April 30, 2020 thought for the day: The harvest of a whole year depends on what you sow in the springtime. Chinese Proverb

Another action  filled  (well, action filled for this old lady) Thursday has rolled around. I wasn’t able to leave as soon as I got up and got ready. I had to type in the information I got late yesterday afternoon at around dinner time. I have a habit of shutting down my computer for the day at dinner time.

The April 29 photo a day for the month of gratitude happens to be my steering wheel and it’s immediate surroundings. I have been thinking about transportation as one of my gratitudes for this month but just couldn’t come up with a way I wanted to depict it. Since there is only one more day this month and if I wanted to use the idea I’d better get to it. This is it.

The church was empty again as I printed the bulletin and the two additions. The pick up time on my favorite mail box has changed from 11:00am to 9:00am so I can’t get them in the mail as timely as I like, or quickly enough to get them to the congregation before Sunday. I took them to the next earliest pick up that I could find. I just hope it is early enough to get to the people in time. I could mail them on Wednesday but I don’t get all the information I need to be able to do that. I just have to do the best I can and hope for the time doesn't beat me.

I added a touch to the bulletin that I am able to get to the few of the congregants who have email. I have added Youtube files playing the hymns to the bulletin so that all the receivers will have to do is click on the blue web address file to pull it up. I have also attached the location of the written sermon for the same way to pull it up from the church web page.

Once home, I started the laundry and completed my sad attempt to clean my car by washing the windows on the inside of the car. It amazed me how my body responded in agony with the twists and reaches I had to make to get to all the corners and slants of the glass. It didn’t react that way fifty years ago and not at all in the years before that.

As I left the church I caught sight of my photo for the day. This is a light that seems to be forever on. I consider it to be a welcoming ray to the church. This is my April 30, last day of the month, last day of the month of gratitude photo.

Later in the day, I Googled and found the new photo a day calendar for May and added the daily themes to my online daily reminder popup notices.

The word today is folks. The truth is the kindest thing we can give folks in the end, Harriet Beecher Stowe. It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues, Abraham Lincoln. The house is a fine house, when good folks are within, George Herbert. As for marigolds, poppies, hollyhocks, and valorous sunflowers, we shall never have a garden without them, both for their own sake, and for the sake of old-fashioned folks, who used to love them, Henry Ward Beecher. Some folks never handle the truth without scratching it, Austin O'Malley.  It is easy finding reasons why other folks should be patient, George Eliot. As sore places meet most rubs, proud folks meet most affronts, Benjamin Franklin. Why should all virtue work in one and the same way? Why should all give dollars? It is very inconvenient to us country folk, and we do not think any good will come of it. We have not dollars; merchants have; let them give them. Farmers will give corn; poets will sing; women will sew; laborers will lend a hand; the children will bring flowers, Ralph Waldo Emerson. The devil wipes his breech with poor folks' pride, Benjamin Franklin. It is remarkable with what Christian fortitude and resignation we can bear the suffering of other folks, Jonathan Swift. Some folks as they grow older grow wise but most folks simply grow , stubborner, Josh Billings. 

Here is another way people are making something good out of this horrible pandemic. There is an 85-year young man in our area who walks his neighborhood every day during this distancing period in our lives. He calls them his two or three mile “photographic and poetic walks”, he enjoys writing poems. He likes to exercise outside and see people. If he is walking at two o’clock he puts on his ear phones to her Gov. DeWine’s coronavirus press briefings. He stops at spots along the way that hold memories from his childhood. He uses his cell phone to take a photo of the spot and sends it along with a poem contained clues to his eighty six-year-old brother. The brother sends an answer in poetry-form back. This idea of a unique way passing time, enjoying his walks, and keeping in touch with a loved one came to him as he passed familiar places and experienced memories on one of his walks.

Its potato soup and salmon patties for dinner.

Being the last day of the month is also the day that I offer my composite of photos that I used each day this month.

Joy

April 28, 2020 thought for the day: The main road is an easy way, but everyone loves the side streets. Chinese Proverb

These days, mine at least, seem to move forward as ideas and motivation come to mind as the minute’s pass. Naturally there are some things throughout the day that are done by habit and necessity, like eating and tidying up. But those don’t take up all of the waking hours. In my case, for most days there are no hurry-up-and-get-it-done items on the agenda.

I needed to call for and pick up some meds for Sugar so I decided while I was going to be out I would make another stop. I am intending on planting some seeds when they arrive in the mail. I made a stop at Strader’s Garden center to pick up some potting soil and flats for the seeds.

