December 24, 2023
CHRISTMAS 2023
Brooklyn Christmas Bird of the Year: Purple Sandpiper
Purple Sandpipers are reliably present at Christmastime each year on the wave-washed rocky waterfront of my Brooklyn neighborhood along the Verrazzano Narrows. They breed in the far north, and Brooklyn is their idea of south for the winter; they arrive around Thanksgiving and stay into the spring. It’s their tradition.
December 21, 2022
Best Wishes for the Winter Solstice and all of its Attendant Holidays
December 23, 2021
CHRISTMAS 2021
On the Color Wheel
Red and Green
Are opposites
But the technical term is Complimentary Colors
They call across the Spectrum
And vibrate in one another’s presence
In a time of too much opposition
Remember how Red and Green
Resolve their conflict
Conjoining as the
Colors of Christmas
August 15, 2021
Today is the 100th anniversary of my Mother's birth.
December 24, 2020
December 23, 2019
CHRISTMAS 2019
Through Time, and Time Again
Christmas Recycles
One Year’s Tree
Is another’s Yule Log;
Yesteryear Fuels the Future
December 24, 2018
CHRISTMAS 2018
Sing We Noel Once More
I arose one morning in the early light
When the earth with frost was all shining white
Sing we Noel, Noel, Noel
Sing we Noel once more
Then I went to find Guillaume my neighbor near
Tell me what’s that song you so gladly hear?
Sing we Noel, Noel, Noel
Sing we Noel once more
I am glad to hear the nightingale’s sweet song
I have heard its notes ringing all night long
Sing we Noel, Noel, Noel
Sing we Noel once more
Tis no song of nightingale or any bird
‘Twas an angel’s voice from high heaven you heard
Sing we Noel, Noel, Noel
Sing we Noel once more
In a stable stall he told us born this night
Is the Son of God, come from heaven’s light
Sing we Noel, Noel, Noel
Sing we Noel once more
Then I took my oboe and my flageolet
Guillaume took his lute and away we set
Sing we Noel, Noel, Noel
Sing we Noel once more
Shepherds come with us, this little lamb to see
We will give him music, sweet melody
Sing we Noel, Noel, Noel
Sing we Noel once more
The David Randolf Singers perform Sing We Noel Once More
Song of the Nightingale; may be confused with an angel’s
December 23, 2017
CHRISTMAS 2017
The Wren Song
The Wren, the Wren, the King of all Birds
Saint Stephen’s Day was caught in the furze
Although he was little his honor was great
Jump up me lads and give him a treat
Rolley, Rolley, where’s your nest?
It’s in the bush that I love best
In the tree, the holly tree
Where all the boys do follow me
We followed the Wren three miles or more
Three miles or more, three miles or more
Through hedges and ditches and piles of snow
At six o’ clock in the morning
Hunting the Wren on the day after Christmas is a Celtic custom believed to descend from ancient Solstice rituals
Custer LaRue sings The Wren Song with the Baltimore Consort
Winter Wren singing its own song
