Penelope’s Loom

                                                                          Bully! Why am I writing about such a controversial man? Someone who broke up many trusts, and yet still held eugenical beliefs? Because he was such a fascinating mixture of contradictions--perhaps one of the truly American men, in the full flower of his fallibility.   But, he was a naturalist.   A reformer.  An avid taxidermist (ewwwww, gross!), An historian.  A husband and father of six loud, happy children.  A genus, who could speed read, and sometimes read three books in a single day.  He was a self styled rancher, who wielded a Bowie knife crafted at Tiffany's.  He was also a man of firsts, who was t...

 First, Happy New Year Dear Reader! So, in keeping with my evolving subject matter, let’s raise  a glass of champagne to the new year, and be grateful that Donald baby is no longer in the White House! Let us also be thankful to be living in such an exciting time! And, I mean excitement in not always a pleasant sense! And, so let us investigate a bit of the holiday known as New Years, shall we?  Here's a nice quote from a fairly reputable source: Caesar instituted January 1 as the first day of the year , partly to honor the month's namesake: Janus, the Roman god of beginnings, whose two faces allowed him to look back into the past and forward into the future. https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/new-years#:~:text=January%201%20Becomes%20New%20Year's%20Day,-The%20early%20Roman&text=As%20part%20of%20his%20reform,and%20forward%20into%20the%20future. So, who exactly was this god named Janus?  He was also known as the god of two faces, one perhaps facing the past, a...

WARNING.  If you are religious, and pious, don't read this.  As an avowed pagan, I am going to write about Christmas--one of my favorite holidays. Did you know, that Santa Claus, Christmas Trees, lights, tinsel, carols, turkey, etc., are all a part of traditions begun (largely) in the nineteenth century? And, there is a story, among historians interested in the Roman Empire, that later Roman emperors chose December 25 as a day for pagan winter festivals to essentially celebrate on one day, perhaps to escape the chaos of multiple days of celebration during the winter season. It is fascinating to me, how modern traditions evolved.  Truly, I don't think that people in general care about these things. Let's take Christmas trees... It was Prince Albert, who transplanted the pagan custom of greenery at Christmas, which was ritually practiced in Germany, to England.  On the Christtmas trees in the palace, Albert had candles placed on most of the branches, and that's how we ...

 Indian feast?  I am sure they had them on occasion, but one in particular that Inspired a national holiday?  Not quite. Did you know that it was an American woman, Sarah Josepha Hale, who took it upon herself to petition everybody (and finally the president), to create a national day of thanksgiving?  Her ultimate goal was most likely the creation of a national holiday, but perhaps that question is moot..  It is true, that in the fall of 1863, Abraham Lincoln created a national day of thanksgiving, thus establishing a pattern followed by other president s .  However, Thanksgiving Day wouldn't become a national holiday until the late1940s. Why did Lincoln do it smack dab in the middle of a civil war? Well, that's the 64,000 dollar question, Dear Reader.   Gettysburg also gave us our most famous political speech; Yeah, I know you have already heard or read this, but wasn’t that cool to watch? And, yes, I am going to include this clip at the end of ...

 Today is Halloween, and what better time to write about Sherlock Holmes? Sherlock made his literary debut in 1887, with the short story "A Study in Scarlet."  The author was Conan Doyle (later to become "Sir").  Tales appeared in print until 1927.  Mostly, the lore of Sherlock and Watson comes in the form of short stories, with only a smattering of novels, here and there, but oh those short stories captured the imagination of many throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Dozens of plays, movies, and books have since been created, since the first publication of Doyle's detective's adventures, and absolutely everyone who has ever seen a film adaptation of Sherlock has their favorite actor who portrays him.   It's kind of like who is your favorite James Bond? Sean Connery, ye gods! As for me? I have always been a purist about Sherlock Holmes, and while I love Basil Rathbone's interpretation, I would have to say that Jeremy Brett comes the closest to the...

            No one would have believed in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man's and yet as mortal as his own; that as men busied themselves about their various concerns they were scrutinised and studied, perhaps almost as narrowly as a man with a microscope might scrutinise the transient creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water. With infinite complacency men went to and fro over this globe about their little affairs, serene in their assurance of their empire over matter. It is possible that the infusoria under the microscope do the same. No one gave a thought to the older worlds of space as sources of human danger, or thought of them only to dismiss the idea of life upon them as impossible or improbable. It is curious to recall some of the mental habits of those departed days. At most terrestrial men fancied there might be other men upon Mars, perhap...

 Now, the court of Elizabeth I is a tad outside of my comfort zone, and yet I 've been fascinated by this 'accident'? murder? (who will ever know), for a while now. So, who was Amy? Born in June, 1532, she was married at 18, to one Robert Dudley.  Now, you may know Robert from various movies with Elizabeth as the central figure, where we learn that he was often called her "eyes."  Upon ascending the throne, Robert immediately went to the court to serve his childhood (sweetheart?) friend, Elizabeth, second child to former king Henry VIII.  Interesting fact here that you may or may not know:  she was also the daughter of Anne Bolelyn of infamous memory.  Elizabeth and Robert had known each other since childhood, and some even said that they were lovers, but no proof exists of any physical relationship.  Given that no 'bastards' of Elizabeth were ever found in the existing historical record, it is likely that she remained a virgin to the end of her life....