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
Distaff Day, or St. Distaff’s Day, is an obscure and faded custom that has rather a bit more weight behind it that one might expect. The day is observed most often on January 7th, the day after Epiphany, the last day of the winter holidays. Less commonly, Distaff Day falls on the first Tuesday after Epiphany, being known as Distaff Tuesday in keeping with Plough Monday.
Plough Monday, an ancient rustic holiday that became attached to the Christmas holiday tradition, is on the first Monday following Epiphany (January 6). It is the traditional beginning of the agricultural year.
It is Epiphany, 6 January, the close of the Christmas season. This is the date the Catholic Church assigned to the arrival of the Magi and also the date that Jesus met up with John the Baptist and was blessed by God in the river. Epiphany comes from a Greek word meaning "appearance" or "manifestation".… Continue reading The Daily: 6 January 2023
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 It is Twelfth Night, the last night of Christmas and the night before Epiphany, the festival of the Wise Men. This is the night… Continue reading The Daily: 5 January 2023
Since Twitter is all but useless now, I've migrated over to Project Mushroom. But some things just don't feel right there. I'm not sure those folks are interested in poetry word prompts, for one thing. So that happens exclusively on my AllPoetry contests. I post four words a month and let folks write on any… Continue reading The Daily: 4 January 2023
I spent my day off wage-work puttering about in the basement cold storage and putting my calendar in order. I had to throw out a little food. One always does, I suppose. I mean, as soon as it is detached from the plant the seed casing begins to rot away. That's its job. It's your… Continue reading The Daily: 3 January 2023
On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me Nine ladies dancing... Have you noticed that, after what is largely food on the wing, the gifts given on the last several days of the song take a decidedly musical bent? Nine ladies dancing, ten lords a-leaping, eleven pipers piping, twelve drummers drumming.… Continue reading The Daily: 2 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
By My Solitary Hearth 