the poetics of objects and space
Writing
Kevin Williams - 06:24pm Oct 18, 1999 PDT (# 1706 of 1717)
In high school I ran cross country and, propelling through Cobbs Hill Park in Rochester, took in daily lungfulls of air rich with the ferment of maple leaves and crab apples moistening the ground. I loved it; those smells and the sensation of running-running-running are still what come first to mind when I think of fall.
And fall is still my favorite season. I should say that here. Over the years, though, the season has become less of a giddy pal -- the guy who always calls you up when in town to go out for beers -- and more of a family member: holds goodness, but also makes demands.
Some of those demands are internal, and personal; each year I wrestle longer and harder with a deep funk that creeps in when the daylight goes away. (Full-spectrum light bulbs help -- as does poetry -- but the only long cure is Late January.)
Some of the demands come from the season itself, the last chance to do those things put off but which need doing before winter. There's always a final mad dash of garden and harvesting, preserving (if you do that), the thousand things to make the home snug for winter -- and it never seems to be enough. Fall reminds you of your important failures.
That's okay -- that's a good thing. Humility is good for anyone. But I get less and less rhapsodic about fall as I go on.
Clutter: how to manage the junk in our homes
Home and Garden
Katherine B. - 07:03pm Oct 19, 1999 PDT (# 996 of 1009)
Empty boxes are a problem. If you've ever moved with any kind of frequency, you become very attached to "good" boxes. This extends to boxes in which items have been shipped to you, too. You never know when you'll need a good box just that size to ship something yourself. And you might move again, sometime. So you save all these boxes. Boxes in boxes, boxes full of styrofoam peanuts that stick to your sleeves and have a tendency to migrate throughout the house. Boxes with crumpled tissue paper and bubble wrap. Boxes with handles. Copier paper boxes. Liquor boxes with handy dividers. Boxes the computer came in. Boxes someone else's computer came in. The box for the coffee maker, the box for the grinder. Pretty soon you find yourself, well, boxed in. That's when it's time to purge (if not before). Boxes are everywhere, and they're free or cheap. Do it for yourself and the ones who love you: Get yourself into a deboxification program today.
Is Halloween STILL Satin's Holiday?
Mind and Spirit
Nicole Chardenet - 01:30pm Oct 16, 1999 PDT (# 47 of 81)
... Scholars generally agree that Christ's birth story could *not* have happened in December, when "shepherds were keeping watch over their flocks in the field." It would have been far too cold then! It was more likely that it happened in March or April, which would have been the appropriate time to keep your sheep in the fields. So y'all have screwed up your proper holidays...you should be celebrating Christ's birth in the springtime.
The reason it's in December is that the Church wanted it to coincide with pagan midwinter rituals of the time. It was the Borg of religion at the time..."Resistance is useless...you will be assimilated." ;)
I am not ragging on Christianity here...I was raised Christian and while I am Pagan now, I am not sorry for my Christian upbringing and I still retain some valuable lessons and values from that time in my life. But covering up historical truth doesn't do anyone any good. Some of you Christian folk need to get over your denial about your pagan origins. Your stories and legends about Jesus and his forebearers in the Old Testament aren't exactly new. Some of the stories were ancient myth by the time of Moses. That's not to say that they don't have important things to teach Christians, but I fail to see how denial of the facts helps *anyone*.
Some of the most devoted Christians I know recognize the pagan origins of Christianity, yet still maintain a firm belief in the legends and teachings of Jesus. We're not as far apart as you might think...and that's a fact that some Christians (and some Pagans I know) would rather not deal with.
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