Eliza Daley ~ Wordcraft & Musing on Home & Hope
This is just a short complaint. If you're in a good mood, stop reading. For several weeks now, my whole state has been dealing with advanced externalities. A couple towns might just be wiped off the map after this. My town has a sandbag budget now, along with constant employment for anyone who can drive… Continue reading The Daily: 13 August 2024
I don't think lilacs like this weather. All the bushes around my house and on my neighbor's property (though leaning over into my yard) have leaves that are curling and turning brown. The grass underneath the bushes is covered in brittle leaves. Walking through the yard sounds like autumn. It is hard to tell from… Continue reading The Daily: 12 August 2024
The former facilities manager of my small Vermont bank had a bad 2023. When I met him, he had only just been promoted to this position, which was a job he did not seem to enjoy or even do well. He was an excellent handyman. He was not at all suited to managing other handy-people,… Continue reading The Daily: 9 August 2024
Things to look forward to... a drink of water About a month ago, in fact, the weekend before the second flooding, it was hot. Of course it was hot. And very humid. Of course that too. That's what we get these days. Hot and humid. For days and days and days and no relief even… Continue reading The Daily: 7 August 2024
My co-workers are sports enthusiasts. One doesn't seem to understand that I don't have "a team" for every season. (Or, as is the case, any season.) Another talks golf. All day, every day. Except right now. Right now they're all talking Olympics. I just don't get it. I don't get watching sports on screens, or… Continue reading The Daily: 6 August 2024
The Hay Moon went dark at 7:13am yesterday, over 36 hours before moonset today. So the 10th new moon of my year, the Blueberry Moon, should be visible as a thin crescent following the sun down to the western horizon this evening. This month is the second of the harvest moons and the first that… Continue reading The Daily: 5 August 2024
A Note on Time and Maples In my part of the world, today is almost exactly an hour shorter than the summer solstice. It took 44 days to drop this hour off the day, much of which time the days hardly changed. But now the changes are becoming more pronounced. It will only take another… Continue reading The Daily: 3 August 2024
Lammas It's the probably not-terribly-ancient festival of bread, Lammas, Hlaf-mas, Loaf Mass. This holiday is possibly an English variant on the Irish first fruits and fair festival of Lughnasadh, but compacted into one day and generally lacking any ritual or narrative. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, churches in East Anglia constructed elaborate… Continue reading The Daily: 2 August 2024
Lughnasadh It is Lughnasadh. This is my favorite time of year. Some may love midwinter twinkle; others may love the summer sun. But I live for the autumn blaze. The cooling weather, the increasing darkness, the slowing pace and renewed time for reading and introspection. The color and pageantry of fall. The scents of leaf… Continue reading The Daily: 1 August 2024
By My Solitary Hearth 