"Draaag, plop! Draaag, plop! Draaag, plop!
This is the sound that woke me up one night while we were living in a two-story house in Severy. There were two rooms upstairs which the four daughters used and one bedroom downstairs which was my husband's and mine.
This house didn't have a history, but while we were getting it ready to move into, sometimes when I would enter through the back door I would have the feeling that someone had just left the downstairs. It was a very strong feeling. And at times I would feel as if someone were watching me from the stairs even though there was never anybody there. The daughters had feelings like this, too.
So when this "Draaag, plop!" from the stairway woke me, I was hesitant to investigate. It was a sound I couldn't identify. For some reason it didn't occur to me to wake my husband, hand him a baseball bat and tell him to see what it was. I took a flashlight and went to the stairway to see what was going on.
Shining the light up the stairs I found our momma cat with a small animal, not a mouse or rat, those I could have identified. This was bigger. By this time the girls were awake and my husband had somehow been wakened. He was a sound sleeper. He identified the small animal as a baby muskrat.
Momma cat had babies in the basement and the only way she could get the meal into the house was to carry it up the mulberry tree, to the porch roof and through the hole in the screen in a west window. Then she had to bring it down the stairs to get to the basement, dragging it from one step to the next, "Draaag, plop."
My goodness, I think I would have had the shot gun with me! I'm glad your story has an innocent and cute ending! Where did your kitty find a muskrat?
There was a farm pond within 1/4 mile of where we lived that was the most probable place.
I was feeling sorry the mama cat and rather impressed by her efforts...and then it dawned on me, by the time I work all week, use time from one of my days off...fight the traffic to the grocery store...fight the trafic IN the grocery store...haul it all out to the car...fight the traffic home...drag all the groceries into the house...and then handle the groceries again for the 3rd time putting it all away...I know how that mama cat feels.
But Wilma...that doesn't explain the feelings of being watched at other times.
Mother didn't tell you that she was visited by a ghost at least once when we lived in that house.
I say that I saw the "ghost" but some would try to explain it as something else. It was in that time between asleep and awake. My husband had left for work and I had gone back to bed for another hour of sleep when this old woman appeared beside the bed, watched me for a moment, then disappeared. She was small, short and slender, her hair was in a bun on top of her head and she wore a dress with long sleeves with an apron tied around her waist. Later that day I asked my neighbor to describe the lady that had lived there and her description matched my lady. I never saw her again and nobody else has claimed to have seen her. I am sure I wasn't dreaming because I wasn't really asleep yet.
This wasn't the first time I had been visited by a whatever you want to call them. When my parents first moved to Elk County, I was 17 yrs. old. The first night I slept in my room upstairs something woke me up and there at the foot of my bed was an elderly gentleman dressed as an elderly gentleman would have been dressed. A coat over a vest with a watch chain across his tummy. The gentleman carried a cane. It was the sound of the tapping of his cane that had wakened me. He just looked at me then turned and left. Everybody told me that I probably had heard a rat in the attic or something and dreamed the gentleman. I don't have any confirmation that a gentleman of that description ever lived there, but I still say that I saw what I saw. And that's that.
When I first started living with Jim, my husband, I worked at the sheriff's office as the midnight dispatcher. I would get home a little after 08:00 a.m., go to bed to sleep, so that I could be up when Jim came home and I would cook supper. Then I would stay up until time to go to work, work my shift and then come home and do it all over again.
At least twice while I was asleep during the day, I felt the side of the bed dip down as if someone was sitting on the bed. I woke up and nobody was there. At least once while going from the bedroom towards the kitchen, I saw a person dressed in black going through the kitchen door away from me. All I ever saw was the back part of a dress going through the door.
Very scary. Jim said that I was probably visited by the family ghost.
