Mazes and labyrinths, with their complicated designs and paths, have been around for a really long time. Like thousands of years long. There’s evidence of mazes in Greek and Roman art, flooring patterns on streets, and yes, even in the earth itself. Most scholars believe mazes were used for religious rituals and walk-through processions back then. But they were also used for decorations and entertainment, and many a maze could be found during the Middle Ages, in French cathedrals, Scandinavian labyrinths, and European gardens. There’s a huge, elaborate maze at Versailles that was presumably inspired by Aesop’s fables.
But what about the corn mazes we’re familiar with? Well, it might surprise you to know that the idea didn’t come along until 1993 when Don Frantz and Adrian Fisher created one on 3 acres with 1.92 miles of pathway – it earned a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the world’s largest corn maze. This record was beaten by Cool Patch Pumpkins’ of Dixon California in 2014. Their corn maze spanned 60 acres. I’ve been to Dixon, but never to their corn maze. In fact, I didn’t know about it until I was researching mazes. Dixon also used to have a fantastic tea house that served high tea. The one time I was there it was full of bikers, all enjoying their high tea. But that’s a story for another time.
Back to corn mazes…
So, what’s the difference between corn mazes and conventional hedge mazes? The stalks are cut to form a pattern discernible from an aerial view, whereas a hedge maze usually follows a geometric layout. Yeah, I didn’t know that either.
Another nice thing about corn mazes, they provide farms a way to earn money by providing a fun time for young and old alike. I’ve only ever been to one corn maze. It was with an older group of singles from church. There was a chaplain in our little group, an architect, a civil engineer, myself the writer, a couple teachers and a few others. Surely with our combined efforts we could manage a corn maze with ease.
We were wrong.
We got lost, so lost.
In fact, we went over the time limit and wound up in the “evening” maze, which included zombies and other “creatures” hidden in the stalks.
We passed through a tunnel, and a zombie jumped out behind us. Well, the chaplain, who had to be in her mid sixties, jumped onto the back of the architect, screaming like a banshee. She scared the zombie (not to mention Don the architect) who took off running. So did Don. The zombie went one way, Don the other. I was left standing in the middle wondering what just happened.
So, certain mazes might be designed with a theme or story in mind; some take inspiration from books, films, or eras in history.
There can be trails leading off the main route that encircle the entire design of the maze. This may have been what happened to our little group and why it took us so long to find our way out.
Like many haunted corn mazes, ours came with actors whose goal is to scare visitors. Being the brave souls we were, (and remembering our blood pressure) we went to the earlier run through that guaranteed no zombies, or anything else. Getting lost wasn’t in our plan!
Some haunted mazes might have special effects, and scary soundtracks added for extra fear factor. Ours didn’t, just the actors jumping out at you and sending your blood pressure to the moon.
And of course, these spooky mazes open after dark when guests can really get into the eerie atmosphere. For us, half of us couldn’t see… sigh.
Moving on…
How is a corn maze made, you ask? Well come spring, corn is planted in a grid-shaped pattern through a field. Corn stalks need to be strong and tall so farmers use a certain strain of corn. They have to watch for stalk rot, which is caused by moisture stress, improper fertilization, or the sudden development of disease.
When the corn is at least six feet high, the maze pattern is cut out. After that’s complete, weed killer is applied to avoid any regrowth in those areas. This allows the rest of the corn to grow tall enough around the maze pattern. And then voila! You have a corn maze!
Have you ever been through a corn maze? Was it fun? Did it have zombies and whatnot? I’m giving away a free e-copy of my book, Love at Harvest Moon to one lucky commenter. Here’s a little more about the book:
Eva Brock’s mother was the most over-bearing, controlling, and opinionated woman she had ever known, and if she didn’t escape out from under her roof, she’d have Eva married off to a man not twice, but THREE times her age! Her only hope was to become a mail-order bride and marry herself off before her mother did.
Finn Mullany wasn’t looking for a wife, and didn’t want one. Or rather, he didn’t deserve one! He’d made some mistakes of late that cost his best friend his sight, and Finn was having a pretty hard time dealing with the aftermath. But what he didn’t know, was that sometimes forgiveness comes in many forms, and many ways, and Lorcan Brody, Finn’s best friend found a way to show him he’d forgiven Finn completely. But would the love of a mail-order bride be enough to help Finn forgive himself?
