Part IV: Unexplainable, but interesting...

So – if you have been following this series about the unexplainable, but interesting, you probably have some idea of why I felt compelled to do some research on the land on which I currently live.  I want to figure out what is going on.  But before I can tell you about that research, I have to share with you that all of my family except for my 23-year-old grandson who had to work, were with me for most of this past week (party on), and they all mentioned things that they felt I should have included in my recounting of events.  For example, my daughter, who has really been in the thick of things with all of the activity here, agreed that I should include the recounting of the crying baby – so I am going to do that now. 

One of the times that the paranormal investigators were here, we went to my small barn – after dark, of course.  Darkness is apparently a part of the “fun” of paranormal investigation. I find it a bit creepy. Along with the investigators and me were my good friend who happens to be a medium, and I think my daughter was with us as well.  I know for sure that she was there earlier in the evening when other monumental things were going on. Anyway -- while in the barn the ghost hunters were running an EVP recorder to try to capture EVP’s (Electronic Voice Phenomenon). These are unexpected voices/sounds that are not readily heard by the living -- unless you are special.  Anyway -- activity was high in one of the horse stalls in particular.  My friend and I, lanterns in hand, were waiting quietly in another part of the barn, when she said: “Ask them if they have a baby with them.” Long story short, when the hunters checked the EVP recorder later on – there was a baby crying and then my friend’s voice saying -- you guessed it – “Ask them if they have a baby with them.” My friend has special gifts for sure.  So --- just add that occurrence to the list of the unexplainable, but interesting. Do you see now why I feel compelled to figure out what is going on with this land? (Must mention that activity was ramped up a bit while my family was visiting this past week -- even one of their dogs had a couple of rough nights. One never knows what it will be. Picture a trembling Basset Hound.

Moving on…

A bit of background info -- I had my home built on this land in 2001 and, at that time my parents lived on another portion of the land where they had lived from the late 1960s until their passing in February 2005. Inheriting the original parcel of land, I eventually had it subdivided after which I sold a small parcel of the original land that included my parents’ home and barn. One of the visiting mediums I mentioned earlier stood in my yard looking across the pasture at what had been my parents’ barn, and we had a hard time getting her to focus on my land.  She went on and on about how haunted their big white barn is -- going into some detail about the mischievous young boy who liked to hang out there.  I don’t think the current owners know the full extent of the goings on on my property, but apparently, they may have their own “activities”. Perhaps I will share the results of my land research with them if it amounts to anything.   Perhaps not.  This may be a good time to mention again that at another time ... another of the visiting mediums told me, with a most serious expression on her face, not to dig too deeply in my sun garden.  I have never felt quite the same way about weeding that garden and when Luna, my grand dog, digs there, I find myself holding my breath. I can go without knowing some things. Sometimes choosing ignorance is okay.

To continue …

My hope is to figure out who is passing through my home and to find a way to politely ask them to stop tapping and grabbing people on their way to wherever it is they are going. That familiarity is unnerving to those who are not used to it and is sometimes embarrassing to me as a hostess.  Oh – and also, I would like to figure out how to get them to stop smoking and stinking up my house while they are here. Quite frankly I don’t think that is too much to ask.  They can smoke and do whatever else they want to do outside.  At times I find myself wondering if they even know that they are passing through my home.  Then again – they must know if they pause to tap my granddaughter on the head, to grab sleeping people, or to rattle hangers in a clothes closet… not to mention that some think there is a harmless old fellow who just sort of camps out in the basement. That gives one pause.  Think about it. Sometimes these entities even talk to people.  I may skip telling you about all of those episodes. It’s a bit much.

The thing about research into the history of this land is that there are interesting fingers of information that push one in a lot of different directions – each one holding perhaps a tidbit of information that could be an important piece of the puzzle. It is sometimes a bit of a jumble -- difficult to untangle. Who were these early people in what is now Wayne Twp., Erie County, Pennsylvania?  Can they give me a clue as to what is going on here?  Earlier I mentioned the Beaver Dam Columbus Turnpike and the Abolitionist activity with the Underground Railroad.  Turnpike Road is very close to my land – easily within a few minutes’ walk.  It is hard not to speculate that some travelers may have made their way to the natural springs on my property as they headed north to freedom.  No evidence… just speculation. Perhaps there is a type of residual haunting here. I just don’t know….

 

But – there are other possibilities to consider as well.

Part III: Unexplainable, but interesting...

I look back now to my growing up as a mix of moving a lot and of unusual experiences mixed in with a lot of normal.   Maybe the early not so normal experiences were, in some way, a preparation for what was to come. Time passes. The business of life can sometimes be a bit overwhelming and one tunes out some things. It’s a matter of survival. Moving now to more current and in many ways better and easier times -- I started to notice “out of the ordinary things” a few years after I had settled into my new home which I had built in 2001 and where I still live now twenty never boring years later.  A case in point -- one grandson, when very young, was talking about things that he had no way of knowing – odd things really.  I asked him how he knew whatever it was that he was talking about, and he told me that my friend had told him – the one I had the photo of on my dresser at that time.  Now that was understandable to me as I had lost a good friend a few years prior to my grandson’s arrival, and it only made sense to me that he might be communicating with him is some way.  Further -- I think this friend might also have been communicating with my granddaughter even before she could talk. She would look up, smile, listen and laugh at someone no one else could see.  It was later, when she could talk, that one day, reaching her limit in patience, she blurted out to a someone/something no one else could see, “Stop tapping me on the head!”  It was at that "enough now" moment that I decided to begin paranormal research of the property including my barn and on what has become known rather tentatively, yet fondly, among family members, as “the creepy corner” inside the house itself.  