Jim's sisters tell a story of when someone died in the family, like maybe a grandma or something and one of Jim's nephew's was outside Jim's mother's house, swinging. The sisters were inside the house and were watching this little boy swinging and talking away. Nobody was there. When the little boy came into the house they asked him who he was talking to. He said, "I don't know, but she was pushing me on the swing." They asked what the lady looked like and he gave them a little description of what she was wearing and the sisters told me that he described their mother's grandmother.
How very strange!
We used to live in a house that was built in 1902. One afternoon I had my girlfriend and her daughter over. We ladies were sitting on the couch facing the dining room chatting and watching the children play on the dining room floor. Then all of a sudden a smiling little boy with blonde hair, a white shirt and baggy overalls walked from the doorway to the hall, accross the dining room and dissapeared into the bookcase beside the fireplace.
I grew up in a big , 12 room 1870 Victorian house that had been the country doctor's house. He had his office there and the "doctor's boy" (not a relative) had a room on the 3rd floor. He took care of all the local farm families and the railroad that ran through a cut at the foot of the hill, had a contract with him to take care of railroad injuries. We know that people died there. I never "saw" a ghost, but there were of plenty of "corner of the eye" glimpses of ?...never scary. But the cat saw stuff all the time. She would look and look and stare and her eyes would follow it. She would meow at it and purr and we couldn't see a thing. We looked for bugs and spiders etc. and never could figure it out. We just accepted it.
The house we lived in before we moved here was haunted by a gray cat.
My little toe on the bedpost and I stumble to the bathroom at 3:00 A.M. :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( Don't tell me that I'm the only one that has had this bump in the middle of the night. ;)
Sally, that is funny. Yes, it has happened to me quite often, or my hip on the corner of the dresser. That hurts, too.
(((Ahhh one of my favorite subjects) :)
"They" pop in and out all the time. These spirits don't necessarily have to be earth bound to be around us. Some are and some aren't.. Pets come in and out to be with us, but then again.. when we need them. I have heard Taffy's bell on her collar many a night at the end of my bed.
Animals see and sense 'others'.
Babies and children under 3 usually still have not lost the gifts to see all that is there.
Mason giggles and 'talks/coos' to people all the time that I can not see.. but I feel them at times.
I smelled bread the other day for about 10 seconds.. so I knew that my Grandma W. was popping in to see me and Mason. And he was looking at the wall staring and smiling when this occurred, so I'm sure she was there and he could see her.
In fact if you only experience their presence occasionally, they are most likely, living on the other side and NOT earth bound. They usually are loved ones or people from the other side who are checking in on you, out of love. Most come in our dreams ( or what we think is our dreams) between 2-5 in the morning..as this is when we are in a full alpha state. They can get through to us better then. In other words, when our minds are not cluttered with the noise and confusion of earthly things.
The ones we see that are not our relatives.. are spirits who sometimes are earth bound, ( they don't know or won't accept that they are dead) and are attached to the 'location' of a place. They do not see what is there now, they only live in the dimension that 'was'. If you see them a lot, tell them to follow the light and go home. That loved ones are waiting for them in the light.
But then sometimes what you are actually seeing or hearing is the imprint that they have left. All things are energy , and energy never dies.. some energies are stronger than others , so therefore they leave a HUGE amount.. but generally this is objects. Watch carefully what you buy at old estate sales, for sometimes there are imprints n them that you will carry into your home.
( Gettysburg items have tons of imprints on them with data documented of all kinds of sounds and images coming from them)
Sometimes the one you will feel or see is your spirit guide ( who.. in pre-agreement in spirit , agreed to take on the full time job of guiding you ) When you make those decesions to do this or that and they work out right and some people say' Wow, I just had a 'gut feeling'.......
Better thank your guide for talking loud in your ear..and give yourself credit for listening and acting. Generally you will feel your guide on your right side and they are with you every second of every day from the second you were born ..to the time you cross over. Then you have angels who watch over you.. which are not the same as your spirit guide.
And there are different levels and degree of angels to call on when you need extra help.
Angels are a whole other topic that I can really get started on.. but I imagine I have talked too much already.. :-[ sorry.
