Saturn

I love empowering women. I think it’s crazy: if you ever try to belittle women, you’re playing yourself—I ride with whoever rides with me.
~SZA

NASA

Hi folks! Happy Music Monday! Maybe you've heard this song too many times and you're sick of it, or maybe you've never heard it. Hope it's not the first option! I'm not sick of it yet so here's Grammy-nominated "Saturn" by SZA:

Larger than our bodies

Language exerts hidden power, like the moon on the tides.
~Rita Mae Brown

Metropolitan Opera by Genista

Happy Poetry Friday! I hope December has had some high points for you. I really enjoy my family's tradition of giving homemade gifts. My daughter Elena painted the snake I'm going to use for Jone's New Year postcard. (If you aren't participating in Jone's postcard exchange but you would like one of mine, let me know.)

A reassuring excerpt from "Our Revision" by Kelly Cass Falzone:

...Science tells us we are mostly space, mostly not matter.
Maybe then, we’ll someday be more of what we once were.
If most of what is me is what cannot be seen, then my
unsomethingness will still be here for my son; yes?

Some say they can still smell their lost beloveds. I say:
Yes, of course. That which you cannot see is right beside
you. The sea can be heard in a shell or a soup can. It is
not a trick; it’s there to be heard. And we are— like the sea,

and the seeing— we are larger than our bodies; consider
the expansive contraction of the tides, the way light travels
from every star. It keeps going. And your breath, when it
leaves you, is still your breath. Still yours, and mine, too.

************

Want to share a brave poem? Info here.

More Art 4 All has the Poetry Friday round-up. Thanks, Michelle!

Filling the air

Since 2018 the chief conductor has been Luigi Gaggero. He came to Ukraine as a performing percussionist around 2012, and was impressed by the quiet attention of the audience, listening like to a spiritual message ("geistige Botschaft").
~Wikipedia

For Music Monday, the Kyiv Symphony Orchestra with Carol of the Bells and Prayer for Ukraine:

The Conductor

With an orchestra you are building citizens, better citizens for the community.
~Gustavo Dudamel

Cellist by Róbert Berény

Happy Poetry Friday! I am "away from my desk" but I'm scheduling a poem that my daughter Ariana wrote for her future mother-in-law's retirement. As a music professor, Sara created a thriving orchestra program after having started with only five students.

The Conductor
by Ariana Yeatts-Lonske
For Sara Edgerton

Sometimes she beckons a great sea swell.

Sometimes she places a pebble on top of a wall.

Sometimes she slices through slabs of marble.

Sometimes she captains a ship through choppy waters.

Sometimes she offers a single peony.

Sometimes she flicks red drops of paint.

Sometimes she closes a chest of gold.

Sometimes she opens a door to the light.

*

33 years ago, Sara walked across a field
and found five panes of glass.

She picked one up and held it to the sun,
saw a cathedral.

Only she could see it.

Last night we stood inside it.
Who says the world has lost all its beauty?

No one who has been here.
No one who has heard this.

******************

Jone Rush MacCulloch has the Poetry Friday round-up. Thanks, Jone!

Swan Knight

A knight is sworn to valor...His blade defends the helpless...His wrath undoes the wicked.
– George R.R. Martin

For Art Thursday, a terracotta sculpture of a knight with a swan helmet by my daughter Elena. The "copper" on top is where the knight's beloved has rubbed it:

Sweet babies

Compassion is a piece of vocabulary that could change us if we truly let it sink into the standards to which we hold ourselves and others.
~Krista Tippett

First Steps by Jean-François Millet

For Wellness Wednesday, a minute of sweetness:



More Krista Tippett quotes:
* Kindness is an everyday byproduct of all the great virtues.
* The things that go wrong for you have a lot of potential to become part of your gift to the world.

