Richard's Poor Almanac by Richard Thompson for December 24, 2011

Transcript:

the winter sun this month the "sun," a flaming ball of mostly hydrogen, makes occasional & increasingly brief transits of the daytime sky. it is most often glimpsed between morning & evening drive-times, depending on visibility. man: what was that? woman: where? many ancient cultures depicted the sun as a big flaming smiley face, re-garding it as the bringer of happiness & dispeller of gloom. thus seasonal changes & sunsets were frightening - what if the big happy ball did not come back? it would be the end of the world! this left people anxious, antsy & somewhat depressed, in a kind of fatalistic way. person 1: look - it's the end of the world! person 2: and me in this silly hat. nowadays people know better. lady: hey! the sun's out- oops, too late. man 2: oh, no.