Hot tip for that 'teach someone' exercise- make the explanation intelligible to a five year old. You really have to understand something well, to get it boiled down enough for a simple explanation. I just heard/read that somewhere. (I started Witching Week early- brainfog set in days ago!)
Thanks for the outdoor coffee idea, too. Although, with some group-Covid habits still in place, I might skip the whole shivering coffee routine for my own morning till Spring. -20 F windchill here)
That is a good tip! And it'd avoid unhelpful jargon too. If someone says "okay, but what does that word actually *mean*?" then you know your explanation's taken a wrong turn somewhere...
And I absolutely approve of not stepping outside and freezing in place instantly while clutching a coffee in your still-thawed hand. That is definitely not in the spirit of this time of year.
What an awesome read, thank you!! I've learned that the days between Christmas and January 6th are known as the Celtic Omen Days. Definitely liminal space. A year neither ended nor begun. Noticing Nature, one day for each month of the new year. Noticing the omens around us, ending with Twelfth Night, or the world turned upside down.
Thank you! I had no idea about that one. I like the idea of having special days for noticing Nature. Hmmm, maybe excellent days to try camping outside, too....
Thanks. As a cloud watcher I find the observation we live at the bottom of an ocean of air a great thing to be reminded of. On the other hand the concept of drinking my coffee outside in Middle Tennessee when it is barely above freezing with a windchill of 20 below rather unworkable. Finding ruins however is my specialty. I live in these.
As far as the “witching season” goes I find it more than inhabitable as long as I keep my nose to the grindstone and my broom in the air.
I know nothing about Tennessee, so I had a look on Wikipedia. It's pretty mindblowing that the page for "List of archaeological sites in Tennessee" has specific listings for sites in 95 (!) counties: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_archaeological_sites_in_Tennessee That's....a lot of stuff to go explore - in almost double the number of counties of England, size for size!
Everywhere on Earth is amazing agree. I live near or around many archeological sights also near the Natchez Trace - the ancient buffalo trace and now a federally managed historical and ecological roadway from Nashville to Natchez. To a history and wilderness buff it offers a lot.
I hereby swear to make The Festive Perineum an official holiday to follow Boxing Day. Who is with me? I'm also a huge fan of the walk back. I'm often astonished at how completely different the same route looks when walked in the opposite direction. How did I miss that window? That mural in the alley? That dead alien? Okay, maybe not the last one. But the walk back is still a fantastic reminder of how a small shift in perspective can reveal so many new details.
I now feel compelled to start a campaign in opposition to yours in favour of the Festive Perineum. We don't want this, Michael! Just think of groaning yourself upright after days of overeating and thinking, "OK, now there's nothing to look forward to except the very bottom of the pelvic cavity of the holidays." This is *not* the joy we ordered for this time of year.
Yes, great tip: going the opposite direction is such an eye-opener and attention-focuser! And so simple to do. And yes on how different everywhere can look - which is why as a travel writer I taught myself to regularly turn around and look when I'm taking a new-to-me route I'll want to retrace later (although these days, that's mostly kinda nullified by the ease of using Google Maps). Or even better: take a photo of it in both (or all four) directions. It always *feels* like it should be easy to navigate on the way back based on the one view, but as you say - when the startling unfamiliarity of the opposite perspective kicks in...or nightfall. Or a coating of snow. It doesn't take much for the world to disguise itself.
Just returned from the first annual Festive Perineum New Year's Rocking Festival and man, I hit rock bottom! It really kicked me in the ass. Ugh, I am so down in the dumps. Now I just feel like I'm being a pain in the ass.
This is so great, Mike, from start to finish! It’s ridiculously cold here, but yesterday there was ‘sea steam’ coming off Lake Michigan and the Chicago River and it’s beautiful to see. Thank you for this gorgeous post!
I love this! That week between Christmas and New Year's, if we are privileged enough to have vacation during that time, feels so much like the freedom of childhood, when each day is open with limitless possibilities. Thank you for these suggestions!
Thank you, Naomi! The freedom of childhood is very much a thing it'd be nice to rediscover, here and there, as adults. Rich, uncomplicated feelings to be able to tap into again, just when we need to step away from the exhaustingly complicated world of adulting...
