March 10, 2023 a thought for today, Genius can be recognized by its childish simplicity. Chinese Proverb

My fist upload for March 9 was “wildlife”. One of the days this week when  Sweet Pea and I stopped by the park I got this shot of two of the geese in the pond. This is about as much of the wildlife I have the pleasure of seeing in the city. We do see a number of squirrels too but I haven’t had the opportunity to use them as a model recently.

Fridays are usually a pretty quiet day which I can use since Thursday is the busiest day of my week. I had one thing of church business to take care of before getting started. I found out last night at bed time that the choir is singing this coming Sunday. I always add that to the bulletin and type/format an insert of the lyrics for the bulletin. It completely slipped my mind that we were singing this week. I would have liked the reminder to have been on Wednesday night as opposed to Thursday. I can’t count how many times I have begged for people to have information to me before Thursday so that the bulletin can be out in a timely manner. That seems to slip the mind of others as this one did me. 

My second upload for yesterday was “something that smells wonderful”. I am allergic to perfumes so that was out of the question for a prop for today. So I dug out some of the cleaning supplies, a candle, a tiny bottle of essential oil of lavender and a bottle of vanilla. 

First of all I slept later than usual this morning, did that ever feel good. Once I sent the email about singing this week to my choir friends, I did my daily virtual visits, my own and the ones of the church email. Then I spent some time researching carbohydrates on foods I like to eat. I am hoping to get back to a diet of foods that are safe for diabetes type 2 and that I like to eat. That means in some cases substituting some things and trying new ones. For instance normally I don’t care a lot for broccoli but I found that it helps regulate sugar so I am attempting to add it to my daily diet. I love bread, potatoes, pasta and rice all high in carbs I am trying to find ways of adjusting recipes to come as close to those tastes as I can. I have had some success but it still needs some work....trials and errors. It looks like I will have to miss the donut fellowship at church this Sunday. Once back to keeping away from sugar spikes I can have a donut every now and then but not just yet. 

This is one of those days I wanted to get away from the computer for a little while and I needed a photo for today and knew exactly where to find it so Sweet Pea and I went out for a drive again with another stop at the park. 

Today’s first upload was a “café”. I pass this café every day on my way to church. I have watched in grow in popularity for several years now. Many of the younger crowd and a few groups meet there for some of their meeting. This is what Sweet Pea and I went out for earlier this morning. 

Once I got home, I got busy in the kitchen for some needed work at the sink, frig and  stove.

There has been some drizzle and a drop in temps today. Yesterday was bright and sunny now it’s gloomy and depressing. 

The next upload for today was “strawberries”. This one I pulled from my archives. I think I have some strawberries in the freezer but I elected to use this one instead.

The word for today is dignity. There is a healthful hardiness about real dignity that never dreads contact and communion with others however humble, Washington Irving. Dignity does not consist in possessing honors, but in the consciousness that we deserve them, Aristotle. There is a proper dignity and proportion to be observed in the performance of every act of life, Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. True dignity abides with him only, who, in the silent hour of inward thought, can still suspect, and still revere himself, in lowliness of heart, William Wordsworth. Dignity is a value that creates irreplaceability, Immanuel Kant. There is no dignity in wickedness, whether in purple or rags; and hell is a democracy of devils, where all are equals. Herman Melville. It is not the quantity but the quality of knowledge which determines the mind's dignity. William Ellery Channing. The ideal man bears the accidents of life with dignity and grace, making the best of circumstances. Aristotle.  Haste denies all acts their dignity, Dante Alighieri.  Dignity is often a veil between us and the real truth of things. Edwin Percy Whipple.  To laugh often and love much; to win the respect of intelligent persons and the affection of children; to earn the approbation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, Ralph Waldo Emerson. 

I have a third upload today called “inside looking out/outside looking in”. I like the front layer of the door with paneled windows and the outside background of the rain chain, and further in the background one of my neighbor’s homes.  

