One Unforgettable Year

By Aaron McDougall

It’s a novel that can be best described as a fantasy and love story woven around colonial American history and the twenty-first century. The main character, Jim Arnot, is a computer programmer who works for a company in the state of Maine. After running into some health issues, he decides to take a vacation to Salem, Massachusetts. There, he has an unexpected heart attack and he dreams that he travels back in time to the Salem witch trials of 1692.

Shortly thereafter, he realizes Leila was nothing more than the spectra of his imagination, so he turns his attention to Dee Ann Nicewell, the nurse who saves his life. Anyway, as fate would have it, after being smitten by her absolutely stunning beauty, he lives one of the most memorable years of his life until tragedy strikes. An automobile accident takes her life, and when that happens, Jim turns to her sister, Sarah, for support in his time of grief. From there, a deep, everlasting bond is made between them, and that paves the way for a brand new chapter in his life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Feb 25, 2019
• ISBN: 9781796017892

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

Where this story began, I don’t actually remember because many years have gone by since a series of very unfortunate events lead up to one of the most unforgettable years of my life. Some people say everything in life happens for a reason and perhaps, to some extent that’s true however I very seldom look at things that way. Generally speaking, I’m a realist at heart. In fact, it really wouldn’t be all that unfair to say, I see the better part of this world through the eyes of a wise man. Of course, it is debatable as to whether or not that is a good way to be however I believe most people rush into things that a person like myself would never even think of doing. I say that because my soul is like that of an old sage. All knowing and cautious. Readier than ever to take on a new adventure however not actually brave enough to experience all that life has to offer. For that reason, it’s very difficult for me to get involved in anything and it’s even harder for me to build a personal relationship with someone. Anyway, without delving into that area of my personality any further, it may give you a better understanding as to why I see the things the way I do.

Perhaps, it would be a good idea to actually begin telling this seemingly odd and somewhat pretentious story so without any further ado, that’s what I’m going to try to do. Well, let me see now. If my memory serves me correctly, as fate would have it, about ten years ago, destiny or whatever the hell you want to call it, literally bit me right in the ass one day when an unforeseen problem that nearly cost me my life actually turned out to be a blessing. Anyway, while on a badly needed vacation, I had the good fortune to meet a woman, who by the grace of God, just happened to be in the right place at the right time. If that hadn’t been the case, I would not be here now, nor would I be able to tell this story. Her name was Dee Ann Nicewell and she was the most inspiring, extraordinary person, I ever met in my life. Anyway, one thing led to another and long before I actually realized it, a chance encounter turned into a very meaningful relationship over the course of a few weeks time. For the first time in my life I had fallen in love and that was something I did not ever expect to happen. Sadly, the time we had to spend together was very short lived though. Unfortunately, the way everything unfolded, I did not have much time to be with her. As I’m sure most people realize, not only are the days of a human life numbered but even under ideal circumstances, you’re going to find time will go by very quickly. That’s why, it’s always a good idea to get all you can out of life while you’re young. Time won’t wait for anyone so pursue all of those dreams you have as soon as you can because there’s a very good chance, you’ll wake up sometime and realize it’s too late to do what you may have wanted to do. In this particular instance, that isn’t what happened to me however for reasons beyond my control, I didn’t have very much time to enjoy the love and friendship I found in Dee and now, years later, I can honestly say, it turned out to be one of the most memorable years of my life. Anyway, as you can imagine, this story is dedicated to her.

Retrospectively speaking, I had just gotten through the better part of another long, cold miserable winter and was anxiously awaiting the arrival of spring. Now at age forty, winter’s are a hell of a lot more difficult to deal with than they were when I was a kid. Of course as we get older, it keeps getting harder and harder to stay on top of most things yet time will seem to go by that much faster. Unfortunately, those care free days of our youth don’t last forever so cherish them while you can. Most people can probably relate to that a some point in their life. Those of us who can’t say that, probably never worked a day in their life or ever tried to raise a family. Actually, in my opinion, there’s always something that needs to be taken care of when we become an adult. Then, factor in human emotion, feelings and idiosyncrasy’s. We’re all vulnerable to that also. In addition to that, most of us learn how to handle responsibility, juggle appointments and meet deadlines. Perhaps, some of us might even have to deal with one problem after another. The list is seemingly endless and I can now honestly say, I miss the days of my youth. They certainly were the good old days. Anyway, so much for being human and all the frailties that go along with the territory.

