hauntedliving

I was sitting outside today just enjoying the peace and quite when something unusual happened.  It got too peaceful and too quite.  It was as if the whole world just stopped.  There were no birds singing, no insect noise, and no traffic noise.  The complete lack of sound was awesome yet weird.  It only lasted for a few seconds but it was long enough to make me feel intensely lonely to the point that I had to call a friend.  I just needed to have human contact to reassure myself that I was not the only person left on earth. 

There are times in this busy world we live in that we need some quite time.  We all need to take time to relax in quietness, listen to nothing but nature, and think.  Too many of us (me included) let the TV and computer take up our thinking time.  I know I need to exercise my brain more than I do.  It is not just the body that gets lazy and out of shape.  But when we have that quite time we still want to hear something even if it is only a bee or a bird.  There is a lot of fear in feeling you are the only breathing thing left on Earth.

About a year ago General Mills changed Trix cereal.  Trix was my favorite cereal to eat for breakfast each day.  Then one day I opened a new box and got a surprise; all the marshmallows pieces were gone.  Yeah I know it is fruit flavored but it is just not the same cereal without the marshmallows shapes.  I miss the yellow moons, and the four leaf clovers.  I am an adult and I know that “Thix is for kids” but I loved it too. 

I was so disappointed in the change that I sent an email to General Mills complaining of the change.  They got right back to me with an email informing me that they did a survey and the majority of people wanted the change. Well they did not ask me.  They also sent me some coupons for free cereal. I felt that was nice of them but I still could not get the cereal I wanted.

Last week they called me and asked if I ever buy Trix any more.  They also wanted to know if I would do a survey on Trix.  Of course I said yes. The next day a woman called who said she was a doctor and asked me questions about my cereal habits.  She also wanted to know what it would take to get me to buy Trix again.  I told her to put the marshmallows back and I would buy at least four boxes a month.

Now I know how the rabbit felt.  Silly rabbit, silly me!

There used to be an old plantation house standing near the entrance to the subdivision I live in.  It was not like the plantation houses they show in the movies.  It was just a plain two story house, not fancy at all.  There were no marble floors, no columns, and no wrap around porches.  It was a simple wooden house with a modest porch.  A large barn and a smoke house still stood behind the house. Underneath the house was a root cellar used for storing home made canned goods.  In one of the bedrooms on the second floor was a door about two feet wide by two feet high which led into a secret room.  On the floor of the secret room were a bowl and a blanket.  Locals told of the secret room being used to hide runaway slaves during the Civil War.  The owners of the house were members of the Confederacy and owned slaves therefore I think the runaway slave theory false.

When I first moved to the area and was told the house was haunted I had my doubts.  Every place I have ever lived has had an urban legion of a haunted house or road.  One night some friends decided to prove to me the house was haunted.  We drove down to the house and parked across the road.  There was some moonlight and we had a clear view of the front of the house.  After about ten minutes I was amazed to see what looked like a lantern light moving from room to room through the house.  Thinking that I was set up for a joke I went to view the house on my own a few nights later.  I had told no one that I was going so there would be no chance of being set up again.  The light was still there moving slowly through the rooms but with one difference; the light moved out of the house and into the barn this time.  That was enough to convince me the house was truly haunted.

The house is gone now; a victim of time but the light remains to this day. 

I was very lucky to be raised by parents who taught me to see people instead of skin color.  To judge someone by their skin color is as stupid as judging someone by the color of their eyes or hair.  We are all the same under the skin.  The same color heart, lungs, liver, and the same color soul.  It really amazes me that some people who call themselves Christian are prejudged against black people.  Do they think there will be different sections in Heaven for black and white people? 

When I was a little girl we lived next to a black family.  The youngest boy was my best friend.  We spent many hours playing in the shallow creek in the woods.  From the time we got up in the mornings until it was time to go in at night we were together.  He would eat lunch at our house or I would eat at his house.  My Daddy borrowed their mule to ploy our garden and they borrowed our car.   For three years they were our neighbors and friends.  One thing I did not understand was why my little friend did not go to my school.  When I questioned Mama about this she explained he went to a different school.

