{"id":14921,"date":"2023-08-06T19:53:18","date_gmt":"2023-08-07T01:53:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pjmaclayne.com\/?p=14921"},"modified":"2023-08-07T06:44:05","modified_gmt":"2023-08-07T12:44:05","slug":"a-fateful-meeting-in-the-woods-openbook-blog-hop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pjmaclayne.com\/?p=14921","title":{"rendered":"A Fateful Meeting In The Woods #OpenBook Blog Hop"},"content":{"rendered":"

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August 7, 2023<\/strong><\/p>\n

What is your author origin story? (Or make one up.)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Be aware – this story may or may not be true. I will neither confirm nor deny the reality.<\/em><\/p>\n

    At the age of seventeen, I met a Celtic god.
    I didn’t know that was what he was, of course. It took a long time for me to understand what had happened.
    Which was basically nothing. It was a late summer day, and I was on one of my strolls through the fields and woods near my parents’ home when I bumped into him. Not literally, of course,
     There wasn’t a path to where I’d wondered, a house and property that had been bought for a new park. The home had been torn down, but the old stone foundation remained. I was in search of a small spring rumored to be nearby.
     And there he was, on the other side of the overgrown lawn, the largest “deer” I’d ever seen, with a huge spread of antlers. My first thought was that I was glad it wasn’t hunting season, and I didn’t have to report it to my dad.
     We stood there for a long time, staring at each other, neither of us blinking, me hardly breathing. Then he was gone. I don’t remember him leaving. I continued my walk, forgetting to continue my search for that spring.
     It was after that encounter I started writing more. I’d experimented with essays in school, but never contemplated taking my writing further than that. After the moment, my attempts at writing poetry became more frequent and intentional.
     There was another benefit to the contact. I’d broken my collarbone in a bicycle accident a few weeks earlier. At my next checkup, it amazed the doctor how quickly it was healing. It healed fast enough that by fall, I was scaling cliffs as part of a mountain climbing class.
     What was a Celtic god doing in the forests of Western Pennsylvania, USA? I have no theories, but it makes more sense that the researcher who is convinced Bigfoot roams those hills. I keep thinking I should make a return trip to the spot to say thank you. Can someone in the comments tell me what an appropriate offering to leave behind would be?<\/p>\n

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How did the other authors in this group get started? Check out the links below to find out.<\/p>\n

As always, until next time, please stay safe.<\/p>\n

P.S.  Aengus is the Celtic god of youth, love and poetic inspiration. He has the ability to shapeshift.<\/p>\n

August 7, 2023<\/p>\n

What is your author origin story? (Or make one up.)<\/p>\n

Rules:
1. Link your blog to this hop.
2. Notify your following that you are participating in this blog hop.
3. Promise to visit\/leave a comment on all participants’ blogs.
4. Tweet\/or share each person’s blog post. Use #OpenBook when tweeting.
5. Put a banner on your blog that you are participating.<\/p>\n

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You are invited to the Inlinkz<\/strong> link party!<\/p>\r\nClick here to enter<\/a><\/div><\/div>\r\n