The Owl In The Wall

 The ongoing work to repair the leaky roof and damaged wall is continuing.  Right now, heat lamps are drying the wood so that mold will not grow.  This leaves the exposed brick of the old fireplace in full view.  It is sad to say that I sort of like it this way.  I am sure that come November (post Halloween), I will see things with a different eye but, for now, I find this far too interesting...so much so that I posted a photo on social media.  I wanted to get an idea if others saw what I did.  There is an owl in my wall!  So, maybe this is not a living owl and maybe you have to have a good imagination but there is definitely an owl staring back at me each time I walk through the dining room.  The consensus was, indeed, an owl resided there but, not only an owl, but a whole host of other entities!  I was excited as folks started pointing out other beings.  

  It seems there is a whole following of people who actually spend hours just looking at images to find "hidden" things in them.  I find this intriguing!  How neat is it to see things in a different view?  To be able to view an ordinary photograph and pick out "unseen" items is pretty thought provoking, to say the least.  I sort of want to start taking random photographs just to see if anything "jumps" out at me!  

  It almost saddens me that after a few more days, my owl, a frog on the lily pad, a hairy ghost, a smirking lizard and a few other "faces" will be hidden from view.  Once Son repairs the water damage, my "friends" will be out of sight...not gone...just out of sight.  Goodbye, Wall Friends!

Questions...questions!!!

  For years now, Son and I have been joking about there being a ghost that lingers around the Bayou. Let a door slam unexpectedly and "The ghost did it!"  Let common items appear in strange places and "The ghost put them there!"  Let anything unexplained occur and "The ghost is having fun!"  That "ghost" seemed to be quite active, for a while or our imaginations were, at least.  Then again, there have been several "sightings" where someone has claimed "You really DO have a ghost! It is upstairs!"  There was even a series of "faces" that appeared on the wall upstairs with no explanation as to how they got there.   And...hand prints on the ceiling above the stairwell suddenly appeared. Those are some twenty feet up.  Oh, well.  Ghost or not, there are some rather unusual things that happen around here.

  For several years, my camera (no, I have not resorted to a phone for photographs) would turn itself on at the most unexpected times.  Sometimes, this would result in photographs of the wall, a chair or door depending on whichever way the camera was facing.  Son explained it away as the humidity wreaking havoc on the electronic parts inside the camera.  I claimed it was the "ghost"!  Our friendly ghost could turn on laptops, phones and even full sized desktop computers.  It is obviously very technological minded...more so than I am.

  Recently, however, our ghostie has been absent.  It has not been playing pranks on us.  There have been no odd noises, misplaced items or flying picture frames (yes, that did happen...twice.) Things have been relatively quiet.  I figured our friendly ghost had vacated the premises.  Then, suddenly, as if to say "Not so fast, lady!  I am still here!"  Things started again.  One of the key-wind clocks has been regularly opened.  The bezel on front (the glass door) has been repeatedly opened when no one is around.  I have watched.  It swings open for no apparent reason!  The ghost does it!  Then, most recently, a small lighted fragrance warmer has been lit.  This is a beautiful, electric oil warmer that my brother and girlfriend gave to me as a gift.  It fills the house with a sweet citrus scent!  The light is one of those "touch" lamps that is turned on by lightly tapping the base.  I turn it off each night before bed but for the past few nights, the lamp has "magically" been relit.  How?  At first, I thought Ms. Nycto (Bayou Princess Cat) may have climbed up on the table to touch the base but not so.  Last night, the cat was sleeping soundly on the bed.  The light came on and went to the brightest setting which takes three taps.  How?? There was no one besides that cat and me in the room!  Well, maybe?  Ok, ok..."The ghost did it!"  Welcome back, ghostie!

Well, It Is That Time Of Year!

  Photography like everything else in this world can be a bit tricky, to say the least.  Just when you think you have the perfect photo, something goes awry and leaves you befuddled.  The thing in the picture looks nothing like the thing you saw.  Maybe it is not the camera lens that is off, perhaps it is that image that is perceived between the eye and brain.   

  Late this afternoon, the curtain in the living room was pulled aside a bit allowing the setting sun to shoot a beam of light into the house.  The walls in this room are painted a dark, burnt umber (almost black) so the beam was amazingly bright!  It almost looked like a portion of the wall was on fire.  Not one to miss an opportunity to play with the old camera, I started snapping photos.  It was not long before the sun set behind the pines and my fiery light was gone.  But I had photos!!

  When the pictures were checked, that beam of light looked more like some material item hung on the wall instead of a ray of light.  There was no translucent quality, no background texture...nothing.  I might as well have hung a white pillow case up there and took photos!  The image did not even have the brightness that I had hoped to capture.  Something went terribly amiss!  

  I now possess a crazy photo that will have to have an invented tale to go along with it.  Perhaps, due to the time of year, this could be a photograph of a visiting ghost!  Yes, lets blame the poor quality on the fact that this was an apparition floating about the Little Bayou House!  Sounds good to me!

To Capture A Ghost!

  It never fails that folks who claim to have captured a ghost, Big Foot, Loch Ness Monster or Elvis on film always present a very blurry photo.  In the picture, the "proof" is obscure, to say the least.  Most of the time, it is downright difficult to even distinguish anything in the photograph.  Hey!  I am good at that type photography!  A lot of my photos are blurry, distorted and hard to decipher.  I figure that I should be famous by now!

  Actually, there are things on the Bayou that are unexplainable.  Sights and sounds during the wee hours of the morning can send chills up the spine.  Couple these with a good old fashioned tale and things can get pretty eerie!  Now, I am not saying there are things out there but I am sure not saying that there aren't.  Lets just leave it at that.  

  There are tales that at some point in history this very area was a not so savory place to be.  The Bayou was known to be home of a good many large alligators that left little evidence if a "body" needed to disappear without a trace.  Folklore says that the bayous are all haunted because of such transgressions.  Personally, I have yet to come across any evidence that proves or disproves the accounts but one never knows.  Then...back to the photography skills...a photo taken this morning may be "proof"!  A "ghost" appeared in my photograph!  I was taking pictures of the sunlight playing on a rising mist covering the marsh and somehow captured my apparition!  The ghost is in one photo and not the next!  Where did it go???  

  To be honest, the wispiness of the low lying fog can appear to be many things.  This is what brings tales of Will-o-the-wisps, swamp ghosts and water spirits.  The early morning mist carried by a soft breeze can conjure all sorts of mystical thoughts. (We won't mention that a cloud blocked the sun's rays at an opportune time making the marsh a lot darker!)  My "Ghost of the Bayou" needs a believable tale to go with it.  Perhaps, this shall become the basis for yet another Clue Hunt on the Bayou!  Then again....maybe it really was a ghost!