The Mermaids Song

Hark, hark! what sound is yon I hear,

Borne hither on the billows clear?
Is it the voice of the restless seas--
Or the murmur of the rising breeze?
Is it the distant sea-boy's song
As homeward bounds his bark along?
No, 'tis the syren of the deep
Arisen from her noon-day sleep!
Where the sun's setting rays just tinge with gold
The smooth and sparkling waves her form behold!
Amidst the flowing tides
How gracefully she glides!
Now, casting back her tresses bright,
She beams on me a glance of light--
She greets me with a rosy smile,
That might the coldest heart beguile,
And with her white transparent hand
She calls me from the pebbly strand;
While far around her wild voice rings,
And these the words the tempter sings:

"Mortal, list! 'Midst earth's green vales,
All fair and flowery though they seem,
Soon youth decays, soon pleasure fails,
And happiness is but a dream.
But here, within the crystal sea,
For ever young--for ever gay--
From cares, and toils, and sorrows free,
We sport the pleasant hours away.

"Thy restless race ne'er cease to rove
In anxious search of phantom good;
Ye may seek mountain, mead, and grove,
Yet never there shall she be woo'd.
But come with me to my ocean-home,
For joys thou dream'st not of are here--
Joys bright as yonder curling foam,
For ever changing, ever dear.

"Treasures to earth-born men unknown
Lie hidden in dark caves below;
These treasures shall be all thine own,
Mortal, if thou with me wilt go.
Come then, the mermaid's shelly grot--
Her bower of coral--come and see!
And be thine every care forgot
Beneath the deep, with love and me!"

by Anne S. Bushby
Art Victor Nizovtsev

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Weeds or Wishes

Esther the Wonder Pig

"The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing." -Albert Einstein. #BeKindToAllKinds #ThrowbackThursday

Scotland And The Scots

For the anniversary of the birthday of Robert Burns--Jan. 25, 1894.

I know not in what land thy children, O Scotland,
Remember not proudly the place of their birth;
Brave sons and fair daughters, though over the waters
They wander afar to the ends of the earth!

Thy fame and thy glory, in ballad and story,
Are sung and rehearsed, where a Scottish heart beats;
And that flower, good humor, is still a free bloomer
Whenever, wherever a Scottish clan meets.

And here's a "clan-meeting!" we tender our greeting;
We welcome you all in the broad-prairied west--
Scotch fathers and mothers, lads, lassies--your brothers
And cousins are we, and we'll give you our best!

Today is Rob's birthday; we'll make it a mirthday
Far into the night when the stars are above;
With voices clear-ringing, his sweetest songs singing--
The bard of "Auld Scotia," the poet we love!

Through him, Caledonia, all peoples have known ye--
Through him and the heroes who brighten your fame;
And ever a pressing and lusty "Scotch blessing"
Shall follow the craven who slanders your name!

O, brave northern nation! you honor each station
In life through your sons, be it humble, or great;
You send us good teachers, sound lawyers and preachers,
And statesmen alive to the weal of the state!

In science and letters, we're greatly your debtors;
In morals, philosophy, learning and art,
Scotch pluck and persistence have bettered existence,
And broadened the pathway, or furnished the chart!

When "Uncle Sam" wanted a hero undaunted,
On victory's summit his standard to plant,
A Scot of the border, some chieftan, or warder,
Leaped forth in the blood of the valorous Grant!

And aye when the rattle, and tumult of battle
Are heard in the land--with a soul undismayed--
Will Sandy be in it, to stay, and to win it--
In war, or in politics, law, love or trade!

by: Andrew Downing
Art Anton Lomaev

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Kelpie

Oh kelpie with your dripping mane

seducing valiant men of heart,
who by your spell would all be swain 
and every sense in them, depart.

Why weep you by the loch and tide?
What brought you from your kelpie depth?
Sure no desire is kept aside
from your cold, illusory breath.

No longer do you haunt the bank,
but mourn a clever witch of wile
from whose enchanted cup you drank,
now captive to her charm and guile.

She'll bid you work a hundred years
in slavery chains for nigh
'til kelpie legend disappears
for proper penance, hue and cry.

By Thvia Shetley
Art By Camelid On DeviantArt

*In Scottish folklore, a kelpie is a malevolent water spirit in the form of a horse.
Kelpies were believed to inhabit lochs and rivers, and to lure men to their watery graves
by transforming into beautiful women, once drowned the kelpie would then eat the victim.

