mermaidcamp
Keeping current in wellness, in and out of the water
You can scroll the shelf using ← and → keys
#Writephoto The Hinges Of Hades
March 16, 2017
— 8 Comments
Hades
His death was sudden and unexpected, leaving matters in disarray at home, at his business, and with his students. The mystery school had been meeting in underground caves teaching secrets and rites of magical passage. Delphina became Fidel’s assistant, a priestess who inherited prophesy and ritual magic from her people, who came from an island with a volcano. When the volcano erupted few survivors managed to make it to safety. Delphina and her grandmother were saved by a passing ship. She was only 3 years old when she arrived in her new land, so she found it easy to adapt to the culture and language. Her grandmother suffered from nostalgia and yearned for a home Delphina did not remember.
Fidel lived next door and was her friend all through childhood. Her grandmother was cautiously approving of him, observing his exceptional nature. After her grandmother died Delphina moved in with Fidel’s family, and eventually married him. Their work together at the school replaced children and family in their lives. They dedicated themselves to higher truth and strict observance of their beliefs. She had grown up within the culture, and never questioned the motives or the fundamental beliefs of the elders. They always told her she was lucky to be alive, and she agreed. She did not question the essential mystery she had been taught. She believed that wealth was the most important and significant reward granted to the faithful. Her teachings reflected her willingness to do anything to acquire money. Fidel, whose very name meant faithful, was a son of Lucifer, trained in the art of stealing souls. He was raised in splendor and glorious excess to impress the rest of the populace. It never occurred to him that the rest of the inhabitants were there because they had been cursed. He never suspected their deep resentment of his position. He never even suspected who he was himself. His whole life was the ultimate betrayal.
While he was carrying out a ritual hypnotism in the inner sanctum of the cave, a group of hooded assassins stabbed him a thousand times with pitchforks. The shocking news reached Delphina as she descended into the chamber to deliver ritual wine. The large heavy gate at the top of the stairway slammed behind her, leaving her trapped with her husband’s murderers. This was the first inkling she had about her true location and her fate. She read the sign now facing her on the gate. “Hotter than the hinges of Hades”, was all it said.
#writephoto
This is a response to Sue Vincent’s photo prompt. Please visit to contribute your own story, read, or comment. There is a lively and interesting mix of writers who regularly contribute here. Enjoy!
#WritePhoto Water Under The Bridge
February 23, 2017
— 7 Comments
beneath-the-bridge
Jumping along on stepping-stones, making an effort to stay dry, we cross the stream and climb the hill on the other side. Our party had broken up early because a sudden thunder-storm toppled the picnic table and sent the folding chairs flying everywhere. Collecting our belongings and soggy food we ran for cover. We found shelter beneath a railroad bridge that had been abandoned, and was crumbling into ruins.
This was once the busy main line that connected the industrial cities with the farms in the rules countryside. Passengers and freight traveled regularly on this railroad for both commercial and recreational purposes. Many wealthy city folks owned large estates in the country that employed hundreds of servants and maintenance staff. They came out for the weekends to fox hunt and throw lavish house parties. As the aristocracy lost fame and fortune, only the royals could afford such extravagances. The big houses were abandoned one by one. There was no work for butlers or maids, and few servants had other skills to sustain them. Everyone moved away from the area in order to find work or live within their reduced means.
The muddy water rushed down from above, carrying debris and some loose toys and lawn furniture and skeleton remains that had been swept away in the torrential downpour. The waste that society creates floated by in the current. Our history, our ancestors’ skills and dreams, were washed away before our eyes. When the sun came out again our spirits were still dampened. We slowly emerged from our muddy perch to search for our companions. The happy picnic by the brook had become a somber reminder of sudden quirks of fate.
This story is an interpretation of this weeks photo prompt by Sue Vincent. Please visit to contribute or meet other writers here.
#writephoto
Special Christianity
February 19, 2017
— 1 Comment
President Donald Trump embraces several political stances important to his conservative evangelical base. This includes support for “religious liberty” legislation and exempting evangelicals from laws upholding lesbian, gay, transgender and bisexual rights. However, Trump does not demonstrate any of the beliefs that have historically characterized evangelicalism. Unlike the majority of American evangelicals, he does not…
via This 19th Century Movement Could Explain Donald Trump’s Faith — TIME
#writephoto Pants And Vanities On Fire
February 9, 2017
— 9 Comments
bonfire of vanities
We watched them huddle around the fire to confer
About the plot they hatched to silence her
Laws and rule books were tossed in to burn
The flames grew large and the wind swirled
The bonfire of their vanities was burning in space
They were enveloped in a hellish backfire
There was no remedy for the sudden change
With pants all aflame they tried to conspire
We could neither believe them nor save them
They were consumed by their own vanities.
To participate by reading or writing a post about this picture go to Sue Vincent’s blog. She generously provides a new photo for inspiration each Thursday. Some very creative writers participate, and it is fun to see how the same picture inspires completely different responses in each writer.