Now, before I get too far along with this story, it would probably make a whole lot of sense to take a moment and explain what actually made this such a memorable year for me. To begin with, the past year had been a very difficult one for me to get through even though I didn’t realize it at the time. Now, that’s not to say I didn’t have any physical pain or that I wasn’t feeling miserable at some point along the way however it did mean, I was having problems. Anyway, the whole darn unfortunate thing literally blew up in my face in the second week of October, during the fall of the previous year. At this point, I would like to say, I have a really great sense of humor and rarely take things seriously so when I came down with the symptoms of what you would call a common cold, I never gave it a second thought. Unfortunately, my symptoms kept getting worse and about three or four days later, I reached a point where I thought to Christ I was dying. Needless to say, I was coughing up a lot of bright, green phlegm and I could not breathe very well at all. I had a terrible fever with severe body chills and I kept getting weaker. For the first very time in my life, I wasn’t able to knock out a cold on my own. Anyway, after admitting defeat to a lot of stubborn determination, I was eventually able to muster up enough energy from my almost totally lifeless body to go see my primary care doctor. Fortunately for me, I didn’t have to wait for an appointment because my condition had deteriorated to a point I wasn’t sure if I was going to be all right. Needless to say, I was hoping my doctor would be able to tell me what my ailment was and with any luck at all, have a cure for it as well. About ten minutes later, I had my answer. It was pneumonia. That explained why my condition kept getting worse and why I eventually had to go to the doctor. Anyway, he told me that I had somewhat of a battle ahead of me but he was inclined to believe I would be all right because I had a fighters determination. In addition to that, he said age was on my side as well. Needless to say, that was comforting to know. Anyway, the doctor prescribed some antibiotics, a good cough syrup and a couple of other things to help me deal with and get through my pneumonia. I actually thought he was going to admit me into the hospital but he sent me on my way to recuperate at home with instructions to rest as much as possible. On the bright side of it all, my doctor reassured me that very few people ever die from the illness and I’m sure that was in the back of his mind when he let me go home. Anyway, I spent the better part of the next two weeks flat on my back, resting and drinking as much fluids as I possibly could. By the third week, I started to see some improvement although my chest hurt from coughing up so much phlegm. During the forth week, there was even more improvement. At this point, I knew I was going to be alright. Eventually, I got over the pneumonia but it took me, a little over three months to make a complete recovery and most of those days were very tiresome to say the least. Now, when I look back on it all, I I didn’t realize how really sick I was however I’m sure that is typical of most illness’s and it also just happens to be another aspect of being human.

Anyway, after making a complete recovery from the pneumonia that was plaguing the hell out of me for most of the preceding fall, another problem soon began manifesting itself on the left side of my abdomen. Needless to say, due to some past issues I had with the left side of my urinary tract, it didn’t take me long to realize, I had a kidney infection or a small stone in my left ureter. Anyway, for that reason, I thought it was best to go see the doctor again because I was in a lot of pain. As it turns out, I was right in every sense of the word. Not only was a small stone lodged in my left ureter but I also had a very bad kidney infection as well. Of all the possible luck, I thought to myself. Now, it was just a question of whether or not, I got the stone to pass on its own by drinking a lot of fluid. In regards to the kidney infection, my primary care doctor said some more antibiotics should take care of that problem over the course of a few weeks time. If it didn’t, he said I could explore a couple of other options however he didn’t elaborate on what those other options were and quite frankly, I didn’t really want to know. At this point I was just simply trying to look at the whole thing in a positive light although pain and frustration were beginning to get the better of me though. Anyway, I immediately started a regimen of drinking a lot of fluids and began hoping for the best. With any luck at all, everything would eventually turn out all right. Over the course of the next few days, it’s not an understatement to say I wasn’t feeling very well. Needless to say, even the smallest of kidney stones can be quite painful. It can also be accompanied by fever, nausea, vomiting. Anyway, the antibiotics and pain reliever I was taking helped me get through the worst part of my ordeal. Finally, after a month of feeling absolutely miserable, the kidney stone passed through my system on it’s own. For me, that was the best possible news I could have received. That meant, I wouldn’t need any assistance from someone in medical profession to resolve the problem. My kidney was going to be alright, after all. Not only was surgery on my left kidney, not going to be necessary but the kidney was functioning well too. Needless to say, that was equally as important. Anyway, I would now be able to resume all of my normal activities again, in addition to being able to get some good, restful sleep for the first time in as long as I could remember. Boy, was I pleased about that. In hindsight, I would’ve been better off had I opted to have surgery or at the very least, some kind of surgical procedure to fix the problem but everything turned out well in the end and that’s all that really mattered.

