#almanacs — Public Fediverse posts

The Sundial of the Seasons

I picked up a free, used book from a cart at the park this week simply because I liked the title, The Sundial of the Seasons. I thought I might use that as a title for a poem since we will soon be turning over the spring season to summer.

I have written about the seasons a lot and sundials a few times, too. This is a book by Hal Borland. It is a year‑long meditation on the natural world. There are 365 brief essays that follow the turning of the seasons, a bit like a naturalist’s almanac. Each captures a small moment and uses it as a way into reflection on our place in the living world.

That is similar to the original reason I started my poetry site, Writing the Day, but my reflections are in the form of poems. The poem that came from that title and reading through the book is on the website.

Borland published one essay every week in The New York Times, and by the time he died in 1978, he had written 1,750 nature editorials, and the last of them was published the day before his death.

I published one poem every day the first year. I have added to those 365 poems with mostly weekly poems, and there are now almost a thousand poems.

I like this idea of a “calendar of attentiveness.” I have also moved from spring thaw, to summer fullness, autumn color and decline, and then to frost, winter, and around to spring again. Any day’s small signs are markers of cyclical time. Collected, my poems are my guide to noticing birds returning, fog settling, frost and snow changing the smell of the air.

My poems sometimes depart from the outside and nature, and go inside my home and myself. But that is also influenced by the seasons and the world outside.

The only constancy comes from within change.

I hoped the poems would move some readers to look out their own window and compare what they see, whether or not they write a poem, essay, journal entry, or just make a note on their calendar.

Following the rhythms of the natural world is an antidote to hurrying and a reminder that the Earth’s cycles continue whether or not we notice. But you should take notice.

Hal Borland (1900–1978) was a nature writer and novelist who produced numerous bestselling books, including memoirs and young adult classics, as well as decades of nature writing. Borland considered himself a “natural philosopher,” and he was interested in exploring the way human life was bound to the greater world of plants, animals, and natural processes. In researching him, I realized I had read his novel, When the Legends Die, many years ago. He also has another collection of 365 essays, Twelve Moons of the Year,

Cafe Chill Episode 2024-31: Alan Ghostly, Jumpel & Adi Goldstein, Robin Sukroso & Korora and more

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Listen on PRX: https://exchange.prx.org/pieces/537857-cafe-chill-episode-2024-31
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Café Chill is Public Radio’s weekly curated chill mix, produced by KNHC National Productions (C89.5) in Seattle, and heard on noncommercial radio stations across the USA.

The latest episode of Cafe Chill includes tracks from Alan Ghostly, Jumpel & Adi Goldstein, Robin Sukroso & Korora and more. Hosted by Seth. Working in the background is me (Richard).

Playlist:

•Alan Ghostly–Last Dance
  Release: Retrofuturism Vol. 1
  Label:Alan Ghostly

•Poldoore–Celestial (A Tribute To Nujabes)
  Release: Celestial (A Tribute To Nujabes) – Single
  Label:Poldoore Music

•Treetalking–Stargazing
  Release: The Unknown
  Label:SXN

•Jumpel & Adi Goldstein–Mock State
  Release: Airth
  Label:Jumpel & Adi Goldstein

•Shigeto–Look At All the Smiling Faces
  Release: Full Circle
  Label:Ghostly International

•Leon Vynehall–Movements (Chapter III)
  Release: Nothing Is Still
  Label:Ninja Tune

•King Shi–Father’s Love
  Release: Jupiter Blues
  Label:Tekhedz, Millennium Jazz Music

•Almanacs–Coyote Blanco
  Release: Spirits of the River
  Label:Mystery Circles

•uinta–Taw
  Release: Sweetest
  Label:mind.slave

•Richard Alfaro–Alone
  Release: Refract
  Label:Richard Alfaro

•Submerse–Bake Sale
  Release: See You Soon
  Label:Project Mooncircle

•Yppah–R. Mullen
  Release: Eighty One (Bonus Track Version)
  Label:Ninja Tune

•Arms and Sleepers–Disintegrating In Your Soul
  Release: Former Kingdoms
  Label:Achillea Music

•Robin Sukroso & Korora–Deep Sea
  Release: Deep Sea – Single
  Label:Wuza Records

•Hello Meteor–South Shore Rain
  Release: The End of All Known Land
  Label:Evergreen Prefecture

You can also listen at:
https://cafechill.org

#AdiGoldstein #AlanGhostly #Almanacs #Ambient #ArmsandSleepers #C895 #C895CafeChill #cafeChill #cafechillradio #Chill #danceMusic #downtempo #elm #HelloMeteor #Jumpel #KingShi #KNHC #Korora #LeonVynehall #Poldoore #PRX #publicRadio #radio #RichardAlfaro #RobinSukroso #seattle #Shigeto #Submerse #Treetalking #Uinta #Yppah

Selling small amounts of tobacco was a thing, not only in taverns. And so you needed small papers to wrap tobacco into small selling units. Often, as paintings like this one from Pieter van Anraedt of mid seventeenth-century, show, old papers - of #almanacs and #pamphlets - were used for this wrapping up. The still life "Still Life with Earthenware Jug and Clay Pipes" from 1658 shows clearly what kind of paper was reused here, dear #histodons. Let's have a closer look in the next post.

