We hope that everyone has had a wonderful and safe holiday season. That your fondest Christmas memories were made this previous Christmas, and that your entry into the new year was a safe and joyous one. But we would like to pause to hope that the warm feelings, the kinder looks, the charitable giving, and the hopes of the Christmas season will continue to bloom inside of you over the next year. Giving and compassion are something that we should strive to achieve every day of the year. Need knows no season, and winter is just now setting in. So please continue to think of those who have so much less than you do, and do what you can to help them make it to another day or month, to know less hunger, to know less cold, and to know that they are not forgotten by others.
A new year always sets people to thinking of new goals. We all make those resolutions of things they would like to achieve in the coming year. And our team is no different. We finished 2013 with a bang. Got our website updated with the last investigation in just the nick of time...whew! And we were able to end the year spending it with those that mean the most to us. We had the pleasure to work with some outstanding teams. We added new team members. We worked to learn new equipment. We worked to make our team the one we want it to be. We researched, traveled, laughed, ate some amazing dishes, and helped out in our community and our world. We are very proud of what we have accomplished in the previous year. But now we are in a new year, and are getting geared up for what it will bring.
Our amazing case manager has already set up some tentative investigations, some waiting for the weather to improve. We will soon have a team meeting to decide on our group trip and investigation this year. And we think we know where it will be, and it will be amazing! And we will be putting together a plan of where we would like our team to be come this time next year, and what we have to do to make that happen. It will be work, but we have never steered away from that. And we plan to improve along the way, as individuals as well as a team.
There are a lot of things you can hope to accomplish in this new year. Sometimes a person makes goals so far from their reach that they give up before they even start trying. Sometimes the goals are too easy, and not worth the effort, making a person not strive harder towards the next one. So what you need to do is meet yourself somewhere in the middle...have to work for it without having to climb to the stars to achieve the goal. And this is where we plan to be.
We hope to continue to handle investigations for homeowners, as helping others to be comfortable in their own homes is one of the greatest parts of this job. We plan to revisit some of our favorite locations, to see if things have changed, or to continue with what we started. Obviously helping the community is an important goal for us, so something to help out our community, state, or world will definitely be in the cards. We plan to continue to add to our assortment of equipment, and that always requires a learning curve! so that will be on the agenda as well.
We also plan to continue the friendships we have made in the past year, and to strengthen those made in previous years. To share with other teams and to learn from them as well. To help build bonds that go way beyond darkness and entities, DVRs and dowsing rods. To spend as much time enjoying being together as we do investigating buildings and locations. To encourage others with a passion for what we do, and to help promote those with endeavors that will help boost the entire field into its own dimension. To not let the past rear its ugly head, and to stand strong as a team against those which would try to tear us apart.
Everyone is looking for that one piece of evidence that will convince the non-believers of the existence of spirits. And we want to find that too. But we refuse to allow this search to blind us to what is most important, the living. So here is to a year full of fun and fellowship, eating too much wonderful food at out-of-the-way places, laughter and joy, family and friends, and the hope that we will all find that this year will be the best one every.
Happy New Year everyone...and may you have your best year ever too!
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
How Intelligent Is Intelligent?
Hey everyone! We hope that you are enjoying this beautiful morning. The rain of yesterday was greatly appreciated and much needed for the moisture. And since it cooled things down, that was an added bonus. The sun is shining and it is time to start a new day. We hope for everyone that it is one of the best days ever for everyone out there!
We are 3/4 of the way through July, and where does the time go? Even though the weather has cooled a bit, our team and our activities have not. We are reviewing our latest investigation, and hope to have it presented to the client soon. We are making plans for our Crystal Grill event in September, and hope to see a lot of you there. And we have an auction basket up at Blue Cross/Blue Shield, which we hope brings in lots of money for a very good cause.
The main reasons for using the equipment we do is so that we can review what we see and hear, hear and see what we didn't at the time, and to present that evidence to the client and to the people who are interested enough to view it. Sometimes we get what we deem good results, and sometimes not so much. But we keep trying. If we capture something we can't explain, we try to determine if it is a residual or an intelligent spirit we are interacting with. Everyone understands residual haunts. But just how intelligent is an intelligent spirit? This question really came to the prominence during our last investigation and some of the K2 hits that we had.
Often, teams state that names of team members are spoken during EVP sessions, and heard during review of audio. One member of our team hears her name quite often. And a friend has recorded his name being said multiple times. So how is this possible? Are the spirits following people around from investigation to investigation? Do they tell their friends in the spirit world who is in "their house" and hence the names? Or is it something else, something we just don't understand. And do the spirits interact with us, even if we call them by the wrong name?
During our last investigation, we were given a tour of the house, and history was related. The homeowner told us of a story about how a girl had died while living in the house in the 1950's. Whether she died in the house or not, she did not know. And she gave us her name, we will call her Mary for now. During our EVP session, we asked Mary if she was present, and our K2 meter responded. We asked more questions about having died while living in the house, and we had responses. We asked for other names we were given, but got no responses. We also used our Ovilus, and in asking for names, we received several, including one which was repeated multiple times, we will call her Sarah for now. Several words were repeated multiple times during the investigation, in multiple rooms, and almost without fail, in the same order. How is this possible? We hoped to find out.
