It’s Sunday, which means that there are but five shopping days left until Christmas and the beginning of Coynezaa, and ten until the end of Coynezaa. It was bitter cold in Chicago yesterday, with a wind-chill temperature hovering around 5°F (-15°C). Fortunately, the highs aren’t predicted to be close to freezing for the rest of the week, so we definitely won’t have a white Christmas—perhaps a rainy one instead. On this day in 1803, the Louisiana Purchase was made official, and, in 2007, Elizabeth officially passed Victoria as the longest-reigning British monarch. I’m sure Prince Charles is chafing at the bit, but it looks as if he’ll be an old man before he mounts the throne. Those who didn’t make it to Christmas include Carl Sagan, who died on this day in 1996, and Denise Levertov, who died exactly one year later. Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, I’m told that Ms. Hili saw a strange cat on the family’s walk to the river:
Hili: I wonder…
A: What are you wondering about?
Hili: Wheter this cat is my Facebook friend?
Hili: Zastanawiam się…
Ja: Nad czym?
Hili: Czy ten kot jest moim przyjacielem na Facebooku.
And, on the roads around Wroclawek, Leon finds himself in a strange and desolate area:
Leon: I’ve never been there. Do you think it’s worth it?
As an extra treat, we have a squirrel monlogue from Anne-Marie Cournoyer:
Squirrel of the day says: “Nom nom nom. . . .don’t you love those Coynezaa nuts?! Have a Jerry Christmas!!
You don’t have to post this msg, but wanted to let you know you’re in Salon again today! Such good company — Tayler counts you more that Dan Dennett!
http://www.salon.com/2015/12/20/meet_the_fox_news_atheist_the_man_bill_oreilly_calls_a_fascist_and_sean_hannity_thinks_is_evil/
In fact, in 2007 Elizabeth officially passed Victoria as the longest-LIVED British monarch. As her mother lived to 101 she could be around for some time to come.
She became the longest-reigning British monarch on 9 September 2015
Among all the worthy events around the world, I have chosen to [stay up and] watch SpaceX latest attempt to land the first stage of an orbital launch system. On land, this time.
Their web site count down clock was ticking yesterday, a click away from booking it into the calendar. If you can see it, it can be exciting. (Mind, the launch window is an hour long this time.)
I was unfamiliar with Denise Levertov. I found some of her poetry:
Celebration
Brilliant, this day – a young virtuoso of a day.
Morning shadow cut by sharpest scissors,
deft hands. And every prodigy of green –
whether it’s ferns or lichens or needles
or impatient points of buds on spindly bushes –
greener than ever before. And the way the conifers
hold new cones to the light for the blessing,
a festive right, and sing the oceanic chant the wind
transcribes for them!
A day that shines in the cold
like a first-prize brass band swinging along
the street
of a coal-dusty village, wholly at odds
with the claims of reasonable gloom.
For more of her poetry:
http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/g_l/levertov/onlinepoems.htm
10 years since Kitzmiller v Dover. Happy Kitzmath!