October, All Over

Chan did the annual cosplay ball, the parents went out to do the ghost walk and to eat.

A few shots from the ghost walk:

This tree looks like something with one eyeball and 2 arms

AN ORB!

ANOTHER ORB!

Rho stayed the weekend.  It started off with Jake miserable, but I think even he got bored after a while.  They got along fine for a change.

We went to see Crimson Peak on Sunday before meeting up with Amanda.

On Monday, Jake went to an open house for law enforcement hopefuls.  He really liked it and hopefully he will be able to work it so he can go this next year until he's 21.  It's a great way to get his foot in the door.  His job is good for the schedule now, but I am not sure if it's the best job for him.  The hours are super early and short-he's leaves just after 3 a.m. and is back by 9.  He's struggling with the work load and takes what seem to be minor things such as falling behind a little as these huge events that color the rest of the day.  Then he has a good day and everything is great.  Then a bad day and it's doom and gloom again.  The whirlwind is stressful.  But if he goes to a 9-5 job, he can't do the police thing.  It's a lot for him to consider.  I am staying out of it, other than to try to cheer him some when the day goes badly in his mind.  He doesn't have anything to compare it to, so every time his boss mentions he needs to do this or change that, he takes it more personally than I think strictly necessary.  But, I don't know.  Maybe Jake is the worst employee ever.  They keep texting him to come back in the next day no matter how abysmally he feels he's done.  Maybe they are filming him for a new 'what not to do' video for new hires.  I don't know.  I try not to dwell, but that's not super easy.  I want things to go well for him, for him to be starting out on the adult phase of his life and not this merry go round of turmoil he seems to be in instead.

The chicken factories are done, so far as I can tell.

On Thursday, we went to see American Horror Story, which in this instance was the story of Lizzie Borden.  As a ballet.  Afterward, Chandler had to find the wiki as we had NO IDEA what happened in the middle 30 minutes, other than LOADS of dancing.  Turns out, she joined the church.  I never would have guessed that, ever.

I told Ben the primary ballerinas had wood blocks in their shoes and on the way to the van, he got REALLY irate that I told him about that.  I don't know if it freaked him out or what.

Chandler said they asked the art department, "Who wants to paint some non-oxidizing blood from no discernible source?" which made me laugh until I had hiccups.  It was true, though.  Blood isn't red for long.  And it's green if you bleed out in water deeper than 30 feet.  Just so you know.

On the way back, we stopped at Mulberry Fork and took a couple pictures.  The fall color this year is subdued, some trees are already bare, some have not turned yet and there are a few here and there that are painfully bright, but only a few.

Below, I have the DRAMATIC filter on to get the clouds.

And that's it.  Next week starts a whole new month, even though I don't feel like October even happened.  What a crazy fast month!  I thought so many changes would make it seem slower, but I don't know if anything can slow the rush of time, other than walking.  Seems like I manage to feel every minute when I am having to get back to the van.  hahaha.  

Scared and Excited!

We had our ghost walk last night...I was looking for a little more history, the walk in Huntsville has so much more local info.  I guess Decatur just isn't that interesting.  They could have pointed out how I was born there or something.

Today, Jake drove himself to town to hang out with friends for several hours and then drove back home. That was about 900 times more scary than last night.  hahahaha!

Tonight, Matt is a Battle of the Bands, which is broadcast live online.  He is giddy, he's so excited and his inner 17 year old Matt is riding the waves.  Playing in a battle at the COUNTY FAIR.  And they are the closing act.  I hope they win, we could use $100.  Ha!  That never changes, extra cash is always handy at 17 or 42.

This afternoon while I just happened to be stalking Jake to be sure he had not driven into a ditch in town as well, getting groceries (almond milk and arugula are groceries!) I saw...The Girl in the Spider's Web!  The Stieg Larsson 'Millennium' series is being continued by another author, since Stieg  managed to give himself a heart attack and die.  I grabbed it right away (from the library), I can not wait to see what Lisbeth is up to, she's my favorite protagonist. And I will, right after I finish my other giddy-inducing find, the newest Department Q book! Also, in Scandinavian crime novels worth reading I like Johan Theorin.

I have been downloading podcasts all afternoon for our drive to the island coming up.  Probably more podcasts than we can listen to, even if we drove there by way of Wisconsin.  Yay!  Kurt is being a whiner because it's a long drive.  I'll have none of that on my vacation!  Though really, I'd rather all be driving to Disney!  I still need a bathing suit, though I am starting to think it will be too cold for sea bathing.  I did find my sun hat today, well, Matt did.  That's one of the 5 things on my list of lost stuff.  I swear, this house moves things you need.  My stuff most of all.  Garh.

