Chloe Holiday's Blog, page 18

Commander’s Coins

While my main goal is that my stories are entertaining, I also hope that a reader leaves the novel richer in some way, having learned something cool, or with a new way to think about things. One of the advantages of writing about military personnel for a writer who’s actually been in the military is that small, accurate details can help bring the story alive.

In both New Heights and the upcoming Submerged Hopes, there are instances of a “coin check” in a bar, in which the “value” of the proffered medallion determines who picks up the check. So today, let’s chat about Commander’s Coins, also called Challenge Coins.

As far back as during the Roman Empire, soldiers were rewarded with coins for a special achievement. In the time before special coins were minted, a soldier who’d conducted himself bravely in battle was given a coin to buy a drink by his superior. Sometimes, the coin was just handed over, but more often, it was a spectacle, with the coin slapped down loudly on the bar, to call attention to the soldier. Coins from a high-ranking officer were felt to be more valuable, and were often saved rather than being used for a drink, instead carried as a tangible reminder of glory.

During World War I, prior to the entry of the U.S. into the war, volunteers left college and jobs to form flying squadrons, including some aviators from wealthy families. In one such squadron, a wealthy lieutenant ordered bronze medallions for his unit as a gesture of solidarity. One pilot wore his in a leather pouch. When his aircraft was damaged by ground fire, his forced landing put him behind enemy lines, and he was captured by a German patrol, who confiscated his ID. He was able to escape during a bombardment that night, found some civilian clothes, and made it to a French outpost. However, the French assumed he was a saboteur and were going to execute him. Though he had no ID to prove he was American, he showed his medallion to them, and one recognized the unit insignia, and delayed his execution long enough to confirm his identity. Instead of a bullet, they gave him a bottle of wine.

His squadron saw the value of the medallions, and it became tradition to for members to challenge each other to produce the coin. If a member could not, they were required to buy the challenger a drink. If the service member came up with the medallion, the challenger had to buy the other guy a drink.

Challenge coins are still used today, both to foster unit morale, and to reward special achievements. The “rules” vary from branch to branch, and within units, but some general rules apply. The act of challenging is called a “Coin Check.” It often begins with the challenger drawing a coin and slapping it onto the bar, or rapping it loudly to call attention. Everyone challenged must produce their organizational coin or any special achievement coin they possess. Failing to do so means they must buy a round of drinks for the challenger and everyone who has their coin. If all of the challenged service members are able to show their coin, the challenger must buy for the group. If someone drops their coin in a hideous show of disrespect, they’d better be prepared to open their wallet for everyone there.

Most coin holders carry them in their pockets or billfolds, but a coin within “a step and a reach” is permitted, so someone with an extra coin might choose to pass one to a buddy. Coins on belt buckles or key chains don’t count, however. If one is so careless as to allow someone to steal a challenge coin, they must buy a round for the thief and the entire group. In addition, the holder of the highest-ranking coin gets a drink from everyone. Some people never have to buy again!

The “rank” of the coin is determined in part by the rank of the giver, e.g. a coin given by a Captain outranks one given by a Lieutenant, and an Admiral’s coin outranks both. A coin’s rank is also determined by the difficulty of the achievement for which the coin was given: a special achievement counts for more than a unit coin.

Coins given for merit are often handed out at the time by high-ranking officers, or the service member is called in later for recognition. In either case, the rewarding officer palms the coin, disguised as a handshake, and presses it between them. It’s a fun moment, to feel the hard, smooth edge, and wonder what it looks like.

No Bull: Knossos, Crete

One of the cool places featured in Helios is the ancient Minoan palace at Knossos, Crete. This Bronze Age settlement in northern Crete is Europe’s oldest city, first settled in the Neolithic age. The population peaked at over 100,000, and was abandoned for unknown reason around 1100 B.C.

Knossos is the legendary site of the labyrinth which housed the Minotaur, a half-man, half-bull creature who was fed Greek youngsters as tributes. The monster was killed by Theseus, who was helped by the king’s daughter, when she gave him a spindle of thread, which he used to find his way out of the maze again.