In doing research in the house, which we have not totally completed to date, we found that the name of the girl which was to have died in the 1950's was incorrect, as this person was alive in the 1990's. So does that make these clips invalid? Maybe, but maybe not. We have an idea about this, and hope to be able to research to find if it is possible.
In doing the session, we were asking for the girl who died while living in the house. Could the spirit be intelligent enough to realize we had gotten the name wrong, but wanted to interact with us? Could it be that every time we called the wrong name, she knew we were wanting to speak to her, so she responded? And during the Ovilus, could she have been giving us the correct name of the girl who died? Is it possible that the spirits want to help us find our mistakes that it would do something like this? And is this part of the reason that some people have their name called over and over again, that the spirits want to communicate in ways we had not previously believed possible? We don't know, but hope to have more answers on this very soon. So maybe the next time we get something that doesn't quite add up, we can delve a bit more into it and see just how intelligent the spirits might be and how they are trying to help us, even from beyond.
We are 3/4 of the way through July, and where does the time go? Even though the weather has cooled a bit, our team and our activities have not. We are reviewing our latest investigation, and hope to have it presented to the client soon. We are making plans for our Crystal Grill event in September, and hope to see a lot of you there. And we have an auction basket up at Blue Cross/Blue Shield, which we hope brings in lots of money for a very good cause.
The main reasons for using the equipment we do is so that we can review what we see and hear, hear and see what we didn't at the time, and to present that evidence to the client and to the people who are interested enough to view it. Sometimes we get what we deem good results, and sometimes not so much. But we keep trying. If we capture something we can't explain, we try to determine if it is a residual or an intelligent spirit we are interacting with. Everyone understands residual haunts. But just how intelligent is an intelligent spirit? This question really came to the prominence during our last investigation and some of the K2 hits that we had.
Often, teams state that names of team members are spoken during EVP sessions, and heard during review of audio. One member of our team hears her name quite often. And a friend has recorded his name being said multiple times. So how is this possible? Are the spirits following people around from investigation to investigation? Do they tell their friends in the spirit world who is in "their house" and hence the names? Or is it something else, something we just don't understand. And do the spirits interact with us, even if we call them by the wrong name?
During our last investigation, we were given a tour of the house, and history was related. The homeowner told us of a story about how a girl had died while living in the house in the 1950's. Whether she died in the house or not, she did not know. And she gave us her name, we will call her Mary for now. During our EVP session, we asked Mary if she was present, and our K2 meter responded. We asked more questions about having died while living in the house, and we had responses. We asked for other names we were given, but got no responses. We also used our Ovilus, and in asking for names, we received several, including one which was repeated multiple times, we will call her Sarah for now. Several words were repeated multiple times during the investigation, in multiple rooms, and almost without fail, in the same order. How is this possible? We hoped to find out.
In doing research in the house, which we have not totally completed to date, we found that the name of the girl which was to have died in the 1950's was incorrect, as this person was alive in the 1990's. So does that make these clips invalid? Maybe, but maybe not. We have an idea about this, and hope to be able to research to find if it is possible.
In doing the session, we were asking for the girl who died while living in the house. Could the spirit be intelligent enough to realize we had gotten the name wrong, but wanted to interact with us? Could it be that every time we called the wrong name, she knew we were wanting to speak to her, so she responded? And during the Ovilus, could she have been giving us the correct name of the girl who died? Is it possible that the spirits want to help us find our mistakes that it would do something like this? And is this part of the reason that some people have their name called over and over again, that the spirits want to communicate in ways we had not previously believed possible? We don't know, but hope to have more answers on this very soon. So maybe the next time we get something that doesn't quite add up, we can delve a bit more into it and see just how intelligent the spirits might be and how they are trying to help us, even from beyond.
Monday, June 17, 2013
Half Gone Already!
Hi All! We know that it has been a while since we put anything on here, but sometimes the urge to write just isn't as strong as it is other times, so one must wait until something is whispered in ones ear to sit down and compose...or at least that is the excuse we give ourselves!
Looking at the calendar, we see that we are well into the month of June, and that means that the year is almost half over already. Where does the time go? Friday will be Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year, and the shortest night also. Some say that the veil is thinner on this night, and the spirits can reach across easier. Is this the truth? We don't know, but maybe you will check it out and let us know!
One of our team members just recently completed a medical trip to Haiti. Taking in the scenes there, one really understands how good we have it in this country. A lot of homes are sticks with tarps, some actual tents, many concrete or adobe style rooms with small windows. So many homes without running water or bathrooms, community outhouses are common, and in the mountains even that is lacking. It does make one realize how lucky we are to live in a country where we enjoy so much more than we really need, and have the resources to obtain our goals in life. We hope that everyone will stop and reflect on what they have, and say a word of thanks for all that they have been given in this life. And the next time you pass a collection location, drop in a little bit of change to help, you would be surprised how far that would go, especially in a location where people live and care for their family on less that a few hundred dollars a month.
