Eliza Daley ~ Wordcraft & Musing on Home & Hope
As you can see, I've pulled this out of the compost heap and brushed it off. Mostly as a way to force me to write poetry. Because I have become lax on that... and that makes me sad... I also restarted the AllPoetry Wednesday Word contest. But this time I'm keeping the rewards to the… Continue reading The Daily: 8 October 2025
The sun passed the ecliptic on Monday. That marked the autumnal equinox, the day the sun passes that imaginary equator in the sky in its annual trek through the seasons. By now, those of you who tolerate my blathering know that this event does not mark the true equinox since that day of equal length… Continue reading The Daily: 25 September 25
I got my bi-monthly water bill last week. After a bit of mild cardiac arrest, I decided that it was quite the effective underscore on my water use in July and August. Now, there was another rate increase this summer, but that was small compared to the use increase. With both increases combined, I am… Continue reading The Daily: 8 September 2025
The Blueberry Moon went dark yesterday at 2:06am. Today begins the eleventh moon of the year, the Nutting Moon. The Nutting Moon is new between 17 August and 14 September and full between 31 August and 28 September. It is one of two moons that may be dropped to accommodate the wandering Harvest Moon, which… Continue reading The Daily: 24 August 2025
The sweet corn harvest is late here in Vermont. We haven't seen the guy with the pick-up full of corn at the traffic circle. No cubic yard bins of corn at the grocery stores. Very little at the farmers' markets. The orchard I frequent announced that they have corn, but I haven't made it up… Continue reading The Daily: 18 August 2025
The Romans had concerns about drought at this time of year. Three very old festivals were grouped together at the end of July to honor deities who presided over watery things. The first was the Lucaria, the clearing of the groves. This was an ancient observance even in Varro's time (116-27 BCE), and little is… Continue reading The Daily: 25 July 25
Neptunalia Today (or tomorrow, or both) is the ancient Roman (or Phoenician) holiday of Neptunalia, one of three obscure Roman festivals that honored watery deities in the last days of July. Neptune was the Roman god of both freshwater and the seas, but this festival, which shares many similarities with the Jewish Sukkot, is focused… Continue reading The Daily: 23 July 2025
The weather is finally turning cooler. We've had overnight lows — which actually hit at about 5:30am when I am getting ready for work — in the lower 40s (°F). No frost yet, but I had to turn the heat on last Wednesday because at 55°F it was just too cold to sit in the… Continue reading The Daily: 30 September 2024
The sun passed the ecliptic yesterday at 8:43am (EDT). This marks the autumnal equinox, the day the sun passes that imaginary equator in the sky in its annual trek through the seasons. By now, those of you who tolerate my blathering know that this event does not mark the true equinox since that day of… Continue reading The Daily: 23 September 2024
Happy Mabon? Is it possible to unselfconsciously use the Wiccan-derived names for the quarter days? Because I can’t seem to get there. For the third quarter day of the year, they chose a rather obscure deity to name this holiday. I couldn’t say what the Cymric (Welsh) Mabon, or Maponos, the perpetually young Son of… Continue reading The Daily: 22 September 2024
By My Solitary Hearth 