Ever have one of those days where there’s too much to do and not enough day to do it in? That was my day today. How fitting that it’s also the Winter Solstice. The longest night, the shortest day, herald of Winter. One of my favorite poems on this day is The Shortest Day, written by Susan Cooper (and in children’s book form illustrated by Carson Ellis).
The Shortest Day by Susan Cooper
And so the Shortest Day came and the year died
And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world
Came people singing, dancing,
To drive the dark away.
They lighted candles in the winter trees;
They hung their homes with evergreen;
They burned beseeching fires all night long
To keep the year alive.
And when the new year’s sunshine blazed awake
They shouted, reveling.
Through all the frosty ages you can hear them
Echoing behind us—listen!
All the long echoes, sing the same delight,
This Shortest Day,
As promise wakens in the sleeping land:
They carol, feast, give thanks,
And dearly love their friends,
And hope for peace.
And now so do we, here, now,
This year and every year.
Welcome, Yule!
From here on out the days get longer, my dear Northern Hemisphere readers. As we embrace Winter and make the transition across the Story Break to tonight’s trio of Top Comments, Mojo and Pictures, please take a moment and listen to the NPR piece interviewing both Cooper and Ellis (which includes some of the poem read by Cooper).
Here at Top Comments we welcome longtime as well as brand new Daily Kos readers to join us at 10pm Eastern. We strive to nourish community by rounding up some of the site's best, funniest, most mojo'd & most informative commentary, and we depend on your help!! If you see a comment by another Kossack that deserves wider recognition, please send it either to topcomments at gmail or to the Top Comments group mailbox by 9:30pm Eastern. Please please please include a few words about why you sent it in as well as your user name (even if you think we know it already :-)), so we can credit you with the find!
TOP COMMENTS
Brillig's ObDisclaimer: The decision to publish each nomination lies with the evening's Diarist and/or Comment Formatter. My evenings at the helm, I try reeeeallllyy hard to publish everything without regard to content. I really do, even when I disagree personally with any given nomination. "TopCommentness" lies in the eyes of the nominator and of you, the reader - I leave the decision to you. I do not publish self-nominations (ie your own comments) and if I ruled the world, we'd all build community, supporting and uplifting instead of tearing our fellow Kossacks down. Please remember that comment inclusion in Top Comments does not constitute support or endorsement by diarist, formatter, Top Comments writers or DailyKos. Questions, complaints or comments? Contact brillig.
There were no comment nominations sent in directly. We do have several highlights (comments noted in replies but not sent in that your diarist du jour happened upon):
In today’s Abbreviated Pundit Roundup, DrMarmot thought learn’s comment should be its own diary.
In Lauren Floyd’s 'We don’t need stories about these people': Kansas City newspaper confesses to tradition of racism, Tribecastan highlighted this comment by Robert de Loxley.
Mannybremmers highlighted this comment by ktoz. From Hunter’s Far-right protesters storm Oregon Capitol, are met with mace and pepper balls
TOP MOJO
Top Mojo for yesterday, December 20th 2020, first comments and tip jars excluded. Thank you mik for the mojo magic! For those of you interested in How Top Mojo Works, please see his diary on FAQing Top Mojo.
TOP PICTURES
Top Pictures for yesterday, December 20, 2020. Click any picture to be taken to the full comment or picture. Thank you jotter!