Here’s a little about a new part of Columbus history beginning.  A multipurpose, downtown warehouse, 225 Neilston Street, to become a building of a different sort. It may be something to look into for young and old alike. There are plans to turn the warehouse into a center with entertainment activities to interest to a variety of ages and tastes. Four things that are mentioned up front are a restaurant, arcade, entertainments and an art gallery. What a place to stop and savor as we move from one area to another, art, music, food, and games. It could also offer as an extra revitalization to the surrounding are and another draw to Columbus. When the planners for this multipurpose arena were looking for space to build, they “found connections to Columbus through family and friends”. The new and unique space will be called the Kee. The first venue the pair built and ran was called Radio Social, in Rochester, NY in 2015. They wanted to begin a similar process here. The Kee would be built with the Radio Social in mind but “built to fit Columbus”. There will be space for both free, ping pong, checkers, chess, Jenga, connect 4 and wall Scrabble, and paid, virtual sports simulators, entertainment options. There will be a corn hole room. The multimedia art gallery portion of this unique space will be near the entrance. There will be space for a bar, a space for weddings, concerts, fashion shows and on and on. In the alley at the side of the building will be transformed to a patio with tables and fire pits. It would be possible for there to be movie nights. As for the food portion of the plan there will be a café with grab and go items. In the evening there would be full service dinning. The developers are “ aiming for a mid-April opening”.

It’s that time again......PIZZA!

Joy

                             someone will have a free grocery cart

 

 March 8, 2023 a thought for today, When there is trust, no proof is necessary. Chinese Proverb

The first upload for the day March 7, 2023 was “in the dark”. Bare tree branches with a full moon in the background. 

I finished the annual report this morning. I am going to print it tomorrow while I am at the church to print the bulletin so that I have time to make any formatting adjustments that need to be made. 

I spent most of the morning on the annual report so before starting on another project Sweet Pea and I took a short ride to “clear my head” and drop by the park so she could catch up and exciting smells in the air as we sat with the windows open. I can’t walk as far as she would like to go so we just sit for a while. The weather isn’t very warm so the windows weren’t open for more that five minutes or so. 

My second upload for yesterday was “wheel”. I took photos of several kinds of wheels and chose this one for the unique “teeth” and the red handle.

I was noticing as I was coming home that there are some hyacinths coming up and some trees beginning to show leaf buds. I hope the weather doesn’t become more severe, bad enough to kill what has started to come to life and to bloom. I have heard of some talk that because the winter has been on the mild side we may be in store for a “rougher” spring. 

An upload for today is titled “supplies”. This is a container full of my “supplies” for various arts, crafts and maintenance. The colors and shapes are strong ‘pulls’ for sight attention. 

The word for today is different. I can't go back to yesterday - because I was a different person then. Lewis Carroll.  Good habits formed at youth make all the difference. Aristotle.  I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend. Thomas Jefferson.  The whole difference between construction and creation is exactly this: that a thing constructed can only be loved after it is constructed; but a thing created is loved before it exists. Charles Dickens.  There is a difference between happiness and wisdom: he that thinks himself the happiest man is really so; but he that thinks himself the wisest is generally the greatest fool. Francis Bacon.  Man is the only animal that laughs and weeps; for he is the only animal that is struck with the difference between what things are, and what they ought to be. William Hazlitt.  Between falsehood and useless truth there is little difference. As gold which he cannot spend will make no man rich, so knowledge which cannot apply will make no man wise. Samuel Johnson.  Little by little he came to recognize the difference between the spirits that agitated him, one from the enemy and one from God. Saint Ignatius. There is more difference in the quality of our pleasures than in the amount. Ralph Waldo Emerson.  Great is the difference betwixt a man's being frightened at, and humbled for his sins. Thomas Fuller.  Different men seek after happiness in different ways and by different means, and so make for themselves different modes of life and forms of government. Aristotle.  

The second upload for today is called “clock”. I felt the need (not of speed) but for a partial shape of something so common. 