Anyway, that should give you a pretty good idea on how I spent the better part of the fall and winter months that year. Sounds really exciting, doesn’t it! Well, I can’t say that it was however someway, somehow, I got through everything and a short time later, I was fine. Needless to say, due to those unforeseen health issues, I now found myself a bit tired. Anyway, the end result of all that left me contemplating the very thought of making some changes in my life. In reality, I needed to find a way to relax. Stress had obviously taken it’s toll on me. Now, looking back on it all, I guess without having a social life or a really good support system, I was functioning like a fish out of water. Anyway, that was what motivated me into taking a vacation that spring. In fact, the more I thought about it, the more I came to the conclusion, it was the right thing to do. I certainly have to admit, a little fun and adventure sounded very appealing to me. Now, all I had to do was decide on a destination and go. Actually, there was a little bit more to it than that but everything else would be fairly easy to take care of. Anyway, as another seemingly long winter was about to come to an end, I began looking down the road a ways. At this point, my whole train of thought was centered around how the rest of the year would go. Needless to say, even though the past few months had been very difficult to get through, I was still highly optimistic about what the future may hold.

It was also the time of year, when most people in this neck of the woods routinely come down with what is commonly known as cabin fever. Now, for all of you that don’t know what that is, you’re not actually missing anything. It’s just a simple affliction of the mind that has a tendency to make a person do things they wouldn’t normally do however after being stuck inside the house all winter, you can’t really blame someone for wanting to cut loose at the very first sign of spring. Anyway, while keeping all of this in the back of my mind, I thought I would ask my boss for a few days off before I found it necessary to use some sick leave. Actually, he knew I was having some problems at home and that was more than likely the deciding factor in why he granted me the time off. Needless to say, I wanted to take a vacation and that was the only way, I would be able to do so. The fact of the matter is our office was a little short on help but thanks to his kindheartedness, I was going to have some time to get my personal life in order. Anyway, as it turns out, I was on my home in a matter of a few minutes. I didn’t think he was going to approve my leave however he most certainly did so I was going to take advantage of that and go some where for a few days. Realistically speaking, I needed a little rest and relaxation so rather than take a chance on him changing his mind, I took off out the door and left the building.

Anyway, a little while later, I put a lot of thought into my alternatives for taking a vacation. First of all, I didn’t really care about flying so that ruled out traveling any great distance. Secondly, I didn’t make a very good passenger on a bus so that narrowed things down even more. On the other hand, driving my Corvette around was one of my favorite things to do so it made all the sense in the world to find a place I could drive too and then go. Anyway, after giving it a lot of careful thought, I eventually concluded that would be the best thing to do. In the meantime, like I said before, I had to come up with a place to travel to and then I would more than likely be ready to hit the road. At this point, I began the long, slow process of running all of this through my head to try and come up with an idea that might be doable. In this particular instance, it had been a very long time since I considered taking a vacation so you might say, I wasn’t prepared for the one I was about to take. Anyway, as it turns out, I remembered seeing a web site on the Internet that was of interest to me. It had everything to do with a coastal community in New England that is commonly referred to as Witch City or better known to the rest of the world as Salem, Massachusetts. In fact, you might even say, the historical background of that city was so fascinating that I knew right then and there, this is where I want to go. Anyway, with that in mind, I sat back down at my computer and tried to learn as much as I possibly could in a very short period of time, I might add, about a place that was scarred by a series of very unfortunate events that subsequently led up to the horrific witchcraft trials of 1692. All in all, I found the history behind the city of Salem to be very interesting indeed. From those early days back in the 1600’s, all the way up to present day America. It was a community rich in history and one of the oldest city’s in the United States. What more could I ask for in regards to finding a place to take a vacation. I’ll grant you, there wasn’t any palm trees around anywhere but I really wasn’t looking for a romantic getaway anyway. The fact of the matter is I had always been intrigued by American and world history so Salem should provide an excellent starting point for delving into the history of New England. Anyway, I was soon convinced this was where I wanted to go. Now, just as soon as I got around to throwing a few things into a suitcase, I should be ready for a vacation to Salem.

