It Must Have Been My Imagination, Right?

Have you seen shadows in the corner of your eye, and quickly turned your head, to find nothing there? I have some more questions for you, see if you can relate...

Have you ever taken a shower, when your alone in the house and you heard something, and then opened the shower curtain half way, so you could watch the doorway?

What about seeing shadows move in the TV set reflection, when it's turned off?

What about getting crank calls, late at night, asking you, " What are you wearing and telling you, that they were coming over?"

What about sitting there reading at night in your recliner reading, and for two nights in a row, the basement door would pop open real fast and then start to close?

What about laying your head on your pillow and hearing screams?

What about walking outside on a dark cold, and starry night alone, and then suddenly looking up, and seeing a massive fireball going across the sky as if it was crashing near by?

What about being awoken by finding out that your right arm is straight into the air, and feeling as if you can't move it, because it feels like someone is holding your hand?

What about getting up in the night to chat with you brother, in the room across from you, and then you both notice, down the hallway, there is a green ghost with a dog?

I could go on and on, these things have happened, to either Jason or I. I love spooky stuff, but I do get chicken too. Sometimes I try to ignore it, and then there has been times I had to cast it away! You can believe if you want, and /or just consider me crazy. I know what I heard, seen, and even felt! I have sensitive hearing and a good sense of smell, and I can't sleep well if there is a sound. Nor eat certain things, or work in a candle shop because the smell drives me nuts. I rarely wear perfume. But that's normal for most. Could phantom cats be the product of our imagination? (Jason &I) Well, I think I am done for the Halloween season of my spooky stories. Perhaps next year, I will share our experience at the Farm house, and the story of the Boogerdy, Woogerdy Man...HA ha ha...Sounds silly huh? Well it is, especially if you are scared of things that you don't understand or is really your imagination. truth is, most things happen for a reason, or there is a unparanormal explaination for it. I always try to debunk it, and when I can't or it's just too scary, I pray! I hope you have a awesome holiday and happy haunting!

The History of the old Hale Farm House

There are too many scary stories to share, that came about because of visiting or living in the old Hale farm house, in Waterford, Ohio. The farm is no longer in our family, it had been in for generations, and had hundreds of acres of land, which was divided by a killer road.

The farm had been first owned by my Great-grand parents, then for a brief time owned by another family, the Pottmeyers. After that , my grand parent's owned it, then my Uncle roy and then my dad. It was quite old, it withstood the Civil War days, it still had a building out back, that used to be the kitchen. It had a full sized basement, two floors, and a full sized attic. Which I wasn't sure what I was scared of most, the attic or the basement.... Across the street, there was a huge, double story barn, a large equipment shed, and a large modern shop.

The stories consisted of my great grand parents, they were very strange, silent people. My grandma said she was afraid of her in-laws. They didn't have electricity, which she was used to, for her parent's were a upper class family. My grandma Genevieve, told us about how they made her sleep in a seprete room than her husband, after they had been married for years, when ever they came to visit. She also told us that my Great-grandpa Fred Hale, who used to sit on the front porch naked, had lived to be in his ninties. He one day, had laid down on a bench in the dining area (she pointed to where), and died. Very strange huh? So it was no doubt then, that someone had died there. Reason enough to be haunted right?

Another death that I know of, was a farm hand boy, that worked for my grandpa. He took my grandpa's four wheeler one day without asking, down the gravel road, and crashed into a tree. His parents were awfully upset about it, mainly that he had wrecked my grandpa's ATV. When we were there for a visit in 1994, before we moved there, the family had just returned the four wheeler, all fixed and looking like new. All of us were warned to not to mess around on it. My grandpa then died of cancer, that fall, at home. Shortly after, we moved there, into that house. While my grandma lived down the road, in another house, less than a mile away.

Jason and I had been married for more than a year at this point, and had Erick, it was not fun moving into my parent's house again. Later in the spring they built a brand new addition, a huge bedroom for themselves, and a luxurious bathroom. We moved over to a new trailer, far across the street, on the other side of the shop, next to the fields, and woods. (also the cow graveyard)
So now that you know a bit of our history, in the next blog I will share with you how it was, living there.