Celebrating the aged queen

On the face of this aged queen of our cathedrals, by the side of a wrinkle, one always finds a scar.
~Victor Hugo

Notre-Dame's largest and oldest bell, cast in 1686

For Music Monday, a bit of the Notre-Dame Cathedral reopening celebration. Daniel Lozakovich sur "Aria de la 3ème Suite" de Bach and Pretty Yende with Amazing Grace (Dudamel conducting):

Say no to mask bans

Hagstone Art

Excerpts from a Substack piece by The Disabled Ginger re: "how the shooting death of Brian Thompson is being used to re-ignite interest in banning masks in New York City - a move which would be a devastating blow to the disabled community."

This idea that masks are driving criminal activity is incredibly harmful to disabled and high risk individuals who NEED to mask for their health. It promotes the spread of disease - and discourages people who are still Covid cautious from masking.

There’s also no evidence to suggest it stops crime - and studies have shown that sunglasses obscure identity more effectively, yet no one is trying to ban them...

How far we’ve fallen that people are more concerned with banning masks than guns.

Masks bans won’t stop crimes. All they will do is fuel hateful anti-mask rhetoric and make public spaces even less safe for disabled and high risk individuals...

I naively assumed that the same people who screamed about personal freedom and bodily autonomy would oppose these bans. After all - telling someone they’re not allowed to use a medical device is a clear violation of autonomy and freedom...Of course I was wrong. They celebrated these bans.

People were cheering for them and saying they can’t wait to “rip the masks off our faces”.

In June the North Carolina ban passed - albeit with a very narrow and problematic medical exemption added back in. The ‘exemption’ allows medical masks for the purpose of “avoiding spreading a communicable disease”. Whether you can mask to avoid catching a disease - or to protect yourself from pollen or wildfire smoke - remains a legal grey area.

Who makes the determination with respect to whether YOU are masking for legal reasons? The police. As you can imagine, this is incredibly scary for people - especially those who are marginalized. These bans give police an excuse to stop, search and potentially arrest someone who’s doing nothing more than trying to safeguard their health.

Soon after the North Carolina ban passed - we heard of a woman with stage four cancer who was harassed in a store because she wouldn’t remove her mask. Another patron yelled at her that she was a “liberal” and demanded she take it off. When she explained she had cancer - he coughed on her.

This is where mask bans lead.

Read the whole piece here.

Disability-related stickers:
Fight for Disability Justice
Disability Rights are Human Rights
Make the World More Accessible
Cure Ableism
Not All Disabilities Are Visible
Certified Member Invisible Illness Club
It's Not A Miracle, I'm an Ambulatory Wheelchair User!
All of Us Are Different, None of Us Are Less

A second heartbeat

Tthere is evidence that altruistic behavior can lead to evolutionary benefits, such as increased survival rates among species. Altruism can also bring about a sense of purpose and meaning in life. By helping others, people can feel a sense of satisfaction that comes from knowing they are making a difference in the world.
~Sondra Rueter

I wrote a book about the Holocaust, which certainly made me cry while I did research but also taught me a few things about altruism. Why were some people altruistic in those frightening, harrowing times? What is the connection between bravery and altruism, you wonder (because I am surely circling around to talking about bravery). I think feeling brave is more likely to make you willing to do altruistic things. Wanting to do something altruistic can galvanize courage. One can feed the other. What do you think?

I decided to kick off my Brave year by collecting people's poems with an element of bravery in them and sharing them as a pdf. One poet will receive a $50 Bookshop gift card. Are you interested? I hope so!

What are the parameters? Please write a new poem, any length, which has a kernel of bravery in it, and send it to me by January 12th. Maximum of two. I will compile them by January 20th.

Today's poem is Thanksgiving Hymn by John Paul Davis.

John Paul Davis · Thanksgiving Hymn

You'll want to read or hear the whole thing, but here's an excerpt:

I saw someone fall from a bicycle
only to be surrounded by strangers,
one checking for wounds, another offering water,
a third testing the bike itself, the rest waiting
to see if they’d be needed, if there was any
way they could help. For decades
I did not say aloud the name of the hand
of love I could sometimes feel myself bumping
against as I clumsied & improvised
my way toward today, but all along it was a second
heartbeat in me, a breath underneath my breathing...

read the rest here

*******************

The Heroic Imagination Project ("We believe ordinary people can do extraordinary things.") has lesson plans and Heroism 101 articles, if you're interested.

