ThINgS tHaT Go BuMp iN ThE nIGhT

When I taught American Literature to high school students, this was the time of year we read Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and then I showed the movie.  That always led to the discussion of ghosts and things that go bump in the night.

Over the years a couple of stories stand out.  One student told the class she lived in a house with a cupola at the top.  One day her mother was outside and looked up at the cupola and saw someone through its window.  The strange thing was, she said, that they always kept the door to the cupola locked.  This student also said that sometimes they would hear notes from their piano being played, but no one was near it. 

Another student told about a swing that hung from a tree outside their country house.  Several family members saw, at different times, a young girl in a white dress on that swing, but when they would look again, she would be gone.

I have never seen any paranormal activity, but I don't doubt it exists as I have had strange feelings.  One night I felt a poke on my arm that woke me out of a sound sleep.  About a month later there was a tug on my toe that woke me up.  I laughed about the incidences and thought my father was trying to get my attention from the other side.

Several months later I was popping corn at the stove when I felt someone behind me. I thought for a second it might be my husband, but he was downstairs in the family room. Then the hair on the back of my neck stood up. I turned around and said out loud, "Go away.  I don't want you here."  Again I thought it might be my father and if it was, I didn't want to hurt his feelings.  I just didn't like him sneaking up on me. 

I know other people who have had unexplained experiences.  My daughter felt the spirit of our deceased neighbor Otto when she and her husband were building their new house.  They were installing an architectural piece of a griffin that had originally come from a  bank in Chicago that was being torn down. We had removed it from Otto's house before it had to be demolished.  My daughter and her husband liked the piece and decided to incorporate it on the outside of their house next to the front door.

While they were installing it, my daughter recalls that she felt Otto's presence and his satisfaction that they were using this old piece of art, but she could also smell his spirit.  Anna and Otto's house always had a distinct aroma.  I asked my daughter if the aroma might not have been coming from the sculpture, but she said they hadn't smelled anything when they were transporting it back to Novi. She is convinced Otto was there along with the old architectural griffin.

My sister woke up to look at the clock while visiting her daughter in a rental in Mississippi.  Standing next to the bed she saw the figure of a man in his pajamas.  There was no head on the figure, but he held one hand out in front of him.  She looked back at the clock and when she turned to look again, he was  gone. Several people had seen that apparition in the house.  The story was that a man had died in there who liked coffee.  My sister thought he might have been holding a cup of coffee in front of him although she didn't see a cup.

Sitting in my chair in our family room by myself last week I glanced at the window and saw a white mist off to one side and then it disappeared.  I thought it was a figment of my imagination because my eyes aren't very strong looking at a distance.  But then I had a chill of fright that came out of nowhere. 

All such stories can be taken with a grain of salt.  Are there spirits which return or linger or can't move on?  We may never know unless we become one ourselves.  Sleep well tonight my friends. 

 

Halloween In My Day

Small town America in the 1950's was not much different from today where mothers still scramble to get their children costumes for Halloween.  Back in my day, costumes were mainly homemade and my mother learned what competition she was up against with other mothers when I was five. 

In Shelby, where I grew up, there was an annual Halloween costume contest.  I don't know when it started; I just know when my mother started me in the competition.  The organizers divided children into age groups.  I was in kindergarten when I first walked across the stage in a Dutch girl outfit.  My last name was Vaneps, so why not?  My mother bought the costume at what we called the Dime Store (Ben Franklin) in downtown Shelby and it was made out of a cheap kind of plastic.

I remember that Halloween night was very cold and the stage was on the football field.  Plastic does not keep a child warm.  I was a shy shivering little girl and I hated walking up some steps and across the stage.  I then stood with those who came before and those who came after to wait the announcement of the winners.  I wasn't one of them.  My mother never again bought a cheap costume.

Mothers in Shelby knew that if their child was going to win, the costume had to be creative in order to catch the judge's eye.  There was a girl in my class whose name was Mary Ann and her mother made her the most spectacular costumes.  One year she was The World.  Her mother had probably used chicken wire and then covered it with cloth and put the continents where they belonged.  She won hands down.

My mother got very clever after the plastic costume year.  She found an old robe that looked like a Japanese kimono.  She shortened it for me, wrapped a sash tightly around my waist, put cork on my eyes, pulled my hair back and tucked chrysanthemums behind my ear.  That year I won one of the prized silver dollars.