And, that's it!  I am off to watch The Battle of the Bands, though I hope it's more lively than the usual gig. They don't dance around or even have big hair or...do anything, really.  They just play and the singing guy sings.  People clap and dance, but I doubt they will be on the LIVE BROADCAST.  He's called 3 times.  I feel a little bad about not going, but...noise and strangers.  I am seriously the worst band wife. hahaha

Oh, I did make a funny the last gig.
Why does the bass player get laid more than the drummer?
Because by the time all the drums get loaded up, the girl is sober again.

Plus, she has to drive her own car because there's no room.   So, sober is a good thing, but...not for the drummer. hehehehehe

Why There's a Ouija Board in the Kitchen

I am sure I have told several parts of this story before, but here is the whole thing from start to finish in one place.

We moved here 11 years ago, back into the house Matt grew up in.  It had been empty a while and then his sister and her husband lived here a while and moved out.  When his job in Tennessee ended, we opted to come back here.  The house was still full of things left behind.  His sisters took what they wanted, some things got bagged up to be given away, we moved some things to the attic and incorporated a few things to use ourselves-it was a process that took several weeks and during that time, the front bedroom closet was still full of not-our-stuff, mostly games, stacked on the shelves.

To get to the hall bathroom, you have to walk through one of the two bedrooms on the east side of the house.  Until Chan was 8 or 9, they all 3 shared the bigger bedroom for sleeping and kept their toys in the front bedroom, so I walked through the 'playroom' to access the bathroom instead of walking through their bedroom.  I guess it was just easier or less intrusive.  Either way, it took me past the game closet several times a day and more often than not, the door would be open and on the top of everything in there, there was a Ouija board and it liked to slide off onto the floor.

Now, let's back up a little and fill in my background and the house's background.

Mine: I am a preacher's kid.  My father had very few rules, we were surprisingly secular for a family of Baptists in Alabama in the 70's.  There were not many 'nos' growing up-from Daddy that is.  But one thing he did caution me about was a game friends were playing in 5th and 6th grades, where they'd light a candle and look into the mirror to call spirits.

I asked him about it and he said, "It's not a good idea to send out an invitation like that, you can't control what hears you."

Through my adult life, I shed the various indoctrinations of my childhood, holding them up to inspect and realizing I lack the faith required to not see the holes in the stories any longer.  This has been a struggle for me for many years and the shunning by folk who are hip-deep in their religions has done nothing to sway me back to the light.

But the one thing I have never, ever bucked was my firm belief that there are things we can't see.  Not 'all around us all the time' and more of an energy than a spirit.  That people acting with intent can create energy: that when something profound occurs, there's an after effect.  Think about the juju created by sexual tension, or the glow of love for a child or spouse-even a beloved pet.  Or the palpable energy of an angry mob.  You've walked into a room where people are having an intense discussion and 'felt it in the air', that tension, that high emotion-fueled energy.  You've felt someone's stare from behind you, or been subjected to a scare or the cold shoulder-and actually felt a chill.  Or been around that person who is takes your energy and you feel ebbed away just sharing space with them.  An emotional vacuum.  To some extent, people control energy.

My respect for my father and having been subjected to so little interference from him growing up made me very attuned to taking seriously what he did warn me about or asked me to do.  So much so that one of my biggest gut-aches to this day is not naming Ben 'Sam' which was Daddy's suggestion.  Ben's name is synonymous with thanking my lucky stars daily for Matt, so it's not like I dissed Daddy.  I just needed a Ben more than a Sam.  But it still bothers me that I let him down, in any way.

Add in my belief that energy can be created and to some extent controlled-especially by people who are running high on emotions-and knowing my father believed there is something out there and you have the perfect mix for totally avoiding Ouija boards.

Then I moved to a house where one fell out at my feet a few times a week.

The house.

The house was built around 1930.  It was added on to in the 50's and again in the 70's.  While Matt was growing up here, his sisters often saw a ghost of what everyone assumed was their great Aunt Ruth, though several other people have died here. It  has been lived in by various members of the same family since it was built, providing shelter as needed, for weeks or years.

I have had a few experiences here, but I have never seen Ruth nor have my kids.  I don't think the house is haunted, I think it has an energy and that energy likes the house full of people.  Or it could be that the house is a structure and needs to be kept clean, heated and cooled and dry and a house that is lived in is always in better shape than one that is empty.  You can often tell an abandoned house simply driving by it.  It has a vibe even without a For Sale sign.

Everything 'scary' that happened to me in this house happened before we lived here, with one exception and that was not scary, simply...odd.  Matt and I both saw the face of a woman as if she were made of mist, form and reform over the bed.  We both woke from a sound sleep at the same time-we were not up telling each other scary stories-and saw it at the same time.  Matt and his dad have had more encounters, that was the only time I saw anything.  And that was not an 'energy manifested' thing as we were asleep-then not asleep. So who knows what's really there?

