Clare-Dragonfly

The Winterfaire spreads out as far as the eye can see. Some booths show streamers of red and green, while others sport blue and silver. All of them offer treasure after shining treasure. Music fills the air with lyrics of Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanzaa, Solstice, and Yule. From the Wordsmith's Forge comes the bright chiming of words being hammered into literature. Delicious scents of hot chocolate, spiced cider, peppermint, baking cookies, and gingerbread tantalize the appetite. Smiling, laughing shoppers amble from booth to booth with lists in hand. Vendors grin back, calling out, "Come try, come buy...!"

I know a lot of artists, writers, musicians, crafters, and other talented folks who make some of their living from their creative endeavors. I don't always have the money to support them as much as I'd like, but what I can do is set up a virtual faire where vendors can offer their wares to an audience that likes crafts, literature, and small businesses. For those of you doing your holiday shopping, here's an opportunity to buy or barter or find something made with love, something unusual or unique, in a way that helps make it possible for creative people to go on creating wonders. And there will be no traffic jams, stampedes, or gunfights at the Winterfaire!





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People have expressed interest in deep topics, so this list focuses on philosophical questions.

If all humans want the same basic things, why is there so much violence and strife between people?

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This month's theme was "Fairies and Fey." I wrote from 12 PM to 3 AM, so about 13 hours, allowing for lunch and supper breaks. I wrote 3 poems on Tuesday plus 5 later in the week.

Participation was down slightly, with 9 comments on LiveJournal and another 23 on Dreamwidth. A total of 11 people sent prompts. You have new prompters ljgeoff and gs_silva to thank for the second freebie.


Read Some Poetry!
The following poems from the November 4, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl have been posted:
"Better Than Living Alone"
"A Clear Path of Freedom"
"Revealing Itself at Its Most Brilliant"
"Time and Relative Dimensions in Magic"
"To the Rational Mind"

"No Worthless Herbs" (One God's Story of Mid-Life Crisis, October 7, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl)
"The Struggle Against Error" (Polychrome Heroics, April 1, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl)


Buy some poetry!
If you plan to sponsor some poetry but haven't made up your mind yet, see the unsold poetry list from November 4. That includes the title, length, price, and the original thumbnail description for the poems still available.

This month's donors include: janetmiles, librarygeek, and Anthony Barrette. All sponsored poems from this fishbowl have been posted. There are 2 tallies toward a bonus fishbowl.

The Poetry Fishbowl has a landing page.

A strange ancient foot reveals a hidden human cousin

New fossils reveal a second hominin species living beside Lucy—walking differently, eating differently, and thriving in its own evolutionary niche.

Researchers have finally assigned a strange 3.4-million-year-old foot to Australopithecus deyiremeda, confirming that Lucy’s species wasn’t alone in ancient Ethiopia. This hominin had an opposable big toe for climbing but still walked upright in a distinct style. Isotope tests show it ate different foods from A. afarensis, revealing clear ecological separation. These insights help explain how multiple early human species co-existed without wiping each other out.


Niche partitioning is a standard way to minimize competition between species. It's most extreme in dense habitat like rainforests but it appears elsewhere too.

Today is partly sunny and cold.

I fed the birds. I've seen a large mixed flock of sparrows and house finches plus several cardinals.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 11/28/25 -- We hacked away at the brush pile today. I managed to cut up one bush that had berries on it and dump the bits in the firepit. We also got some kindling cut to size.

We saw our great horned owl! :D It flew out of the ritual meadow around the east edge of the yard.

EDIT 11/28/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 11/28/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 11/28/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

As it is getting dark, I am done for the night.

These are active communities in Dreamwidth from Fall 2025. They include things I've posted, but only the active ones; the thematic posts also list dormant communities of interest. This list includes some communities that I've found and saved but haven't made it into thematic posts yet. This post covers A-I.

See my Follow Friday Master Post for more topics.

Highly active with multiple posts per day, daily posts, or too many to count easily
Active with (one, multiple, many) posts in (current or recent month)
Somewhat active (latest post within current year, not in last month or few)
Low traffic (latest post in previous year)
Dormant (latest post before previous year, but could be revived because membership is open and posting is open to all members or anyone)
Dead (not listed because there are no recent posts, plus membership and/or posting are moderated)
Note that some communities are only active during a limited time, or only have gather posts on a certain schedule.

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We made this today and it was delicious. :D

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Scientists warn half the world’s beaches could disappear

Rising seas and human pressures are rapidly shrinking the world’s beaches and destabilizing the ecosystems that depend on them.

Human development and climate-driven sea level rise are accelerating global beach erosion and undermining the natural processes that sustain coastal ecosystems. Studies reveal that urban activity on the sand harms biodiversity in every connected zone, magnifying worldwide erosion risks.


This sounds overly optimistic.  Beaches -- in the sense of pleasant sandy stretches -- are by definition shallow shorelines.  Little if any of that will be left given the rapid rise of sea level.  That's before factoring in other hazards such as sand theft, erosion, etc.  Of course, there will always be places where land and water meet, but those won't be in the same places in the future, wherever there is a shallow slope of land facing a large body of water.  Ironbound coasts, which have a high rocky cliff, are much less subject to inundation. 

What are you thankful for?




For Thanksgiving recipes, see the Cuddle Party post.