December 12, 2020 thought for the day: When you want to test the depths of a stream, don't use both feet. Chinese  Proverb

This is a dreary Saturday. It is warmer than it normally is in December but it’s kind of hard to think that when glancing out the window.

The photo challenge for December 11 was “green”. I took the camera out looking for something interesting in green. I looked and shot through over head branches of evergreen trees and tilted the camera down to get a  good shot of patches of green grass. Finally I landed on the green left in my own fairy garden still left under one of the evergreen trees in the back yard. 

We had the girls for a sleep over last night. I don’t know if because they are getting bigger they are getting louder or if that is just a mirage. In sprints of time they seem to like to wrestle with one another giggling all the while (that is until one hurts the other). So as their limbs hit the floor, a piece of furniture or each other the sound carries with more of a crescendo than when their bodies were a little smaller. When not wrestling or showing each other their creativity in some other manner they have their cell phones or ipads vibrating with sound.

I had planned to go to Sams club today for some ink but then I realized they would probably be back to having people stand in line as they allowed only a certain number of people in. I refuse to wait in line like that. I don’t need anything that badly. If I would decide to go, it wouldn’t be on a Saturday, more like during “senior” hour, as early in the day as possible....maybe next week. 

I am a bit perturbed. My cell phone automatically updated yesterday. After the update my photos do not automatically go to my Onedrive (cloud) as it did before. I don’t want to take the time to try to put it back to where it is supposed to be but rather than stay “perturbed” I may have to try to fix it. 

I do believe the sun is trying to show itself. As I glance out the window beside my computer screen I see a bit of blue sky with fluffy white clouds, 

The word for today is pride.  All men make mistakes, but a good man yields when he knows his course is wrong, and repairs the evil. The only crime is pride, Sophocles. Humility is nothing but truth, and pride is nothing but lying, Vincent de Paul. When pride and presumption walk before, shame and loss follow very closely, Louis XI of France.  Pride goes before destruction, Aesop. Humility and knowledge in poor clothes excel pride and ignorance in costly attire, William Penn.  The devil...the prowde spirite (proud spirit)...cannot endure to be mocked, Thomas Moore.  Airs of importance are the credentials of impotence, Johann Kaspar Lavater.  Pride requires very costly food-its keeper's happiness, Charles Caleb Colton.  Charity feeds the poor, so does pride; charity builds an hospital, so does pride. In this they differ: charity gives her glory to God; pride takes her glory from man, Francis Quarles.  Spiritual pride is the most dangerous and the most arrogant  of all sorts of pride, Samuel Richardson. The pride of the body is a barrier against the gifts that purify the soul, George Eliot. Pride and weakness are Siamese twins, James Russell Lowell. We are rarely proud when we are alone, Voltaire. Pride costs us more than hunger, thirst, and cold, Thomas Jefferson. When flowers are full of heaven-descended dews, they always hang their heads; but men hold theirs the higher the more they receive, getting proud as they get full, Henry Ward Beecher. 

The photo theme for today is “red”. A few days ago my neighbor surprised me with a beautiful gift of two tiny poinsettias, one white and one red. What a perfect choice for my photo for today. The red flowering beauty and holiday icon is in a small red container. After I made the shot I noted a tiny reflection of part of the container in the surface it was poised upon. I liked that added touch. 

This is an interesting use of space and cost savings I would hope. I have seen photos of  the fields of the wind turbines that causes me to wonder if that is the way of the future, solar energy apparatus also amazes me. Couldn’t our source of electricity be free? In my naivete may be showing.....nothing is free. The article today is telling us about a solar farm being planned for Franklin County. It would be located in Pleasant and Prairie townships and within the purview of the Big Darby Accord Advisory Panel. Two thousand acres south of Broad Street’s on east side of  Darby Creek Road would be the location of the solar farm and would provide power to fifty thousand homes.  The process is currently in the approval stage. According to the article the “site currently is made up of single crop and sod farmland.” If I am reading the article correctly, the people who own the land can receive between “$250 and $3,000 per acre annually”. Again according to the article “after construction, the project will employ up to three people to oversee the operations and maintenance of the facility”. There will be plantings under the panels “to prevent soil erosion, improve soil health and reduce phosphorous runoff in storm water that flows into Big Darby”. At the end of the “facility’s 30-year lifespan, the solar panels are removed......the land is returned to its original condition”. One person who lives across from the proposed project and was interviewed stated that she is concerned about interruptions from the construction that will be going on to set up the solar farm. These folks will be paid for any inconveniences but still wants to hear more about the project. It will be interesting to see how projects like this will take place and how/if will such projects will improve our energy resources and if and how it will affect nature and our familiar way of life. 

