Eliza Daley ~ Wordcraft & Musing on Home & Hope
When an arrow does not hit its target, the marksman blames himself, not another person. A wise man behaves in the same way. — Confucius (from Tolstoy's Calendar of Wisdom for 11 January) For those who have not yet cleared away Midwinter, even in my rather northerly part of the world, day length is now… Continue reading The Daily: 11 January 2023
for 1 January 2023 New Year's Day is definitely one of those holidays that feels out of joint. I don't think it's me. I think this date, this point in the solar year, lacks ties to reality. It is historically wrong. When the Romans created these two new months and set their state calendars to… Continue reading The Daily
for 31 December 2022 First, I want to say: Happy New Year! And now, here's a bit of grumbling about what that entails for way too many people... Among other excesses... The last few days of the secular calendar are sort of lost on me. I do not celebrate these holidays in the same terms… Continue reading The Daily
On Power in a Depleted World There were a few comments in email and on Resilience about the potential for the wealthy to create havens where they can continue to live as they do now while the rest of us fall into chaos. I'm pretty sure the wealthy would like us to think that this… Continue reading The Daily: 22 December 22
for 17 December 2022 Io, Saturnalia! Let the dancing begin! Two feet of snow... that's the beginning of the Midwinter revels here in central Vermont. Two feet out there and snow still falling heavily over the entire state. I have tickets to the Nutcracker tonight. I wonder if that's going to happen. The plow guys,… Continue reading The Daily
for 16 December 2022 A short rejoinder inspired by numerous responses to Negative Feedback. Type in "percent transportation on renewables in the US" into Google and this is the top figure in the search results: 17% in 2020. (Note: I'm using the US because there are easily obtainable data and because the US is a… Continue reading The Daily
We throw a lot of words around without giving much thought to meaning or physical manifestation. We talk about systems, iteration, interdependence, feedback. We slap these labels on all manner of things, but we don’t really consider the real-world implications. For example, we talk about economic systems, the interrelated networks of processes and infrastructures used… Continue reading Negative Feedback
for 3 December 2022 While listening to Nate Hagens talk with Betsy Taylor (another newbie Vermonter!) about "nature based solutions" I finally realized why I am not fond of podcasts. To begin with, I don't generally like listening to talk media because most of it is just horrible in all sorts of sociopathic and stupid… Continue reading The Daily
Every time you wake up and ask yourself, "What good things am I going to do today?" remember that, when the sun goes down at sunset, it will take a part of your life with it. — Indian Proverb found in Tolstoy's Calendar of Wisdom for 21 November Can I just say that I really… Continue reading The Deadly Weight of the Series
for 29 November 2022 Beware of those who want to convince you that it is impossible to strive for good just because it is impossible to reach perfection. — John Ruskin in Tolstoy’s Calendar of Wisdom, 26 November I spent Thanksgiving with millennial New Yorkers, my son's friends and co-workers. A nicer, more enthusiastic group… Continue reading The Daily
By My Solitary Hearth 