Here’s a little about Christmas in Columbus in 1922. According to the article Christmas of 1922 was on the “warm”, 51 degrees,  side considering it was winter time.  In that year Columbus was a “bustling town”. We were a small city at the beginning of the 20th century and was sometimes called “America’s Hometown”, it was also an industrial and manufacturing town. There was a part of town called “Steelton” due to the factories and four steel mills. The President of the United States was from Ohio and in office in that time, Warren Harding. Along with people celebrating Christmas by gifts, food and visits there was also people in need as there are today. One of the efforts to help was made with a basket given by Santa on December 24 at 10:00 to 2,351 families. At noon 175 families were given a dinner provided by the Salvation Army. A free Christmas tree was given to children. The Elk club gave out 660 baskets filled with ham, potatoes, flour, butter, coffee, sugar, bread, canned vegetable and two pounds of candy to families at their homes. Other gifts given out in the days leading to Christmas were of food and clothing given by churches and other groups. There were all kinds of holiday entertainment around town during the season. For those who “went out” to dine, meals were served from $1.50 to $2.00 a plate. Imagine the time of the celebrations in this article when there were few electric lights, there were crank handle phones, no television, digital photography or cell phones. Radio “technology” was fragile and expensive. In the 1920s people could spend $30 to have a radio receiver in their living room and listen to the world”. In 1922 there were  local radio stations in Columbus, one was at Ohio State called WOSU, it is still going strong. So, for the Christmas of 1922 the people could hear some of the sounds of the season in their homes. 

I think we will have creamed beef on toast for dinner. 

Joy

                                 Exposure to natural elements

 March 6, 2023 a thought for today, Those who seek revenge must remember to dig two graves. Chinese Proverb

My first upload for yesterday was “random”. It was a free choice. I liked the lines, shapes and colors in this image. 

I have been a little “down in the dumps” for a few days along with working on getting my diabetes diet and exercise back in order. The stress has made the work on the latter a little harder. Today I had contact from two of the people who mean so much to me, contacts that went a long way to relieving the stress. Days like this can’t get much better. 

My second upload for yesterday was “a number”. It’s difficult, for me at least, to find a single number that has photographic character so I chose this one of a neighborhood restaurant that has closed this store and moved across the street. 

As a part of a change in my diet I have stopped the breakfast of Cheezits (for now). That doesn’t mean that I no longer think they are delicious....just a little high in carbs. So this morning I had a breakfast of an over easy egg, one piece of buttered toast and three or four rosettes of broccoli.  Around noon Sweet Pea and I took a ride to McDonalds for a fish sandwich (I ate it as open face....without the top bun) and unsweetened iced tea.

I got the bulletin done with one question about one of the hymns so I will have to wait for the request I made for that. I also made a quick trip through the annual report. I hope to get that one to a point where I can make a test print on it Thursday when I print the bulletin. I may not have it completely finished but down to the point of printing to check on the format for each page. 

I had a third upload yesterday. It was for an image in black and white. This image was mostly black and white. When I first worked with it I left only the pillows with any color, red. So for this image I worked out that color. 

The weather today is gorgeous for this time of year, sunny and warm. The forsythia has bloomed so according to legend we may have three more snow falls before spring is really here.  

Sue had some errands to run today. When she left to start her car it wouldn’t start. She called AAA, they came to jump it but that didn’t work either so she had to buy a battery. Then she was on her way. 

The first upload for today is “something you dread”. I’m not the best house keeper in the world, a better home maker, but my worse dread is cleaning the oven. 

The word for today is devote. Work as if everything depends on you. Pray as if everything depends on God, St. Ignatius Loyola.  Perpetual devotion to what a man calls his business is only to be sustained by perpetual neglect of many other things, Robert Louis Stevenson. Giving the best to others are giving the best to us. The value of life is not based on how long we live. But, how much can we contribute to others in our society, Buddha.  In the uttermost meaning of the words, thought is devout, and devotion is thought. Deep calls unto deep, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Devote each day to the object then in time and every evening will find something done. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.  The art of motherhood involves much silent, unobtrusive self-denial, an hourly devotion which finds no detail too minute. Honore de Balzac.  Through devotion, your family cares become more peaceful, mutual love between husband and wife becomes more sincere, the service we owe to the prince more faithful, and our work, no matter what it is, becomes more pleasant and agreeable. Saint Francis de Sales.  Whoever benefits his enemy with straightforward intention that man's enemies will soon fold their hands in devotion. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.  In the whole history of the world there is but one thing that money cannot buy...to wit--the wag of a dog's tail, Josh Billings.  