The weather is on the acceptable side today, periods of clouds with alternating periods of sun. I decided it was a good day to accomplish a long needed chore. The inside of my car has needed attention for many months, I have religiously put it on the back burner day after day. This was the day. Loose pieces of paper, loose coins, even a swimming pool noodle were moved to appropriate places. Then a hand-held sweeper picked up small particles of dust and dirt and fur and cookie crumbs. It looks much better but it could use a professional scrubbing on the inside and out. This is going to do, well, the windows could be washed too, maybe tomorrow. The car is over ten years old and has many bumps and dents but it faithfully gets me where I, and sometimes others, need to go.

My back porch is now ready for my house plants to be moved there for their summer vacation. I think it will be best to wait for that move though until after Mothers Day in a couple of weeks.

Oh, I forgot to mention about yesterday. A moment in time for me . . . I did a curb side visit with my  granddaughter in law and my eight-month old gorgeous great grand son. It was the height of the day, the height of the week, the height of several weeks of not being able to see him. It was just a few minutes but it was a sunburst moment. Naturally, this is my photo challenge for today’s monthly theme, month of gratitude. I am sooo grateful for this little jewel in my life. I can see him from time to time now, but in a while he will be moving on with his mom and dad.

The word for the day is focus. In trying to defend everything he defended nothing, Frederick The Great. Our life always expresses the result of our dominant thoughts, Soren Kierkegaard. It is not enough to be busy. So are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about? Henry David Thoreau.  It is not good to have an oar in everyone's boat, Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden. Every man's life lies within the present; for the past is spent and done with, and the future is uncertain, Marcus Aurelius. Without Knowledge, Skill cannot be focused. Without Skill, Strength cannot be brought to bear and without Strength, Knowledge may not be applied, Alexander the Great. Keep your attention focused entirely on what is truly your own concern, and be clear that what belongs to others is their business and none of yours, Epictetus. Well done is better than well said, Benjamin Franklin. Beware lest you lose the substance by grasping at the shadow, Aesop. That which grows fast, withers as rapidly. That which grows slow, endures, J. G. Holland,  A person who is gifted sees the essential point and leaves the rest as surplus, Thomas Carlyle. 


Today’s photo theme entry was a selection of new growth adorning a block wall and displaying a grateful breath of spring. 

This article was in a Colorado newspaper then picked up by the Dispatch so it is a little outside of our local community but may just fit us too. It is a story about a mail delivery person in this time of the pandemic. She, the mail carrier, hopes that with each “flip of the mailbox lid” she is bringing comfort to the home owners by demonstrating that some things are going along like clockwork. Her deliveries contain prescriptions, games, other kinds of “tools”, even baking supplies. According to the article the post office, Amazon, FedEx and UPS claims their delivers are looking much like Christmas time deliveries. She said first class mail has dropped off. This has brought on talk from critics saying the postal service should be privatized. Others say it is “essential government service” and shouldn’t be expected to “turn a profit”. The delivery person in the article says she stays out of the conversation. She just wants to serve her customers. She says she wears a mask when sorting mail with peers but not when she is in the open air delivering, though she wears a cloth mask around her neck for use when close to her customers. She says that though she is delivering every day she doesn’t see them as much as she use to because they are inside with the social distancing. 
I am making oven fried chicken for dinner.

Joy

April 26, 2020 thought for the day: A good neighbor increases the value of your property. Czech Proverb

It’s a rainy day....all day long, from very early morning and on. I dozed and listened to the rain until around eight o’clock.

The photo I used for the challenge entry on the 25th was one of Sweet Pea’s toys. She loves her angry bird toy. I had to buy another one when her first was lost (then found again after the new one arrived in the mail). I am grateful that she is amused by these toys and does not try to tear them up the way her “sister”, Sugar, use to before old age set in and she began to tear up toilet paper rolls instead.

This being one of my less “busy” days, I made a slow and lazy start. After the virtual visits, I “attended” the Facebook Live church service. Before that, I uploaded to church members with email addresses a photo reminder of our church along with a requested birthday wish for one of our members.

After that Sue wanted to make out a pick up order for Kroger (and so did I). We ordered separately but will pick up at the same time later this afternoon. The time for the pick up was a surprise, we were expecting a long delay in number of days before we could pick up.

Later, I got the monthly bills paid and out of the way. While I was still at the computer, I took some time to look up a couple of confusing stitches in one of my new crochet patterns. It’s for one of the “discovery” type toys I am making for my great grand children.

