Eliza Daley ~ Wordcraft & Musing on Home & Hope
November 22nd is St Cecilia's Day. Nothing of her story bears repeating, but through it she became the patron saint of musicians. And maybe there is more in that story of a feisty Roman girl that we could find if we cleaned up all the sexual politics and grisly death. St Cecilia Playing the Harpsichord… Continue reading St Cecilia’s Day
The predicted snow arrived last night. It is mostly over now. First snow doesn't linger, though the cold still steals into the gaps around these old windows. I'm looking out on a damp grey world, more than halfway to winter sleep. But lilacs and oaks seem caught unawares, with green and yellow leaves hanging limp.… Continue reading Wednesday Word: 17 November
On November 11th at 11 in the morning, we practice a moment of silence for two minutes to remember the day we reached an accord and agreed to lay down arms after the brutality of World War 1. A century ago we stopped fighting. Soldiers came home. It was a time very like this. A… Continue reading Martinmas
In which there are beavers... The first moon of the lunar year begins in the wee hours of 5 November. This is my Winter Sleep Moon. The Old Farmer’s Almanac, which roughly uses Backwoods traditional names for lunations, calls the moon that is full in November the Beaver Moon. The beaver lodge in a pond… Continue reading Winter Sleep Moon
It is All Hallows’ Eve, Hallowe’en, the first day of the ancient new year festival called Samhaine, which is usually translated as “end of summer”. This is one of the few clear remnants from at least one of the cultures we now name “Celtic”. The word, Samhaine, shows up in the Late Roman Era luna-solar… Continue reading All Hallows: An Entanglement
A key path to reducing your negative impact on the future — and to live and feel better into the bargain — is grounding yourself in the seasonal year. Eating what is fresh in your locality. Exploring your corner of the world. Experiencing the changes from one season to the next. Humans used to live in… Continue reading A Trip through the Solar Year
It is the season of the witch. Time for the maids, mothers, and crones to dance the spiral. Time to grab the broom and clean up all the messes. Time for stories and spells in the basement. Time to gather around the hearth. Time to wear midnight and sturdy boots, masks and tall hats. Time… Continue reading Wednesday Word: 27 October 2021
Still moving the books. Down to a couple dozen boxes, half of which are likely donates. I say this because they are in boxes that are left from the move from Albuquerque six years ago. Mislabeled boxes. What is inside is not what is written on the outside. You all know me well enough by… Continue reading Running Updates
4 October is the feast day of St Francis of Assisi. You might know him as the irreverent but apt moniker, St Francis of the Birdbath, because that is where many of us encounter him. Bare-headed with the monk's tonsure, dressed in rough robes and coarse rope belting, he stands with one palm out, feeding… Continue reading St Francis of the Birdbath
There are many games associated with the harvest season. There are the seemingly infinite varieties of grabbing and transporting things without using the hands. I’ve bobbed for apples, passed an orange down the line using just my armpits, transferred raw eggs from one person to another with popsicle sticks, grabbed an apple on a string… Continue reading Harvest Fun & Games
By My Solitary Hearth 