Eliza Daley ~ Wordcraft & Musing on Home & Hope
Tonight is Twelfth Night, the last night of Christmas and the long night before Epiphany, the festival of the Wise Men. This is the night when all the drummers show up, along with a veritable cacophony of birds; a party of lords, ladies and colorful others; and quite a few cows. I'm not sure I… Continue reading The Daily: 5 January 2025
There are many ways to divide up the year. We all use several different calendars — one based on months, one based on seasons, perhaps a school calendar or a business calendar. Some cultures emphasize the moon, with varying degrees of correspondence to the solar year. Some cultures don't bother with a framework and base… Continue reading The Daily: 24 December 24
I spent most of my adult life and raised my sons in a place where traditions are still living and enacted. Moreover, these traditions are understood. The reasons we do the things we do are well known and the source of endless discussion and debate. Nothing is simply the done thing. There must be both… Continue reading The Daily: 16 December 2024
Cranberry sauce was not part of Thanksgiving until the late 19th century. I feel this was their loss. This is the one part of the traditional Thanksgiving meal that I love, but not that jellied gunk that comes in a can — which is probably mostly sugar and red dye. The real sauce is delicious… Continue reading The Daily: 25 November 2024
I have never been particularly attached to Thanksgiving. It feels all wrong. It is supposedly a harvest festival, but it falls well after the harvest. It is lavished in the colors of autumn — which faded away weeks ago in the real world. It is based on a story that is neither factual nor especially… Continue reading The Daily: 24 November 2024
What Do We Do Now? Four years ago, we were adjusting ourselves to a future that did not include Trump. Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 election on November 7th, four days after voting ended. However, the counting had not ended. Republicans were filing lawsuits in crucial states, claiming that the counts were… Continue reading The Daily: 18 November 2024
As part of fun times in late capitalism, or as Cory Doctorow puts it, the enshitification of everything, a water main went down last week at the south end of my town. Nobody was hurt though the road is now another gaping hole. However, in the process of fixing it, actually when they were just… Continue reading The Daily: 8 November 2024
Winter Sleep Moon and Early Winter A Brown Time... The Hunter's Moon went dark on All Hallow's Day, which also ushered in the new lunisolar year and the new season of Early Winter. The Winter Sleep Moon was new on the Day of the Dead. It will go dark on December 1st which is the… Continue reading The Daily: 4 November 2024
It is the first Friday and the first day of the eleventh calendar month, named for the ninth. Today the Hunter's Moon goes dark at 8:47 am. In my calendar, the old year ended last night, and the season of early winter is ushered in tomorrow. So here is another reminder of what all this… Continue reading The Daily: 1 November 2024
Today is All Hallows' Eve, Hallowe'en, the first night in the ancient new year's festival that Celtic language speaking people called Samhaine. We hardly remember that it was once a sacred festival, celebrating endings and beginnings, nor that it was converted by the Catholic Church into a day for honoring the dead. It's possible that… Continue reading The Daily: 31 October 2024
By My Solitary Hearth 