I think I am going to make beef stew in the pressure cooker for dinner. 

Joy

 December 10, 2020 thought for today: How can you put out a fire set on a cart-load of firewood with only a cup of water. Chinese Proverb

Here’s the way this December 10th started. I put out one of the humane mouse traps last night. We caught one! I heard him/her scratching to get out. I decided to take it a mile or so away from the house and release it where there were other wild critters, some maybe friendly to the mouse, maybe some looking for a snack (I tell myself it’s nature). When I opened the lid to release, my capture popped out and made a run for it. I like this style trap, it’s easy to bait, it won’t hurt my dogs if they find it on the floor, the package says it can capture more than one at a time. The only draw back is emptying it. I want to take it away from the house so they can’t find their way back.

On December 9 my photo challenge was “orange”. Sue had a dental appointment on that date after I dropped her off I went in search of an image to fill that theme. I shot some signs with orange in them and some road maintenance cones. Turning onto one side street, I found an orange someone had dropped in the gutter. I also passed by and shot some freshly painted fire hydrants that appeared to be a bright orange in their new coats. 

Well, eventually I got to the church to complete the printing. The church was totally quiet and comforting like a huge embrace as I walked through. The sunlight with no artificial light competing, was reflected in a maze of color through the stained glass onto the columns, pews and floor. My travels through the aisles this way, always allows for the most peaceful thinking I can experience, just me and One Other. Perhaps that’s why I feel a bit poetic today.  

Since, to my pleasant surprise, I got the Christmas Eve bulletin completed yesterday today there is no “deadline” hanging in the air. A day to move through time relaxed and easy, oops, with one exception....laundry.

The weather is gorgeous today. Some times I think I would like it to stay like this, on the other hand winter has its moments too. 

This was one of the days I had two photos a day. The first is “navy”. I often accept what is probably royal blue as navy so once I got my images to Photoshop I used its help in determining the difference by the hex color code for each. I shot a blue art graffiti piece at the park of the confederate camp. I shot the blue field on the American flag. I shot some blue file folders and some blue hymnals and bibles on the self at church. 

The word is prejudice.  Prejudices are what fools use for reason. Voltaire. It is never too late to give up our prejudices, Henry David Thoreau.  Prejudices are the chains forged by ignorance to keep men apart, Marguerite Gardiner, Countess of Blessington.  Prejudice is never easy unless it can pass itself off for reason, William Hazlitt.  Opinions founded on prejudice are always sustained with the greatest of violence, Francis Jeffrey, Lord Jeffrey.  Prejudice is the child of ignorance, William Hazlitt. Prejudices, it is well known, are most difficult to eradicate from the heart whose soil has never been loosened or fertilized by education; they grow firm there, firm as weeds among stones, Charlotte Bronte.  He hears but half who hears one party only, Aeschylus. Prejudice squints when it looks and lies when it talks, Laure Junot, Duchess of Abrantes. The greatest friend of truth is Time, her greatest enemy is Prejudice, and her constant companion is Humility, Charles Caleb Colton. Superstitions, bigotries, hypocrisies, prejudices, these phantoms, phantoms though they be, cling to life; they have teeth and nails in their shadowy substance, and we must grapple with them individually and make war on them without truce; for it is one of humanity's inevitabilities to be condemned to eternal struggle with phantoms, Victor Hugo. The chief cause of human errors is to be found in the prejudices picked up in childhood, Rene Descartes.   

My second theme photo was “kitchen duty”. I gathered some equipment from my kitchen drawers and set up a prop for this photo. One of my aprons, a rolling pin, a set of measuring cups and a pot holder. 

