Friday, October 30, 2009

The White Lady of Union Cemetery

Easton Baptist Church





A Halloween treat or maybe it's a trick. I'm sure that many small towns have their version of ghostly apparitions, and my town is no different. For as long as I can remember, the story goes that The White Lady wanders through & near Union Cemetery & many claim to have seen her at night when driving near the cemetery.







Union Cemetery in Easton dates back to the 1600's & it is claimed to be the most haunted
cemetery in Connecticut. The cemetery is next to the Easton Baptist Church and is separated from the rest of the church property by an


old wrought-iron fence.






Lorraine & Ed Warren (he is now deceased) well-known ghosthunters visited the cemetery many times over the years and after much research stated that the cemetery is filled with 'demonic influence'. They even wrote a book about the cemetery entitled "Graveyard". The Warrrens even claim to have captured The White Lady's essence on film. She is described as having long, dark hair & wears what looks like a white nightgown.



The identity of The White Lady is unknown, but the legend goes that there may have been a love triangle involved. One version is that The White Lady is Ellen Smathers, who wanders the cemetery & its surroundings looking for her husband John, whose body was found in a sink-hole behind the Easton Baptist Church weighed down with iron chunks in his pockets. A man named Richard Dean Jason confessed to his murder because of his love for Ellen.


The other version is that another body found in this sink-hole around the turn of the century was that of a Mrs. Knott, who was supposedly killed by her lover, Elwood Wade & dumped in the sink-hole or it may really have been Mr.Knott who her lover killed. After the murder, Elwood Wade was hanged & it is said Mrs. Knott spent the remainder of her life in jail & now roams the area searching for them.






The White Lady usually appears in the road along Church Road & Route 59 or further down the road in Monroe, often being 'hit' by vehicles when she appears out of nowhere. She is never found after an incident,nor is there damage to the cars that pass through this ghostly woman.


It is said she may be walking back & forth between Union Cemetery to nearby Stepney Cemetery in Monroe.


In 1993 an off-duty Monroe fireman reported driving his truck along Route 59 near Union Cemetery, when he saw an eerie red glow & a farmer with a straw hat seated next to him in his truck. He looked up to see The White Lady in the road in front of him. He could not stop, struck her & heard a thud & then she & the mysterious passenger disappeared, leaving a dent in the front of his truck. So the story goes.


Whether you believe in ghosts or not, Happy Halloween.







170 comments:

Carol said...

That's a good one Coreen. Why don't you head over the the cemetary tonight with you digital camera, take a fews pics and see what shows up?
Maybe not!

Coreen said...

Well, if I did, the cops would probably give me a ticket, since it is posted that it closes at dusk, & they patrol it regularly because
of the 'ghosthunters' that do go there & it is
really dark here---we have no street lights!!!

I'm going to try to load a local news video about it.

Fairweather said...

Good story, Coreen! Thanks for sharing!~~Fairweather

Coreen said...

Do you have a ghostly tale? I personally have
never experienced the presence of ghosts. But I really think I saw a UFO, just once. It was
in the mid-80s & I was standing with a then
boyfriend at my car leaving his condo. It was
not quite dark & we were both standing at my
car, I looked up & there was a bright light
hovering high in the sky, but not like plane
lights. It was right over us. We were both
looking at it when it suddenly darted off at
a 90 degree angle at an exceedingly fast speed.

I couldn't believe what I had seen & when I said Greg what is going on, he also thought it
was possibly a UFO. Never saw anything like it
since.

Coreen said...

Fair, it is really nice to see you here.

I have been reading & enjoying your October fright stories regularly. Tried to leave a post but it would not allow it.

Carol said...

The scariest story I know is something that happened to my older sister. She was living in Little Rock, Arkansas at the time in the downtown area. She was renting this old, two story, house. I think it might have been made into duplex apartments. The upstairs had a staircase coming down from an attic.

She had come home from somewhere, don't remember that, and put her two young daughters to bed upstairs. Later she hears some noise coming from upstairs and goes up to see if one of her kids was up walking around.

She doesn't see anyone walking around and the kids are in bed. She looks into her bedroom and she sees, in the reflection of a mirror on a door, a man hiding behind the door.

She runs down the stairs and heads for her front door. The door has a lock where you have to use a key on both sides. Fortunately her keys were still in the lock. She unlocks the door and the guys runs down the stairs, carrying her purse and runs out the door.

Evidently the guy had gotten into the house while they were out. He must have been hiding in the attic.

I still remember that story as if my sister just told it to me yesterday. Nothing more creepy than having someone you don't know in your house. I still get scared just thinking about it.

Coreen said...

Carol, not that is a 'real' fright & just gives
me the chills thinking about it.