Which does bring us to our latest investigation....the old YMCA building in Granite City. This building was used from about 1926 to 2004 as the community YMCA. Regulations caused it to be too costly to continue to operate as a Y and it was deeded back to Granite City. There have been several reported deaths in the building, some under mysterious circumstances. More research will be necessary to see if these deaths can be verified. Or will this research lead to more mystery? One never knows.
Our team had the pleasure to investigate this building recently. After Dark Paranormal now calls this building home and is doing cleaning and so much more work to enable the building to be used for events surrounding the paranormal. Part of the money goes back to Granite City, part goes to St. Jude's, and the rest goes to the team to support their work and supplies. They have a lot of work ahead, but have also completed a lot of clean up of the building, and they will be doing the research mentioned above, and be learning more about the history of the building.
The first YMCA was started in 1844 in London by George Williams. Years later, retired Boston sea captain Thomas Valentine Sullivan, working as a marine missionary, noticed a similar need to create a safe “home away from home” for sailors and merchants. Inspired by the stories of the Y in England, he led the formation of the first U.S. YMCA at the Old South Church in Boston on December 29, 1851. In 1856, the nation’s first-known English as a Second Language (ESL) class was held for German immigrants at the Cincinnati YMCA. YMCA housing began in the 1860s to give young men moving to cities from rural areas safe and affordable lodging. Facilities included gyms, auditoriums and hotel-like rooms. Chicago’s Farwell Hall, the first known YMCA dormitory, was completed in 1867. Between 1922 and 1940, YMCA accommodations grew from approximately 55,000 rooms to more than 100,000, more than any hotel chain at the time. In the 1890s, YMCA instructor William Morgan thought basketball was too strenuous for businessmen, so he blended elements of basketball, tennis and handball, and called his invention “mintonette.” In 1896, at the International YMCA Training School in Springfield, Mass., the name “volley ball” was first used to describe the back-and-forth manner in which the ball flew over the net. Today, more than 46 million Americans play volleyball. In answer to a YMCA campaign “to teach every man and boy in North America” to swim, George Corsan arrived at the Detroit YMCA in 1909 to teach swimming using radical new methods: group swimming lessons and lessons on land as a confidence builder. [This information was taken from the YMCA site and can be read in more detail at this link: http://www.ymca.net/history/founding.html ]
Many small rooms occupy the 2nd and 3rd floors. A large immigrant population from Central and Eastern Europe settled in this area, and possibly called this building home. Possibly they saved money and sent it back home to their families. Small rooms, cold in the winter and hot in the summer. Community bathrooms, community dining rooms, community social rooms. A small price to pay for a safe place to live and food to eat.
We experienced a thunderstorm while we were investigating, and this always leads to the question of whether there is more activity with storms or not. Review of evidence will let us know if it happened this time or not. And if any of the residents of the building still roam the halls. But for us, we enjoyed the opportunity to make new friends, talk some paranormal with experienced investigators, and to be able to see inside a building not yet investigated by many teams. And even if we don't obtain any evidence, we will have enjoyed the night greatly, and are very appreciative of our friends at After Dark Paranormal for the opportunity to visit their "new digs" and to see their vision of the future of this grand building.
You can visit After Dark Paranormal: http://afterdarkparanormalgc.webs.com/
After Dark Paranormal Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AfterDarkParanormalGC?fref=ts
Haunted YMCA Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheHauntedYmcaOfGraniteCityIl?fref=ts
Looking at the calendar, we see that we are well into the month of June, and that means that the year is almost half over already. Where does the time go? Friday will be Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year, and the shortest night also. Some say that the veil is thinner on this night, and the spirits can reach across easier. Is this the truth? We don't know, but maybe you will check it out and let us know!
One of our team members just recently completed a medical trip to Haiti. Taking in the scenes there, one really understands how good we have it in this country. A lot of homes are sticks with tarps, some actual tents, many concrete or adobe style rooms with small windows. So many homes without running water or bathrooms, community outhouses are common, and in the mountains even that is lacking. It does make one realize how lucky we are to live in a country where we enjoy so much more than we really need, and have the resources to obtain our goals in life. We hope that everyone will stop and reflect on what they have, and say a word of thanks for all that they have been given in this life. And the next time you pass a collection location, drop in a little bit of change to help, you would be surprised how far that would go, especially in a location where people live and care for their family on less that a few hundred dollars a month.
Which does bring us to our latest investigation....the old YMCA building in Granite City. This building was used from about 1926 to 2004 as the community YMCA. Regulations caused it to be too costly to continue to operate as a Y and it was deeded back to Granite City. There have been several reported deaths in the building, some under mysterious circumstances. More research will be necessary to see if these deaths can be verified. Or will this research lead to more mystery? One never knows.Our team had the pleasure to investigate this building recently. After Dark Paranormal now calls this building home and is doing cleaning and so much more work to enable the building to be used for events surrounding the paranormal. Part of the money goes back to Granite City, part goes to St. Jude's, and the rest goes to the team to support their work and supplies. They have a lot of work ahead, but have also completed a lot of clean up of the building, and they will be doing the research mentioned above, and be learning more about the history of the building.
