April 12, 2020 thought for today: An arrow can be pulled out of a wound, but a hurtful word stays forever in your heart. Persian Proverb

I watched two Easter church services this morning. The one Catholic service was on Channel 4 here in Columbus I watched it. It was very nice. It was good to see the inside of the chapel (it was the same chapel that I received my nursing cap from, “graduating from “probie” to student nurse). The accompanying music was beautiful, mostly by one lady who did the singing (I imagine in place of a full choir). There were about ten people participating in the service.

For the April 11 month-of-gratitude theme photo I picked this one of my son mowing our lawn. There are several things in the photo that I am grateful for. One, gratitude for my son, then that I have a yard to mow and then that I have someone who does it for me.

My pastor was giving his weekly sermon on facebook live at the same time so I had both on at the same time. I would mute the one while it seemed appropriate, back and forth.

Before the services started, I made our “Easter basket”. It consisted of supplies I had on hand, a paper plate, topped with torn newspaper for “grass”, five hard-boiled eggs colored with food color and a few M&M pieces.

I need to modify some of what I said from my “soap box” in my last blog. I tried the Kroger curbside pick up and picked up the groceries Saturday. I had a bad experience with the try at delivery service and whined about the possible problem with the curb side service possibilities. I had heard of several problems with it. Anyway, it was ready the minute Bob got there. I am going to give it a second try. We sill have to wait a few days to be able to pick it up. If it works as well, I will use a combination of senior hours at the store for frozen and fresh and the curb side service for canned, boxed, etc.

I added another project to my evening crocheting sessions. I am making my own face mask. It will be lines with shop towels. I can’t get use to buying things like the masks and gloves, using them a couple of times then throwing them out. I am from a different generation I guess, we use things until they wear out. And it is especially pertinent not when there aren’t enough mask and gloves to go around.

There is nothing on today’s agenda (except for old “back burner” stuff long forgotten).  I got the refrigerator cleared out and loaded the dish washer. Other than that it’s “follow my nose” for things to get done.

The word is fear. We are more often frightened than hurt; and we suffer more from imagination than from reality, Seneca the Elder. Fear defeats more people than any other one thing in the world, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Fear is not in the habit of speaking truth, Tacitus. He who is not everyday conquering some fear has not learned the secret of life, Ralph Waldo Emerson. I am not afraid of storms for I am learning how to sail my ship, Louisa May Alcott. If you look into your own heart, and you find nothing wrong there, what is there to worry about? What is there to fear? Confucius. And having thus chosen our course, without guile, and with pure purpose, let us renew our trust in God, and go forward without fear, and with manly hearts, Abraham Lincoln. No one reaches a high position without daring, Publilius Syrus. Father, O father! what do we here In this land of unbelief and fear? William Blake.  All infractions of love and equity in our social relations are ... punished by fear, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Where fear is, happiness is not, Seneca the Younger. Do not fear mistakes. You will know failure. Continue to reach out, Benjamin Franklin. Fear is pain arising from the anticipation of evil, Aristotle. We promise according to our hopes and perform according to our fears, Francois de La Rochefoucauld. He who loses wealth loses much; he who loses a friend loses more; but he that loses his courage loses all, Miguel de Cervantes. Men are moved by two levers only: fear and self interest, Napoleon Bonaparte.

My photo challenge for today is a quick Easter basket that I put together. I didn’t have “formal” supplies on hand so I “winged it”. I used a paper plate (actually a foam plate). I tore up newspaper ads for the grass. I dyed the hard boiled eggs using food color instead of the “fancy” Easter egg dye. To add a further touch of elegance I added a few M&Ms that I had on hand. Love the colors and shapes, don't you?

I was hoping with this article to give a little bit brighter side to all that the news is covering these days. This article is about how gardeners are adapting to online sales and all that goes with this keeping a distance that we have to practice right now. Garden centers and retail greenhouses are considered essential due to their place in food growth and production. One of the local greenhouse owners closed his business when the restrictions were passed down because of the pandemic. He was able to reopen them a few weeks later when the decision was made that they were essential. He is following the rules of no more than a certain number of people in the business at a time and wearing gloves and masks. He also encourages curbside pick up and on line orders. He has been trying to make adjustment to get as much on his online site as he can but he says he needs to learn more about what he thinks people want. One of the problems of setting up for the on line orders is that a description and photo are needed for the items for sale. Some nurseries are doing delivers as well as the curbside pick ups. One reported that sales are actually higher than this time last year. One of the places that is doing deliveries is using a school bus that has been converted to accommodated plants. One of the nurseries states that it is more work to fill online orders and curbside pick up.

