My Say What Blog Archives - Page 43 of 53

Mar 26th April Fools’ Day or All Fools Day – It’s Coming, Be Warned!

Whether you call it April Fools’ Day or All Fools Day, it is one of the most light-hearted days of the year. Where the tradition started no one really knows. Is it a celebration of the turning of the seasons that makes people play pranks on friends, neighbors, co-workers or family members? The long cold winter is over, new sprouts springing up all over make people giddy? Well, maybe.

April Fools’ Day is celebrated every year on April 1 by playing practical jokes and spreading hoaxes. The jokes and their victims are called April fools. People playing April Fool jokes expose their prank by shouting April Fool. Some newspapers, magazines, and other published media report fake stories, which are usually explained the next day or below the news section in small letters. April Fool’s day has been popular since the 19th century, the day is not a public holiday in any country. But don’t you think it should be?

It’s noteworthy that many different cultures have had days of foolishness within weeks of the start of April. The Romans had a festival named Hilaria on March 25, rejoicing in the resurrection of Attis.

The Hindu calendar has Holi, probably the least religious of Hindu holidays. During Holi, Hindus attend a public bonfire, spray family and Friends with colored powders and water, and basically go a bit wild in the streets. Sounds a bit like Mardi Gras in New Orleans, doesn’t it?

The Jewish calendar has Purim. The joyous and fun festival of Purim is celebrated every year on the 14th of the Hebrew month of Adar (late winter/early spring). It memorializes the salvation of the Jewish people in ancient Persia from Haman’s plot to annihilate all the Jews, young and old, infants and women, in a single day.

In Scotland, The traditional prank is to ask someone to deliver a sealed message that supposedly is a request for help. In fact, the message reads “Dinna laugh, dinna smile. Hunt the gowk another mile.” The recipient, upon reading it, will explain he can only help if he first contacts another person, and sends the victim to this next person with an identical message, with the same result.

Did you know that Aphrilophobia is the fear of April Fool’s Day. Here are a few of the phobias associated with this day termed social phobias because they entail being embarrassed in public or worse.

Katagelophobia – Fear of Ridicule or Embarrassment
Neophobia – Fear of something new
Scopophobia – Fear of being stared at
Ereuthophobia – Fear of blushing
Mythophobia – Fear of making a false statement
Traumatophobia – Fear of being emotionally wounded or injured

Do you usffer from any of these?

Is there something about the time of year, with its turn from winter to spring, that lends itself to light-hearted celebrations? I think so! What do you think? Are you a prankster or not? Remember, don’t pull a prank on someone that you wouldn’t mind being pulled on you, because hurting someone’s feelings is no joke at all!

Posted in My Say What Blog and tagged ALl Fools Day, Aphrilophobia, April Fools Day, Fun, jokes, Phobias, pramks by Tena Stetler with comments disabled.

Mar 20th Ever Been on A Road Trip From Hell?

I never had such a road trip until the last two weeks. The first day out, we made it to Gallup, New Mexico relatively unscathed. The next day, sustained 55 mph winds with 75-86 mph gusts derailed our plans, nearly derailed our fifth wheel, and put us a day behind, not to mention destroying a window in the trailer. After a pickup truck and trailer were flipped over ahead of us by the wind, we pulled off in Flagstaff, the wind was way to scary to continue.

The next day we made it to Las Vegas where hubby attended ConEx, a construction conference. At the trailer, I did a final check on A Warlock’s Secrets and sent it back to my editor. Should have a release date soon. A reveal of the swoon worthy cover and exciting blurb are on the horizon! I can’t wait for you to read it! We played tourist with friends, local to Las Vegas, visiting the dancing fountains of the Bellagio and attending a performance of the Cirque Du Soleil show KA. Fantastic show! After we finished up in Vegas, it was on to California and disaster struck again.

As we headed down the highway, passing through Bakersfield, a trucker pulled along side us and waved — pointing to our trailer. We pulled off at the next exit to find smoke rolling out from behind the right front wheel of our trailer. Thank God for truckers. Upon further examination the bearing had failed and melted to the axle. Now these bearings had less than five-hundred miles on them. It was Friday at 5:00 p.m., all the parts places were closed, so we limped our trailer on three wheels to A Country RV Park approximately 2.8 miles away. What luck to find one so close! We couldn’t have asked for a better place. The staff were friendly and very helpful!

Saturday morning bright and early hubby started calling RV Parts places. He learned that an axle needed to be ordered and would take a few days to arrive, since the warehouses wouldn’t open until Monday. Being a glass half full type of guy, hubby went outside and re-inspected the damage, made a couple of phone calls and yanked out the trusty tools he always packs on our travels. After a visit to an RV parts place and several hundred dollars, he had the parts to fix the damage. Yea!!

