Eliza Daley ~ Wordcraft & Musing on Home & Hope
Today is... the equinox? Vernal Equinox Quiz True or False: The vernal equinox is when spring begins. Not exactly. The beginning of spring depends on where you live, and it is more a cultural phenomenon than a meteorological one. Tradition in Ireland has spring beginning with St Brigid’s Day on 1 February. Spring weather may… Continue reading The Daily: 17 March 2024
The Ides of March & Anna Perenna Today marks 2068 years since Julius Caesar was deposed and murdered by about 60 members of the Roman Senate. Shakespearean drama notwithstanding, this was not just a few disillusioned subjects. The plot was broadly supported and intricately planned. The ruler was stabbed 23 times. We still associate this… Continue reading The Daily: 15 March 2024
Things to look forward to... a new word Most of my poetry flows from discovering some new word. Today it was etiolated. I was looking for a synonym of pale and found this gem. It is almost onomatopoeic. You can feel its meaning on your tongue. Drawn and wan and stretched thin from lack of… Continue reading The Daily: 13 March 2024
The storm that was not supposed to be a storm ended up dumping over a foot of snow on Central Vermont. My son's town had no power for eight hours on Sunday. Many rural locations did not have power until Monday evening. There were blips all weekend, knocking the electricity out which knocks out computer… Continue reading The Daily: 12 March 2024
The Hunger Moon went dark at 5am yesterday morning. Today the Sap Moon is a thin crescent on the western horizon. It is the middle of spring. But for all this weather... But maybe that is the point of spring. Maybe it's our ideas that are unseasoned. Humans celebrate the vernal equinox with stories of… Continue reading The Daily: 11 March 2024
The last moon of winter, the Snow Moon, went dark today at 5am. In acknowledgment of the spring sun's rising earlier and earlier — 6:12am in my town yesterday — those who follow Daylight Savings Time have had an hour removed from their morning today at 2am. This morning's sunrise is 7:10am, meaning we've lost… Continue reading The Daily: 10 March 2024
This past week, I was reading a book that was written by a feminist author in 2017. I suppose I had forgotten just how gutted and anxious we all felt in those days. In the pages of this book I heard echoes and almost felt those emotions again. We all thought the world would end.… Continue reading The Daily: 7 March 2024
Things to look forward to... evening tea I look forward to my evening tea every day. I have a small cabinet of dried herbs put by to please my every whim. Usually I pull out the chamomile and lavender. I like the flavor and the smell, and these herbs also both help moderate digestion. But… Continue reading The Daily: 6 March 2024
Participatory Democracy Today is Town Meeting day in Vermont. For the uninitiated, this is the day when Vermonters pack themselves into school gyms and various meeting halls to vote on town governance for the upcoming year. Officials are elected. Laws are debated and passed. Budgets are assigned. If there are complaints or disturbances, these are… Continue reading The Daily: 5 March 2024
I was last-Tuesday-years-old when I learned that brassicas are effective phytoremediators. I suppose I should have deduced this from all the mustard that grows lushly on Superfund sites, enlivening the soil after we've made our messes and left the locals for dead. But I never made that connection. I also never noticed that, as I've… Continue reading The Daily: 4 March 2024
By My Solitary Hearth 