August Friday Morning
On Friday morning, I was drinking my tea at the dining room table and idly watching a chipmunk perched on the birdfeeder in our front yard. It flicked its tail sharply in exact synchrony with each loud chip! more than a dozen times. I have no idea what it was going on about.
January Days: Looking back and looking forward
This month’s name derives from the Latin word Ianua, meaning “door” or “gate,” representing new beginnings. It is also probably named for Janus, the god of gates and doorways, beginnings and endings, entrances and departures, who is depicted with two faces, a young man looking forward and an old man looking back.
It’s the 2026 Useful Calendar, Now With Even More Usefulness
The new Useful Calendar featuring 12 horse illustrations for the upcoming Year of the Horse is ready (mostly), and will be available (in at least some iteration) at the LoLa Art Crawl, Sep. 20–21.
August Days of Note, and an Egyptian Snake Goddess
To the Ojibwe, this month brings the ricing moon; in Minnesota the wild rice harvest season begins August 15, in accordance with the 1854 Treaty Authority—but only if it's ripe, and only for those who have the proper permits. To the Anglo-Saxons, the new moon visible on Aug. 24 begins Weodmonath, meaning month of plants.