Eliza Daley ~ Wordcraft & Musing on Home & Hope
In a perfect example of why counting eggs is never advisable, the very day that I talked about the possibility of escaping the worst of winter, the weather system that was dismissed by even the excitable forecasters at the Weather Channel is now dumping inches of snow on my town. It has been snowing for… Continue reading The Daily: 20 January 2023
I read the entry for the month of January in the Vermont Almanac (v. III) and was pleasantly surprised to discover that January 2022 was much colder than average — almost 7°F colder — and very much colder than average for the last twenty years. It did not make the list for top ten coldest… Continue reading The Daily: 19 January 2023
The only real science is the knowledge of how a person should live his life. And this knowledge is open to everyone. — Tolstoy, from his Calendar of Wisdom for 18 January Armchair Immunology (or How I Became a Vegetarian) I became a vegetarian way back when it was decidedly uncool, especially where I lived… Continue reading The Daily: 18 January 2023
Does anyone else fall prey to the idea that there must be ketchup in the house? I was going through the fridge, emptying out things that were expired. There was a nearly full jar of store-bought ketchup that expired last August. Obviously, this is not a need in my life. But... well, I seem to… Continue reading The Daily: 17 January 2023
True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice. — Martin Luther King Jr Today we remember Martin Luther King Jr. His birthday is actually the 15th, but in recent times our culture has decided to stick holidays to the closest Monday so that there is always an actual… Continue reading The Daily: 16 January 2023
is ill... First week of the spring semester and already two of us (out of a staff of three) have severe colds. Not COVID. But still, lots of snot happening in the bookstore this week. I have phlegm in the brain and can't do words... so I'm taking a few days off. Cheers! Eliza
When an arrow does not hit its target, the marksman blames himself, not another person. A wise man behaves in the same way. — Confucius (from Tolstoy's Calendar of Wisdom for 11 January) For those who have not yet cleared away Midwinter, even in my rather northerly part of the world, day length is now… Continue reading The Daily: 11 January 2023
Distaff Day, or St. Distaff’s Day, is an obscure and faded custom that has rather a bit more weight behind it that one might expect. The day is observed most often on January 7th, the day after Epiphany, the last day of the winter holidays. Less commonly, Distaff Day falls on the first Tuesday after Epiphany, being known as Distaff Tuesday in keeping with Plough Monday.
Plough Monday, an ancient rustic holiday that became attached to the Christmas holiday tradition, is on the first Monday following Epiphany (January 6). It is the traditional beginning of the agricultural year.
It is Epiphany, 6 January, the close of the Christmas season. This is the date the Catholic Church assigned to the arrival of the Magi and also the date that Jesus met up with John the Baptist and was blessed by God in the river. Epiphany comes from a Greek word meaning "appearance" or "manifestation".… Continue reading The Daily: 6 January 2023
By My Solitary Hearth 