Seeing how many ways of helping and finding ways to fit into a “new normal” are interesting and educational for me. So this article’s title, basically telling how to help students with online learning, tempted me to discover its message. The first student interviewed for this article told of how the hardest thing for him to figure out was how to “get to” his classes. He lives with his grand parents who can’t really help him with work on his Google Chromebook. When you are studying at home with no peers around and no teacher at hand there is no one there for help. There is a place called City Life Center in Franklinton that is run by a religious nonprofit group called Central Ohio Youth for Christ. They have set up a “learning extension center”. This young student lives within walking distance of this center. There are a few of these sites in Columbus. They are run by local churches and city recreation centers. They take in small groups of students. They offer reliable internet, meals and help with the class work. They keep the area safe and use “socially-distance settings”. Some of them open during school hours while others after school if school is in session. These centers have helped about 1,400 students. The City of Columbus has set aside about $2 million in grants for these centers. One person working in one of the centers said that typically ten to twelve students show up. It seems surprising that they will show up on their own when they could stay at home if they wanted. One of the students noted that it is safe and quiet enough to focus on homework where at home younger siblings share the wifi and can be noisy. The article stated that all 29 community centers in the city are operating “solely as learning sites from 9:30am to 3pm on weekdays”.

It looks like it is going to be parmesan crusted chicken and home made potato soup for dinner. 

Joy

 December 8, 2020 thought for the day: If you are in a hurry, go via the roundabout. Chinese Proverb

I need to start working on the Christmas Eve bulletin for church so today was a lot of information gathering for that purpose. I have the music selections from the choir director and some of the information from the pastor. There were a couple of spots that I needed information from other people. With all of that gathered I think I am ready to put it together. I am using a template from past years so I know I have a lot of information to put in a small amount of space so it is going to be a feat in geometry or physics; or go to a larger paper size and then have too much room left over. Thanks to the habit of the pastor for this week, getting me the information early, I have the weekly bulletin done. 

On December 7 the photo theme was “brown”. As I was making my breakfast I noticed how the pancakes were turning a beautiful golden brown, “there’s my photo for the day”. Easy peasy 

We have been searching for a bread box. I have a container that I have been using for other odds and ends that need a storage container. I decided to move some of the things I have to several different containers to make room for nothing but bread. I worked on that today. Now we have a “bread box”. 

I think I mentioned in an earlier letter that we had a tiny problem with mice, they’re back. One of the dogs discovered one and was trying desperately to get beyond some boxes that seemed to be between her and the invasive critter. So I loaded a trap, one of the “humane type” to try to capture him/her. I’ve never used one of this type so needed to figure that out. I’ve used the other type but my fingers aren’t as agile as they use to be, and I’m a namby pamby about killing things, so I am trying this method. 

I’m also still working on the Christmas calendars. I am trying to print at least one a day. I am doing them on my own printer which is very slow so it is going to take days to get done. 

The word for today is precious.  And it is not a slight thing when they, who are so fresh from God, love us, Charles Dickens. An inexhaustible good nature is one of the most precious gifts of heaven, spreading itself like oil over the troubled sea of thought, and keeping the mind smooth and equable in the roughest weather, Washington Irving.  Genius and sunshine have this in common that they are the two most precious gifts of heaven to earth, and are dispensed equally to the just and the unjust, Anna Brownell Jameson. A word in season is most precious, Aesop.  Happiness resides not in possessions, and not in gold, happiness dwells in the soul, Democritus. The search for truth is more precious than its possession, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing.  When Honor's sun declines, and Wealth takes wings, Then Learning shines, the best of precious things, Edward Cocker. Pain pays the income of each precious thing, William Shakespeare. A high character might be produced, I suppose, by continued prosperity, but it has very seldom been the case. Adversity, however it may appear to be our foe, is our true friend; and, after a little acquaintance with it, we receive it as a precious thing - the prophecy of a coming joy. It should be no ambition of ours to traverse a path without a thorn or stone, Charles Spurgeon. 

Today’s photo challenge is “purple”. For me purple isn’t an easy color to find at least not right now and not right here. Some of the Christmas tree ornaments come “close, but no cigar”. One of the pink ones was the closest to purple so I used a Photoshop adjustment of the hue and saturation feature. After I touched the image with a stroke I found that parts of the bulb picked up the purple more than other parts. I liked the effect so I left it at that and added an oil paint filter. 

