Yesterday, as I was driving home from an errand in town, I spotted The Three Witches from The Claire Saga on the clear blue horizon. It is part and parcel of any trip back home to see these three mountain tops. They confirm that I am heading in the right direction – directly towards Casa Claire. Yesterday, they stood out even more because they – along with all NoCo mountain peaks over 10 thousand feet – had been coated with a lot of snow from yesterday’s precipitation.
Welcome to the NoCo fall.
I love those three peaks. There is safety in their shadow. They are a lighthouse to me.
Indeed, when I went out at the end of the day to collect the mail, stood on the road before Casa Claire, and looked to the West, just as the sun was setting, that’s exactly what they looked like.
I was tired yesterday. Maybe its all of the recent yard work catching up to me.
I had to make another run to Murdoch’s in Longmont and pick up 9 more bags of wood shavings for the mule’s bedding. And by the time I had finished unloading them, humping them to the barn and spreading 3 of those bags out for the mules to freshen up their beds I was feeling the day.
So, I slept like a log. And dreamt.
It was that weird dream where I was wandering through this dark and huge office. I knew it was a law office. You get the legal vibe after 4 decades of working consistently at a range of Wall Street mega firm to the small boutique. A lot of energy and anxiety.
While the people around me felt familiar, I felt alone. No one interacted with me. I felt like a ghost. I didn’t want to be there.
I couldn’t find my personal office space. A place for me. So, after wandering around a bit, I gave up and I exited the office through the first exterior door I could find.
Once outside, the building I exited looked more like a school.
And of course, who do I bump into but Jamie Lee Curtis.
Now, anyone who has followed me on FB, knows that a few months ago, as a lark, I entered a contest called The Face of Halloween.
https://faceofhalloween.org/2025/tom-mccaffrey
It’s for a great cause – The Starlight Children’s Foundation
So, oddly enough, I manage to make it into the pool of contestants. Probably the oldest one there. Maybe that set me off from the other cool young attractive Cosplay contestants.
Maybe I checked a box.
Anyway, you have to get people to go to the site and vote (for free each day) for your continued success each week. There has been about three Thursday cut offs so far. Each time you had to make a cut. First top 20, then top 10 and now top 5. That last one ends today so please vote for me.
During each week you do silly things like post new photos and answer questions that get posted. I figured it would be a great marketing tool to get my name and books out to a new demographic, given the ghosts, witches and werwolf characters in TCS. Can’t hurt.
If I win, the 13K prize is going to an animal shelter here in NoCo.
I also get my face and a story in the Horror Genre Magazine sponsoring the event. I also get to meet actors in the genre, like Jamie Lee Curtis, Matthew Lillard and Kane Hodder.
Which probably explains why JLC was in my dream last night. I’m glad she made the cut.
Now, like any red blooded American male who grew up in the 70s, I had one of those Hollywood crushes on JLC. Still do.
So, it would be an absolute blast – bucket list level – to meet her in person.
Well, she appeared in my dream last night – looking just like that photo – along with a guy she introduced as her husband – which is probably my subconscious keeping a chastity belt on me – and we had a great conversation about The Claire Saga. At least, that is how it started off. She was so nice. She seemed intrigued by the story line. She was telling me how hard it was to get anything done in Hollywood. Impossible to get people to read things. I remember feeling in my dream that I already knew that and yet I was not going to back down in trying to get these books to film. I was resolute, and told JLC that. She was a sweetheart. The husband stayed quiet the whole time, like a prop.
I didn’t get to find out what happened because my crypt keeper, Bandit, placed me in a choke hold and dragged me back to consciousness. Prick. But, dream be damned, he and Smokey needed to go out and pee.
Well, today I have things to do, so I better get moving.
You fine, five(?) readers finish up that coffee and then finish up that work week.
And if you have a moment, cast that free vote for me.
But, no matter what we get up to, let’s make today a great one.
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