#writephoto
#WeekendCoffeeShare Fire Rooster Edition
January 29, 2017
— 5 Comments
Smokey Takes A Stand
Welcome to my home on this cold sunny morning in Arizona. Make yourself at home while I put the kettle on. I can serve you coffee, an assortment of teas, and a wonderful combination of grapefruit,orange,and tangerine juice that I am drinking. Citrus season is in full swing here, so we are enjoying our harvest as well as some of our friends’ fruit. I have found a recipe for red grapefruit salsa that sounds really tasty, so I plan to whip that up later today. Please take some citrus back home with you when you go, since we have a super abundance to share with you. Relax and tell me about your life and writing. Did your week turn out as planned?
The year of the Rooster is here to signal a new beginning. Fire rooster is feisty and proud by nature. We have all witnessed the political season and the wild start of the new administration and knew we had crossed some kind of Rubicon. Things have changed radically and quickly in ways nobody really anticipated when the election began. As Hill correctly observed we are more divided that we thought. Although the war with the intelligence agencies was unprecedented, it is nothing in comparison with the National Park Service movement to publish scientific facts. The forms of protest are reinvented and refined daily. The year of the cock is all about reinventing everything. We are seeing that happen, whether we like it or not. Change is here. I did support the women who marched, but I feel very passionate about supporting the scientific community freaking out on behalf of science. I am afraid of dark ages without facts. We can’t afford to wipe out any more knowledge for political expediency. I feel like we all just jumped off a very steep cliff without our flying suits. We need science more than ever.
I wrote another photo prompt piece this week. I went with a free verse. The picture was intriguing, as they always are. That is the point of using the prompt. Maybe this week I will write two pieces of fiction. It is a freeing experience to be able to just make up anything you want from your imagination. My muse will eventually get warmed up to this new way of expressing myself. In the meantime I am retweeting all the @altNationalPark accounts, and joining the army of comedy on twitter.
Baddass Park Employees
War with the Park Service
Thanks for stopping by today to share coffee and some angst. I wish you all a happy and prosperous year of the rooster. May the cock be with us. Join this coffee sharing party each weekend hosted by Diana. Please visit to read, comment, or share your own post with this diverse group of talented writers. Add your two cents here.
Wishing Tree For Year Of The Fire Rooster
January 18, 2017
— 1 Comment
The Chinese tradition of the spring festival celebrates the new year for two weeks around 4 February each year. In 2017 the celebrations will begin 28 January with the first official day of the rooster year falling on the 3 February. There is a custom of making a wish then throwing it up into a ” wishing tree”. The wish to carry us through the year is similar to a resolution, but also resembles a letter to Santa. We can celebrate this cool custom in our own private ways. If planning the year at the start includes a fresh start in health, wealth, career, family, and community, what will your wish be? The rooster is a confident, well dressed and chivalrous. He will not back down in a fight. He is known to, in fact, go beyond reason to get his way. The cock wakes up crowing and does not hold back criticism and domineering attitude toward others. Feathers will fly during this year, and egos will be bruised. The rooster is the most misunderstood sign of the Chinese zodiac, a heroic Don Quixote, taking on windmills of gigantic proportions. I wish that during the cock year you will learn to do less, but do it with precision and passion. Cock-a-doodle-dooooooooo
#WeekendCoffeeShare, Reaching Conclusions
January 15, 2017
— 4 Comments
#WeekendCoffeeShare
Welcome to a rainy cool afternoon in Tucson. Please take a seat by the wood stove and let me know if you want tea or coffee today. I have expanded my tea collection to fully enjoy and celebrate National Hot Tea Month (January) by rotating white, rioboos, green, oolong, herbal, and chai in various flavors to warm the winter mood. The chocolate chai is very stimulating for those in a spicy mood. Help yourself to some blue cornbread in the skillet, and spread one of the many jams and jellies I have set out for our tasting pleasure. Relax, take a breather with your feet up on the ottoman and your warm drink at hand. Tell me about your week and your adventures. I look forward to hearing about your news and your writing projects.
If we were having coffee today I would tell you I am pleased to have written another short piece of fiction this week. I used a photo prompt rather than one of my ancestors as the subject. I had a good time with it, and plan to continue to write at least one piece of fiction each week this year. I think eventually I might be good at either mystery stories or fantasy style fiction. To keep me going I started a bullet journal to log ideas and find new subjects for my factual posts. I enjoy this too, but have not been very prolific at posting in it. My first journal is general purpose and small enough to carry all the time. I think the size is not ideal for weekly and monthly goals and planning, so I have pulled out a new notebook to begin a larger version tomorrow to go with my portable idea notebook. The large format will help me track my writing goals and develop story lines for fictional work.
I guess our story this week is our birthday month. Both my partner and I have January birthdays. His is in Capricorn and mine at the end of the month in Aquarius. We are downsizing our possessions, so no gift giving is in order for either of us. We like to go out for fine dining when we have an occasion to fête. Bob chose Feast, one of our favorite restaurants, for his lunch party yesterday. It was perfect. I tried to coax him into trying a new place, but he is the Capricorn, and was not into change at this time (or any time, for that matter). He pointed out that I can choose a place new to us for my birthday dining experience. I have a couple of weeks to decide between a few trendy places I have wanted to try.