I always wanted a train set with a landscape set up all around it but back when I was a girl that “toy” was for boys. It seems the hobby of model electric trains comes to mind a lot at Christmas. The article today is called “Chugging along”. There is a place in Canal Winchester called “Queen of the Line Depot”.  A while ago a group of small-scale model train enthusiasts met in the Ohio Expo Center. They were looking for a place to set up and found an available empty room in Canal Winchester. This was around 1995. By 2019 it had fallen into “disuse”. Some wanted to tear it down, others chose to try to save it. A train “aficionado” was called upon to help. He gave time, talent, money and material. Another interested party contributed her talent in art to work on a backdrop of a “vivid blue sky filled with clouds”. According to the article the layout that came about with their efforts was a route representing a traveling from the south Columbus Brewery District and Front street to Canal Wincester then on to Carroll next onto the quarry south of Lancaster. Eventually the groups want to extend the layout to “travel to southern Ohio to a mountain with a coal mine in the loop.”  For the physical set up in the restoration project a new plywood base was erected adding plaster to build the topography. I learned from the article that stained sawdust was used for grass. Structures were made with kits or custom made to set up the towns along the way.  The set up can be viewed through plexiglass partitions. There is even a model of a canal boat in the water feature area. A schoolhouse will become a “miniaturized depot”. The “downtown buildings are handmade” which include a “the interurban” (an old railway in the area) “and drawbridge”. The hopes are to add realism to the display. It is hoped they can open the newly refurbished model to the public in early 2021. They hope to maintain it on a permanent basis. I think I would like to visit. Maybe I’m not too old to make an effort to have a small electric train set up??

I think I am making sloppy joe for dinner. 

Joy

 December 6, 2020 thought for the day: When you cease to strive to understand, then you will know without understanding. Chinese Proverb

It’s been a informative Sunday. A few people in the church family have some problems. Sad news can sometimes be easier to accept knowing that there is good entwined in the sad. That’s my hopes for the ones mentioned in our services today. It was my day, one I need at least once a week, especially in these times and in my place in life. It is a day of renewal of spirit and then the rest of the day for a semblance of rest and a time of reflection. 

This was our first day of live streaming of the church service. Up to now I have been uploading the taped service from a memory card after church each week. Now I don’t need to do that. I took a look at the equipment it takes to complete that task....I am glad I am not the one chosen to handle that each week. One part of the equipment looked like what I visualize as an airplane control panel, way out of my bailiwick at this point in my life. Good luck to the “driver”. 

On December 5 I had two photo a day themes. The first was “black”. Shooting an image in all black or all white can be challenge. I have two drinking containers I keep on my desk both have black tops so I used them as my subject, against a black back ground and then used a filter to “liven” up the image or give it some texture. 

I stopped at McDonald’s on my way home. As I passed the White Castle on the corner I noticed it is back open. I’m so glad they are back. There are memories in that spot and, I imagine, more to come for me.

I figured I had better start printing my Christmas calendars. I don’t have much time left. Doing this project as a home made item takes time and patience. Most hand made items are created with a natural love that goes into each step, time is a presence at the top of the list. I found a spot that is causing one section not to print so I had to search around to find the culprit and fix it. 

The second theme for December 5 was “cozy corner”. I did a corner subject for another recent image. As I mentioned then I have a few interesting corners in and around the house. I chose one of them on the front porch for this one. 

The word today is power.  To have what we want is riches; but to be able to do without is power, George MacDonald.  Power and position often make a man trifle with the truth, George A. Smith  Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced, Soren Kierkegaard.  Most powerful is he who has himself in his own power, Seneca the Younger. A victorious and powerful ally is but another name for a master, James Madison.  Opinion is a powerful party, bold, and without measure, Michel de Montaigne.  Learning is like mercury, one of the most powerful and excellent things in the world in skillful hands; in unskillful, the most mischievous, Alexander Pope.  The active part of man consists of powerful instincts, some of which are gentle and continuous; others violent and short; some baser, some nobler, and all necessary, Francis William Newman.  A man makes inferiors his superiors by heat; self control is the rule. Anger is an uncontrollable feeling that betrays what you are when you are not yourself. Anger is that powerful internal force that blows out the light of reason. Know this to be the enemy: it is anger, born of desire, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Justice is in subjects as well as in rulers, Thomas Aquinas. Example is more powerful than precept, Aesop.  