Coreen said...

Here's a link to the local tv news video about
our haunted cemetery.


Haunted Easton cemetery

Carol said...

That link didn't work Coreen.

Carol said...

You know my orb and aura experiences but they weren't scary. I did have one little experience many years ago when I was living in my grandfather's house for a short while. I was about 22y/o at the time.

All the people, who previously lived in the house were deceased. The house was empty and I could live there rent free. It was on 11 beautiful acres with lots of trees and camelias. Some of the camelias were originals grafted by my grandfather.

The property had a long gravel driveway and the house sat at the end of it up overlooking a bayou. It was a really cool house.

Even though it was beautiful out there it was dark and scary at night. It was out on the outskirts of town and the roads that lead out there were dark and scary. I didn't like being out there alone. I had a roommate and told her to always let me know if she wouldn't be home at night so I could stay somewhere else or get someone to come out and stay with me.

One night my roommate didn't let me know she wasn't going to be home until very late. She had a little dog. I was sitting and watching TV with the little dog on my lap. I was doing pretty well being alone. All of the sudden, her dog started looking up in the air and barking like it saw something up there. At the very time he did that I had this really cold feeling like someone opened a refrigerator door in front of me.

I didn't sit around to examine the experience. I got the hell out of there.

Coreen said...

It didn't---that is odd---it is working on mine. The words came out in blue haunted
easton cemetery & when I pressed it the
news12 link with the video came up direct,
wonder why yours won't work.

Coreen said...

Now Carol though I am no expert on the supernatural that certainly sounds like a
ghostly encounter. Have no idea what I would
do if that happened to me. What did you do
get in the car & take off with the dog?

Carol said...

It asked me if I purchased my monthly subscription Coreen. Evidently it requires a subscription to see it.

Carol said...

I left the dog there Coreen.

Carol said...

I am game for having experiences with unusual phenomena if I have company, the more the merrier. When I'm alone, I turn off any perceptiveness.

Coreen said...

It is my local cablevision station.
And yes, they do ask for your account # when
you go on.

If you want to see what is going on in CT &
see the video I will email my # to you.

Coreen said...

By the way forgot to mention when I checked in
last night after the game & saw your perceptive
comment about starting to feel better, only
a true sports fan understands the hi/lows of
being a fan.

Last night lots of squirming, trying to stay
calm & phone calls til it was done.

Carol said...

I just looked and Fairweather has a bunch of ghost stories on her blog.

Fairweather's Blog

Coreen said...

I know, I've been reading all month. I thought
you knew, she tells a good story.

Hope she comes back, was really surprised to
see her stop by.

Anonymous said...

Whew, It took me a long time to catch up.

Coreen, Great story, and perfect timing. The pictures really brought it to life.

Fair, It's good to see you over here. Hope you join us often.

And Coreen, Is this the same cemetary from Wiki? It has a picture from 2004 that is pretty spooky looking. Union Cemetery, Easton

Carol said...

Coreen, I didn't see the final score last night and checked this moring to see how the game turned out.

I had a link I had bookmarked for Fox Sports. When I pulled it up, it had an old score from the previous game. I thought it was last nights game and that your team had lost again. I was relieved when I realized it was not last nights game. Didn't want to see you bumed out.

Coreen said...

Chloe, sure is. Those weird photos on wiki
are what the Warrens claim to have found.
I have no first hand knowledge of any of it.

The Warrens really lived the ghosthunter thing,
those who are interested in such would know
them.

Carol said...

I wonder if Fair ever read my story about my orbs and auras. Not a scary ghost story but, sure enough, a real one.

Anonymous said...

I was just thinking about your orbs, when Coreen mentioned the ghost hunters. Those pictures seemed to fit right in with what we're discussing. Fair is a real smart lady. Maybe you should ask her for her take on them.

Coreen said...

Carol, as far as fandom, I used to get really
involved, but now, while I will be really unhappy if my guys do not win this year, I have
come to understand that whatever the outcome
of sporting events, #1 in the end, it does not change mylife at all; #2 if my team who gets paid millions to throw & hit a ball can't do it, they still get paid, so why would I go
crazy if they don't win. Must be a sign of
getting old!

Anonymous said...

I had a very long day. I take it most of your water worries are over Carol? And Maggie's not hiding under the bed?

Do you have your truck back?

Carol said...

Coreen, do they let ghost hunters go out to that cemetary at night? Around here, when the ghost hunters go to the cemetaries, they always let the Sheriff's Dept. or police know.

After getting the calls, one of the operators for the Sheriff's Dept. joined the ghost hunting group. I saw her pics. They were some of the best ones in the group.

Carol said...