For three years they were our friends and neighbors until we had to move to a different county.  I missed my friend and cried for weeks until Daddy took me back to spend the day with him.  This became a monthly event until we got to old to play together.

I raised my children to see a person’s heart instead of their skin color and they in turn are raising their children the same way.  My heart swells with pride when I go to my Grandchildren’s birthday parties and see the mix of races there. 

I hope that one day everyone will realize that we are all the same.  We hurt, worry, and work for the same reasons; to survive and to love and provide for our families.

Today I had to go to town to do some grocery shopping.  I live just outside a small town but for most shopping I have to drive about twenty miles to a larger town.  The small town near me does not have a Walmart, Kroger, or a Home Depot. Those are my favorite stores and to get the bargains I have to make the drive.

The speed limit is 55 miles per hour and I always try to stay around the limit. Just as I rounded a sharp curve there was a man walking in the road!  Not of the edge of the road but at least a foot and a half into the road. Two cars were coming in the other lane so I was left with nowhere to go.  I hit my brakes and hoped he would move off the road.

I slowed down as much as I could and prayed the other cars would hurry and pass.  I don’t understand how I missed the man but some how I did.

I can only wonder why he was walking in the road like that.  Maybe he was angry and felt he owned the whole road.  Maybe he was suicidal, I hope not anyway.  If someone wants to commit suicide there are certainly less painful ways to die.  Maybe he was sick or confused.  One thing is for sure; he has a problem and I hope he gets the help he needs.

We have coyotes in all 159 Georgia counties now.  I did not know that we had them until I moved to a different part of my county in 1996.  I went out onto the porch with a cold glass of tea to enjoy a warm summer night and was surprised to hear yelps and yaps coming from the woods near our home.  I thought they were wild dogs until a friend informed me they were coyotes.  As I have always been crazy about anything canine I decided to find out more about the coyotes.  I was saddened to learn that the farmers alone with their friends would go out and kill as many of the coyotes as they could.  When I asked why they would do this I was informed that the coyotes kill calves.  I found out that this is not true.  Coyotes kill and eat deer, mice, rabbits, squirrels, etc… Wild dogs on the other hand will kill anything and like an easy kill. 

The reason we have so many wild dogs is due to people dumping them out in rural areas instead of having their pets fixed or taking the puppies to the local Animal Rescue.  Too many lazy people give their problems to others.  I volunteer at the humane society and know this is a huge problem in our county.

One farmer told me that coyotes are a danger to humans but I think it is the other way around.  With more and more subdivisions being built every day coyotes are losing their habitat at an alarming rate.  They are just trying to survive anyway they can.

I guess I have an odd body shape.  For years I would buy jeans and have to take up the legs which are always too wide for my legs.  If I bought them to fit my legs I could not fit them over my tummy and hips.  I tried Women’s jeans and I tried Misses jeans but it was the same problem each time.  Jeans must be designed by men who think all women have tiny waist.  Women who have to wear them know better.  I admit I could lose a few pounds off the waist and hips but hey that’s not easy to do.  My Grandmother was shaped the same way and she passed the shape down to me. 

Recently my oldest daughter gave me a pair of jeans she did not like.  I was shocked when I tried them on for they fit!  The legs were perfect, the hips were perfect, and so was the waist.  I could not believe it, I finally had in my hands a pair of jeans that fit my body.  When I looked inside for the tag I got even more of a shock.  They were junior jeans.  I am not going to tell my real age but I will say I am over forty.  I was so upset that I tossed them into the back of the closet.  I am too old to wear junior jeans I thought.

Later on my daughter asked me if I could wear the jeans.  When I told her I was too old to wear junior jeans she laughed at me.  “Mom who is going to know?” she asked.  She also told me that I should be proud I can fit in the junior size. 