I think I have lost some of the plants I bought and planted last summer so I spent some more time on the computer ordering seeds to replace some of those plants. I decided on seeds because they are cheaper than buying new plants to replace the lost one.

I guess it has turned out to be a productive day of sorts. I wanted to make a drive-by visit to my grand daughter-in-law but the rain dampened that idea. Yesterday was her birthday. I was in a “down” mood yesterday and didn’t think it would make a memorable visit even if it would have been a bit “long distance” visit with me in the car and her (and William, the baby) on the porch.

The word today is flight.  Harmony sinks deep into the recesses of the soul and takes its strongest hold there, bringing grace also to the body & mind as well. Music is a moral law. It gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, a charm to sadness, and life to everything. It is the essence of order, Plato. Beware of the flight of Blessings, For nothing that runs away is returned, Ali ibn Abi Talib. One cannot look at the sea without wishing for the wings of a swallow, Richard Francis Burton. Words are both better and worse than thoughts; they express them, and add to them; they give them power for good or evil; they start them on an endless flight, for instruction and comfort and blessing, or for injury and sorrow and ruin, Tryon Edwards. The day is done, and the darkness, Falls from the wings of Night, As a feather is wafted downward, From an eagle in his flight,  Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The natural flights of the human mind are not from pleasure to pleasure, but from hope to hope, Samuel Johnson.  I cannot imagine anyone looking at the sky and denying God, Abraham Lincoln. Many discoveries are reserved for ages still to come . . . . Our universe is a sorry little affair unless it has in it something for every age to investigate, Seneca the Younger. Love is a power too strong to be overcome by anything but flight, Miguel de Cervantes.

It has been rainy this month of April so I used that as a photo theme for today. I captured some rain drops on the rain chain hanging on our front porch. I am grateful for the rain as well as the pleasure the rain chin brings as a focal point.

 I thought this article covered an interesting subject. I pass one of these mounds talked about I the article on occasion when I am out and about.  The story tells of how some say the Indian mounds here in Ohio and other parts of the United States were built by giants or aliens. I was surprised to learn (I must have missed this part in my school history classes) that, according to the article, Andrew Jackson, 1829, claimed that the mounds had been built by unknown people who were “exterminated by the existing savage tribes”. This, as I understand it, was a claim mentioned in the article as an effort to remove American Indians from their lands in the Eastern United States. The article went on to say that “charlatans” are still trying to strip American Indians of their heritage by continuing to claim that someone/thing other than the Indians built the earthworks.  I often wonder where these false belief’s come from and why?

We are going to do another order-in for dinner tonight, not sure yet, maybe Subway or KFC.

Joy

April 24, 2020 thought for today: An old fool is worse than a young simpleton. Danish Proverb

The April 23 photo for the day was created as I was leaving church. When I was climbing in the car, I saw the pigeon on the roof and loved the contrast between the slate and stone and the two icons of nature, the bird and the sky.

It has been a Friday morning spent out of the house for a while (masks and gloves, of course). Sue had several stops she wanted to make so we got things together and off we went. We ended up making five stops. I waited in the car for most of her stops. I saw a recipe on the facebook page for a peanut butter fluffy brownie. So I wanted to look for a couple of the ingredients without going into the grocery store. So I went into one of the dollar stores. I didn’t find what I wanted. I found marshmallows but not marshmallow fluff (so I will make my on fluff out of the whole marshmallows). We ended up with Sue wanting to stop at Kroger. I didn’t go in but had her look for the one of the other ingredients I needed most. I will try to make the brownies tomorrow.

I have been able to keep today on the light side as far as projects. I got the newsletter completed late yesterday afternoon and asked Bob if he would take it to the mail box so it could be on the way early today.

When I took time to check my email after we got home, I found that I have won as a finalist in the Curious Pet theme contest at Viewbug.com.

I want to go out in back to do a couple of pruning jobs this afternoon. The sun has come out and the temps seem to be on the uphill side.