I think we are having chili mac from the left over chili from last night’s dinner.

Joy

April 10, 2020 thought for the day: Sweet are the tears that are dried by your loved one. Portugese Proverb

It’s been a day I haven’t experienced in a long time. I got a few miles away from the house. I had to get blood drawn and at a lab that was on the other side of town. It was good to get out for a change. As it turned out, the clinic was not busy at all. I was in and out in about a total of twenty minutes. Lowell took me, I am a bad driver outside of my “comfort” zone. We both wore masks and used hand sanitizer several times. It was also good to see him and to talk for a while. It was simple bonding and it gave a little fresh light to the day.

The photo challenge for April 9 and fitting with the monthly theme, “month of gratitude”, I chose a shot of the post office. I am grateful that they are there with delivery as it has been for years and years. “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.”

Fridays seem to be generally on the more relaxed side of the week. I didn’t have an agenda for today. I would like to have continued some yard work. I move slowly with just a little accomplished at a time but it gets done. The weather isn’t cooperative and inviting to that particular past time today so I will put it on the back burner until the temperature goes back up. I will get to it eventually.

Before I left for the lab, I sent out my now regular morning virtual “visit” to our sanctuary though photos of another of our gorgeous stained glass windows.

The tenth was another of those days when I had a second photo of the day challenge. This one was titled "an animal". Well, I have a choice of two in the house and many squirrels in the yard. I chose Sugar napping again.

I tried having our necessary groceries brought to the house but that method didn’t turn out so well. Tomorrow will be the result of an order made to be picked up curb side. After reading reports about that from other people, I am having an unpleasant feeling that that also will be a minor disaster with having to wait a long time even though we were given a pick up time or not having the order complete. I am feeling that I am going to have to “bite the bullet” and go to the store during “senior” hour, whether it is “unsafe” or not. The choice doesn’t seem to be an easy one. I wonder if there would be a better more efficient way of handling getting food. People seem to be coming up with so many light bulb moments with ways to handle life in this crisis. Maybe at some point someone will mathematically or scientifically come up with a way to make grocery and housekeeping supplies more easily accessible in emergency situations like this one . . .  Maybe having curb pick up or delivery only as the restaurants have to do .....I’ll get off my soap box now.

The word today is faults. When you have faults, do not fear to abandon them, Confucius.  If you wish to be loved, show more of your faults than your virtues, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton. The mystery of existence is the connection between our faults and our misfortunes, Madame de Stael.  If anyone is unhappy, remember that his unhappiness is his own fault... Nothing else is the cause of anxiety or loss of tranquility except our own opinion, Epictetus. Bear with the faults of others as you would have them bear with yours, Phillips Brooks. The pretended admission of a fault on our part creates an excellent impression, Quintilian.  Men ought to be most annoyed by the sufferings which come from their own faults, Marcus Tullius Cicero. Had we not faults of our own, we should take less pleasure in complaining of others, Francois Fenelon. Everyone has his faults which he continually repeats: neither fear nor shame can cure them, Jean de La Fontaine. Certain defects are necessary for the existence of individuality, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. A fault is sooner found than mended, Ulpian Fulwell. Tomorrow, every Fault is to be amended; but that Tomorrow never comes, Benjamin Franklin. Who mix'd reason with pleasure, and wisdom with mirth: If he had any faults, he has left us in doubt, Oliver Goldsmith. 

For a photo to fit “month of gratitude” today I went to archives. I remembered a couple of photos that I have taken that touched my soul in relation to this theme. This one if of two of my most favorite people enjoying a bit of life together.

We keep learning. Leaning isn’t always about good things but some of the difficulty that causes us to learn can lead to better ways of doing things. Unpleasant happenings can lead to so many new ideas as off shoots of its destruction. I think that’s what is happening for all of us now.  The article today is about making home improvements some of which may be new ideas for us to lean in this difficult time. It states that since many of us are spending more time at time it may be a good time work on the house. Lowe’s has apparently had an increase in sales at this time. Also suggested is not to try to do things you are not equipped to do, like electricity and plumbing. Maybe put off projects that require permits and inspections. If you need to have service for the AC or something else, be sure to keep the six-foot distance rule. Suggestions of things to do might be art on the doors and walls. Have family help by gathering family photos. Maybe there are areas around the house that need painted. This may be the time to make a paver patio. Work on a garden, this project can be kid friendly. Another tip in the article is to have the driveway resurfaced. Maybe work on the garage doors, add “faux windows and so on. One of the last tips in the article was to do spring cleaning all around the house and property.

