Eliza Daley ~ Wordcraft & Musing on Home & Hope
On Tuesday, we had an actual blizzard. It happened at 2am so I didn't bother much with it. There had been warnings and preparations had been made. I think we may have lost power for a minute or two in my town. Some places fared worse. But still, actual blizzard... So on Tuesday evening, when… Continue reading The Daily: 11 January 2024
It is Epiphany, 6 January, the close of the Christmas season and the beginning of mundane time, a shift to Imbolg and the hope of spring — after we, hopefully, survive the worst of the winter weather. This is the date the Catholic Church assigned to the arrival of the Magi and also, later, the… Continue reading The Daily: 6 January 2024
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 I don't actually do this. I used to fret because I did not, or was not able to... because there are all these admonitions,… Continue reading The Daily: 5 January 2024
In my part of the world, this is the season of Midwinter. The nights are long and days are short. It is the time for snow angels, sledding, skiing, and ice fishing... except... it's not. Last week, ice fishers on the Upper Red Lake in northern Minnesota needed rescuing when the lake ice they stood… Continue reading The Daily: 2 January 2024
New Year's Day is definitely one of those holidays that feels out of joint. To me, this date, this point in the solar year, lacks ties to reality. It is historically wrong. When the Romans created these two new months, January and February, and set their state calendars to begin on 1 January, that date… Continue reading The Daily: 1 January 2024
Happy Christmas! Most of my friends and family celebrate Christmas today. It's a complicated day filled with way too much travel, a whirlwind of tearing paper off gifts — sometimes at several houses — and more meals than any human should have to deal with in one day. I'm worn out just listening to them… Continue reading The Daily: 25 December 2023
Saturnalia Saturnalia begins today. This year Saturn presides over the beginning of his holiday season. Look to the west at about 5:30pm. Saturn will be sitting just above the crescent Moon. In the north, this is also the beginning of the shortest nights of the year. For the next ten days, day length in my… Continue reading The Daily: 17 December 2023
I'm working my way through Rhyd Wildermuth. This was not a planned exercise, but I find his writing so compelling and original that I just keep picking up one book or essay after another. The most recent is All That Is Sacred Is Profaned: A Pagan Guide to Marxism, which is almost exactly as advertised… Continue reading The Daily: 14 December 2023
This weekend, Jupiter and the nearly full moon are together in the eastern sky. They will be high in the sky around midnight. If you're really lucky you might see the remnants of 2023's Andromedid meteor shower which peaked earlier in the month but will last until early December. This debris field is associated with… Continue reading The Daily: 24 November 2023
Last weekend, it was cold and wet outside, with blowing snow and ice. The porch wind chimes were never silent. So despite having a bit more garden work to do before winter really settles in, I did the only sensible thing and began the holiday cooking. The cranberry sauce is done. I baked my usual… Continue reading The Daily: 21 November 2023
By My Solitary Hearth 