At this point, I shut my computer off and went into the living-room to stretch out in my recliner for a little while. What kept nagging at the inner most corners of my mind was the fact a very senseless tragedy took place in the city of Salem, Massachusetts in the year of 1692. It also goes without saying, in the due course of events that year some very innocent people were murdered there during the later part of the 17th century. If I were to think about it, I believe history states, around twenty or so individuals were hung to death in the summer and early fall of 1692, just simply because they were thought to have been guilty of practicing the cult of witchcraft. I actually found that hard to believe however it was something that really did happen there. Needless to say, there was a lot of ignorance among the masses of people back in those days and what happened in the town of Salem was a very good example of that. I actually thought the whole thing was absurd however I have a feeling most of the people living in the community of Salem back then, probably took the accusation of being a witch very seriously right to the point of actually creating a very bad nightmare that the whole community eventually had to deal with. The problem was they seriously thought the cult of witchcraft or voodoo (a religion of the West Indies) was a threat to their Christianity. Anyway, I guess voodoo, like witchcraft is based on the concept of magic. Think about it for a minute. Most of the people here in America, back in 1692 had probably suffered through many years of religious persecution in Europe and else where for that matter. Anyway, those so called god faring Christian people that came to America to start a new life for themselves were faced with an undeniable dilemma that wasn’t going to go way on it’s own. Needless to say, that voodoo religion or whatever the hell you want to call it instilled a deadly fear into the community because it was seen as a threat to the very essence of their modern Christianity. What if a little black magic of that so called ungodly religion of voodoo cast an evil spell on them and they lost faith in their own God. Surely, it would destroy their Christianity and everything they believed in so it was in their own best interest to put an end to something they feared would over take and destroy their own newly found freedom of religious worship. Anyway, it didn’t take them very long to decide that something had to be done to resolve the matter. The only logical thing to do was to put to death anyone suspected of being a witch. Not only would it put everyone’s mind to rest but the likes of Satan would be destroyed as well. Sadly, they all believed that a witch, regardless of their gender was nothing more than the devil himself or some kind of an anti-Christ. Needless to say, the only thing they were concerned with was whether or not you believed in God and that you adhered to the founding principles of our ancestors in the Holy Bible. Now that may sound a little ridiculous to most people but the reality of it all was they took this matter very seriously. Sadly, I guess that shoots holes in the old theory that ignorance is bliss. Generally speaking, in most instances that statement probably holds true however that’s not always the case. Sometimes, ignorance can be disastrous! Case in point, look what happened in Salem, Massachusetts years ago. Ignorance just happens to be a flaw in the nature of being human and in some ways, that probably won’t ever change. The Eden (or the paradise) that most people seek in life has been here all along however there are times when it will parish at the hands of mankind’s own short comings. So much for the ignorance we bear in the shadow of the creator. The fact we’re only human is actually a testament to that however since, everyone is created in the image of God, there will always be at least some confusion as too just exactly what is right and what is perceived as wrong. Needless to say, the term paradise is nothing more than a perfect state of being, where a person lives in perpetual bliss for as long as they’re physically alive upon this earth. That fabled land of Eden and the garden that was within it has always been here and it actually still is if you’re lucky enough to be alive in spirit so consequently if a person hasn’t lost their love or the positive state of being of the spiritual life within them, they will live out their human life in the firmament of heaven. In theory, it’s magnificent, in practice, it’s not so easily done. As I’m sure you all know there are too many variables in life that are out of our hands. For example, if someone wants to punch you in the nose, there really isn’t a hell of a lot you can do about it. Obviously, you could reciprocate a punch in retaliation but that won’t stop the initial punch from coming, if you see what I mean. Unfortunately, most of the things people do in life, directly or indirectly affect everyone else in some way. In fact I’m inclined to believe that’s the reason why the testament of Christ was created some two thousand years ago or so. As the civilization of mankind grew, the spoken word became more frequently used and through years of time, it eventually turned into a very unavoidable way of life. Four or five thousand years ago when the word was first being introduced to mankind, it wasn’t immediately accepted by everyone. Initially, the gift of speech was rejected by someone in the Old Testament, out of fear of losing their mate or better said, the female of the species. The fact of the matter is a woman represented warmth to a man, both physically and spiritually. Think about it for a minute. In a highly primitive day and age, survival was a never-ending struggle. If for some reason that source of warmth (woman) were to suddenly disappear, it was equal to the sun visibly sinking down beneath the earth at the end of the day. In other words, it turned their day into night and the life they lived went from a heaven to a hell so the gift of speech was perceived as the woe of man. Unfortunately, that’s the way a man saw it in those days. I wish that I could say otherwise but that wouldn’t be an accurate statement if I did. Needless to say, any type of warmth or light was vital to their survival in the early days of man so it was quite understandable they would be scared of losing something that literally meant the world to them. In fact, it would be two or three thousand years before someone dared to try and change the error of their ways. As it turns out, with the coming of Christ, the word was encouraged and more readily accepted in the days ahead although out of fear of persecution, it scared the hell out of many people for years to come. In fact, that’s the reason why it took so long to get the New Testament in print. The fundamentals of the New Testament were a complete and total reversal from the Old Testament. Surely, the individual who finally mustered up enough courage to put the New Testament in print didn’t actually see what the brain child behind the modern Christianity had in mind. First of all, the New Testament was suppose to have contained twelve complete testaments of a perfect man created in the image of God. For some reason that did not happen. There’s a possibility, best intentions meant, someone just simply tried to summarize the printing of the New Testament although I really don’t think that’s what happened. It’s far more likely, the writings of the New Testament got into the hands of someone who looked down upon the word and the female of the species. The reason I say that is because, eight testaments of Christ were missing and if I don’t miss my guess, they would’ve showed he took a wife and had children. I would also say, under those circumstances, someone did not want the world to know that, knowing darn well it would smite the earth with a curse and in a way it did. Anyway, regardless of what someone had in mind, Christ undoubtedly represented the tree of knowledge from the Old Testament as well as the gift of speech. The Apostles were the apples from that tree of knowledge. Now, unless I’m mistaken, there are exactly twelve months in a calendar year so the only way a person could be as Holy as the Bible itself is to live a complete year of life or twelve months. That is why I believe there were originally twelve testaments of Christ, not just the four we have today, Actually, the New Testament was suppose to have replaced the Old Testament some two thousand years ago however that never happened either. Finally, the evening and the morning should’ve been left the way it was. Obviously, Eve represented the universal motherhood of mankind so it wasn’t necessary to make the day reflect the morning and the evening of the day that we live today. The fact of the matter is it’s ass backwards in reverse of what it should be. In regards to the calendar year, the Gregorian calendar more accurately reflects a year than the Julian calendar. One way or another, the way the New Testament was eventually put into practice created a lot of unnecessary confusion. Needless to say, to explicitly behold what someone else had in mind isn’t always easily done, in particularly, when it has to do with something that was passed down from one person to another through generations of time. Unfortunately, it’s even harder to follow after something in absolute total blindness. The bottom line was in an effort to try and create a more divine perfect world, everything in the New Testament had to be done in a perfect light. Obviously, the brain child behind our modern Christianity had the salvation of mankind in mind, when the basic foundation of it was first put down on paper. What happened in the years after it’s creation is another matter entirely. Actually, as more and more technology comes along, there’s a couple of other questions that will eventually have to be answered. Of course, that is based on the premise that mankind will not annihilate themselves with the nuclear bomb in the years to come. Anyway, if they can find a way around that, perhaps, they will learn how to obtain some kind of physical immortality through the use of bionics. From there, if man has any kind of success at all with that endeavor, the only other overshadowing obstacle I can see ahead of them will be to find another planet to inhabit. Needless to say, if man intends to preserve the origin of his species, he will eventually have to find another planet to inhabit because our sun will no longer be able to provide us with enough heat and light necessary for our survival. Obviously, that’s still a ways down the road but someday, it will become a reality. First of all, what will happen is actually taking place right now. Gradually, ever so gradually the sun will loose it’s heat intensity. As it does, something very interesting is happening here on Earth. Have you ever heard of the ice age? Well, the day and age man lives in now is deep inside the second ice age. The only problem with that is at the end of this ice age, there will no longer be life of any kind here on earth. Yup! Believe it or not, mankind is living in the midst of another ice age. The changing of the seasons that bring all that ice and snow to the northern and southern hemisphere in the 21st century is really nothing more than a testament to that. At the end of the first ice age, along came the first world of life on Earth. That was the age of the Dinosaur. Not long after the beginning of the second ice age, the continents of land were created by the end result of a cataclysmic shift beneath the surface of the earth. Up until that point and during the first world of life on this earth, this planet was one continuous land mass. In fact, shortly after the first ice age, there were a lot of gaseous, marshy areas scattered about the face of the earth. Then, as the surface of our planet began to cool off, due to the ever decreasing heat intensity of the sun, it conflicted with the hotter inner core of the earth. That in turn led to movement beneath the geographical surface of our planet, consequently forming the continents we’re familiar with today. In fact, it’s the reason why we have earthquakes. It’s because of that ground instability that was created when this happened years ago. Anyway, as time went by, ice began to form at the north and south poles of this earth. In season, they’d melt and from there it flooded out the valleys that were created at the time of that cataclysmic shift beneath the crust of the earth. Needless to say, by this time in the geographical history of this planet, the earth was well on its way to the present day world we know today. I hope I explained that well enough for you to understand what happened here, many years ago. Anyway, as the earth continued to cool down, the second world of life came into being on this planet. Initially, I believe all that actually amounted to was the mastodon, the woolly mammoth, the saber tooth tiger, the three toed sloth and God only knows what other kind of creatures, including a very primitive man, which eventually evolved into the mankind we are today. In the years to come, through eons of time, the winter season will gradually sweep down to the equator until the entire earth is covered in ice and snow. Just for that reason alone, I believe the future of mankind lies in our ability to harness nuclear power. In fact, the basic foundation of that atom splitting knowledge paves the way for all kinds of new advances in technology. Who knows, perhaps, one day, that knowledge will even take mankind to a far and distant planet in another solar system. Obviously, that is down the road a ways however maybe it will become a reality someday. There is one thing I’m absolutely certain of though and that is the future of mankind depends upon us being able to do that. As I said before, in the years to come, it will be essential to find another planet to inhabit. At least, it’s necessary if they want to carry on the origin of their species. The earth may be here forever however due to a lack of warmth from the ever decreasing heat intensity of the sun, the earth will be uninhabitable. Actually, somewhere down the road, in the years ahead, the universe may get so frigging cold that it may literally disintegrate, I’m not sure. A sixth sense in the back of my mind tells me, how it was in the beginning, is how it will be in the end. Our sun or that so called primitive God that our ancestors use to worship is vital to man’s survival. Unfortunately, it’s as mortal as we are though and it will not be around forever. In the years to come, the sun will gradually lose it’s ability to give us light and warmth. It’s also the reason why the first world of life on earth was set apart from the second world of life on earth. The dinosaurs were cold blooded creatures. Believe it or not, they became extinct just simply because they couldn’t adapt to the ever increasing heat intensity of the yellow phase of the sun. On the other hand, mankind is a warm blooded creation that came into being at about 35% of the way through the second ice age so consequently, we’re faced with the challenge of finding a way to survive in the ever decreasing heat intensity of the sun. Once again, that’s the reason why, it’s so vitally important for man to develop a space program. In the end, I really and truly believe that will turn out to be their salvation.

