Angela VanWell

Author | Reader | Traveler | Tea and Coffee Drinker

Ramblings

Moving During NaNoWriMo in 2020 is Challenging

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I was optimistic. I thought it was possible to do both. How could I not pack the car, drive, unpack the car, repeat? In the small gaps of time between, I could write. After all, I am getting used to being Between.

Between countries, between houses, between times. That is what 2020 had been to our family. The Between Times. I had big plans with an ambitious timetable. We moved out of the Netherlands in December of 2019 and moved to our temporary accommodations in the USA in the same month (Home 1). We brought in the New Year in a whole new place a celebrated our latest adventure. This would be the eighth move between countries. But then COVID struck.

I am not a negative person, but it hit all of us around the world hard in different ways. In our case, the borders between Canada, our passport country, and the USA while we were in Canada visiting family. We had just (And I mean I had less than a week) unpacked our new house in Houston (Home 2). All of the main level furniture was in the living room because my husband was in Argentina while I was unpacking, and I have learned my lesson about moving heavy furniture alone. Well, I have learned not to try and go up and downstairs with furniture without help. So we decided to stay in Canada while the border was closed for a month and the world adapted to isolation and lockdown. We relocated to my grandparents’ homestead as no one was using it at the time (Home 3). It was the first time my daughter lived on a farm. The perfect time to see what it was like to live with no close neighbours. But then my husband was told to return to work, so he crossed the border and left us up north.

Once our daughter finished school, I left her with my mom. It was our original plan for our daughter to spend the summer with our family while I focused on my writing and we settled our new home (Home 3). Instead, our daughter stayed with family while we finished moving into the house and packing the car. We decided it was in our best interest to move our daughter and myself to Canada since I could no longer work in the USA. No new work visas meant I was out of luck. So I drove up north, collected our daughter, and moved in with our friends (Home 4).

We would stay with our friends while I signed up our daughter for the local school and waited for our house to be available. I am so fortunate to have good friends who were willing to double their home occupancy while we waited for our home. We kept our Canadian house and other people were living in it. This was in August. Finally, in November, we have our house back (Home 5).

So now, once again, we clean. We clean because…. COVID. It is best to make sure the house is empty and disinfected. More so then I have done between our other world moves. And this makes me tired. So tired. And that is why I am now behind on my writing and my blog posts. I apologize for not posting the Inspiring Author of the Week post Tuesday with Faith Hunter. I simply have been too focused on cleaning our newest home. But now the beds are made, the kitchen stocked, so tomorrow I will catch up. I promise.

A Dream; When Ghosts Rise and Dance with the Fairies

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Tash, Thevshi, or more commonly know as ghosts, live in a transitional state between this life and their next. They are held to this life by emotions, loving, longing, and revenge. They can hold themselves to this existence or might be held by the sorrow of another. Irish Folklore is ripe with sightings of ghosts and stories shared about their journeys and the truth behind their unrest.

I used to collect folktales as I was interested in the lore of a culture. It provides deep insight into the thoughts and fears of a culture. The reasonings and understandings of why the world is the way it is in song, lore and legend. My first realization of this was during my childhood.

My childhood was spent in North America, I am Canadian but my father’s work moved us around, I grew up with all the standard schoolyard songs, such as “Ring Around the Rosie.” Now as a kid, all it meant to me was we would hold hands, singing and pulling ourselves along, faster and faster, until my friends across the circle were blurs to my eyes, we all yelled out, “WE ALL FALL DOWN,” then we would release each others hands and fall out away from each other. Laying on the group, laughing, and our thoughts spun while were were light headed. It wasn’t until middle school I found out it was about the Great Plague in the 1700s.

Ring-a-ring-a-roses,

A pocket full of posies,

A-tishoo! A-tishoo!

We all fall down.

Londonist

For morbid nursery rhymes to last that many centuries intact, with the original message in the lyrics, is fascinating and horrifying. The history we are taught at school changes based on what is considered most relevant, important in the current times, but the nursery rhymes still hold the warning of death.

And what will come after death? That was not a part of the song but there were plenty of ghost stories told at this time of year to provide me with some ideas. A soul could cause many a problem. wrong some rights, or punish those it felt responsible for its ending.

