Ghostly Encounter

The rain lashed against the windows and pounded on the roof. With the other guests out for the evening and the staff downstairs cleaning up from dinner; we were alone in the Coolidge Suite on the top floor corner. After a sumptuous meal with dessert and a glass of B&B by the fire; I was out like a light as soon as my head hit the pillow. The last thing I remember was Sissy still talking on the phone.

Over breakfast the next morning, she sipped her orange juice and casually asked if I had heard all the tromping during the night. I shook my head with a shrug. Tromping? There were only 4 people in the whole inn and the other guests were an elderly couple on the lower level and he was frail and walked with a cane.

The story unfolded as we waited on breakfast. After she got off the phone, she lay wakeful in the darkness; listening to the rain on the roof and the creaking of an old building settling in for the night. Over the sound of the storm, she heard someone tromp heavily up the stairs directly outside our room; then run up and down the long central hall to tromp back down the stairs. Up and down and back and forth. Through the noise, she could just catch a murmured conversation between several people. Loud enough to hear, but muffled enough to not be able to distinguish what was being said. This went on for 10 minutes.

It could not possibly be the frail couple downstairs. It was perplexing. Thinking perhaps other guests had arrived late, she turned over, pulled the blankets over her shoulder and went to sleep.

When the innkeeper brought our pancakes, I asked him if the inn were haunted. Built in 1840, I assumed it must be. He gently laid our plates in front of us and nodded. “Why,” he said, “what did you hear? After hearing the story, he then regaled us with stories of the ongoing spectral party in the bar, the wallpaper episode and the yellow room.

It was thrilling.

If you get the chance, stay the night at the Echo Lake Inn. Let me know if anything happens. I hope you don’t sleep through it like I did.

My World through the fog

I woke up to see my world shrouded in a think blanket of fog. Hours later the hush was still on the land; no dog barked, no birds called, what small sounds there were came faintly, clogged by the fog. I would not want to be lost in the woods on such a day.

To see other parts of the world, visit That's My World.

Monkshood

I have been meaning to show you one of my favorite autumn flowers. Monkshood (Can you see the little hoods?) is a tall sturdy perennial that produces gorgeous purple flowers when most of the garden is done. It does not need staking, thank goodness, because I hate fussing. I have it growing by the driveway so it gets a lot of sun. It prefers a rich, moist soil and unlike other perennials it does not throw seed everywhere. Ok, there is a down side. It is poisonous--so don't eat it.

Also, it was or still is I guess, known as wolfbane. Have you seen the original Wolfman movie? They quote a poem throughout the movie. "Even a man who is pure at heart and says his prayers by night, may become a wolf when the wolf bane blooms and the moon is shining bright." This is the real deal.

Monksville Reservoir

I have to drive over Monksville Reservoir everyday on my way to work. With the recent spate of freezing temps, the heat vapors have been dancing on the surface; glimmering in the sun. It has been this way all week. (Remember it has been in the 20s on the mountain.) Yesterday I decided to pull over and try to capture the rising mist.
Here's another one.

Sorta cool, huh. I wonder if this phenomenon has a name? Anyone know?

Autumn Leaves

Hoo-ey! The Leaf-peepers were out in full force this weekend. The fall foliage normally peaks around here the second weekend of October, but since we had had no wind or rain, this weekend the trees were still in their glory. The weather was crisp, sunny, dry. Perfect for a fall day in the country.

You know how you take things for granted? Oblivious to the beauty around me, I tried to turn left onto the main drag to go to the grocery store yesterday but all I could finally do was turn right and go with the flow. Car after car was filled with families going north. Intent on driving north to turn around and come south again to do my errands, I too got caught up in the fall color. It was spectacular! Abandoning my errands I drove to some of my favorite haunts. Enjoy the pictures.

One of the joy and sorrows of living on the mountain is the hordes of city folk that come to recreate in the woods. I hope you were one of them. If you haven't been out to see the fall foliage c'mon over. It will be over soon.

Wordless Wednesday

Signs of Autumn

I am in denial.

Flat out denial.

Even though the grocery store has started to stock mums (3 for $10.) and there are some spots of orange and red where the sun has kissed the trees and the furnace kicked on last night because it got down into upper 30s (and the windows were wide open) and it is getting darker much, much earlier; I am turning a deaf ear---but not a blind eye. For how can I. Fall for me is when the trees themselves turn into flowers. I am feeling abandoned by summer; not yet ready to move on, but Fall is beckoning.

Are you ready?

White on Red

I woke up this morning to a world transformed. Three inches of snow covered everything. Every twig on every branch on every tree wore a coat of white. The snow weighed down the trees, grasses and shrubs. It was heavy and wet. The red leaves of the maple were a startling contrast to a world made white. I don’t know if I have ever seen snow on autumn leaves.

This is the earliest it has snowed on the mountain in the 7 years I have lived here. If this is a harbinger of things to come, we are in for it!

Wordless Wednesday

"Leaflets 3, let it be."

Poison ivy turns the most beautiful color in the fall.

September

The light has changed.
Even with the visor down
The sun’s dying embers burn my eyes as I drive into the west.
The creep of darkness has begun
and will not end until the brittle cold of the longest night.

Leaves are changing
Sun kissed touches of gold and red decorate the hillsides
Glowing in the long light,
Splotches of nature’s paint that will soon run together
then turn brown and fall away.

There is a chill in the air
The kitchen floor is cold now in the morning.
When I skip across it in my robe longing for the first sip of morning’s heat
I am still warm from the comforter pulled up in the night
My bare feet are icy.


Change is good, it is inevitable.
It comes on so slowly that we do not notice
until
one day it seems to have happened over night.