If someone were to spend some time studying our ancestors, they would probably understand the nature of things a whole lot better. I guess between seeing our sun or God as the creator of the universe, along with an extraordinarily misguided view about the gift of speech, they literally took themselves out of the Garden of Eden. Spiritually speaking, once the human race thought they had the knowledge to judge good and evil they actually destroyed the Eden this Earth was meant to be. I also believe that Nirvana or a Christians Heaven are essentially identical to each other in what they represent. There may be some minor differences between the two terms however they’re basically the same in meaning. Needless to say, our Christian ancestors were extremely grateful to their God in Heaven. In fact, primitively speaking, Eden or his den was where God made his residence. It was also common knowledge that God the creator of all the life upon this Earth was found in the eve of the day or what is referred to as the rising of the sun these days. Actually, the cool of the day was the evening or the moment before the sun rose up into the eastern sky in the morning. This was supposed to be reflected in the New Testament so our calendar year was turned upside down to coincide with the resurrection of Christ which by the way just happens to be in the spring of the year like it should be. Believe it or not, Halloween of the Old Testament or All Hallows Eve was actually equal to your Easter holiday in the New Testament. Ironically, they were both originally found in the spring of the year. The concept of spiritual immortality was derived from the meaning that anyone who was dead in spirit could rise up from the depths of hell, deep beneath the earth and find immortality on the cross of life in the firmament in heaven. In theory, it was a magnificent idea but in actual practice, it doesn’t always work the way it’s suppose too because we have no power over things that aren’t in our own hands. Anyway, that’s a little insight on the philosophy of life through modern Christianity.