The second upload for today is “cup”. I have this fancy cup left over from some other photo shoots and thought I would reshoot it today for this “assignment”. 

Here’s a little more about this city of ours and more reason why it is growing to be even better to live here. The title to the article is: “America Discovers Columbus, Ohio’s largest city has never attracted much national attention, but that is beginning to change”. It begins by talking about the recent Intel chip factory coming to our area and how many people this will affect in the way of job opportunities but to many other area of our lives such as education. It pointed out that “Columbus long operated in the shadows of Cleveland and Cincinnati, both cities of national importance. Columbus was smaller”. One of our main compelling draws has been the Ohio State University. The article says that “de-industrialization took its tool on the Midwestern cities and states in the 1970s and ‘80s” there was only success in a small group of places one of those was Columbus. In the 2010s Columbus grew in population by 84 percent more than the rest of the state. In comparison the Cleveland and Cincinnati probably because it is the state capital and a college town “open to outsiders and new comers”. According to the article on thing that may account for that is Columbus decided not to “extend water lines to suburban areas unless the agreed to annexation”. That allowed for expanding the city limits as well as expanding city limits. We began taking on major sports teams. We opened the National Veterans Memorial and Museum. We became more competitive and welcomed Intel and the Amazon headquarters. The article went on to say that it has come to the point of  “staking out a position as arguably the Midwest’s top performer economically and demographically”. Further in the article it suggested that we are dependant on migrant growth. The article relays that “No city in the Midwest is better poised to make the transition to national, not just regional star.”

I am trying a new recipe I found....tomato with beans soup. I was reading one of my ebooks and one of the characters ordered “tomato barn soup” so I Googled and found a recipe that sounded good. 

Joy  

I wonder how much these carts cost the stores? And then to be taken and tossed

 March 4, 2023 a thought for today, Making a thousand decisions, even the wise will make a mistake. Chinese Proverb

An upload for yesterday was “something green”. I have several house plants with very green leaves. I tried to pick one of them that had the best show of “green” so it is this Philodendron. 

We had a meeting on Thursday evening where I made a miss-step that is still, two days later, bothering me. There was a rather heated discussion on a point of which I should have “kept my mouth shut” even though I offered what I think was honest and true. I think I hurt a friend’s feelings which to me, that most times, is a point of more importance than a subject of minimal importance. She hasn’t answered any of my texts of apology.

Another upload from yesterday was “something silly”. I have a dry sense of humor so it is difficult for me to find things that are silly. This one is a little weird. I think most likely someone dropped the hat, someone found it and put it on the post. Or someone put there and forgot it.

We have a visit with the twins again this week. I got to see them for about an hour. Sue took them to the skating rink in Grove City for a while before they had to go home. Bob and I (and Sweet Pea) had to go for the weekly curb side grocery pick up anyway. 

I have always promoted that I feel we never stop learning, even simple things and even as age marches on. I learned, as a result of a dinner outing with Rebecca and Lowell, that broccoli can help bring down blood sugar as opposed to raise it. I never gave it much thought one way or the other before although I am aware, having been in the medical field for a while, that leafy green vegetables are a good part of a diet.  I think I mentioned I am working on re-establishing my Type 2 diabetic diet (I slipped, “fell off the wagon”). In that effort,  I ordered grilled salmon at Olive Garden (it was awesome, by the way). My plate was, maybe, a quarter grilled salmon and three quarter steamed broccoli (also delicious). So when I got home I wondered what I had done to my carefully planned meal. I Googled broccoli and found that “it doesn't cause blood sugar levels to spike after eating it. Broccoli can even help regulate blood sugar levels....help keep blood sugar levels stable and control appetite”. It looks like I am having steamed broccoli (Olive Garden recipe) with dinner tonight. (BTW, pumpkin seeds can also help lower blood sugar too.)

One of the uploads for today was “a bunch of something”. We had just come from the store so I picked this bunch of broccoli out of the bag and used it for my model. 

