Eliza Daley ~ Wordcraft & Musing on Home & Hope
In my town, it has snowed every day but one in 2025, not that you'd know it by looking at the weather forecast, nor the officially "recorded" conditions. For example, yesterday it was supposed to be sunny with a high of 34°F. I thought I might finally be able to shovel my walk and maybe… Continue reading The Daily: 14 January 2025
Plough Monday Plough Monday is an ancient rustic holiday that became attached to the Christmas holiday tradition. Plough Monday may trace its descent back to the Roman Compitalia, celebrated by slaves when plowing was over. But by the mid-15th century it became the traditional end to the Christmas season, the end of the season of… Continue reading The Daily: 13 January 2025
Today is the day we celebrate the birth of Jesus, the Christ-child, the savior deity of the Christian faith. Today is also the birthday of Mithras the cult deity of the Roman legions, who began his existence as a sun god, the Unconquered Sun, Sol Invictus, of which the emperor was the earthly avatar. Today… Continue reading The Daily: 25 December 2024
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
The weather is finally settling into winter. The highs are in the single digits and the lows don't bear repeating. I've got all the heavy curtains closed tight, and draft blockers are wedged tight against the thresholds. And yet the furnace is still running far too much for my comfort. I fear the next oil… Continue reading The Daily: 23 December 2024
Green Man in the cold morning light Today, 21 December 2024 at 4:20am, the sun appears to stand still at its most southern point in its apparent journey along the horizon. We call this period of slow change, where day length changes incrementally and then not at all, the solstice, the “sun pause”. In the… Continue reading The Daily: 21 December 2024
Halcyon Days Now, here is an idea that seems to have forgotten its roots entirely. In our times, “halcyon days” refers to a golden past, a time when everything was wonderful. Sometimes it just means “youth” with overtones of innocence and insouciance. But this name has nothing to do with nostalgia. In fact, it’s an… Continue reading The Daily: 14 December 2024
Lucy Light Shortest day, longest night —traditional English proverb Before Pope Gregory tweaked the Julian calendar and caused a great deal of confusion, 13 December was celebrated as the winter solstice in Scandinavia. The poem by the late 16th century English writer, John Donne, “A Nocturnal upon St Lucy’s Day, Being the Shortest Day” shows… Continue reading The Daily: 13 December 2024
The intrusion of AI into weather prognostication is a fairly accurate measure of just how stupid our supposed created intelligence is. I know you've seen the results. I hear complaints constantly, often qualified with a "well, they never do get it right" as though to reassure ourselves that weather forecasting has always been inadequate and… Continue reading The Daily: 9 December 2024
The Winter Sleep Moon went dark at 1:21am yesterday, so the Midwinter Moon is new today. This is the moon of winter revelry. The season of Midwinter also has begun. The Midwinter holidays began on St Andrew's Day (or Thanksgiving Day, depending on your whim). We are now in the holidays, days replete with festivity.… Continue reading The Daily: 2 December 2024
By My Solitary Hearth 