We had to, of course, do the YMCA stance made famous in the song by the Village People..isn't that a standard??? But in doing so, we were drawn to what the building stood for when it was constructed. Today when you mention going to the Y, most know that it is a place to exercise, or take classes in various subjects. But the YMCA used to do so much more.
The first YMCA was started in 1844 in London by George Williams. Years later, retired Boston sea captain Thomas Valentine Sullivan, working as a marine missionary, noticed a similar need to create a safe “home away from home” for sailors and merchants. Inspired by the stories of the Y in England, he led the formation of the first U.S. YMCA at the Old South Church in Boston on December 29, 1851. In 1856, the nation’s first-known English as a Second Language (ESL) class was held for German immigrants at the Cincinnati YMCA. YMCA housing began in the 1860s to give young men moving to cities from rural areas safe and affordable lodging. Facilities included gyms, auditoriums and hotel-like rooms. Chicago’s Farwell Hall, the first known YMCA dormitory, was completed in 1867. Between 1922 and 1940, YMCA accommodations grew from approximately 55,000 rooms to more than 100,000, more than any hotel chain at the time. In the 1890s, YMCA instructor William Morgan thought basketball was too strenuous for businessmen, so he blended elements of basketball, tennis and handball, and called his invention “mintonette.” In 1896, at the International YMCA Training School in Springfield, Mass., the name “volley ball” was first used to describe the back-and-forth manner in which the ball flew over the net. Today, more than 46 million Americans play volleyball. In answer to a YMCA campaign “to teach every man and boy in North America” to swim, George Corsan arrived at the Detroit YMCA in 1909 to teach swimming using radical new methods: group swimming lessons and lessons on land as a confidence builder. [This information was taken from the YMCA site and can be read in more detail at this link: http://www.ymca.net/history/founding.html ]
Many small rooms occupy the 2nd and 3rd floors. A large immigrant population from Central and Eastern Europe settled in this area, and possibly called this building home. Possibly they saved money and sent it back home to their families. Small rooms, cold in the winter and hot in the summer. Community bathrooms, community dining rooms, community social rooms. A small price to pay for a safe place to live and food to eat.
We experienced a thunderstorm while we were investigating, and this always leads to the question of whether there is more activity with storms or not. Review of evidence will let us know if it happened this time or not. And if any of the residents of the building still roam the halls. But for us, we enjoyed the opportunity to make new friends, talk some paranormal with experienced investigators, and to be able to see inside a building not yet investigated by many teams. And even if we don't obtain any evidence, we will have enjoyed the night greatly, and are very appreciative of our friends at After Dark Paranormal for the opportunity to visit their "new digs" and to see their vision of the future of this grand building.
You can visit After Dark Paranormal: http://afterdarkparanormalgc.webs.com/
After Dark Paranormal Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AfterDarkParanormalGC?fref=ts
Haunted YMCA Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheHauntedYmcaOfGraniteCityIl?fref=ts
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Communicating with the dead
Good morning all! We hope that you are having a wonderful start to the day, and that you are staying warm and safe, no matter where you are. Here, it remains up and down in the temperatures, and that makes it hard to investigate some of the locations we have lined up. So we sit and impatiently await warmer weather, itching to get back out to some of our favorite, and soon to be favorite, locations.
We do plan to walk around this weekend, weather permitting, to a couple of locations. Hopefully we can bring you up to speed if that happens.
We are still working on multiple things for this year. Have planned our group trip to Villisca House in September. Even though this location has been investigated multiple times by different groups, we feel there is something to learn about this house, and the tragedy that occurred there a hundred years ago. Are the voices of the murdered still there? Does the killer or killers still roam the floors, looking for more victims? We hope to find out, and learn all we can from this house.
We have several more investigations lined up, just waiting for warmer weather. Some are returns to previous locations. We feel we can learn more by repeating investigations, and taking previous results in account, try to find out more about the souls still walking around in these locations.
We have a new location lined up (yep, waiting on the weather to break slightly) that we have been wanting to do for several years now. And plan to return to a recent location, to try to continue the communication we started with the inhabitants of that locations.
Communication? Hmm, just what does that mean? All paranormal investigators know that the most frequently obtained "evidence" is that of voices. Photos and video of apparitions are very rare and most teams go through many investigations before capturing something that might fit into this category. But unknown voices, those seem to be more active in most locations. But who exactly are you capturing? And why?
Trying to record the voices of the dead goes back to the invention of the phonograph. It is said that Thomas Edison was trying to contact the dead, so invented a way to do so, or so he thought. Since that time, there have been many different types of recorders touted to be able to capture the voices of those long since past. But do they actually work? And just who's voice are you finding on the recordings? These are open to debate, but here is what we have discovered.