Rain has stopped. River level is actually down from yesterday but it takes days to see where it will end up. The hydrologic prediction still has it going up to almost 6 feet. That would not threaten the camp but would make the road impassable. I don't think it will go up that high but will just have to watch and see.

Carol said...

Maggie never went under the bed but there was no lightening or thunder. She did stick to me like glue. Didn't want me to leave her out here if there was high water. Silly girl.

Coreen said...

Ghosthunters are not encouraged here. The cemetery is posted as closed at dusk, & the
cops patrol & they may give you a ticket for
trespassing (I am sure they are around this
week in particular). I would suspect that
depending on the familiarity they might have
with the 'ghosthunters' they may permit it,
but over the years, kids, teens go there, some
vandalism so this is discouraged.

Carol said...

We both got lots of good treats, too many.

Coreen said...

I bet Maggie was sticking close to you to comfort you as well, Carol.

Glad to hear that the rain is not so heavy now,
does your weather come out of the gulf? it appears as if it does on the weather radar, since I now watch west LA & Houston as well,
though I'm not sure where you guys actually are.

Anonymous said...

.. too many is better than not enough.

Carol said...

My old ghost hunting, best friend for years, have split company. She is Bipolar and she kind of went off the deep end. I couldn't even get in touch with her. I guess our poles just went in different directions.

Carol said...

Coreen, Chloe actually got it worse that I did here. I did ask Mary, not my sister, for her help. She came through for me again.

Anonymous said...

Solar, If you're around, I just saw your post over on TM. I didn't read the others, but I thought your was very well said.

You know the one, "when hell freezes over". I often use that expression. That, and 'yeah, that'll happen on the twelfth'.

BTW, I think you are right, Solar. Are you disillusioned?

Anonymous said...

Carol, up where we are it wasn't all that bad. Houston probably was, but I didn't hear anyone complain. It came and it left, and people here are so used to the downpours. We're fairly high, for this area anyway. We don't really get flooded in. The closest we ever came was during that 100 year flood year, a while back. The road by us was too deep to drive across for a couple of days. But they fixed that drainage problem the same year, so it doesn't flood there anymore.

I've noticed the news usually exaggerates the reality of what I see here.

Carol said...

Tonight would have been a good time for Solar to tell his coffin joke. And it could have gone over your head again Chloe.

Carol said...

Look at this map of storm totals.

Storm totals

Carol said...

Oops that didn't work. When you get to that radar, look over to the left and click on storm totals.

Carol said...

If you click on the box under the map that says rivers, you will see my river with the I-10 sign over it.

Anonymous said...

Carol, John McCain is $29.95. It's a cardboard cut out that stands up, in case you can't tell from the picture. They said all those are for sale, but they only have two left of John.

I was wrong about he store name, it wasn't Hot Topic. It was Freestyles.

Anonymous said...

I'm never going to live that joke down. Everyone got it except me. I should have kept my mouth shut, and pretended, until it came to me. I didn't get much of anything that night.

Carol said...

I guess you did go in and check out the store Chloe. Did you buy a lot of stuff today? Did you need a U-Haul to get it all home?

When are you going to post your Emma in her costume pics? You aren't going to get out of doing that. We will haunt you.

Anonymous said...

Mary seems to always come through for you Carol, doesn't she? Someone important to have on your side, and the fact that she is on your side seems to indicate that you're on the right path. Got to always keep a lookout for signs like that.

jan said...

Coreen,great pics and post. I don't have any ghost stories but if I hear a good one first hand I will come back with it.

I don't have any good pictures of the mountains on my digital. I will get some soon. Albuquerque does sit in a valley with the mountains to the East. It is hard to get lost in Alb b/c of the mtns to east and volcanos to the west. Today, I could see the Sangre de Cristo mtns to the North and they were snow capped.

Carol & Chloe, glad you are both ok.

Carol said...

I hung this little angel, one of my nurses gave me, up on a beam in the room I'm in now. She watches over me also.

Coreen said...

Carol, your river is the one that has the long
name "cal...., , isn't it. I'm not even sure
how to pronounce it.

And Chloe, Carol is right, we would like to see
Emma in her costumes, though I am not sure how
comfortable it is to post her picture on a public site.

Anonymous said...

I'm going to post them this weekend. I just don't have a Halloween story to go with them. She hated the whole set up and would smile, no matter what. What's weird, is she smiles ALL the time. She just didn't like the lady taking her picture. When the lady made a loud noise which was supposed to be funny, she started crying, and I had to calm her back down. It never got much better. I should have taken them myself.

But... we 'still' got some very cute pictures. No smile, but very cute. And I spent a lot more money on them than I planned.
But I didn't buy anything else, except lunch.

