“You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is like an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.” ~Mahatma Gandhi

So...

I literally posted last night about 30 minutes after yet ANOTHER freaking mass shooting! 

WTF???

All of this shit hurts my heart more than I can say.  What the hell is wrong with people?  Since when do we condone these actions?  Maybe not condone....but "thoughts and prayers" are a bunch of bullshit, right?  Something needs to be done.  Like right now. 

I'm not going to rant on, so here is tonight's fare.

Enjoy.

And please be safe.

“Every one of us is, in the cosmic perspective, precious. If a human disagrees with you, let him live. In a hundred billion galaxies, you will not find another.”  
~Carl Sagan, Cosmos

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"When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive - to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love." ~Marcus Aurelius

Well...

Apparently, we visited Krohn Conservatory on my birthday...in 2017...and I have the pics to prove it.  😀

(These are leftovers from the FIRST time I posted from this visit.)

On a more somber note...there was another mass shooting today (the 3rd in the past week alone).  20 people lost their lives and at least 26 more were wounded.  I heard at some point today that the ages ranged from 2yrs old and up. 

WHO F*ING SHOOTS A 2 YEAR OLD?!

This country is going to shit.  Why should I EVER be afraid to attend a festival...a movie...church...SCHOOL?? 

This needs to stop.

Please.

Life is an opportunity, benefit from it. Life is beauty, admire it. Life is a dream, realize it. Life is a challenge, meet it. Life is a duty, complete it. Life is a game, play it. Life is a promise, fulfill it. Life is sorrow, overcome it. Life is a song, sing it. Life is a struggle, accept it. Life is a tragedy, confront it. Life is an adventure, dare it. Life is luck, make it. Life is too precious, do not destroy it. Life is life, fight for it.

~Mother Teresa

"When you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it's your world for the moment. I want to give that world to someone else. Most people in the city rush around so, they have no time to look at a flower. I want them to see it whether they want to or not." ~Georgia O'Keeffe

Well...

Holy crap.  Now we're going back to May...2017!! 

Thankfully...or should I say sadly...I haven't been taking very many photos this past year, so there's much less to edit and process.  I need to get out more...when the sun is shining.

These are from Spring Grove Cemetery - one of my favorite-ist places to visit.  Fairyland extraordinaire.  Maybe I need to go back over with Chuck and kinda jump-start myself.  Get shit back on track....maybe take some photos of stuff OTHER than pink dogwoods - which apparently I was really enjoying.

Geez.

Enjoy.

Legend of the Dogwood

At the time of the Crucifixion the dogwood had been the size of the oak and other forest trees. So firm and strong was the tree that it was chosen as the timber for the cross. To be used thus for such a cruel purpose greatly distressed the tree, and Jesus, nailed upon it, sensed this, and, in His gentle pity for all sorrow and suffering, said to it: “Because of your regret and pity for My suffering, never again shall the dogwood tree grow large enough to be used as a cross.
“Henceforth it shall be slender and bent and twisted and its blossoms shall be in the form of a cross—two long and two short petals. And in the center of each petal there will be nail prints, brown with rust and stained with red, and in the center of the flower will be a crown of thorns, and all who see it will remember.”

~Maxwell Droke, The Speaker’s Special Occasion Book

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"Beauty is produced by the pleasing appearance and good taste of the whole, and by the dimensions of all the parts being duly proportioned to each other." ~Vitruvius

So...

The same day we visited the Cathedral, we swung by Mother of God Church on 5th Street in Covington.  It is another impressive example of the various styles of architecture (Italian Renaissance in this instance) in the region.  The front doors were locked, so we weren't able to get any interior photos.  Mother of God is ALSO a beautiful church and very much worth visiting.  I'm going to dig up a photo I made for my mom from a wedding where she did the flowers.  The bride was gracious enough to let me shoot some photos of her. 

Like I said, this church is gorgeous.

Enjoy.

 “Let some holy ambition invade our souls, so that, dissatisfied with mediocrity, we shall eagerly desire the highest things and shall toil with all our strength to obtain them, since we may if we wish.”
~Giovanni Pico Della Mirandola

“Architecture is really about well-being. I think that people want to feel good in a space… On the one hand it’s about shelter, but it’s also about pleasure.” ~Zaha Hadid

Well...

This is the last installment of my St. Mary's Cathedral of the Basilica photos (I made more than 18 MONTHS ago).  Hey, I'm workin' on it!

This past week has been pretty cool at home.  Between Pappy, Mara and I, we have picked, shucked, cut off the cob, fried and froze 90 (NINETY) ears of corn (that includes a dozen we bought at McGlasson's Farm - on Adventure Day).  On Friday, I made a small batch of Lemon Curd.  Oh my, quite tasty.  Saturday was Adventure Day to:  McGlasson's Farm on Rt 8 in Hebron, lunch alfresco from McDonald's and then for an ice cream cone from Baskin Robbins!  (31 Fine Flavors, my ass.  More like 24.)  Sunday, I made 2 loaves of Banana Bread, 3 loaves of Zucchini Bread and a batch of fresh Peach Jam.  Holy crap!  It's very delicious!  I used really ripe white flesh peaches I purchased on mark-down at Meijer's.  I didn't want to mess up the nice peaches I got from McGlasson's - just in case it turned out I didn't know what I was doing.  Fat chance!  Today, I am hoping to make Seedless Red Raspberry Preserves.  Looks kinda easy, we'll see.  And I have different recipe for Peach Jam I'm going to try.  I also bought apples to make a pie and a small batch of Applesauce.  I told Pappy I'm going full-out Little House on the Prairie and try putting up Green Beans and making my own Pickles.  Churning Butter can't be too far away, right? 

It's keeping me busy.

Okay...back to these photos.  I kind of feel like they're "meh" because I know I can do better.  The best type day to visit one of the many local churches with all of the gorgeous stained glass windows is when it's partly cloudy.  You know, big fluffy clouds that block out the sun on regular intervals.  Standing inside of a church while the sun comes and goes is, quite literally, like standing inside of a giant kaleidoscope. Ab-so-LUTELY breathtaking.  BUT...it's not such a great time to visit and make nice photos (and I'm not very patient with myself, so...). 

It is what it is.

Right?

Enjoy.

 

Food is everything we are. It's an extension of nationalist feeling, ethnic feeling, your personal history, your province, your region, your tribe, your grandma. It's inseparable from those from the get-go.

~Anthony Bourdain 

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Food is everything we are. It's an extension of nationalist feeling, ethnic feeling, your personal history, your province, your region, your tribe, your grandma. It's inseparable from those from the get-go.
Read more at https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/anthony_bourdain_552955?src=t_food

Food is everything we are. It's an extension of nationalist feeling, ethnic feeling, your personal history, your province, your region, your tribe, your grandma. It's inseparable from those from the get-go. Anthony Bourdain
Read more at https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/anthony_bourdain_552955?src=t_food

Food is everything we are. It's an extension of nationalist feeling, ethnic feeling, your personal history, your province, your region, your tribe, your grandma. It's inseparable from those from the get-go. Anthony Bourdain
Read more at https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/anthony_bourdain_552955?src=t_food