Category: Holidays

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We Are Not Equidistant

I asked Google Gemini to draw me an original picture of the warring hemispheres, but the one it “created” seems to have a credit. Let’s thank Novesiom! for this one.

I was going to write a one-sentence, spring-themed message, wishing everyone a happy equinox and pointing out that Melbourne is probably experiencing roughly what we’re feeling in Northern California. Then, it turned out much of what I knew about the equinoxes was wrong.

The earth is not round.
It doesn’t move in a circle around the sun.
Day and Night are not equal to each other.
The North is not treated the same as the South.

Since I was This Old when I learned The Truth, I will share it with you, appropriately, on the northern vernal equinox, i.e. today, March 20th, 2025. There will be science, although I will not discuss the ecliptic because I have hard time visualizing it. I promise there will be no arithmetic. There will be geometry.  And you might find yourself wobbling a little, which will be in keeping with the situation.

Classic view drawn by ar.inspired.com.
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The Badgers of Imbolc

Amused Grace: For the Groundhog, Blessed of Brighid, artwork by Thalia Took

Yesterday was Groundhog Day, so in the true modern, post-1993 meaning of the phrase, I’m going to revisit it. That is, for those who have not seen the Bill Murray movie Groundhog Day, to become stuck in an endless time loop until able to sufficiently reform one’s behavior. I don’t know what behavior I should reform, perhaps getting to the point quicker? So let’s revisit Groundhog Day.

In celebrating the spirit of the season, I will ask three critical questions about Groundhog Day. Why there? Why that? and Why now? Yes, you can read this stuff on Wikipedia, but if you did, you won’t get any jokes. And since it’s 3 questions, it’s kind of magical and mystical, which is also fitting. Although I’m not sure the townspeople of Punxsutawney know this.

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Under Wraps

Late Victorian era, photo from hhhistory.com.

Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things…

The extra-hard crossword puzzle contest this week courtesy of the WSJ is “Under Wraps,” so while I was pondering its solution, I started thinking about wrapping paper. I discovered, as I poked around sites which did addressed this topic (sponsored by Hallmark etc), that many had bits and pieces but none seemed to thread them together. You need the Victorians, you need the Flexography press, the toilet paper, the papyrus reeds, the red symbology of China, and the Roman army. Nobody mentioned them all. So let me rectify that gap.

I set out to answer two specific questions. First, when did we–Americans if you want to be specific–start decorating holiday gifts with colored wrapping paper and ribbons? And, secondly, how did cultures over time convey their gifts? Who started wrapping, when and how?

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