The word today is fitness. He who has health, has hope; and he who has hope, has everything, Thomas Carlyle. Few people know how to take a walk. The qualifications are endurance, plain clothes, old shoes, an eye for nature, good humor, vast curiosity, good speech, good silence and nothing too much, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Happiness lies, first of all, in health, George William Curtis. Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Leave all the afternoon for exercise and recreation, which are as necessary as reading, Thomas Jefferson. Your body is the church where Nature asks to be reverenced, Marquis de Sade. Energy and persistence conquer all things, Benjamin Franklin. To eat is a necessity, but to eat intelligently is an art, Francois de La Rochefoucauld. Lack of activity destroys the good condition of every human being, Plato. God never made his work for man to mend, John Dryden. It is exercise alone that supports the spirits, and keeps the mind in vigor, Marcus Tullius Cicero. He who cures a disease may be the skillfullest, but he that prevents it is the safest physician, Thomas Fuller. In health there is freedom. Health is the first of all liberties, Henri Frederic Amiel. Take care of your body with steadfast fidelity. The soul must see through these eyes alone, and if they are dim, the whole world is clouded, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Everything is hard before it is easy, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Difficulties strengthen the mind, as labor does the body, Seneca the Younger.

While I was waiting in the car for Sue earlier today, I looked around for my photo of the day. I found a couple. Now I will have to pull them up in the Photoshop “darkroom” to see which of them will be suitable to submit.....and after the post processing this is the photo challenge entry of the day. Month of gratitude, handicap parking spaces.

This article may help to bring another little step toward normalcy after our “confinement” with the pandemic.  The author of the article offered a quote from Minnie Aumonier, an 18th-century poet, “When the world wearies and society ceases to satisfy, there is always the garden.” Here are some of the ways to get started. Plan on getting new plants, start seeds. In the article these were called “happy flower, sunflowers and nasturtiums. Next, plan for herbs and vegetables. Another way to be in the “growing” mood is tending to house plants you may have, cleaning them of wilting leaves, mixing in fresh soil, starting new plants with cuttings. Check out seed catalogs. Get ideas, as you take walks in parks or even the neighborhood. There are gardening classes both online and in some of the local nurseries. Think about potting plants for the patio and porch. Garden for you health, physical, emotional and mental.

It’s here again.....pizza evening.

Joy

April 22, 2020 thought for the day: To learn about other people is science, to learn to know yourself is intelligence. Chinese Proverb

The news from yesterday, about the reopening of our food pantry, was a good one. They have adapted it to a drive thru procedure for the time being. I wasn’t there but the report was great. Apparently we (they) had a good number of visitors. I was able to slip over to take a look today as they were setting up. I wanted to add some photos to the newsletter as I am adding finishing touches. I also wanted it along with the bulletin finished by noon, except for the sermon and scriptures I need from the pastor. I have the envelopes for the bulletin ready and the labels for the newsletter ready.

April 21 my choice for the month of gratitude challenge was a paper quilled window ornament that I had made a while back.(The paper quilling came before my paper marbling period). I had stayed home yesterday and looked around the house for a suitable image. This one seemed perfect.

Bob took my car to have an oil change and then filled up on gas for me. I generally put in twenty dollars worth when I get to about a half a tank. Today I got six dollars back from my twenty. At least, so far, that is one necessity that hasn’t gone up in cost, yet.

I am watching Gov. DeWine’s week day coronavirus update. In my opinion, he and his team have been trying to keep us completely up to date while adding bits of humanity to it. Like ball game talks, short clips of things people around Ohio are doing to fill the time and he talks about things his wife is doing to help keep things as “normal” as possible. She has been on the program with him several time. He mentions her quite often, they must have a very nice relationship. That also is refreshing. They seem like a kind and caring couple and family. I also like watching the lady who is doing the hand signing. I have come to accept it even though they are interrupting my soap opera program. (smile)

It will be nice to get back to “normal” or what will be “normal”. On the other side of the coin though, it is a little scary not knowing what lies ahead as far as the virus’ path.

Today’s theme entry came as a light bulb moment after I ordered my lunch at McDonald’s. I am “grateful” for fast food, (actually almost any kind of food).

The word is firm.  I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts, Abraham Lincoln.  Enjoy the blessings Heaven bestows, Assist his friends, forgive his foes; Trust God, and keep his statutes still, Upright and firm, through good and ill; Thankful for all that God has given, Fixing his firmest hopes on heaven; Knowing that earthly joys decay, But hoping through the darkest day, Charlotte Bronte. Stand firm and immovable as an anvil when it is beaten upon, Ignatius of Loyola.  I am satisfied with, and stand firm as a rock on the belief that all that happens in God's world is for the best, but what is merely germ, what blossom and what fruit I do not know. Johann Gottlieb Fichte. While the world changes, the cross stands firm, Bruno of Cologne.  The superior man is firm in the right way, and not merely firm, Confucius. Wisdom teaches us to do, as well as to talk; and to make our words and actions all of a colour, Seneca the Younger.  It is only persons of firmness that can have real gentleness..., Francois de La Rochefoucauld. The greatest firmness is the greatest mercy, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.  Inuring (toughen or harden) children gently to suffer some degrees of pain without shrinking, is a way to gain firmness to their minds, and lay a foundation for courage and resolution in the future part of their lives, John Locke. Stubbornness is not firmness, Friedrich Schiller.    