There is a small gremlin attacking various working parts of my life. The filtered water spout the kitchen sink broke off and needs to be replaced, as does the filter itself. My vacuum cleaner dumped all the dirt on the floor when I started to empty it. The latch is broken, so when I take the canister out I must now always hold the bottom so it will not leak all over the floor I just cleaned. My Triberr feed has lost its mind and forgot to tweet for a couple of days. This digital tragedy is now being averted by manual tweeting of my tribe members posts. I hope this will be resolved quickly because the manual stuff is taking a load of time. Last, but not at all least, my car started saying service engine soon on the dash when we drove to lunch yesterday. It may have an electronic glitch, or a real need to be serviced. Sadly, this is not something I can jerry rig or do myself. The car has not been to the mechanic since last February, so I just hope it is not suffering from some major (expensive) ailment. My mechanic is located very near my home, so I pack my bike and drive home when I drop it off for service. I have my pressing business and shopping done, so I can live without the car for a few days if I must. I consider myself lucky, but still have my fingers crossed that this will be a minor repair, and the little demon who breaks stuff will leave my life of his own accord.
I have reached several conclusions about our national politics and my mission in life. I can contribute to and support change and justice best by doing it in my immediate vicinity. The inauguration ceremony may offer the perfect time to go out to a restaurant to enjoy off peak dining. I don’t plan to watch it, but will probably live tweet it for the comedy involved. The future will be a mixed, highly unpredictable bag. My place as a citizen and tax payer is not to jump to any conclusions, but to pay close attention to what happens now. At the conclusion of Trump’s presidency we can analyze how history is altered. Now we can only guess. We need to tune in and not tune out. Discernment has never been so important.
Stop by Diana’s blog to take part in the coffee share this week. Share your thoughts, your personal stories, with writers from across the globe who enjoy a digital hot beverage. Thanks for visiting with us today, gentle reader.
blue cornbread
Say It In Latin, Esse Quam Videri
January 13, 2017
— 1 Comment
The Latin phrase esse quam videri is the motto of the state of North Carolina and many other organizations. It means to be rather than to seem. Cicero may have been the first to use the phrase in an essay on friendship. The reference is about authenticity and loyalty in life. When we meet people who are not afraid to be exactly who they are it gives us all courage to claim our own identity. We can never be anyone but ourselves. If our true calling requires sacrifice will we be or just seem to be? This is a time for heroism, gentle readers. Be what you intend to be, and help others do the same.
#HookedRX The Medical/Pharma Connection
January 10, 2017
— 1 Comment
opioid facts
The Cronkite School of Journalism at ASU has produced an important documentary about Arizona’s opioid addiction crisis. I live in Tucson where an obvious uptick in junkies all over the place has everyone concerned. From the petty theft to the mental illness caused by addiction to opioids destroys neighborhoods, families, and individuals. The routine overprescribing of pain killers began as a marketing strategy for drug makers. They promoted studies that concluded their products were not addictive, and provide a needed level of pain control. Now we know they are highly addictive, and even a short time on this hard prescribed stuff can lead the patient to seek out heroin as a cheaper alternative.
Pain is a relative thing, so anyone who wants to stay high on opiates can go to a medical doctor and say they are in pain, and easily score drugs. There is also a huge black market in these pills. Many hop on the addiction train by taking pills from the parents’ medicine cabinet as teens. Since the drugs are socially acceptable and widely discussed and well known, there seems to be no stigma for taking pills for any reason. The idea is that no person should ever feel pain, anxiety, confusion, social pressure, or discomfort of any kind. There are pills to insure that real life does not intrude into the self medication. I have never been into pills so this phenomena is really bizarre to me. I understand wanting to get high, but not wanting to feel nothing. So, what is the gateway drug for feeling nothing? A visit to the doctor? This has gone south in the worst possible way.
Ready for Epiphanies?
January 5, 2017
— 1 Comment
Time For Transformational Epiphany
Dynamic Start-UP energies are running strong today Jan 5 and tomorrow morning, Jan 6!
The first ARIES MOON 2017 – an Initiation Energy that we can easily tune into emotionally now – kicks the CAP SUN and PLUTO out of its ‘hibernation station’ –
WAKE UP, People!
HA – the Year of the Fire Rooster or Phoenix Bird is on the horizon too (starts on the day after the next New Moon, Jan 28).
Phoenix
Today, the ARIES MOON ignites URANUS in ARIES:
Time to be open for Breakthroughs, and to give ourselves permission to Break Free from old, heavy, slow, conditioned consciousness, and into liberated initiatives.
Prometheus bringing the Fire of the Gods to Humanity
And remember, 2017 is a ‘1’ Year – and it all starts with ARIES, and # 1 – the SELF. Nobody does it ‘for you’, and that’s a good thing.
Show up authentically, drop…
View original post 71 more words
