Eliza Daley ~ Wordcraft & Musing on Home & Hope
If Matthew finds ice, he breaks it. When the cat lies in sunshine in February If he doesn’t break it, he makes it all the harder. she'll creep behind the stove in March. St Matthias with his ice breaker... If there is sharp frost on Matthew’s Day, it will last till March. The fox is… Continue reading The Daily: 24 February 24
A Benediction for Lupercalia Today is Lupercalia. This is one of the oldest festivals in EuroWestern culture and, in fact, likely predates the Euro-bits. As with most ancient things, this holy time is a dense web of themes that don’t all mesh together well, but somehow make a lovely tapestry when viewed from a certain… Continue reading The Daily: 15 February 2024
In one of the more curious instances of holidays reclaimed from obscurity, Wales has resurrected St Dwynwen's Day on January 25th. St Dwynwen was a fifth century princess, the loveliest of King Brychan Brycheiniog’s twenty-four daughters, and the Welsh patron saint of lovers. Her day in the Welsh calendar has steadily grown in popularity since… Continue reading The Daily: 25 January 2024
Participatory Democracy Today is Town Meeting day in Vermont. For the uninitiated, this is the day when Vermonters pack themselves into school gyms and various meeting halls to vote on town governance for the upcoming year. Officials are elected. Laws are debated and passed. Budgets are assigned. If there are complaints or disturbances, these are… Continue reading The Daily: 7 March 2023
A Benediction for Lupercalia Today is Lupercalia. This is one of the oldest festivals in EuroWestern culture and, in fact, likely predates the Euro-bits. As with most ancient things, this holy time is a dense web of themes that don’t all mesh together well, but somehow make a lovely tapestry when viewed from a certain… Continue reading The Daily: 15 February 2023
5 February is St Agatha's Day. Born in about 231 in Catania, Sicily, she is one of many virgin martyrs of early Christianity. Her story exemplifies why there are so many women among the ranks of martyrs for the faith. She was said to be a beautiful child born to wealthy nobility, but she turned… Continue reading The Daily: 5 February 2023
Gary ate another palmful of antacids. Didn’t seem to matter what he ate for lunch these days. Or even if he ate. By mid-afternoon a bubble began to grow low in his gut and propagated up through his digestive tract until he felt like an iron fist was gripping his esophagus. On the long drive… Continue reading Wicker Man
A Full Moon Tale for the Blueberry Moon I wrote this while contemplating the ebullient growth of green stuff in my garden. As a human, I tend to see this as "trying to take over the world". When really, it's more about "trying to be the world". The weeds and zucchini are just doing exactly… Continue reading A Word from Us
It’s burning again. Look out across this river valley at the old volcano warts and there doesn’t seem to be enough to keep a churro fed, never mind an inferno. What’s it eating when there’s nothing but grit and gravel and black rock? I don’t go over that way enough to puzzle out that riddle.… Continue reading Desert Pyre: Winifred Mumbles
A Full Moon Tale for the Strawberry Moon There’s a layer of ash visible high in the walls of the arroyo. It lenses in and out, thickening and thinning, breaking into eerie grey smiles in the upper bank face. It is not old. Bright plastic riddles the layers underneath this ash like malignant confetti and… Continue reading Arroyo Strawberries: Winifred Mumbles
By My Solitary Hearth 