ALMANAC
FEBRUARY 2
WORLD FIRE CIDER DAY
ARTICLE AND PHOTOGRAPHS
CULINARY CULTURE SERIES:
“Celebrating World Fire Cider Day”
By Iris Brooks
Photographs by Jon H. Davis
FEBRUARY
“TO THE MOON AND BACK:
The Lunar New Year”
By Iris Brooks
Photographs by Jon H. Davis
JANUARY 25
THE LUNAR NEW YEAR FESTIVAL
ARTICLE AND PHOTOGRAPHS
NLS ALMANAC
JANUARY QUOTE FROM BEN FRANKLIN
Publisher of the original, Poor Richard’s Almanack, 1733
(Relative of Jon H. Davis)
Contemplating: The Deep Subject of Time
JANUARY 10
CELEBRATING BITTERSWEET CHOCOLATE DAY
ARTICLE AND PHOTOGRAPHS
Culinary Culture Series:
“Bittersweet Chocolate Day”
By Iris Brooks
Photographs by Jon H. Davis
JANUARY 2020
All text and photographs © Iris Brooks & Jon H. Davis
NLS ALMANAC
FEBRUARY 14, 2020
Valentine’s Day
FEBRUARY QUOTE FROM TRUMAN CAPOTE
Contemplating: Love
Photo by Iris Brooks
This photograph was taken in southern Portugal in a “Deep Sky” designated area, with little light pollution.
FEBRUARY 21
INTERNATIONAL MOTHER LANGUAGE DAY
ARTICLE AND PHOTOGRAPHS
“Languages Without Borders”
By Iris Brooks
Photos by Jon H. Davis and Iris Brooks
JANUARY 1, 2020
CELEBRATING THE NEW YEAR & NEW DECADE
PHOTOGRAPH AND NLS CARD
“Winter Forest” - View From NORTHERN LIGHTS STUDIO
Photograph by Jon H. Davis
MARCH
NLS ALMANAC
MARCH QUOTE BY CHARLES DICKENS
Contemplating: Seasonal Changes
NLS Image and Design by Jon H. Davis & Iris Brooks
MARCH 19
SPRING EQUINOX
ARTICLE AND ART
“Spring Equinox:
The Return of the Sun Serpent
and the Swallow”
Article by Iris Brooks
Mandala Art by Jon H. Davis
MARCH 25
INTERNATIONAL WAFFLE DAY
ARTICLE AND PHOTOGRAPHS
CULINARY CULTURE SERIES:
“International Waffle Day on March 25”
By Iris Brooks
Photographs by Jon H. Davis and Iris Brooks
APRIL
ARTICLE AND PHOTOGRAPHS
“The Healing Well: Digging Deep In Times of Stress”
By Iris Brooks
Photos by Jon H. Davis
APRIL 5
PALM SUNDAY
MANDALA ART
“Palmistry”
Mandala Art by Jon H. Davis
APRIL 19
NATIONAL GARLIC DAY
ARTICLE AND PHOTOGRAPHS
CULINARY CULTURE SERIES:
“National Garlic Day”
By Iris Brooks
Photographs by Jon H. Davis
NLS ALMANAC
APRIL QUOTE BY HAFIZ
Reflecting on Stillness
NLS Image and Design by Jon H. Davis & Iris Brooks
APRIL 22
EARTH DAY
PHOTOGRAPHIC SLIDE SHOW
“NORTHERN LIGHTS STUDIO Celebrates
50 Years of Earth Day”
With 50 NLS Images by Jon H. Davis and Iris Brooks
All Photos © Jon H. Davis and Iris Brooks,
were captured in the following locations:
BORNEO, CALIFORNIA, CANARY ISLANDS, ECUADOR, FUERTEVENTURA, GOZO, GRAN CANARIA, JAPAN, KUMEJIMA, LA GOMERA, LANZAROTE, MADEIRA, MALAWI, MALTA, MOROCCO, NEW MEXICO, NEW YORK, OKINAWA, OREGON, PENNSYLVANIA, PORTUGAL, SPAIN, TANZANIA, AND YAKUSHIMA.
MAY 7
NLS ALMANAC
MAY QUOTE BY TAGORE
Reflecting on Wisdom
In Honor of Tagore’s Birthday
NLS Image and Design by Jon H. Davis & Iris Brooks
MAY 10
MOTHER’S DAY
ARTICLE AND CARD
“Mother’s Day Musings:
Celebrating Common Humanity & The Female Spirit”
By Iris Brooks
Card Design by Jon H. Davis
MAY 15
National Endangered Species Day
Article and Photographs
“OUR FRAGILE WORLD:
Celebrating National Endangered Species Day”
By Iris Brooks
Photographs by Jon H. Davis and Iris Brooks
All Text and Images © Iris Brooks & Jon H. Davis
JUNE
ARTICLE AND PHOTOGRAPHS
“CELEBRATIONS”
By Iris Brooks
Photographs by Jon H. Davis
FILM
CELEBRATE! Festivals Around the World
Written, Produced, and Directed by
Iris Brooks and Jon H. Davis
Now Available for Viewing on Vimeo
LINK TO VIMEO - https://vimeo.com/430780445
JUNE 19
ART
“EQUILIBRIUM”
Mandala Art by Jon H. Davis
A Curated Virtual Gallery
Selected by ARAS as Featured Work of the Day
For “Art in a Time of Global Crisis:
Interconnection and Companionship”
EQUILIBRIUM © JON H. DAVIS
CULINARY CULTURE SERIES:
“Tea Tastings on International Tea Day”
By Iris Brooks
Photographs by Jon H. Davis and Iris Brooks
MAY
MAY 21
INTERNATIONAL TEA DAY
ARTICLE AND PHOTOGRAPHS
JULY
July is filled with holidays: Canada Day, Independence Day in the US,
Nelson Mandela International Day, World Chess Day, and World UFO Day.
