Residual Haunting

I didn't want to break the perfect succession of delayed postings I've been keeping up on so well, but I experienced one of my FIRSTS today so I must share. Jake likes to watch the show Ghost Hunters but that stuff freaks me out when I think about it too much so I don't watch the show with him. Spirits and ghosts and goblins can do whatever they want, as long as they leave me out of it! I always thought if I saw or heard or felt a ghost I would probably wet my pants.

As you may or may not know, Jake and I have been in South Carolina for about 10 days now. We're staying with some new friends until we find a place to live. They have been restoring a cute, little old house near downtown that they tell me was used as a medical station or some kind of headquarters at one time during the war. I haven't thought much of it, you know, old spirits hanging around or anything like that. They've modernized everything so it doesn't have any hint of an old creepiness.

Well this morning around 9:30 I opened the front door and before I could take a step outside I heard a man talking on the front porch. His voice sounded a lot like James Earl Jones, but not so deep. It was like I had just caught the end of a conversation between him and somebody else. So I stepped outside to see who was enjoying a seat on our front porch but there was nobody there. I walked around the L-shaped porch and there was nobody on the other side either. I walked out into the driveway and looked down the street but there wasn't even a car in sight. It was a quiet Sunday morning with nobody else around.

His tone was not urgent in any way, but very matter of fact. As clear as day I heard him say, "You need to break the Union." What???!!! Now I'm not a Civil War buff, but this seems like a pretty meaningful statement, don'tchya think? It was really exciting for me to experience something like this. It wasn't scary or creepy at all. It was intriguing. I think I might be ready to start hunting some ghosts.