(I think back to how time felt when I was a kid - that thrilling stretching of the summer holidays into absolutely forever, for example. I used to think this was a wholly individualistic thing according to how fevered your young imagination was, but studying how time seems to speed up as you get older is now a legit branch of scientific study! https://qz.com/1516804/physics-explains-why-time-passes-faster-as-you-age )
Mike, this is so generous - thank you! I like to use these next few days to take long hot baths listening to Dylan Thomas. Until the family start hammering on the door, that is.
It is still -15F here and tomorrow it’s meant to rain??? I am not taking my coffee outside! When it gets reasonable out there, though, I try :)
I like that idea of enoughness. I grew up in a hoarder household — which I was responsible for dusting and vacuuming — so am a vigorous purger of THINGS and chafe at clutter. Yet there is still a lot I don’t notice. I used to make jewelry, for example, and have had both the jewelry and the making supplies sitting around for almost a decade pretty much untouched. A couple months ago I realized it was a hobby I probably wasn’t going to return to, and I’d grown out of the most of the jewelry I’d made, so I went through it all and gave the pieces to my nieces, and the older one is getting my supplies for Christmas. That felt really good! When you’re a purger rather than a keeper, you do run out of things to clean out and let go of, so it’s nice to take something like that and make a meaningful gift of it rather than just take it all to the thrift store, which is overflowing itself.
There is a tiny ruined building I pass several days a week. I think it’s actually an old root cellar of some kind, but you’ve nudged me to make the actual effort to see if I can find out, which my intentions have never managed to do before.
Hot tip for that 'teach someone' exercise- make the explanation intelligible to a five year old. You really have to understand something well, to get it boiled down enough for a simple explanation. I just heard/read that somewhere. (I started Witching Week early- brainfog set in days ago!)
Thanks for the outdoor coffee idea, too. Although, with some group-Covid habits still in place, I might skip the whole shivering coffee routine for my own morning till Spring. -20 F windchill here)
It's not quite a five year old, but physicist Richard Feynman said that we don't really understand anything that can't be boiled down to a first year student lecture. https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Talk:Richard_Feynman#Teaching_quote
That is a good tip! And it'd avoid unhelpful jargon too. If someone says "okay, but what does that word actually *mean*?" then you know your explanation's taken a wrong turn somewhere...
And I absolutely approve of not stepping outside and freezing in place instantly while clutching a coffee in your still-thawed hand. That is definitely not in the spirit of this time of year.
What an awesome read, thank you!! I've learned that the days between Christmas and January 6th are known as the Celtic Omen Days. Definitely liminal space. A year neither ended nor begun. Noticing Nature, one day for each month of the new year. Noticing the omens around us, ending with Twelfth Night, or the world turned upside down.
Thank you! I had no idea about that one. I like the idea of having special days for noticing Nature. Hmmm, maybe excellent days to try camping outside, too....
Thanks. As a cloud watcher I find the observation we live at the bottom of an ocean of air a great thing to be reminded of. On the other hand the concept of drinking my coffee outside in Middle Tennessee when it is barely above freezing with a windchill of 20 below rather unworkable. Finding ruins however is my specialty. I live in these.
As far as the “witching season” goes I find it more than inhabitable as long as I keep my nose to the grindstone and my broom in the air.
I know nothing about Tennessee, so I had a look on Wikipedia. It's pretty mindblowing that the page for "List of archaeological sites in Tennessee" has specific listings for sites in 95 (!) counties: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_archaeological_sites_in_Tennessee That's....a lot of stuff to go explore - in almost double the number of counties of England, size for size!
Everywhere is amazing. It's a fact.
Everywhere on Earth is amazing agree. I live near or around many archeological sights also near the Natchez Trace - the ancient buffalo trace and now a federally managed historical and ecological roadway from Nashville to Natchez. To a history and wilderness buff it offers a lot.
I hereby swear to make The Festive Perineum an official holiday to follow Boxing Day. Who is with me? I'm also a huge fan of the walk back. I'm often astonished at how completely different the same route looks when walked in the opposite direction. How did I miss that window? That mural in the alley? That dead alien? Okay, maybe not the last one. But the walk back is still a fantastic reminder of how a small shift in perspective can reveal so many new details.
Now to celebrate the Festive Perineum!
I now feel compelled to start a campaign in opposition to yours in favour of the Festive Perineum. We don't want this, Michael! Just think of groaning yourself upright after days of overeating and thinking, "OK, now there's nothing to look forward to except the very bottom of the pelvic cavity of the holidays." This is *not* the joy we ordered for this time of year.