Don’t forget National Ice Cream Day on July 19th and also remember
July is National Ice Cream Month.
If you want to partake in other virtual celebrations and global travel,
watch our short film, CELEBRATE! Festivals Around the World.
Click on the film link below.
National Ice Cream Month
AUGUST
AUGUST 19
WORLD PHOTO DAY
PHOTO MONTAGE
“World Performers Take Center Stage”
Photos and Montage by Jon H. Davis and Iris Brooks
The first online photo gallery honoring World Photography Day took place in 2010. Since then, this annual event, held on August 19–celebrating the art, craft, science, and history of photography–has been aimed at inspiring photographers around the globe. NLS has created a photographic montage featuring performers we have met in our travels. Those spotlighted here are musicians, dancers, actors, puppeteers, paraders, and even a snake charmer! This montage honors them along with the 10th anniversary of World Photo Day 2020.
Performers are from Bhutan, Borneo, Bulgaria, Ecuador, Japan, Morocco, New York, Norway, and Reunion Island.
“My life is shaped by the urgent need to wander and observe, and my camera is my passport.”
-Steve McCurry
“A good photograph is one that communicates a fact,
touches the heart and leaves the viewer
a changed person for having seen it.”
-Irving Penn
SEPTEMBER
FILM SCREENING
SEPTEMBER 8
“A Virtual Tour Into the World of Art: Six Tri-State Artists”
Introducing the Sculptural Work of Eric David Laxman
with the film, Magic in Metal and Stone: Eric David Laxman
Written and Directed By Jon H. Davis and Iris Brooks
The Learning Collaborative
Sponsors a 6-Part Zoom Class Over 6 Weeks
With Artists Presenting Their Work
OCTOBER
CELEBRATION: FIRST PEOPLES WEEK
OCTOBER 5 - OCTOBER 10
Presented by The Greene Space
with New York Public Radio
This week celebrates North American Indigenous Communities through their history, culture, and wisdom for the future. Many of their events are available through live streaming. Or watch videos at www.thegreenespace.org/watch
“All dreams spin out from the same web.”
-Hopi
One of the videos was created in collaboration with the Museum of Food and Drink, presenting a program, “Food For Thought,” exploring the heritage of food and music in Black and Latinx cultures in “Culinary Lyricism.” Among the Live Streaming events is “Telling Our Own Story” on Oct. 8. This involves Madeline Sayet speaking with the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Native American Art curator, Patricia Marroquin Norby on the topic of incorporating native narratives into a variety of mainstream culture.
“What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night.
It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime.
It is the little shadow, which runs across the grass
and loses itself in the sunset.”
-Blackfoot
NORTHERN LIGHTS STUDIO shares their photos by Jon H. Davis and Iris Brooks with a focus on North American Indigenous cultures including cuisine, crafts, and the arts.
North American Indigenous Cuisine at The Acoma Pueblo
Decorative Shell Art by The Yurok Tribe in California
Basketry and Pottery photographed in New Mexico
“Everything the power does,
it does in a circle.”
-Lakota
Faces are Captured in Traditional North American Native Arts from Drums and Masks to Totems
“With all things and in all things,
we are relatives.”
-Sioux
ARTICLE AND PHOTOGRAPHS
“WORLD ORIGAMI DAYS: A TIME FOR FOLDING”
OCTOBER 24 - NOVEMBER 11
Article By Iris Brooks
Photographs By Jon H. Davis
NOVEMBER
ARTICLE AND PHOTOGRAPHS
“WORLD KINDNESS DAY: CREATING A KINDER PLANET”
NOVEMBER 13
Article By Iris Brooks
Photographs by Jon H. Davis and Iris Brooks
CELEBRATING THANKSGIVING
PHOTO ANTHOLOGY
“POST-THANKSGIVING MIX OF SPOONS”
NOVEMBER 29, 2020
Spoons may be eating utensils, serving implements, rhythmic percussion instruments, fishing lures, measurements for medicine, or travel souvenirs. Here is a sampling of our spoon collection in silver, pewter, wood, coconut shell, bone, porcelain, and horn from around the world, often displayed on indigenous textiles. These images are from Cyprus, Denmark, Japan, Wales,
Zanzibar, Thailand, Canada, Bali, South Africa, China, America, and Holland.
“I have measured out my life
with coffee spoons.”
-T.S. Eliot,
From the Love Songs of J. Alfred Prufrock
DECEMBER
ARTICLE AND PHOTOGRAPHS
“CULINARY CULTURE:
World Pear Day on December 5”
Article By Iris Brooks
Photographs by Jon H. Davis
ARTICLE AND PHOTOGRAPHS
“HERE COMES THE SUN: Winter Solstice”
December 21, 2020
Article By Iris Brooks
Photographs by Jon H. Davis