A Recalibration for a Long Winter’s Night

“Normally I would have asked a policeman or a minister of the Church, but finding no one available, I thought it better to consult a man with some professional qualifications, rather than rely on the possibly confused testimony of a passer-by.” ~ In the wake of a bicycle accident due his tire pump having got […]

A Long Winter’s Night for Eating With Your Fingers as a Sword Rests in your Lap

My Esteemed Friend Jim Keating recently made a profound utterance in the matter of prevailing flaccid, and annually recurring, expressions of what’s branded to be in the “Spirit” of the “Season”, saying in part … “… How about songs, words, images which convey strength, power, confidence and faith in this time of Yule? Why not […]

Another Long Winter’s Night

The Wild Hunt rode early this year, as its constituents bear full title to do, shredding the tops of the Hemlocks in my range throughout Friday night into Saturday afternoon, and joyously reintroducing a significant part of the local population to what “rural” living really means. The Solstice occurred at 11:03 Atlantic time today, from […]

A Long Winter’s Night — Advice As We Embark

Greetings Goode and Weary Pilgrims as we embark together on another Hunt, joyous in the comradeship of our Worthy fellows even as many among our number may have been lamed by the vicissitudes of months past. We aren’t dead yet. An odd time this. In my travels upon the land, I find even the Wise […]

A Long Winter’s Night — 2022 Edition, Day 6

So here we are again, Goode Reader, a few days into the ascent to Spring. In a world that widely prefers wringing hands over the skilled use of them, this is a perilous time for everyone aboard ship, wanted on voyage or not. Never forget though that the thrill of being among the chosen is […]

A Long Winter’s Night — 2019 Edition Day 1: Welcome Back

Welcome back to the hearth Goode Reader, and this incarnation of A Long Winter’s Night. The Winter Solstice stole upon us at 12:19 Atlantic Time this morning and today offers 14 minutes short of 7 hours less daylight than at the occasion of the Summer Solstice in June. The bittersweet news is that it all gets […]

A Long Winter’s Night — 2017 Edition: Day 9

The Fire Without and the Fire Within By LFM It’s only just started, but coming to pass Is a Winter as cold as a well digger’s ass. Yet it’s still not extreme if the truth’s to be told, For it used to be worse, just go ask someone old. Its fury brings failures of power […]

A Long Winter’s Night — 2017 Edition: Day 8

“As to Human kind, Winter will bring challenges at the end of which the result will lie on a spectrum ranging from the greatest of joys to the gravest of sorrows, and in this it stands as no different from any other aspect of life but for bearing a greater degree of urgency and inexorable […]

A Long Winter’s Night — 2017 Edition: Day 7

If you live in my neck of the woods, a lot of you lost electric power Christmas afternoon, and some will still be waiting for it until some time tonight. If you lack more “natural” means of heating your dwelling, things have gotten a bit cold, and the usual mid-season burnout has turned into quite […]

A Long Winter’s Night — 2017 Edition: Day 6

Culturally, the hospitality aspects of festivities prevailing at this time of year exist in a maelstrom of ill considered and contradictory drives. Year after year, many will attempt to answer seasonal motivations to visit people who sometimes live at a great remove and may be reached at no small peril to life and limb, even […]