To Blog or Not to Blog, that is the question!

I just logged on to my blog, which I hadn't posted anything to since December 2009, and am trying to decide whether to start it up again, or delete it. In the past, I used it to share some of my photography and a few ruminations about life in general, but am wondering if it's outlived its usefulness. As some of you know, many changes have occurred in my life since last December.

Your comments/suggestions would be appreciated.

Christmas Cards

Not many people send Christmas cards anymore, but I sat down and completed another year's worth of reaching out to those folks who are in my thoughts and heart (and address book!) this time of year.

I do this rather selfishly, as I'm allowed to wax sentimental as I include a small note to each of these people who have a special place in the time line of my life. This gives me time to reminisce about those days not so long ago when they were in the forefront of my day-to-day thoughts and activities, and allows me the privilege to be grateful for having had them in my life.

Sending holiday cards is a small but meaningful annual ritual that I enjoy making time to complete.

Taking Some Time Off

Ever read that tee shirt that says, "More people have read this shirt than your blog."? Well, that's how I've been feeling lately about my blog. No new photos to post, nothing interesting to write, so what to do? Take some time off. Besides, I've recently read some blogs where adults "rant" like little whiny babies about the most inane stuff and I've found it a huge waste of time to read them.

I'm beginning to think that Life's all about living it and not writing about living it. So, if anything worth sharing comes up on the horizon, I'll share. Otherwise, I'm taking some time off.

Picture courtesy of & shirt available at despair.com

Feeling Ghosts - Third in a Series

For nine year, I lived in a Cape Cod style home that had been built in 1950. It was a tiny little place that had seen very few updates over the years and was in need of some tender loving care when we purchased it in 1998. The home had a remodeling in the early 1960s, which opened the upstairs to two sizable bedrooms, leaving the original downstairs pretty much untouched.

There would be nights when my husband would not be home, and only myself and my dog would be snuggled on the sofa watching television in a living room that sported 1950s wallpaper and a cheap, worn dark brown wall-to-wall carpet. The stairs to the second floor were adjacent to this room. Many times on those nights alone, I would feel a presence near the staircase, and my dog would turn and look in that direction as if someone were there. It happened so often, in fact, that I gave the presence a name, "The Lady," as for some reason, I felt it as a feminine energy.

And, strangely, after those times of "visitation," I would have a home improvement idea (or two) pop into my head. Coincidence?

Hearing Ghosts - Second of a Series

Going back to my preteen life, when I was living "at home" in my parents' house in Manchester, Connecticut, I experienced a couple of years where I would hear what I believe were ghostly voices calling my name before I'd fall asleep at night.

I was around twelve years old when it started. I'd just be going from drowsiness to sleep state and a voice calling my name, "Mikel Ann" would startle me wide awake. It didn't matter the time of night, and sometimes it would be a male voice and other times a female voice, always calling out, "Mikel Ann." These "voices" would always come from the same direction - at the foot of my bed nearest the bedroom door.

I never recognized either voice, so I don't know who these "people" might have been, but this happened occasionally for about two years and then stopped abruptly. I remember that having rearranged the configuration of my bedroom furniture seemed to have coincided with the cessation of the phenomena.

I nearly forgot about these voices, if it weren't for a similar incident happening just a few months ago. I was just in the stages of awakening one morning and quite alone (except for my two cats and dog), and a voice near me and to my left called out my name, but this time it was a male voice that said "Mikel O'Brien!" It hasn't happened since.

I can only chalk it up to some sort of spirit contact or just my mind playing tricks . Whatever it was, I hope it doesn't happen again since I felt quite disturbed by the incidents.

Seeing Ghosts - First of a Series

I don't know whether it's because it's nearing Halloween and the conversation drifts towards the supernatural. Perhaps it's because SYFY's "Ghost Hunters" and other series are encouraging ghostly conversation, but I've found myself several times over the past week discussing ghosts with friends and family. I felt that it would be interesting reading for my other friends if I shared my ghostly encounters here, and I hope it encourages you to share yours as well.

Nearly twenty years ago, I actually saw - with my own two eyes - a real ghost. I had recently moved into an apartment in a renovated silk mill in my hometown of Manchester, Connecticut. This mill had once been a flourishing weaving mill of silk cloth owned by the Cheney family, but as with all the New England manufacturing industry, it was abandoned for cheaper manufacturing in other parts of the world. Thank goodness that the building was of sturdy construction as to be attractive enough to be renovated into apartments by developers.

One evening early into my tenancy at this apartment, I returned home from work and entered the small foyer, flicking on the light switch which illuminated the foyer, living room and dining area. I headed into the living room and as I did, I saw a semi-transparent figure of a Caucasian man with brown hair who appeared to be in his 30s or 40s dressed in a short-sleeved shirt and work pants walking from my dining into my living space, left to right. From his dress, I gathered he was a worker from anywhere between 1920 and 1940 or so. As he walked in front of me, intersecting my path, he stopped, looked at me and gave me a friendly nod. He then continued in the direction he was heading and walked through my living room wall, disappearing and never seen by me again!

Strangely, I was not afraid by this odd encounter, but at the same time I never felt at ease to share it until recently. My feeling at the time was that he may have been a guardian of the mill and was checking out the new tenants, so was just dropping by. As I took the utmost care of the unit while I lived there, there was no reason for him to ever return. If he did return, I never saw him.

Garden Musings: Putting the Beds to Bed

Light frost has already stung my little valley, and the plants are beginning to tell me it’s time for them to call it a day for another year. I reluctantly agree, and spend the occasional hour pulling up tender frostbitten annuals to add to the brush heap.

Bulbs can still be planted in the crisp autumn air as I watch the leaves turn the color of flames and fall to the ground. A bittersweet time for the garden.

I wish you a beautiful & bountiful autumn.