Christmas Doves

There was some snow, though more ice here in Edmond, America on Christmas day. Marilyn, as usual, fed everyone, including the birds. Here is a pic of a pair of Christmas doves that helped us celebrate the holidays.
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Mayan Doomsday 2012

Ceremonial Black Cup

Ancient Mayans seemed to think the world—at least as we know it—would end on December 21, 2012. The time for the predicted disaster has come and gone. The Mayans, like many of the ancients, were accomplished astronomers. Perhaps a slight adjustment in the universe occurred since the prediction. Maybe we’ll never know.

A similar civilization existed in the Midwestern part of the United States, from settlements near the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. These early Americans built large villages along the main rivers beginning around 800 A.D., though there were humans in the area as long as 8000 years ago. The Spiro Mounds in eastern Oklahoma is but one of these settlements.

Thousands of artifacts have been collected at the Spiro Mounds, including intricately engraved seashells. Anthropologists call the early Americans that populated these settlements Mississippians. One of the artifacts found at Spiro, and at other Mississippian settlements, was the black cup. During rituals, Mississippians would drink strong, highly caffeinated teas from the black cup until they vomited, ridding their bodies of evil and facilitating the ability to predict the future.

In my book,  Morning Mist of Blood, gumshoe detective Buck McDivit meets Esme, a mystic, healer, and possibly the last of the Mississippians. With her assistance, he takes a dream walk, visiting the Great Spirit in his cabin. Together, they puff a cloud blower and drink from the black cup until Buck gains insight into the mystery he is trying to solve.

It’s December 21, 2012, and the world hasn’t ended. It doesn’t mean the ancient Mayans, Incas and Mississippians didn’t have considerable knowledge about the world as we know it. It simply means the asteroids, or whatever celestial objects were supposed to collide with our planet became somehow shunted by a millisecond or so.

Many of the heavenly secrets discovered by the ancients are lost to us forever. I’m planning a trip to Spiro during the spring equinox to communicate with the spirits and try to solve a few mysteries. Meanwhile, I’ll take a puff from my cloud blower and slug another shot of strong coffee from my black cup. Maybe by midnight, I'll have a few predictions of my own, to make.

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Aunt Carmol's Southern Tomato Soup - a weekend recipe

I visited New Orleans for the first time in the fifties. My Aunt Carmol was a school teacher and gave brother Jack and me daily guided tours of the city while we were there. Aunt Carmol was also a wonderful cook, and especially liked preparing and serving authentic Creole dishes. Jack and I loved Aunt Carmol’s Southern Tomato Soup. Try it. I’ll bet you will too.

Ingredients

• 2 quarts tomatoes
• 1 cucumber, peeled and cut small
• 1 onion, large, sliced
• 1 dozen okra, sliced
• 1 ham bone, large
• 1 Tbsp flour
• Salt to taste
• Cayenne to taste
• 3 pats butter

Directions

Cook tomatoes in three pints of water for 10 minutes. Drain and save the water. Press tomatoes through a sieve. Add cucumber, onion, okra, hambone, and the saved water to the tomatoes. Simmer for 3 hours. Combine flour with cold water to form a paste. Add to soup before serving, along with salt, cayenne, and butter.

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Free Ebook From Eric Wilder

Happy Holidays to Everyone!

During a late spring snowstorm in a sleepy Tulsa suburb, an old man runs away from his abusive son and meets a woman, perhaps by magic. Together they find adventure and fall in love. But there are unanswered questions. How old is too old to fall in love, and when should you give up on life? Take the journey with John and Attie and find out.

Here's my holiday present to all of my fans.

Thank you,

Eric

 Click here to Download

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Louisiana Tech Afraid to Play Old Rival

Louisiana Tech refused today to accept a bowl bid to play their old Gulf States Conference rival University of Louisiana at Monroe in the 2012 Independence Bowl in Shreveport, Louisiana. "They're not good enough to waste our time on," the athletic director says.

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