The palace was huge for the time, covering over three acres, and featured an amphitheater which seated four hundred. The palace is famous for its frescoes, which involve bare-breasted women, griffins, sea creatures like dolphins, and the famous bull-leaping fresco.

The Bull-Leaping Fresco appears to indicate that acrobats, both male and female, grasped the horns of a charging bull, and used his head toss to somersault over the back of the bull to land upright behind him. It’s not clear if this represents something that actually happened; Wikipedia states: “Modern attempts to recreate the leaping on modern cattle have resulted only in a number of deaths.”

The bull has been venerated in many cultures, from the Apis bulls of ancient Egypt who were embalmed before burial, to the cave paintings of the aurochs in the cave paintings of Lascaux. The bull was admired for his strength and virility, and cows thought to be quite beautiful: Zeus’s wife Hera was named “ox-eyed Hera,” which referred to her lovely big eyes. Zeus coupled with her priestess Io when she was transformed into a heifer, and in the guise of a bull, he kidnapped Europa and brought her to Crete.

Bulls were sacrificed to ensure success in battle in the Roman Empire, and important enough that one of the constellations is Taurus.

Think this is all dusty old stuff? Bulls are often depicted in modern nativity scenes, and bull-wrangling sports persist to this date, from the bull-dogging of modern rodeo, to the Running of the Bulls, to bull fighting.

Here’s a couple of references, for the archaeology of Knossos and the bull leaping:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heraklion_Archaeological_Museum

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bull-Leaping_Fresco

Windmills as scenery and plot

In New Heights, the windmills are more than just scenery, so let’s delve into them a little more!

The Lasithi plateau in Eastern Crete is famous for its windmills, as is the island of Mykonos. There were once ten thousand windmills on the plateau, though only a fraction remain. These dotted the landscape like pinwheels, with their triangular jib sails.

Panemone windmills were first developed in Eastern Iran in the 9th century. These windmills’ sails rotated in a horizontal plane around a vertical access, using sails of cloth or reed matting. Later post mills were in use in Europe in the 12th century; these used vertical orientation of the sails and allowed the body of the mechanism to be mounted on a central post which could pivot to face into the wind. By the end of the 13th century, tower mills made of masonry became the standard, in which only the cap rotated to face the wind. They were more powerful, because they could be taller. In some locations, the cap was fixed, since the wind direction was relatively constant. These windmills were efficient, because the mill did not have to be stopped to winch the cap around to face the wind.

One interesting aside I learned is that in the Netherlands, the stationary position of the sails has been used to signal. If the configuration of the still blades is a “+” sign (at the 3/6/9/12 o’clock position), it means the mill is open for business. An “X” configuration means the mill is closed or non-functional. A tilt to the right, with the top blade at 1 o’clock, signals joy, such as for the birth of a healthy baby. A tilt to the left, to 11 o’clock signals mourning or danger. Such signals were used during Nazi operations to signal searches for Jews, and as recently as 2014, mills were configured this way for the victims of the Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 shootdown.

The Greek windmills were used for water or grain; a few were double mills, which did both. A xetrocharchis mill has a cylindrical shape; an axetrocharchis mill is rectangular with a curved, semi-circular front face. The grain mills caused a millstone to turn (the runner), grinding against a stationary stone (the standing stone) below it. Grain was poured through holes in the stone, and flour leaked out the sides to be collected in a chute and bagged. Mills had multiple floors, allowing separation of the grain, final products, and various parts of the mechanism. Depending on the wind speed and size of the millstones, a mill might grind 300-500 lbs of flour per hour, of which the miller’s cut was customarily ten percent.

If you want to read more about grain mills in operation, here’s a wonderful site to check out: http://www.angelfire.com/journal/millrestoration/millstones.html

Many of the ancient Greek windmills are being restored and converted into other uses, like bed and breakfasts, though the one featured in New Heights was used for something else entirely!

Windmills have been featured extensively in literature, from Don Quixote, to Henry IV, to Animal Farm. Now we can add New Heights to that list! Here’s a fun site that contains many poems and other references to windmills in literature: https://tringlocalhistory.org.uk/Windmills/c_chapter_15.htm#:~:text=The%20most%20famous%20episode%20in,the%20waving%20arms%20of%20giants.