My most memorable year was probably when I was in 4th or 5th grade.  My best friend Jean had a worm costume, but it took two people to carry it off.  We had to stuff ourselves inside this long tube of material and get on the floor and scooch along.  Since it was her costume, she got to be in front with her face sticking out.  Her mother put a cute sparkly mask on her.  I, on the other hand, had to be in the back and all I got was an air hole.

I remember us slinking along the floor and we had to go up some stairs to get to the stage.  By this time the adults had gotten smart and had moved the contest inside the high school where they used the stage in the gym.  As I was trying to slither along someone kicked me in the side.  I had a feeling it was Jean's brother, but I could never prove it.  Needless to say, I felt miserable as the back end of that worm.  The only consolation was that we won.  However I don't remember if we both got a silver dollar or had to split one.

In high school when we were too old to take part in Halloween, a classmate had a Halloween party at her house.  I do remember bobbing for apples and that all of us wore costumes, but I have no memory of what I wore.

Another year in high school I ran around town with a group of friends and the only naughty thing we did was soap the car windows of our Latin teacher.  We knew since she lived by herself, it wouldn't be nice to use wax.  We also didn't want to scare her or get caught so we tried to keep our giggles from getting too loud.  We really were good kids.

Now Halloween seems to be mostly about the candy.  Candy was not so important when we were growing up.  Oh, I don't mean that we didn't love candy.  It just wasn't as plentiful.  We got homemade treats like popcorn balls, cookies and fudge when we went trick or treating and we were never driven into town, but taken only to the neighbors.

As a working mother getting my own kids ready for Halloween always seemed a chore.  We used everyday things from around the house and sometimes they designed part of their costume.  But it was always last minute.  So it was with wonder that I watched my daughter-in-law make a costume for her youngest this year and I marvel that there are still mothers who take the time to be creative.  Halloween memories can last a lifetime and there are still parents who know the fun of that.  Trick or Treat!

 

Cold.....Crisp.....Colorful

Sometimes words aren't necessary to describe what we see before us. When my husband told me I should hurry to catch the sunlight on the trees by our son's house, I grabbed my camera although I was still in my pajamas.  The sky was gray and the sun was going in and out behind the clouds.  I had to snap fast.  In the afternoon I just wandered the neighborhood looking for colorful scenes and the sun again was instrumental in my getting some good shots.

Peak color reminds us that it can be here today and gone tomorrow.  Cold weather is settling in and even though we haven't had a hard frost yet, it is coming.  Today reminds me that sometimes I have to stop what work I'm doing in the house in order to reap the benefits of what nature tosses our way.  She is saying, "Catch it while you can because tomorrow I might bring you snowflakes."  I caught it as best I could and now I'm tossing it on to you.

A Shiny New Penny

When Honey, granddaughter Avery's dog, died in June it was a sad time for all of us who loved her.  I spent time with Honey when I knew she wouldn't make it by petting her and talking to her.  It was hard to let go of a pal who went on walks with me and protected us, in her mind, against strangers.

Avery's parents decided that they would wait until the summer of 2014 to get another dog, but Avery had other thoughts.  One day in August she asked her mother if they could go the local animal shelter to look at the dogs.  Her mother agreed, but told her they were not coming home with a dog.  Famous last words.

Avery called me and said there was a dog at the shelter that was named Henny.  She was a red husky and probably part sheltie.  She told me she was a medium sized dog.  They hadn't brought her home because she had to ask her dad if they could adopt her and of course her father, who is a dog lover, agreed.  Avery said that she was going to rename her Penny.

Penny had to be neutered before coming to the Ramseyer residence and that was done.  Getting a dog that is at least a year old can have its own problems because no one knows the history of the animal.  This dog was found roaming with no collar and no one claimed her.  Apparently she was covered with fleas which the shelter had eradicated.

In three months Penny has acclimated to her new home.  At first she was tied up most of the time and walked on a leash as there was a fear she would run away.  Now she is both tied up and also let loose for long periods of time to run.
There will come a time when she will not have to be tied at all. 

Penny's first day at her new home with Jay and Avery.

She comes when her name is called and seems to have settled into roaming between the Ramseyer house, our house and the neighbor's where they welcome her warmly.  However if I let her loose during the day she always returns home to wait for her family to get there in the late afternoon.

 

Her markings make her look like a raccoon face but when running she is fast and sleek like a coyote.  She is a friendly dog who is so soft to pet.  I love her fur and her sweet personality.  I'm not sure how someone could have given her up or dumped her by the side of the road.  Luckily she was taken in by a little girl who loves her and a grandma who watches out for her welfare.  She has a wonderful dog life. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Taking pride in the land

"I like to see a man

proud of the place

in which he lives.