Is my blog too scary for you?

I wonder why no one seems to be commenting on my blog since I changed it over to my new spooktacular page? So in question, I wonder if anyone is even reading it. Well, I care, and I don't. I love to write. I try not to seem so vain about it, but maybe someday, I can take these memories and thoughts and put them together for my kids to read someday.

As for the spooky stuff. Just because I love Halloween and scary things, doesn't mean I am evil. People are starting to get to know me and realize I really dig that kind of stuff. But to pretend that it don't exist and this world is not a scary place, is ignorance. I believe in protecting your mind from thoughts that are bad. Especially protecting your children from certain things too. But what happens when something really bad happens to them? Or they see something shocking and then they are scarred for life? I think you know what I mean. My kids know about the news, and dang it, they are going to fight if they end up kidnapped someday. And if they end up being chased by a axe murderer or get scary phone calls, they will know what to do. I am just preparing them in my own way. Also having the scriptures, prayer, and the Priesthood, will help them combat evil. Evil does exist, and if anyone thinks that it don't, they are foolish! As a parent and as a person, I combat evil every day in some kind of form. Don't we all?

I am not harping on anyone, and I apologize for making fun of anyone who doesn't like scary things. If I scare you, I am just trying to help you prepare for real scares in the future. (your heart, for example) And of course, I do think it is entertaining... It's okay, I will let you be, if you can't take it, for real. I just get frustrated when people make Halloween more evil than it is. Like for example, when people post signs on the door like, "Jesus lives here, so don't knock!" warning trick or treaters away. The schools here don't have costume parades, and most of their parties are labeled fall or harvest parties, instead of Halloween parties. Out here, in the area of so many churches, they have such a double standard. They treat Sunday like a extra Saturday, they drink at every event they can, coaches cuss at their players, they preach hate against other churches, and I can go on and on. BUT yet, some they think it is a sin to participate in Halloween? That is whacked. It reminds me of Carrie's mother, that to me is scary! (Carrie, the movie) I am surprised there isn't people out there banning and burning the Twilight books, because they are about Vampires and Werewolves. Give me a break... Okay, enough said, just thinking about this makes me miss being in Utah, just a little more.

Let's Go Toilet Papering!

Have you ever gone toilet papering? I admit, I have, just a few times and most of those times, it was met with disaster. I am sharing these little tid bits, of my wild youth, which have nothing to do with Halloween except for the fact, sometimes people do it on that night. I can strike at any time. Just a warning...

When I was in high school in Juneau, I first heard about the idea of toilet papering and messing with people's car for fun, through my friend, Stephanie's mother. She had got my parent's car, the one I drove, really good one night, and my parent's didn't think it was funny. I of course struck back, in a wimpy way, with putting TP in their yard. It was fun, and scary too, the thrill was so exciting. I had went along with some friends who really put the TP high up in these trees at a girl's house one night, and I escaped without getting caught. Well then I got braver, and I decided to go extreme.

One night, I gathered a mob of kids to go do a job in celebration of a friend's birthday, who lived two streets away in a cul-de-sac. It was dark, quiet, and I had bought a bunch of real cheap toilet paper. I was so afraid I was going to get caught, so I sent kids out to do most of the work for me, while I hid behind a bush. When they were done, they had a bunch left, and somehow, the idea of using the rest on the bushes in the cul-de-sac, were a good idea. Well, I hid behind some bushes on a guy's lawn from across the street, and I heard kids telling me they were done. I was crawling on the lawn, with my brother behind me, when I kid you not, this is really how it happened...I stopped when I noticed a man's bare feet standing in front of me, I looked at his calves, they had some muscle, and then I looked up, and there was a man, in a red bath robe with his hands on his hips, staring down at me! I didn't even get up! I was scared to death! All of the kids had disappeared! Even my brother behind me! When I looked at him, he seemed so angry, with his brown mustache, I had finally realized who he was, a man I have met before. A man, who had stopped me when I was driving, and only gave me a warning, it was Officer Hernandez! How could I have not known that he had lived here? I am so stupid! I certainly would have thought twice about doing what I did, if I had known, let alone be crawling on his lawn!