I saw Solar's joke about me wanting an excuse to go to the mall, but I'd never be there if it weren't for Emma. I used to like it a lot, but not for years now. I'll be going, because Emma 'loves' that play area and she needs to be around other children. I don't like the crowds or the drive to get there, but I'll do it for her.

Anonymous said...

Coreen, I'm not worried about posting her pic here.

Carol said...

Hi Jan. Don't have any scary, real people, stories either?

Speaking of scary, did you hear about that folk singer who was killed by coyotes? That was really sad. Her mom said she wouldn't have wanted the coyotes killed.

Why do these things happen to such special people?

Coreen said...

Oh Jan, glad you clairfied that, it was a long
time ago I drove across the country & remembered that when you came from the east
you suddenly so to speak came upon the city
nestled in the mountain range. And it was
really cold when we went through.

I would really like to see that horizon. I am
sure it has such beauty. We do not have mountains in the northeast. nothing to match
what I saw along the way to CA.

jan said...

Carol, how far are you from Lake Charles?

jan said...

Coreen, when you are driving west toward Alb and you go around the mountain, then you come into Albuq. pretty quickly. That is old Route 66.

jan said...

Carol, I have not heard about the folk singer killed by a coyote.

Carol said...

Just out of the city limits Jan.

Anonymous said...

Jan, I'd love to see pictures of those mountains. That's one thing I loved about California, are the mountains. I hope you post some for us.

jan said...

Chloe, poor little Emma, It is interesting how something like that scares little ones. So many kids are scared of santa claus.

Coreen said...

Jan, It very well could have been good old Route 66, it was 20+ years ago & we drove the southern route, because we did not want to catch any snow going over us 80 & 90.

Carol said...

Canadian folk singer died doing something she loved, mother says

jan said...

One of prettiest sights in Albuq is at sunset. When the sun is setting, it casts a pinkish-purplish glow on the mountains in the east for just a few minutes. It is a spectacular sight. That is where the Sandia Mountains got their name - Sandia means watermelon in Spanish and the color of watermelon is the color of the mtns at that time

Anonymous said...

"I hung this little angel, one of my nurses gave me, up on a beam in the room I'm in now. She watches over me also."

Those are the things that are so important Carol, and they can bring us such a great feeling of not only having someone look over us, but also, what I said about having someone on our side, no matter what. I think I'll try to find myself a little angel to hang somewhere I frequent in my house too.

Anonymous said...

That sounds beautiful Jan. It's been a long time since I've seen mountains.

Anonymous said...

Oh Carol, What a horrible way to die. And she was 'so' young and beautiful. I don't know how to find anything good in a story like that.

Coreen said...

Jan, can we ask you to go on a mission to
snap those beautiful sights. Just keeping
snapping away & I'll bet you will have some
spectacular pics of those watermelon mountains
and I have never heard that, thanks.

jan said...

Carol, thank you for posting the link about the canadian folk singer. How very sad.

jan said...

Coreen, that will be my next picture taking venture.

Solar said...

Chloe,

The reason that you did not get that joke, is b/c you so busy with giving instructions with the hyper link...lot of things were going on in you little ole cabeza..now the next time...

Solar said...

Coreen,

Tomorrow, I will give you an answer to your UFO...it's halo ween story....and real: I was there also.....

jan said...

"She just didn't like the lady taking her picture. When the lady made a loud noise which was supposed to be funny, she started crying, and I had to calm her back down. It never got much better"
Chloe, I had to read back over this again. Your description is great. I think little ones are a lot like animals in that they either like someone or they don't - there is no half-way.

Carol said...

Solar to the rescue!

Carol said...

You do have a big angel watching over you Chloe. He shaves and wears jammies.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Solar. But that's not the reason. I was just being a little dense that night. It happens.

I liked your posts on TM Solar. And I hope Don1 accepts your invitation. I know you'd enjoy having him here. I'm hoping Fairweather comes back too.

Solar said...

Carol,

Not a new post, just a post about Coreens --she thinks was a UFO.

Coreen said...

Solar,

Will look forward to your story. I am sure it will be worth the wait. And though I have no
way of knowing for sure, I certainly do not
rule outthat there may be real UFO's,
x-files & all that--the truth is out there.

Carol said...

Hey you TM people. Join in with the conversation here. You don't have to be profound here. You can just try to find yourself. We're still looking.

jan said...

I have a friend in New Orleans who lives in a haunted house. She tells that it is a benign ghost. My friend loves to cook and keeps a lot of cooking pans and utensils hanging on the wall and on hooks from the ceiling. Her house is quite old and is what they call a "shotgun" house. She said the ghost will sometimes knock over pans and utensils onto the floor.

