Let’s be honest. You know who this is and where he’s from.
(Spiraling into darkness and insanity. Yeah . . . I don’t know how many of these poems I have, but it’s certainly a common theme. That being said, it would be terrifying to be trapped in your own mind and unable to do anything about it.)
There is some debate on if ghosts should count as cryptids. I’m going with yes with this one because nobody is sure if these are ghosts. They’re certainly creepy and unnerving if you see them. Nobody knows what they are, so could be anything from ghosts to trick of the light to a local family of cannibals living in the wilderness.
Found in California’s Saint Lucia Mountains, these beings have been around since the 1700’s. They are tall (10 feet tall) figures wearing hats and capes. Usually described as shadowy men, they appear on mountaintops at twilight or dawn when the light isn’t very strong. The stories say nobody has seem them up close and those that have approach would disappear.
Much of the Dark Watchers come from fiction though. John Steinbeck wrote of them briefly and his son claimed to have seen them as a child. John’s mother also believed in them and claimed to trade gifts, but not with any actual contact. Poet Robinson Jeffers also mentioned them, but gave them a physical description while most sightings have them as featureless figures. So, it’s clear the fiction plays around with these beings, which remain unknown.
The reality probably isn’t as interesting. Tricks of the light is a possibility. Pareidolia is another one because it is when our brains seek out familiar shapes and patterns in our environment. It’s the same thing that has people seeing Jesus in things or the Man in the Moon. A third option is people are suffering from lack of oxygen from the high elevations as well as exhaustion. Finally, it could simply be that a person or animal happened to be standing there at an angle that made them appear huge. You know, like Bigfoot just hanging around at twilight and being mistaken for something else.
Actually, there is another option called the ‘Brocken Specter’, which I think is pretty cool. This is an optical illusion that makes the viewer’s shadow bigger on the clouds or mist ahead of them. It happens when the sun is behind a person who is looking into a misty area. Their shadow is projected forward in a triangular, inhuman distortion to make it appear larger. The only issue I see is that the person supposedly has to be looking down into the misty area while the Dark Watchers are said to be seen from above or possibly on level ground. Maybe people just have the angle wrong?
Here’s another excerpt from Quest of the Brokenhearted and it’s the introduction of a fun supporting character. Lacarsis was a monster-making playground for me and I needed to think of a great way to start the tournament. For some reason, this scenario kept playing out in my head. Enjoy.
Found in the largest freshwater lake in Alaska, this mysterious creature is said to be 30 feet long. It has metallic scales and a large head. Some stories have its head shaped like a wolf while others a shark. Being an aquatic creature, it can dive underwater and stay down there for a very long time. So, what is the history of this cryptid?
Two pilots claimed they saw the Iliamna Lake Monster in 1942 when they were flying overhead. Others came out to say the same. A biologist saw it in 1963 and a missionary saw it twice in 1967. The second guy is interesting because he decided to land his plane on the lake and fish for the beast. He used steel cables with tuna as bait, which were claimed and . . . the plane was dragged around the lake while he swam for shore. When it was recovered, three of the cables were gone and the hooks where straightened. Other simpler sightings throughout the years had people claiming they saw a large fin in the water and at least one in 2017 claimed they saw it blowing water.
Going back further, the Tlingit people have a legend about a large creature in the lake called Gonkadet. It has the head and tail of a wolf on the body of an orca, which is similar to the Akhlut. It was considered a ‘fish god’ and may have been what stirred the imagination of the pilots who saw it initially.
With the lake being connected to the Bering Sea, there are a few possibilities as to the actual animal. As usual, a plesiosaur is on the list. This would be the long-necked, four-finned dinosaur that people also think is Nessie. More modern animals also fit the bill such as beluga whales, which are known to swim into the lake from time to time. They would fit some descriptions that are seen from far away, but not above. A final possibility is the White Sturgeon. These fish can get pretty big and match some of the description even though they haven’t been seen in the lake specifically.
Seems lake monsters always have a more logical explanation even if they aren’t as much fun. Still, do you think a lake can hold a large beast, especially if it has access to the ocean for it to disappear?
Today is apparently National Badger Day. For anyone who doesn’t know, a badger is a member of the weasel family. They are short, stocky, nocturnal omnivores known for digging burrows. There are six main species with a variety of subspecies, but we’re going to do a general overview. As far as conservation status, they are listed as not endangered or threatened.