It’s pizza time again, love it.

Joy

April 8, 2020 thought for the day: Mock not the fallen, for slippery is the road ahead of you. Russian Proverb

It’s been a long day, so to speak. On this day, I haven’t had a heavy schedule so that has meant more time to think of the mess we are all in. Also I have had two events’ today that brought more  to the forefront. I tried to place an order at Sams Club (I naively thought they were beyond the limitations that most places are having now), the exact same order I make every couple of months. They wouldn’t take the order due to not being able to fill it for more than two days. They asked that I reorder later. To add to that I could not order toilet paper or paper towels at all at this time. Next, I have an appointment with my doctor for a check on my iron deficiency anemia. It’s vital to see if my iron level is back to normal after over half the normal rate that it was at the last checkup and doses of iron for three months, putting my immune system at risk. Well, they called and want me to get the blood draw two days earlier than originally scheduled. It calls for some rearranging of time for two of us, a driver and me.

In the “low” times of spirit I can’t hesitate but wonder if we will ever see the best parts of what we were all familiar with in our lives before this pandemic. Being a creature of habit, as I am, this is extremely difficult for me to swallow and adjust to. It can be done and with God’s help and I, like all others, will do it. There’s no other choice.

My choice for yesterday’s  challenge was a refection in a puddle of water left from the strong spring storm we had last night. It is another part of nature and a sign that all is well and as it should be. Something that fits this month’s photo a day themes, month of gratitude.

One of the few productive things I got done today was to begin to set up the holder for the solar fountain I want to put in the garden. The other thing I worked on was beginning the church newsletter. It will be reduced to what it normally is but I think it is important for the congregants to have that kind of touch. Hopefully, I will get some items from others to add to the newsletter.

The word is falsehood.  Let her (Truth) and Falsehood grapple; whoever knew Truth put to the worse in a free and open encounter? John Milton. Beyond a doubt truth bears the same relation to falsehood as light to darkness, Leonardo da Vinci. Woe to falsehood! it affords no relief to the breast, like truth; it gives us no comfort, pains him who forges it, and like an arrow directed by a god flies back and wounds the archer, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. So near is falsehood to truth that a wise man would do well not to trust himself on the narrow edge, Marcus Tullius Cicero.  Nothing gives such a blow to friendship as the detecting another in an untruth. It strikes at the root of our confidence ever after, William Hazlitt. Let a man be ne'er so wise, he may be caught with sober lies, Jonathan Swift. Falsehood avails itself of haste and uncertainty, Tacitus. Truth indeed rather alleviates than hurts, and will always bear up against falsehood, as oil does above water, Miguel de Cervantes. If you must hate, if hatred is the leaven of your life, which alone can give flavor, then hate what should be hated: falsehood, violence, selfishness, Ludwig Borne. Wrong is but falsehood put in practice, Walter Savage Landor. Falsehood flies, and the truth comes limping after it, Jonathan Swift. The human heart has so many crannies where vanity hides, so many holes where falsehood works, is so decked out with deceiving hypocrisy, that it often dupes itself, John Calvin. Exaggeration is a blood relation to falsehood and nearly as blamable, Hosea Ballou. 


Today’s photo shoot brought my attention to the new bloom on my peace lily. Its name fits the gratitude of the month theme for me....grateful for the peace we are meant to experience.

I hope this article can be a bit of a light-side to the news we hear/read over and over lately. The title caught my attention, This little piggy went to get a haircut. It mentioned that sometimes you want to know something about yourself that you can’t see, like you have something in your teeth or toilet paper trailing on the outside of your pants. But what becomes a bit of a “slap in the face” is when someone tells you you have hair on you big toe. It seems the author of the article said her daughter told her mom as she stared at her mom’s bare feet that she had three hairs on her big toe. Then the daughter said as she looked at the other toe  “Oh! This one’s hairy, too”. The mom commented that there only three hairs, oops, that was on one toe. There are, OMG, seven on the other foot. Then her husband and her son also commented on the wayward hairs. The family gave her ways to get rid of them, wax them or shave them. Her son called them “Hobbit feet”. The daughter gave her a hug and said “it’s not big deal, we know you’re an amazing mom....” Followed by “Hey Mom, did you know you have hair on your chin?“

I think I will pull something from the freezer for dinner tonight.

