For Maia

A little girl is singing for the faithful to come ye
Joyful and triumphant, a song she loves,
And also the partridge in a pear tree
And the golden rings and the turtle doves.
In the dark streets, red lights and green and blue
Where the faithful live, some joyful, some
troubled,
Enduring the cold and also the flu,
Taking the garbage out and keeping the
sidewalk shoveled.
Not much triumph going on here—and yet
There is much we do not understand.
And my hopes and fears are met
In this small singer holding onto my hand.
     Onward we go, faithfully, into the dark
     And are there angels hovering overhead?
Hark.

       - Gary Johnson

Christmas Day Ida Moarnin

A favorite hammer-dulcimer recording of two traditional tunes.

Full moon

Tonight is the last full moon of year. This image of the moon and the earth's atmosphere was taken from the International Space Station.

Photo: NASA

Solstice

In the northern hemisphere, today is the shortest day of the year.

Photo by Exmoor National Park on Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND

A Winter Bluejay

Crisply the bright snow whispered,
Crunching beneath our feet;
Behind us as we walked along the parkway,
Our shadows danced,
Fantastic shapes in vivid blue.
Across the lake the skaters
Flew to and fro,
With sharp turns weaving
A frail invisible net.
In ecstasy the earth
Drank the silver sunlight;
In ecstasy the skaters
Drank the wine of speed;
In ecstasy we laughed
Drinking the wine of love.
Had not the music of our joy
Sounded its highest note?
But no,
For suddenly, with lifted eyes you said,
“Oh look!”
There, on the black bough of a snow flecked maple,
Fearless and gay as our love,
A bluejay cocked his crest!
Oh who can tell the range of joy
Or set the bounds of beauty?

       - Sara Teasdale

Photo by dianecordell on Foter.com / CC BY

A sunny day

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory observes the sun to learn more about space weather and how it affects Earth. This image of the sun was taken in May 2018.

Image Credit: NASA/Solar Dynamics Observatory

Congregate

Another favorite papercut by Nikki McClure.

Print available here.

Gingerbread cake

This is a fast cake - it can be thrown together in about 15 minutes. In summer I make it with sliced plums in the bottom, in winter with sliced apples in the bottom. It's vegan if you make it with oil instead of butter.

Preheat the oven to 350 F / 175 C.

Combine and let sit until the butter melts:
1/2 cup hot water
1/4 cup butter or oil
1/2 cup molasses

Mix the dry ingredients in a separate bowl:
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
(optional: 1/4 teaspoon each cinnamon and allspice)

Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just mixed. Pour into a greased 8x8 pan. Bake 30 minutes.

Winter: Tonight: Sunset

Tonight at sunset walking on the snowy road,
my shoes crunching on the frozen gravel, first

through the woods, then out into the open fields
past a couple of trailers and some pickup trucks, I stop

and look at the sky. Suddenly: orange, red, pink, blue,
green, purple, yellow, gray, all at once and everywhere.

I pause in this moment at the beginning of my old age
and I say a prayer of gratitude for getting to this evening

a prayer for being here, today, now, alive
in this life, in this evening, under this sky.

     

     — David Budbill, from We've Still Got Feet

Anonymous 4

Yes, it's Advent, the only liturgical season where a female character gets the spotlight. Time for some good medieval Marianism, courtesy of vocalists from Anonymous 4.

Short days

The days are short,
The sun a spark
Hung thin between
The dark and dark.

Fat snowy footsteps
Track the floor,
And parkas pile up
Near the door.

The river is
A frozen place
Held still beneath
The trees’ black lace.

The sky is low.
The wind is gray.
The radiator
Purrs all day.

       - John Updike

Photo credit: Thomas Hawk / Foter.com / CC BY-NC

St. Lucia Day

Today is the festival of St. Lucia, celebrated mostly in Scandinavia.

Before the change from the Julian to Gregorian calendar, this was roughly the shortest day of the year. Lucia's name comes from the Latin for "light", so her feast day is celebrated with candlelight ceremonies. The Scandinavians are pretty keen on anything that will drive away the 18 hours of darkness they have at this time of year.



Lucia or Lucy was a Sicilian martyr with a story basically similar to all other 3rd-century virgin martyrs who refused to marry pagans. Best part of the story: Roman officials tried to drag her to a brothel, but even 1000 men and 50 oxen pulling were unable to budge her. Beheading ultimately proved more successful (though even once bisected, she refused to die until she had been given communion).

Photo credit: N_Creatures

White

Arctic fox.

Photo credit: Curious Expeditions / Foter / CC BY-NC-SA