He yelled down at me, something like what in the heck was I doing? And then yelled out to inform anyone else who was hiding, to come put and clean up this mess! But they didn't! My little brother came out, scared to death, and I stood up, then started gathering all of the paper that was strung out everywhere. He stood and watched me the whole time, when we cleaned everything up, and he even watched me walk down his street towards my house. It was a lesson that should have been learned. My friend, Mark didn't even know that his yard was trashed for a few moments.

I didn't do it again, not while I lived in Alaska. I had the idea to try it when I lived in South Jordan, UT. I was brave enough because I went and gathered seven teen aged boys from my sister's Civil Air Patrol unit, and they stuffed themselves in our Colt Vista, loaded with TP. I drove over to a boy's house that I was not exactly getting along with at the time, named Aaron. His parent's house was huge, and very tall. They really didn't have many bushes or trees to mess up. I sat in the car, engine running, and saw the boy's surround the house, and try to throw TP over the roof! Then suddenly, chaos! Aaron had his friends over at that time, which included, my friends, Bob and Jason. My sister was screaming and I saw kids running down the streets in different directions, some came to me, while they were being chased with golf clubs! I of course put the petal to the metal, and left most of them! I came back around though and picked them up in different places, it was such a rush. No body got hurt, just scared. After this, I didn't dare do it again. How do people do it and not get caught? Have you ever done it?

Haunts of Douglas Island, Part 2

The story continues... While walking back, in the dark damp woods with Scott, Mohan, and Tara, we found a little trail on the right side that led straight down the hillside. We took it, and it was a short trip to the beach, which was nice. We hung out a bit, and then walked right back up onto the main trail, that led to where the trucks were. We came across the brick wall again, and I remembered that the trail which we found earlier, was something I wanted to check out. At this time, they agreed to go, but as we walked, it got extremely narrow, we had to walk in a single line.

Why we kept walking, who knows what we expected to find. We all ready found the ruins of the mental hospital, and this nature hike in the dark, was getting a bit tiring. Mohan led the way, then me, Tara, and Scott. The trees were really eeery, they seemed to curve around the trail. As we walked for about ten to 15 mins. it was then, we see the same flickering lights in the trees that we saw before. "Oh ya, I wonder what they are." I said. We were quiet, and as we got closer, we discovered it was tiny flames that were creating that light. When we came into plain view of the area, we stopped dead in our tracks. The trail ended in a muddy water. So we all just stood there, quiet, staring at the unbelievable thing we saw! I whispered, "someone must be here still," and Scott said something, like be quiet, someone is watching us.

There against the hillside, was a large old brick wall, with dozens of tiny lit, white candles, flickering in the slight breeze. All of the candles were lit and just floating there, spaced out, all over the wall. In the center of the wall, there was a dark hole. In front of the wall, was a tiny brick building, that had a black iron gate. From the trail, to the wall, water surrounded the area, so none of us walked over to it. Except for Mohan. Scott seemed scared, he wanted to turn around, but I told him to wait because Mohan had took off to the wall. I was so afraid that he was making too much noise! He walked over there and took one of the candles! We all whispered to him to take it back! But he didn't listen. He brought it to me, so we can see it. It was just a normal candle. Almost all the wall melted. He dropped it in the water. And suddenly, I can't remember if we heard something or what, but we were on a dead run, down the trail and to the trucks. We were all so scared and heavy breathing, I just couldn't believe it was real. What was that? Was it the devil worshipers that I heard of as rumors, while hanging out at the coffee shop? We went our separate ways and agreed to check it out the next day, while in day light.

The next day, Tara and Mohan couldn't skip class to go with us, so Scott, his friend Richard and I did. We drove over there during school, (we just made it a extended lunch) so that we can see everything in the daylight. Every looked different in the day, even the time walking on the trail took a short amount of time too. We walked to the ruins again, and the looked over the cliff at the end of the main trail, there were water falls there! Then we went to that freaky place, when we got there, the water was all gone. Just a bunch of old dried leaves. But there were no candles on the wall! The little building looked like a little grave thing, but there were no signs or words written anywhere. On the wall, we looked into the hole, and nothing inside it either. We did however find a little candle wax, but no candle holders. Strange, it was like they were stuck on the wall with wax. Rich laughed at us, while we told the story, in fact nobody hardly believed us at all. When we started walking back, there it was on the ground, the candle the Mohan had dropped.

