Sara C. Snider's Blog, page 3

Dogs

Since the last post was about cats, of course we had to move on to dogs next. Otherwise, the house pet cat/dog continuum would implode and existence as we know it would be fuzzed beyond recognition.

Dogs and man go way back. The earliest domestication of dogs is dated to about 30,000 years ago in Eurasia. It’s theorized that tamer wolves hung around humans eating scraps of food, which ultimately led to their domestication and, thus, doggies.

So it shouldn’t be surprising that dog mythology ab...

Magic in the Mundane — Cats

I’ve always considered myself a cat person. When I imagine myself in my elder years, I see myself as the crazy lady that pushes a cat around in a pram. Assuming the cat would stay in the pram of course, which it probably wouldn’t. But hey, realism isn’t a requirement in my daydreams.

So I thought, “What fun to do a post about the magical nature of cats.” Because there is a magical nature to cats. I’m thinking ancient Egypt and their worship of the almighty kitty. Stuff like that. Little did I...

Cats

I’ve always considered myself a cat person. When I imagine myself in my elder years, I see myself as the crazy lady that pushes a cat around in a pram. Assuming the cat would stay in the pram of course, which it probably wouldn’t. But hey, realism isn’t a requirement in my daydreams.

So I thought, “What fun to do a post about the magical nature of cats.” Because there is a magical nature to cats. I’m thinking ancient Egypt and their worship of the almighty kitty. Stuff like that. Little did I...

Magic in the Mundane — Bells

I love bells. As a teenager, I used to wear a string of bells hanging from my waist. I wore them mostly because I liked their harmonious tinkling. But I think I also wore them because it made me feel like I had a foot in another time. A time where, perhaps, it wasn’t so odd for a girl to be wearing multiple mismatched skirts adorned with a string of bells. I didn’t really care that it probably portrayed me as odd in the here-and-now.

Hanging bells from one’s clothing is nothing new. Originall...

Bells

I love bells. As a teenager, I used to wear a string of bells hanging from my waist. I wore them mostly because I liked their harmonious tinkling. But I think I also wore them because it made me feel like I had a foot in another time. A time where, perhaps, it wasn’t so odd for a girl to be wearing multiple mismatched skirts adorned with a string of bells. I didn’t really care that it probably portrayed me as odd in the here-and-now.

Hanging bells from one’s clothing is nothing new. Originall...

Magic in the Mundane — Alphabet

As far as basics in life goes, the alphabet ranks pretty high. We start learning it usually before we reach school, sometimes even before our memories have fully formed. It is the foundation of literacy which, in our Age of Information, is pretty important.

Yet in ancient times, writing—and being able to read what was written—was a skill that belonged primarily to priests. Add in the fact that inscriptions were engraved on tombs of the dead, and it’s not hard to believe that writing was viewe...

Alphabet

 

Alphabet

As far as basics in life goes, the alphabet ranks pretty high. We start learning it usually before we reach school, sometimes even before our memories have fully formed. It is the foundation of literacy which, in our Age of Information, is pretty important.

Yet in ancient times, writing—and being able to read what was written—was a skill that belonged primarily to priests. Add in the fact that inscriptions were engraved on tombs of the dead, and it’s not hard to believe that writi...

A New Challenge for a New Year

Last year was kind of a weird year for me. The many vet visits and, at times, uncertainty of whether or not Sally would survive the year, threw me into a funk, from which I still haven’t fully recovered.

Writing’s been hard, and blogging harder. The good news is I managed to finish editing Hazel and Holly. It’s now in the proofreading stage, then after that, formatting for publication. I’m planning on doing the print formatting myself this time around, which I’m actually quite looking forward...

A Flash Bang Christmas

Wow, apparently it’s been two months since I last updated the blog. That can’t be right, can it? Sometimes it feels like I’m living in an alternate universe where a few weeks for me equals two months for everyone else. Needless to say, things got crazy. We had company staying with us during November and then, of course, Sally vet visits are still happening.

We decided to have her bad teeth pulled (and we had to change vets because the other one wasn’t willing to do it due to her weak kidney...

White Witches, or, the Cunning Folk

Halloween always makes me think of witches. And my search for something witchy to write about led me to white witches.

White witches were, historically speaking, folk healers—people that lived primarily out in the countryside and provided healing and midwifery services to their community, which was very much needed as doctors were difficult to find outside of cities. This practice lasted well into the nineteenth century.

Of course, “white witches” is a term adopted by folklorists, as the peop...