Archaeology News: Oldest Known Image of St. Paul

In this photo provided by the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano Monday, June 29, 2009, a fresco showing what Vatican officials say is the oldest known icon of St Paul, discovered by the Pontificial Commission of Sacred Archeology in the Catacomb of Santa Tecla in Rome on June 19, 2009. Archaeologists recently unearthed and opened the [...]

Monday Morning Poem: Fourth of July Night

by Carl Sandburg
The little boat at anchor in black water sat murmuring to the tall black sky
A white sky bomb fizzed on a black line.
A rocket hissed it’s red signature into the west.
Now a shower of Chinese fire alphabets,
A cry of flower pots broken in flames,
A long curve to a purple spray, three violet balloons—
Drips [...]

Historical Fiction: The Last Van Gogh, by Alyson Richmond

Giving and taking
Marguerite is 21 when Vincent Van Gogh arrives at her father’s door for medical/psychological treatment. Dr. Gachet practices from his home, so Marguerite has ample opportunity to interact with the artist. She is drawn to Vincent, who is enormously talented but emotionally fragile, and in a very short time, they fall [...]

Folklore in My Garden: Lavender

Lavender, one of the most beloved of herbs, has been is use for more than 2500 years. The Romans are credited with naming this most aromatic of herbs, some say because of its use in washing (lavare), but others believe it derives from “livendula” (bluish.) I’m inclined to favor the latter theory.  In ancient Greece [...]

Historical Fiction: Bleeding Heart Square, by Andrew Taylor

Virginia Woolf would approve
London socialite Lydia Langstone takes refuge from her abusive husband with her estranged father, who resides at number 7, Bleeding Heart Square. Her new surroundings are daunting to one accustomed to a life of privilege. The landlord, Joseph Serridge, takes quite an interest in Lydia, even setting her up in [...]

Monday Morning Poem: Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day

Sonnet XVIII, by William Shakespeare
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,                         
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm’d;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or [...]

Stonehenge Summer Solstice 2009

Record crowds converged upon Stonehenge this weekend to await the June 21 sunrise. More than 35,000 people, however, were disappointed when the sun failed to burn through the clouds and early morning mists. Nevertheless, neo-Druids chanted, Wiccan priestesses prayed, Morris men danced, and music abounded throughout the night. Somehow, a few even managed to fall [...]

It’s a Mystery: Dark Places, by Gillian Flynn

Desperation

For 25 years, Libby Day has avoided revisiting her memories of the horrendous night in which she heard someone murder her mother and sisters. It was her own testimony, as a 5 year old, that sent her older brother to prison for life. Now Libby is barely functioning as an independent adult. She desperately [...]

Folklore in My Garden: the Daisy

Every June, our gardens come alive with the flowers and herbs we’ve planted, and also with hundreds of enthusiastic volunteers – wild daisies. This humble flower has long been associated with innocence, freshness, and love. Perhaps the best-known daisy custom is the plucking of its petals while chanting, “Loves me, loves me not.” This harmless [...]

Medieval Art: June in Les Tres Riches Heures

The onset of June has been cause for celebration for millennia. But with the start of summer comes the start of the season of harvest. Hay must be cut and put up for the animals before the rain comes to spoil it. (Make hay while the sun shines!)
That is exactly what the peasants are doing [...]