I used to think this world is strange. Until, that is, I happened to ask myself, “Strange in comparison to what?…some non-strange world?…what might that look like?”

“You there! Boy! What day is this?” “Why Sir, it’s the Winter Solstice!” Happy Solstice to One and All!

“Contemplation” by Matt Dixon

Still waiting .. (cartoon Michael de Adder)

I was daydreaming about next year’s garden while making breakfast just this morning.

Ahmed al-Ahmed Mensch: “…someone to admire and emulate, someone of noble character. The key to being 'a real mensch' is nothing less than character, rectitude, dignity, a sense of what is right, responsible, decorous" L. Rosten

Lebensmotto. (von Dieter Rams)

📸 Pierre Tairraz Los Alpes (1960s)

Atardecer en Los Alpes 📸 Pierre Tairraz (1960s)

I spent a pleasant afternoon along with the Red Priest breaking trail up into the hills.

“Two villains, one goal: How Trump and Putin attack Europe”

It’s time to stop saying that we need to understand these people. We do understand them. We understand that they have dug in their heels so deeply, they will not be moved by anything: not facts or data or truth or their own eyes. johnpavlovitz.substack.com/p/we-cant-ch...

My first ever attempt to bake authentic Westfälischer Pumpernickel bread is underway. Rye berries, water and salt…that’s all it’s made of! I’ve just begun the rye scald. The 24 to 36 hour long, low temperature bake starts tomorrow. Fingers crossed!

“Der Geruch des Brotes ist der Duft aller Düfte. Es ist der Urduft unseres irdischen Lebens, der Duft der Harmonie, des Friedens und der Heimat.” “The scent of bread is the fragrance of all fragrances; it is the primal fragrance of our earthly life, the fragrance of harmony, of peace and of home.”

"The old civilizations claimed that they were founded on love or justice. Ours is founded upon hatred. In our world there will be no emotions except fear, rage, triumph, and self-abasement. Everything else we shall destroy — everything." Orwell, "Nineteen Eighty-Four"

HCR is a national treasure

An oft heard complaint is that philosophy only compounds our questions. That, for me, is a feature, not a bug. If all I wanted was certainty I would have remained a Catholic. I prefer to be wrong for more incisive reasons. "Philosophy is a journey away from—not to— certainty." Vishwa Adluri

First paragraph of what remains my all-time favorite novel "It was late evening when K. arrived. The village lay deep in snow...K. stood on the wooden bridge leading from the road to the village for a long time, looking up at what seemed to be a void."

Delicate snowflake on my bedroom window viewed through a tiny magnifying glass (poor man's macro-photography)

Petr Kratochvil - Trees in Winter. #Linocut

Anne Burnham - Winter Trees. #Linocut

Eyvind Earle (1916-2000) A Winter Scene, 1968. #Serigraph

Ich bin nicht nur bei der Antifa, sondern auch bei der Antififa.🙄

A.J. Casson (Canadian,1898-1992, Group of 7) "Little Island," 1965 Oil on canvas 75.5 x 88.5 cm #art #painting #artist #BlueSkyArt

Angela Brookes, contemporary printmaker who focuses on the natural world

Couple of snapshots from an Autumn hike. Met a couple on this same path a few years ago with a cute little girl in her father's backpack. Busily making baby talk with the little sweetheart I failed to notice right away the dog on the mom's leash was in fact a snorting pig. A hiking, snorting pig.

Hobnails & Wool Early 1900's alpine holiday

"All time is lost which is not spent in love." Torquato Tasso (1573)

"The Bicyclers" by Hermann Landshoff (1946)

"Azuma Gorge" by Kawase Hasui (1943)

"Sternenfall" by Anselm Kiefer (1995)

"In the Carpenter Shop," by the Swedish painter, Carl Larsson

"Walking on the shore of the Caspian Sea with my sister, I saw distant lightning. I ran to the hotel, grabbed my camera and took many long exposures, but it was only in the second shot that I captured the biggest, most beautiful, and the last lightning of that night." AmirAli Sharifi

In 1895 my G-G Grandfather Amsler walked out to a field and shot himself. It was the day before his daughter’s wedding. I occasionally think of him and my family when I’m out walking. I think how even I have had to swim through ripples of that day so long ago.

"Memory is a poet, not a historian." Anonymous

And now for something completely different… Portræt af Marie Krøyer - 1890. (on their honeymoon). Peder Severin Krøyer (23 July 1851 – 21 November 1909), also known as P. S. Krøyer, was a Danish painter.

Looks like one of the contraptions I cobble together in my workshop 🤓

I've wondered why those who yearn for immortality neglect the other three dimensions of existence. Why don't they long to live both everywhen and everywhere? Just think of how much we're missing out on by being confined to this tiny spot in a vast universe. Why isn't that a reason for anguish? 🤔

Watercolor! 😮🫡

And now for something completely different.. A Little Girl Reading 1900 'Læsende Lille Pige' Oil on Canvas Dimensions: 107 x 70 cm. (42.1 x 27.6 in.) Private Collection Johan Gudmundsen-Holmgreen (Danish, 1858-1912)

Covered bridge, next town over. Northfield, Vermont

By the American physicist, Sean Carroll, 'The Big Picture' (2016)

Halo ‘round the Moon Rain [snow] cometh soon Often, but not always. Tonight’s lunar halo indicates the presence of ice crystals way up high; the result of a band of warm and presumably moist air rising over cold. These cirrus clouds often precede storms; such as the one that’s presently on the way.

My soft-soled mukluks were made for this fresh snow…feels like walking through a Pine forest in your bedroom slippers. Nor’easter coming tonight with 10 to 22cm of new snow. Time to break out the skis! 😊

Committed to memory “Life is a series of moments, presence in each is a choice and the distinction between existence and happenstance” Richard Williamson

And now for something completely different… Swedish artist Mathias Kärnlund born 1972 Sweden "Winter glow" Acrylic on canvas 81* 65 *cm “This Painting is, like many this winter, inspired by a view I saw when I was out walking the dog. It is easy to live "here and now" in such situations”

Katja Lang, contemporary German artist who focuses on stillness and spaces #WomensArt #December

In the quiet of the day, remember this truth