We use many different types of recorders and voice apparatuses to attempt to communicate. We employ the digital voice recorder, the spirit box, and the Ovilus on every investigation, and had had so-so results (meaning, nothing consistent.) But recent investigations have led us to believe that something is trying to communicate with us, in a very deliberate fashion.
During a private residence, the Ovilus spit out a name, one we had never heard, but the homeowner recognized. A guest investigator and friend of the homeowner was pregnant, and unaware of the sex of the baby. And this was the name she had selected for a girl...and earlier this year, she delivered a baby girl. How is this possible? Coincidence? Or someone from the other side communicating with us?
During an investigation at an older building, the site of a brothel at one time, we had a name come through the spirit box. Some of the people thought the name was Jane, but in reviewing, we believe the name was James. And in doing research, we found that James and Jane were married in that county, and the last name was the same as we heard on the recorder. Coincidence? Or communication?
Also in that location, we used the spirit box in several locations. This box, for those not entirely familiar with the way it works, picks up AM/FM radio signals, but is set to scan at 1 second intervals, which makes it hard to pick up words or names, let alone sentences. If it sticks on a channel, it requires pushing a button, and kinda hard, to resume scanning. At the same location as mentioned above, the spirit box locked on a radio channel several times, and resumed on its own..and the interesting thing...these channel all had to do with religion and God. Were the spirits trying to tell us something? Or was this just coincidence?
No matter your feelings on the above occurrences, we believe that someone is trying to communicate with us, and the more we use these devices, the better results we are getting. Are they from this world, in the form of spirits? Or are they in a parallel world, as some believe exist? Or is someone just trying to lure us into a sense of false accomplishment? We don't know the answer to this, but do know that we will continue to use these devices and chart our results. And hope that someday soon we can answer our own questions.
We do plan to walk around this weekend, weather permitting, to a couple of locations. Hopefully we can bring you up to speed if that happens.
We are still working on multiple things for this year. Have planned our group trip to Villisca House in September. Even though this location has been investigated multiple times by different groups, we feel there is something to learn about this house, and the tragedy that occurred there a hundred years ago. Are the voices of the murdered still there? Does the killer or killers still roam the floors, looking for more victims? We hope to find out, and learn all we can from this house.
We have several more investigations lined up, just waiting for warmer weather. Some are returns to previous locations. We feel we can learn more by repeating investigations, and taking previous results in account, try to find out more about the souls still walking around in these locations.
We have a new location lined up (yep, waiting on the weather to break slightly) that we have been wanting to do for several years now. And plan to return to a recent location, to try to continue the communication we started with the inhabitants of that locations.
Communication? Hmm, just what does that mean? All paranormal investigators know that the most frequently obtained "evidence" is that of voices. Photos and video of apparitions are very rare and most teams go through many investigations before capturing something that might fit into this category. But unknown voices, those seem to be more active in most locations. But who exactly are you capturing? And why?
Trying to record the voices of the dead goes back to the invention of the phonograph. It is said that Thomas Edison was trying to contact the dead, so invented a way to do so, or so he thought. Since that time, there have been many different types of recorders touted to be able to capture the voices of those long since past. But do they actually work? And just who's voice are you finding on the recordings? These are open to debate, but here is what we have discovered.
We use many different types of recorders and voice apparatuses to attempt to communicate. We employ the digital voice recorder, the spirit box, and the Ovilus on every investigation, and had had so-so results (meaning, nothing consistent.) But recent investigations have led us to believe that something is trying to communicate with us, in a very deliberate fashion.
During a private residence, the Ovilus spit out a name, one we had never heard, but the homeowner recognized. A guest investigator and friend of the homeowner was pregnant, and unaware of the sex of the baby. And this was the name she had selected for a girl...and earlier this year, she delivered a baby girl. How is this possible? Coincidence? Or someone from the other side communicating with us?
During an investigation at an older building, the site of a brothel at one time, we had a name come through the spirit box. Some of the people thought the name was Jane, but in reviewing, we believe the name was James. And in doing research, we found that James and Jane were married in that county, and the last name was the same as we heard on the recorder. Coincidence? Or communication?
Also in that location, we used the spirit box in several locations. This box, for those not entirely familiar with the way it works, picks up AM/FM radio signals, but is set to scan at 1 second intervals, which makes it hard to pick up words or names, let alone sentences. If it sticks on a channel, it requires pushing a button, and kinda hard, to resume scanning. At the same location as mentioned above, the spirit box locked on a radio channel several times, and resumed on its own..and the interesting thing...these channel all had to do with religion and God. Were the spirits trying to tell us something? Or was this just coincidence?
No matter your feelings on the above occurrences, we believe that someone is trying to communicate with us, and the more we use these devices, the better results we are getting. Are they from this world, in the form of spirits? Or are they in a parallel world, as some believe exist? Or is someone just trying to lure us into a sense of false accomplishment? We don't know the answer to this, but do know that we will continue to use these devices and chart our results. And hope that someday soon we can answer our own questions.
Monday, December 24, 2012
The Night Before Christmas
Where has the year gone? It seems like it has flown by, and it definitely has been a very busy one for our team. There has been ups and downs, but we have survived and done the best we could to rise above the conflicts. And we all survived the end of the world!!!!!