Military Lingo: Navy Speak

When I read for fun, part of that experience is learning something new. My about-to-be-released novel New Heights involves a Navy man as the hero, and while the peek into another world is fascinating, the slang is so entertaining! So to celebrate the release, here’s some Navy Speak for your linguistic pleasure!

I’ll concentrate on three main categories: food-related, job-related, and general terms.

Mandatory Fun is a command-sponsored party or other entertainment: You WILL attend, and you WILL have fun!

To “pull chocks” means to get ready to leave (chocks being the wedge-shaped blocks that are placed in front of and behind the wheels of a vehicle or airplane to keep it in place).

To “get the gouge” means to get the low-down, and implies a stripped-down version of the necessary points, with no fluff.

Another Fine Navy Day is the Navy equivalent of “living the dream.”

A new sailor may be sent to fetch 1D10T for a job, not realizing that the “one dee ten tee” they seek is a mythological substance, whose name approximates “IDIOT.”

A dense sailor is called a Seaman Timmy, and the Man Overboard practice dummies are named Oscar, so it’s not flattering to say you’d like to nominate someone for an Oscar!

Food-related terms include geedunk (candy from a vending machine), too much of which can lead to one sporting a huge geedunk-a-donk. Ravioli from a can? Call it pillows of death. The meat identifier is the side dish, which serves as a clue to the meat itself (applesauce indicates pork, horseradish suggests beef). Some of the food terms are rude, like fried horse cock for fried bologna, but have a care–fried calamari is in fact an electrocuted sailor (a sailor being a squid)!

Job-related terms may be descriptive, like wire biter for electrician, or more whimsical (wizard for nuclear technician, because they never come out of the basement, like a D&D master). A Master-At-Arms, however, is a military police officer. A Blue Nose is a sailor who’s experienced crossing the Arctic Circle, a shellback has crossed the equator, while a pollywog has done neither. Many of these terms have a derisive tone indicative of inter-branch or interdepartmental rivalries, like Snake Eaters for Special Forces like Green Berets or Navy SEALs or Fresh Water Navy for the US Coast Guard. Similarly, an Air Force salute is a shrug, and Air Force Gloves refers to standing around with one’s hands in one’s pockets.

I’ll include an interesting military tradition in my next newsletter!

Non-PITA Pita and other Greek Recipes

One fun thing about doing novel research is learning, and for a novel set in another country, that means food! In a strange circle of Life Inspiring Art in turn inspiring my life, I have learned how to crack an egg with one hand, how to make my own hummus (easy with a food processor!), pita (easy without one!) and gyros, and my garden now includes dill and cucumbers.

The pita’s surprisingly fun to flip in the pan to cook, and in the heat of the summer, it’s really nice to make a quick supper that doesn’t heat up the oven & house. So in honor of The Helios Series, here’s my recipes for Non-PITA Pita, Hummus, Tzatziki, and Gyros, adapted from lots of trial and error, and using my special, easy No One Cares brand of low-pressure cookery:

Non-PITA Pita

160 ml milk

90 ml water (Pour the milk to just over 150, then add water to just shy of the 250 ml line. Easy!)

2 T EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)

1 pkg yeast

1 tsp salt

1 tsp thyme

2 ½ c flour

Microwave the water/milk 60-90 seconds, then add the EVOO and yeast; stir. Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl, dump in the liquids, and stir. Almost done! Sprinkle a little bit of flour onto the countertop and plop the dough onto it. Dust your hands with flour and knead to make sure it’s all mixed (we’re only talking 60 seconds. The dough will be a little sticky). Rub a teaspoon of EVOO inside the bowl, throw in the dough, and flip it so that both sides have a bit of oil to keep it from sticking. Set it aside to rise, about an hour. If it will be awhile before you cook them, cover & refrigerate.

