Friday, December 21

"Cry havoc, and let loose the therapy dogs of war!"

To celebrate the Solstice, a dull and damp day, I put tinsel on the tree. It's splendidly shiny now. By mistake, I came home with four cards of tinsel. If the day continues dank, I might open another one. The Solstice doesn't actually occur until 1 a.m. tonight. The earliest sunset was two weeks earlier, and we've already gained three more minutes at the end of the day, so welcome, sun! Even though we can't see you today, welcome.

I recommend a daily dose of "Sherman's Lagoon" to anyone who's ever loved the ocean. The fan group is over here. You'll have to go to the website for pictures, because we don't copy here at Shards. Over on the book blog, that's a different story. But not here, so no cartoons. Only my own pics. This one has been enhanced with water color effects, thanks to Picasa.
Celebration will continue later with "Left, Right and Center" at 6:30, a perfect opening to a Friday evening.
A poem excerpt for Christmas, from an unattributedsource:
And at night we win to the ancient inn,
Where the child in the frost is furled;
We follow the feet where all souls meet
At the inn at the end of the world.
The gods lie dead where the leaves lie red,
For the flame of the sun is flown;
The gods lie cold where the leaves lie gold,
Ans a Child comes forth alone.
G.K. Chesterton,
"A Child of the Snows"

Tuesday, December 18

Waiting for Christmas

It once was July, and I was in Rhode Island. Now my camera's still in the shop, and I'm lucky to have a store of summer pictures, to remember Little Rhody by. Because I won't be going up there for the holidays, not until March. I get to stay home, trim a tree, and be cozy, once I've mailed off my New England presents. There's nothing like a vacation at home. We had snow on Sunday, though most melted in. But all the children at Luther's birthday party were out sledding on the wet, snow-sprinkled hills, and playing in the magic garden until dark.

Thursday, December 6

Love is where you find it


I have not eaten the heart.
~~Ani, Papyrus: Book of the Dead


I will not eat my heart alone.
~~ Tennyson, In Memoriam

What shall we do then for food? "Shall the blessed Sun of heaven prove a micher and eat blackberries?" (Shakespeare, King Henry IV)

Life is a puzzle. Or, as Lewis Hyde wrote,

Cold winter night,
Little bugs on the firewood:
What are we to do?

Tuesday, December 4

Are you clickable? I am....


Technology & Learning for November 2007 has a one page bit called "The Importance of Being 'Clickable,'" talking about how important it is (at least for professional purposes) to have an online presence. So I went ahead and Googled myself, without the middle initial, and found one "real" me and the usual assortment of English chinchilla breeders, opera singers, actresses and a motley assortment of dead people. But then a light bulb went on, and I searched for "Jane L. Hyde." Aha! That made all the difference. I found lots of hits, nothing embarrassing but a bit surprising, most being comments I've left on other blogs and websites. It's curious to see your own comments out there on the web. So I'm reassured, I think, to find that I have an online presence, however modest. But my school blogs and personal ones are under different registrations, so maybe my professional connections don't show up as much as my enthusiastic responses to sundry topics.

Sunday, December 2

Some Great Thoughts

Oh bother, I can't remember any of them. They were good, or I thought so. But I was over at Brother Dunstan's den, helping him out... or maybe eating his currant scones, I forget which. Well, anyway, it's December, nearly St. Nicholas Day, and maybe it will snow some day soon.