Actually, my reason for getting into the subject of religion had to everything to do with the fact a tragedy took place in Salem, Massachusetts in the summer and early fall of 1692. It’s hard to believe anyone could be numb enough to believe in witches or the cult of witchcraft however during this era of history most people probably did. In fact, it was perceived as a threat to modern Christianity so witchcraft was more than likely feared by most God fearing Christians. If I’m not mistaken, the legend of the witch was likened to the devil or some type of anti Christ. In addition to that, at the time of the Old Testament, a witch was portrayed as a spiritually dead, white female who rode a pole and had lots of children. After modern Christianity was put in print, the pole a witch rode was eventually changed to a broom, which I also believe meant the witch had room for a groom. All that really means is a woman originally had children without being married. After the coming of Christ, a witch was given a broom and then she had children, only after being married. Anyway, putting all that aside, remember what I said earlier about how man looked down upon the word back in the days of Adam and Eve, when out of fear of losing their mate or the female of the species, they saw the word as evil. Obviously, if God says, you will die if you eat from the Tree of Knowledge, I think I would go on a diet. Seriously, the gift of speech wasn’t an encouraged way of life until sometime after the passing of Christ. To be like God in the Old Testament, a person gets the impression they’ll live forever as long as they don’t become like God. That’s because the sun or the God they worshiped, lived and died every time a day went by. Generally speaking, the rising of the sun represented life, birth or rebirth while the setting of the sun represented a loss of life or death. It also goes without saying, the devil was found beneath the Earth at the setting of the sun. Sadly, the Old testament didn’t believe in the union of a man and a woman. The New Testament did although eight of the original testaments of Christ are missing so it doesn’t actually reflect that. It looks like someone tried to create a society of happy men however that’s not what the brain child behind the modern Christianity had in mind. Seriously, the old traditional concept of marriage between a man and a woman was the goal and objective of the New Testament. Here in the 21st century most people probably believe in a loving relationship between two people regardless of their sex. Now, that’s all good and fine however it does go against some of the very principles modern Christianity was founded upon though. In the life we create for ourselves, it’s about men and women biologically having children to raise a family. In the life we make for ourselves through the gift of speech, the bonding is spiritual. It’s really never too late to make a commitment to do that. Unfortunately, in the life we create for ourselves, after a woman reaches a certain age, it’s impossible to have a child. Obviously, if that is something you want to do, I would highly suggest you dig the finger out of your ass and go do it. We don’t stay young forever. Besides, if that’s a goal or desire of yours, you won’t ever be able to achieve that by just sitting around the house somewhere. You need to literally grab the bull by the horns and go take care of business. If what you do turns out to be a mistake at least you can say you tried. In the end, I don’t believe you’ll ever have any regrets about having tried to do whatever it is you wanted to do. If for some reason, that turns out to be the case, it would be safe to say, try and forget what didn’t go the way you thought it would.

