13. April 2010 by Starr.

I will own that this apparition on my doorstep in the cold morning light (he had rung the night-bell) surprised me somewhat. —Two Sides of the Face Midwinter Tales

Not far from here, on a lazy little curve on a busy street, resides a motel that has a reputation that definitely preceeds it’s name.  I won’t mention it’s official name here, in fact…the name of the hotel is really not my point of progress, but in actuality, I’m more concerned about those who reside within that pocket of the planet, than the title of the place they are in.  They, after all, have a story to tell.

My first experience at this location led me to an interesting woman who I can’t seem to get out of my mind.  It’s funny how life sometimes puts us in odd little places, isn’t it?  But, I digress.

I was at this location…with a beautiful spring day all around me, but all I could think about really, was the scent of cat hair and cheap disinfectants and cigarette smoke that kept wafting out of motel room 13.  As I walked past, I caught a glimpse of very dirty dark green carpet and suddenly felt sick.  I turned to walk back toward my vehicle.  That’s when I saw her.

She shuffled across the parking lot wearing a black fanny pack on her front left hip, light blue polyester pants, torn up leather black shoes, I don’t recall the color of her blouse, but I do remember her hair.  She had thick, yellowish blonde hair that went past her shoulders.  As hard as the wind was blowing- her hair didn’t.  She wore glasses and talked to herself.  Loudly.  She had things to say.

She told me a little about her life at the motel.  She told me about how she trades her cleaning services for a room there and how she pays for the cleaning supplies herself, and the manager (who, in her words, is a “funny duck”) doesn’t pay her back for the bleach and the items she buys, which isn’t much.  She complained about how filthy the motel was and how it wasn’t passing inspection.  She told me about how alot of the people who stayed there weren’t clean and how she was responsible for cleaning up after them but had no tools to do what she was asked to do, and had no time to do it in.

As she talked, she never looked me in the eye, and continued to look away.  I told her my name, and the name of my two friends with me.  She never told me her name.  I sensed she either didn’t like her name, or she was in hiding.  She pulled out another cigarette at that point and said, “I need to check the laundry.”  Inside the office she shuffled.

I remember thinking that it was impossible to guess her age.  Somewhere between 40 and ?  50 and ?  60?  Higher? She returned a short time later with a small load of towels.  I had the feeling she had been at this little motel for quite a long time, trading time, trading dirt, trading laundry, transferring items from washer to dryer…from room to room….shuffling across that little parking lot back and forth, then sitting on her folding chair that sits right beneath the small black sign that reads, “Night Bell.”

I wonder who she is.  I wonder if she has family.  I wonder if she knows that God has a plan for her life.  I wonder what her name is.  I wonder if she would come to dinner with me if I asked her.  I wonder when the last time she had a really great long bubble bath.  I wonder when the last time she laughed was, or bought a new pair of shoes was, or just did something fun?  I wonder when the last time was that she got out from under that little chair beneath that Night Bell?

Please pray for this place, not so far from me and for this lovely woman who is God’s child.  I’m going to do something for her this week.  I’m not sure what, yet, but I’m going to ask God about it and see what He leads me to do.  I’ll let you know how it goes.  I’ve decided to keep a running blog about her and anything else that goes on around that interesting field of characters.  Besides this situation with her and it, I’m going to use this location in fiction.  I’ll keep you posted.

As we walk through life on this planet, we bump into all kinds of people.  My pastor Steve Patterson says, “Just love them.”  He’s right.

What I’m going to say in this matter is, as we see people that may seem lost or off their path….they probably are exactly that, and my input here is simply put: “There but by the grace of God go I.”

Remember, we are human “beings” not human “doings.”  God is most concerned about our character, because that is what we will carry into eternity.   The Bible warns, “Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking.  Instead, fix your attention on God.  You’ll be changed from the inside out.  Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well -formed maturity in you.”  (Romans 12:2 Msg.)

We are not just what we do.  We are all a work in progress.  We all are what we are in our BEINGS.  What would you have me do for you, if you were her?

In a way, we are all a part of Those of the Night Bell.

CSY

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4. June 2009 by Starr.

I like to focus on the little ideas and the little signs, as much as the large ones.  Especially those ideas that just nag at me and don’t seem to want to go away.  Those are the ones I pay especially close attention to.  I have always believed that is one of the ways God guides me.  He gives signs along the way to point me in the right direction or sometimes, just to give me a little nudge that may indicate that I’m on the right path, or working on the right idea.  I know that God must have an awesome sense of humour, because some of the things He has used over the years as signs or ideas have been quite unusual, like the Pickerel Frog I saw in a small cave near Alley Mill , for example.