The word for today develop.  If we do not plant knowledge when young, it will give us no shade when we are old, Lord Chesterfield.   If you would understand anything, observe its beginning and its development, Aristotle.  The falsification of history has done more to impede human development than any one thing known to mankind, Jean-Jacques Rousseau. People need hard times and oppression to develop psychic muscles, Emily Dickinson. Good character is not formed in a week or a month. It is created little by little, day by day. Protracted and patient effort is needed to develop good character. Heraclitus. Nothing stops the  man who desires to achieve. Every obstacle is simply a course to develop his achievement muscle. It's a strengthening of his powers of accomplishment. Thomas Carlyle. Let your motto then always be 'Excelsior', for by living up to it there is no such word as fail,  P T Barnum. One cannot develop taste from what is of average quality but only from the very best. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Nature knows no pause in progress and development, and attaches her curse on all inaction. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. 

Another upload for today is “sweet”. I allow myself one tablespoon of these nibbles when I am hunger for something chocolate/sweet. The carbs in a tablespoon are 8. 

It’s nice to know about the history of things around you and how they may have the ability to make your life fuller and richer.  I would not have thought of the Scioto River starting out as “small ditch”.  It is written that it did began as a ditch in a farm field in Auglaize County to travel 80 miles in Hardin County eventually having becoming the Scioto River traveling 230 miles to the Ohio River at Portsmouth. Early on it was first used by native American tribes in the area. It was their line of transportation and at stops along the way they built and left traces of mounds. The Scioto as most water ways floods now and then. According to the article the benefit of a flood in the case of the Scioto was the “creation of a rich topsoil”. It has made small changes in its course over centuries. “When Europeans came to Ohio they too used the Scioto as a navigation tool”.  In the beginning they used canoes and eventually graduated to larger boast. They could travel to Portsmouth, Pittsburgh and New Orleans. The word Scioto means deer. Deers could be found all along the river along with other wildlife. Salt seemed to be found along the Scioto so Native peoples came from “great distance to acquire” it. There are two major dams on the Scioto and many “low-head dams”. Scioto River travel was cheaper than by land.  Many people settled along the river because of the rich farmland. 

I think we will have baked taliepa for dinner with air fried potatoes. 

Joy

another of those pesky orange cones but this one with a bit of lines and textures and forms

 March 2, 2023 a thought for today, Wisdom is more precious than rubies.  Proverbs 8:11

The word’s of the hymn’s at last night’s choir practice as usual were refreshing. One thing that bothered me a bit was that I heard we were getting rid of an old piano in the choir room. I guess I am a sentimentalist but I see that piano as  part of the church, part of its history, a “memory marker”,  a familiar and respected piece of furniture. At the church I worked at earlier in my life they “gave up” or gave away old parts and pieces such as this piano of the church only when that church was seemingly dead beyond revival and they had to shut the doors for the last time. It hurts a little.   

An upload for yesterday was “look up”. I mossied out to my back yard for this shot. This was just today so I was amazed to see the green, most of the trees have lost their leaves but several evergreen trees were the frames for this capture. 

Well, the printing is once again done and done. As I have mentioned before the church is very quiet on Thursday morning but today was an exception. There was a huge group of people, some of them waiting when I arrived at 8:30, coming for a recovery group prayer meeting. I like the quiet moments in the Sanctuary every Thursday but on the other side of the coin it was nice to see all those people there today. Patti came in also which allowed us to have some “catching up” conversation too. 

The second upload for yesterday, the first day of the month was “texture”. While I as out in the yard I decided to shoot the second image for today. This is the bricks over grown with moss and wilted grass strands. 

While at church and on the way home I was able to “capture” some of my photos of the day. I have found that there are a lot of opportunities at the church. 

Once at home and after a period of rest I started the laundry. I think that will be the limit of my productiveness for the day except for dinner. 

Today my first shot is “round”. This is one of the water towers at the park down the street from my house. 

