Sepia Saturday for the 24th and 31 are combined in December 2022.
So I choose to post on the latter date. And there are a lot of Christmas and winter photos to share.
Today's quote:
Words are the clothes thoughts wear." --Samuel Beckett
And then there's our national bird...the Bald Eagle.
This is a cute video about one place that they like, a Lot!
Sorry for no more items today, I'm crunched with a deadline for a January newsletter.
Today's quote:
Ten thousand flowers in spring, the moon in autumn,
a cool breeze in summer, snow in winter.
If your mind isn’t clouded by unnecessary things,
this is the best season of your life.
—Wu Men
Stephen Mitchell version
From a Treehugger article:
Macfarlane wrote for the Guardian about a 2009 study from Cambridge University that found children were better at identifying Pokémon characters than common British plant and wildlife species. They had around 80% accuracy for Pokémon, but less than 50% for real-life species. The paper concluded that children have tremendous capacity for learning about creatures, both natural and manmade, but are presently "more inspired by synthetic subjects" than by "living creatures." This contributes to a sense of isolation from nature and, hopefully, urgency on the part of adults to repair that.
The paper concluded that we need "to re-establish children's links with nature if we are to win over the hearts and minds of the next generation", for "we love what we know … What is the extinction of the condor to a child who has never seen a wren?"
"The Lost Words" aims to do that with a delightfully magical slant. The book features 20 words, each with three dedicated page spreads. First comes a word search, where a child can decode the letters and the name of the species, painted in gold, from a scattering of alphabet letters. Next there's an acrostic poem based on each word, accompanied by a full-page painting that resembles a religious icon made with abundant gold leaf. These are called "spells" rather than poems because they are "designed to be spoken (or sung!) out loud in order to summon back these words and creatures into our hearts." Finally, there is a full double-page watercolor illustration of the plant or animal in its native habitat, often with other species hidden around the edges.
As Macfarlane explained, "We've got more than 50% of species in decline. And names, good names, well used can help us see and they help us care. We find it hard to love what we cannot give a name to. And what we do not love we will not save."
The book was published in 2017 and I am sorry it's taken me all these years to discover it. But its message remains relevant and its presentation is as spellbinding as ever. If there are young children in your life, then this is a book well worth checking out of the library or adding to your collection.
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I discovered fellow blogger Jackie Morris about the time she was working on Lost Words...or a bit before. Her blog had featured her wonderful cats that walked to the shore with her, and she took great photos of them. And she painted wonderful amazing watercolor animals. I've really missed her blog.
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Hello, it's me, who usually gabs a bunch in comments on everyone's posts. Not yesterday. I was feeling glum, and stayed in my Jammies all day. Not sick, but not particularly sociable.
But I couldn't wait. I thought I could, but when it was 27 degrees F, I drove over to Flat Creek to see how the ice situation was with water on rocks. It did not disappoint. But I discovered my teeth were cold, even with my mouth closed. I have become so used to wearing a mask, which kept my mouth and nose quite warm! This was a brief trip, barely across the bridge and down to the bank of the creek.
Today's quote:
Well I had wood fired pizza, and a Caesar salad. And my son also had a pizza with arugula all over it. Talk about salad on the pizza! Everyone had really good appetites! (I confess, I split the Rosa pizza with my granddaughter!)
And I guess I focused more on our conversation than the food. (Sorry Dave.)
This was at Fresh Wood Fired Pizza. In Black Mountain NC. Their menu is at their site on line. That's the way we choose restaurants these days!
Today's quote:
For all who celebrate the Christian holiday with love and giving, with trees and decorations, with church going and Bible reading...may this holy day be joyful for you all.
Last week I was visited by one of my sons, as his family drove from their home in OH to a beach place to visit in FL (seeing friends and relatives along the way.) Many of his family live nearby in FL.
It was a lovely couple of hours.
Today's quote:
It's really the Southern Highlands Craft Guild...and they had a "second's" sale for 2 Saturdays. That meant perfectly good but somehow flawed works.
Let's see if I remember this right. The Blue Ridge Parkway is a National Park, so they own this land. I think the Southern Highlands people built the building, and/or lease it. One of those contractural arrangements. The SoHi people are membership only, with some kind of jury to select who gets in, and they have to live within the southern US states. Not sure that FL is allowed though, and maybe not as far west as Mississippi or Louisana. Kentucky and Virginia are ok though, as well as Tennessee. I know of one potter from Georgia.
I excused myself and sat on a bench to cough as quietly as I could. Oh, and I did ask for a mask several places, and the National Park people offered me a paper one. I was grateful until I put it on my face to smell the Raid or some other insecticide. I gave it back and they threw it away.
I did see a nice display, which I'll share in another post. It was off by itself!
Today's quote:
It's our main job...
| Remember the Light Side |
| During our journey, we can become very serious - it's important to remember to have fun along the way. |
| Often when we talk about fun, or doing things just for fun, we talk about it in a dismissive way as if fun isn’t important. We tend to value hard work and seriousness, and we forget to pay our respects to the equally important, light side of silliness and laughter. This is ironic because we all know the feeling of euphoria that follows a good burst of laughter, and how it leaves us less stressed, more open hearted, and more ready to reach out to people. We are far more likely to walk down the street smiling and open after we’ve had a good laugh, and this tends to catch on, inspiring smiles from the people we pass who then positively influence everyone they encounter. Witnessing this kind of chain reaction makes you think that having fun might be one of our most powerful tools for changing the world. Laughter is good medicine, and we all have this medicine available to us whenever we recall a funny story or act in a silly way. We magnify the effects of this medicine when we share it with the people in our lives. If we are lucky, they will have something funny to share with us as well, and the life-loving sound of laughter will continue to roll out of our mouths and into the world. Of course, it is also important to allow ourselves to be serious and to honor that side of ourselves so that we stay balanced. After a great deal of merriment, it can actually be a pleasure to settle down and focus on work, or take some time for introspection until our next round of fun begins. .jpg) |
From Daily Om Inspiration |
Today is winter solstice. Here in eastern US it occurs when the earth starts tilting back the other direction toward the sun at 4:48 pm EST.
I always love standing still, feeling gravity and all it's power, and thinking the earth keeps on turning, but somehow it stops its tilt like a top and turns the other way. There's a moment with tilt stop. That seems so incredible to my scientific mind.
But also my emotional intuitive self is dancing for the joy of less darkness and more light, which is of course the main feature of the earth leaning more southerly from it's north pole.
And so all these winter festivals also celebrate the returning of the light! In many manifestaions. Son and sun. Burning the yule log, and composting the leavings from our own dinners (no that's not a fesitval - yet)
Today's quote:
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