Joy

April 6, 2020 thought for the day: Warm a frozen snake and it will be the first to bite you. Russian Proverb

I set the alarm....after, maybe, three weeks. I wanted to get up early so that I could get to Kroger during the senior hour. I was a little surprised that there really weren’t that many folks there. I got a few things picked up, actually more quickly than I had first thought I would. I was actually early at the pharmacy window. They had another fifteen minutes to go.

Every day I am looking for things I am grateful for to photograph as a memory of this particular day and time. Yesterday, as I was enjoying a little time on the porch swing. I noticed the neighbor’s flag moving in the breeze. The lines and shapes in the background seemed to add quiet and peace to the scene. I am grateful for that.

I have placed an online delivery order from Kroger last week. I was told I would receive delivery on Sunday evening between six and seven. The time passed with no delivery at all. After I returned from Kroger this morning, I made an attempt to find what the problem was. When I called the Kroger 800 number I was told that calls were backed up and I would have to call later. I called the neighborhood store....I was told they no longer make the delivers and offered to give me another number, they are contracted out to Instacart. I called Instacart and was mechanically told there would be a 245 minute wait for someone to come on the line. I gave up....I decided to try ordering through the curbside pick up portion of the online ordering. I completed the order and was directed to pick a day. After four tries being told something like- “all filled up for that day”. I finally got a pick up day and time for Saturday. So now it looks like I am going to have to go that route (if it works, I’ll know Saturday) or go in person during the senior hour (maybe... until that to is over loaded).

It is so nice outdoors today (although I have to scrape the car windows earlier). I decided to go work in the yard as much as my stamina would allow. While I was out, I had a nice chat with my neighbor.

The word is fallen. You seem to me to be a pretty lucky young man; keep your eyes open to your mercies. That part of piety is eternal; and the man who forgets to be grateful has fallen asleep in life, Robert Louis Stevenson.  I am not concerned that you have fallen -- I am concerned that you arise. Abraham Lincoln. Self is the root, the tree, and the branches of all the evils of our fallen state, William Law. We have been called to heal wounds, to unite what has fallen away, and to bring home those who have lost their way. Many who seem to us to be children of the Devil will still become Christ's disciples, Francis of Assisi.  It is a denial of justice not to stretch out a helping hand to the fallen that is the common right of humanity, Seneca the Younger.  Many shall be restored that now are fallen and many shall fall that now are in honor, Horace. It is wrong not to give a hand to the 
fallen. This right is common to the whole human race, Seneca the Elder. I am persuaded that without knowledge of literature pure theology cannot at all endure. . . . When letters have declined and lain prostrate, theology, too, has wretchedly fallen and lain prostrate. . . . It is my desire that there shall be as many poets and rhetoricians as possible, because I see that by these studies as by no other means, people are wonderfully fitted for the grasping of sacred truth and for handling it skillfully and happily, Martin Luther. Each new epoch in life seems an encounter. There is a tussle and a cloud of dust, and we come out of it triumphant or crest-fallen, according as we have borne ourselves. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Every accusation against a fallen man gains credence, Publilius Syrus.   

Spring and summer bring so many pleasant and relaxing scenes of “eye candy”. I love the shadows that appear in these seasons. I know there are shadows in the winter too but they don’t seem to be as welcoming. So shadows was my photo of the day for April 6.

