January 7 is Christmas day for the Orthodox around the world, from Serbs to Syrians, and for us, Russians, of course. Unlike the majority of Westerners and their Gregorian reform of the late 1500s, the Orthodox follow the original calendar established by Julius Caesar over 2,000 years ago. This is why some of the major holy days take place two weeks later than they do in North America, whereas movable feasts like Easter are calculated differently (first Sunday after the Full Moon following the vernal Equinox, based on either the Julian or the Gregorian calendar).

Religious logistics aside, I've inherited a collection of postcards, including many that are over 100 years old, from my grandfather, to whom I was very close. They are one of my only tangible memories left of him, apart from photographs. Since then, I've developed a bit of an interest in pre-revolutionary (late 1800s-1917) postcards, which seems to be a natural extension of my academic pursuits in the history of Russian art and advertising from roughly the same period.

Of all the cards I've seen online recently, I was especially drawn to this one with a stag, the Moon, and a church, primarily because of its subtlety.

Coincidentally, I was sorting my latest photographs last night only to realize that one of the series--from about two weeks ago--bears general aesthetic resemblance to that postcard, particularly the striking blues.

I'll take this as a tiny, but meaningful example of Jungian synchronicity with a pinch of Nietzschean amor fati.

And here is another version which looks like a classic Rocky Mountain scene.