Anyway, I guess according to the legend of the Old Testament, the Jewish people or to be more specific, a Jewish woman was actually responsible for introducing the word to mankind. Needless to say, the Jewish people weren’t really at fault, neither should they have been blamed for all of the troubles of the world. Someone just simply looked at life the wrong way, that’s all. Obviously, it was an honest mistake and one that could’ve been made by anyone, anywhere at anytime for that matter. Actually, it’s quite apparent to me that Christ came to redeem his people from the error of their ways. He said, Ye of little faith. Come take of me and eat of this tree of knowledge. I am the way. The true light of God. Eat also of the tree of life. Surely, thou shall not die however verily I say unto you, he who so believes in me shall have life, ever lasting life. Yours shall be the Kingdom of Heaven. Remember, according to the Old Testament, the gift of speech or the female of the species was thought of as the woe of man. Well Christ took an entirely different stand on the matter as he urged his people to take a woman and to let their fruit multiply. What a complete reversal from the Old testament. He was encouraging the union of a man and a woman. Needless to say, the six pointed Jewish star is actually a testament to that. As I said before, modern Christianity wasn’t immediately accepted. Many keepers of the faith, who believed in the Old Testament did everything in their power to prevent the spread of modern Christianity. Sadly, the fundamentals of the New Testament was even considered blasphemy by many of those so called keepers of the faith from the Old testament. It was to remain that way for quite some time. Modern Christianity did eventually win out but it wasn’t implemented as the preferred Christian religion until many years after the passing of Christ. When it did finally gain acceptance, it became the predominant religion of the western hemisphere. It didn’t come without a struggle though and over the course of time many lives were lost. In fact, from the year 1096 until the late 1300’s, the Holy Crusades were fought to recapture the city of Jerusalem for the Christian people.

