22 August 2006

'Pacas at High Noon & a Ghost Story

First, some photos. This was the scene in the sideyard of my house today.

082206Yard_Pacas

They get lush grass, and I don't have to mow. I call that a win-win situation.

And one of the avocado pits I planted has finally sprouted.

082206Avocado

The other appears to have bitten the dust, but that's how these things go and I'm just happy the one decided to spring forth, as I was beginning to have my doubts.

and now....

A Ghost Story

I left a comment on Sean's blog the other day about having had "ghostly guardians" as a child. Naturally, and probably helped by the fact that he's a horror freak, he asked me to elaborate.

It's not a particularly detailed story, but as a small child - probably until the age of 7 or 8 - I used to have ethereal "guardians" at night. I can't give a good description because they were always vague and never really did anything, but at night I could often see two shadowy figures flanking the doorway to the room I was sleeping in.

I've always been fairly certain that this wasn't an illusion or trick of the moonlight, partly because I've had a fairly rational mind from a very early age and partly because they weren't restricted to a particular place. I have very distinct memories of seeing them in multiple rooms and in multiple houses in multiple towns. I even remember one instance of sleeping on a sofa bed in my grandparents' living room in Charleston, SC, which had two arched entries on opposite sides of the room. I woke up needing to pee and could see them by one entryway. When I turned my head to see if the other entryway was clear, they were there also. When I worked up the courage to go to the bathroom, they vanished as I neared the arch.

As I said, they were very vague figures, but I had the distinct impression that one was male and one was female. Beyond that they never moved or spoke or gave me insight into what they were or why they were there. I'm confident they weren't a dream creation, as I was often afraid to go to sleep with them there. When I tried to tell my parents they would laugh it off and tell me that it must just be my guardian angels - assuming, most likely, that it was the fertile imagination of a young child - but it never made sense to me that they would frighten me so if they were there to protect me. So they remain an enigma, and why they stopped appearing makes as little sense as why they were there in the first place.

So that's my ghost story. Since then I have only seen one other ghost. That instance happened during the daytime and it was a very solid-appearing entity. My parents, though once skeptics, have come to believe in the 19 years they've been living in their 175-year-old farmhouse. There have been multiple sightings in the house - one of my baby brother's high school friends was so scared that he refused to set foot in the house again. As to the nature of ghosts, I don't try to speculate much. I just accept that there are things beyond our understanding and leave it at that. It still gives me the heebee-jeebees sometimes, though.

Addendum

My tomato cravings have been momentarily sated. My friend Kit invited me to harvest her tomatoes while she and the wife and child are away on vacation this week. She is truly a wonderful person. I came home this morning with three smallish but perfect tomatoes, two of which became sandwiches for my dinner. Norma took a picture of hers, but my tomato-starved soul had no time for such niceties, so her pic will have to suffice. I go to bed a very happy man.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing the story from your childhood. That's really interesting. I agree that there are things we just don't understand, because my family has its own stories of unusual occurences. It's a little spooky, but not terrifying or anything.

Susan said...

Your ghostly experience story gave me the heebeejeebees. But I liked it. :)

Anonymous said...

I've never been able to get an avocado to sprout! Doesn't stop me from trying though.

Very interesting ghost story, I've never had a close encounter like that, but in an apartment I used to live in(in Exeter) something used to move thigs around.
Cups, plates, towels. . .one time it even slid the dead bolt on the door downstairs. Very strange.

Anonymous said...

You live near Kit and Sue??? Lucky duck. Cute alpacas. Scary ghosties. Did you have a cat sleep with you at night b/c that's about the only thing that would have made me feel better in that situation... Yum on the tomatoes.
--Sara
www.saraskates.typepad.com

FiberQat said...

Thanks for sharing your story about the guardians. It's interesting that they were with you at different locations. Usually ghosts stick to one location.

TheBunny said...

I think you need at least two avocado trees to get them to bear fruit. A male and female tree but I couldn't tell you how you can tell the difference (insert jokes here). So you will need to get more avocados for sprouting attempts. What a hardship! They are good with tomatoes...

Liz said...

gasp! your avocado sprout! cool! I keep meaning to try and do something like that with an avocado pit. Weren't those ubiquitous at some point, years ago? people sprouting avocados on the windowsill used to happen all the time. Ah, well.

The pacas are adorable and thanks for the story and the recipe for seitan stew and and and...

and good luck with the diet thing.