Favorite This Far, JusJoJan-last

Linda is winding up Just Jot January with us sharing a favorite post from the last year or month. I have not been blogging but a few months(Aug 2018) so I will just go with a favorite of mine plus one that seems to get a lot of likes for it. It started first as a picture from Irene of Heaven’s Sunshine and I loved that photo so much I wrote a poem about it. Since it is a small poem, I will just repost it all here.

TO THE TOP for THE BOTTOM

One of the most enjoyable things about blogging is the amazing photographers, professional and non-professional that share their photographs for all to enjoy. A lot of the photographs that are shared are due to various challenges as the one I will be sharing with you today, well technically it’s night (2:30 am)but I couldn’t sleep so I am writing.

Irene from Heaven’s Sunshine was following the challenge for stairs from Pic And A Word by Patrick Jennings. Her picture was so inspiring to me, I told her I was going to write about it, so I did. I hope you enjoy it and do stop by Irene’s blog for some wonderful pictures.

Steps to the Cross — Bailly Cemetery – Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore

THE CLIMB

I see and maintain it still is not fair,

I have nothing to lay at the top of the stair.

It’s not my fault, I did nothing wrong,

Well, maybe I did, it’s just been so long.

How long has it been since I climbed to the top,

I remember it’s relief, Why did I stop?

How can a symbol of such astounding grief,

Be given to us to bring so much relief?

With love so amazing, to the cross did He die,

To flood us with gratitude that still makes us cry.

The burdens we carry don’t always seem fair,

Always we can lay them at the top of the stair.

The first step looks brittle, can it carry my weight?

This burden is heavy and may seal my dire fate.

As I touch each step and climb ever higher,

Is this what I should do, is this really my desire?

As I clear the last step, the cross is before me,

I question my worth, did He also die for me?

As my knees get bent, I am smothered by His grace,

And I lay all my burdens at the accepting cross base.

– Anita Tillman Neal –

Always remember there is a burden carrier and it isn’t you. Scripture tells us repeatedly that He is there to carry our burdens for us, we just have to be willing to give them to Him.

crossburden

And as always, I remind everyone the much loaded value of kindness. Carry it with you where ever you go and share it as much as possible.

kindness3

Wintry Blast, #1LinerWed/JusJoJan

Prayerfully waiting for the 60+ degree warm-up on Saturday of 40+ degree highs with one sentence but many pictures. Thanks to John for the picture I am copying as it helps give the visual of…GOOD GRIEF!

And this is my local area. Live within 15 minutes of the Quad City Intl Airport @ -52

So with Linda’s One Liner Wednesday combined with almost the last Just Jot January, we bid you warmth and kindness.

But even in the cold the beauty of life can still show its marvelous head.

img_20190130_101712 (1) — Birds gotta eat

I remind you of the warmth of kindness even on a cold blustery day.

kind15

Dirty, Just Jot January

Linda G Hill with the final guest prompt by Jim has challenged us with “dirty”. Right now I am more consumed with snow and cold than dirt but I have heard cold being called “stinking cold”. Stinking usually refers to something really smelly dirty. So I am going with the cold being dirty. At least it is leaving a mess at my front door.

img_20190129_144415 — Dried melted salt and salt crystals in the carpet

I just came in from getting the mail and these new pictures and the current temp is 3 degrees and steadily falling with the onslaught of this polar vortex. Temps to drop to an estimated -22 with a wind chill of -51. For all of you also in this dirty stinking cold, stay inside as much as possible. I am praying we don’t get further damage from this cold air mass. Sunday we will be basking in heat at 44 degrees. That’s 60 degrees warmer so it will feel great.

I am adding in a few pictures of the snow. While I know it is silly to post snow pictures but being from south Georgia, this is not a normal scene for me. So chuckle with me and stay warm.

While the angle is not good, the snow is knee high and drifted higher in some areas.

The mound in the center of the yard is the Christmas decorations and a small live Christmas tree. The decorations may have to wait until spring to get remove.

img_20190129_142606_1 — Archway over the sidewalk

I hope these evergreens are resilient enough to straighten back up with spring.