I have read that people who are afraid of the dark are not in control of their house.  That's a feeling of power thing, not an actual human vs structure thing.  Kids are scared of the dark because they don't have physical strength or they worry, or are overwhelmed in other ways.  Fear of the dark is just another manifestation or symptom.  A confident kid isn't scared.  They control their house.

I don't fear the dark.  My fears are far more tangible and rational and are not unique.

Usually...

Well, after the board fell out AGAIN one afternoon, I scooped it up along with several more games and put them all in a box I had just emptied via our own unpacking.  The box got put on the porch and Matt's sister, Erin, moved it down the road to their aunt's house where many things were going to either be stored, in limbo to be claimed or heading to a huge yard sale for a church fundraiser.

I thought about the board many times over the next decade.  It kept falling out of the closet, not just a couple of times but so often it was a little disturbing. Was it trying to get me to use it?  Did I even believe in something like that-a object with a will?  Was 'someone' trying to communicate with me?  Maybe a previous occupant needed to warn me or disclose some valuable information!

Maybe it was gravity.
But.

(If it were a Monopoly board, I would not have thought of it again.)

Move forward 10 years. Matt's aunt moved into assisted living and her out-of-town kids got her house ready to sell.  Since they moved away, our county  went to single can collection-if it's not in the provided can it does not get picked up.  They continually piled boxes and bags by the side of the road and we got in the habit of going by after the regular collection and cramming the can full of the leftovers until after a few weeks, it was all picked up. Then they'd come pile up more over another weekend and leave again.

One afternoon I swung by and one of the last remaining piles had fallen over.  Laying out in the rain, in the road, in my path again, was the Ouija board.

I brought it back and put it in the kitchen.  And that is why it's there.
Waiting.

Saturday Evening Post

It's actually early Sunday morning!  But I do have pictures, so there's that.  

In the afternoon, we met Amanda to get the hat part of Rho's costume, then headed home long enough for everyone to get dressed.

Then we went to Southern Adventures to ride the swings!

Katy met us with Emma and Sarah showed up so Sophia could join.

They played around out front for a few minutes:

The we headed to Katy's for them to finish getting ready for the cosplay ball at the library.  Jake, Chan, Rho and Brit went last year, too.  I was glad everyone wanted to go this time!  They met up with Dae inside and we met up with her parents outside and the 4 of us went on a double date!

Our first stop was Harrison Brother's Hardware over in downtown, about a mile away.

You meet on that corner and pay the guy-cash or check, no debit or credit processing, and he gives you the tickets.

Then you wander around and talk to the costumed tour guides and the people in the tour shirts about the tours (if you don't already know which one you want)

This year they have the Old Town Tour, which covers the $ district and has stories from the Civil War and more or less that time frame.

The Twickenham Tour covers the $$ houses and covers the founding fathers of Huntsville and pre-Huntsville times.

The Downtown Tour is newest and covers businesses and streets around downtown, all the way to the Halsey Grocery.

We had no preference going in, so I suggested (based on crowd size) the Downtown Tour.  There were around 15 people waiting for it compared to 40-60 for the other tours.

They usually do the tours at 6, and here in Alabama, that's still not only in the daylight, but it's still HOT then. In October they added the 8:30 tours as well. 

Last night was cool, but not breezy.   My regular grey jacket was plenty, worn over a t-shirt.

I won't go into detail about the hauntings, so you can take the tour yourself.
Most of the buildings I took photos of had a story, but some I just took a photo of.

Keep in mind it's dark and my shutter was set to 1/2 second.  I propped when I could, using trees or street signs, but there's still going to be a good bit of blur and the photos are grainy due to high ISO.
These are from a pocket point and shoot.

The ghost here is supposed to watch us from the door.
I totally see someone peeking around the middle bit, hand dangling, there on the (your) right side of the door.  The face is next to the R.
I see the car reflected in the door, but only one woman went in and she had on tight black pants and jacket and had her hair combed out, it was springy and tall.

Shot this in passing, no story down the alley, but the 'orbs' amused me!  hehehe

Matt and me!

My legs and a parking meter shadow.

Matt saw this as a shield, I see a crazy cartoony face!

We went and grabbed some IHOP and then headed to the library and picked up the kids.
We offered to feed them, but the ones that heard me said no, they had eaten candy all evening and just wanted to get back.
I think Chan and Brit missed that conversation and were a little annoyed.  Luckily, while in town to get Rho's hat, we also stocked up on groceries!

We headed back home with various extra kids and our own three.  I think it was a pretty good night out!
The ghost tour was fun, I'd go do another one of them any time.  They only run 5 months out of the year, next weekend is IT for 2014!