The word for today is destiny. It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves. William Shakespeare. Adapt yourself to the things among which your lot has been cast and love sincerely the fellow creatures with whom destiny has ordained that you shall live. Marcus Aurelius.  Character is destiny. Heraclitus.  Let us follow our destiny, ebb and flow. Whatever may happen, we master fortune by accepting it. Virgil.  Are you up to your destiny? William Shakespeare.  How shall a man escape from that which is written; How shall he flee from his destiny? Ferdowsi. Books have their own destinies. Terentianus Maurus.  The efforts which we make to escape from our destiny only serve to lead us into it, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Destiny grants us our wishes, but in its own way, in order to give us something beyond our wishes. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.  Everything that happens, happens as it should, and if you observe carefully, you will find this to be so,  Marcus Aurelius. The willing, Destiny guides them. The unwilling, Destiny drags them, Seneca.  You know how it is. Sometimes we plan a trip to one place, but something takes us to another, Rumi.   

The second capture for today is “buttons”. A few years ago I had a collection of old buttons from Aunt. That collection was lost a few years ago. So I was in search for something to fit the assignment. I shot several pieces of technical equipment, keyboards, television channel selectors, a message machine and this sound board for a streaming system.  

This article discusses ideas suggesting why Columbus is a great place to live. Apparently we were once called “cow town” (“due to an ‘agricultural heritage’”) and the article title is “From Cow Town to Smart City....”. It begin by describing our fireworks over the Scioto River and seen from the LeVeque Hotel. The claims are that this is one display of how Columbus is changing. The name Cow Town has lost the sigma in part due to its growth in technology. Battelle Memorial Institute is one of the biggest forces with “science and technology....  biotech and environmental businesses, not to mention the Xerox copier” along with the promising Intel factory for this growth in Columbus. There is a statement in the article  that says we are a “magnet for talent”. They say that new graduates are drawn to Columbus from Cincinnati and Cleveland for available jobs. Outstanding “beacons” here are the Ohio State University, Nationwide Insurance, the new Amazon warehouse and Intel. Supplying the new residents are fine restaurants and shops as those in the Short North. New unique hotels are coming. There are new types of businesses with names of“Rev1 Ventures” and “ Clenex” . Columbus is also going in to “mobility innovation”. Columbus has been “positioned as Smart Columbus”.  According to the article a “Smart Columbus Experience Center recently set up downtown is pushing for the adoption of electric vehicles by promoting tax subsidies, availability of supercharging stations, and cheaper-to-operate than gas vehicles”. Energy efficiency is on the rise here in the form of car sharing, Uber, Lyft and scooters. Another interesting part of the article was the mention that “ride-hailing is being reinvented here by local entrepreneur Morgan Kauffman, CEO and owner of Yellow Cab Columbus, a taxi service his grandfather first set up in 1928". This service is being formed with energy-efficient and “splashy vehicles”. Another coming innovation is a smart phone technology that can determine driving habits which can lead to determining premiums for a Root insurance. This program can result in a savings of around 52 percent. So, Columbus is on the map. 

 I have some homemade lima bean soup in the freezer that I think we will have for dinner. 

Joy

                                   deflated

 February 28, 2023 a thought for today, Injuries we write in marble, kindnesses in dust. English Proverb

Now the bulletin is done....ready to print. It is quiet around here today so I was able to get a good bit done on the annual report too. I may have some trouble getting the rest of the documents until the last minute. In the mean time I will try to get page borders, the front page and some other graphics entered.

One of the uploads for February 27 was “oranges”. We have been having a bag of tangerines for the past few shopping days. I have been meaning to make juice from the ones we haven’t eaten. I hadn’t had a juices for a while so I ordered one with my groceries last week. I haven’t used it yet.  

Sue is spending the day with Tiffany so we aren’t chatting as we pass each other during the day as we usually do. In the absence of activity I wanted to get out for a bit....Sweet Pea let me know that she wanted to go along for a ride so off we went. We weren’t gone long just enough to relax. 

Then it was back to the to-do agenda for today. The kitchen and sink were at the top of the list. The dishes are cleared and a meat loaf is ready for the oven. 

The second upload for yesterday was “tool”. This is my crochets tool kit with the hooks and spacer pins and scissors (behind the netting). 

I was also asked to upload Sunday’s church service from a memory card so that is on the completed list. Since the Ash Wednesday service did not complete on the initial streaming process, I uploaded that too. 