Today’s photo challenge is “pink”. Pink is a “picky” color for me. I mean for me it is hard to place a feeling on the color therefore hard to determine haw to present it. I have a very pink jacket and had it on when I came in and checked the photo list for today so I tool a selfie for th first shot. I chose not to use that one and looked for another. There are three children’s outdoor fold up chairs in the back near a fire bit. One of them is pink. I created a couple of images from that collection. The two other chairs were different colors and I didn’t want them to detract from the pink so I selected them out with a Photoshop tool and turned them to black and white in the overall image. 

I think this article offers a bit of holiday cheer. It talks about making handmade gifts and ornaments for the holidays. Making decoration especially this year can serve more than one purpose. It is a way to pass the time, bond with family and end up with a useful decoration to use as ornaments or as gifts. The article suggests and tips for making ten projects. The first is a wreath. Use ornaments you may have on hand, buy some at the dollar store, also use some pine cones and garlands that sparkle. Apply these to a wreath frame or twig frame with a glue gun. The next suggestion is to pain a slat from a  picket fence then use it as an accessory at the entrance way. Use acrylic paint then design a toy soldier, Santa Claus, snowman, candy cane, etc. The third suggestion was using dehydrated fruit as ornaments. String popcorn on a garland and add crispy fruit and berry chips. To dehydrate your own fruit put the fruit in a oven on low setting. Next, make a frosted mason jar.  Spray paint the jar, add pine cones or evergreen stems and top the jr with ribbon. Or ad a string of lights in the jar or add a candle in the painted jar. How about a paper chain garland.  Cut construction paper in even strips, bend them in to circles and put on through another before taping or gluing the end to form the circle. For a little difference use metallic paper. How about making a Christmas tree skirt. That could be done using a scrap of burlap material and a ribbon. Cut a circle of the burlap, wrap it around the base of the tree and attach a ribbon. Here’s another you may have done as a child, slat dough ornaments. Mix four cups of flour and one cup of salt, pour water in to mix and create a doughy texture, mix it thoroughly. The create shapes or use a cookie cutter on patted down the dough mixture. Be use to put a hole in what will be the top of the “ornament” where ribbon can be attached for hanging. The shape should be baked at 325 degrees for an hour. After they cool than an be painted.  Popsicle sticks can be used to make snowflakes. Glue them together to form a snowflake, then use acrylic paint and glitter to decorate. An evergreen center piece is always cheerful decoration for the table. Cut some small branches or twigs from evergreen trees or bushes around your house. Use a brick of floral styrofoam as the base to stick the evergreen pieces in decoratively arranged. Then place the styrofoam in a decorative bowl. The last suggestion from the article is “oversized ornaments”.  Decorate the outside of the house with giant, colorful bouncy balls in different colors. Use small metal buckets or take out containers to super glue the rim and add the ball. 

Tacos tonight for dinner. 

Joy

 December 4, 2020 thought for the day: Do not judge your friend until you stand in his place. Danish Proverb

This has been one of those “draggy” days (my own strange word  observation). I have the dish washer half loaded and thought I could finish it today but it’s still not full and the sink is empty so apparently it will go another day.  There was a corner in the inside back porch that has needed cleaned out so I finished that today. 

The photo theme for yesterday was “blue”. My sister had some errands to run yesterday and I am her driver so our first stop was at her bank. At her bank the lobby is closed so we had to go to the drive through window. He had to wait in line, there were three cars ahead of us. As we sat there, I noticed in my rearview mirror that there was a blue car behind me. I played around with the camera and got a couple of shots. I also saw a blue commercial dumpster off to the side in front of us so I played with that too. Later I took her to Shoppers World. As I waited in the car, I noted a lot of blue in their signage so I captured some of those. 

After our Outreach/Worship/Christian Ed meeting last night I noted a couple became aware that I needed to put out an email to our church members. There was no mention in the December newsletter that we would not change our Sunday service area for January and February as we have been doing for the past several years. So I need to pass that information on. Also with the church being and staying open due to the ups and downs of the pandemic there was no definite mention that we would be having an evening Christmas Eve service in the newsletter. This will be our fist service consisting of a larger (maybe a bit larger than our Sunday morning services) number of people for an evening service/meeting during this “self isolation” period. I sent out the email for those notifications. 