And so, it began – a series of mediums, psychics and a team of ghost hunters who liked to come to my land, barn and home to test new equipment.  Why?  – because there is so much activity here. (Actually, I think the ghost hunters would prefer to be called Paranormal Investigators. Sorry.  The ghost hunter thing just slipped out.) Anyway – they think my property is a wonderful place for exploring the unknown. For me that is a dubious compliment, but we have had rather amazing experiences in my home and barn…and on my land – especially in one garden where one medium told me not to dig too deeply. (How creepy is that?). Conformation of this is that one of my dearest friends, who has the gift of intuition and mediumship, has told me more than once that when she comes into my home, she doesn’t know if “they” are all waiting for her, or if she brings them with her.  (How does one respond to something like that?)

Activity is sometimes so commonplace that my granddaughter, for a period of time, would mention casually that Nanny (that’s me) has a portal in her kitchen. That is how some of the expert opinions explained it all.  The was a time when my granddaughter tended to speak of this to visitors when they dropped by. These people were often total strangers to her, but I guess she thought they should know - especially if they were standing on the spot that one investigator had designated as the portal area. (I think of that often when standing there while making toast.) Imagine, for a moment if someone indicated that you were standing on a portal.... Anyway -- she would mention it as if the portal were a point of interest like one might point out hand painted wallpaper or even something more commonplace and not at all exceptional. I actually have no idea how many people she shared this with. Eventually I mentioned to her that some people may find the idea of a portal to be a bit unnerving … that perhaps we should keep the portal business within the family for now. Portals are not good Show and Tell topics.  She gets it now a few years later – now that she is a grown-up 10-year-old.  For a while though -- after our "talk", she whispered the world portal when talking about Nanny’s house – much like my Mom used to whisper the word cancer.  What can I say? I have to admit that I did find the whole thing amusing.  Both my nearby grandkids take it pretty much in stride these days. They have grown up with it. Things have been relatively calm of late and the last time there was an unexplainable loud noise in the kitchen, my grandson and I just looked at each other and shrugged.  It was a bonding, but “there they go again” kind of moment.

Anyway – the consensus of the experts I invited to explore the situation -- mediums (3), psychic (1) and the ghost busters (an entire team, who came several times) is that there is nothing negative or dangerous going on here.  The "entities" (is that a euphemism?) seem to be passing through (perhaps sometimes utilizing the aforementioned portal in my kitchen). It is the land, actually) that is the basis of activity. Part of my home just happens to be sitting on that land.  There is also a lot of activity in my small barn. Lucky me.  Further -- the collective opinion is that there is a strong Native American presence as well as other spirits hanging around, but it is important, I think, not to discount the possibility of a residual haunting presence of runaway slaves. Whoever they are - I live with them.  They don’t bother me at all except for the pipe tobacco smell now and again. I don't like anyone smoking in my house. The occasional tapping, knocking, bells ringing, or gentle brush on my face that feels like spider webs is nothing I can’t handle. I do find that guests are sometimes not so easy-going about the taps which, sometimes, are more grabby than tappy. I don't get a lot of company.

Things that bother me more are of an electrical nature like the TV coming on in the middle of the night, but that has only happened once… so far.  It was startling - blaring actually. I thought there were people arguing in my living room, and I didn’t invite them. Scary.  Then again there is the fact that my son, when visiting one time, refused to sleep in the back bedroom after a rather impressively firm grab on a leg.  Now that he brings his dogs, (yes – plural wagging tails), things seem to have quieted down in that room… the hangers in the one closet have stopped rattling and nothing has grabbed him in the dark --- recently.  Point of interest -- that same grabbing thing happened to my nephew’s wife. They haven’t been back to visit since then. Actually - now that I think of it, they did come back once since then, but they stayed at the local Cobblestone Inn.  Anyway -- the level of activity varies.  Another grandson once mentioned that it sounded like someone was preparing an entire meal in the kitchen in the middle of the night. The sounds woke him up and kept him awake. He hasn't come for a visit in quite a while. 

These kind of things affect people differently. Denial is real.  My son-in-law was, until a couple of years ago, a total sceptic.  Then he heard voices in the room near the kitchen where he was washing up a few things, and he realized that everyone was outside – including the kids. Then when these “entities” leaned in and began to whisper in his ear, he joined the rest of us outside on the patio -- immediately, and of course, had to share the story of his conversion from a sceptic to a believer -- complete with his wonderful sense of humor. He is an outstanding story teller. His goose bumps were most impressive.  He says now though that nothing whispered to him, but that is not how I remember it.  My daughter-in-law, however, is still a bit on skeptical side, even though I have seen her react to a presence. Actually, everyone in the room saw her turn to look as if she had been tapped on the shoulder. I think I may have heard her say "What?". Those kinds on taps are pretty routine “stuff” around here.   Those in the “fam” are quite used to it. We hope that she will join the rest of us soon.  Her level of hope for that? Well - maybe not so much, but she is a good sport about the whole "thing".

 

But – there is more….