I’d say today has been on the productive side. Now I can get to work on the photos of the day. I will have to complete the composite calendar too since this is the last day of the week. 

My first upload for today was “so cute”.  Of course I had to use Sweet Pea, she is the cutest thing around me right now.

The word today is dear.  A man often pays dear for a small frugality, Ralph Waldo Emerson.  Nothing is cheap which is superfluous, for what one does not need, is dear at a penny, Plutarch.   Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other, Benjamin Franklin.  All theory, dear friend, is gray, but the golden tree of life springs ever green. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.  Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death! Patrick Henry. This self-love is the instrument of our preservation; it resembles the provision for the perpetuity of mankind: it is necessary, it is dear to us, it gives us pleasure, and we must conceal it. Voltaire.  A sympathetic friend can be quite as dear as a brother. Homer. Thus, dear friends, I have said it clearly enough, and I believe you ought to understand it and not make liberty a law, Martin Luther. The world, dear Agnes, is a strange affair, Moliere.  Books have become our dearest companions, yielding exquisite delights and inspiring lofty aims. George Henry Lewes.  There are only two people who can tell you the truth about yourself - an enemy who has lost his temper and a friend who loves you dearly. Antisthenes.  Real happiness is cheap enough, yet how dearly we pay for its counterfeit. Hosea Ballou.  We all remember epochs in our experience when some dear expectation dies, or some new motive is born, George Eliot.  My dear soul, flee from the worthless, stay close only to those with a pure heart. Like attracts like. A crow will lead you to the graveyard, a parrot to a lump of sugar, Rumi.  Dear me! how happy and good we'd be, if we had no worries! Louisa May Alcott.  My Dear Son... remember that you are accountable to your Maker for all your words and actions, Abigail Adams. 

My next upload for today is “flowers”. As you can imagine with living in Ohio at this time of year there are no flowers in bloom. So I went to my archives and found this one among many others. 

There was in early Columbus history a lady in the Miss American pageant and here is her story. A “ young lady from Columbus named Mary Catherine Campbell is an important part of the early history” of the  Miss America pageant. I relearned that beauty contests are not “an innovation developed for the Miss American story”. There were, have been and still are “homecoming and prom queens to county fair royalty”. The article relayed that the first recorded bathing beauty contest in American was in 1880 and Thomas Edison was one of the judges. And get the requirements......under age 25, single, on or over 5 feet 4 inches tall and weigh under 130 pounds. The first “Miss America” pageant was held in New York City in 1919. It grew from that to one in a “Fall Frolic” in 1920 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Some notes about the “Frolic”.... part of it was “decorated rolling wicker chairs pushed along a parade route”. They were pushed by 340 men as “‘young maidens’ who sat in the rolling chairs”. In 1921 it changed a bit to nine contestants walked along the Boardwalk. The winner was a 16-year-old and was crowned the “Golden Mermaid”. She won $100. In 1922 there were fifty-seven women gathered for the competition. The winner was Mary Catherine Campbell from Columbus Ohio. She had been chosen Miss Columbus from one hundred and seventy other women. After she became Miss American, she entered the Ohio State University. She entered again in 1923 and won again. After she won twice the rule’s change so that they could only win once so she was the only two-time winner of the Miss American pageant. She had offers for entertainment jobs. She didn’t take any of the offers. She cared for her mother until her  death. Then she married and lived a quite live until she died in 1927.

It is going to be meat loaf for dinner tonight. 

Joy

This being the last day of the month is the time to put together my composites of the photos a day for the month. 

 February 26, 2023 a thought for today, Sweet are the uses of adversity. Hebrew Proverb

The twins were here for a while yesterday so it was all sound and movement (or feet hanging over the arm or a chair) around here for a few hours. 

The first upload for yesterday as “a tree from below”. This is the season to see, explore and enjoy the multitude of shapes, forms and potions of the branches on the winter time resting tree. 

The message at church today was presented by one of our lay people. It was a good message and a day-to-day type of presentation. Then we had a piano solo by our newest choir member, a very comfortable tune. 

