That's How the Light Gets In

Amid the uncatalogued mayhem of my poetry scrapbook, I rediscovered this poem. I find myself regretting that this week will not be one that would allow me to write something long-winded about how it strikes me as splendid companion piece for Hopkins' "Dappled Things." But there, time does not permit, and this poem will not suffer a whit from lack of introduction or comparison:

"Every Riven Thing" by Christian Wiman

Fashionably Late

Yesterday an honest friend admitted that he had missed Burns Night this year. Which reminded me. . .so did I. But Tidelines didn't; they did this: 

Just Lovely

A small, beautiful Gaelic song, sung a capella by its composers, Zoë Conway and John McIntyre, with impeccable vocal support from Julie Fowlis and Éamon Doorley (If you click on the video to watch it on the YouTube page, there is a translation in the description).

Ladies from the Archives

[I found this nearly-finished post skulking about in my list yesterday morning; now I don't recall when the pictures were taken, but I suspect it was fall of last year, down near the American River.]

Running across these pictures and mentally labeling them "Painted Ladies," I suddenly realized I didn't know what distinguishes a Painted Lady from similar species (though the West Coast Lady, at least, has prominent blue spots). Google had an easy answer, though. Turns out that bar halfway through the black wingtip is white in Painted Ladies, orange in other species. 

The College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources in Honolulu has a straightforward page that contrasts four Vanessa species, though of these, one is exclusively Hawaiian. Iowa State goes into a bit more detail.

Also new to me: the wide-ranging Painted Lady is also sometimes called a Cosmopolitan. Such an intrepid traveler it is, that it has the distinction of being the only butterfly ever recorded in Iceland. 

Video

 

 It's been years since some friends with impeccable taste loaned me the album Tunes from the Goodman Manuscript, and here, at last, is a video of my favorite set from it: An Fhinne-Bhean Mhodhamhuil/Hornpipe 139/Hartney’s Hornpipe (O’Lynne’s March) (The title of the gentle first tune is translated as "The Gracious Fair Lady.")

Canon James Goodman was an uillean piper, a clergyman of the Church of Ireland, and a dedicated collector of traditional music throughout the 19th century. There is a short biographical bit on him at the Irish Traditional Music Archive website, with links of interest.