You can achieve wisdom in three ways. The first way is meditation. This is the most noble way. The second way is the way of imitation. This is the easiest and least satisfying way. Thirdly, there is the way of experience. This is the most difficult way. — Confucius (Tolstoy's Calendar of Wisdom for 29… Continue reading The Daily: 30 January 2023
Category: Home & Garden
The Daily: 26 January 2023
The Daily: 23 January 2023
Just after sunset tonight, if you have a cloudless sky and a flat western horizon, look for the thin crescent of the New Wolf Moon in a grouping with very bright Venus and a warm fuzzy Saturn. Look for Venus first. At magnitude -4, it will be easiest to see in the twilight (which is… Continue reading The Daily: 23 January 2023
The Daily: 19 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 Daily: 17 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
The Daily: 16 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
The Daily: 5 January 2023
Take down all your Christmas ornaments by Twelfth Night to avoid bad luck for the rest of the year. — The Magpie and the Wardrobe by Sam McKechnie & Alexandrine Portelli It is Twelfth Night, the last night of Christmas and the night before Epiphany, the festival of the Wise Men. This is the night… Continue reading The Daily: 5 January 2023
The Daily: 3 January 2023
I spent my day off wage-work puttering about in the basement cold storage and putting my calendar in order. I had to throw out a little food. One always does, I suppose. I mean, as soon as it is detached from the plant the seed casing begins to rot away. That's its job. It's your… Continue reading The Daily: 3 January 2023
The Daily
for 12 December 2022 The best food is the food you or your children make by yourself. — Mohammed in Tolstoy's Calendar of Wisdom for 11 December Sunday is cooking day in my house. I am off work and so have a whole day to do the long tasks. Conversely, on workdays it's very difficult… Continue reading The Daily
The Daily
for 5 December 2022 It is Krampusnacht. Tonight, the long-tongued goat-man goes running through the streets, sometimes tagging along with the kindly old St Nicholas, sometimes striking out on his own, always seeking the naughty kids. He carries iron chains, a birch bough and a sack. Sometimes a good lashing is all it takes to… Continue reading The Daily