 In various scenes in book one of the Enduring Forever Trilogy, Something’s at the Gate,  there are several scenes down in the cave system where herbs, flowers, roots and mushrooms are used to make healing salves, tonics and etc., so when I was rolling an idea around in my mind about a specific poison that Wynter, the main character needs to make in book two…I knew she needed to do it down in the cave, but I wasn’t sure how or what she was going to use to do it. 

 While I was at Alley Spring, I had scenes playing out in my mind’s eye that I was planning to construct from that area, I was paying close attention to the wild flowers, water cress, trees and other fauna.  Then the frog was pointed out to me, which, at first, was just a flicker of an idea, but of course, I questioned at first if the idea of using that frog in that poison would work at all.  After a friend did research for me on that frog, I learned that the little frog in the cave was the Pickerel Frog, which, even though a small amount of it’s skin toxin will not stop a human, it’s toxic secretions definitely have poisonous qualities to other frogs, snakes and mammals and in large doses can be harmful to those who have not developed an immunity.  That was when the “Aha!” moment hit.

 This is the only poisonous frog native to the U.S., and it’s only seen active from April to October, for the rest of the year it is in hibernation in bottom debris and silt of their aquatic habitats.  I had already been seeking something to assist my character with her poison, inside a cave, in the summer, that would also fit the other criteria she needed as far as other mammals and snakes…and this little frog is the perfect tool.  I honestly didn’t think of that, nor did I even know about this type of frog.  That frog being in that spot, that day, in that little cave, was a small sign…a small idea, that is the stepping stone to help pull my plot along. 

 When I see signs like that or feel ideas come into fruition, even before I’ve started writing the first line of that scene…I know I’m onto something. 

 ”Ideas are like stars; you will not succeed in touching them with your hands. But like the seafaring man on the desert of waters, you choose them as your guides, and following them you will reach your destiny.” - Carl Schurz

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3. June 2009 by Starr.

Dr. Rolfe Mandell at work.Dr. Rolfe Mandell at work.

Today is a great day for reflecting!  As I spend some time relaxing and unpacking/unwinding from my trip, today I plan to spend a little R & R time then reading over emails and posts in my group on facebook before getting busy.  I will be transcribing the notes from my interviews from the dig site this evening and I can’t wait to begin working on the article from that information.  I am emailing one of the editors at Ranger Rick this evening, to toss them my angle and I hope to peak their interest in the interesting work going on at Alley Mill.

I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Rolfe Mandell, who is Associate Professor, Archeology, and Associate Scientist, Geoarcheaology/Quaternary Geology from the University of Kansas.  It was thrilling hearing his thoughts about the dig site and about the artifacts they have found there, dating the Dalton era, which is about 8,000-7,000 BC.  Drawn to the spring water, the cliff wall for shelter and the probability of good hunting in that area, the Dalton people used the area at Alley Mill for a campsite.  I am looking very forward to joining Dr. Mandell and his crew around June 15th for another dig at Alley Branch Cave, about 1/4 mile from the mill.  He will be looking for artifacts in this untouched and unspoiled cave that has not been open for public access.  I look forward to writing about that excursion, as well and am thankful that they are letting me tag along.  Since my novel also has many scenes within cavern structures, I hope this cave will ignite some new inspiration for me.

 I also enjoyed meeting Jack Ray from Missouri State University, who is a Research Archaeologist.  He has been the on site supervisor for the Alley Mill expedition from the beginning.  He was able to give me valuable information and was ever so helpful and pleasant.  Jim Price from the Missouri Conservation Department and several other volunteers from the Missouri Archaeology Society (Ozarks Chapter) and grad students from Kansas University were there.  I look forward to posting some pictures on my website and group in facebook on some of the exciting things I learned from each of them.

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1. June 2009 by Starr.

     Recently I was swinging through Eminence, Missouri, to explore the sites in that area.  It is a lovely place where the two rivers meet, and is surrounded by natural springs, caves, and interesting landmarks.  While I was at Alley Mill, I stumbled upon an archeological dig on the site.  I had the pleasure of meeting archelogists from Kansas University, as they were preparing, along with some students from the university, to excavate the area.  They had already found tools that had dated back to the Dalton area.  It is fascinating to be standing in a spot where you know others stood, in a different time, a different place…10,000 years ago.

      I was honored to be invited back to the site to take photos and interview the archeologists, along with a few others who would be working there today and tomorrow.  I have been enjoying my research in preparation for this journey.  I plan to not only write some non-fiction articles on the dig, as well as the archeologists themselves, but use the information gathered for my novel.  I also plan on exploring various other sites in the Eminence area today. 

     Today is a beautiful, sunny day here in Missouri. . . the perfect day for research and working on location.  I’ll take pictures to share by posting on my site.

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