Is the eight-hour workday, five days a week, a thing of the past? The work week in the 19th century, before the 40-hour standard, was dramatically longer and much less regulated. The Industrial Revolution drove people into factories, and at that time, the typical work week was generally 6 days, and the total hours could range anywhere from 60 to over 80 hours per week.

How indulgent it feels to just sit in a chair and read all morning. My new book, a cup of tea, warm silence filled with so many words. I am as wealthy as any king.

Boxing Day is celebrated on December 26th. It is a holiday with deep historical roots in the UK that has evolved into a major modern event in both England and Canada.Despite the name, it has nothing to do with the sport of boxing, but there is a historical connection to boxes. In the 1800s (Victorian Era), wealthy families in England gave their servants the day after Christmas off to visit their own families.

The sundial and clock agree four times a year. The accurate clock and the sundial, which needs to be adjusted as the Sun makes its way across the sky, will agree on or near April 15, June 15, September 1, and today, December 25. I haven't found any special names for these dates. No equinox or solstice label to mark these days.

Looking for a new holiday drink to serve? I have a suggestion for one that's old but probably new to you. It is called a Snowball. Some people might compare it to eggnog, and while both are made with similar ingredients, I think it is thicker, creamier, and a more indulgent drink than the frothy liquid of eggnog. You'll need Advocaat, which is a Dutch liqueur made with brandy, sugar, and eggs.

Blog companion to PoetsOnline.org - a site of inspiration for poets since 1998.

"On the second day of Christmas, my true love brought to me, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree..." But it could also be a wren, or a box for the poor, a celebration of the harvest, or a day to honor a saint. Wren Boys in Ireland - via Wikimedia Boxing Day is celebrated on the second day of Christmastide.

A welcome warming wind turns the pages of the book from poem to poem, Whitman, then Frost, Snyder, Dickinson, Bly, Crane. Then, when things get calm, I end my reading where all the ladders start hoping to find a way to climb from the dank darkness of the foul rag and bone shop of the heart on rungs of words on yellowed pages, …

One door quietly closes and another opens.This longest night I also tilt away.That very low noon sun stilled me, sent my thoughts south to summer, until someone, no longer here, called my name.

we are really closer to the sun this solstice and we are moving faster. Not much, but at noon I'm feeling dizzy, gravity-heavy and dreading the new year when we will be closer, even faster. A 19th-Century Pocket Sundial  Today being the winter solstice, we are having longer days than back in June at the earlier solstice. Earth’s perihelion – closest point to the sun – always comes in early January.

I went out this morning for my walk on this Winter Solstice day. I try to go for a walk every day. My wife thinks I am foolish to go out on a cold morning, but with properly covered extremities, I find that I warm up pretty quickly. My current focus comes from some interesting research about walking that I have found.

I follow way too many other bloggers, and there's no way I can read all the posts or even use a small percentage of articles that interest me as inspiration for my own posts here. So, here are a few things that piqued my interest this week from just one site - discovermagazine.com. Image by analogicus from Pixabay Roman numerals aren't very useful.

This is a photo of Jules Verne’s tomb in Cemeterie de la Madeleine in Amiens, France. It was created by sculptor Albert Roze, who used Verne’s death mask to sculpt the face. It portrays the author emerging from his grave and reaching for the sky. Roze titled it “Vers l’immortalité et l’éternelle jeunesse” (“Towards Immortality and Eternal Youth”). Jules Verne (1828–1905) was a French novelist whose imaginative works helped establish modern science fiction.

Enlightenment, awakening - so much to place on a newborn, but then we hope he will be freed from hate, greed, ego. Perhaps no large fig tree is required to receive enlightenment. No special dogma. Perhaps to be a bodhisattva who forgoes personal nirvana to compassionately help other individuals reach that place, he'll be greeted by them, and by those of us who walked the path before even his birth.

Why did humans need fixed times of the day, like "noon" and "midnight"?  I was wondering about these terms and writing a post for my origins...

On Dec. 16, 1775, Jane Austen was born in Steventon, England. She was the seventh of eight children to a clergyman and his wife. She was an avid reader, never married, and died in 1817, at the age of 41. Today is the 250th anniversary of her birth. There has been much ado about Jane this year to celebrate. I read her novels (I think all of them in a college lit course), but she was never a favorite.

A foot on a ruler contains 12 inches, a measurement that dates back to ancient times. In Rome, the foot (pes) served as a basic unit of measurement, originally tied to the length of a man’s actual foot. Many ancient cultures did the same, using body parts—feet, hands, fingers, cubits—as convenient, portable measuring tools. Early Roman practice divided the foot into 16 parts, but it is not surprising that they eventually defined their foot as twelve…

Don't let your holiday getaway go wrong: Take 5 minutes to do a quick spy cam search.

That time, clearly night, but early morningaccording to the pie chart of timewe have constructed to keep our sanity.Darkness, but light glows inside and out.Mind slower, but unable to shut down. &n…