Porte Photos’ Daily Quote: October 6, 2022

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For every minute, the future is becoming the past.

~ Thor Heyerdahl
Norwegian – Explorer October 6, 1914 – April 18, 2002

Porte Musings:

Sunny, windless days in October are rare, so take advantage and get outside before the cooler weather gets here. Yesterday was 20C and calm, so my sister and I went kayaking at Pinery Provincial Park.

The water was clear and most of the algae blooms had retreated to their winter havens. Fish floated past. About 30 turtles were sitting on logs to gain the last rays of sun before they go to sleep for the winter. A lone cormorant was taking advantage of the park sanctuary during hunting season. My sister popped her bubble gum and the echo was like a gun shot. The cormorant spread its wings in fear then flew off. Turkey vultures were sitting in a tree as there were no wind currents to glide on. Peace and calm.

Porte Photo’s Daily Quote: September 30, 2022

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Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor.

~ Truman Capote
American – Novelist / September 30, 1924 – August 25, 1984

Porte Musings:

Today is the Canadian National Day for Truth and Reconciliation or Orange Shirt Day. We remember the Residential School Survivors and wear an Orange shirt to honour the children who attended them. Stripped of their favorite shirts, hair cut, languages and cultures lost, intergenerational trauma. Children ripped from their homes to attend schools in far away places some of who never returned home, their bodies to be found decades later in unmarked graves.

You can’t wear an orange shirt because you can’t afford one? That’s OK take an orange marker and draw an orange heart on the back of your hand. Listen today to the words being played on local radio stations and let’s live as equals sharing the same rights and privileges in this wonderful country. Celebrate our differences while we honour each other in peace.

Porte Photo’s Daily Quote: September 22, 2022

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Dreams are the seeds of change.
Nothing ever grows without a seed
and nothing ever changes without a dream.

~ Debby Boone
American Singer / Born: September 22, 1956

Porte Musings:

The first official Day of Fall and the weather is going to accentuate the statement with a high of only 12C and a low tonight of 4C (frost is possible).

As I’ve seen in memes on Facebook, the trees are preparing to show us how beautiful it can be to give up.

Last night’s Strathroy-Caradoc Horticultural Meeting was a wonderful slide show presentation by Valerie. She showed us a wonderful International Topiary exhibit held in Montreal several years ago. Some of the displays were over 10 stories high. She also showed us flowers from her garden.

Fall is a busy time for gardeners as they bring in tender bulbs and plants, prepare the beds for winter, then get busy planting new bulbs for next spring. It’s a wonderful time to plant trees and shrubs as they can establish new roots during the winter and then sprout new branches in the spring.

Then gardeners prepare to cocoon during the winter with seed catalogues or travel to warmer places where they can tend gardens in the winter or look for new gardening ideas.

Porte Photos Daily Quote: September 15, 2022

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Never do anything yourself
that others can do for you.

~ Agatha Christie
English – Writer; September 15, 1890 – January 12, 1976

Porte Musings:

Yes, free up time so you can do the important things in life and give them your full attention.

Well there are some things I enjoy doing that others can do for me, but there have been times in my life when I was able to delegate or hire others to do for me. The one thing I always hated doing was housework. I was so lucky to be able to hire a cleaner while I was working so I didn’t have the weekly arguments with my family about chores.

I always like birds to present the quote. I call them “birds of wisdom”. Blue Herons always look wise.

Porte Photos Daily Quote: September 13, 2022

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Be what you are.
This is the first step toward
becoming better than you are.

