See the Way That Light Attaches to My Girl in Pensacola
Digest No. 28 - December 2025
If you’re looking for the Commonplace section, a monthly post has been dedicated to the practice. You can check it out here: https://hadleyonfire.substack.com/t/commonplace-journal
Note: Because Wednesday fell on Christmas Eve last week, and New Year’s Eve this week, I opted to post only once between the two. The break was refreshing, but I look forward to the upcoming 2026 writing adventures!
Merry 7th day of Christmas!
It has been a glorious season here in the Hadley household. My second son was gifted a telescope for Christmas, and we have been trying to make the most out of it, though my alignment skills need some work. My eldest was given Root, which he and his brothers have been trying to learn inside and out the past few days. And I picked up my own Lorcana deck so that I can play with my kids (and so far, I’m undefeated). We’ve also made it through all the necessary Christmas movies already:
Elf
It’s a Wonderful Life
White Christmas
Just Friends
The Muppets Christmas Carol
Die Hard
I just need to work in Batman Returns, and the holiday movie going will be complete for the year!
On Reading & Researching & Writing
I was able to finish up a couple of different books for the classroom this month and started some more in preparation for the Spring semester. I introduced my students to some of the original Robin Hood ballads, focusing on The Gest of Robyn Hode. They quite enjoyed it, doing a good job of picking out things which were different from the more familiar version they know. We also began Tristan & Iseult, which they are not enjoying as much as they did Troilus & Cressida. We’ll see if that is born out of virtue, or vice. And I have also started a new read through of Out of the Silent Planet, a book they will read on their own as we work through Dante’s Inferno in class. It is some of my favorite reads, stirring up some excellent memories of my undergraduate days at the University of West Florida. These were the kinds of books I cut my academic teeth on. It is a joy to share them with others.
I’ve also been reading Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage for a book club. I read very few modern history books, yet I’m always so grateful when someone makes me! This was a great read, and provided some nice, cold weather during my 80-degree Christmas here in the Panhandle of Florida. The story is genuinely engrossing, as I often found I did not want to stop at the end of a chapter. I’m looking forward to our discussion of it in a few days.
I’m already thinking about some of the reading I have lined up for 2026; there’s a lot to be excited about!
On Publishing & Traveling & Speaking
In December, traveling is for family. Since we’re back in Florida, that means local travel within about an hour radius of our home. And since it is the slow season for academic work, no conferences called me away to speak. It was, all in all, a nice, calm December.
I was fortunate enough to have two articles published this month.
The first essay was published in Classis, the academic journal of the Association of Classical Christian Schools. The essay is a brief attempt to connect some of my thoughts on A.I., productivity culture, and classical education. This started as a talk I gave in Montgomery for a conference and is a kind of continuation of a post I made a few months back. I imagine I’ll have opportunity to say more on these ideas in the future.
The second piece is an essay on reading aloud as an historical practice in classical education. The good folks over at The Consortium Journal took it just before the submission window, and I’m grateful they did. This was a revised version of a paper I wrote for my MA at the University of Birmingham, and I hope to further edit it for final inclusion in my master’s dissertation in 2026-2027.
Both journals are lovely, printed reading materials, and I recommend you get a copy of each to read all the good stuff contained therein. It was nice to see something more recently in print, since so much of my work has shifted the past few months.
I’m still waiting to hear back on one other essay already submitted, and I’ve got some more projects coming along. So, I hope to have more good news early in 2026!
On Listening
I was riding in the car yesterday and “Long December” came on. I love the Counting Crows, but I’ve never really pushed this onto my kids. Yet my eldest started asking all kinds of questions, about the various instruments in the song, and if he could get some sheet music for it. It made my day a little bit better, so I share this recent rendition with you for your own enjoyment!