“The Sun is Alive, and Why That Matters” by Charles Eisenstein. Interesting case for the aliveness of the sun, without making “aliveness” an extra-material property.

A fantastic essay from Paul Kingsnorth that captures so much of my own feeling. It even turns on a poem by blessed Robinson Jeffers. I’ll warn you: it’s a bit gloomy, so if you’re feeling pretty good about the state of the world then you might not want to read it.

The argument against conceptual clarity with regard to Ultimate Things:

The Tao that can be told is not the true Tao;

Names that can be named are not true names.

Keep asking yourself: What sort of person do I want to be? You may fail to reach your goal. No one may ever notice your efforts. What you must not do, however, is allow others to steer your life, thoughts, decisions in directions that are in their—not your—interests.

Ted Gioia’s eight techniques for evaluating someone’s character. A solid list. Perhaps the most interesting to me is his first: “Forget what they say—instead look at who they marry.” Also, his second and fifth are common enough ideas but I believe that’s because they are indeed revealing.

Today’s solstice celebration food: Swedish meatball soup and pistachio drop cookies. Both highly recommended!

“Ten Theses on Intergenerational Stewardship” by Prince Michael zu Salm-Salm, a German aristocrat committed to long-term care of the land. I don’t hold with aristocracy but this is worth reading.

You know those paragraphs of SEO pablum on recipe sites these days? Annoying. But a garlic bread recipe flavored with leftist politics? I’ll take it.

“Don’t obsess over politics”—click through to read a good quote posted by Patrick Rhone. It’s not healthy for people to think about politics as much as they do. And I understand why: too much is at stake. That’s the problem. Too few people hold too much power. Literally world-changing power. That is the province of the gods, not humans. Our governments and corporations have long since abandoned human scale, and our anxieties have increased accordingly.

Walking through my neighborhood, seeing so many people living on small city lots using leaf blowers powered by electricity or gas. Our wiser descendants will reach for hand tools for tasks like this, reserving energy usage for work that is beyond human strength.