I use to do the pysanky-style of decorating eggs. It is time-consuming procedure but gives a feeling of accomplishment when done. The article today gives some ideas of ways to decorate an Easter egg. First the article starts with a way to begin the color. If we forgot to get the egg coloring tablets use liquid food coloring, six to twenty drops to a half cup of water with 1 teaspoon ov vinegar. Here is the explanation for the vinegar: eggshells contain calcium carbonate. Calcium reacts to acid in the vinegar, that lets the color adhere to the shell. I was interested to learn that too much vinegar creates bubbles leading to uneven color. Not enough vinegar doesn’t let the color permeate. There are several ways of cooking the eggs before the coloring. Some people bake them at 350 degrees for thirty minutes. Some cover them in water and boil for four to nine minutes. The person who wrote the article cooks them in an Instant Pot for a few minutes in one cup of water. Here is one of the suggestions, if you have a large pressure cooker (Instant pot)  put food color, water and vinegar in canning jars. Put the jars, the number of jars depends on the size of you cooker, on a wire rack on a cup of water. Put two or three eggs in each jar. Make sure the water in the jar covers the eggs. Close the pressure cooker and cook for six minutes, let the stream release. Be careful, the jars will be hot. Once you can handle them, dunk the eggs in cold water. Yet another way to color the egg. Put Cool Whip on a cooky sheet about one half inch thick, squeeze drops of food coloring on top. Swirl the color in gently. After soaking eggs in vinegar water for a couple of minutes dry them then roll in the colored Cool Whip. Wipe off the Cool Whip, the color remains. Here’s another coloring tip, using crayons to write on the egg before coloring. Some other tips mentioned on line, according to the article, is sing rubber bands and stickers to create layers of color.

I am making a dish for dinner called Spaghetti Pie. I have made baked spaghetti before with spaghetti left over from the night before but this recipe uses eggs and ricotta cheese that I don’t use in baked spaghetti. Some hot rolls will to it off.

Joy

April 4, 2020 thought for the day: The truth is like gold: keep it locked up and you will find it exactly as you first put it away. Senegalese Proverb

I can’t seem to sleep-in lately even though there is not much of a  reason to get up early. I’m awake and can’t get back to sleep.

This month of gratitude offers an open book of ideas for shots that meet the challenge, so many in fact that it is hard to choose “the one”. One thing I notice in the early spring that cements the idea of the coming season it the pink blossoms on the magnolia tree in my neighbor’s back yard.

Since the weather is so nice outside today I will most likely work out th
ere for as long as my energy and legs will allow. I also need to clear out the frig.

I dread going away from the house in this time of isolation but I am going to have to sometime in the next few days. I have to pick up some meds. So since I will be at the store I will get a couple of things that I forgot on my delivery order. That will mean going out with a mask and gloves, yuck, but it is what it is. 

I have one of those solar birdbath fountains. I am trying to find a container that will not splash all the water out as it works. I have just come across a white plastic container I bought last year but never used. I just went out back and spray painted it to fit more in the landscape. I got one side done, I am waiting for it to dry for an hour or so to paint the other side.

The word is failure. There is only one failure in life possible, and that is not to be true to the best one knows, George Eliot.  However things may seem, no evil thing is success and no good thing is failure, Henry Wadsworh Longfellow.  The most important of my discoveries have been suggested to me by failures, Humphry Davy.  There is no impossibility to him who stands prepared to conquer every hazard. The fearful are the failing, Sarah Josepha Hale. What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything? Vincent Van Gogh. A minute's success pays the failure of years, Robert Browning.  Failure is in a sense the highway to success, as each discovery of what is false leads us to seek earnestly after what is true, John Keats.  The probability that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just, Abraham Lincoln.  The only failure one should fear, is not hugging to the purpose they see as best, George Eliot.  I would prefer even to fail with honor than win by cheating, Sophocles. We climb to heaven most often on the ruins of our cherished plans, finding our failures were successes, Amos Bronson Alcott. Criticism is something we can avoid easily by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing, Aristotle.  Finite to fail, but infinite to venture, Emily Dickinson.  Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune; but great minds rise above them, Washington Irving.  Indecision and delays are the parents of failure, George Canning.

In today’s search for a photo to meet the theme I chose clouds. It is beginning to look like most of the photos for this month are going to be nature and season related. Coming out of winter when the skies are mostly gray and blank these views are exciting.

This sounds like another interesting way to get through this time of social separation. The article is about the simple exercise of walking but it lists some of the things that go with the walk.  Transit Columbus created a Walk Columbus Pledge. It encourages people to observe as you go. Look for out of the way “nooks and crannies”. As we walk we usually have interesting thoughts accompanying us as we go. Some of those thoughts might be of ways to make the neighborhood safer and more interesting. According to the article the Columbus Public Health has generated several self-guided walks that suggest art, stores, architecture and history. People can find maps for these walks on the Columbus Public Health website and MeColumbus mobile app. Some places would like for readers to share their own homemade neighborhood maps. One idea was to close some streets for more pedestrians and cyclists. There are also ideas to point more interest to streets that run through parks. 