I now shop for jeans in the junior section but I am careful to only buy plain jeans.  I am still too old for the jeans covered in glitter.

Everywhere I look I am seeing distressed furniture.  It’s in magazines, on websites, and on TV.  Distressed furniture is accepted and regarded as sophisticated. It is described by words like; chic and rustic.  I guess I am the only person in the whole world who does not like distressed furniture.  I used to have distressed furniture way back when I was dirt poor.  It was called junk then.  I refinished some of it and the rest went to Thrift stores as soon as I could afford something better.  Why have a beautiful home and then add furniture with pealing paint and scruff marks all over it?  I just don’t get it.  I do love antiques but I want them to look new.  Nothing can compare with an antique that has a beautiful unblemished surface. 

My Grandmother had a large home filled with antiques that were well cared for over the years.  Grandma kept them dust-free and used wood oil on them each week.  My Aunt sold them after my Grandmother passed away and I am sure some of them are now distressed. 

If it is such a great look then why do we not have distressed cars?  If it is good enough to sit in our homes then it should be good enough to sit in our driveways.

A few weeks ago I put my resumes on Monster and Career Builder.  At first all I got offered were jobs selling insurance which I turned down.  Then last week I got an offer to be a Mystery Shopper.  The job was supposed to pay $200.00 per assignment and I would be able to keep anything I purchased for the company.  I could not believe my luck.  I sent an email to the company letting them know I would take the job.  I got several emails telling me a little more about my assignments over a two day period. In one email I was told that I would investigate a restaurant and a Western Union.

I was completely surprised on Thursday morning to get a package from UPS.  Inside the package were two Money Gram money orders for $935.00.  They were made out to me and were from a woman in North Carolina.  Since I did not know this woman I was very confused.   There was nothing else in the package other than the money orders.  Why would some woman that I did not know send me this much money?

Later on that day I got an email from the Mystery Shopper Company explaining the money orders were from them.  I was instructed to take the money orders to my bank, cash them, keep $200.00 for my pay, and send the rest to Western Union in London, England.  Ok I am not the brightest light bulb in the pack but I am not completely stupid. 

I know that this has to be a scam and it scares the heck out of me.  Lucky for me I saved every email I received from this so called company.  I am going to print the emails, place them inside the package with the fake money orders and hand it all over to Law Enforcement on Monday. 

In the future I plan to be more careful and check out each job offer online before I jump into the job.  If it sounds too good to be true it most likely is.

There are some wonderful things about living in the country.  The wonderful things are: birds, butterflies, humming birds, squirrels, bunnies, and the deer.  All the grass and the trees are wonderful too.  But there are some things that are not so wonderful. The not so wonderful things are bees.  We have hornets, wasps, carpenter bees, and yellow jackets. 

Unlike wasp and hornets who build their nest under eves and in trees yellow jackets build their nest in the ground.  It is almost impossible to find and destroy a yellow jacket nest unless you find one in a painful way. 

That is how I found a yellow jacket nest on Monday.  I wanted to clear off a section of our front yard that had grown up with weeds and vines.  I gathered my yard tools and set to work.  I had only raked a small area when I noticed pain in one of my fingers.  I looked down to see a yellow jacket stinging my finger through my glove.  Then all hell broke loose when a swarm of yellow jackets surrounded me.  I ran for my life into the house and spent the next hour nursing my finger and plotting revenge on the yellow jackets. 

When the pain eased up some I went outside to get the tools.  I kept one eye on the nest area while I carefully picked up the tools and loaded them into the wheelbarrow.

I decided to go into the back yard and work for a while.  If you live in the country you know there is always work to be done in the yard. 

All the while I worked I thought of how I would kill the yellow jackets as soon as it was dusk and they were all on the nest.   Then as it got close to dusk I had a change of heart. I put myself in the yellow jackets shoes so to speak.  If I thought someone was attempting to destroy my home I would attack too.  The yellow jacket nest is still there, for now anyway.