Green Chiles and Chamomile Tea

My sassafras wood walking staff

One of the things I like most about writing is the research.  I know that may seem weird to some of you, but to me doing research is like being Indiana Jones except from the safety of a computer chair or the stacks of a library.   Furthermore, in conducting research I get to interact with interesting people on a variety of topics.  Just in the last two weeks alone I have studied and discussed the care and feeding of horses, how to properly roast green chiles, the medicinal properties of chamomile, paranormal investigations, practicing tai chi chuan, and how to knock the snot out of someone in a stick-fight.

The added benefit of doing research is that sometimes I even try out the things I study.  With the exception of caring for a horse (since I don’t have access to one),  I have tried my hand at a few of these activities.  I roasted chiles for a fabulous salsa verde.  I got a good night’s sleep by dosing myself with a good chamomile tea.  I strengthened my skeptical perceptions in watching some of those silly ghost-busting reality shows.  I tried to remember and practice some of the tai chi chuan movements I learned decades ago.

I have to say that I did not engage in any sort of stick-fighting (that seemed fraught with potential disaster), but I did haul out my walking staff and went beach-combing.***     Most likely I won’t use much of these experiences in the project I am working on right now, but I have acquired a few more bytes of code in my internal database.

Perhaps someday I may need to write about having a stick fight with a ghostly entity.

LJGloyd (c) 2013    (***I am writing a character that carries a staff for defensive purposes, and I wanted to get the feel what it would be like to carry one around all the time.  Not comfortable, I  have to admit. )

A Little Something for Halloween

The weather is getting cooler and darkness is falling a little earlier these days. The paranormal reality shows are having marathons and K-Mart is playing Christmas music. What does this mean? It means Halloween!

In honor of the day, I thought I would post a photo I took back in 2006.  On the day I took the photo,  I was having brunch in the grand ballroom of the RMS Queen Mary with some friends. The Queen Mary is supposed to be one of the most haunted places on earth, and the ballroom is supposed to be one of the most haunted places on the ship. That being said, here is a photo I snapped.

There is a lovely blue orb on the right side of the picture. I circled it with a red ring. Is this just the reflection of a dust particle?  It seems too opaque and well defined for dust. It is certainly not a bug.  If you believe the ghost busters on cable tv, orbs are sometimes the way ghosts manifest themselves.  So maybe this blue orb is spirit who loves harp music?   I don’t know, but I offer it up for your consideration.

Photo: LJGloyd (c) 2006, 2013