I like to see a

man live so that

his place will

be proud of him."

                 -Abraham Lincoln


Those words are written on a little plaque that I found antiquing one day and I knew I had to take it home to my husband Hack.  The farm that we bought from our German neighbors in 1979 has been lovingly taken care of by this man who devotes most waking hours to improving its beauty.

We do not farm, but the land with its meadows, springs, pond, creeks and forests are a source of deep fulfillment.  Land can not remain pristine without a lot of trimming, picking up branches and cutting wood for burning in the winter.

All these things keep Hack busy throughout the year.  Our lawn, which once was a field for crops and then an overgrown meadow, is now the view out our front window.  This lawn is irrigated and is five plus acres.  It is a reminder of the green hillsides in Switzerland, Austria, southern Germany and Norway and it would be easy to picture sheep grazing there.

I see the land as Hack's legacy to his grandchildren and future great grandchildren.  The grandchildren who live on the "farm" have a deep attachment to the land.  Avery knows where there is a good climbing tree.  Carter and Jay go to the sandy areas where they find rocks for their collections.  All of them know where the best blackberries grow and the dog, just added to their family, has room to run. 

We have seen many beautiful landscapes in the world, but there is something about our land in Michigan that is irreplaceable.  We know we are lucky to have found a spot that rewards us with Hack's hard work and pride of place.  Abraham Lincoln was right.  I believe the land is as proud of the man who takes care of it, as he is of it. 

Granddaughter Bella in the barnyard meadow under the apple blossoms this past spring.

 

        

Granddaughter Adrianna

wading in the spring

and other scenes

around our land.

 

A Glorious Weekend UP NORTH

I always consider that we already live "Up North," yet there is an undetermined line we cross north of Manistee or Mesick or Cadillac, depending what road we are on, that distinguishes a true UP NORTH feeling for me.

Over eight years ago we started a tradition, when the grandchildren were tots and still wore footed pajamas, that we would gather at a condo at Boyne Mountain, south of Petoskey for a family fall getaway weekend.  At the end of the summer the grand kids start asking, "When are we going to Boyne?"  They remind us that we can't slip up and not go as their memories are strong of a place where we can eat out as a family, go up the chair lift to see the colors, play at the water park and shop in the nearby picturesque town of Boyne City.  Plus it is a place where the cousins can bond.

The second weekend in October usually brings peak color in that Northern Michigan region.  This year did not disappoint.  North of Mesick, near the Manistee River, the colors were bright and beautiful. The further north we drove, the more intense the reds, yellows and oranges became. 


North of Mesick, close to the Manistee River. 

One traditional stop before we get to Boyne is Friske's Farm Market on U.S. 31 south of Charlevoix.  The place was humming with donut, cider and lunch buyers.  We bought two dozen apple donuts which we knew would be gobbled down by children and adults.

Friday night always finds our family at the Red Mesa Grill in downtown Boyne City.  It is famous for its Mexican food and margaritas.  We are a large group and our waitress this year took us all in stride.  Back at the condo it was time for the grand kids to hit the hot tub and then bed.

Saturday was a warm sunny almost summer like day.  Golfing and shopping were on the agenda.  Boyne City sits on the eastern shore of Lake Charlevoix and after shopping downtown, I walked with the grand kids over to the farmer's market.  Small town farmer's markets are so colorful and they found a vendor with small cups of homemade ice cream which they gobbled down.  Then back to the condo for a rest and more hot tub time for the children.  It was also picture taking time for me. 



The five grands left to right:  Jay, Avery, Bella, Adrianna, & Carter. 

 

 After the golfers got back, Hack and I took our three granddaughters to a place called Coveyou Farm Market where they have a plethora of mum plants in every hue one could imagine.  The view from this farm, south of Petoskey, looks out over Walloon Lake.  The barn, mums, sunshine, giggling granddaughters and view were too much to take in without brimming with joy on my part.

The girls spotted a table in the barn where they were selling cider and donuts.  Adrianna asked, "Grandma
would you like to contribute to the well being of Adrianna?"  I laughed and asked if she wanted a glass of cider for 75 cents or a donut for 75 cents.  The better bargain was both for $1.25.  I gave Adrianna $4.00 to buy them all both cider and a donut and asked her how much money would be left over.  They all did the problem in their heads and came up with the right answer.