We still have 2 investigations to get through evidence. Life just keeps getting in the way, and making it hard to find the time to get together as a team to do this. But hopefully after the first of the year, when things slow down a bit, we will get this done. But be sure to stop by and see what we have gotten accomplished this year. We are very proud of it. And we keep looking into places and events for the coming year. It is going to be a wonderful year, and you won't want to miss it!
This time of year makes people think about the ones around them, and the ones that have already gone on. The season is not about what you can get, but rather about what you can give. Be it a gift, a smile, a surprise telephone call, or even just a hug, giving of ones self is the greatest gift one can present to people. Pick up someone's dinner tab, drop an extra bill in the kettle, support the local food pantry, or help someone out at the gas pump...it will make an impact on someone's life, even if you may never actually see it. The Season has a meaning, and it is the love that you show others...and the joy you can bring to someone else in your life. So hug your family a bit extra this year, be grateful for what you have, and remember those less fortunate...it will make the Season even better!
Remembering Christmas past causes one to remember those that have departed. And do you ever wonder if they drop back in to see what you are doing during this wonderful time of the year? They used to say that, at midnight, you can hear the animals talking. Have you ever stayed up to see if that happened? I must confess, I have tried, but always managed to fall asleep. But is it possible? And is it also possible for the spirits to walk this night as well. Have you ever been sitting, looking at the tree and feel that rush of air next to your cheek? Could it be your Grandmother, or Great-Grandmother dropping in to let you know that they remember you? That twinkle of the lights that just calls to mind your Aunt, you know, the one that used to bake cookies with you. Did she just whisper in your ear and tell you she loves you? Did you ever reach to rub your ear when you were in that half-sleep/half-awake state...could that have been your favorite dog giving you another kiss?
We spend our time looking for the paranormal, trying to find evidence to show that spirits do exist. Maybe, just maybe, they are also trying to tell us that they do, but in a different way than we have become used to. Maybe they miss the celebrations and want to be apart of them once again. Maybe they miss the cookies, and the turkey, and the brightly lit tree. And maybe they miss us just as much as we miss them. So this year, when you have one of those strange things happen that you can just not explain, remember who it might be, and tell them that you miss them....it will make their day as much as it will make yours.
From our team, our friends, our family to yours, we wish you a very Merry Christmas...and hope for you the best the Season has to offer. Blessings on you and yours, and we wish for you a wonderful new year!
We still have 2 investigations to get through evidence. Life just keeps getting in the way, and making it hard to find the time to get together as a team to do this. But hopefully after the first of the year, when things slow down a bit, we will get this done. But be sure to stop by and see what we have gotten accomplished this year. We are very proud of it. And we keep looking into places and events for the coming year. It is going to be a wonderful year, and you won't want to miss it!
This time of year makes people think about the ones around them, and the ones that have already gone on. The season is not about what you can get, but rather about what you can give. Be it a gift, a smile, a surprise telephone call, or even just a hug, giving of ones self is the greatest gift one can present to people. Pick up someone's dinner tab, drop an extra bill in the kettle, support the local food pantry, or help someone out at the gas pump...it will make an impact on someone's life, even if you may never actually see it. The Season has a meaning, and it is the love that you show others...and the joy you can bring to someone else in your life. So hug your family a bit extra this year, be grateful for what you have, and remember those less fortunate...it will make the Season even better!
Remembering Christmas past causes one to remember those that have departed. And do you ever wonder if they drop back in to see what you are doing during this wonderful time of the year? They used to say that, at midnight, you can hear the animals talking. Have you ever stayed up to see if that happened? I must confess, I have tried, but always managed to fall asleep. But is it possible? And is it also possible for the spirits to walk this night as well. Have you ever been sitting, looking at the tree and feel that rush of air next to your cheek? Could it be your Grandmother, or Great-Grandmother dropping in to let you know that they remember you? That twinkle of the lights that just calls to mind your Aunt, you know, the one that used to bake cookies with you. Did she just whisper in your ear and tell you she loves you? Did you ever reach to rub your ear when you were in that half-sleep/half-awake state...could that have been your favorite dog giving you another kiss?
We spend our time looking for the paranormal, trying to find evidence to show that spirits do exist. Maybe, just maybe, they are also trying to tell us that they do, but in a different way than we have become used to. Maybe they miss the celebrations and want to be apart of them once again. Maybe they miss the cookies, and the turkey, and the brightly lit tree. And maybe they miss us just as much as we miss them. So this year, when you have one of those strange things happen that you can just not explain, remember who it might be, and tell them that you miss them....it will make their day as much as it will make yours.
From our team, our friends, our family to yours, we wish you a very Merry Christmas...and hope for you the best the Season has to offer. Blessings on you and yours, and we wish for you a wonderful new year!
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
History and Poor Farms
Good morning, and we hope that everyone is having a great day! Saw some of that white stuff the other day, but the weather is getting better again, and we hope it stays away for a while longer.