A Word Edgewise has the Poetry Friday round-up. Thanks, Linda!

His own heart laughed: and that was quite enough for him.

"Business!" cried the Ghost, wringing its hands again. "Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence were all my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!"
~Charles Dickens

Some images from Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol for Art Thursday. One more quote: I have always thought of Christmas time as...the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys.

Scrooge and the Ghost of Marley
by Arthur Rackham

Scrooge and the Spirit of Christmas Yet to Come
by Arthur Rackham

Jacob Marley and Ebenezer Scrooge
Illustration by Fred Barnard (1846-1896)

Finch

Finch was started by 2 friends (Nino & Steph) who struggled with anxiety and depression and found self care challenging to stick with. They decided to build Finch with the mission to make self care fun and accessible after seeing many others share similar struggles.
~Finch FAQ

Hi y'all! For Wellness Wednesday, Finch, an app where you adopt a virtual bird that grows based on your self-care activities. My daughters like it so I decided to see if I could use it as a combined habit tracker instead of having multiple apps for various things, such as writing in my gratitude journal and giving my dogs their meds. (Since you can make your goals anything you want, not everything-- like giving my dogs their meds-- needs to be about self-care.)

I've been using it for a little over a week and so far, so good. It has some elements that I've tweaked.

I'm pretty sure I can add friends so if you want to try, let me know. It's free unless you decide to switch to Finch Plus.

Winter Charm

White the sheep that gave the wool,
Green the pastures where they fed,
Blue and scarlet side by side,
Bless the warp and bless the thread.

For Music Monday, Zambra:

One Little Word for 2025

O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
~Francis Scott Key

My One Little Word for 2024 was "Open." Such a perfect word for this year...I really enjoyed being open to trying new things. When it came time to choose a word for 2025, I was reluctant to pack "Open" away so let's say I'm just adding it to my wordhoard instead.

My OLW for 2025 was pretty easy to pick, especially when I realized that what I fear most is being a coward (is that ironic? haha). It's a word that makes me feel better just thinking about it:

This week, I went to Reporters Without Borders' Press Freedom Awards in D.C. What an inspirationally brave group of people from all around the world. One winner reports on victims of terrorism-sponsored sexual violence. Grim work. This evening impressed upon me how vital it is to keep track of what is happening even if doing so doesn't stop it.

Another winner has been documenting war crimes in Ukraine and training journalists to record witness statements in a way that can be used in court. Her investigations helped lead to an arrest warrant for Putin by the International Criminal Court.

Michel Martin from Morning Edition read us the First Amendment. The very first one, even before the one about guns:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Ms. Martin talked about the importance of local newspapers. (Consider subscribing to yours!) She also talked about people's urge to not pay attention to the news. Russians had the same urge after Putin took over, she noted, but it didn't work out well for them ("you may not be interested in politics, but politics is interested in you!"). I think reading the news in limited amounts helps. Just enough that you stay informed but not defeated. That sweet spot can change depending on the day.

Time for a brave poem! Who else but Alberto Ríos?

excerpts from
A Sustainable Courage
by Alberto Ríos

When I pick up my newspaper, it weighs 50 lbs.—
It's full of problems, people arguing, dying, disasters.
Picking up that paper is an act of courage.
Facing that paper only begins our day, begins our wondering
Where to go next...

Much has been asked of us, and much we have freely given.
We know that yesterday has made us and tomorrow will receive us,
No matter what. But have we earned our way?
When we give water to each other, will we replace it, too?

When we breathe the air, will we keep it clean? Every day,
What we do extends us, me to you, you to me, neighbor to neighbor,
All of us in action. All of us affected. We have learned—
And learning is everything—that even the smallest act matters.