Yes, great tip: going the opposite direction is such an eye-opener and attention-focuser! And so simple to do. And yes on how different everywhere can look - which is why as a travel writer I taught myself to regularly turn around and look when I'm taking a new-to-me route I'll want to retrace later (although these days, that's mostly kinda nullified by the ease of using Google Maps). Or even better: take a photo of it in both (or all four) directions. It always *feels* like it should be easy to navigate on the way back based on the one view, but as you say - when the startling unfamiliarity of the opposite perspective kicks in...or nightfall. Or a coating of snow. It doesn't take much for the world to disguise itself.
JUST SAY NO TO THE FESTIVE PERINEUM (TM).
Just returned from the first annual Festive Perineum New Year's Rocking Festival and man, I hit rock bottom! It really kicked me in the ass. Ugh, I am so down in the dumps. Now I just feel like I'm being a pain in the ass.
I could on like this all day, but I shant....
Thoroughly enjoyed this read Mike! "Witching Week" is also my favourite name coined so far for this weird time. Happy holidays! ✨
Ghagh, I'm too late here to wish it back properly, but - belatedly - happy holidays, Mia! Hope they were grand. And thank you for reading. :)
This is so great, Mike, from start to finish! It’s ridiculously cold here, but yesterday there was ‘sea steam’ coming off Lake Michigan and the Chicago River and it’s beautiful to see. Thank you for this gorgeous post!
Thank you, Jolene (and congrats on having such a great year with your newsletter!).
Sea steam! I had to go find footage of that, and it didn't disappoint: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8l3Ru_S6jU
Thank you and glad you found the footage, Mike!
Loved reading the newsletter. I will attempt a 'lagom' on my email feed and definitely keep 'Everything Is Amazing" Thank you.
Cheers, Alan. :) Kind words, sir.
I love this! That week between Christmas and New Year's, if we are privileged enough to have vacation during that time, feels so much like the freedom of childhood, when each day is open with limitless possibilities. Thank you for these suggestions!
Thank you, Naomi! The freedom of childhood is very much a thing it'd be nice to rediscover, here and there, as adults. Rich, uncomplicated feelings to be able to tap into again, just when we need to step away from the exhaustingly complicated world of adulting...
(I think back to how time felt when I was a kid - that thrilling stretching of the summer holidays into absolutely forever, for example. I used to think this was a wholly individualistic thing according to how fevered your young imagination was, but studying how time seems to speed up as you get older is now a legit branch of scientific study! https://qz.com/1516804/physics-explains-why-time-passes-faster-as-you-age )
Round these parts, the Witching Week is known as the Merryneum. Which I rather like.
I do too. It's slightly smutty but cheerful! The best of combos.
Just wanted to say love your newsletter. Thank you for everything Mike. Happy Holidays to you and yours.
That's so nice of you to say, Shelley. Thank you so much!
Thank you!
Thank YOU!
Mike, this is so generous - thank you! I like to use these next few days to take long hot baths listening to Dylan Thomas. Until the family start hammering on the door, that is.
Festive Perineum is hilarious! I hadn't heard that before.
And the walking home thing sounds interesting! Might give that a try!
I’m building a Mars River model now- solar powered - it can cook me a hot dog 🌭
Yup our doors are frozen - not likely to move very swiftly in the near future
It is still -15F here and tomorrow it’s meant to rain??? I am not taking my coffee outside! When it gets reasonable out there, though, I try :)
I like that idea of enoughness. I grew up in a hoarder household — which I was responsible for dusting and vacuuming — so am a vigorous purger of THINGS and chafe at clutter. Yet there is still a lot I don’t notice. I used to make jewelry, for example, and have had both the jewelry and the making supplies sitting around for almost a decade pretty much untouched. A couple months ago I realized it was a hobby I probably wasn’t going to return to, and I’d grown out of the most of the jewelry I’d made, so I went through it all and gave the pieces to my nieces, and the older one is getting my supplies for Christmas. That felt really good! When you’re a purger rather than a keeper, you do run out of things to clean out and let go of, so it’s nice to take something like that and make a meaningful gift of it rather than just take it all to the thrift store, which is overflowing itself.
There is a tiny ruined building I pass several days a week. I think it’s actually an old root cellar of some kind, but you’ve nudged me to make the actual effort to see if I can find out, which my intentions have never managed to do before.