This would be a good time to watch the movie "Ghost" with Patrick Swayze. That was a good movie.

Anonymous said...

Haha Carol!
We're still waiting for the jammie pictures, aren't we?

Carol said...

I've kind of always thought that maybe Solar came from space. The name fits.

Coreen said...

Now see, Jan wasn't sure about a ghost story,
but you have one. Again I have no personal
reference point for ghosts, but I can not rule
out the possibility.

But I do know that what I saw that one time
was not explainable. It was very disconcerting, as I drove home that night, I
kept wondering if it was following me.

Solar said...

Coreen,

This not about UFO's but about this once a year Halloween night...you just thought it was a UFO..been waiting a long time to tell you about it...

Carol said...

Tell us Solar!

Anonymous said...

"I think little ones are a lot like animals in that they either like someone or they don't - there is no half-way."

Yes Jan, Emma did 'not' like that lady.
After we left there, she was happy and smiling at everyone.

Coreen said...

See he's teasing us!

jan said...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandia_Mountains
Here is the site for a picture of the sandias - as we call them. Sorry I don't know how to make it blue so you can just click on it.

Solar said...

Hey what's with the wise crack...im from outa space....HA.!

Her is one for you "sista" we are already way out there is outer space...

Carol said...

You have hinted at it Solar. There are space aliens among us, don't ya know.

Coreen said...

Jan, found this on a quick search, through your
eyes we will see its majesty

Sandia Mountains

Anonymous said...

Jan, There is no need to apologize. It's just as easy to go to your links as it is the blue ones.

Here are some more beautiful pictures of 'beautiful' New Mexico Jan. It's breathtaking.
New Mexico

Solar said...

I think that Jan is definitely from outer space...watermelon mountains...hahaha

Carol said...

Whoa, that's beautiful. I do have a thing for mountains even though I love my swamp.

Anonymous said...

Wow Coreen! That picture really caught the colors.

Carol said...

I don't think Jan's spacey at all Solar.

Anonymous said...

"we are already way out there is outer space..."

Some more than others, huh Solar?
Maybe that's where I was the night I didn't get your joke. :)

Anonymous said...

Solar meant that as a compliment Carol.

Ivy Green said...

I don't have a ghost story of my own, but here is a wiki link to the Black Dog myths of the British Isles.

Black Dog

Coreen said...

Chloe, the group you found of those mountains
are pretty spectacular. The first three in
particular---the snow with the color is
mother nature at her best.

There was a neighborhood with the mountains
as a backdrop that must look pretty neat when
you see it in person as well.

jan said...

Coreen and Chloe, some great pictures. I love those sites.

Solar, you are absolutely right - I think I am from outer space sometimes LOL I think my sons would agree with you.

Solar said...

Definitely not spacey..

jan said...

Ivy, I remember a movie made in England that had a story of a black dog - that was related to something evil.

jan said...

Solar, you are so funny - how true - we are all in outer space.

Anonymous said...

"the snow with the color is
mother nature at her best."

.. yes, no artist can ever improve on mother nature. I actually enjoy photographic images more than artwork. More than great paintings, that is.

Solar said...

The Covenant, I think.

Carol said...

I know Chloe, I was kiddin.

Carol said...

I need to look at the black dogs.

jan said...

In Roswell NM many residents believe there was a space craft landing at one time. It is funny to drive thorough that little town. Many businesses capitalize on that story/myth/event and there are lots of little alien type creatures featured on signs all over town - they even have a museum to commemorate the event.

Solar said...

Jan, You get the cigar. We are part of the universe that makes out way out there in outer space already no?

jan said...

Solar, I missed something - what is the covenant?

jan said...

Solar, you have a poet's heart.

jan said...

Carol, you turned me onto the mountains when we did that ski trip to Steamboat springs.

Carol said...

Jan, remember that pair and a spare thing. Three was not a good number on that trip.

Coreen said...

Roswell NM--another incident that you either
choose to believe or not.

More than 60 years ago & never completely disproved.

jan said...

"yes, no artist can ever improve on mother nature"
Chloe, I completely agree. I have told you guys about my fascination with the artist, Georgia O'Keefe. She fell in love with NM when she came to visit in her '40's and then moved and lived here for the last half of her life. She painted this one mountain over and over again. She said God told her he would give it to her if she painted it often enough.

Solar said...

Ivy, is the poet around here...not even close.

Jan, thats the name of the movie, with the black dog..

Here is what we should do tomorrow...rent the pic. of the Exorcist and whats the scary parts all at the some time...

Solar said...

whats=watch

jan said...

Coreen, very true!

