Eliza Daley ~ Wordcraft & Musing on Home & Hope
St Nicholas December 6th is St Nicholas' Day. Nicholas is an interesting figure, or perhaps collection of figures, as the case may be. The official Nick was a bishop of Myra. His legends claim that he was born in about 270CE to wealthy parents in Greek Lycia. While still a child, he was orphaned by… Continue reading The Daily: 6 December 2024
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 straighten out the nastiness.… Continue reading The Daily: 5 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
St Andrew's Day St Andrew by Artus Wolffurt (1581-1641) Today is St Andrew's Day. Andrew, whose name means simply "a man" (though it can also be glossed as "virile" or "manly"), was the brother of St Peter. Both were fishermen and, as such, were part of the backbone of the local economy. He is imagined… Continue reading The Daily: 30 November 2024
I had every intention of writing something acerbic about Black Friday and marketing in the age of collapse, about the indignation I feel when asked to spend money by people who apparently have more than enough of their own money because they are using it to phone, email, text and otherwise intrude into my life.… Continue reading The Daily: 29 November 2024
Thanksgiving at Plymouth, oil on canvas by Jennie Augusta Brownscombe, 1925 (An early rendition of How Many Things Are Wrong with this Picture) And then there's this... which gets a fairly comprehensive critique here.. to which I would add that nobody dressed like this in early 17th century New England. Nor were stone houses much… Continue reading The Daily: 27 November 2024
It's 'splaining season. Everybody has their own pet theories of why it happened. Most are probably wrong, but some are spectacularly, garishly wrong, wrong in so many ways you have to wonder if they're right. Jon Stewart had one such on his Weekly Show. Richard Reeves, President of the American Institute for Boys and Men,… Continue reading The Daily: 26 November 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
Subsidies It began with one of the cockier tellers asking politely to be paid a mileage rate commensurate with driving on Vermont roads, something that might cover at least the gasoline of driving up and down and up again to cover shifts in different bank branches. He hinted that car wear from those mountainous and… Continue reading The Daily: 22 November 2024
By My Solitary Hearth 