Even though we are stinking dirty cold, we can always be crystal clean kind. Sometimes when things are under stress, kindness is more important, more needed and much loved on the receiving end. So remember to be kind.

snow kindness

What is or Who can be a Photographer, #JusJoJan

Cutting is down to the basics, in my mind, a photographer is one who has a eye for capturing and balancing the right angle of a subject to reveal an awe inspiring moment that makes the rest of us drool at its beauty whether it is a split second action shot or the beautiful contrast of nature at it best…or worse in some cases. Who are these photographers? Anyone who has the passion for being able to capture these awe inspiring moments. There are some amazing photographers I have seen in this bloggosphere world – if that is such a word, spell check says no, but I am sure you all know what I am talking about.

Examples of amazing photos I enjoy come from experts like jansenphoto of Dutch Goes the Photo, Irene of Heaven’s Sunshine, Debbie Smyth of Travel With Intent, Norm 2.0, Pedrol, and so many more. Check out their work as it truly is amazing. Then you have people who love photography and take pictures to add to their fun as they blog like me, and Shelley, Laurie, Dan, and again so many more people. Photography, while it can be very technical, it speaks to the eye then quickly moving to the heart to be shared in awe for all viewers. A wonderful and fun medium of expression.

I say all this to be able to share a meteorological phenomenon that I saw today called a Sun Dog. I had never seen or even heard of one until someone told me what it was.

Sun dog

Description

A sun dog or mock sun, formally called a parhelion in meteorology, is an atmospheric optical phenomenon that consists of a bright spot to one or both sides of the Sun. Two sun dogs often flank the Sun within a 22° halo.Wikipedia

Yea, what he said. Regardless it was amazing to see. Oh, and the temp was -8, with a wind chill of -30 degrees. Really? This is western Iowa, not Alaska.

img_20190125_083830

So sometimes photography is being at the right spot at the right time, like I was this morning. About an hour later it was snowing again. Total for the year so far is over 40″ (its still January) with another 4-8″ possible on Sunday thru Monday. That’s a lot of snow for someone who was raised in south Georgia, 15 minutes north of the Florida border. Now I am trying to balance 20 pounds of clothes to keep from freezing to death.

But even in the cold you can still find time to be kind, maybe even more so. So I remind all, of the wonderful attribute of kindness. I promise, sharing it will balance your day.

kindness

Linda G Hill and her guest prompter JP has challenged with the word balance. Come

along and join in on the fun.

Another one? Really! #1LinerWed, #JusJOJan

We already had two systems come through totaling 13 inches and now another comes through dropping another 6 1/2 inches of snow! Enough already!

Even with the cold white stuff, kindness still prevails. Due to my inability to be fully stable on both feet, my dear neighbors out of their kindness cleared my sidewalks. So I remind you of the truly valuable gift of kindness.

kindness3

Again Linda’s One Liner Wednesday combined with Just Jot January has asked us to come play along so I ask you as well to come join in on the party.

Curiosity, #JusJoJan

We have all heard the phrase of “Curiosity Killed the Cat”. I don’t have a cat at the moment so when I looked for pictures on line for curiosity pictures of cats there are thousands, even ones that sadly lived up to the phrase above. But I did find the one below that I thought was awesome. I have even used that same look when someone says something to me deserved of that look.

Cats are endearing creatures, especially when kittens. The things they will do in exploring their world.

cat

Then they become demanding rulers of the house and you become the slave. Although Mimi, my coon hound, pretty much has rule of the house and dogs too can have that same look of curiosity when studying something they are trying to figure out.

And then we spent millions of dollars on a robot and sent it to Mars to find the life we just knew was there and we named it “Curiosity” – Who da’ thunk.

curoisity mars

As we chuckle over the funniest of animals and man’s great curiosity of “what’s out there” lets us come closer to home and remember to always be kind. Even animals understand kindness and use it when they know it’s needed.

Be the spark of someones sunshine for today.

Linda G Hill’s along with Pam’s prompt of Curiosity brings us our fun for another snow coming day. Stay safe and warm my friends.

TV From Box to Screen to Phone, #SoCS & #JusJoJan

The track of television from beginning to now has been rather amazing. What is next for the technological future of this apparatus? Since I am older than some of you who read my Jots, lets do a little of my history with TV. When I was young the TV was a large box that housed the TV screen and the large vacuum tubes inside them that made it work.

These tubes gave off a slight heat and I remember my old dog would sleep next to it to feel that warmth. The TVs at that time showed only black and white images and some of the shows we watched were Wagon Train, The Rifleman, The Lone Ranger, Roy Roger & Gunsmoke. Westerns were very popular in that era. And as time went on some of the TVs got put in bigger cabinets.

