June 22nd is the feast day of St Alban, one of the first British martyrs to the Christian faith, a sort of protomartyr, in fact. It is said that Alban was beheaded by Roman authorities on this date, though the year this happened may be any time between 209 and 304. Stained-glass portrait of St… Continue reading The Daily: 22 June 2024
Month: June 2024
The Daily: 21 June 2024
The eighth moon in my calendar is the Strawberry Moon. It is new between 22 May and 19 June, full between 5 June and 3 July. This year the Strawberry Moon is full tonight at 9:08pm here in the Eastern Time Zone. This is not something that happens on local time. The moon is full at the exact… Continue reading The Daily: 21 June 2024
The Daily: 20 June 2024
Summer Solstice Today is the solstice; today, the sun stands still. Well, actually, if you've read much of anything I've written, you know that it's been standing still for a few days now, and it will continue to do so for a few more days. In my part of the world from 16 June to… Continue reading The Daily: 20 June 2024
The Daily: 19 June 2024
Juneteenth Today is Juneteenth. Specifically, today is the 159th anniversary of the reading of General Order No. 3 by Union Army general Gordon Granger. This was the order which served as the Texas version of the Emancipation Proclamation, a full two years after President Lincoln and the federal government (such as it was) freed all slaves.… Continue reading The Daily: 19 June 2024
The Daily: 18 June 2024
I am reading Gods-Speaking by Judith O’Grady, a slim but thorough treatise — or perhaps rather long essay — on the phenomena of talking to beings that are not human and may not be completely of this world. It has set me investigating all sorts of rabbit holes, not least of which are the multitude… Continue reading The Daily: 18 June 2024
The Daily: 17 June 2024
Summer may have decided to arrive. We've flirted with heat here and there, even hit 93°F back in May, but it has not lasted. It would be warm for a day or two, then it would return to jacket weather. As of this writing I still have not planted out the nightshades because it's been… Continue reading The Daily: 17 June 2024
The Daily: 15 June 2024
June 15th, the Ides of June, was the last day of Vestalia. With great ceremony, the sanctuary of Vesta was cleansed and closed to the public for another year, the sustaining Vestal hearth-flame hidden behind walls that no man was allowed to pass. This is a slack time, a time when heat is intolerable and… Continue reading The Daily: 15 June 2024
The Daily: 12 June 2024
The Daily: 10 June 2024
The earliest sunrises, 5:05am, begin on this Thursday in my part of the world and continue until June 17th, with the sun rising one minute later at 5:06am on the 18th. If you don't count seconds, then the longest day length of 15 hours and 30 minutes begins on the Sunday the 16th, Father's Day… Continue reading The Daily: 10 June 2024
The Daily: 7 June 2024
The Flower Moon went dark yesterday morning. Now begins the Strawberry Moon and the shift to Midsummer. In the last few years I’ve seen a wide variety of people arrive at the conclusion that what we need as a society to avert self-destruction — self and everything else, that is — is a new religion.… Continue reading The Daily: 7 June 2024