When it’s time to make the pitas, pour 1 tsp of EVOO onto the countertop and smooth it around (It’s fine! Olive oil doesn’t count!) Wipe the excess on your rolling pin. Put a skillet on the stove over medium heat. With your hands, form the dough into a log of whatever size you like, chop it in half, and divide each half into thirds. Wad these into balls—these are your pitas.

Take one pita ball, smoosh it with your palm, and  use the rolling pin to roll it out to about 7” (no one cares if it’s exact, nor whether they’re round—they won’t be. This is artisan pita.). Peel the pita off the countertop with both hands and lay it into the pan—no oil. Start your next pita while the first one cooks, remembering to check it (an assistant is good the first time) in a minute or two. Add more oil to the countertop and rolling pin if the dough sticks. Lift up the edge of the pita to check for brown spots and either flip it with a spatula or with the pan (practice your flip with a damp washrag, no heat, to flip like a boss). Slide out the pita and make the next one.

Yay! How fun is that?

Tsatziki

 1 cucumber, peeled and shredded

1/3 to 3 crushed cloves of garlic (maybe 3 T)

3 T white wine vinegar

2 T dill, fresh or dried (more is good, too)

2 T EVOO

1 ½ cups of Greek yogurt

1 ½  t salt

pepper to taste

Peel & grate the cucumber; toss with ½ t of salt. Set aside in a colander to drip. Mix up the rest, then squeeze out the cucumber in a dishtowel, then dump into the yogurt mixture and blend. That’s all there is to it!

 

Hummus

1 ½ c dried chickpeas, soaked overnight with 1 tsp baking soda

¼ c crushed garlic

3/8 cup of lemon juice

2 t salt

1 ½ t cumin

½ c tahini

5 T water

Soak the chickpeas with baking soda overnight, then cook 90 minutes over low heat; drain. Meanwhile, mix the salt, garlic, lemon juice, and cumin and let sit. When the chickpeas are cool enough to handle, dump into a food processor with the juice mixture and tahini, and whiz. It may seem thin but will set up as it cools. That’s it! Hooray!

 

Chicken Gyros

3 lb chicken breasts

2 onions: 1 sliced, 1 chopped

3 sprigs oregano (or 2T dried)

3 cloves garlic, crushed

1 T honey

3 T white wine vinegar, divided

tzatziki sauce

fresh tomatoes, chopped or sliced

Slice chicken breasts 3/8” thick and marinate overnight with everything but the tomatoes and sliced onion. Drain and cook 5-7 pieces at a time over medium high heat in a little EVOO; keep warm as the next batch is cooked. At the end, sprinkle with 1 T of vinegar and toss. Dress pita with 3 T tzatziki sauce, add chicken, tomato, and sliced onion. More salt never hurts. Yum! (the recipe also works with pork). Serve with a nice Greek salad.

It’s All Greek to Me: Wedding Traditions

One thing I love about writing is the chance to learn about other cultures! Here’s a few fun things to know about Greek weddings, as we gear up for a Happily Ever After in Greece!

Your Other Left: Greek wedding rings are worn on the right! The right hand is thought to represent virtue.

The Baby Roll & Marital Bed: The families decorate the bed in the bridal couple’s home, with elegant linens, flower petals, rice, and money. Just in case the rice isn’t enough to guarantee fertility, a baby is rolled across the bed.

“Kidnapping” of the Bride: The day before the wedding, the groom’s family “kidnaps” the bride, taking her for a day out. These days it’s in fun, but it hearkens back to a time when this sometimes happened!

Stomping on the Groom’s Foot: During the ceremony, the priest instructs the husband to love his wife, and the bride to respect her husband, but since in Greek, the same word is used for “fear,” the bride will immediately step on his foot, to show she won’t be cowed!.

Stefana or wedding crowns: These are two beautiful hoops made from flowers, foliage or even precious metals, and joined together by a strand of ribbon. They symbolize the union of two people into a single couple. The crows are swapped back and forth by the koumbaro, or best man, three times and the couple wear them as they walk around the altar three times to represent their journey through life together.

