6.8 "bah hum bug"

monthly musings from a Siren in the City

Dec 23, 2025

To go in the dark with a light is to know the light.
To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight,
and find that the dark, too, blooms and sings,
and is traveled by dark feet and dark wings.
-Wendell Berry

*The Walnut of Benevento (Sabbath of Witches)*, 1822-1826, by Giuseppe Pietro Bagetti

P R O S E

Dear Readers,

Greetings from the coziness of my bed on this grey day. Feet up, soft blanket, and a nice hip hop mix playing in my ears. I wanted to sneak this last little newsletter of 2025 in before the big days ahead. If you’ve been reading along this year, thank you very much for your support!

Some of you know, I find this time of year a little bit challenging. I went to the grocery store yesterday at my regular (and usually chill) time. It was mayhem. The cashier was dressed in antlers and great makeup and an oversized bright green Christmas sweater. She had obviously been scanning people’s enormous grocery orders and chaotic energy for hours, so I brought my best chill vibe. We had a nice little laugh about how the movie “Home Alone” is 35 years old. “yeah, but we still look good” I said. She laughed and said with a wise warning “don’t come back here the next few days”.

I’ve been watching quite a few Christmas movies lately to see if it may invoke some joy for the season. Over the last decade, “the spirit” seems to have been been Scrooged and Grinched out of me. I have my reasons, which I’ll save for the personal essay I’ve already drafted. It seems the storyline in many of these movies, like “Home Alone”, is that the brilliant loner is annoyed with everyone, and is thrilled to be alone, but eventually comes around and gets back together with people which is all culminated by some Christmas gathering. Relate, safe for the last part.

My “spirit” isn’t totally blackened, for I still know mostly all the words to mostly all the Christmas songs. I have not lost my knack for wrapping gifts (taught by the best – thanks mom!), and I even sent out some Christmas cards this year. As a sensitive creature, who has not been rolling in dough the last few years, I find the capitalist culture around these days to be totally maddening. So, with my heart growing a little bit, I am wishing you all a “Bah Hum Bug” and a Happy New year!

S H O W S + S O N G S

Spending this coming winter taking in the vibrant local music scene and beginning the process of a new album. I’ve also got some great bookings lined for 2026! woohoo!

Here’s a little cover I did of a cozy and romantic French tune by the fabulous maritime musician - David Myles “En Decembre”

F E A T U R E D F R I E N D

VICKY BOWES of WILD LITTLE SPRING
and extraordinary visual artist

Where are you? What’d you have for breakfast? And what are you up to today?

This morning I’m waking up in a hotel in Courtenay, BC, after vending at a three day festive craft fair. It’s the last of the season for me so I’m pretty happy. The weird craft fair conversations can become a little draining after a while!

For breakfast I will stuff my face with questionable hotel breakfast buffet. Then drive home to Gabriola with my partner Mikey who will suffer being partially buried in the car under various craft fair set-up items.

What three things in your life are you most grateful for right now?

1. The freedom to travel. Our families all live in the UK and Ontario, so being able to travel to visit them is so important and such a huge privilege.

2. I’m massively grateful for my partner, Mikey, who makes all my musical endeavours possible. If it wasn’t for his encouragement, skills and attention to detail I would probably never even dare to attempt to record an album!

3. Community. I am so grateful to be a part of the wonderful community on Gabriola Island, BC. It is such a supportive community for artists and musicians and always such a magical place to come home to.

What have you got on the go artistically at the moment?

We have just released our debut album - ‘Lost to the Sea’ by our band Wild Little Spring and played wonderful album release show on Gabriola. We’re now heading to the UK where we hope to bring this music to our distant communities there, and hopefully begin working on some new material for a follow up album. We both find travel very inspiring, and reconnecting with our homeland has brought a wealth of ideas with it.

If I passed you an instrument, what song would you play us right now?

With it being the festive season, I would love play the track ‘Nos Galan’ from our album. This is a traditional new year song in Wales that eventually morphed into the well known song ‘Deck the Halls’. I love the original Welsh lyrics as they are much earthier and speak of the joy of community more than the religious aspects that the newer carol has adopted. I decided to change the melody entirely to give the song a darker tone to reflect the winter months. It’s also a fun sing-a-long for the listeners!

What’s been on repeat on your record player/streamer/tape deck/CD player/ et al.?

I love Welsh folk music! It’s usually a mix of Cynefin, Mari Mathias, Eve Goodman, Cerys Hafana, the Gentle Good, Fernhill and many more. There is a massive amount of musical talent in Wales which is amazing for such a small country.

If we want to find your work, where can we go?

All the usual streaming platforms carry our album : ‘Lost to the Sea’ plus it can be downloaded on Bandcamp. We also have an accompanying book of artwork, lyrics and stories. If you would like one of these you can write to me and I’ll send you one with a CD! Creating this book has been our solution to finding a way to return to album artwork. We were really feeling like this aspect of music was becoming lost in this digital age, and a lovely book keepsake seems like a fun way to bring this back.

M U S I C

G O O D O C E A N N E W S

Hunting for new deep-sea creatures at the edge of the world

The "death-ball" sponge was found in a trench some 3,600m (11,811ft) deep

Dr Taylor hopes the volume of biological discoveries her researchers made will inspire others to explore the world’s most untapped corners.

They collected almost 2,000 specimens across 14 animal groups, alongside thousands of high-definition images and hours of video.

“It gives me hope because we came across relatively unimpacted ecosystems, and there are some of them still out there,” Dr Taylor added.

“Climate change is impacting every single inch of our ocean, so it was magical to be in an area that has little human impact.”

The remotely operated SuBastian vessel was hooked up with a camera to livestream its finds

R E A D I N G

I acquired a 2017 Short Story Advent calendar this year by Hingston and Olsen Publishing. I was about to make my own and a neighbour was giving one away. I got the 2023 edition and loved it! The stories don’t even really have to do with Christmas and have all been beautiful and profound.