Needless to say, out of fear of being consumed by the fires of hell, from that point on, anyone who was suspected of being a follower of another cult or practiced some type of heathenism, at the very least, they would have probably been so persecuted for having strayed away from modern Christianity. The fabled legend of witchcraft had been around for many century’s however by the late Middle Ages, opposition to the cult grew because they believed the magic a witch used came from non other than the devil himself and that was considered to be a manifestation of evil. That meant anyone who practiced magic or sorcery, outside the religious mainstream of society was looked down upon as some kind of evil witch. Needless to say, they were perceived as a threat to modern Christianity. By the 14th century if someone was found guilty of practicing witchcraft, they could be put to death. At that point in history support for modern Christianity had grown enormously. In fact, so much so, the majority of the population in Europe had become Christian. Then, if I’m not mistaken, during the early part of the 17th century, when European settlers started arriving in North America, the teachings of modern Christianity spread even further until it became one of the most highly respected religions in the world.

Anyway putting all that aside, during the fateful year of 1692 in colonial America, the small coastal community of Salem, Massachusetts was in the midst of an epidemic of witchcraft accusations manifested largely by the fear of the unknown. Actually, if I recall what happened there correctly, a man by the name of Samuel Parris brought a West Indies slave back to the village of Salem on his return from the country of Barbados. Her name was Tituba and in the fall of 1691, a nasty rumor began circulating around the community that she was in the habit of practicing a type of black magic called voodoo. What’s really interesting to note is just before Tituba was accused of being a witch, the people of Salem came to the conclusion, they were not going to pay Reverend Parris for his services as the minister of their community. What may have happened was Mr. Parris vowed to get even with the residents of the community of Salem for refusing to pay him what he was owed. For that reason and no other, I believe Samuel Parris got his daughter to accuse Tituba of being a witch, knowing darn well, it would probably scare the hell out of everyone living in the community. Obviously, the end result of that ridiculous accusation was disastrous! Sadly, one thing led to another, until fear and distrust over took the entire community. By the spring of 1692, the witch hearings were well under way. In fact, a formal prosecution began in June and a short time later, the first of the hangings took place on Gallows Hill. Unfortunately, at that point in history, witchcraft was really and truly perceived as an evil cult that worshiped the devil. Needless to say, it must of been a frigging nightmare. Can you imagine living in fear of being singled out by someone in the community for being a witch, knowing darn well the consequences of that accusation could lead to your death. I don’t think I would have slept very well. Seriously, I wouldn’t have wanted to deal with a situation like that for all the money in the world. Think about it for a minute. If someone didn’t like you, they could always accuse you of being a witch, just simply for the spite of it all. Of course, if they did, your were screwed. It would more than likely mean a death sentence for you. Sadly, that’s the cold, harsh reality of what was going on, in and around the community of Salem in 1692. I would like to think otherwise however that would not have been what those people were dealing with at that point in history.

Anyway, the last of those so called witch trial executions took place in September of that year. Over the course of the next few months, there were still a few more hearings however much to relief of everyone in the area, there weren’t anymore hangings. In all, I believe a total of twenty people lost their life, just simply because they were thought to be witches. Nineteen of those individuals, mostly women were hung to death. One man got crushed to death beneath the weight of a rock. All of the other persons that got thrown in to jail were eventually pardoned. By May of 1693, the nightmare was finally over. It left an everlasting scar upon the community though. Back in those days, Salem Village, now Danvers was actually were the whole incident began. Salem Town, now Salem was were the Courts of Oyer and Terminer handed out all of the death sentences. I also believe, the coastal community of Ipswich as well as Andover were originally part of the community of Salem. Anyway, so much for life and the needless tragedy that took place there. Now, in regards to what I found interesting, well, hopefully, you won’t find any of this to be too boring. Sometimes, what someone finds offensive is another persons unique discovery. I truly apologize for that if any of the written content here offends someone. Actually, all I really tried to do was add a little insightful perspective to the Christian religion. Anyway, that should give you a pretty good idea as to what actually happened along the way in the course of world history.

In the meantime, let’s get back to the story. As I said before, after getting through a very miserable fall and one of the longest winters of my life, I made the decision to take a badly needed vacation. Anyway, thanks to what I learned about those ever so infamous witchcraft trials of 1692 during one of my excursions of surfing around on the Internet, I had decided to take a vacation to Salem, Massachusetts. Now, all I really had to do was get myself there. Everything else would more than likely fall into place. Well, as it turns out, for some unexplained reason that particular spring was a lot warmer than it usually is is during that time of the year in the state of Maine. Normally, day time temperatures are around forty-five degrees in the month of March and they continue to rise over a span of six to eight weeks until spring actually gets here