Lots of Luck: Placing a lump of sugar inside the bride’s glove is said to ensure a sweet life and adding a gold coin inside her shoe will bring good financial fortune. Iron is said to ward off evil spirits throughout the day. So the groom should put a piece in his pocket!  Couples invite an odd number of guests and invite an odd number of attendants to stand beside them as odd numbers are considered good luck. Odd numbers cannot be divided! The number three represents the holy Trinity, as well.

After a compliment or during a happy event, people make spitting noises to scare away any jealous evil spirits tempted to intervene. Thus, sometimes brides walk down the aisle to a chorus of “ptoo!”

If the shoe fits: The groom gives the bride her wedding shoes as a gift. The koumbaro delivers them to her while she is getting ready. The bride insists that they are too big. The koumbaro lines the shoes with money to make them fit her until she is satisfied. Finally, all of the unmarried bridesmaids write their names on the sole of her right shoe. At the end of the wedding day, the names worn off the shoes are going to be married soon.

Shaving of the groom: the day of the wedding, the koumbaro shaves the groom, which signifies trust.

Cold Feet: The bride may arrive last to the church, and drive around and around while the attendees watch to see if she will overcome her cold feet and show up for her own wedding, or drive away.

Money dances: In some villages, there is an old tradition of pinning money to the bride’s dress at the reception during a special dance. In America, this tradition is more of a “showering” of a gift. When the couple dances near, the guests will toss a whole wad of bills at them. At some weddings, there’s enough money it must be swept up with a broom!

Koufeta: Sugar-coated almonds, or koufeta, are given as favors at the reception. The white of the almond symbolizes purity; the egg shape represents fertility. The almond’s hardness personifies the endurance of the marriage, while the sweet taste represents the joy of married life.

What are your favorite wedding traditions?

 

Bad Choices

Why is it that some of the best fun in reading occurs when a character makes a mistake, a cringeworthy, “oh, dude!” sort of moment? As long as it’s plausible, a misstep always draws me in. Is it more than mere schadenfreude, the pleasure in someone else’s misfortune? I believe there’s a deeper, primal pull, perhaps one that goes to the very heart of why we’re wired to love stories.

Just as lore was passed down about animal migrations, the proper sacrifices before a hunt, and the right moon phase for planting and harvesting, I think stories had a place in ensuring man’s survival—not just to emphasize perseverance against all odds, loyalty, and toughness, but also to help with socialization. In a time when being cast out of the group often meant death, stories were critical, helping teach people to navigate the power structures and family dynamics, without having to make as many mistakes on their own and learning the hard way.

Even in ancient times, I’ll bet people reveled in the hero and heroine defying convention in ways they wish they could have done, and found lessons in the consequences the characters reaped. So of course, we love the villain getting her comeuppance, and the downtrodden finally triumphant, and prefer to read about the flawed rather than the imperfect: it gives us hope that, despite our own flaws, we can triumph.

Stories still have the ability today to affect attitudes and empower. Though my romances in The Helios Series are light, fun reads, they still have something to say about bigotry, sexism, and the abuse of power, things that are still relevant as the world changes.

What do you think needs a story?

Ouzo: a Boozy Doozy!

 

Ouzo (OOH-zo) is an anise-flavored clear liquor which is featured in Helios and the other novels in this series. The home-brewed raki similarly tastes like licorice. Its origins, like those of many alcoholic beverages, trace back to monasteries—holy spirits, indeed!

The word ouzo most likely comes from the Turkish word for grape, üzüm, though there are stories which relay that the Greek consulate, after sampling a particularly nice batch, exclaimed, “uso Massalia”—Italian for “to be used in Marseille.” Those words were stamped on crates containing the highest-grade silkworm cocoons back then, so this meant “only the finest.” Ouzo rose in popularity as absinthe fell from grace. Ouzo is now a protected term that can only be used by Greek distillers; in this way it is similar to French Champagne—in the U.S. similar products can’t use the Champagne label, but instead are called “sparkling wine.”

Ouzo production begins with distilled ethanol, 96% alcohol by volume (ABV) which is then mixed with anise and other flavorings; each distillery has their own closely guarded recipe. Though this mixture is called “ouzo yeast,” no actual fermentation is involved in the making of ouzo. After further distillation, the ouzo yeast is cut with ethyl alcohol or water dilution, bringing the final ABV to 37.5 to 50 percent.

