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This is a tiny little free subscription ezine for friends of The Grove - it is by request only. In other words, we NEVER arbitrarily add email addresses. We also NEVER sell or share email addresses with anyone else, for any reason at any time. We hate SPAM as much as you do!
Happy 2006! As I said at the close of the 12/2006 GroveZine, I hope that we all have a healthy, prosperous year. We spent New Year's Eve with some friends here in Jefferson - first a dinner at Lamache's, our favorite Italian restaurant in the world (and one with more than a few ghosts), then went back for champaign and black-eyed peas at one of the couple's house. In the course of the evening, the talk turned to the supernatural, and I enjoyed hearing everyone's ghost stories. It never ceases to amaze me how prevalent these experiences are - especially in Jefferson. I have some updates on ghostly goings-on here at The Grove, and a little news from Jefferson for you along the way. Let's get started into 2006!
Jefferson is really hopping during these first few months of the year. Coming up the weekend of Jan 20 is "Girlfriend Weekend", a convention of the ever-popular Pulpwood Queens, whose motto is "where tiaras are mandatory and reading good books is the RULE!" The national chain of clubs is based here in Jefferson at Beauty and the Book - more info is available at beautyandthebook.com. We also have a quilt show coming up on Jan 27 weekend, and it's getting larger every year. Check out www.jeffersonquiltshow.com for all the details. Tami and I volunteer there every year, so we get a preliminary look at all those incredible quilts! Before moving on, I have to mention Mardi Gras. When there was a steamship route between Jefferson and New Orleans in the 1800s, the tradition was brought upriver where it continues today. Jefferson's Mardi Gras is huge, with lots of food, fun, bands, and of course, beads, beads, beads! It is very family-friendly, though, and is enjoyable for everyone. This year it is the weekend of Feb 24-26. The Krew of Hebe is responsible for the festival, and their website is www.mardigrasupriver.com Okay, it's time for a few ghost stories, but I have to mention a new project of mine - a ghost blog! I try to post every day or so, with everything from ghosts in the national/international news to personal experiences. If you just can't get enough ghost info, check out www.ghost-blog.com
Okay, ready for a few ghost stories from The Grove? You've probably heard me say that "something is always happening here", and that was certainly the case in January. I'm including three of them here in January's GroveZine. The first one technically happened the morning of December 31st, so I guess that it was a 2005 event, but that was after the last GroveZine went out. It was a Saturday morning, and I was doing some work at the very back of the property away from the house. A couple of our friends had stopped by, and came to the back to visit with me. Tami was taking advantage of the holiday weekend by sleeping in late. As I talked with our friends, Tami came dashing out of the house in her pajamas and asked, "Was anyone just inside? Are there any children here?" After we told her that we were the only ones around, she went on to explain that she woke up with the dogs freaking out - they'd been sleeping in their beanbags beside the bed, and both Lilly and Delaney suddenly jumped up and started going crazy. As Tami sat up in bed and started getting them calmed down, she heard a child's voice out in the stairwell say, "You're not 41 anymore." She got out of bed, and quickly looked through the house to see who was there. Finding no one, she came outside to see if anyone had just gone outside. We were too far away from the house to be heard, even if there had been a child with us. There was no explanation as to the owner of the voice that she heard, or the meaning of what she said, although one of our friends pointed out later that Tami was indeed 41 when we first bought The Grove. We found that to be very interesting, but something happened to me just a couple of days later. Odors are often associated with spirits, and are something that we've occasionally run across in our travels, and even here in the house. I was putting Christmas decorations up in the attic on Jan 2nd, and in the area over the game room (which used to be the master bedroom of the house) there was a strong smell of sickly sweet perfume - the kind your grandmother might have worn. It was very noticeable every time I went back there, so I finally walked through the rest of the house to see if it was anywhere else, but it was not. The smell wasn't on the boxes that had been downstairs, because it was strong enough that I certainly would have noticed it. I could find no rational explanation for it, and finally, on a trip up there I noticed that it had gone away. I thought the incident was a little strange, but the next day on Jan 3rd, there was a very musky odor in the front parlor, definitely that associated with a person who hadn't bathed in a day or so. It was in the area of the doorway between the parlor and the stairwell, and was only there for a few minutes before it was suddenly gone. Again, I could find no rational explanation for it. Patrick Hopkins, the former owner of the house, did tell us that he'd experienced the same thing over in the front dining room on several occasions. It may have been the same spirit coming back for a visit, just to see what we were doing with all of the "undecorating" from Christmas. Finally, I had something to report from only a few nights ago, January 14th. I was talking to my cousin on the phone, and since Tami was watching the Ice Skating championships in the den, I was pacing back and forth from the game room, through the stairwell, and turning around in our bedroom. I'd see her sitting in the den every time I went into the game room. Coming out of the bedroom once during the conversation, I passed by the side gallery (the hallway) and saw movement back toward the laundry room door. I looked over just in time to see someone stepping from the side gallery into the kitchen door. My initial thought was that it was Tami, but stepping into the game room, I could see that she was bundled up on the den couch. I thought back to what I'd seen, and along with the black pants, I remembered that the person - who I think was a man - had on a light colored shirt. I didn't really see the face or head. The "garden guy" spirit doesn't come in the house, so I don't think that it was him, but over the last several years we've seen a man out on the side gallery on rare occasions, so it might have been that fellow... whoever he is. I debated whether or not to tell my cousin about it, but finally did. My family probably thinks that I'm crazy at this point!
Okay, enough for January - I don't want to ramble on too long! I'd like to sincerely thank you for reading the GroveZine, and for your interest in the spirits of The Grove. www.thegrove-jefferson.com To repeat our words from the beginning, this is a free subscription ezine for friends of The Grove - in other words, we NEVER arbitrarily add email addresses. We also NEVER sell or share email addresses with anyone else. To subscribe, send an email to mitchel@whitington.com with the following words in the subject line: Subscribe Grove To unsubscribe, send an email to mitchel@whitington.com with the following words in the subject line: Unsubscribe Grove |