As an adult I enjoy ghost stories with less gore and more magic. A Treasuring of Irish Fairy and FolkTales includes a whole section dedicated to ghosts. My favourite, so far, is the poem “a dream” by William Allingham, an Irish writer and poet in the 1800s. It is written with the idea that when a soul leaves its body, it can be drawn away by the Fairies.

a dream

And first there came a bitter laughter;

A sound of tears the moment after;

And then a music so lofty and gay,

That every morning, day by day.

I strive to recall it if I may.

WIlliam allingham

I only included the final verse here as I wrote out the full poem in the picture gallery at the top of the blog. It is a soft, clear, lovely poem of loss. The gentleness in which he writes of loss and the hope to see loved ones again remains true. Many religions believe their members will see their families in the afterlife so it is just one step further to be able to see them here once again. With the change of seasons and the end of harvest in the northern hemisphere, the veil weakening and allowing for the movement of ghosts or spirits makes sense.

With Halloween fast approaching, I look at the Celtic historical celebration of Samhain, transitioned into Hallowed Eve, and the modern Halloween, and appreciate how some traditions and songs stay the same, while others are altered to fit currently cultural expectations.

In our family we read ghost stories, watch movies, and eat Mexican food. It is not traditional Canadian Halloween, but we have lived in many places and have created our own tradition.

If you want to explore more stories from Ireland, check out A Treasury of Irish Fairy and Folktales.

So Happy Halloween and Samhain this weekend! May the veil thin and you see your loved ones.

If you would like more information on some of the cultural expectations of October 31st, I suggest you check out the History Channel or the Day of the Dead website.

The Skeleton’s Justice

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When I lose my way while traveling, I find new places, people, and stories. For the past several years when I travel, I gather legends, folklore, fables, fairytales, and ghost stories from the places we are visiting, even the ones we did not know about until we happened upon them.

The original plan was to tour the Klementinum, one of the most beautiful and historically significant former university complexes in Europe. Founded by the Jesuits in Bohemia in 1556 then through the next 170 years became the over two hectare complex. The baroque style building houses the Baroque Library Hall, home of the National Library, and the Astronomical Tower, the measurements taken there are the longest uninterrupted observation of the climate in the world. I wanted to see both highlights, but the library was one of the primary reasons I visited Prague. Unfortunately, the library was closed due to a legal dispute with the National Library of the Czech Republic.

This is where meeting locals and discussing what they love about their city comes into play. Our hotel staff suggested we visit the Strahov Monastery. After a few phone calls by our new acquaintance, we had a private tour setup.

The building of the Romanesque basilica began around 1149 and was almost complete by 1182. A fire damaged the complex that was then reconstructed in 1258. But it was the Thirty-Year War, during the 1600s, when this Legend was born. This legend was included in “Prague in Legends” by Anna novetná, illustrated by Jam Klimeš and is summarized below:

A Finnish regiment of the Swedish army looted the abbey. They stole precious objects and in the Legend, this included robbing the dead. One particular Swedish mercenary had lost everything, through gambling, and was searching for anything he could turn into money. He was staying at the Strahov Monastery, a place stripped of anything that may have value, when he noticed an unusually placed tomb, in a lower passage in front of the sacristy. The tomb stone was still intact.

He waited until midnight, when all the mercenaries were asleep, and pried and wedged open the tomb. Holding up his lantern, he opened the tin coffin he found inside, hoping to find gold rings or jewellery. suddenly, there was a deafening boom behind him! The tombstone shuddered into place. As the walls shuttered a skeletal hand closed around the mercenary’s throat. So strong was the grip that the man was unable to call for help or defend himself.

The pillaging of the monastery was so vast, the newly damaged tomb was unremarkable. The mercenary noted missing, was not found before the soldiers departure.

As a part of the the monastery repair, the cracked tombstone would replaced. At its removal, the Swedish mercenary was found. On his knees, beside the coffin where the leaning skeleton’s hands were wrapped around his throat. Even in death, the mercenary could not escape the Skeleton’s Justice.