In Greece, ouzeries serve ouzo and appetizers called mezedes: calamari, olives, octopus, sardines, zucchini, etc. Because ouzo is strong and sweet (some producers add sugar), it’s easy to overindulge and become tipsy. Food slows the absorption of alcohol, and presumably slows down the drinker as well. It’s considered bad manners to drink it “dry hammer,” on an empty stomach—something Konstantinos mentions during the flight.

If you look at the picture above, you’ll see the ouzo in the bottle is clear, yet that in the glass is cloudy. What gives? Anethole, the essential oil of anise, is completely soluble in alcohol at approximately 38% ABV and above, but not in water. Since ouzo is drunk over ice or diluted with water, the essential oil separates, creating an emulsion in a process is called louching. The fine droplets scatter the light, causing the cloudy, milky look of the ouzo in the glass.

What does ouzo taste like? It’s got an intense licorice taste, with an underlying alcohol kick, strong enough to contribute to any number of bad choices by the unwary.

More on bad choices next week!

 

 

Hand Gestures to Avoid in Greece

The Moutza (MOOT-sah) is the most insulting hand signal among the Greeks. It consists of five spread fingers and an outstretched palm, facing the recipient, and is often accompanied by swearing. It dates to the Byzantine Empire, at which time criminals were paraded through town riding backwards on a donkey, their faces smeared with cinder (moútzos). Over time, other noxious substances were used (Yes, that!!!) for the smearing.

The closer the hand is shoved toward the face, the more threatening the gesture.

A moutza can be doubled by using both hands. In this case, the second palm slaps into the back of the outward-most hand, making a clapping sound.

If you want to wave or signal “five” in Greece, take care not to face the palm toward others, or keep all your fingers close together.

Here’s a few others!

The “Hook ’em horns” sign, with forefinger and pinkie extended, means that someone’s spouse is cheating on them.

Our “OK” sign means “asshole” in Greece!

It’s insulting to point at someone; that’s what you do with dogs.

Extending the pinkie finger is a way of disparaging the size of someone’s genitalia.

My favorite is this one: “Write it on my balls.” It means, “I care so little about what you’re saying that you might as well write it on the bottom of my scrotum, and maybe someday I’ll get around to lifting that up to see if anything is written underneath.” Never fear, ladies–you can use this one, too! In fact, that might be even worse, since in your case, “someday” is obviously “never.” 

 

Until next time!

 

 

Exotic Places

One thing I love about writing is the way it can transport me away from my same old familiar surroundings, to a whole new world. The photo below is from the apartment building complex The Wave, which is featured in Finders, Keepers, along with several other locations in Denmark, though the bulk of the novel takes place in Washington, D.C.

    The Helios Series predominantly takes place in Greece, and that includes the sights, sounds, and scents of the country: the warm smell of marjoram and lavender rising from the gardens, the scent of the sea and the feel of a fresh breeze, the taste of honey on someone’s lips. The language and culture makes the experience richer.

Helios takes us onto beaches, private jets, and yachts, the playgrounds of the wealthy as Nicole is unbalanced by her attraction to the sexy Greek man she’s sent to pitch.

New Heights gives the reader the vicarious thrill of rock climbing in Crete, more beaches, some motorcycle riding, and an up-close experience with the ancient windmills that dot the Lithia Plateau, not to mention lots of scenes at the Navy base in Souda Bay, Crete–nice scenery, indeed! A little bit of Arkansas rounds it out as Sarah Ann works to get her man and conquer her own past.

Want immersive? Submerged Hopes brings you more of Crete and an ancient shipwreck on the ocean floor as new archaeologist Nerissa struggles to balance her attraction to a hot Navy diver and the machinations of her aunt. This one includes the San Diego area as well as a peek into military medicine.

Learn the idioms, some great sayings, and the inside track, from commander’s coins to how long fingerprints remain in saltwater! I’ll focus on some of these in the blog as we go along, under the heading “Who Knew?”

Come join me!

What do YOU look for in an escape?