A Haul in the Whorl 023.52

Solstice season and I wake daily to a vase of pastel coloured sweetpeas, the gift of a sweet friend.

Books 📚

Emma Donoghue, Haven (2022)

Anna Lowenhaupt-Tsing, The Mushroom at the End of the World (2015)

Andrés Barba, A Luminous Republic (2017)

Cynthia Bourgeault, The Eye of the Heart (2020)

Notes & Quotes 💬

I very much enjoyed reading Pope Francis’ Christmas homily in which he contrasts manifestations of power and love, calling into question the current obsession with data and metrics as measures of value (‘success’). He draws out the implications of the Incarnation in which the messy entanglements of Embodiment are more likely to point to what is ultimately true …

A fan of the Kingfisher, mythical bird of these Halkyon Days, I’d never heard this one, via Donoghue’s Haven

It’s good luck to spot a kingfisher, the first creature with nerve enough to leave the Ark, which was rewarded with the blue of the sky daubed on its back and tail, and the orange of the setting sun its breast (45).

Podcasts 🫛

  • For the Wild, Ayana Young interviews Báyò Akómoláfé on ‘Ontological Mutiny’ 🤯 😳 (Aired, June 30, 2023) Transcript (The way this lady listened was noteworthy - you could almost hear the interviewee’s words landing in her.)
  • The Sacred, Elizabeth Oldfield interviews Martin Shaw and Felix Marquardt (Aired, July 5th, 2023) Transcript

Poetry 💘

  • ‘Advent’ by Nils Peterson ‘… the first honey/for what will be/ born again.’

  • A solstice haiku I liked. The poet Issa wrote:

a wild fox celebrates among rice sheaves… winter solstice (translated by David G. Lanoue)

And I, infinitesimal being,
drunk with the great starry void, likeness, image of mystery,
found myself a pure part
of the abyss,
I wheeled with the stars,
my heart broke loose on the wind.

Questions & Open Tabs 🔖

The fundamental skill of patiently absorbing another person’s words in a respectful and thoughtful manner is desperately lacking in our society. For this reason, it is folly to expect this skill to manifest itself fully formed when it is most needed, such as in a heated meeting, if we are not building a greater culture of listening in our work.

Noticing What’s New 🎁

Word 🪺

  • Anadromous

Salmon spend their adult lives in the ocean and return to freshwater for spawning. This behavior is remarkable because these fish swim against the currents, and sometimes vast distances, to reach their original spawning grounds. Scientists label this pattern of movement as anadromous. Anadromous comes from the Greek words aná, which means “up”, and drómos, which means “course”, this is also translated to “upward running”. (7,8)

Poet ✨

I learned of Kerry Webster in this wintery poem,

Firsts of the Season

  • First sniff, always a surprise! - Wintersweet ‘Robai’ has blossomed. First encounter on 1227 in the alley beside the post office.
Kate @towittowoo