I am probably just going to pull something from the freezer for dinner tonight.

Love you
Grandma

April 2, 2020 thought for today: What is the use of a big wide world when your shoes are too small? Serbian Proverb

We put together another small special church bulletin to help get through the time in our shared history. I pulled Bob along with me this morning to do the printing and mailing. I was able to get it all done well before eleven o’clock, that is the time of a mail pick up where I drop them off

As I mentioned before, way back in my earlier blogs, each month we have a theme for our photos and each day is an idea for a photo fitting the them..This month, April, is called “month of gratitude”. It is open for us to choose a photo each day that is something we are grateful for. Yesterday was “my house” more fittingly my front porch.

We stopped for our now customary Thursday brunch at White Castle. Then we headed for home for whatever the rest of the day has in store for us. So far that, what was in store for the day,  has been a little time on  google researching for ideas to keep my busy brain full of this thing and that thing. I get a fresh education on many things when I immerse myself in this kind of search. It was also time to get the laundry started. When I went down to move the washer load to the dryer I encountered a stopped drain and sudsy water backing up. So that had to be unclogged (with Bob’s help).

I started a zen garden last summer. It is a patch in the side yard filled with gravel and three rocks that had specific Japanese meanings. Well, I moved the rocks away last fall but the gravel is still there. I planned on having Bob move it away so that he would be able to mow easier. My plans for the garden didn’t go as I had planned it so I gave up. One of the reasons for the “failure” was I don’t have the kind of energy I wish I had but my body says “ain’t going to happen”.

I plan to mark some of my favorite plants rimming the yard and house, my “garden”, so that Bob will not mistake them for weeds and weed whack them down. I hope to do some putting out stakes tomorrow.

Bob likes to wear shoe covers to mow the back yard, we have two dogs....get the picture?  So I ordered them a couple of weeks ago but we haven’t gotten them yet. He had some left from last year but they have gone missing. Anyway, when I re-checked the order, I found that they aren’t expected for delivery until mid May. It finally dawned on me why....they are part of the ppe for our health care workers.

The sun is shining and I just caught the sound of my front porch wind chimes, one of my favorite sounds of the spring and summer.

Today the second day of the month of gratitude my choice is “signs of spring”. This a daffodil in my back yard leaning over and nearly kissing a brick in the patio.

The word today is faces. Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face, Victor Hugo.  If I were two-faced, would I be wearing this one? Abraham Lincoln.  Keep your face always toward the sunshine - and shadows will fall behind you, Walt Whitman. A man finds room in the few square inches of the face for the traits of all his ancestors; for the expression of all his history, and his wants, Ralph Waldo Emerson. In the faces of men and women, I see God, Walt Whitman. If a good face is a letter of recommendation, a good heart is a letter of credit, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton. For truth has such a face and such a mien, as to be loved needs only to be seen, John Dryden. Commitment is what transforms a promise into a reality... Commitment is the stuff character is made of; the power to change the face of things. It is the daily triumph of integrity over skepticism, Abraham Lincoln.  The wind in ones face makes one wise, George Herbert. I often laugh at Satan, and there is nothing that makes him so angry as when I attack him to his face, and tell him that through God I am more than a match for him, Martin Luther. Faith pulls the black mask from the face of trouble, and discovers the angel beneath, Charles Spurgeon. All other creatures look down toward the earth, but man was given a face so that might turn his eyes toward the stars and his gaze upon the sky, Ovid. Beauty does not lie in the face. It lies in the harmony between a person and his or her industry. Beauty is expression. When I paint a mother I try to render her beautiful by the mere look she gives her child, Jean-Francois Millet. When you speak of heaven, let your face light up...When you speak of hell well then, your everyday face will do, Charles Spurgeon. 


Todays article is another idea for a way to pass the time in the stay at home time. It is about having pillow fights to release tension and bring on laughter. In the first paragraph ‘.... No kicking, biting, scratching, punching or hair-pulling. Here are the essentials: Yelling, screaming, tackling, wrestling and hitting — with a pillow....”. This was the idea of a lady from California who was home schooling her own fifth and third graders and that of teaching her law student remotely and all the disheartening news of the internet and computer. She and her children would take a break at intervals to have the pillow fights which would last fifteen minutes. The didn’t have to be any disinfecting processes that followed any outdoor activity. It helped to release frustration, fear, sadness, and anger. The practice apparently has some “danger”. There was an occasion when one member got smacked in the face with a fast moving pillow. There has been stoppage to how we shop and how we run in the park, a rumor that there would be no leaving without permission but we continue to have the pillow fights. “When the timer on my phone goes off, we’re done: sweaty, out of breath, exhilarated.”