So that was my “productive” part of the day. The rest has been computer catch up work. I am still updating my two online “shops”.  To add to my list of catch up work, I haven’t finished my traditional family calendar that I make for everyone for Christmas. I am having trouble getting all of the photos together. For some reason I don’t have some of everyone. I have been taking photos of my great grand children more than the rest of the family. I may have to give them their calendars a few weeks after Christmas.

The word today is plenty.  No matter how much cats fight, there always seem to be plenty of kittens, Abraham Lincoln.  It is a friendly heart that has plenty of friends, William Makepeace Thackeray. The waste of plenty is the resource of scarcity, Thomas Love Peacock. Grow angry slowly - there's plenty of time, Ralph Waldo Emerson.  There’s no shame about any honest calling; don’t be afraid of soiling your hands, there’s plenty of soap to be had, Charles Spurgeon.  Where there is plenty, charity is a duty, not a courtesy, Owen Feltham.  Don't neglect the future in times of plenty, for tomorrow you may need what you wasted today, Aesop.  A holiday isn't a holiday, without plenty of freedom and fun, Louisa May Alcott. The tongue of man is a twisty thing, there are plenty of words there of every kind, Homer.  When there is enough to eat for eight, there is plenty for ten, Moliere. He who sounds his own trumpet will soon find plenty to laugh at him, Publilius Syrus.  Plenty of people want to be pious, but no one yearns to be humble, Francois de La Rochefoucauld. The beautiful is never plentiful, Ralph Waldo Emerson. The world is plentiful with honey, but only the humble bee can collect it, Ralph Waldo Emerson.   

The photo challenge for today is “aqua”. I have trouble finding the difference between aqua and turquoise. I used the Photoshop Hex code numbers. I use the color in the photo, use the eyedropper tool to capture the chosen color’s number then type in the correct code for what I want and volia. For this particular photo I cheated, the door was actually a shade of yellow but I “re-colored” it and “sketched” out the background. 

The title to this article caught my attention. It seems to me like it is another possible “new normal”. The title said “....tutors, students paired virtually through Reading Center”. The Reading Center at Capital University “connects education majors....with students in kindergarten through 12th grade”. According to the article 23 tutors work one-on-one with kids offering video instruction for the whole semester. This program continues to grow by word of mouth. The tutors prepare “individualized” lesson plans and help aids to the material for the students. The students using this service come from public and private schools all over central Ohio . These services use to be done at the campus in person until the pandemic. The article mentioned that the education majors who work in this program find “creative ways to plan their virtual tutoring sessions”. One of the instructors says she used instructional methods and games with her fourth grade student. This student is studying French as part of her lessons. The tutor took French when she was in school. One of the things she uses as she works with this student is she has him “summarize” his day in French then she returns a response in French. Another of the tutors says she researches online resources to include in her lessons with her first grade student. They read together, as she introduces words and their break down. She says they share screens with Word documents and PDF files. I can see the pros and cons to this method of teaching. I can find the technology exciting but would miss the one on one connection. 

Its pizza night again, ya-hoo. 

Joy

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December 2, 2020 thought for today, You won't help shoots grow by pulling them up higher. Chinese Proverb

The top of the agenda for today was a trip to the grocery store. That was followed by a trip to the drug store to pick up Sue’s meds and for me to see if I could find some pet safe ice melt, Kroger didn’t have it. I first stopped at Certified, they hadn’t gotten it in yet. Since we were at Walgreens I decided to check there, they had it! Mission accomplished. 

While I was at the store, I snuck my camera out to get my theme photo, “yellow”, lemons and roses. I mentioned “snuck” in the last sentence because some stores don’t like people to take photos in their store, I don’t know Kroger’s policy. Some stores don’t mind. I think if I talked to the manger to tell them the circumstances, an amateur photographer on a photo club assignment, they wouldn’t mind. 

This month my photo a day club’s overall theme is “colors”. Yesterday’s theme title was “white”. This time of year in Ohio white is kind of easy to find. We had a snow fall last night. So I made several shots of trees and cars and shovels topped off with snow. 