 Avery, Bella and Adrianna with their donuts and cider
                                                        



A Look Around Coveyou Scenic Farm Market

 

 

 

 

Going back to Boyne, the next thing on our agenda was the ski lift up the mountain.  Boyne was giving free rides and the day couldn't have been more perfect.  Only two could fit in each chair and Adrianna said it had been decided that she would go with me, Bella and Avery would go together and Grandpa would go alone. 

I have bonded with Adrianna since she was a wee one and I get a kick out of her sappy sense of humor which has followed her to the age of eleven and the 6th grade.  As we were riding up, her sister and Avery were in the chair behind us.  Adrianna turned around and yelled, "Bella, how IS you?"  When Bella yelled back that she was fine, Adrianna yelled, "Avery, how IS you?'  Avery answered that she was fine.  "Grandpa, how is YOU?" was her final yell.  Grandpa could not hear her as he was two chairs back.  I laughed and Adrianna was delighted that she had amused me.

 View from the top of  Boyne Mountain with Brett & Carter, Heather & Jay going up. 

 

 

After ordering pizza for dinner, the highlight for the grands was the Avalanche Bay Indoor Water Park at Boyne.  Several of them asked me, "Grandma, will you come to the water park and stay with us until it closes?"  I said I would come, but I probably wouldn't stay until it closed.  Since I am not big on water slides I knew my only experiences there would be the hot tub and lazy river.

The kids are in their glory there, but as I looked up at the long enclosed tubes which they call slides, I knew that the darkness along with the water would put me into panic mode.  Getting on a tube and going down the lazy river was my big adventure.  Jay and Adrianna were floating on a tube along with their grandfather and me and when I wasn't looking shoved us through a big waterfall.  That amused them very much.  I looked like a drowned rat.

The weekend ended with a breakfast at a wonderful restaurant in Boyne City called Cafe Sante.  Sunday was a bit gray and the weather had turned fallish.  Because the sun was in and out, the colors seemed more intense.  The drive home was picturesque.  As we entered our county, Oceana, I could see that over the weekend there was more color evident near home.  I assume in the next week it will be peak here and there will be no need to go further north as it will start to fade there.

The beauty of October is short lived and it must be grasped in all its glory when it appears.  Our grandson Jay was at the top of Boyne Mountain playing Frisbee with his mom, dad and brother and said, "I'm happy."  What more is there to life but to make memories for children and cherish the time spent with them?  Every year the children are a bit older, as are we, and one day this UP NORTH trip will end.

Or will it?  Jay asked me why Grandpa and I got the big bedroom at the condo?  I told him it was because we were the backers of this expedition.  He wanted to know what that meant and when I told him he asked how much it cost to stay for a weekend.  I asked him why he wanted to know and he said, "Because one day I will be paying for this."  Will the tradition continue into the next generation?  What a nice tribute that would be. 

 Click on pictures to enlarge.

A Surrounding Sadness

I didn't think it had been a difficult day until I took a nap in the car coming home from a funeral and when I woke up my husband was driving into Sam's parking lot.  I pulled my groggy self out of the car because I thought maybe I would buy some flowers.

I walked slowly as if my mind and body were not one. My husband had a short list of things he wanted to get but since we hadn't discussed stopping I hadn't really thought about anything I might need except for flowers.

I looked at the bouquets of chrysanthemums and their dark fall colors.  They were so much like the flowers at the funeral we had just attended that I changed my mind about buying any.  I walked by the cakes and cupcakes and thought about how much I love that stuff, but I passed it all by.

My husband picked up cheese and took a sample of something a lady was handing out.  I didn't want any of that either.  I was starting to feel a depression creeping through my body.  I headed toward the magazines, an obsession of mine, but nothing there caught my interest.  Then I saw an Eddie Bauer display of long sleeved shirts and I chose a red one and a purple one, not thinking too much about what I needed.

We checked out and I suddenly felt like crying.  My husband talked to me but I could not find any words worth speaking.  We unloaded the car when we got home and I went upstairs to put my pajamas on.  I felt totally exhausted so I crawled into the bed in our spare bedroom and pulled the covers up around me.  The sheets were clean and I had put a down comforter on the bed for the weather I knew was coming.  A cozy quilt rested on top of that.

