The wet, wandering, wacky day



Photo courtesy of LDS Liberty

 My kidlet and I had a day planned that was going to involve, art, music and fun but it didn't turn out quite the way we had planned it. I awoke at 6 am to find it raining outside and the rain was scheduled to stay around all day long. The event we had planned on going to was an outdoor event! We watched the weather channel to see if things would clear up but it didn't look promising. We putzed around the house for most of the day but eventually started going stir crazy so we decided to attempt the festival even if it was raining. We made a quick stop by the store to purchase an umbrella and headed out.

As I had silently predicted, we got to the event and there was no activity in sight. There might have been 10 cars in the parking lot. Once we admitted defeat, we decided to stop at a convenience store to buy treats to soothe our disappointment. Nothing heals disappointment like potato chips and chocolate!

Mildly soothed, we returned home and proceeded to have leaf races in the water that was flowing down the alleyway. What's a leaf race you ask? Well, you need a running stream of water and a leaf or two or three and a designated end point. Count down to start, drop your leaf and watch to see which one makes it to the end point first. It's simple but fun. Plus, you get to play in the rain and use your umbrella.

After that was over I called a friend and invited her over to watch a movie and hang out. As she arrived, kidlet came rushing in to the room and announced that the festival was going on and that we had gone to the wrong location. There was still a music act in the lineup so like fools, we all jumped into the car and rushed over to the venue. It was still raining so we got a front row parking space and we sprinted to join the 30 other people that were there, all crammed under a tent. The musician that was playing is a well respected artist and it had to have been a drag playing in the rain for about 30 people so I was determined to cheer loudly so he'd know that there was at least one true fan listening. I must admit that we didn't last long at the wet concert. We hightailed it outta there and went back home.

Once we arrived back at the house I decided that we needed some kind of entertainment since the festival had been such a disaster. I am the owner of a bitchin' set of South Park Uno cards so 5 of us played a couple of rounds of Uno. Somewhat entertaining, but we needed something a little crazier. I came up with the great idea of playing spoons. If you've ever played spoons, you know that it can get pretty rowdy and that's just what we needed. And we got rowdy - let me tell ya. Cards slapping on the table top, spoons clanging, screaming...we had it all.

I can't say that our wet day was great - it was varied and interesting, frustrating, peaceful, rambling and odd so I guess it wasn't a failure. It was just wet, wandering and kind of wacky.

Haunted weekend part deaux

As I stated in my earlier post, I witnessed what I think was a ghost. I was in a cool old hotel that apparently has a haunted past. Since my senses were humming I was on hyper alert mode and was scrutinizing everything around me. At one point in the evening I stepped outside for a smoke and was looking around at all of the cool old buildings in the town square. Movement from a second floor window across the street caught my eye. What had I just seen?

I stood stock still with my gaze focused on the window and I saw what appeared to be a button down shirt swinging wildly side to side but I didn't see any person! And before I could fully comprehend what I had just seen, it disappeared. I admit, I was pretty freaked out. I was thinking that my sixth sense was calling forth all kinds of spirits.

I stood there watching the windows and I began to notice vague white shapes moving around. Sometimes, the shape would rise up into the air then simply disappear. Other times, the shape would appear to be peeking around the window frame. The shapes never stayed in plain sight so I could seriously study them.

My kidlet joined me on the sidewalk and I pointed out the vague shapes to her to see if she could see them. She saw what I was seeing so it wasn't my imagination! We watched the shapes for about 5 minutes in total disbelief. And then...kidlet said that she thought she saw a person. Sure enough, there were people in the room. They were the ones making the shapes move.

I was so relieved to know that I was not watching ghosts materialize and disappear I shouted out "you f**Kers! You got me good! Bravo!!!" We had a good laugh over their prank and thought that they were brilliant for coming up with such a good spoof. I was also sorry I hadn't come up with such a good trick myself.

While I was wary to return to the bar in the hotel basement because I KNOW I saw a spirit, I was also less on edge and I could handle things better. I told some fellow patrons about the prank across the street and about the child I saw running through the lobby and they proceeded to tell me about haunted hotel rooms on the 4th floor. We decided to take a look for ourselves. That meant getting on the elevator that had creeped me out earlier. Since there were 3 of us going upstairs, I decided to be brave and get on the elevator.

We went up to the 4th floor and headed for the rooms that had a history of strange noises and occurances and let me tell ya...the closer to the rooms I got, the stranger I felt. My stomach felt queasy and it felt like the air was being squeezed out of my chest. I know I have a vivid imagination but I don't know how I could imagine the physical things I was feeling. We rattled the doorknobs and listened for anything strange but the place was quiet.

It didn't take long for us to decide to get the hell out of that area and head back to the bar. None of us felt good being in that area, apparently. We laughed the whole thing off as hokey but I know we all felt sort of strange. We were kindred spirits in oddness. Like I said before, I want to go back to that hotel and study it some more. I don't think I'll be able to get kidlet to join us - she was too creeped out, but I'll find someone who believes in spirits and things and get them to go with me. I'll keep you posted.