I had a couple of other tasks to complete before going to church to print tomorrow. I had the message/hymn lyrics to format. Then the shut in envelopes to print. Next a sheet of hymn titles for the choir director. 

After those chores were done, I worked on the annual family calendar. 

Lowell stopped to clear up some of the results of  the house maintenance left overs that had piled up. 

I put groceries up in stops and starts. I still have some left to do. 

The word today is philosophy.  There is no philosophy without the art of ignoring objections, Joseph de Maistre.  To know the hight of a mountain, one must climb it, Augustus William Hare.  Philosophy triumphs easily over past evils and future evils, but present evils triumph over it, Francois de La Rochefoucauld.  There is but one philosophy and its name is fortitude! To bear is to conquer our fate, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton. To believe only possibilities is not faith, but mere Philosophy, Thomas Browne. ...there are some who are naturally fitted for philosophy and political leadership, while the rest should follow their lead and let philosophy alone, Plato. True philosophy invents nothing; it merely establishes and describes what is, Victor Cousin. Philosophy is reason with the eyes of the soul, William Gilmore Simms.  There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so, William Shakespeare.  Philosophy, like medicine, has plenty of drugs, few good remedies, and hardly any specific cures, Nicolas Chamfort. Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy, Ludwig van Beethoven.  Experience has shown, and a true philosophy will always show, that a vast, perhaps the larger portion of the truth arises from the seemingly irrelevant, Edgar Allan Poe.  Whence? wither? why? how? - these questions cover all philosophy, Joseph Joubert. Things do not change; we change, Henry David Thoreau. The fool’s life is empty of gratitude and full of fears; its course lies wholly toward the future, Epicurus. There are more things to alarm us than to harm us, and we suffer more often in apprehension than reality, Seneca the Younger.  At his best, man is the noblest of all animals; separated from law and justice he is the worst, Aristotle.  

As I mentioned earlier in this story, while I was at the store I made a few shots of yellows. I chose the
one I captured of yellow roses to use for this upload. 

This article is another story about animals....what could be bad about that? At least it’s a break from the pandemic. This article is about a “snowy owl”. Apparently they are not an everyday sight at Alum Creek. Since I haven’t met Harry Potter and his adventure at this point in my life, I learned from this article that this owl species is a “real live Hedwig”. I learned from the article that Harry’s  Hedwig , postal carrier, is a snowy owl, is “a magnificent bird who habits the Arctic regions. There is art work in European caves from 30,000 years ago that depict the huge white owls. On November 22 a visitor to Alum Creek Reservoir saw this amazing bird. The find was immediately announced on social media resulting in several dozen folks interested came to the park. The art would appear on cameras. Apparently after several hours they remained hidden. There seems to be an unwritten rule that one must stay at least 200 feet away from the owl. The owl had been seen earlier resting on top of boulders along a slop in near the dam. Eventually after a few days the owl turned up. Over a hundred people came to see it taking photos to mark their visit. According to their reports the owl is “spectacular”. Females can be two feet long and weight about five pounds. They have a wingspan of five feet. It was noted that the owl’s eyes are golden and about the size of a human’s eye. One of its favorite meals is a small rodent that will be grabbed silently in “gargantuan talons”. They have been known to capture Canada geese, great blue herons and gulls. This was interesting, there are 14 neck vertebra that allows it to rotate its head 270 degrees. After doing some research, it was noted that the snowy owls that may have come to Ohio in past years came from the Ungava Peninsula of northern Quebec. Normally the adult males remain in the Arctic. It has been recorded that every four or five years the owl may come to the Midwest usually coming after “lemming outbreaks”. Many of the owlets venture south in the winter to hunt. Apparently this is not one of those winters so there will be fewer owls this far south. That’s why this year seeing the snowy owl was a pleasant surprise for many. 

We are having baked spaghetti and fried bologna for dinner. 

Joy

 

 November 30, 2020 thought for today, Your best mirror is someone more beautiful than you. Chinese Proverb

It feels like winter today. I feel almost like I could hibernating. It would be especially the thing to do this year after all the turmoil of 2020. As I glance out the window beside my computer set up, I watch the snow flakes falling against the gray sky and bare trees. 

