Eliza Daley ~ Wordcraft & Musing on Home & Hope
Today is the last Monday before Easter. Many spring traditions have migrated to this holiday, including the name of the holiday, which has nothing to do with the Christian story. (Though what is does mean is a subject of debate.) Today it is traditional to bake simnel cake for Easter morning. Simnel cake is a… Continue reading The Daily: 14 April 2025
The Season of Renewal This year, the Vernal Equinox happens on March 20th at 5:01am. This is, I think, the most nebulous of the solar festivals. Yes, it does mark an actual solar event, but it’s not the one we typically hear about. It’s not much of an event at all. This festival is less… Continue reading The Daily: 20 March 2025
If you see that some aspect of your society is bad, and you want to improve it, there is only one way to do so: you have to improve people. And in order to improve people, you begin with only one thing: you become better yourself. — Tolstoy in his Calendar of Wisdom on 17… Continue reading The Daily: 17 March 2025
We are a week into Lent. The Sap Moon will be full on Friday. By the calendar, it is the middle of spring. But for all this weather... But maybe that is the point of spring. Maybe it's our ideas that are unseasoned. Humans celebrate the vernal equinox with stories of eggs and rabbits and… Continue reading The Daily: 11 March 2025
The Season of Renewal This year, the Vernal Equinox happens on Tuesday, March 19th at 11:06pm. This is, I think, the most nebulous of the solar festivals. Yes, it does mark an actual solar event, but it’s not the one we typically hear about. It’s not much of an event at all. This festival is… Continue reading The Daily: 19 March 2024
Mothering Sunday Mothering Sunday is the fourth Sunday in Lent, which was yesterday. In much of the Medieval world, but particularly in the British Isles, the rules of fasting were loosened for a day of refreshment leading into the last weeks of Lent. There were also gatherings to honor mother churches, the place where the… Continue reading The Daily: 18 March 2024
The storm that was not supposed to be a storm ended up dumping over a foot of snow on Central Vermont. My son's town had no power for eight hours on Sunday. Many rural locations did not have power until Monday evening. There were blips all weekend, knocking the electricity out which knocks out computer… Continue reading The Daily: 12 March 2024
The Hunger Moon went dark at 5am yesterday morning. Today the Sap Moon is a thin crescent on the western horizon. It is the middle of spring. But for all this weather... But maybe that is the point of spring. Maybe it's our ideas that are unseasoned. Humans celebrate the vernal equinox with stories of… Continue reading The Daily: 11 March 2024
The last moon of winter, the Snow Moon, went dark today at 5am. In acknowledgment of the spring sun's rising earlier and earlier — 6:12am in my town yesterday — those who follow Daylight Savings Time have had an hour removed from their morning today at 2am. This morning's sunrise is 7:10am, meaning we've lost… Continue reading The Daily: 10 March 2024
Things to look forward to... drawing on eggs Sophie Blackall has very interesting hobbies... This isn't anything so banal as dyeing eggs in spring pastels. Nor is it as extravagant as a Faberge confection. Nope, Sophie literally draws on eggs. Faces. Animals. Flowers. Abstract patterns. Mostly in monochrome charcoal or soy ink. The effect is… Continue reading The Daily: 28 February 2024
By My Solitary Hearth 