Today is Earth Day. So I chose a break from cononavirus news that is a bit refreshing. There is a touch of education here too. The title is: Kids activity: How you can help the Earth (includes coloring, drawing and more!. It’s a day to celebrate for our planets cleanliness and it should be a daily activity. Earth day was created in 1970. The hope was that everyone would do their share to keep the earth cleaner. This date was chosen because it is between spring break and final exams. Other groups working on this idea were joined with the new followers in cleaning water, air and total environments. According to the article Earth Day is the biggest celebration in the world that isn’t a religious event. A slogan was developed, “reduce, reuse, recycle”. There are helpful ways of getting rid of glass, paper and plastic. It is also helpful to reuse things as possible around the house. Again according to the article, since the coronavirus stay-at-home event, pollution has gone down in several areas of the world. To keep up with this upward climb in pollution control people could walk or ride a bike in place of driving. Plant flowers and vegetables. Some activity mentioned in the article to help with this keeping the earth clean is make art out of trash, bird feeders with toilet paper rolls, make wind chimes with old cans, try getting more such ideas from Google.

On the menu for tonight: sloppy joe and baked “french fries”.

Joy

April 20, 2020 thought for the day: Show me a liar, and I'll show you a thief. German Proverb

I got an early start. I set the alarm to get up and ready to visit the senior hour at Kroger. There seemed to be more people there today than I have experienced in the past during this hour. I did notice that paper towels and toilet paper were much more in stock at this visit. I don’t think I will need a curbside pick up this week. However, I FINALLY got to place an order at Sams Club and have a pick up for tomorrow.
The 19th was another stay at home day. To capture my “gratitude” photo challenge I caught this one. When my sister comes through the dining room, where I have my computer (and Sugar sticks to me like glue), she catch. I am grateful for my sister and for the love that flows in this house.

Once the visits were out of the way I got to work on next Sunday’s bulletin. I have it all ready for the information from the pastor. I also checked the newsletter for any touch ups I could make before I have further information coming in. I don’t look for too much more to come though, since I have sent out requests for items in the bulletins and through email, responses have been drastically limited.

The weather is still not cooperating as hoped for, getting out is not as exciting as I would like in this early spring season.

When I got home and, finally, able to get to my usual-first-thing-virtual-visits, there was an email that made me smile. Someone bought one of the pillows that display one of my photos. It is one of my favorite designs, although over the years I have accumulated many favorites. Redbubble.com carries many of my designs displayed on an interesting variety of products.


The word is finite. Finite to fail, but infinite to venture, Emily Dickinson. We should like Nature to go no further; we should like it to be finite, like our mind; but this is to ignore the greatness and majesty of the Author of things, Gottfried Leibniz.  Ask what Time is, it is nothing else but something of eternal duration become finite, measurable and transitory, William Law. The infinite is in the finite of every instant,  Zen Proverb.  Finite mind cannot comprehend infinity, Jeremiah Seed.  There is nothing that is so wonderfully created as the human soul. There is something of God in it. We are infinite in the future, though we are finite in the past, Henry Ward Beecher.  Wisdom views with an indifferent eye all finite joys, all blessings born to die, Hannah More.  It is the infinite alone that cannot be attained, for if it could it would become finite, Leonardo da Vinci.  That which is in locomotion must arrive at the half-way stage before it arrives at the goal, Aristotle.  There are no accidents in my philosophy. Every effect must have its cause. The past is the cause of the present, and the present will be the cause of the future. All these are links in the endless chain stretching from the finite to the infinite, Abraham Lincoln.  

I drove through the near by park on my way home from the store for a photo challenge. I made several shots and came up with this one. I am grateful for benches and other seating along paths in nature. A place to rest and a place to sit and contemplate the world as it moves on.