So what do you think it was? I guess we are lucky we didn't find out, no matter, somebody had been there, and if so, how many were there? What if I went alone? I guess these questions will always go unanswered.

The Haunts of Douglas Island...

I remember this well, how scared I was, and how stupid, foolish girl I had been, when I was a teenager. I am not sure of when this happened, just that it was during my Sophomore year, at Juneau Douglas High School. I had worked at McDonald's at the time. My boss, Mrs. Tran, was a superstitious woman. Her son, Hal, who was my friend, sort of, had told me of a place that was said to be the haunting ruins of a burnt down mental hospital located on the hillside of Douglas Island. When he asked her about it, because she had lived in the area for a long time, she freaked out, and yelled at me, warning me to never go there! I thought it was funny, she was a very dramatic person when she spoke, and that made me want to go and check it out. Hal was going, but she forbid him, and I lied to her, saying I would stay away. But as soon as I could, I talked my friends, Tara, Scott, and Mohan into going with me.
(Eric C., Steph, or Shawn, do you remember this?)
I am not embellishing any part of this story, this is how it went down. In Juneau, there is a island that blocks the city from the wide ocean. The island is inhabited, it has a ski resort, some huge fancy houses on the hillside, and a thick lush forest. It also has a beach, which was a popular hangout, called Sandy Beach. Well anyways, on the South side of the island, there is a road that goes to the beach and it goes just a little further and ends right into the forest. Somewhere, in that forest, if we follow the trail off of the end of the road, we would end up finding the old ruins. Neither of us, have explored this trail before, I was simply going on Hal's instructions. How he knew all this, was beyond me, after I tell you this story, you might have a clue why.
When we got out, doing all of this on a school night, we brought only two flashlights among us. (very smart!!!) We started walking in the dark forest and right away, on the left of us, down the hill, we saw dozens of twinkling lights through the trees. We discussed it, we figured we would check it out on the way back, besides it was properly a house anyways, I thought. As we were walking, Scott tried to scare us, on the right of us. Scott would take off into the trees and pop out every so often and we would freak out. As we were walking, we noticed a brick wall on the left, with a whole bunch of graffiti on it, how strange! We agreed, this was weird, so we walked around it, to see if this was part of the ruins, but it wasn't, it just was a free standing brick wall in the middle of nowhere! On the other side of it, was a small narrow trial, leading down the hill, and along the trail we just walked on. Very spooky! But we continued on. We walked and walked, in the pitch dark blackness. Tara was cool with it, she was the only one really afraid though. Mohan led the way, then I second, with Tara sometimes holding on to my arm. Scott kept on goofing off! Then we suddenly found it!
There it was! It wasn't very large, maybe it was a three story building, and where I stood, I could see the large fireplace in the middle of the bottom floor. I didn't go in it, and it had defiantly been in a fire of some sort. The guys explored it a little and then we were bored. What now? The trail still went on past it, and we walked, shortly after we heard the sound of water, and discovered, the trail coming to a end at a cliff. The flashlight didn't work that well, we figured somewhere near by, there were water falls. That was cool. And we finally turned around, to walk towards home. To be continued!

What's That Smell?

I think people know that Jason and I get a kick out of going to Spook Alleys and Haunted Houses. Utah is really big on them, in the Salt Lake valley, in October, there will be at always at 12 of them. We liked to go with friends, and take family sometimes. Our own kids are too young, and nothing hardly scares us any more. Some of these places would be so outrageous! The art, special effects, and actors would really put on a show, some were professionals straight out of Hollywood. So who cares if the lines were long, that was to be expected. I can't even count how many we went to, or tell you all that I have experienced. But one experience I could never forget, that I had when Jason and I were newlyweds, we had taken my two twelve year old cousins, Mindy and Lisa.