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Chronological

VALDIVIA, CHILE Foucault Pendulum of Valdivia

A 63-foot-tall swinging ball hypnotizes passersby, and proves to any remaining doubters that the Earth is spinning. 

A hypnotic 220-pound chrome-plated lead ball has been swinging every 7 seconds on a 42-foot-long steel wire in this monumental glass and steel structure. Topped by an antique 19th-century lighthouse lamp and towering over Valdivia’s riverside, the tower houses the world’s most southerly example of a Foucault Pendulum. 

The Valdivia pendulum was created by Spanish physicist Miguel Cabrerizo in 2007, based on the works of French scientist Léon Foucault, who in 1851 set out to visually demonstrate that the Earth spins about its axis. A replica of the 1851 original Foucault Pendulum now hangs in the Paris Pantheon.

To the earthbound observer, the plane of a Foucault pendulum’s swing appears to rotate, but this is an illusion. In reality, the swing of the pendulum stays on a steady plane relative to space and the Earth is the one that’s doing the spinning.

Unlike the Parisian original, which seems to rotate clockwise, the sweeping swing of this Southern Hemisphere example appears to advance a fraction counter-clockwise with each pass. If, hypothetically, there were a Foucault Pendulum positioned right on the equator, it would appear to swing back and forth in just one plane with no observed rotation. 

Although a temporary Foucault Pendulum was erected at the South Pole in 2001, at almost 40° South, Valdivia’s is currently the world’s most southerly. This Chilean example appears to the dedicated observer to complete a 360° counter-clockwise rotation every 36 hours. A less patient observer could verify this fact in around the time it takes to walk round the nearby craft market, as a 10° shift in the plane of swing relative to Earth appears to occur every hour.

If the physics of the mesmerizing ball is a bit baffling, passersby can admire the impressively towering glass-lighthouse-like structure it is housed in instead. The antique lamp which tops the pendulum’s glazed home is today of little use to passing pleasure boats in the Calle Calle river, but it once guided ships in the nearby bay of Corral. 

Know Before You Go

The Pendulum is located on the Avenida Arturo Prat, also known as the 'Costanera de la Ciencia' or 'Coast Road of Science', and is found opposite the Center for Scientific Studies.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/foucault-pendulum-of-valdivia?utm_source=Atlas+Obscura+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=b9c6e5a8f9-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_01_25&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f36db9c480-b9c6e5a8f9-65897069&ct=t()&mc_cid=b9c6e5a8f9&mc_eid=2cd79a4b6a

In Appreciation of the Magnificent Gift of our Bodies, no Matter our Size. {Poem} Via Jenny O'Hare

“Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this too, was a gift.” ~ Mary Oliver

I have had a fraught relationship with my body over the years, particularly as a growing teenager and a young adult.

It has taken me a long time to appreciate this gift as the worthy vessel that it is. Like many precious elements of our lives, we cannot always appreciate them when we need to, with hindsight offering the best angle.

Let’s not waste our lives waiting for gifts to reveal themselves. Let us try to appreciate all that we have, without holding the false measuring tool of perfection on our precious lives.

A Gift.

This is a gift.This is a gift, from my body to me.This is a gift, from my body to itself.This lesson.

This extra flesh, these extra parts of me that expand my physical being,Have been sent to meTo teach me to love my body for its inherent worthIts value despite its extra edgingDespite the subtle lack of slenderDespite what I feel when I look in the mirror,Or precisely because of that.

Remember when you promised to love your body?To love it as your worthy vessel through this physical experience,To love its efficacy, the miracle of its function,Its glorious physicality?

Remember when you promised to love it because it works,Because it allows you to BeHere, now, experiencing all of this?Remember that?

Love your body now just as much as ever,For it is made for more than resembling the images of what we are told to love.

My body, and your body, and all bodies

Are more miracle and wonderThan glossy pictures can dictate or define

My body, and your body, and all bodiesAre here to represent a unique flair of existence,A personally designed choreography by the universe in motion,An inimitable expression of creation.

My body, and your body, and all bodiesAre made for the reality of love,The messy, explosive journey of Real True Love.

My body, and your body, and all bodies,That house heart and mind and soul,Are made for expansion and opening,And cracking and retracting,And crushing and rebuildingAnd opening and shiningAnd radiation of Love.

I am Love. You are too.And this lessonShows that every giftIn whatever form it comesCan grow you and show youThe reality of your being.

~

~

Author: Jenny O’Hare
Image: @yourdailyreset/Instagram
Editor: Callie Rushton