Mermaids

“The three mermaids” describes the life of the ocean nymphs, daughters of the feared god Neptune. By chance, the mermaids arrive aboard a fishing vessel, falling in love with three sailors who love them dearly and wish to have them by their side.

"A lovely tale well told, and something perfect to read along with a hot drink on a grey winter's day. Or with a glass of wine on a summer beach."

When I was a child there was a period of time when my family lived like gypsies. My parents had sold their city house and were looking for a piece of property, far off the beaten path in the foothills of Northern California. Before they settled on an exact piece of land we set up camp at a riverside campground—the four of us (my parents and my sister and I) lived in a beat-up old trailer. My sister and I spent most days playing in the creek that flowed into the river, and swimming in the river, and reading on the sandy shores. It was around this time that my mom obtained a copy of Andersen's Fairy Tales and I was the first subject to the dark tales within. Among the stand-outs was The Little Mermaid, complete with painful stabbing feet. (At the risk of outing my age, this was prior to Ariel of Disney fame!) Needless to say every dive under the clear blue waters I imagined myself to be a mermaid. And so began my love affair with these fabled beauties and beasts.

I welcome you back to Mermaids, I am your hostess Ana Karenina. Today I will be reading: The Mermaid of Druid Lake:

My interest in Driftglass stemmed from reading a James Blish short story called Surface Tension. In that story, humans have to adapt to an ocean planet by becoming something more than human, but (if I remember correctly) certain basic human drives remain consistent, such as the need to know what lies beyond the world of comprehension. It features an exotic locale and plenty of vividly imagined creatures, and the undersea setting and the microscopic nature of the neo-humans make it a memorable science fiction story, intended to invoke the sacred sense of wonder.

This eerie, musical tale resonates with echoes of urban legends. It’s made more uncanny with its daring use of a second person, present tense point of view through warped perceptions and seductions.

You are Missy, a garage musician pulling random gigs vying to find your unique sound. After a late-night, deep January gig up in frozen New England, Missy notices a blind girl, looking barely of age to be in a bar, that has not left as the venue is closing up for the night. She offers the fan a ride home as the girl is walking with a cane–at night–on icy walks. The house she drops the girl off at is derelict and unshoveled, but the girl enters the unlit house. Curious, Missy returns the next day to find the house long-abandoned and 2 sets of footprints leading into the woods behind the house, one set is the girls, the other consists of large man-boot prints.

Sondheim would be proud, as going into the woods is usually a bad idea in a supernatural tale. Missy follows the tracks to where they stop at an icy stream. This modern urban legend/fairy tale carves a new and crazy path through the ice from here involving a cave, a lake, a seductive-sexy-cave dwelling mermaid, and a deaf musical instrument maker. Everything reeks of conflict and the uncanny. What is good and pleasurable and kind feels creepy. What is skin-crawlingly eerie may be a blessing.

Introduction to Mermaids

Dive into centuries of mermaid lore with me Ana Karenina. I launch to you my enchanting podcast Mermaids, which brings together tales of mermaids from around the world. The oldest and most popular mythical beings, mermaids—in all their alluring, mysterious glory—have captured the imagination since long before Ariel sold her voice to a sea witch in the beloved Disney film adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid." As far back as the eighth century B.C., sailors in Homer's Odyssey stuffed wax in their ears in order to resist the Sirens, who lured men to their watery deaths with song. More than two thousand years later, the gullible New   York public lined up to witness a mummified "mermaid" specimen that the enterprising showman P. T. Barnum swore was real. The Mermaids Podcast is a treasury of such tales about water spirits and merfolk from different cultures, from Scottish selkies to Hindu water-snakes to Chilean sea fairies.

Water spirits, like water, are powerful, unpredictable, and awe-inspiring—that is, both terrifying and wonderful. In stories across cultures, they may seduce, punish, or reward humans, though their actions are ultimately outside of human grasp. Like water, they are shape-shifters that resist being contained. Male and female water beings who are much more powerful than mermaids feature prominently in myths. They may be divine—as in the case of Poseidon and others—or at the very least have extraordinary powers.

So, every Tuesday is your special day to sit back, relax and allow me to take you to places you couldn’t even dream of.