One-eyed Raccoons and Incorporeal visits

 Troubling discoveries here at Fernmire...

I've made notes of multiple injuries among my wildlife friends this year. A coyote, a doe and this raccoon which I've decided to call "Wally" for no particular reason.

The deer and coyote recovered from their injuries. For the coyote it was the front left paw. For the deer it was the back left knee. This raccoon also has a damaged left front paw and missing an eye. (Note at the end of the video that only one eye refracts from the camera's infrared light.)

The good news is that this raccoon has shown up twice on camera with a month apart of each visit and seems to be managing well enough.

It's nice that Blogger will let me upload a video for free while WordPress insists on making me upgrade to a more expensive paid account. I'll give a broader Fernmire update at my other site, but I'll have to rely on screen grabs.

I'm trying to get back into regular writing again. I've gone back to my Medieval short stories when I should be working on my career-making book. I'm currently working on the third story, The Miller's Wife.

Incorporeal visits

I keep finding myself in East Anglia, haunting mills and mill ponds along the rivers for an understanding of what a Miller's life might have been like circa 1016-ish. After the Romans, but before William the Conqueror. As interesting as I personally find the Woodbridge Tide Mill it won't work for my story. Nixes live in fresh water.

The Sculthorpe Mill in Norfolk seems like a good candidate. IDV, be a dear, and run over there and snap me some fresh pics from as many angles as you can!

The Heron Corn Mill in Beetham, Cumbria is also tempting but I feel the story needs to stay in the South It just feels right. Why are so many mills currently listed as "Corn mills" which is a New World crop, and no one was milling corn in 11th century East Anglia! Was it really that much better than the barely, wheat and rye previously milled? It's weird to think of cornfields in England. I'm trying to imagine an English version of Iowa hiding over there.

Picture from: Norfolk Mills - Sculthorpe watermill

This broader UK Mill Database is also very useful...

Mills – The Mills Archive

Do you know of any interesting information or resources about Medieval Mills or Peasant life of the time?

Finally, I watched Midsommar last night. It's supposed to be a cult/pagan horror movie, but I found it "Meh", I mean, yeah, a little weird, but not the nightmare fuel I was expecting it to be.

There's only one movie scene so far that has scarred me for life and that in the 1991 movie adaption of the book "Naked Lunch". Kiki should have never gone in that room to look at the damn birds! The bad special effects made it all the more terrifying. Kiki! Nooooooooo! 😱😭

Is there a movie that has scarred you or that you could never watch again?

Can't stay down for long

 Grief is a weird thing. I'll be perfectly fine for awhile than some silly little thing will spark a memory and I'll storm cloud for a short time. Grief rolls through me like the brief summer thunderstorms of my childhood in the hot dry clime of Eastern Washington. Here in Western Washington, they are much less frequent. The pines and grasslands are replaced with firs and maples.

It's so green here and Seattle having the nickname of "the Emerald City" made my dumb kid brain spin a whole new level of story building. I thought that The Wizard of Oz was a story of magical realism, and that Dorothy was picked up by a tornado in Kansas and dropped in Eastern Washington, outside of Ellensburg to be exact, with all their sleepy golden wheat fields. Then she was given her vision quest to Seattle, the Emerald city, where the wizard lives. Alas, it's just a man behind a curtain pulling the gears of capitalism. Had she come to Spokane I could have told her told her to never trust those city folk in their fancy suits and sent her home on a Greyhound bus. In some ways I like my version better even if it only amuses me.

I was wrong on every account, except that there are definitely shady men controlling the gears of capitalism and I'm still more likely to trust a man wearing jeans than one wearing a suit.

Transitioning to a completely different train of thought now in 3...2...1

We should give more respect to our middle school teachers! I forget what middle school translates to in Europe, but basically, we're talking about the teachers that must suffer the classes of newly pubescent boys that are still learning how frequently to shower and use deodorant as they walk around proudly displaying their little miniature baby moustaches. Aw, so cute!

I'd forgot to share this picture with you last month. My child so far seems to be cis hetero, but some of his classmates that I've known since kindergarten have come to redefine themselves. My love for them doesn't change of course and parents in this mostly blue liberal utopian nook embrace their children for who they are. A mom from the PFLAG group shared this wonderful picture of their pride float requesting a donation for new shoes to freshen it up a bit for this year.

 and finally...

