A Journal to impart knowledge and facts |
July 22, 2015 I'm going to start today to record on a daily basis whatever happens to strike my fancy. So, it is a very cool breezy day. I just posted 5 short book reviews to The Monthly Reading Challenge. I'm suppose to put away some winter wood today from the woodpile outside but I'm playing hookey from work to write so starting this blog will get done. I'm having a daily fight with a flock of English Sparrows that are trying to take over my barn. They are making a terrible mess so they have to go. I have destroyed several nests so far they don't leave but they get out of the barn when I am around. I'm just starting the fight so I guess I don't know how far I have to go to discourage them. I'm trying not to spread myself to thin on WDC because I find so many things that are interesting here and I am trying to work on a new story. I really enjoy sitting at my desk with a cup of tea and reading blogs on WDC. |
Dear 2024: I bet you are beginning to wake up a little now. Because of the warm weather and rain my lawn is beginning to grow. This is an unheard of or unthought of situation, at this time of the year. I thought I would alert you to the ongoing things I am doing. I will still be cleaning and rearranging the basement during 2024. I will still be learning new things about music theory and ways to play arpeggios on my guitar. I will still be learning human biology in my biology course. Something new: I'm looking forward to starting an indoor herb garden. In order to do this, I will have to put up some windowsills on the east windows of the house. We have windows, but there are no sills wide enough for plant pots. Presently, all my growing plants are in hanging baskets because the cats and dogs like to eat them. I would also like to go into some hydroponics in the new year and want to be ready to plant our porch garden as soon as the weather becomes warm enough. What will 2024 bring in the way of weather? I hope no surprises. Whenever I think of having regular days to plan activities in 2023, my mind turns to the Ukraine people and now the Israelites. I pray for 2024 to bring peace to the lives of those people. They did not ask to be the subject of attacks and now are in a position of protecting themselves. Each family is already suffering losses of loved members. Whenever a new year enters there is a hushed atmosphere of the unknown involved. It will still be just one day at a time. We will welcome you each day as we did 2023. The earth will cry if you bring bad news and rejoice if you bring good news. HAPPY NEW YEAR 2024! |
Day 350 December 13, 2023 Prompt: "The desire to serve and contribute meaningfully to society does not fade with age." Rachel Bayani This is true. I find though, that it is difficult for me to add anything presently to any society around here. As long as we went to church there was always a way to bring aide in some way and continue to find ways to interact with other people. I had a failed attempt a few years ago to join a library book club. So, basically, I stay home with my dogs and just get by day to day. If you get too far out of the loop people, make up their minds about you, whether they know you or not. a lot of elderly people are stagnant when it comes to social interaction. You have to actively seek interaction during aging. |
National Adopt a Pet Day Or Shelter Pet Day. I follow some shelters on Facebook: I've had numerous pets in my life. All my previous pets came as puppies or kittens. Now, I have in my home 3 dogs. One came here as a 5-year-old dog. I actually puppy sat this dog several times and was there when the owners first brought him home. So, I've known the dog since he was a pup. When the owners gave him up permanently, he was a handful but now he is well established. He knows the ropes and rarely gets into much trouble. The other 2 are dogs I took in from shelters of one sort or another. I am their third or fourth home. One I have had since December 2021 the other has been here since September 2023. I approve of the shelter movement. You should know though, that when you adopt a pet from a shelter you may need to go through at least a year for that animal to really believe it is safe and secure with you. If you are the second or third home the dog or cat has been through, they are quick to expect they won't be with you long. And depending on the kind of abuse they may have suffered they won't be quick to trust the new place they are staying. I'm putting these two new pets through respect and obedience training slowly, so they know I intend for them to be here always. (as long as I live) As third or fourth owner dogs they can find more ways to try the normal persons patience. Like all dogs they are loving creatures so I always wonder how people can raise a pup then just give it up. Everywhere I went I took my pets with me. Except the Panama Canal zone. I could not take my dog there. He stayed on my dads' farm while I was gone about 6 weeks. Both these new dogs show the same kind of mischief and try patience in the same ways. They also experience the same kind of actual fear when they hear the word no. I wish dogs of this type came with a written history so new owner's knew what kind of training they had before they got to a new home. We took in one rescue who was abandoned. The owners moved, just drove away and left the dog. It took 3 years for that dog to believe it was staying forever. Car rides are interesting, they won't get in the car because they think they won't come back with you. Take them to McDonald's buy them a burger then go home. They soon get the idea car rides are not so bad. If you take in a shelter pet, just be really patient with all the newness it takes a while for them to believe they found a forever home. |
Prompt: Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken. Write about this in your Blog entry today. Be yourself. What happens when everyone around you keeps accusing you of thinking things you are not thinking? This often happens when something you are saying is interrupted by someone who thinks they know what you are going to say before you say it. I have even caught myself doing this on occasion, which makes me want to listen more closely to what others are saying and even question people about subjects more closely. Example: I know a woman who is actually really mean to people sometimes. By watching and listening I have discovered she is really using mean ideas to defend herself against things others have done to her or things people have said to her in the past. This is an area of the world where people try to use psychology to manipulate others. A professor once told me psychology is a science not a power. Sorting the difference helps me understand human social problems better. Sometimes people don't take the time to understand who they really are. Mindfulness is a good way to get into the reality of your own personality. Mindfulness also helps you learn to defend your own ego from manipulations by others. It is important to be yourself. Maybe not if you are a serial manipulator of others. Spoken by a true introvert. Keep on keepin on! |
Mars for Andre: References from: www.Nasa.gov they have an article for 4th and 5th graders, just my speed for today. https://youtu.be/snb-gs9lUK4?si=VkM6tCAtGpGdyyht So. you want to lose weight.? Go to Mars. The gravity on mars is 2/3 less than the gravity on earth. So, you weigh approximately 2/3 less. When rocks fall on the red planet, they fall slower than on earth Nasa's rovers have found proof that the planet use to have water. If you watch the YouTube video as Perseverance rover moves across the surface of the planet, it is a desolate view. The iron oxide in the soil makes everything red. When the Greeks and Romans viewed the red planet, it looked bloody, so they named the planet Mars after the Roman god of war. The view from Perserverance looks like the devastation after an atomic war. The two moons of Mars are named Phobos (fear) and Deimes (panic) after the sons of the Greek god of war. If you are fleeing a Zombie war on planet earth and flee to mars take a heater with you because the temperature is -80 degrees. Very, very cold. Mars is the 4th planet from the sun. The planet turns more slowly on its' axis than earth. A day there is 24.6 hours long. The planet hosts a year as 687 days. Only 1/2 the size of earth the red planet once had the same kind of atmospheric protections that the earth presently has. (see Nasa .gov for a more biological explanation of this fact) Nasa has sent many expeditions and several different types of rovers to the red planet. The present rover called Perserverance has been roving Mars since 2020. This is just a few of the cool facts about our neighbor. Mars. Merry Christmas |
Goals for December: I have very few. First, I'm going to decorate the tree I set up the day before Thanksgiving. I never set it up until the first day of deer hunting season. This year I set it up early but have not decorated it yet. I'm going to try some new interesting finger twisting guitar exercises. and try to finish section 2 of my anatomy course. The anatomy course is going slow because of house clean out, which started in September and is ongoing. What I would really like is to schedule a do nothing at all except read fiction for a month. First snow of the season hit last night. Makes me want to curl up under a blanket and read until spring. If I do some of all of this and play with the dogs, I will be successful, I guess. Have a story tumbling around in my brain. Maybe I will write it down. Merry Christmas watch out for Zombies. |