******************

I'm planning on "studying" courageous people in 2025, which will consist of keeping a notebook with brief info about brave people throughout history. I thought about putting the info on here, but it seemed like it might make it too crowded so instead I will email the info to a "Brave People" list. If you want to receive sporadic messages from me, email tabatha at tabathayeatts dot com.

The Apples in my Orchard has the Poetry Friday round-up. Thanks, Carol!

The Snow Queen

When we get to the end of the story, you will know more than you do now...
~Hans Christian Andersen

For Art Thursday, illustrations from The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen:

Stories from Hans Andersen with illustrations by Edmund Dulac

Andersens Märchen - Schneekönigin
illustration by Nikolay Karazin

Fairy tales and stories
illustration by Hans Tegner

Connections and Comfort (revisited)

How good it feels to be fed!
~Janet Reich Elsbach

Revisiting a Wellness Wednesday post from January 2019:

You might not be surprised to hear that I asked for a number of books for Christmas. One of them was Extra Helping: Recipes for Caring, Connecting, and Building Community One Dish at a Time by Janet Reich Elsbach. I like "reading" cookbooks no matter what they are, but this one is especially meant to be read. Elsbach writes comforting commentary before each section, which covers cooking for people who have had babies, moved, been sick, or lost someone, plus "food for cheer, distraction, and celebration," "food for a crowd," and "food for lunch boxes and care packages." I marked "Life is Upside-Down Cake" as something I'd like to try myself (is it okay to make something for yourself out of a cookbook like this? Let's say it is.)

Another thing that caught my eye (but I don't have plans to make any time soon, knock on wood) is a koliva, a Greek dish eaten at memorials, such as on the ninth day after a death. Elsbach was brought one after her sister died, and she says that the food gifts from that time "made indelible impressions." "Each one was a strand in the rope that tethered me to the land of the living and together they eventually pulled me to my feet again, altered but upright." A beautifully-put reason to try to be present when someone is in need.

Elsbach notes that it's best not to say, "If there's anything I can do, just let me know" because often nothing comes of that. If you can, offer to bring a meal on a certain day, or ask if they need anything from the store, or if they need a ride somewhere, or if they could use having their library books returned, or what-have-you. I know I have said that generic statement before but in the future, I will try to be more specific.

Back to kolivas. Elsbach explains:
"Seeds, sweetness, and spices were beautifully arranged in the bowl she presented, adorned with blossoms though it was deep winter. The notion, she said, is to take in the seeds in the name of the departed. Once consumed, you carry on the spirit of that person, whom you offer eternal life through your continued existence, I reckon, until someone eats a koliva for you, and on, and on."

Very poetic, isn't it? Here's a recipe:
Greek Kolyva (Koliva) Wheat Berry Memorial Food

A bowl of koliva by Goran Andjelic

In the celebratory chapter, Elsbach talks about making teeny cakes. She says, "Making a teeny cake is far less daunting for the maker than a grand creation that is destined to serve a crowd, and even if the thing turns out ever so slightly wonky, it is likely to charm." I think she's right, and will certainly make one sometime. Yesterday, we had a cupcakes for my older daughter's birthday. To meet her dietary restrictions, it had to be gluten-free and low-histamine. I used King Arthur gluten-free muffin mix (she knows the amount of sugar in it is doable for her) and added blueberries and coconut milk, and made a vanilla frosting with toasted coconut. It was tasty enough to want to eat even if you didn't have a bunch of dietary constraints.

Food restrictions can pose a daunting dilemma, but I encourage you and salute you in your efforts.

Is there a dish you always bring for special occasions like births, deaths, moves?

Keep on a-walkin'

This music was like an instrument, like holding a tool in your hand.
Bernice Johnson Reagon

Good morning! For Music Monday, Sweet Honey in the Rock.



Misc links:
* 'Hold the line': Nobel laureate says Americans should learn from the Philippines’ experience
* Ronan Farrow explains how your phone could be used to spy on you
* When is a photo an act of resistance?