We went all the way to Provo, to attend the Haunted Asylum, and we stopped on the way to eat at Taco Bell. It was a really cold, dark night. The place was really located in a empty old part of a existing asylum, up on the hill. I had never been there before so I didn't know what to expect, all I knew was a rumor that I had heard, about actors working there. It was said to have had real patients working as actors! Scary! My cousins were kind of scared about that, and I told them that actors were not allowed to touch you, no matter what. So we went.

When we got there, it was like a half mile long line and about six people wide! And the worst part was, in winded up a hill side, which led to the entrance. It was really spooky, almost looked like a castle. The hillside was steep and was outlined by trees, and the other side of the line, was practically a cliff! We were really getting anxious as we got closer, and we were bored too. I had a hard time trying to keep Mindy and Lisa out of the trees. When you are standing there, there is nothing to look at or listen to but other people. It was kind of entertaining. People talked about being scared, and how cold they were. In front of us, there was a older guy, who had slicked back black hair, cowboy boots, and a greaser style black leather jacket. He thought he was cool, his date was a taller blond chick, which he kept his arm around the whole time. I was just plain freezing! Pacing back and forth, and then I suddenly smelt it! The worse, foulest, most potent smell, that just seemed to hover around us and never leave! I am not even exaggerating. I plugged my nose, looking toward the people in front of us, how disgusting, " who do you think did that?", I asked Jason. He didn't say a word. I went to go retrieve the girl's again, I made them stand right next to me. They made such a fuss, being loud, they let everyone know something smelt wrong here, and then they took off again into the trees. Then suddenly I heard the sound of someone gagging, it was the greaser guy, with one hand holding himself up on a single small tree, spitting something over the cliff, towards the crowd below.

Then it grew, the crowd behind us in line, people were horrified at the smell, it seemed to travel down the line, and I turned around to watch the people make such a big deal of it. HOW on Earth can it still be around? I heard plenty of comments from people, I couldn't smell it anymore, but I laughed, and my cousins came back, and they laughed too. I heard some dude proclaim it was him, that he just had Taco Bell, before he came! And quickly after, Mindy looked at Jason, still silent and staring ahead, keeping warm with his hood on and his hands in his pockets. She pointed and started yelling, " It was you! You did it! It was Jason!" I looked at him, and I knew then that it was, I can't believe it, is that what I have to look forward to for the rest of my life? Is that what I married? Then I felt bad for him, he was trying not to pretend that he didn't know what she was talking about. I scolded her, and Lisa too, I knew the poor guy was really embarrassed. I looked around, and the greaser guy and his date were no where to be found, they must have left, even after in being in line for a hour.

As for the purpose we were there for, the first room was a wacky, foggy, hospital room, which had several clown like doctors, that you had to walk by. That wasn't scary, until one of them stabbed me in the leg with a huge fake syringe! Then I was scared! They must be real crazies! After that, we practically ran through the whole thing!

Here is proof that I was right... I found newspaper articles, written about it after I wrote this blog. One of the articles said that the actors/patients would actually grab people and lock them in a real coffin! I guess I got off, easy.

In Utah, the Daily Herald has called for resurrecting a Haunted Castle at the State Hospital, which for 26 years featured patients as "performers." The attraction ended in 1997 after NAMI Utah strongly protested the violent stereotypes associated with it as perpetuating stigma -- along with ethical issues involving treatment and exploitation of patients. Funds raised from the annual event paid for half of the hospital's recreation budget.