Carol, I was not aware of the threesome thing. I imagine you felt pulled between your older sis and your friend. I didn't feel any sense that it was difficult. It remains one of my treasured memories. I remember we had these 2 sets of bunk beds in our room and we brought cookies home in a brown paper bag one night and we all woke up to this strange noise and discovered we had a little mouse after our cookies in the bag. Then we started leaving food for it.

Carol said...

George Noorie talks a lot about that Roswell on his Coast to Coast Am radio show. I love that show unless they are talking about something demonic. Then I won't listen.

Before I had my computer with the Internet out here, I used to go to bed with my little radio ear phones on. His show started at 9pm. It was the rerun of the previous day's midnight program.

I usually fell asleep pretty fast, especially if I was really interested. It did play in my ears all night so somewhere in my subconscious, I have some interesting or even scary stories.

jan said...

Solar, I wish I could remember the name of the movie. I will think about it - maybe it will come to me. I am thinking the name might have been "The black dog."

Anonymous said...

Georgia O'Keefe's work is really amazing Jan. I remember seeing a picture of her once in a little trailer she lived in, in N.M. At least that's what I remember. Her work was everything to her.

When we drove through New Mexico, I was so taken with it's beauty. And it's so much more underpopulated than I was used to seeing. We took the 10 all the way here, so it may have just been that route. But that's one of the things I really loved, is that you could drive for so many miles, and see nothing but those beautiful mountains. And they're much taller and more massive than the pictures seem to capture. An absolutely beautiful, captivating state. Especially after just leaving a state (California) that is so over populated.

Ok, I've tired myself out. See you all tomorrow.

Anonymous said...

Ha, I should have added and entering another state (Texas) that is so highly populated (at least Houston area). But where there's people, there's money. Crowded places are good for business, and Houston has been good to us. I bless the day I found it. :)

Carol said...

Jan, you certainly have a talent for forgetting stressful events from the past. There was one morning that you were so upset you got up at 4am thinking it was time to leave. We were staying at someone's house but I don't remember who's. We all took turns pairing off and the spare was never happy.

Ivy Green said...

The super-speedway at Talledega is reputed to be built on an Indian burial ground and, therefore, cursed. In hopes of warding off bad spirits and "restoring balance" on a weekend when the big race coincides with Halloween, track officials have turned to a Medicine Man from the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, the same Creeks that once inhabited so much of the land around Talladega.

"Using bits of cedar, rabbit tobacco, and wild sage, he performed a short ceremony similar to one his great-grandmother—the last tribal medicine woman—would have done."

Spirit of Talledega

jan said...

Solar, well I looked up the movie The Black Dog and that is definitely not it - although there was a movie with this name in 1998-99 and it sounds like an interesting one - but totally not about a black dog.

Carol said...

Jan, I had forgotten about the mouse and the cookie but now remember. That was the Scandinavian Lodge at Steamboat Springs.

jan said...

You are right Carol, no recollection of that at all. We stopped at Katie's house in Colo Springs - was that it? I have been told that I used to do some strange things in my sleep. At one time I thought I might have had a dissociative disorder because people would say they saw me at night somewhere that I had no recollection of going. I have been told I used to sleepwalk. I think it went away when I went through menopause. John says I don't do anything like that. -

Carol said...

No, it wasn't on the way up, it was on the way back and I can't remember who's house. Someone my sister knew, I think.

Carol said...

I was working in ICU/CCU when the book the Exorcist came out. My supervisor let me borrow hers to read. I took it home after working the night shift. I stayed up all day and read it. It scared me so much that I didn't sleep without a light on for years after.

Coreen said...

Time for me to exit as well, the witching hour
approaches. Nite all.

Carol said...

Ivy, I'd never heard about that Talledega stuff.

Coreen said...

Carol, I deleted a post about reading the
Exorcist. That was the scariest book I have
ever written, but I could not stop reading it.

Now good nite for sure.

jan said...

Ivy, many of the American Indian tribes have tales of ghosts and evil spirits. I have heard that the Navajos will not enter a house where someone has died because evil spirits are there. They often have ceremonies to cleanse themselves of certain events. When their people return from wars they have healing ceremonies.

The Cherokees make little bags (called prayer bundles) filled with certain grasses, corn, and herbs. These are hung up in their homes to ward off bad spirits.

jan said...

Carol, wow! I don't remember the trip back at all. Interesting. It was a great trip though. The food at the Lodge was great- I remember that - also the bunny slopes. I think I fell down when we first skied off the lift and I think there was one time that I did not completely get on the lift and almost fell off.

jan said...

Ivy, I had not heard of the Talledega buriel grounds.

Carol said...

Oh yeah Jan. I remember that now. We were on a ski lift and it caught you at the back. You butt didn't get on the seat and you were hanging off when it took off. That's all I can remember. I assume you lived thru that.

