Happy Holidays and a Wonderful 2022!
To all our readers!
A tribe of hungry sparrows scrabbled anxiously in the cold dry earth. The days were growing shorter and shorter and they hadn’t found much to eat. One of the sparrows noticed a lighted window and flew to the windowsill for a closer look. It was warm and bright inside, and a table, laden with all kinds of food, stood in the centre of the room. “Come on up here,” he called to the others. “It’s warmer, and there’s loads of food too!” The others fluttered up excitedly and gasped at the sight of the bowls filled with nuts and seeds, the platter of watermelon slices, and most wonderful of all, the juicy pomegranates shining like rubies in the golden light.
“Is it a sparrow feast?” squeaked one, almost falling off the windowsill in excitement.
“Tonight is Yalda, the longest and darkest night of the year, when Ahriman, the evil one, is at his strongest,” said an old sparrow, who had seen such celebrations before. “People gather with family and friends to keep themselves safe from his influence. They cook and eat delicious food, tell each other stories, and stay up all night to welcome the rising of Mithra the Sun at dawn, for he drives Ahriman away.”
Just then, a door opened and a crowd of laughing, chattering people came into the room. A little girl saw the sparrows huddling on the windowsill. “Those little sparrows must be hungry and cold,” she cried. “Mamma, can we give them something to eat?”
A smiling woman with rosy cheeks picked up a dish of seeds and a handful of pomegranate seeds and gave them to the little girl. The child pranced up to the window and opened it. The sparrows fluttered away in alarm. “Oh don’t go, come share our feast,” she called and set the seeds and pomegranate out on the sill.
A tall moustachioed man came up behind the little girl and gently closed the window.
“Papa, don’t close the window!” protested the little girl.
“The birds feel safer this way,” he said and led the child away.
“You reminded me of some lines by Hafez,” said the child’s grandfather with a twinkle, and recited:
I once asked a bird,
how is it that you fly
in this gravity of darkness?
The mother, smiling at her daughter, completed the lines:
The bird responded, ‘Love lifts me.’
The sparrows had returned to the windowsill and were rejoicing in the feast the little girl had put out for them. “A bright dawn and good wishes to all,” said the old sparrow, softly tapping their thanks on the window pane with his beak.
The little girl was the only one who heard him. She smiled and waved at the sparrows and turned back to her own feast.
The winter solstice, or Shab-e-Yalda, is celebrated in Iran with feasting and storytelling. The pomegranate, considered an auspicious fruit, occupies pride of place in the feast.
The Story Birds are taking a break over the holidays, to fill up on pomegranates and more stories.
We will be back with our weekly story from the weekend of January 15-16.
Meanwhile, some holiday reading and listening:
O Holy Night, by Jan Peppler.
Jan writes Finding Home, a newsletter about home, finding and creating it, with love and warmth. We love her insightful and thought-provoking posts.Breadalicious Baked Goods, a very tasty Wednesday playlist, by Stygi.
Stygi writes Midweek Crisis, a biweekly newsletter that offers up ‘a big dose of specially selected songs every other Wednesday’ with links to Youtube and Spotify. Her wide-ranging playlists have something for every taste, from the soothing music of Swedish indie-folk singer-songwriter José González to the NASA ‘Wakeup Calls’, the music played by Mission Control to kick off the day for astronauts in space.Surrender Now, by Nicola T.
This is powerful, introspective writing about ‘miracles and the miraculous’ in life. Nicola writes with honesty and courage, even about difficult thoughts and emotions that many of us find impossible to confront. A newsletter to be read in quiet.Jatan’s Space, by Jatan Mehta, Contributing Editor for The Planetary Society, and who describes himself as a space exploration writer and Moon evangelist. Jatan writes on space exploration and the Moon. Check out this one, for instance: Views of Mars from India’s Mangalyaan Orbiter. Or take a look at his Moon Exploration Updates… This newsletter is so exciting, it gives us goosebumps!
Story Cauldron, By Jackie Dana
From the wonders of space exploration, we take you to Jackie’s fictional worlds, lands of mystery, magic and faerie! She writes about storytelling, and has some seriously insightful advice for writers. And for her paid subscribers, she has her novel series The Favor Faeries.What To Read If, by Elizabeth Best
Recommended for all book lovers looking for their next read! Elizabeth’s recommendations are interesting, unique, and wide enough to cover most tastes. We’ve picked up some good reads here! Her interviews with writers and translators and others in the field add that extra insight.For those with an interest in tech, there is Jay Hoffman’s The History of the Web, a twice a month dispatch ‘about the web's history, the incredible people that built it, and all the websites, code, and browsers you've never heard of!’
The Turnstone, by Melanie Newfield.
Melanie writes from New Zealand and offers, in her words, ‘a personal perspective on science, society and the environment.’ Her articles are written with clarity and empathy, and backed by research and data. We especially liked her coverage on the virus that causes Covid-19, the vaccines, and the raging debates around their efficacy and necessity. Check out her summary on Omicron for instance: 'Copy Error: Omicron UpdateFor those who love spooks and things that go bump in the night, these links kept us going with their original tales and warm voices just right for December chills:
Ghost maps: They tell ‘True Southeast Asian Horror Stories’
Tony Walker: Cumbrian ghost stories and more
Raven Reads: For indigenous stories and original accounts
Mortis Media: For chills and thrills that could have easily happened to you!
For even more reads, try The Sample, a quick and easy way to discover newsletters outside your reading bubble!
And do visit our ARCHIVE for stories you may have missed or would like to read again, and share The Story Birds as widely as you can!
Great issue, as always 👏 I was totally shocked to see you mentioned my Midweek Crisis to your readers! It's so awesome of you. Thanks for the great surprise and support 💖. Very Merry Xmas and jolly New Year to you Story Birds! I'm sending you virtual hugs from Poland! 🤗
Thank you for the kind words! 💖 Happy holidays.