My Black Cats: The Phantom Cat Part II

One night, right before I nodded to sleep in my dark bedroom, I was closing my eyes. Then all of the sudden, I felt a movement at the bottom of bed. At first, because I was so sleepy, I figured it was just my cat, coming up to lay next to my legs. My eyes remained closed, paralyzed with fear, when I realized, that I did not have a cat anymore! With in the seconds of coming to the realization, I opened my eyes, and looked down towards the spot, that had a slight round depression there. This happened time and time again, after the first time, through a period of six years. Jason eventually bore witness to this phenomenon, but after a few times, it wasn't so strange, it felt natural.
The phantom cat never visited us when we had other cats in the house, and it only happened severval times, not every night. Then it stopped. The last time I noticed it, was when we had lived in Columbus, Ohio. I oftened wondered if it was my beloved fat black cat, Bear. My cat Bear, I had before Spooky, Salem, and Freighty. He was truly mine, since the day I noticed him in a Juneau pet store, there was a sign on the cage that said, "sold, to Terri Hale", my mother. He slept with me every night, though he was heavy and restricting against my legs, it was very comforting. Well, Bear was a strange cat indeed, he had long black fur, and he loved to lay on his back and get his belly rubbed. He often loved to lay on the stairs, taking up the whole step, trusting people to walk over him. He also had a familer strange low howl he used, instead of meowing for something. He was afraid of the light in the day, he would ask to go out at dusk, and sometimes late at night, he would cry at my window. What a smart cat, I thought. He even was caught on the roof of our porch, one time in the night, and I went outside, held up my arms, and after a few tries, he jumped down on me. But not without a little scratch or two.
The reason why I believe that my phantom cat was him was because he met a untimely, aweful death! We moved from Alaska, to Utah, and then to Wyoming, and he was my loyal favorite pet during that whole time. He was the greastest to me, but he got a urine infection in his last few months before he disappeared. So, he peed on the all the dirty laundry in the basement. My dad was beside himself with hatered for my animal. We took him to the vet, and they gave in medication. But my dad wasn't convinced he was cured. Well, in 1993, Jason and I got married, and then moved into our own apartment. I missed Bear, but he belonged to the rest of the family too. So then in October, weeks before we were all going to make the big move to Ohio, Bear suddenly disappeared! My mom and I drove all around for days looking for him. I checked the shelter and the sides of the road. Where my parent's house sat, it was on top of a hill, which had empty, plain, dirt lots across from it. Days later, I have given up hope finding him, my mom accused my dad of taking him on a long trip far away. But he lied and said, he had no idea where he was. Then when I was walking around outside in the bright sun, I saw him!
Poor kitty! I ran down to the dirt area where he was, he didn't run away from me or howl to me, like he would usually do. I picked him up and kissed him, and carried him home. He looked just the same, but he had no personality. He didn't cry, or try to escape, at home, he even went and laid on his stair like he always did. When my dad came home from work, he insisted that it wasn't him. But he didn't say why. That night my mom let him out and he disappeared again. We searched for him but had no luck. So then we ended up moving with out him.
My dad a few years later confessed to Bear's disappearance, to Jason. He told him how he hated black cats, ever since he was attacked by one in a barn when he was younger. He told Jason what really happened to Bear, and how it was completely impossible that he could come back, to life! He couldn't figure it out, where that cat came from, he thought he was cursed and if the cat hadn't taken off that night, he would have gotten rid of it too. It took me a few years to forgive my father for what he did, and now he feels bad about it. Maybe the phantom cat should have paid him a visit in the night, that would had been funny!

The Wild Man, Dance, and the Ambulance...

I will try to keep this as short as possible, but this is a interesting true story, I promise... When I was in high school, I once helped with putting on a spook house there, the night of a Halloween dance. I was all charged up, very excited. I helped set it up, we decorated a few rooms, which people had to travel though, via guide, leading the way. I was a guide of course, but that was kind of boring so I came up with something to include me in the spooking too.

The room was near the end, it was dark and was made to look like we were outside in a park somewhere. In the middle of the room, was a big wooden bridge, and a hut over in the corner. That part wasn't my idea, my idea was to lead people into the area, where I would stop on the bridge, and a person, a "wild man" would come and grab me and carry me away, while I pretended to be scared to death, screaming... My friend Don was perfect for the part, he was a ex-body builder, muscle clad guy, who looked absolutely crazy after I painted black stripes all over his body. The other part that made him seem crazy was the fact that he would be there, squatting in the corner hut, with a bowl of actual pig guts! (scraps from a butcher) This wasn't my idea either, thank goodness I wore a long sleeved sweater. He would make grunting noises, while squishing the meat between his fingers, pretending to eat it. Then when people came in, they would see this site, he would throw some pieces towards them, and me. When he got up, people didn't know if they should run, scream, or throw up! It worked like a charm, I would try to hide behind people, and he would snatch me up and carry me off over his shoulder. It was really funny when my mom and siblings came in! He really went after them, my little brother almost knocked down the place running away!

