Eliza Daley ~ Wordcraft & Musing on Home & Hope
Last night was the shortest night of the year. Tonight will be just a bit longer. Tomorrow's sunrise will be ever so slightly later. Of course, you'd be hard-pressed to note the difference even with a very flat horizon that reveals the exact moment of sunrise. Exact moments are difficult to catch even when you… Continue reading The Daily: 21 June 2025
Floralia Cosiddetta Flora from the Villa di Arianna in Stabiae near Pompeii, 1st century Roman fresco The festival of Floralia is a very old holiday. It honors Flora, the Roman idea of fertility that is embodied in spring flowers. Flora is one of the oldest deities in the Roman pantheon. She is older than Rome,… Continue reading The Daily: 27 April 2025
Plough Monday Plough Monday is an ancient rustic holiday that became attached to the Christmas holiday tradition. Plough Monday may trace its descent back to the Roman Compitalia, celebrated by slaves when plowing was over. But by the mid-15th century it became the traditional end to the Christmas season, the end of the season of… Continue reading The Daily: 13 January 2025
A Note on Time and Maples In my part of the world, today is almost exactly an hour shorter than the summer solstice. It took 44 days to drop this hour off the day, much of which time the days hardly changed. But now the changes are becoming more pronounced. It will only take another… Continue reading The Daily: 3 August 2024
Floralia Cosiddetta Flora from the Villa di Arianna in Stabiae near Pompeii, 1st century Roman fresco The festival of Floralia is another very old holiday. It honors Flora, the Roman idea of fertility that is embodied in spring flowers. Flora is one of the oldest deities in the Roman pantheon. She is older than Rome,… Continue reading The Daily: 26 April 2024
A Miraculous Weather Update After weeks of darkness, the skies are absolutely clear today! Praise be! There will be eclipse viewing in Vermont! 2017 Total Solar Eclipse (NASA/Carla Thomas) It's finally here! The last full solar eclipse to pass over my part of the world in my lifetime, maybe in the lifetime of anybody currently… Continue reading The Daily: 8 April 2024
The Ides of March & Anna Perenna Today marks 2068 years since Julius Caesar was deposed and murdered by about 60 members of the Roman Senate. Shakespearean drama notwithstanding, this was not just a few disillusioned subjects. The plot was broadly supported and intricately planned. The ruler was stabbed 23 times. We still associate this… Continue reading The Daily: 15 March 2024
Things to look forward to... hugs I made it another year in this body. Those years are running by increasingly fast these days — though a day can last forever. But each anniversary of my nativity feels like a triumph of sorts. I am still alive. I am still cognizant and in mostly functional health.… Continue reading The Daily: 30 January 2024
A Moon Intervention Long an irksome pull at the Math Lady lodged in my left brain, I decided I’d had enough with moon dis-logic. It is time for an intervention. Moon 101 for writers of all shades. Here is the imagery that pushed Math Lady over the edge: Facing south in the evening, she “looked… Continue reading The Daily: 4 November 2023
Floralia Cosiddetta Flora from the Villa di Arianna in Stabiae near Pompeii, 1st century Roman fresco The festival of Floralia is another very old holiday. It honors Flora, the Roman idea of fertility that is embodied in spring flowers. Flora is one of the oldest deities in the Roman pantheon. She is older than Rome,… Continue reading The Daily: 28 April 2023
By My Solitary Hearth 