What Do You Do When Research Hands You a Curve Ball?

 Egypt has always fascinated me and I have many reference books on my shelf. One period of the ancient land has always fascinated me and I wanted to write a time travel, taking someone from today back to the time when there were many men wanting to become Pharaoh. I also liked the idea of the Hyksos invasion. So I began my research, finding everything I could think of from customs, burial, daily life, the gods and goddesses. I had enough to begin and so I did

 

 

I had just finished the rough, rough draft when I was idly flipping channels on the television when I program about camels came on. Since there were camels in my story, I settled in to watch. Something jumped out at me. There were no camels in Egypt until around one AD. No! Now what was I to do? I couldn’t write this book the way I had planned. I needed an alternate universe. I had read a series on an alternate world taking place in Italy with the Pope and if I remember Venice. This is what I would do. To make my world an alternate one I had to change much. So the first book changed as did the hero and heroine. I also changed the gods, not really, just a bit giving three main ones Horu (Horus) Bast and Toth. And so the trilogy of an alternate Egypt was born. All because there were no camels in Egypt when I wante54r4rd them to be there.

The wilds of Georgian Bay and the North Channel by J.C. Kavanagh

Darkness Descends, 

Book 2 of the award-winning Twisted Climb series

It's been a spectacularly hot and sunny summer here in Ontario and I've been fortunate to spend much of it on my sailboat, Escape Route II, cruising Georgian Bay and the North Channel. It's been said that the North Channel is the Number One destination in the world for boating/sailing. Yes, it beats the Caribbean and Mediterranean for best cruising spots.

I can attest to the fact that the water is the clearest and cleanest of all the places I've sailed (including the Caribbean). The same applies to the scenery. Rock cliffs, boulders of every size and shape, quartz covered mountains, calm waters and savage, storm-wracked waves keep the views ever-changing. Me and my partner Ian spent a month sailing from Midland, Ontario (the southern point of Georgian Bay), up to Beausoleil Island, Hopewell Bay, Parry Sound, The Bad River (where you'll find the Devil's Door Rapids I write about in my book, Darkness Descends), Killarney, Little Current (which it's not), the Benjamin Islands, Wingfield Basin and Christian Island. We anchored 29 of 31 nights. 

Ian has such a great sense of humour and is a superb captain. Being in such close quarters for a month can be trying for some couples, but not for us. Below is one example of how every day is an adventure with Captain Ian.

When I asked for more cream cheese

Yup, we like to keep things fun!
If you like to see pics of nature and the beauty around us, including native animals and birds, and believe that vacation pics are not punishment (as per Betty White), check out my photos below. You'll see from the scenery that many parts of Georgian Bay and the North Channel are still wild and untamed.

A curious porcupine near Parry Sound, Ontario

A pileated woodpecker at Kilcoursie Bay, near Parry Sound

A pair of loons and their babies, north of Beausoleil Island

Cell Tower - they should all be made like this (outside the Shawanaga Inlet)

Granite cliffs are the backdrop to the 

Escape Route II at anchor, The Bad River 

Part of the Devil's Door Rapids at the Bad River

Mountains surrounding Baie Fine, North Channel

Beavers at dinner, Covered Portage Cove near Killarney

Executive beaver lodgings

Overlooking The Pool anchorage, North Channel.

Me and Topaz Lake

Storm threatens at the Benjamin Islands, North Channel

The Screaming Tree (not The Scream by Edvard Munch) at Covered Portage Cove

Anchored at The Cove

My 27" pike - was a yummy dinner!

Morning mist over the mountains of Killarney, Ontario

Navigating waves and the 40 knot winds. 

When you're sailing, every day is 'bad hair' day :)

Georgian Bay waves at 

Wingfield Basin near the tip of the Bruce Peninsula

Remnants of the Gargantua, 

a barge built in 1923 and sunk in 1952 in Wingfield Basin

The Gargantua in 1923

J.C. Kavanagh 
The Twisted Climb, voted BEST Young Adult Book 2016, P&E Readers' Poll 
AND 

The Twisted Climb - Darkness Descends (Book 2) 

Novels for teens, young adults and adults young at heart 

Email: author.j.c.kavanagh@gmail.com 

www.facebook.com/J.C.Kavanagh 

www.amazon.com/author/jckavanagh 

Twitter @JCKavanagh1 (Author J.C. Kavanagh)

The Banyan Tree

Today, I write about one of the enduring metaphors of India. In a passage from the Bhagavad-gita, Krishna states that “There is a banyan tree which has its roots upward and its branches down and whose leaves are the Vedic hymns. One who knows this tree is the knower of the Vedas.”

The verse refers to the reflection of the tree upon water, where it appears to be opposite to reality—that is, the reflection shows the branches down and the roots going up. The original tree, growing on land, is compared to the spiritual world whereas the reflection is seen as the material world. The tree of this material world is only a reflection of the real tree of the spiritual world.

The name Banyan has an interesting origin. In the Gujarati language, baniya means "grocer or merchant," not "tree." The Portuguese observed that the shade of the tree was frequented by Banyans (a corruption of Baniyas, a community of Indian traders,) and confused the name of that community for the tree. By 1634, English writers began to tell of the banyan tree, a tree under which Hindu merchants conducted their business. The tree provided a shaded place for a village meeting or for merchants to sell their goods. Eventually, "banyan" became the name of the tree itself.

The tree is also mentioned in other texts and traditions. In Tamil texts, Shiva, as Dakshinamurthy, is nearly always depicted as sitting in silence under the Banyan with Rishis (Seers) at his feet. The tree is thought of as perfectly symbolizing eternal life due to its seemingly unending expansion.

Shiva under the Banyan Tree

The banyan tree is the national tree of India. It is also called Indian or Bengal fig. It is considered sacred and can be seen near a temple or religious center. An old custom offers worship to this tree.

The metaphor of the Banyan tree suggests the following: that to attain spiritual realization, one has to understand the flickering nature of the material world. Sometimes, as waters move on a lake, the reflection of the tree appears and disappears. One who transcends material existence is able to understand this, and focuses his gaze on the real tree instead of its reflection. Thus, according to the passage, one who knows this truly, knows the Vedas (the texts of spiritual wisdom.)

The Yoga Zapper

Mohan Ashtakala is the author of "The Yoga Zapper," published by Books We Love.