On November 29 the photo theme was “a view”. Of course there are “views” all around us. I have some that I took on one of my photo journeys of the back of business that have items discarded in piles and on pavement with weeds in the cracks. In some instances those view’s could have a type of art. There are the lines, shapes, forms and colors as art. But I wanted something a little more on the peaceful sides. So I made another trip to Westgate Park.  

I got the bulletin done on Monday for a change. I also got a bit of work done on a couple of other small projects others at church had asked me to do. 

A note about the finishing of the installation of the new doors on the back of the house. They are all done but the “aftermath” of such a project is still in a couple of piles on the back lawn, soon to be covered by snow I would guess. It’s just a “thing” and will be dealt with in due time.  

One good thing that I got off my mind today was getting the monthly bills out of the way. It is usually a very disturbing chore but there was a surprising ending... I have a couple of dollars left. 

I will watch the snow for the rest of the afternoon and think of Christmas and the joy that comes with it.   

The photo challenge for today is “tiny people”. Since there aren’t any “tiny people” around here today I went on a search of my archives. I have lots of shot of part of my great grandchildren but for some reason this one struck me as the one to use. This is my sister and me, a long, long time ago. We were tiny then and still on the petite side. 

The word today is pleasant.  It is pleasant to have been to a place the way a river went, Henry David Thoreau. It is impossible to live a pleasant life without living wisely and well and justly. And it is impossible to live wisely and well and justly without living a pleasant life, Epicurus.  Old age, believe me, is a good and pleasant thing. It is true you are gently shouldered off the stage, but then you are given such a comfortable front stall as spectator, Confucius. To go to heaven, fully to enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here, Jonathan Edwards. Nothing is sweeter than love, nothing more courageous, nothing higher, nothing wider, nothing more pleasant, nothing fuller nor better in heaven and earth; because love is born of God, and cannot rest but in God, above all created things, Thomas a Kempis. A pleasant companion reduces the length of the journey, Publilius Syrus.  Mingle a little folly with your wisdom; a little nonsense, now and then, is pleasant, Horace.  It's a pleasant thing to be young, and have ten toes, Robert Louis Stevenson.  The self-indulgent man craves for all pleasant things... and is led by his appetite to choose these at the cost of everything else, Aristotle.  A person will gain everyone's approval if he mixes the pleasant with the useful, Horace.  The pleasantest things in the world are pleasant thoughts, and the great art of life is to have as many of them as possible, Michel de Montaigne.   

Since this is the last day of the month I put together a composite of my photo of the day photos for November 2020. 

There is so much news still about the pandemic and about this past election that I had a hard time finding something the least bit happy to read and share. This article is came about due to the pandemic and is, maybe, a part of the “new normal”.  The title is Christmas goes virtual in Grove City. Plans for a holiday celebration is going on despite or due to cancelations of the “old celebration ways”. The tradition al nutcracker hunt, holiday lights, Santa along with a decorating contest and other will be taking place with a bit of a twist. This Nutcracker Hunt is the fourth to take place. There will be 30 nutcrackers hidden at the Town Center businesses. People are reminded to mask up. This event began on November 28. Santa Clause will be part of the celebrations. He will help light the Town Center Christmas tree. This event can be seen from your own home on a pre-recorded show on the Grove City Facebook page on December 5 at 6pm. Along with Santa this show will have performances of high school choirs and bands. He will also visit local businesses to answer questions that have been sent to him. The city of Grove City set u a direct mail route to Santa allowing kids to drop off letters in a special mailbox. The letters could be dropped off from Monday November 20 through Sunday December 6. The mailbox is in front of the GC Welcome Center and Museum. It has also been arranged for Santa to make phone calls to kids the week of December 7. Reservations for a call can be made on the website. There is a Festival of Lights contest during December for exterior decorations of residence and businesses. There are entry forms for the contest and a People’s Choice voting are encouraged. At the last of the article there was a message encouraging people to visit the “Grove City Area Chamber of Commerce Arts in the Alley Home Edition shopping, art and entertainment throughout the season at artsinthealley.gcchamber.org.

I rummaged in the freezer and found some goulash. That sounds like a good dinner. 

Joy