.. but I have studied spiritual parapsychology pretty heavy for the past 20+ years and have so many many personal experiences..that I kind of get carried away..
I try really hard to keep this side of me 'quiet and in check'.. but sometimes I just forget..............
***tucking my tail and tiptoeing away***
When I was pregnant with my eldest son I saw an old man several times and thought I was living in a haunted house saw him again when I was pregnant with son #2 but when he showed up again when I was pregnant with my daughter I decided he had to be a family member because by then I had left England and my "haunted house" behind.
When my Daughter was 20 months old my sister in law gave birth to a preemie with severe heart problems I was at home acting as liasion between my mother in law at the hospital and the rest of the family My daughter had been laid down for her afternoon nap when all of a sudden she woke up and said hello to someone she was talking and smiling then she said "OK" and "bye" then she went back to sleep. 10 minutes later Mom called from the hospital to say that Tony had passed on while in his mothers arms. Later that day when they all stopped in on the way home from the hospital my daughter who usually attacked her grandfather first when he came in ran right up to her aunt gave her a big hug and told her "baby said love you mom" then she sat on her aunts lap for the whole visit something she had never done before and never did again.
The house at 129 Ceder was owned by Dr. Depuew,JD Tarwater and Rex Tarwater. After Robert had been gone for several years and we were spending every weekend in Howard. I told Rex that I kept smelling cigar smoke. If course he told me I was crazy.
Well on Saturday about 9:00am we were standing in the kitchen and you could again smell cigar smoke,Rex ask me if I could smell the smoke, if course I could but had not said anything. Rex still not sure walked out side to see if anyone was burning anything. He walked back in the house and said "That is Rex Tarwaters cherry cigar smoke."
I have also been in the kitchen when I can smell Helens perfume, she always wore the same kind so I knew it was her.
Of course being part indian, I believe in these things.
Army Mom
Sunflower, to go back to your comment about being watched at other times.
The feeling I had about someone having just left the downstairs happened several times as I was usually the first to enter the house thru the back door. I had placed some boxes in the middle of the downstairs bedroom to be put away later and I had the distinct impression that someone had just been looking in the boxes. This is a feeling that is hard to explain. It is just there. And the being watched was usually from the stairway, sometimes with the impression that someone had just ascended the stairs.
And as to cats looking at something that isn't there, I am sure they are seeing something. My Bud has several times come from the hall looking back like he was seeing something that he didn't understand.
Another tom cat that I had was in the habit of lying on my feet if I was lying on the divan. One day he came up spitting and clawing like he was fighting something. My husband said he had been looking at the window and might have seen a dog outside. It was strange.
And then there is the possibility that looking into space is something that cats do to annoy their people.
I really like this thread.
I have had strange things happen that couldn't be explained.
My folks felt they had a ghost in their house and because Mom told my dad's cousin and he laughed at her, she always called it Lester, after him.
Not long after that Lesters wife said they now had a ghost in their house and they named it George, after my dad.
They shared with each other just what George or Lester had done each time they visited.
Not scarey, just company. Dad did a lot of shift work.....Mom hated him working midnights and stayed up all night because she was afraid to sleep with out dad there with her.......and that was when Lester would come visit.
I have had things fall or get dropped and nothing was there......(that I could see). Just feelings.
Keep the stories coming. I like them.
Judy
OK, Judy, here is one of my favorites.
My grandmother (Elsie) died Sept. 6, 1945. My grandfather (Sam) was bedfast with lung cancer at the time. He was being cared for in his home. With a son living across the driveway and 3 other children within 15 miles, there was plenty of help in caring for him. We lived within the 15 miles and my mother was quite often at the home. One day, while she was sitting beside his bed he started calling out, "Elsie. Elsie." Then he turned to my mother and asked her why Elsie wouldn't turn around and talk to him. He said she was just across the room. He died a few days later on Oct. 16, 1945. My mother always said that Grandma was just waiting for Grandpa to go with her.