The covers made me feel safe and secure and then I saw Pat's face in the coffin.  Pat had been a friend since childhood of my husband and his siblings.  She grew up down the road from them and attended the one room school house and church that they did.  She had spent her career teaching elementary school and had married later in life.  Her husband had died several years ago and she was approaching her 76th birthday when the pneumonia she had not gotten treated turned into a death sentence.  Her lively spirit was what I remembered of her.  Seeing her look like her illness never really happened, as her face was calm and beautiful, made me think she might still be breathing and just sleeping.  It was a child's thought.

Beyond that I felt a sadness for friends and family who are dealing with difficulties in their lives.  The covers were a comfort, but I knew it is not possible in life to just go to bed and try to smother out the sadness.  However it is never wrong to cry and experience the sadness of death.  We wouldn't be human if we couldn't feel the pain of others and our own as well.

My husband said little to me about how I was feeling, but soothed me with homemade tomato soup.  The sadness will pass until the next time.  Death is ever present and troubles as well.  But between the dark periods, there must be light and life.  The tomato soup was a beginning. 

    The gravestone of a child in a country church cemetery in Norway.  Ole wasn't quite 
    eight when he died.  His gravestone says Hoyt loved - deeply missed.  Hoyt, from what I
    could research, was probably his nickname. 









 

Final Thoughts On Norway

We came out of a grocery store and I started toward a small tent that was set up by people with some pamphlets.  A man approached me and I asked him what they were doing.  He hesitated with his English, but told us that they were there to hand out their information about the Democratic party in Norway.  He said there was an election the next day, a Sunday, when people in the party were elected.  He said that if the Democrats got a majority, they would put in a man who was a friend of Barack Obama. 

I asked him what the chances were and he said not good because the conservatives had a coalition and it was stronger.  Before we left he gave me two roses and had us try some moose salami.  I took a pamphlet and wished them well.  I found it interesting that the Norwegian government is like the British where they elect their representatives and then that group puts in the man they want.

In Bergen, a picturesque city on the western coast, I talked to a woman in a shop who explained to me that even though the prices in their country were too high for the tourist, for the Norwegian things come out even.  She explained that they have a free health care system.  Also if a woman is working and has  a baby, she gets a year off with full pay to take care of her child.  A new law had been passed that gave a man 15 weeks off with full pay for child care.  She said they wanted to encourage men to be good fathers and do their part in the family. 

As far as education is concerned, every child starts learning English when they start school.  When they are in high school they can choose from French, Spanish or German.  Those who want to go on to the university can borrow money from the government and if they pass their final exams, 40% of their loan is forgiven.  She said that even if parents have the money to send their children to college, the student often borrows the money because they want to be independent from their parents.

This woman told me that unemployment is low and salaries are high.  I heard Leo Gerad, the president of the U.S. Steel Workers, say on TV after we got home that collective bargaining is alive and well in Scandinavian countries.  Thus the reason for high salaries.  I was also told that per capita, Norwegians travel more than anyone else in Europe.  They have the money to do so.  In a magazine article I read on the airplane it said that the Scandinavian airline, SAS, almost went under last year, but the Scandinavians would have been devastated to have that happen so it was propped up.  Lufthansa claims that Northern Europe sustains their airlines with their business travelers.

The woman giving me all the information also said that Norway was the happiest country in the world.  I asked her if they were ahead of Denmark who I knew had been given that title a couple of years ago.  She said that they were pretty even although her remark about the Danes made me smile.  She said the Danes were pretty laid back and not much bothered them.  I figured she was telling me that the Norwegians were a little more driven.

Last week the happiness index came out and once again Denmark was leading with Norway as second on the list.  Then came Switzerland, The Netherlands, and Sweden.  The U.S, was 17th.

There are many foreign workers in Norway and someone told us that they can work in Norway, be laid off and collect unemployment back in their native country.  At Nes Gard, the bed and breakfast we stayed at for three days on the Lustrafjord, the cooks were from Slovakia and go back to that country during the winter to work as Nes Gard closes for the season at the end of September.
In Oslo we saw beggars so all is not perfect of course.  However this can be seen in any major city. 

If I could, I would return to this country where the beauty can not really be described nor shown in pictures.  However I am going to show what I saw through my camera lens.  It is just a glimpse of what is there, but a taste of what is awaiting anyone who wants to make the journey.  My only advice is takes lots of money.  We knew it would be expensive, but did not realize it is the most expensive country in Europe in which to travel. Sticker shock, but for us, an experience we'll never forget. 

Random photos of Norway

 

 

 

The picturesque port city of Bergen