Odds and Endings

Hi, Everyone! Now that it’s “National Get Caught Reading Month,” can anyone recommend a good mystery to read beneath a full Flower Moon next week? I’m guessing there are a lot of A to Z Challenge Survivors out there – Congratulations! If you find your muse has left you without a word or ransom note, you can always sharpen your writing skills with any of the many great resources offered by the Insecure Writers Support Group, founded by Alex Cavanaugh, right here and right now on this first Wednesday of the month, when IWSG members convene through blogging, Facebook, and Twitter to talk about whatever is on our writing minds and agendas. See what we’re all talking about here.

I’m taking full advantage of the (optional) uplifting question of the month, “What is the weirdest/coolest thing you ever had to research for a story?” because who wants to dwell on rejections, right? Besides, this question calls to mind all the fun of the writing journey!

Since I’m one to wander off the beaten path, it’s no surprise I tend to do that in research as well. So once upon a quest for knowledge of how to handle being lost at sea (terrifying, isn’t it?) I came across the true story of a family on a dream vacation voyage in the Bahamas during which the Captain, having been caught in the act of murdering his wife (for the insurance policy he’d recently purchased), then proceeded to end the lives of all but one of the family who'd been alerted to the scene of the first crime by the screams of the Captain’s wife. It was nearly fifty years before (then eleven years old) Terry Jo, the only surviving family member, was able to tell her harrowing story in a book entitled “Alone: Orphaned on the Ocean.”

For another story I was writing – and researching, I was checking out hypnosis. Since there are quite a number of characters (in my story) under the influence, I wanted to know if there could be adverse reactions. And sure enough, there could. It’s called “Inadvertent suggestion acceptance”; sometimes concretely, sometimes literally. For example, You can dance your feet off, or You can eat anything that moves…oh, the possibilities!

Not that I’m a fan, but one story led me to a most disgusting insect called a Tumblebug. Not even my cat would go near it. Out here we call it a Turd Roller because that’s what, and all, it does. Scientists, on the other hand, are quite interested in the only non-human ‘animal’ known to be in existence that uses the Milky Way for nocturnal orientation.

So, what’s in your notebook? On your agenda? Have you ever been lost at sea, hypnotized, or seen a Tumblebug?

A Trail Without A Trace

Toward the end of the 19^th century, Frenchman Louis Le Prince boarded a train in Dijon headed for Paris. A pioneering inventor, he’d taken many trips to America to secure coveted patents on his latest inventions, and planned to return to finalize his patent pending on the first true Moving Picture Camera – before he vanished.

Le Prince was not on the train when it stopped in Paris, nor were any of his belongings. It was as if he’d never boarded in the first place, except that, as a person of notability, people had seen and talked to him. Though the entire train was searched and every passenger questioned, even Scotland Yard was baffled.

There was, however, plenty of speculation. Had Le Prince committed suicide by jumping off the train? Along with all of his belongings? Had his brother murdered him with an elaborate magic trick? Had his family requested his disappearance due to financial difficulties? Those in the industry had different ideas.

The competition was fierce in the cinematography field and none more so than one American trailblazer who actively obstructed every U.S. patent Le Prince ever sought.  In return, Le Prince assisted in the sharing of pertinent information belonging to the trailblazer to a highly interested group of European patent seekers.   

Consequently, with Le Prince out of the picture (no pun intended), the American trailblazer got the pending patent and possibly many more that might have belonged to Le Prince. Nonetheless, the trailblazer undeniably made quite a name for himself with prior and subsequent inventions of his own; which the world still appreciates today, but eventually Le Prince was all but forgotten.

Until 2008, when a graduate student perusing a timeworn book by Thomas Edison on motion picture history in the New York Library archives found this astonishing handwritten note in the pages, dated September 20, 1890:

“Eric called me today from Dijon. It has been done. Prince is no more. This is good news, but I flinched when he told me. Murder is not my thing. I am an inventor and my inventions for moving images can now move forward.” 

What do you think happened to Louis Le Prince? 

"Competition brings out the best in products and the worst in people." - David Sarnoff, Pioneer of American Commercial Radio and TV   

References:

cracked.com

sciencedirect.com

Mindful Presences

After a few work related detours, I’m back on the road again! To my delight, my first stop happens to contain more than a 100 covered bridges! Can you imagine my astonishment when I discovered there is (according to reports) at least one covered bridge still standing in at least 30 states, and I hadn’t ever seen – let alone been on – one?

It comes as no surprise that the legendary Von Trapp family chose to settle in the boreal forest ridges of Vermont where every season bursts in festive dress; as it reminded them of the Alpine setting of their homeland. Known for Dairies, lakes and Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream, Vermont is also the largest U.S. producer of Maple syrup and (at one time) Marble; the legacy of which still remains in the form of sidewalks. Wow. 

At one time, it was illegal to tie a giraffe to a telephone pole, though other changes are slower to come about. For example, the Police Academy in the town of Pittsford has a unique recruit in the form of Nurse Mary; who’s been there since the building served as the State (mostly tuberculosis) Sanatorium.  Though Mary eventually succumbed to the disease herself, she was and evidently remains compassionate, as she reportedly continues to respond to late night buzzes on the antiquated call system installed in every room.

Moving on to Massachusetts, there are a few special laws to be aware of, such as no Gorilla shall ride in the back seat of any car, snoring is prohibited unless windows are shut and locked, and mourners may eat no more than three sandwiches at a single wake. They may have had my next stop in mind on that last one.

Secluded in the verdant fern and grassy woodlands of Leicester is a cemetery called Spider Gates. This atmospherically pleasant place might well be a public park; if not for the dear departed resting there. The name describes entrance gates of iron that do resemble spider webs (some say sunrays), though the official name is Friends Cemetery; owned and maintained by the Quakers. There’s a well-worn path in the earth around the grave of Marmaduke Earl, where walking ten times around at midnight is said to bring good favor and sometimes whispers from the spirit himself! Beyond the majestic hanging tree and alter, the low stone wall which surrounds the cemetery is often dotted with assorted coins for the ferryman; as it and stands before the path to Kettle brook, rumored to actually be the River Styx. 

Is there a covered bridge in your state? Have you been or would you visit either of these places? What would you say or write about them?

On a stone and marble bench at Spider Gates, sweet Mary nibbles a sandwich near the headstone of her only love and fondly recalls the last kiss they shared in the shelter of Emily’s Bridge before she’d hurried off to her duties at the Sanatorium and he never made it out.