My other 3 daughters have stories, too. One of them works night shift in a nursing home and the other 2 both used to work at the Winfield State Hospital. The 2 at the Winfield State Hospital might be about the same "whatever". I will have to have them tell their stories again before I try to relate them here.
My grandparents were the same way.
My grandma passed away in February due to complications from an auto accident. Grandad passed in May. Everyone thought that Grandad would be the first to go because he had so many different health concerns, but we believe they were destined to be together, even in the afterlife, because God took Grandma first so Grandad wouldn't have to wait for her.
Dandymomma,
How well I remember that. I went to your Grandma's funeral. That was a hard one for me because I used to joke around with her and your Grandpa all the time. It was sad because your Grandpa could not be there.
Mama.. tell about the things that happen to you and "items" that disappear and reappear.
Does anyone have any further information on Prudence Crandall? She was the woman who settled in Elk Falls; she had been an educator and was known for starting schools for black children. She was also a practicing spiritualist according to the thesis that is in the Moline library. Anyone know of any past spiritualist groups from around here? It was quite popular at the turn of the 20th century.
Quote from: Janet Harrington on August 02, 2007, 09:39:22 PM
Dandymomma,
How well I remember that. I went to your Grandma's funeral. That was a hard one for me because I used to joke around with her and your Grandpa all the time. It was sad because your Grandpa could not be there.
Chrissie stayed with Grandad. She said it was a very solemn day. The worst part for me was that I couldn't sit with my mom, and my husband had to take Andy for a walk because he just wouldn't settle down. And then we couldn't stay and visit much because my husband was due back at McChord and we had such a long drive ahead of us. That drive was very therapeutic though.
Poor Grandad. I can't imagine how hard that must have been for him. It was hard enough on those of us that got a chance to say "good-bye".
(my mom is going to yell at me for making her cry.)
That's all right. We moms love our children even when they make us cry.
When my husband and I were first married, I started dreaming about his brother that died about 10 years prior. His brother was 8 years older than him, and died of a heart attack at age 29.
In my dreams I was on my husband's airplane with him and we were flying into Vietnam to pick up the remains of American soldiers that had been recovered. (yes, that is a real thing that my husband has done) We landed and loaded the remains, and then took off, headed back for McChord. While we were in flight, I noticed one of the body bags was "breathing". I grabbed my husband and unzipped the bag and there was his brother, breathing and blinking and smiling. I said, "We thought you were dead!!!" and he shook his head. Then I woke up.
When I told my husband what I had dreamed, his mouth fell open. It took him a little while to compose himself, and he told me that he has dreams like that all the time. He always dreams he's in a combat zone, or something like that, and his brother always walks around a big rock or the corner of a building and says, "Bet you thought I was dead, huh?"
In my dream, he didn't talk; but the message was definately the same. I think it's his way of telling us that he is around and is checking up on us.
Yes ma'am ..it is... :)
The other night I had another "bump" in the night. I don't know if it woke me or if I were already awake. But there was this bump, then a sound like hurrying footsteps, maybe 5 o 6 steps, not enough to take anyone out of the room. Since Bud had jumped up on my bed just after the bump I wasn't too concerned. A few days later I heard the same things. This time I was in the living room and it was light and there was my recliner rocking back and forth just as if I had just gotten out of it. And there was Bud where he had just landed on the floor from jumping off the back of the chair. I didn't know that a rocking recliner could sound like footsteps.
So well explained Teresa!
"Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump. Silence. Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump. Silence." This is what I heard while watching television last night. I turned down the volume so that I could hear better and it was still there.
"Thump thump, thump, thump, thump. Silence. Over and over. Then during the silence, I caught sight of Bud passing in front of me, then the thumping, then Bud passing in front of me. He was playing Indian and Wagon Train. He was the Indian and the partition between the kitchen and living room was the wagon train. The thumping was while he was running across the vinyl and the silence was while he was on the carpet. Gave me pause for a moment.