We have another investigation this weekend, weather pending. When it gets too cold, our equipment doesn't work as well, and neither do our fingers. But it is suppose to be decent, so we will do our best. We have a reveal next week, and with that will be winding down our activities for the year. Oh, we still have to do some reviews, but don't have any more investigations planned until after the beginning of the year. But we do have some plans, which include spending time with our families and friends, watching too many sporting events, eating too much food, and having a lot of laughs. Yep, definitely a way to celebrate the holidays. We hope that each of you, our readers, have some similiar plans this holiday season. And that you have the best Christmas ever.
But as our investigation slows down this year, our minds continue to race ahead. We have several investigations we are looking into for 2013, and as we have mentioned before, several events we are planning to host. And that all important group trip to some interesting location. This allows us to visit a place a bit further away than normal, but more importantly, allows us more time to just hang out and enjoy the company of our fellow team members. And as we get to know each other better, our ability to work together will improve, and that will make us a better team.
As was alluded to on Facebook, we are looking at an interesting structure to investigate next year. We have had the pleasure to investigate at Prairie View many times, and this building just calls our names. Unfortunately, it seems that being able to return there is closing, and we will miss our "friends" we have come to know that reside in the building. As you know, Prairie View was at one time the Lewis County Home, or Poor Farm. It cared for many people unable to care for themselves. We have also had the opportunity to investigate a home which was located on ground that once held another county poor farm. The building is long gone, but the memories still remain. Or do they?
In researching, this writer found out that many people do not know anything about the Poor Farms which were located in their county. And the younger generation doesn't even know what a Poor Farm is. Abet, most of the "middle age" generation only knows the term...going to the poor farm...but even that is lacking in the younger generation. So what does that hold for the history which is contained in these buildings?
A lot of states had state-supported Poor Farms, where those that did not have the resources to care for themselves were allowed to stay. They worked, if able, to help support the farm, and many persons remained there until they died. Remember, this was before the advent of the current Welfare system. Many opened after the passage of the Civil War, which destroyed homes and lives, some people not able to ever recovery from the loss. And some people might think that these structures are best left in the past. But we don't feel this way. Being a paranormal investigator includes doing the research on the past, as well as searching for the current inhabitants of a building. From learning about the past, we can help determine the future, so to speak. We have worked with several historical agencies to give them our research into the Poor Farms, so it can be added to their records. Why do we feel this is important? Because it is a part of our past, and the past should never be forgotten. Good or bad, it makes us what we are today. And if something this critical is forgotten, how long before other parts of the past are erased? This information, being added, will now be available for generationsto come to research, and hopefully enjoy. As a reminder of where we have been, and how far we have come. And we hope that this small gesture will help make the entities that still inhabit these areas a little happier, knowing that they will not be forgotten.
We have another investigation this weekend, weather pending. When it gets too cold, our equipment doesn't work as well, and neither do our fingers. But it is suppose to be decent, so we will do our best. We have a reveal next week, and with that will be winding down our activities for the year. Oh, we still have to do some reviews, but don't have any more investigations planned until after the beginning of the year. But we do have some plans, which include spending time with our families and friends, watching too many sporting events, eating too much food, and having a lot of laughs. Yep, definitely a way to celebrate the holidays. We hope that each of you, our readers, have some similiar plans this holiday season. And that you have the best Christmas ever.
But as our investigation slows down this year, our minds continue to race ahead. We have several investigations we are looking into for 2013, and as we have mentioned before, several events we are planning to host. And that all important group trip to some interesting location. This allows us to visit a place a bit further away than normal, but more importantly, allows us more time to just hang out and enjoy the company of our fellow team members. And as we get to know each other better, our ability to work together will improve, and that will make us a better team.
As was alluded to on Facebook, we are looking at an interesting structure to investigate next year. We have had the pleasure to investigate at Prairie View many times, and this building just calls our names. Unfortunately, it seems that being able to return there is closing, and we will miss our "friends" we have come to know that reside in the building. As you know, Prairie View was at one time the Lewis County Home, or Poor Farm. It cared for many people unable to care for themselves. We have also had the opportunity to investigate a home which was located on ground that once held another county poor farm. The building is long gone, but the memories still remain. Or do they?
In researching, this writer found out that many people do not know anything about the Poor Farms which were located in their county. And the younger generation doesn't even know what a Poor Farm is. Abet, most of the "middle age" generation only knows the term...going to the poor farm...but even that is lacking in the younger generation. So what does that hold for the history which is contained in these buildings?
A lot of states had state-supported Poor Farms, where those that did not have the resources to care for themselves were allowed to stay. They worked, if able, to help support the farm, and many persons remained there until they died. Remember, this was before the advent of the current Welfare system. Many opened after the passage of the Civil War, which destroyed homes and lives, some people not able to ever recovery from the loss. And some people might think that these structures are best left in the past. But we don't feel this way. Being a paranormal investigator includes doing the research on the past, as well as searching for the current inhabitants of a building. From learning about the past, we can help determine the future, so to speak. We have worked with several historical agencies to give them our research into the Poor Farms, so it can be added to their records. Why do we feel this is important? Because it is a part of our past, and the past should never be forgotten. Good or bad, it makes us what we are today. And if something this critical is forgotten, how long before other parts of the past are erased? This information, being added, will now be available for generationsto come to research, and hopefully enjoy. As a reminder of where we have been, and how far we have come. And we hope that this small gesture will help make the entities that still inhabit these areas a little happier, knowing that they will not be forgotten.
