Rain Rain Go Away (Aug. 18th-Oct. 7th, 2007)

Here is the scenario... each time I was driving in my car while it was RAINING. I randomly selected a cd to play on my car stereo. Many times I didn't even look what disc I grabbed to play. Three out of the four cds I had no prior knowledge to what songs were on the cd. Shortly after I began listening to the cd, a song about the RAIN began to play. That's right... a song about the RAIN while it was RAINING. Weird.

The first time it happened I thought nothing of it other than being just a neat coincidence. After the second and third time I was beginning to wonder what was going on. The chances of it happening that many times in a row seemed very unlikely. Quickly my neat little coincidence eerily went from being neat to just plain bizarre after the FOURTH time. For it to occur that frequently in such a relatively short period of time (a total of 50 days) seems nearly mathematically impossible.

Here are the four songs in order from top to bottom. I've included partial lyrics from each song.

Van Morrison - And It Stoned Me
And the rain keep pourin' down
Me and Billy standin' there
With a silver half a crown
Hands are full of fishin' rod
And the tackle on our backs
We just stood there gettin' wet
With our backs against the fence
Oh, the water
Oh, the water
Oh, the water
Hope it don't rain all day

Rod Stewart - Have You Ever Seen The Rain?
Someone told me long ago There's a calm before the storm,
I know; It's been comin' for some time.
When it's over, so they say, It will rain a sunny day,
I know; Shinin' down like water.

CHORUS:
I Wanna know, Have you ever seen the rain?
I Wanna know, Have you ever seen the rain
Comin' down on a sunny day?

Cyndi Lauper - Who Let In The Rain
And I wonder who let in the rain
You know without you
I'm not the same
When love gets strong
People get weak
Sometimes they lose control
And wind up in too deep
They fall like rain
Who let in the rain

Alonzo Stewart - I Get The Blues When It Rains
I get the blues when it rains the blues I can't lose when it rains
Each little drop that falls on my window pane
Always reminds me of tears I've shed in vain
I sit and wait for the sun to shine down on me once again
It rained when I found you rained when I lost you
That's why I get the blues when it rains

Hull House 2007

In the summer of 2007 I went on the Chicago Hauntings Tour. If you plan on traveling to Chicago in the near future I HIGHLY recommend it. Each location we stopped at I'll cover in it's own individual entry.  

To be continued...

Little House on the Prairie (part 1 of 4) 1982-83

“The world is full of people who have never, since childhood, met an open doorway with an open mind”-E. B. White (American writer 1899-1985)

Every night for the last 24 years I’ve involuntarily shut my bedroom door tightly before going to sleep. After what I experienced when I was a young boy, somewhere between the ages of 6-7 years old, I sincerely doubt that will ever change.

Motionless, I laid in my bed looking up at my open doorway through the darkness. After I determined that there was indeed a glowing figure lurking in the dark hallway peering into my bedroom from around the edge of the door frame... I retreated underneath my blanket. Fear turned to panic when the faint sound of footsteps could be heard slowly walking from the general direction of the doorway towards me. The footsteps suddenly stopped at the foot of my bed. Several minutes went by... silence. Was it (he) just standing there watching me?! At about this time I began sweating. Every muscle in my body was tense. I tried not to breath. Despite my best efforts to appear to be sound asleep deep down inside I knew my visitor was not fooled.

I awoke early the next morning. Without hesitation I ran upstairs to my parents room. (Something I wished I had the courage to do the night before.) I proceeded to tell them about the glowing figure and how I perceived it to be an old man with a long unkempt beard.

In a way I feel like my life was forever changed that night. Once innocent, I then became a child obsessed with the concept of death and eventually developed a curiosity for the unknown.

To this day I can not conclusively say what I witnessed was a ghost, but I've found it difficult to discredit what took place based on events that would happen later on. One thing I can confirm was the unmistakable feeling of being watched.

(Update: 10-28-07) Coming Soon: Little House on the Prairie (part 2 of 4)

Fort Pickens (Pensacola, FL) Nov. 2003

While visiting my brother in Pensacola, FL I talked him into accompanying me on a candlelight tour of Fort Pickens. The old fort, originally built in 1834, saw action during the Civil War and for a short time held 15 Apache warriors captive including the legendary Geronimo.    

Surrounded by darkness with only small dimly lit candles to lead our way my brother & I proceeded to take photos. These creepy pics were taken with my brother's digital camera while inside the fort. My brother, protective of his new camera, insisted on taking the photos while I directed him were to point the camera.

This was the first time I attempted to intentionally capture paranormal images.

While going through the pics on my brother's computer when we got back to his place we were both disappointed not to find a ghostly figure of a Civil War solider hiding in the shadows. Later, after closer inspection, it was hard not to notice the brightly glowing "orb" positioned just a foot or so off the ground as shown in the first pic above.    

One of the leading theories concerning what orbs are, according to theshadowlands.net., is that "an orb is the energy being transferred from a source (i.e. power lines, heat energy, batteries, people, etc) to the spirit so they can manifest. This may not even be a conscious thing the spirit is doing, just a natural way they get their energy. This would explain why the orbs are round balls. According to the laws of Physics energy being transferring like that would assume its natural shape of a sphere. This theory can also be tied into the EMF readings we get during spirit activity... we do not know what orbs truly are, just that they seem to be found mainly in areas where there is ghost activity."

I later discovered that Fort Pickens was considered haunted. "Pensacola - Fort Pickens - Visitors feel presences in certain rooms; it seems like someone is watching you." http://theshadowlands.net/places/florida.htm.

These creepy pics remain as some of the best examples of orbs I've been able to capture over the years. I'm still amazed by how well defined and bright they are.

For more information about Fort Pickens click here.

Gambel Mansion - Halloween night 2001

At the time I had no clue I was hanging out in an allegadly haunted house in St. Paul, MN otherwise known as the Gambel Mansion.

The photo was taken with a Kodak disposable camera Halloween night 2001 at a party hosted by friends. I nearly threw out the pic because it had all those "spots" on it.

(Update: 10-28-07) The Gambel Mansion is one of the locations featured on the Ghosts & Graves Tour which is offered seasonally by the Wabasha Street Caves. Great tour, but unfortunately it's seasonal. I was a little surprised to bump into an old friend/former coworker who was one of the tour guides.