I was at the grocery store yesterday and this wine gift bag made me think of ya'll. So yes, thoughts of our little blog ensemble have a way of cheering me up. 😆

It's currently mojito season in this house because it's hot, it's damn hot.

Stay cool friends!

All Them Witches and BOOKS!

I have a habit of getting really focused on certain topics and then reading about them voraciously. Fortunately, my local library being part of a network that includes a large metropolitan area means I can find many wonderful books for check out. Still, there are always some themes that require extensive note taking, tabbing, underlining and dogearing.

This is my current cache of new books. The four books on the right are from one author, Claude Lecouteux a former professor of medieval literature and civilizations. Upon purchasing these books Amazon wanted to tie me to a post and declare me a witch. I was offered a statue of Hecate, cedar smudges and overpriced culinary herbs in fancy tins. When it comes to the businesses of retail and spiritualism, few people can tell the difference between a hippie and a witch.

I don't call myself a witch. I don't call myself much of anything. I detest labels and regularly defy them. We are all multi-fractal beings. You are free to define yourself as you choose and reveal or hide what you will. I accept people as they present themselves to be, but don't mistake my easygoing nature for stupidity. I will drag things out of the shadows and burn them with candescence if I think them a real threat.

The Dictionary of the Strange, Curious and lovely is all that the title claims to be. A good gift for the word lovers in your life.

Here's a sample just from the "A's"

We are all born altricial (helpless and food dependent.)

Some of us are agerasia (looking noticeably younger than one actually is.)

If we are now longtime friends, you may call me acushla (term of address similar to darling; [Irish a chuisle (O Pulse)]

These books add to my already robust collections of collected myths, legends and folklore.

Some of my favorites include Akutagawa Ryunosuke. In fact, as I read Claude Lecouteux books and mentions of the Christian church's suppression of Pagan beliefs I am reminded of one of my favorite stories, The Faint Smile of the Gods. This story can be found in The Essential Akutagawa.

Kappa is a great story for anyone who appreciates social satire.

 

I am following the threads of our ancient psyches in regard to society, nature and the "otherworld" (the spirit realm.) Is this where I should confess that my gallbladder and appendix aren't the only things missing from this body? Part of my spirit is on the other side too. So, if you accused me of being "Not all here." that would be an accurate assessment that I could not argue otherwise. It has its perks. It makes it easier to talk to dead people.

She's Not There - The Zombies

Back in Europe....

I love The House of Wolfings, but it is hard to find a copy of it and it's written in old English as it was originally published in December 1888. Maybe it will not be such a problem for British folks among us though. I would love to own a small hotel some day and call it "The Wood-Sun Inn."

I've been thinking about the Grimm Brothers and what they would have thought about WWII and the Nazi party's reinvention and propaganda of Germany and its people. As I understand it part of the motivation for the brother's quest to collect regional folklore was an effort of preservation as the country was ruled by France at the time, which they despised. I can't say I blame them. It sounds downright frustrating to have lived in medieval Europe with the constant wars and changing of allegiances to some royal bastard or other, some of which I call ancestors.

And finally, for any of you who love to read books about writing, these are two of my favorites that I like to refer back to from time to time. They are both entertaining to read and with useful bits of information.

Also, yes, one more thing. Youtube recommended this song to me and yes, I like it very much. The band name comes from the movie "Rosemary's Baby" at some point in the movie there is a book on a table titled: All Them Witches. Well, I suppose that's one way to come up with a band name. This video was done when they came to Seattle to perform for KEXP. I love KEXP and I have a friend who works there. They have lots of great music and in studio concerts. Checkout their "Tiny Desk concerts" for more great music. Enjoy!

not my meme, but relatable......

The Woodcutter's Daughter

A young girl in the Harz mountains of Germany become the herald of a forest.

Enjoy an exclusive sneak peek of the first story of five in a collection of dark fairytales.

Collection completion: TBD

Bare with me as I stumble around to trying to figure this all out. I intend to upload The Woodcutter's Daughter in PDF.