Informatics and Science Communication, University of Pennsylvania. At theconversation.com. The author opened the article mentioning that he sees social media as having added to the possibility of persons becoming lonely. The author goes on to say he began to get a glimpse into what we might be losing when we are invested into much “social media”. He was in a dog park when this “light bulb” moment came to him. He called the experience “a corner bar without the alcohol”, meaning talking with other people about all kinds of things other than something on a cell phone or online conversations. All the while he was vising with people while walking his dog in a dog park. He was watching where and how he was walking the dog. All he while he observed conversations going on with people around him, another part of a life opens into something fuller. Regular walkers may share a taste in dog breeds or beer, but they are not colleagues, political soul mates or relatives. Major parts of their lives were difference and varied. I noted that he was saying that places like general stores and soda fountains where people use to gather aren’t around anymore. It is related that the off-leash parks are a fast growing “amenity”. It is allowing for more “neighborhood cohesion”, a “corner bar without booze”. It has been found that it is reducing anxiety, allowing for more empathy and “more perspective”. There is a shift in emotions and conversation topics, no differences in what one feels and what the other feels about politics and other “heavy” topics. It is just more about his dog’s habits and more as the two humans sharing in a sense of humor. According to the article it is more a shift from opinions to a person, room for “tolerance and trust” to develop and grow. The article mentioned that the social platforms seem to “sort people “by interests, identities, tastes and grievances, then make it easy to stay among people who feel familiar”. This seems to be a contrast to in-person contact and interactions with “regulars” at, say the dog park, and leaving room for “tolerance and trust”. After reading this article and “digesting” it I agree with the biggest part of it. I feel the dog park is an example of that type of “meeting place” and/or habit of gathering. But I feel that social media has its place too, an important place, it should be handled in moderation as should many aspects of life.

Friday seems to have become pizza night again so maybe it will be pizza for dinner. 

Photos in my life today 

The first assignment today is “on my feet”. When I am home all day I always have house slippers on. 

The next challenge is another of “my choice” and another of my series of “still life” . For this one I used a set up of a skillet with three unopened eggs ready to be prepared for a choice of cooking time and recipe. 

The last upload for today is “baby”. This is another choice from my archives since I don’t have a baby hanging around the house right now. 

Joy

the bonus image is one of my Christmas cactus blooms and has been uploaded to Fine Art America and my shop there

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)