2/

Nota bene, #earlymodern #histodons: Unsere Tagung zum frühneuzeitlichen #Schreibkalender im März 2024 an der @hab_wf Wolfenbüttel hat ein erweitertes und aktualisiertes Programm:

https://www.hab.de/event/ak-bbm_schreibkalender_2024

Anmeldungen zur Online-Teilnahme sind willkommen: [email protected]

#bookhistory #HAB_WF #almanacs #mediahistory #EarlyModernHistory #EarlyModernEurope

No stamp, no fun. Here, the archive stamp from the Stadtarchiv Altenburg, Germany, is prominently placed in the blank space of a writing calendar's page. In every #Schreibkalender, the blank space was a typical feature for individual remarks and comments.

Here is more on the topic of #Schreibkalender: https://mastodon.social/@dbellingradt/109743516561998227

#bookhistory #histodons #earlymodern #almanacs

Kalenderfreundinnen und Kalenderfreunde: eine Kalendertagung.

“Die #Schreibkalender der Frühen Neuzeit und die Handschriften in ihnen” (13.-15.03.2024, @hab_wf Wolfenbüttel). #earlymodern #almanacs, #bookhistory, #histodons

https://www.hsozkult.de/event/id/event-138820

Cafe Chill Episode 2023-32: Tokyo Megaplex, Native Cruise, Manatee Commune and more

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Listen on PRX: https://exchange.prx.org/pieces/487869-cafe-chill-episode-2023-32
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Café Chill is Public Radio’s weekly curated chill mix, produced by KNHC National Productions (@[email protected]) in Seattle, and heard on noncommercial radio stations across the USA.

The latest episode of Cafe Chill includes tracks from Tokyo Megaplex, Native Cruise, Manatee Commune and more. Hosted by Seth. Working in the background is me (Richard).

Playlist:

• Washed Out–Entrance
    Release: Paracosm
    Label: Pod
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• Manatee Commune–Wake
    Release: Wake – Single
    Label: Bastard Jazz Recordings
  ———-
• Uinta–Maples
    Release: Fruits
    Label: mind.slave
  ———-
• Treetalking–S U P E R N O V A
    Release: S T A R D U S T – Single
    Label: Alpha Pup
  ———-
• Dillard–Lust
    Release: Empress LP
    Label: D93 Audio
  ———-
• Shigeto–Olivia
    Release: No Better Time Than Now
    Label: Ghostly International
  ———-
• Elsa Hewitt–Tiny Dancer
    Release: Citrus Paradisi
    Label: ERH
  ———-
• Almanacs–Coyote Blanco
    Release: Spirits of the River
    Label: Mystery Circles
  ———-
• Xky–Mercury
    Release: Mercury EP
    Label: Xky Music
  ———-
• Native Cruise–Import Memory
    Release: Sunsets & Deeper Moods
    Label: No Bad Days
  ———-
• upusen–Not Good
    Release: Birds
    Label: Midwest Collective
  ———-
• Brothertiger–Cascade
    Release: Fundamentals Vol. I
    Label: Brothertiger
  ———-
• BACKWHEN–Next World
    Release: BACKWHEN ~ Balance – EP
    Label: Chill Children
  ———-
• Flamingosis–Elevator Pass (feat. Tokyo Megaplex)
    Release: Great Hair
    Label: UKNOWY
  ———-

You can also listen at:
https://www.c895.org/show/cafe-chill/
https://cafechill.org

Photo: “Grand Prismatic Spring Colored by Thermophiles, Yellowstone National Park, 2013”. Credit: Yellowstone National Park/National Park Service, public domain.

Have a great August Sunday!

#almanacs #ambient #backwhen #brothertiger #c895 #chill #chillout #dillard #downtempo #elsahewitt #flamingosis #knhc #manateecommune #nativecruise #publicradio #radio #seattle #shigeto #treetalking #uinta #upusen #vaporwave #washedout #xky

Q: "What do you do for a living?"
A: "I am an almanac watcher".

Meet the best job description and answer of 1611. Source: http://diglib.hab.de/drucke/42-7-astron-30s/start.htm

#histodons #almanacs #bookhistory #EarlyModernHistory

And this intentionally-inserted writing space gave the #Schreibkalender its name: a calendar to insert writing. These handwritten portions are to be found in thousands of calendars and are largely unstudied. They, in sum, make the Schreibkalender a very rich source for many historical departures. It is from this point that our project departed. We aim to make these sources from 1540-1800 accessible online. #history #almanacs

4/7

#December 29, 1704
#OTD Martha Daniel Logan, American #Botanist, is born.

After her #Husband died, Martha provided #Rare #Seeds & #Plants to the top #Botanists of her time & set up a #Seed exchange between the American #Colonies & #Britain.

She also wrote a #Gardening advice column & her #Gardener's #Calendar graced the back of #Almanacs for decades.

In 1761, John #Bartram wrote that Martha was, “an elderly #Widow #Lady who spares no pains or cost to oblige me. Her #Garden is her #Delight."

#Armenia #yearbooks #almanacs #genealogy #NAASR

Armenian Weekly: NAASR digitizes collection of yearbooks

https://armenianweekly.com/2022/11/14/naasr-digitizes-collection-of-yearbooks/