Nope that was not all. As my hubby began work on the axel, I received a phone call informing us a good friend had a heart attack and was being rushed to the hospital. My heart sank. Back to the mechanical situation – a few bouts of expletives from hubby and four hours later we were on our way again.

Finally we arrived at our destination in California, visited a few days with relatives, and traveled on to Riverton, WY to meet up with friends, then home to Colorado without further complications. The daffodils, crocus, hyacinth and tulips in our yard are bravely poking their sprouts above ground. Spring is here along with it a lot more camping adventures (as soon as we get a new window). FYI, our friend survived her heart attack and is on the road to recovery! So as they say, (never figured out who they are… but…) all’s well that ends well. Thankfully! Have you ever had a road trip like this?

Posted in My Say What Blog and tagged A Walrock's Secrets, California, Colorado, Heart Attack, Las Vegas, New Mexico, o, Road Trip, RVIng, Wheel bearing by Tena Stetler with comments disabled.

Mar 16th It’s Here Again, the PPLD Mountain of Authors!

Yippee!!!!! My first book signing of 2017 happens at Pikes Peak Library District’s Mountain of Authors, April 8^th, 2017 at Library 21C, 1175 Chapel Hills Drive, Colorado Springs, CO. For more information click on the logo to the left and for directions to Library 21C click on “map it“. After attending the Mountain of Author’s last year, I am thrilled to be invited back. I had a blast in 2016 talking with several of my favorite authors, Anne Hillerman and local author Nancy Atherton just to name a few. If you have ever wanted to write a book or visit with your favorite local authors this is the place to be. Have you been to the Library 21C? It’s quite a wondrous place where the magic of imagination runs rampant, but quietly. LOL

This year Mark Lee Gardner, Pikes Peak regional historian, author, and musician is the keynote speaker. There will be two panel discussions one on historical authors and another group to answer the question “I Wrote a Book…Now What?” Boy, that’s a question a lot of aspiring authors need answers to, so come on by, the fun starts at 11:00 a.m. Bring your friends and meet your favorite local authors. A fun time and chocolate will be had by all, I promise!

I’ll be signing my books along with approximately thirty other Pikes Peak region authors from 4 to 5 p.m., please come by for a chat. Learn about my newest novel, A Warlock’s Secrets, to be released this spring, it’s the second in the Demon’s Witch series. Maybe even get a peek at the swoon worthy cover art. Print copies of my books will be available, so what are you waiting for, mark it on your calendar right now in big red letters. You don’t want to miss it.

See you at the PPLD Mountain of Authors. If you are in the area, please stop by, I look forward to meeting and talking with all of you. If you want a signed copy of one of my books and are unable to attend Mountain of Authors, leave a comment and I’ll make arrangements to get you one.

Posted in My Say What Blog and tagged Book Signing, Demons, local lore, Mountain of Authors, Pikes Peak Library District, Romance, Tena Stetler, Witches by Tena Stetler with 2 comments.

Feb 26th If March Comes in Like a Lamb Will It Go Out Like Lion?

Have you noticed? This year already is flying by at the speed of light, and we find ourselves on the cusp of another March. Will it come in like a lamb or lion? Did you know early documented use of the phrase goes back to 1732? I for one am hoping for the lamb but does that mean it will go out like a lion?

When I was a kid, yes, I really was a kid once, I loved March. Using bright colored construction paper to draw and cut out kites with long tails, taping them to the windows or even building my own kite were activities I looked forward to. Hope of spring and warm weather were all around, then WHAM a foot of the wet, white stuff struck.

Weather aphorisms are as colorful as our imagination. So is the lamb or lion adage based on observation and accurate or merely rhymes or beliefs of the folks who came before us? These are the same individuals that believed angering spirits could change the weather adversely, so they were careful in what they did or didn’t do.

Could there be balance in weather such as if the weather came storming in, (like a lion) could it go out warm and calm. (like a lamb)? What about life itself, is there a balance? I my world ying & yang are skewed so far out of whack — but that’s a topic for another time. So maybe the lion and lamb thing is more rhyme than a true weather predictor. What do you think?

Traditionally in my neck of the woods, March’s weather is unpredictable. We can see warm spring-like temperatures or late-season snowstorms. So you can understand how this saying might hold true.

Of course in Colorado anytime of the year you can experience all four seasons in a twenty-four hour period. LOL

Where does that leave us? With the hope that if March starts off cold and stormy it will end warm and sunny, but the key word is hope.

Scientific assistance for you: A halo around the sun or moon is caused by the refraction of that body’s light by ice crystals at high altitude. Such high-level moisture is a precursor to moisture moving in at increasingly lower levels, and is a good indicator that an active weather system is on its way.