Original Post Sept. 1, 2011
It seems of late that all I do is evade Mother Nature. Since we have moved back to Virginia in January I have battled owls, squirrels, rabbits, scary lizards and pesky mosquitoes. I am not sure this has anything to do with Mother Nature’s fury but it seems as though we also have a, dare I say the word, ghost.
I know what you are thinking there are no such things as ghost but try as I may that is the only explanation I can come up with for the happenings of late. It started about three months ago when, on its own, the bedroom light came on. This has happened at least a dozen times since then. In talking to the neighbors I have found out that there were also some strange happenings before we moved in. In addition to the light, the ceiling fan is also coming on by itself, always at night or in the wee hours of the morning while we are still in bed. Normally I turn it off and that is that.
Last week however whatever “it” is seemed to be feeling rather frisky as the light came on at midnight, four a.m. and then again at half past six. Each time I turned it off but as I switched it off for the final time it immediately came back on. Having had enough I pointed at the light with an Italian hand gesture and said a wicked explicit phrase that usually follows the same gesture at which time the light turned right back off. I started laughing uncontrollably and told my husband, who had witnessed the whole incident, that I was glad he was there as he never would have believed me. I think the thing that made it so funny to me is it was the first time it had ever turned off by itself. Do you think that maybe I scared “it”?
So if battling animals and “other things” wasn’t enough now Mother Nature seems to be bringing out the big guns, showing the real force of her fury.
Last week, while minding my own business, the earth moved under my feet. Actually it was the bed under my body but I don’t think there are lyrics to that version. If there are they probably are not suitable for this blog. I had been working in my office most of the morning and, having just decided to take a break, I decided what better way to rest than to lay down and close my eyes. I had no sooner touched my head to the pillow when I felt the bed shake. My first thought was that our dog, Oliver, was lying against the bed and had an itch. My second thought was “man that must be some itch”. I then realized he was staring at me trying to figure out for himself what was going on. My next thought was that the unseen entity that has been turning my light on of late had ramped it up a degree and was doing the whole poltergeist thing. It then dawned on me that we were having an earthquake. The whole thing lasted only seconds but it was scary all the same.
I ran and posted on Facebook, everything goes on Facebook, and then called my husband. You see where my priorities lay! One has to update Facebook if anything important happens you know. So here I was preparing for a hurricane and we had an earthquake. Somehow that just isn’t right. We didn’t have any damage from the earthquake but it sure scared the tar out of me as I was alone when it hit.
Hurricane Irene showed up a few days later but she had mellowed by the time she arrived. As you know if you read last week’s blog I rode that one out myself as well. Well not totally alone as Oliver was with me. He handled it well, sitting by the front door watching all the debris fly by. While we had a lot of wind and rain we survived with no more than broken tree limbs, countless leaves and a window screen that took a hike. We were even lucky enough not to have lost power until the following day and that was only because they took it off-line for six hours while repairing it elsewhere. Not too bad considering. I think the reason I handled it as well as I did was because we did not lose power during the storm and I was able to watch the news and update Facebook throughout the day. While I was alone it was comforting to have the support of my Facebook friends.
I am not sure what She has in store for me next but I sure hope I am up for the task. I say I as I am sure whatever it is I will be dealing with alone. Thus is the life of a military spouse…
It seems of late that all I do is evade Mother Nature. Since we have moved back to Virginia in January I have battled owls, squirrels, rabbits, scary lizards and pesky mosquitoes. I am not sure this has anything to do with Mother Nature’s fury but it seems as though we also have a, dare I say the word, ghost.
I know what you are thinking there are no such things as ghost but try as I may that is the only explanation I can come up with for the happenings of late. It started about three months ago when, on its own, the bedroom light came on. This has happened at least a dozen times since then. In talking to the neighbors I have found out that there were also some strange happenings before we moved in. In addition to the light, the ceiling fan is also coming on by itself, always at night or in the wee hours of the morning while we are still in bed. Normally I turn it off and that is that.
Last week however whatever “it” is seemed to be feeling rather frisky as the light came on at midnight, four a.m. and then again at half past six. Each time I turned it off but as I switched it off for the final time it immediately came back on. Having had enough I pointed at the light with an Italian hand gesture and said a wicked explicit phrase that usually follows the same gesture at which time the light turned right back off. I started laughing uncontrollably and told my husband, who had witnessed the whole incident, that I was glad he was there as he never would have believed me. I think the thing that made it so funny to me is it was the first time it had ever turned off by itself. Do you think that maybe I scared “it”?
So if battling animals and “other things” wasn’t enough now Mother Nature seems to be bringing out the big guns, showing the real force of her fury.
Last week, while minding my own business, the earth moved under my feet. Actually it was the bed under my body but I don’t think there are lyrics to that version. If there are they probably are not suitable for this blog. I had been working in my office most of the morning and, having just decided to take a break, I decided what better way to rest than to lay down and close my eyes. I had no sooner touched my head to the pillow when I felt the bed shake. My first thought was that our dog, Oliver, was lying against the bed and had an itch. My second thought was “man that must be some itch”. I then realized he was staring at me trying to figure out for himself what was going on. My next thought was that the unseen entity that has been turning my light on of late had ramped it up a degree and was doing the whole poltergeist thing. It then dawned on me that we were having an earthquake. The whole thing lasted only seconds but it was scary all the same.
I ran and posted on Facebook, everything goes on Facebook, and then called my husband. You see where my priorities lay! One has to update Facebook if anything important happens you know. So here I was preparing for a hurricane and we had an earthquake. Somehow that just isn’t right. We didn’t have any damage from the earthquake but it sure scared the tar out of me as I was alone when it hit.
Hurricane Irene showed up a few days later but she had mellowed by the time she arrived. As you know if you read last week’s blog I rode that one out myself as well. Well not totally alone as Oliver was with me. He handled it well, sitting by the front door watching all the debris fly by. While we had a lot of wind and rain we survived with no more than broken tree limbs, countless leaves and a window screen that took a hike. We were even lucky enough not to have lost power until the following day and that was only because they took it off-line for six hours while repairing it elsewhere. Not too bad considering. I think the reason I handled it as well as I did was because we did not lose power during the storm and I was able to watch the news and update Facebook throughout the day. While I was alone it was comforting to have the support of my Facebook friends.
I am not sure what She has in store for me next but I sure hope I am up for the task. I say I as I am sure whatever it is I will be dealing with alone. Thus is the life of a military spouse…
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