The Storyteller | Mary Vee

The sky may have been gray, but the temperatures were a delicious Spring 57 with no chill in the slight breeze. Photo by Mary Vee Look what will be here soon!! Green. Lots of green! Sleeping Bear Dune scenic drive, Traverse City I opened the windows and cleansed the winter closed-up smell. THEN Yes, I went for a walk and soaked in the scents, marveled at the buds on the trees, the grass green after a refreshing snow melt, spring flowers poking through the earth's surface. And, at this moment anyway, no bugs.  Win-win!!  Nature is waking. Easter is on its way.  The days are longer. We should take a walk together. That's what I will plan for next week's post. In the meantime, I want to share with you And am so excited to tell you About the release of my new book, Fire and Thorn, a Fantasy.  It a perfect gift for Easter. What better gift to give than a book? Geared for the young adult audience, but also ...

Today I will share yet another ghost story told on the River Rhine. When you think about it, most ghost stories technically are told like an Aesop Fable. They are short and have a lesson. The slight difference is: the fable's lesson is spelled out while the ghost story's lesson can be interpreted by the listener. So, here is the fourth ghost story I heard on the River Rhine: PHOTO by Mary Vee Vineyards along the Rhine River Once upon a time, seven beautiful virgins lived along the Rhine. Their beauty was known throughout the land.  They tended their vineyards in the day and celebrated life at night singing and dancing, never once inviting anyone to join them. Young men longed to see even one of these beautiful women and dance with her. None received the opportunity. Photo by Mary Vee Armor room in a castle on the Rhine River One day, seven Knights known for their kindness and heroic acts heard the story. They rode their ho...

Today we share a third castle ghost story heard on the River Rhine. To read the first two, scroll down to the previous posts.  Ehrenfels Castle, Rhine River Photo by Mary Vee There is a legend told about the archbishop who owned two buildings. A castle, the Ehrenfels Castle  Mauseturn built on an island in Rhine River Photo by Mary Vee and the Mauseturm (Mouse Tower). The castle stood high on a hill across the river from the tower. There once was a very evil archbishop who had a castle built on a high hill on the eastern banks overlooking the Rhine River. The castle was called Ehrenfels. He forced ever ship sailing the river to pay tolls before being allowed to sail past his castle. To deal with the crew who refused to pay, the archbishop had a tower built on a small island across the river. There he stationed archers and commanded them to fire upon the crew of any ship refusing to pay. Ehrenfels castle ruins, Rh...

This is the ghost story of the Enemy brother castles. The white castle to the left is the Liebenstein Castle. The brown castle to the right is the Sterrenberg Castle. Because of important accomplishments, the owners received Imperial Knight Status. Like many families, the children didn't get along. Two sons in particular. Although the younger was considered the braver, he was expected to stay home and care for the land. The older brother, a shy fellow, went to war. The older brother's war journey took him to Greece where he met a beautiful woman with whom he fell in love and married. The older brother brought his bride home. By this time the two brothers had separate castles. Due to their warring, a wall was built between the two, which can be seen in this photo. When the younger brother met the older brother's wife he immediately fell in love with her and she with him. But because she was married to the older brother, and because couples...

Have you ever wondered where the countries like the Netherlands get the earth to build up areas of their country which is regularly flooded?  Well, wonder no longer. Photo by Mary Vee, Rhine River The large brown area in this photo is a quarry. The land belongs to the Netherlands. It's true. This tiny portion of land along the Rhine in Germany belongs to the Netherlands.  Workers quarry out this land and transport it to the Netherlands using the material to build dikes and surge for storms.  Castle on the Rhine-by Mary Vee On the far right side of the photo above is the castle in this photo to the left.  The story about this castle is vague, but what we know is that in years to come this castle will sit alone in this area. All the hill surrounding it will be gone. It will teeter on a mere stub of a rock. Castle on the Rhine by Mary Vee The Netherlands has a great need though. The original soil in their cou...