We are having salmon patties and hash brown potatoes for dinner.

Joy

March 31, 2020 thought for today: It takes two days to learn everything about a man; to know animals you will need more time. Persian Proverb

This has been a lazy kind of day. It has been hard to attach my focus in any one direction. I was missing my church family so I sent a group message to those whose email addresses I have been able to collect. I have heard back from a few. It felt good to have at least some touch with them.

The photo for yesterday was “far away”. This is another that can be an easy choice. Of course, living in the country would make the choices a lot more abundant but there are choices here to, now and then. This may require some thought. Mine thinking was over the neighbor’s roof on to the tress further on, eventually into the heavens.

I did some research on things that people might do with the use of technology to help others occupy some otherwise boring time with puzzles or problems solving questions to fill some of that time. I am still searching. 

I looked up some crochet stitches I have been having a problem completing all the way through. I am making developmental crochet toys and gifts for my five great grandchildren (as well as on going work on a “woven in time” crochet/woven blanket along with a full size crochets pineapple edges crochet table cloth).

Another way I am “fighting” boredom is I am (still) reading “Hell’s Corner” (Baldacci) as well as my daily cognitive and memory games on the ipad/cell phone. All of that along with my daily letter/blog/journal.

Today’s photo theme is “buddies”. Since the country is pretty much in quarantine right now there aren’t to many chances for that so I reached back in my archives. This is Sugar and one of her pals from the past Tiger.

The word today is eye. The Eyes are the window to your soul, William Shakespeare. One of the most wonderful things in nature is a glance of the eye; it transcends speech; it is the bodily symbol of identity, Ralph Waldo Emerson. The face is a picture of the mind with the eyes as its interpreter, Marcus Tullius Cicero. When there is love in the heart, there are rainbows in the eyes, which cover every black cloud with gorgeous hues, Henry Ward Beecher.  Imagination is the eye of the soul, Joseph Joubert. Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other's eyes for an instant? Henry David Thoreau. Men trust their ears less than their eyes, Herodotus. The soul, fortunately, has an interpreter - often an unconscious, but still a truthful interpreter - in the eye, Charlotte Bronte. The sky is the daily bread of the eyes, Ralph Waldo Emerson. With an eye made quiet by the power of harmony, and the deep power of joy, we see into the life of things, William Wordsworth. The eyes indicate the antiquity of the soul, Ralph Waldo Emerson. The eye is the jewel of the body, Henry David Thoreau. The eyes like sentinel occupy the highest place in the body, Marcus Tullius Cicero.




The Short North here in Columbus has a gallery hop each month. In this time of trouble they have decided to make the hop an online gallery visit. It is supposed to be conducted through Instagram. I don’t have and have never used Instagram, I have enough keeping up with my facebook account. But I would try it just to visit the gallery hop. It has been years since I visited the hop on a week end. This one was going to virtually show artists’ work both. On April 4 people can go on Instagram to check it out. Retailers and performers will be there as well as the usual artwork and exhibitions. Work will be sold online. There will be a show of new styles along with product demonstrations. There will also be a Get Together Car Parade making it ‘s way through the Short North at 1 o’clock. So here is another way to enjoy a stabilized social event in a different way.

This is the end of the month so I have my usual end of month composite of all the photos I captured for March.

I had a “colossal” accident while cooking dinner last night so I am not in the mood to cook tonight.  But I will probably struggle through....maybe tuna balls. Oh, the “colossal” accident, I had a beautiful full pressure cooker of lima bean soup. I tasted as I went, as every good cook does, and found it to be outstanding if I do say so myself. I was about to make egg dumplings to add to it. As I stood on my tippy toes and reached, with my gripper, for a glass bowl on the second shelf of the “all the way to the ceiling cupboards”, the bowl slipped and dropped to the marble counter shattering into more pieces than I thought there would be in such a medium sized bowl. Many of those pieces bounced to the stove and burner and I was afraid into the pot of soup. I ended up throwing the whole pot of stew, most probably at least three full dinner meals, away.

Joy