I would not have found the book, Prague in Legends, without the visit to the Strahov Monastery. Reading the legends while I sat in the Strahov Monastery Brewery, (try the potato-wild mushroom soup in a bread bowl, you won’t regret it), brought me a chill, even as I cradled my warm soup.

As the Halloween decorations creep across the surrounding yards, they reminded me of the Skeleton’s Justice.

A hidden staircase behind false books in the Strahov library.

What I Watch In The Shadows

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October is one of my favourite months while I am in the northern hemisphere. The crisp morning air, the transition of leaves from greens to golds. Everyday on my walk, the colours and view is changed. It is magical. Another great reason for this month is I rewatch some of my favourite films, and one of my yearly favourites is What We Do In the Shadows.

We stayed in New Zealand for half a year, many years ago. While we were there I became enamoured with the show Flight of the Conchords. Flight of the Concords is about a couple of New Zealanders who are experiencing the highs, lows, and ridiculousness of life while they try to make a living as a rock band. One of the two main actors is Jemaine Clement. In a nut shell, he is hilarious. Everything he is in or voice acts in has a quirkiness to it that tickles my funny bone.

The mockumentary, What We Do In the Shadows, follows the daily issues of flatmates, but with vampires. The challenges of flat life and what habits annoy and others than might caught them to be burned alive. How does one stay entertained for a millennia? What do you do when your roommate doesn’t follow through with their house chores? If these are questions you would like answers too, then this is the movie for you.

What We Do In The Shadows

Photo Credit: Unison Films

And if you decide that this quirky humour is to your liking, they also now have a TV show! I have not watched it all yet, (I am pacing myself to enjoy all its greatness), but so far, it has lived up to the movie.

So if you are looking for a mature, funny movie, there is gore–they are vampires–then grab some popcorn and make yourself at home in the dark.

What We Do In The Shadows, TV Series.

Photo Credit: FX Studios

Raveleijn: A Show made of Magic, Monsters, Water & Fire

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A mystical tale where Countess Halina hopes five youth can protect the city of Raveleijn from evil.

We lived in The Netherlands for over three years. And the one place all locals and expats told us to visit was a theme park called Efteling. Efteling started its life as a Nature Park and then began its transition into a magical escape in 1952 with the opening of Fairytale forest.

There were many expansions through the years extending park activities, rides, fairytales, life and recorded shows, and then finally, in 2009, the park opened Raveleijn. What made me so excited about Raveleijn was it is a modern fairytale. I have a vast collection of folktales and fairytales and wonder who created the tales when and why. But for this story, it was created for entertainment with the moral about working together and how we each have unique talents, if only we have the courage to use them.

The main characters are five siblings, Joost, Lisa, Thomas, Maurits, and Emma; they are exploring the woods near the old in their family had moved to. They are called into the forest by ravens and a woman’s mysterious voice to an ancient city gate where a message appears: Where Raven Riders are Raised.

Once they enter the gate, the ravens are transformed into horses and the children changed to adults. They have entered a different realm and the home of the city of Raveleijn. Evil Count Olaf Grafthart rules the city with an iron fist, forcing the people to create monstrous creatures called “Graffers.” He uses the metal, wood, and leather monstrosities to crush any rebellions, so many former residents are exiled to the woods. Those exiles form the Order of the Raven and they have a prophesy:

Five Riders will save the people of Raveleijn

Prophesy of the Order of Ravens

The five children are the Chosen Five. Each possessing unique powers that could be used to stop Count Olaf. They are inducted into the Order of Ravens and become Riders to take on the Count and his Graffers. During the battle they discover he has a secret, a Giant Graffer that will put them in a battle to the death.

The show is now a published book, TV series, and video game.

I was able to attend the show three times before I left The Netherlands. Each time was unique in that I saw it from a different perspective. The first time in the main audience with Dutch friends, the second time close up in the pub/restaurant beside it, (eating apple pie and enjoying a warm coffee show side was decadent), and lastly sharing the magic with my family when they came to visit. Each time entertaining and memorable. If you cannot make it to the show, there is a book, a TV series, and a video game.

Have you found a modern fairytale you can share?

Efteling