And when color TV came along you had movies like the Wizard of Oz that started off black & white in Kansas then turned to color when she got to Oz. All the kids went to one house or the other to watch through their TVs. That was a simple time when you did not have to worry where your kids were because all moms took care of what kids were in their house at the moment – and some moms were cooler so that was usually where everyone went. Oh, and at this time TV was FREE.

Then later, about my college years, came the BIG box TV with a 40 something inch screen but still in a box. By this time the technology had totally changed and you were actually looking at a projection onto the screen from inside the TV.

Now TVs are on a screen as thin as the computer screen which also had a similar history of development. If you miss a TV program now, you just look through your DVD player where you recorded it and watch it at home or on you hand held device because now you buy your programs through cable or satellite.

The one really good things about today’s TV, if you record everything and watch it when it is actually thought recording, you can zip right though the commercials or any part of the show you wish not to see.

So Linda G Hill challenged us today with Stream of Consciousness Saturday and Just Jot January with the prompt of Television. Hope you enjoy my version of its history and hope it spawned many fond memories of your own history.

And as a posting reminder from me to anyone who reads, please remember to be kind. This world has a tendency to be harsh and cold so a spark of tenderness and kindness goes a long way.

kindness10 — Be someones bright spark for the day

Friendship vs. Companionship, JusJoJan

In looking up the meanings of these terms, they seem to be pretty much the same per Webster. But to me there is a different emotional attachment for companionship. To me companionship requires a heartfelt emotional connection between to bodies. The bodies can be the same specie or different specie. The animal world is forever showing us this emotional connection of companionship in various ways.

People can have many friends but only a few they call true friends or companions that they can share heart felt concerns, fears, joys or tears. We have drinking buddies or ice cream buddies who will hear all of our concerns and just nod at appropriate times to assure us it will be OK. Then they lock away that information and never dare share it. Loyal companions. We all need them. Man has to have someone or something to talk to. Remember the movie with Tom Hanks, Cast Away. He cut his hand and with his blood made a face on a soccer ball and called him Wilson, because that was who made the ball. God made us to have companions.

Mine sits beside me on the sofa as I type, sometime snoring loudly.

But she listens to every word, gets very concerned when my voice get upset then comes and stands protectively across my lap. It makes football very difficult to watch.

dog love3

What or whoever is your companion is cherish that companionship. They really are few and far between in our lives and most needed. And companionship requires kindness, sometimes extra kindness, so remember to be kind. While your companion may out of hurt be unkind, do not return in favor. Show your inner strength and be strong and kind.

Today’s prompt from Linda on Just Jot January is being supplied by Di. And the word is companionship. Come join in on the fun.

It’s This Big… #JusJoJan #17

In trying to visualize to someone how big or small something is, we will often use our fingers…

While that may look really small, if you are describing the size of a mouse dropping found in your cabinet that is a BIG mouse. And using that method again, I don’t care if the snake is only that big…he is too big for me. Just sayin’.

Alrighty then, let’s think on things that we are told are really big, like the moon at 2,159 miles in diameter. That seems big but not compared to some other moons. Jupiter has the largest moon, Ganymede at 5,262 km. Those of you who live in the US, that is more than 3,629 miles so our moon does not seem not that big. Of Jupiter’s 79 moons, it is also credited with the smallest moon at 2 km equaling 1.25 miles. Now how in the world can you see something that small from a roaming satellite. Amazing.

I saw this picture I am enclosing today that I thought was fabulous. I don’t know the photographer but the tree seems to think our moon fits right in between it’s fingers. So I thought I would share.

Sizes are always relevant to your measuring device. Like guys that go fishing and tell stories of the one that got away.

In the 70’s there was a quirky little figure with his arms spread wide showing you he loved you this much. The 70’s were the love generation but they just kinda forgot some of the other things that needed to go with that love…but I digress. It is the symbol of measurement I want to focus on. That symbol is still used today and will always remain true.

jesus open arms — He loves you this much

What an amazing measurement. Many songs have been written about this amazing amount of love. And even though we can not fully understand this amount of love, we can still measure out a reflection of this love by being kind to those who so desperately need it. Sometimes you may not even realize someone is hurting but your kindness may be the one thing that day that releases enough pain to be able to go to the next day. So remember to ALWAYS be kind.

kindness5

Linda’s Just Jot January prompt is being lead by John Holden of One Hand Typing. And that prompt is “inch”. And while I did not use the actual word I did measure it out. Come join in on the fun.