When we were done with the event, we went to join the costume dance in the near by commons area, already in progress. I get a little carried away when I dance. In the fourth song that I danced to, the song "Oh Yeah", was playing. That is a very long song! I felt something strange in my left knee! I fell to the ground, Scott, whom I was dancing with thought I fell. I swear it seemed like a minute before he helped me up. All I knew was that I felt a pop, and my left knee cap had moved to the left of my leg! When I was on the ground, I looked at it, and pushed it back, without a second thought. It was soooo soooo painful to move! My friends helped me move to the side wall, where I sat, surrounded by my friends. I can't remember if it was a teacher or the Principle that called my mom, but she came as fast as she could. It seemed like a long time. I tried not to cry. As long as I wasn't moving I felt okay.

When my mom came, it was too painful to get in the car, even if one of my friends carried me. So for the third time at a school, I rode a ambulance to the hospital. There they tortured me by moving it all around. I ended up in a leg cast! I was sad thinking no one came to see me after I got there. Until the nurse told me a wild looking man, tried to see me, but they wouldn't let him and so he left. I don't think it was the make-up that got him turned away, but the fact that he was hardly wearing anything. That was the first time I dislocated my knee...

My Black Cats, Spooky and Freighty Part 1 (not a scary story)

It's no secret that in my lifetime I have had a lot of cats. I am not going to name them all. I can safely say, that almost my whole life, I had always owned one.

When I started out I had a obsession for white kittens. Remember I stole it when I was in kindergarten? It was weird, it went to white cats to a black and white, to black ones. Now I have mixed ones.

When I lived in Juneau, we had left our wild cat Kitty behind at the River House. When we were packing the back of the trailer, she had a litter of six kittens, mostly black, somewhere in the back of the truck. The boxes were stacked to the ceiling, and I had to crawl up there, in the extreme heat, and limited space, with a flash light. I found her kittens in the worst spot. I had this Barbie motor home box that I had filled with stuffed animals. It was standing on it's tall side, with of course the box side flap missing. She had them there, and I had to reach down, pushing the toys aside, feeling for kittens! I thought I was going to die of the heat, I pulled out six, hoping that was all. Later I didn't discover any dead ones, but my stuffed animals stunk and were stained with a bloody fluid. I was happy she had them before we left, but I was sad that we couldn't take them with us to Alaska. We had to leave them behind. Good thing, Kitty was a good hunter.

The reason why I told this story is because, later on in the year's, when I moved back to Ohio in 1994, we went back to the River House for a visit. My parent's still owned it, and had no renters at the time. When I was walking around the property, I heard a meow from the woods. I called for it, and two black kittens came out. I wondered if they were related to the kittens we left behind? One kitten was more friendly than the other. I grabbed them both and hid them in my jacket. Jason knew my dad wouldn't be happy about this. We already had a cat with kittens in the barn. They were both males, I named them Spooky and Freighty Cat. Freighty ended up road kill about a year later, and Spooky, well he became the biggest baddest cat around. He had pure muscles, he survived many cat fights, at which would keep us up at night. He even survived getting hit by a car. He used to follow me around when I walked far in the woods. But after I moved, he wasn't happy with me, the last time I saw him, he actually attacked me! When I from Columbus to visit the farm, I couldn't walk anywhere outside without the cats bugging me. In particular, Spooky. As I walked, he started jumping up at me with his claws out! It was quite strange, and I think he wanted me to hold him, or stop walking. But when I tried, he clawed me on the side of my thigh while I was standing! I had to run away from him, while he chased me into the house. I think he was ticked that I chose his son, Salem to live with me. I had Salem for about two years, and then I am not kidding, he disappeared the night we had a bad thunder storm.