Soon after I got home Bob and I had an invitation to lunch with Lowell and Rebecca. We met at Olive Garden. I don’t get to see them as often as I would like so it was a treat. We had just ordered when Lowell got a call. Lou Ann was having furnace trouble, not good in this kind of weather, and needed Lowell for some help so he had to leave us. Bob and I shared Rebecca’s company for the rest of the meal. 

Sue is spending the day helping her granddaughter and spending some more time with the twins. 

The second upload for yesterday the title was “church window”. Here is one of the many images of church windows from my archives. 

Today the temperature is not so bad. It is around 50 degrees but by evening the temps will drop to the thirties or so.

My diabetes (Type 2) has been raising its ugly head for a week or so, so I doing more finger sticks and walking (exercise to lower sugar) and being careful with food. So the food for today at our outing  had to be thought about.  

One of the uploads for today is “pasta”. This was Rebecca’s delicious order at Olive Garden today 

The word today is danger. He who learns but does not think, is lost! He who thinks but does not learn is in great danger. Confucius.  Never was anything great achieved without danger. Niccolo Machiavelli.  The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out to meet it. Thucydides. Danger is sauce for prayers. Benjamin Franklin.  As soon as there is life there is danger. Ralph Waldo Emerson.  Physical courage, which despises all danger, will make a man brave in one way; and moral courage, which despises all opinion, will make a man brave in another. Charles Caleb Colton.   If a man walks in the woods for love of them half of each day, he is in danger of being regarded as a loafer. But if he spends his days as a speculator, shearing off those woods and making the earth bald before her time, he is deemed an industrious and enterprising citizen. Henry David Thoreau.  There is danger that we lose sight of what our friend is absolutely, while considering what she is to us alone. Henry David Thoreau. The humble are in danger when those in power disagree. Phaedrus.

This second upload for today is titled “composite (red)”. I didn’t have a lot of time, there was a lot of
activity today. I should have taken more time to put together this composite. I am certain I could have generated a better image, I have some experience with composites. I wanted to show my gorgeous Christmas poinsettia as it progressed in its life inside a warm house. There was to gorgeous red bracts at first then they began to fall until there was only bare stems. It will be planted outside in early April to awaken again next fall. 

Here is another story of history in Columbus from one of my favorite sources. This one talks about problems immigrants had when coming to Columbus.  As the article relates, in the 1850s there was “unprecedented growth and economic success in the United States”.  At that time there were a “rag tag collection of former British colonies into a united nation of almost limitless possibilities”.  In the Midwest rich soil and high yields of crops of wheat and corn also livestock. Roads, rivers, canals and railroads added to growth and productivity. According to the article Columbus was a big part of the countries activities. Columbus had 5,000 residents in 1834 and 17,000 in 1850. Many of those were from Western Europe and Ireland and Germany. The Irish settled in the more northern part of town, now Nationwide Boulevard. The German immigrants seemed to settle in the more southern part of the city, around Livingston Avenue. Here is where this article  began to pass on new information. There were ‘concerns’ about the growing immigrant population which led to a formation of an urge to promote “immigrant restriction”.  It went as far as forcing the use of a ‘password’. When passing by someone a password was asked for, many times the person being asked replied “I know nothing!” This led to the thought of a “Know Nothings” group formation. All of this finally led to “confrontations of one sort or another.....some verbal...others....violent”. One story of one of these occurrences was: in July of 1855, in the early evening a group in the “South Ward, a German Infantry Company....holding a celebration.... marched through the city”. At the back of the procession there was an American flag as well as a “society banner”.  The banner was threatened by bystanders. One of the accounts of the incident said that as the march continued it reached a point where stones were thrown at them as well as verbal insults, some said that even pistol shots came from nearby. That incited some of the marchers to draw pistols....it is reported that in this skirmish one young man was killed. Of course the parade ended. The article related that “nineteen young German men were quickly arrested”. According to the article “no further confrontations of this kind” happened although “dislike and distrust” continued for many years. In time, Irish and Germans along with many other nationalities coming to Columbus became part of the “diverse fabric that is America today”. 

We are each on our own for dinner tonight since we went out for brunch. 

Joy

            when I was filling my gas tank I noticed a cup someone “forgot?”