This article title caught my attention because it is close to my house and I have been keeping an eye on it since it opened. There seems to be more people visiting it than I expected. The title to the article is:  A cupful of community, Hilltop coffee shop that brought people together now must keep them apart. It mentions a couple of workers who have regularly met there for coffee before they go to work. Now they sometimes met there for their carry out coffee standing outside on the sidewalk at six feet apart.  The chairs and tables along with the shelves of books and board games are covered in protective plastic waiting for the time they can be displayed and used again. The floors are now marked with six feet spacing for people to stand as they wait for their order. The shop was opened with the plan and hope to for people to meet, have coffee, conversation and stay for a while to play board games, use their lap tops just bond with each other. One of the regular visitors said that visiting the café helped to motivate and keep her “on task”. Apparently there has been live entertainment in the form of music on the third Sunday of the month. The shop is still doing business but at a very reduced rate. There is much hope that this business will survive after the pandemic is over.

As happens four or five times a month I have a second photo of the day for today. The challenge title was “shoot straight up”.

I am making creamy cheesy potatoes and Panini’s for dinner.

Love you
Grandma

April 18, 2020 thought for the day: Don't throw away the old bucket until you know whether the new one holds water. Jewish Proverb

This day has been a bit of a drag so far. I have no agenda although I have visited the Hoge Hearld pages to fine-tune a couple of spots as I wait for more information from congregants to help fill the space before a mailing at the end of the coming week. I think that is going to be the most meaningful project I will have for today. If it were a bit warmer, I might be moved to work in the yard for a while. I am still trying to mark plants that I want Bob to be careful of as he uses the weed whacker. One of the problems is I would like to see some new growth on them so I can remember exactly where they are. I have a basic “blueprint” of where I have put them but not precise enough to mark accurately.

On the 17th the challenge to meet the theme, “month of gratitude”, was my tiny little American flag. Many of my neighbors are displaying their flag to show solidarity in the time of the pandemic attack on our world. My well-used flags have been in storage. This little one is the only one I could find so I “mounted” it in the chain of the porch swing. It flies in the breezes proudly along with its bigger counterparts. It signifies the gratitude of the people of our country with one another as well as our worldwide family.

This is the kind of day that I “teach” myself or otherwise stated “build my knowledge base”. Something that I may have wondered about comes to mind as I go through the day then I google it. It is a learning base. I put what I find in a space in memory so that I can call on it when needed.

A couple of paragraphs ago I said I would go outside but the weather wasn’t to my liking....well, I changed my mind, worked in the back yard for a little bit. It felt good and a little warmer than I first thought.

The word is finest. Conceit spoils the finest genius, Louisa May Alcott. The finest fruit earth holds up to its Maker is a finished man, Wilhelm von Humboldt. Have you ever rightly considered what the mere ability to read means? That it is the key which admits us to the whole world of thought and fancy and imagination? to the company of saint and sage, of the wisest and the wittiest at their wisest and wittiest moment? That it enables us to see with the keenest eyes, hear with the finest ears, and listen to the sweetest voices of all time? More than that, it annihilates time and space for us, James Russell Lowell. Life is the finest secret. So long as that remains, we must all whisper, Emily Dickinson. The finest and noblest ground on which people can live is truth; the real with the real; a ground on which nothing is assumed, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Nature has given to each conscious being every power she possesses, and one of these abilities is this: just as Nature converts and alters every obstacle and opposition, and fits them into their predestined place, making them a part of herself, so too the rational person is able to finesse every obstacle into an opportunity, and to use it for whatever purpose it may suit, Marcus Aurelius. 

To meet the monthly photo theme today I am offering a photo of some books on my shelf. Most of my recreational reading is in ebooks and information/knowledge-bound reading is Google. But I have some, more than those in the photo, that serve a purpose to have on hand. 

I have mentioned articles about Franklinton before in some of my blogs. It is an interesting place for me. I have a few connections there that are stored in my memory bank. I would like to see it come back to a clean and exciting place to visit. There is interesting architecture and interesting history, a large part of the beginning of Columbus and is adjacent to our downtown activity. I worked in the area with the Columbus Public Schools for a period of time. Another time I worked at the Federal Court House on the other side of the river but parked on the Franklinton side at the Veterans Memorial. Years before that I was a student nurse at Mt. Carmel located at the edge of Franklinton. The project that the article today is covering is titled “Developers add low-income projects to mix in Franklinton redevelopment”. It states that parts of the projects will be paid with “low-income housing tax credits”. Three low income housing areas will be intertwined with higher-end projects. I hope this works. One group will experience and begin to understand better the other. One of the planned buildings is close to what use to be the Mt. Carmel West hospital. There is a plan to demolish the West Side Spiritualist Church. Columbus Landmarks believes the church, built in 1911, offers historical value. So  the plans go on.

We are having baked spaghetti for dinner.

Joy