~ Julius Charles Hare
English – Clergyman; September 13, 1795 – January 3, 1855

Porte Musings:

This week is full of birthdays in our family, today my niece, born 1 day after my grandson in the same hospital, celebrates her 11th birthday. I think we just wanted an excuse to eat cake everyday the first week of September. 😉

Familial Cholesterolemia type II runs in our family as well. Although diet does play a small part in high cholesterol levels, our DNA is a much bigger contributor. My mother had her first cardiac arrest at 38 and died with her second at 43. Her Cholesterol and triglycerides were high, but there were very few options to reduce it. Her father died with his first cardiac arrest at 36 after a short walk to his brother’s house (with no previous indications that he had a cholesterol problem). My younger sister had a DNA test to confirm she has the gene, so at 57 after taking cholesterol medications, she was prescribed Repatha, an injectable to help lower her LDL numbers. Since I have a significant family history; high levels even with 40 Mg Crestor and 10 mg Ezetimibe; and I have a confirmed immediate family member; I will also be starting Repatha. Hopefully my LDL will go below 0.5 and I can reduce the other 2 medications. I hate needles, but today and every other week I’ll be taking this shot to help reduce the effects of high cholesterol.

Daily Quote: November 27, 2020

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God moves in a mysterious way,
His wonders to perform.
He plants his footsteps in the sea,
and rides upon the storm.

~William Cowper (English – Poet / November 26, 1731 – April 25, 1800)

Holidays and Celebrations:

*The day after the American Thanksgiving is filled with contradictions. Black Friday heralded the best sales of the year is the day that was chosen to protest the commercialism of our current world and to celebrate Buy Nothing Day. Even when there is a pandemic many Americans chose to go home for Thanksgiving, an unofficial 4 day weekend. With less than a month to go before Christmas celebrations the Thanksgiving get togethers could mean less people around the table for Christmas.

Daily Quote: October 24, 2020

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It is right to be contented with what we have,
never with what we are.

~ James Mackintosh (Scottish – Judge October 24, 1765 – May 30, 1832)

Holidays and Celebrations:

United Nations Day

World Development Information Day

What a wonderful day my sister and I had at Point Pelee National Park. When we came upon this piece of driftwood she insisted on taking this picture of me with her cell phone. I’ve always said the camera doesn’t matter as much as the content and composition of a photo.

I’m so lucky to have 3 wonderful sisters. We’ve gone through some very tough times together and I am looking forward to many years of quality time to take walks together.

Daily Quote: October 14, 2020

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Seeing comes from the inside,
from the heart,
from life’s experiences.

~ Ruth Bernhard (German – Photographer / October 14, 1905 – December 18, 2006)

Holidays and Celebrations:

World Standards Day – ISO

Billboard Music Awards – USA

How do we measure up on World Standards Day? This year’s theme is: Protecting the planet with standards.

Daily Quote: October 13, 2020

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It may be the cock that crows,
but it is the hen that lays the eggs.

~ Margaret Thatcher (English – Leader October 13, 1925 – April 8, 2013)

Holidays and Celebrations:

International Day for Disaster Reduction

No Bra Day

Thanksgiving day celebrations are over. Everyone is returning their diets to atone for the sins of the weekend as we await the announcements for our tightened COVID-19 restrictions. One case has been reported at one of our local elementary schools, while UWO (University of Western Ontario) has been declared an outbreak centre.

Daily Quote: October 12, 2020

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For me, the brand of the camera is not the most important thing. I think you can take good pictures with the camera on your phone.

~ Anja Niedringhaus (German – Photographer October 12, 1965 – April 4, 2014)
Niedringhaus was killed at the age of 48 in an attack in Afghanistan, while covering the country’s 2014 presidential election.

Holidays and Celebrations:

Thanksgiving (Canada)

Columbus Day (USA)

Celebrating Thanksgiving Day in Ontario during the COVID-19 pandemic is not like a normal year. The Provincial Government is recommending that you only celebrate with your immediate household members as tighter restrictions are rumoured to be put in place during this second wave. The number of cases of COVID-19 are higher now than during the first wave, but luckily the number of deaths in Ontario are significantly lower (so far).

In typical Canadian fashion I think this recommendation is not being followed as people are doing what they believe to be the right thing and celebrating quietly with their families. The Pandemic and the restrictions that have been in place for 7 months is just too long. Many believe that we are just going to have to live with masks and a vaccine will never be the answer to stop the spread of COVID-19.

So the camera brand isn’t important. Just keep taking pictures to remember our family and everything we have to be thankful for.