Posts made in December, 2019

Rudyard Kipling: Merlin’s Isle

Posted by on Dec 24, 2019 in Unmowed Authors | 0 comments

Rudyard Kipling: Merlin’s Isle

Rudyard Kipling originated the genre of books where realistic children stumble into magic adventure. Suddenly magic intersects with everyday life—turns out there’s a snowstorm going on in the back of a wardrobe, or an owl brings you a letter inviting you to Hogwarts! He was followed by E. Nesbit, C.S. Lewis’s tales of Narnia and J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter. But Kipling did it first.

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Winter Solstice: Coming Soon to a Horizon Near You

Posted by on Dec 20, 2019 in Unmowed Blog | 4 comments

Winter Solstice: Coming Soon to a Horizon Near You

What is a solstice? It’s the darkest part of winter. Yet paradoxically, it’s a time to celebrate warmth, and light, and life. A holiday for everyone, all welcome, no religion necessary. It’s just about the planet we all live on, tilting to and fro on its long journey around the sun. It’s when the days start getting longer. And the solstice is also a precise moment in time. It’s the tipping point between light and darkness, measured to the minute. It’s the instant at which you can see the sun directly over your head—if you happen to be vacationing in the Tropic of Capricorn. And where’s that,...

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How To Identify Evergreens

Posted by on Dec 2, 2019 in Unmowed Blog | 1 comment

How To Identify Evergreens

One of the remarkable things about December, whether you celebrate Christmas or not, is that almost everywhere you go, there are evergreens draped all over things. The more urban the setting, the more greenery. Shopping malls suddenly resemble forests.

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