Monday, November 19, 2012
It ain't just chasing ghosts
Good morning to all. It is getting close to Turkey Day, and we wanted to take the time to give thanks for what we have received. To all of our friends and family, thank you for understanding our commitment to this endeavor. We know that we spend thousands of hours doing what we love, talking about what we do, and spending time away from those that matter to us. And we have your understanding in all of this. To our fellow investigators, we thank you for the time spent networking with us, for bouncing ideas off of you and you of us, and for taking the time to get to know us and allow us to know you. And above all, we thank the Creator for giving us all the blessings we have. So on Thursday, spend a bit of time remembering just what you have to be thankful for, and give an extra hug to all those that you have near you and a prayer for all those that have already gone on.
We have remained very busy lately. Did an investigation at the Crystal Grill over the weekend. April is a wonderful person and we appreciate her allowing us to visit her place. We are finishing our last review and hopefully will have that reveal completed shortly and posted on the website.
Which brings us to this....here I sit, earphones in place, and starting the review of the Crystal Grill. 4 recorders, each with 8 hours of audio. Hundreds of photos, and 3 hours of video to sift through. And this is typical of each investigation. So as I listen to our conversations, I am thinking of what it takes to be a paranormal investigator, and it all ain't just chasing ghosts.
First, there is the actual review of evidence. 32 hours of audio alone...and factor into that the rest of what we do. The pictures, the video, the DVR system review.
One client has asked us to host an event next year, one which will require a lot of planning and work but which can turn out to be a great thing, for both the client and ourselves.
And than there is the repeat event which we would like to do twice in 2013.
And we are planning to host 2 events where we give back to the community, hopefully details will be out soon after the first of the year.
Add into that the investigations which we will be doing, the research that is necessary to correctly do for the clients as we feel we should.
The actual investigations themselves.
The group trip we hope to be able to take.
Any additional projects that we come into.
The time spent on working on the website and maintaining the social media networks, where we can network with fellow investigators and share ideas.
The holidays and vacations with our families.
And, of course, the job which pays the bills and allows us to support our families and pay for our investigations.
As you can see, being an investigator, dedicated to the task, requires many more hours than just showing up and walking around in the dark. These we do to do the absolute best we can for our clients. To try to develop ideas which will help advance the field of the paranormal. To try to move this field into the world of science, where it can further develop and grow.
You may call us aggressive, but we consider ourselves professionals, and therefore try to do the best we can with each investigation. If you only do something half-effort, than why even bother? This is a field that is very expensive and time consuming to only put half an effort into it. So the next time you want to say something negative about a team pushing forward, remember...if you can't run with the big dogs, get under the porch...the porch is too crowded already as it is.
We have remained very busy lately. Did an investigation at the Crystal Grill over the weekend. April is a wonderful person and we appreciate her allowing us to visit her place. We are finishing our last review and hopefully will have that reveal completed shortly and posted on the website.
Which brings us to this....here I sit, earphones in place, and starting the review of the Crystal Grill. 4 recorders, each with 8 hours of audio. Hundreds of photos, and 3 hours of video to sift through. And this is typical of each investigation. So as I listen to our conversations, I am thinking of what it takes to be a paranormal investigator, and it all ain't just chasing ghosts.
First, there is the actual review of evidence. 32 hours of audio alone...and factor into that the rest of what we do. The pictures, the video, the DVR system review.
One client has asked us to host an event next year, one which will require a lot of planning and work but which can turn out to be a great thing, for both the client and ourselves.
And than there is the repeat event which we would like to do twice in 2013.
And we are planning to host 2 events where we give back to the community, hopefully details will be out soon after the first of the year.
Add into that the investigations which we will be doing, the research that is necessary to correctly do for the clients as we feel we should.
The actual investigations themselves.
The group trip we hope to be able to take.
Any additional projects that we come into.
The time spent on working on the website and maintaining the social media networks, where we can network with fellow investigators and share ideas.
The holidays and vacations with our families.
And, of course, the job which pays the bills and allows us to support our families and pay for our investigations.
As you can see, being an investigator, dedicated to the task, requires many more hours than just showing up and walking around in the dark. These we do to do the absolute best we can for our clients. To try to develop ideas which will help advance the field of the paranormal. To try to move this field into the world of science, where it can further develop and grow.
You may call us aggressive, but we consider ourselves professionals, and therefore try to do the best we can with each investigation. If you only do something half-effort, than why even bother? This is a field that is very expensive and time consuming to only put half an effort into it. So the next time you want to say something negative about a team pushing forward, remember...if you can't run with the big dogs, get under the porch...the porch is too crowded already as it is.
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