Ivy Green said...

Jan,
The Native American culture makes a lot of sense, doesn't it?

jan said...

Carol, I felt bad for your sister, the car she bought had certainly been through it when we got back. Didn't we see someone in Denver and go out somewhere in the evening and have hot spiced wine? See I remember the food and drink. Could that have been where we stopped?

Carol said...

Falling when getting off those lifts is pretty common, especially when one person is a little ahead of the other and does that snow plow to stop. The person following gets caught up in the plow and goes down.

jan said...

You were on the lift with me and as soon as you quit laughing you pulled me onto the seat.It was the same when we almost skiied off the cliff, I was sliding toward the edge and you were almost hysterical you were laughing so hard. I remember that I was pissed as hell at you because I thought I was going to die, and you were laughing.

Carol said...

Interesting that we both remember different things but I am putting it back together. I do remember the food. Yes, the food......

jan said...

Oh yes, another time, we were skiing down from the lodge and I fell into a snow drift and my skis were stuck and someone, maybe you had to pull me out. I am surely a klutz.

Carol said...

It was just nervous laughter Jan. It happens to me a lot when things get really scary.

jan said...

Hadn't you been skiing before we went on that trip?

jan said...

Good night all.

Carol said...

I remember when I took this daughter of a friend of mom's out horseback riding. We were riding on this levee. On one side was a fairly deep irrigation canal. She was riding ahead of me when she came to a place where she couldn't go forward any farther. I told her to turn her horse around. She tried to turn the horse on a dime. You can't turn a horse on a dime, they both went into the drink.

Horse and girl both trying to scramble out of that canal and you should have seen the look on both of their faces. I was laughing so hard I almost fell off my horse. I don't think she appreciated it either. I can't help it. Nervous laughter.

Carol said...

Nite.

Carol said...

And you never did die Jan, I did regain my composure just in the nick of time, to save you.

Carol said...

Sorry that we kind of took over the blog with ghosts of lives past last night. There was a flood of fun and funny memories. I guess some of them weren't supposed to be so funny. But you have to know what I mean. Have you ever gotten in a tight spot and started laughing? That happened more when I was younger and I was really young back them. Just a whippersnapper. A kid.

I was as scared as Jan was on that little cliff hanger we did and the ski chair incident. And I really don't think I started laughing until I got you back into that lift chair Jan. I think I was actually holding my breath.

And really it was all my older sister's fault. She'd probably admit it. We could never take a trip without some kind of tragedy stiking.

And if it weren't for me, you never would have had these near death experiences. Was that why ya'll moved? Was Bob afraid I was going to kill ya?

Carol said...

And yes Jan, I had been skiing before, with Katie. She never could even stand up on her skis. Every pic I had of her, she was laying on the ground. She was a lot of fun to ski with.

She found a better way to use those talents, I think she slept with every guy she met there. We almost didn't make our flight out of there. She was shacked up with someone and I couldn't find her.

jan said...

Hi Carol,
I pooped out last night. John started having a coughing spell - and I needed to see about him. He has asthma.

If it weren't for you I would not have had those absolutely amazing adventures. I wouldn't trade those memories for anything. We both survived. I never was upset with you long for laughing. You are taller and more athletic. Being short, and trying to do everything you did - just got me into some jams.

John laughs too when I do something klutzy or silly and momentarily I get pissed at his too. I guess his is also nervous laughter.

The reason we moved from LC was Bob's job. He was not happy with his boss in LC and he had been invited to take this position in Montana with a boss he knew and liked. It was a good move for him. The boys loved it there too. I didn't like it. I began to regret the move about 6 months after we got there and wanted to leave. That was just not possible - so I made the best of it. Isn't that what women often do? When we had been there 2 years, a headhunter contacted Bob and offered him a position as a VP with a smaller oil co in NM. He took it and always regretted it - the company went under in 5 years. He regretted leaving the major oil co. But he went back to school and got his PhD in business and when he remarried he taught in a Univ too. He is now retired and has started his own consulting business and is doing really well.

Bob always cared about you like a young sister. He is a real caregiver. When we divorced I felt like I lost a parent.

Carol said...

Last night when I stepped out on the back porch, I heard that loud splashing sound like I did back when we were having the beavs around. Startled me. I still can't see how a beav could make that much noise going into the water. It wasn't a tail slapping sound. I have heard that before.

The only time I've ever heard that loud of a splash is when a large person did a cannon ball off the diving board.

My porch light doesn't shine in that direction so by the time I got my big flashlight, I couldn't see anything. Not even a ripple in the water.

jan said...