Writer’s retreats. Each one is different, but the goals are the same. We want to be better at our craft. We want to find new ways to create compelling stories for our readers that keep them turning pages. Well, our little group was no different. It’s only the first day and we’ve already had a blast and the ladies attending this particular retreat have been having a ball. 
see how their individual writing process works. We aren’t all the same, we have different voices and ways of going about building a story. Some writers get the words out a little slower than others. Some type while others dictate their stories. But each of us loves to create something out of nothing for you, our readers, whom we dearly love.
So the next time you pick up a book, it might have been thought up from an author who got together with other authors during a fun time of writing, laughing, and brainstorming their next book. I can’t tell you how many of my books started that way and I’ve loved every minute of my writing career.
Okay, so I’m one of those people that never measures, and tosses everything together and it works. So trying to figure out exact measurements isn’t easy. But here goes. This is the dish everyone wants me to bring to potlucks, family dinners, taco Tuesdays and so on. My famous Spanish Rice! I’m going to give the single batch version. Serves 6? I’m used to making double and triple batches so I’m having to pare it down. And that’s not a picture of my rice. I couldn’t find one on my phone (yes, my family is always taking pictures of food) so had to find something similar. At any rate, it’s a colorful and festive looking dish!
If any of you have read either my Clear Creek Bride Series or The Snows of Clear Creek, then you know that my character Gilbert Snow is an inventor. He’s known for inventing Snow Flakes. An all purpose soap flake that can be used for laundry, dishes, and as his sale slogan goes, even to bathe your children with! Mr. Snow is known as the Soap King of the Eastern Seaboard, and has been working on his next big invention. Scented shampoo. These stories take place between 1889 and 1892. I wonder how much history of shampoo Mr. Snow dug up before beginning his new invention.
In 1908, a New York Times article aimed toward women said that washing one’s hair as often as every 2 weeks was acceptable. Meanwhile, men going to the barber shop transitioned from tonics to shampoos to remove build-up from heavy styling products like Bryll Cream. It was around this time that dandruff shampoo was invented by F. W. Finch. Then along came conditions, which originated as “brilliantine,” and created by Frenchman Edouard Pinaud, and introduced at the World Fair to soften.
Who doesn’t think of growing up in the country on either a farm or, like in my case, the woods. Make that a cabin in the woods, complete with creek and yes, a magnificent swimming hole! 
My mother used to say there was something magical about summers, and our swimming hole made them magic for us. We were the envy of a lot of other kids growing up. Everybody wanted to come to our house to swim because many weren’t allowed to swim in the Clackamas River unsupervised. We had no shortage of friends that wanted to do sleep overs when it was hot.
In the winter the swimming hole turns into a raging torrent. I’ve watched logs come down the creek. I still remember the time my dad and I were at the kitchen table one winter. The front of the cabin is nothing but windows so you can see the creek. Down came one log. Dad simply said. “Log.” Then came another log. So I said, another log. Then came another and another and we figured the natural log jam up the creek had come apart. It relocated itself about a hundred yards down the creek from the swimming hole.
I was at a on line writer’s conference recently and one of the authors doing a round table discussion writes historical western and has an Oregon Trail series. Rachel Wesson is her name. and if you’ve never read her books, they’re fantastic! Anyway, she mentioned that researching the topic was a bit depressing as she couldn’t get over the amount of people that died along the way (she’s from Ireland) and that she didn’t want to have to research that again! Can’t say as I blame her. Coming West was not for sissies! I myself have only written one book that takes place on the Oregon Trail for most of the story. As I’m from Oregon, to research, all I have to do is toddle to Oregon City and pay a visit to the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center.
I remember going there when my daughter was in grade school on a field trip. The kids weren’t near as interested in the displays as we adults were. For many of us, it was our first visit. 
That’s the way I like to research. Go experience it. There are groups here in Oregon that walk part of the Oregon Trail every summer, dressed as pioneers. As Philip Foster’s Farm isn’t far from where I live, and I pass it whenever I go to my big sister’s house, I sometimes see a family of pioneers walking along the large grassy area near the highway, getting a taste of what it was like. I know people who belong to other historical groups, who’ve done week long treks in a wagon train of up to thirty wagons! They say it’s a blast, but also say they couldn’t imagine months worth of travel. Let’s face it, the pioneers had it rough, and faced a lot of dangers. One of the biggest being cholera. Still, they forged on and the rest is history.