To connect this to October’s monster theme, badgers do show up in a lot of folklore in the areas they live. Chinese and Japanese stories tell of them being shapeshifters, which is common for animal myths there. Some European cultures say badgers are a sign of spring, which was originally held by the bear until that species declined. They are an animal totem of the Goddess Brigantia and is celebrated on Imbolc (February 2nd . . . Wait a minute.) In the Americas, the badger can be associated with warfare. There are also instances of the poor thing being a symbol of bad luck.
Now, for animal facts:
Badger have a sense of smell that is 800 times that of a human.
They create a separate bathroom outside of their burrow to keep their home clean.
Eurasian badgers have families and will pass homes down through generations, which turns them into tunnel networks.
American badgers have been seen working with coyotes to hunt food.
Honey badgers are resistant to snake venom.
Males are called boars and females are called sows. A group is called a cete.
There is debate on if there are 3, 6, or 11 species of badgers. I went with 6 to include more pictures:
Asian Badger (Not sure how this one really differs from Japanese Badger)
Last weekend was about as productive as I thought it would be, which isn’t much. I only finished editing one chapter of Darwin & the Demon Game. I thought I could do two on Saturday, but I had a few extra errands and got stuck hunkering in shelter to avoid the rain while playing Pokemon Go. There were also chores, so I only got the one chapter done by the end of the day. Sunday was for family and ended up being a longer day than I expected. By the time I got home, I just wanted to finish a Lego set and crawl into bed to prepare for work.
Conserving my energy was a big thing this week in general. I went to bed early a lot because everyone around me had colds. Needed to make sure I wasn’t wearing myself down and leaving myself open to getting really sick. Managed to make it to Rosh Hashanah break in decent health. Only issues I had were the usual chronic ones like anxiety, funky breathing, and slight dehydration. I’ll call that a win even though it meant I sacrificed editing on all but one evening when I got part of the next chapter done. Really should tackle the rest this weekend.
I will admit that I tried to use my limited free time to my advantage. So, I made a lot of progress on the December blog posts. That might not sound like anything special, but it means I can utilize the breaks in October and November for editing. Thinking of making the January posts rather simple like Questions 3 on the 5 Wednesdays, Top 5 of 2024 on the Fridays, and something on the Mondays. Are there any types of posts that I haven’t done in a while that people liked? Wish I had more ideas for Ye Olde Shoppes, which are fun to write. Not sure if I should re-publish a few of those. Got plenty of time to figure that out.
Geez, that’s why I wasn’t able to edit on Sunday. Been such a crazy week with so much personal drama that I forgot it was my niece’s 4th birthday brunch. A worthy reason to not be writing. Sadly, I didn’t have my son that weekend, but they’re coming today for Rosh Hashanah. We’ll eat with them after we go Pokemon hunting for the event in the park. The game is becoming a big father/son bonding activity, but I have to play when he’s not around to make sure I don’t fall behind and earn his teenage-style mockery.
This coming week is going to be a full one of work with appointments on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday . . . This is why I can’t get much done during the week after work. The whole thing ends with Yom Kippur starting Friday evening, which means I need to eat and rest as much as possible on Saturday. Of course, there’s a big Pokemon Go event that involves a special Pokemon debuting on Saturday afternoon. I’ll be dragging myself out there with my son, so that we can catch it. We get 15 free tries, so I said we’ll do that and go home. This might require that I eat a little before sundown, but I’ve been getting dizzy with hunger on most days around 1 PM. Not sure what’s going on, but this year might not go very smoothly. Probably should buy a breakfast bar and not try to nosh on candy with an empty stomach.
Really can’t think of anything else going on. I knew that the change in school times would have a massive impact on my free time and progress. Didn’t realize it would be combined with 4-5 appointments a week, which kills it almost entirely. Probably a good thing that I’m editing instead of writing anything fresh. With any luck, things will settle down with the appointments after the new year, but I might not get to Darwin & the Joy Path until next summer. Not sure what’s going to happen in general either because I keep forgetting to reach out to the cover artist. Hard to get myself to do that when I can’t even get to editing. Publish a book and try to promote it when I can barely breathe? Feels like a daunting task and my confidence is in terrible shape. Next free day I have, I’m going to reach out and get my act together.
What are the goals of the week?
Try to edit one chapter of Darwin & the Demon Game.
Rest up when I can.
Time with son when possible.
Finish reading library book and return it.
Make it through Yom Kippur.
Tinker with notebooks if possible.
Extra sleep on Wednesday to help get through the rest of the week.