My mother died about the same time Bob and I had separated - but he and I stayed in contact until he remarried 3 years later and then he moved and that was it. I really went into a tailspin - and my brother was killed in an auto accident at that time- I was living in a new city, Dallas. Although she lived 3 hours away My sister was my main connection with life at that time. My sons were grown and busy with their lives. I couln't eat or sleep and felt like my life was over. That is what I mean about Bob being more like a parent. I felt I had lost my real father. I sort of hung on for a couple of years and then moved to Little Rock. Shortly after moving there, I found a wonderful therapist and she helped me put my life back together.

Carol said...

And even though I do believe in ghosts, I don't believe in evil spirits. If we create our own reality, I don't want any of them in my reality.

Another book that gave me the willies was The Amityville Horror. I couldn't leave that book in my house. I moved it outside.

jan said...

Carol, yes we have gotten back into memories - but it has been good for me to remember those years and experiences with you. I guess our moving away from LC was kind of like a divorce too. I went through a funk in Montana too after leaving you and everything familiar there. I went along with Bob on the move - but didn't realize how much I was giving up until about 6 months later - when all the dust of the move had cleared.

Coreen said...

Carol, I set up some pics of halloween decorating, I will post them if you are ok
with that.

jan said...

I don't know if I believe in ghosts. Maybe I am just not open to them. I do believe that people's spirits hang around for a while after they die. I have never had an experience that I felt someone's presence after they died, but my mother did. Her sister appeared to her after she died- and her sis had lived in Calif and my mother in OK. Her sister died leaving 2 young teenagers. Her husband was a kook. My mother said her sister told her (after death)that there was something wrong with her 2 daughters. My mother flew to Calif and met with the 2 girls. They told mother that their dad was sleeping with them both in a sexual way. My Mother arranged for them to live with one of their older sisters.

My mother had a lot of these experiences. The night before she died, she showed my brother's children (they were 8-14) her dad's picture (he had died in WWI) and told them she was going to meet him very soon. She died the next day. My brother's kids were a little spooked by that.

Coreen said...

Don't want to intrude on your discussions.

jan said...

"The only time I've ever heard that loud of a splash is when a large person did a cannon ball off the diving board"

Carol, wow! that would have scared me to death. You are braver than I am.

Carol said...

Halloween started as a pagan festival and the Christians highjacked it like they did much of the Christmas celebration. Hated to see any heathens having fun without trying to claim some credit.

"A time of pagan festivities,[6] Popes Gregory III (731–741) and Gregory IV (827–844) tried to supplant it with the Christian holiday (All Saints' Day) by moving it from May 13 to November 1."

Halloween

They had a way of taking all the fun stuff and trying to make it religious.

I still haven't forgiven that Pope who tried to turn one of the "Marys", not my sister, into a hooker. Didn't want people to realize she was Jesus's favorite disciple and the mother of the church.

jan said...

Coreen, some Halloween stuff would be great. We all need to get in the spirit.

Carol, I don't watch horror movies - not even at Halloween. If I watch something scary my heart rate goes out of sight and that is what scares me. I keep telling myself "it is a movie" but my hear doesn't listen.

jan said...

Coreen, INTRUDE - it is time to shake off the past. But we might reminisce again.

Carol said...

Darn, I thought I was alone here. Good morning and I will now read what ya'll have written.

jan said...

Carol & Coreen, In your states have you had the change of time. We change our clocks tonight. John's bro lives in CA and changed theirs back last weekend.

Carol said...

I really don't watch any of those horror flicks either. Can't take the stress anymore. They were fun when I was younger. Now I need plenty of laughs. Life, itself provides all the horror we can stand.

Coreen said...

Good morning, I posted the pics. There's lots of things going on in them. Must be a labor
of love for those who go all out.

Clocks turn back tonite to regular eastern standard time.

Carol said...

Go for it Coreen. Anything and everything goes here Coreen, you watch out now Solar.

We can have lots of Halloween posts, the more the merrier.

Carol said...

Oh yes, time to turn the clocks back. I guess I will be up an hour earlier in the morning.

jan said...

OK, I am going to have my hot tea now - I gave up coffee many years ago - can't get started without my tea in the morn.

jan said...

"Life has enough horrors" Yes it does. I love anything that makes me laugh.

Coreen said...

Halloween is up & ready for viewing.

P.S. Jan, I'm a tea drinker too & I should
go downstairs & go outside & get the papers
& have my morning jolt.

It's raining here again this a.m.

Carol said...

And that rain is going through Ivy's area this morning also but I think we took the punch out of it over here. I did hear there was a tornado watch for a while last night in her area but it didn't last long. We had already heard from Ivy by then.

I also try to keep up with everyone's weather.