Scared Silly

Courtesy of Know Your Meme

I have never quibbled about the fact that I have a fear of the dark.  I have also been transparent in my fascination with all things true crime.  Those seem mutually exclusive, don't they?  And one might think that the true crime obsession would fuel the phobia about the dark.  

However, I often have a true crime podcast playing as I'm going to sleep with no ill effects or scary dreams.  It just doesn't bother me.  

Or, more accurately, it didn't until last night.

So, on the true crime front, anybody who knows anything about true crime drama knows that Keith Morrison is the gold standard for narration of same.  That man could make reading the phone book dramatic and suspenseful!  

So imagine my utter delight when I discovered that on Audible, Keith Morrison has started narrating scary classic stories, beginning with The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.  

I don't know about you, but my knowledge of the story all comes from the 1949 Disney animated movie.  I've never actually read the original story.  But since Mr. Morrison was narrating it, I downloaded it and started listening.  

Courtesy of IMDb

I was not disappointed in the narration.  It was a good mix of the actual story plus pithy personal insights by Keith at the end of each installment which, of course, ended on a cliff-hanger part.  I haven't actually gotten to any of the really scary part of it, though. 

Or, more accurately, I didn't until last night. 

On a side note, and to make you fully appreciate the rest of this story, our farm is on the northern edge of a quaint little curvy valley called Devil's Kitchen.  

Why is it called Devil's Kitchen, you might ask?  Well, let me tell you the version I know.  If you know a different version--and some of you might--I'd love to hear it.  

Back when Minnesota was still a new state or perhaps before that even, there was a family that settled into a wooded valley northwest of Rochester.  It was a generational household with grandparents, parents, and children all living in a cabin.  

Here's where things get vague.  The version I heard was that when the civil war broke out, the men all went to fight.  This left the two adult women and an unknown number of children but for sure one infant. Only the father returned from the war, and when he did, it was to a pile of ashes where the cabin had stood and no surviving family.  This triggered a psychotic break, and he apparently haunts to valley now. 

When Captain and I got married and started working at Mayo Clinic, I would drive into Pine Island to catch the commuter bus to work.  I often ended up sitting with the man whose family currently lived on the property where that cabin had supposedly burned down.  He told me during one ride that there had been an incident when his family was all seated at the table for supper, and he felt a hand on his shoulder. 

Courtesy of cheezburger.com

Even though anyone with hands was currently seated at the table with hands accounted for.  

Not only that, he told me that his family members saw the indentation on his shirt where it appeared a hand rested.  Again, all corporeal hands were presented and accounted for, and none of them were anywhere near his shoulder.  

He didn't seem particularly scared by the incident; more puzzled and fascinated.  I was just glad I wasn't the one living in that house!

So, resuming where I left off.  I had to stop at a neighbor's last night to drop off some paperwork and pick up a check.  They live on the other side of Devil's Kitchen.  When I drove over there, it was bright daylight, but when I left it was full dark.  

I got in my van, connected the blue tooth feature on my phone, turned Keith Morrison's narration of Sleepy Hollow on, and headed home. 

Through Devil's Kitchen.  

And wouldn't you know it....wouldn't you JUST know it...that's when the the scary bit about the Headless Horseman chasing Ichabod Crane through the dark and spooky woods of Sleepy Hollow came through the speakers.  

If there were any fireballs or specters or other apparitions out and about in Devil's Kitchen last night, I did not see them because I was driving like a bat out of hell and there were black spots dancing in front of my eyes due to the fight or flight mode I was in.  Thank God I didn't meet anyone driving in the opposite direction!

I haven't decided if I'm going to listen to any more of Morrison's Mysteries.  It may not be worth it!

Why Yes, Yes I Should!

 

Image courtesy of mememaker.net

This post is a spin-off or continuation or sequel to this post about planning for big-ticket expenses like home remodeling or vacations.

So, since that post in February of 2016, I have been able to save enough money to get the go from Captain on the kitchen remodel, and I am happy (okay, ecstatic is probably a better word) to say that later this month I will be ordering the cabinets for that project.  

We are getting all new cabinets and counters in the kitchen/dining room with that center island I talked about before.  In addition, we are getting a new dining room window and new vinyl plank flooring throughout the entire main floor except for the master bath and our two offices.  

When I met with the kitchen designer, I told him that I did not want upper cabinets on one of the walls because I am fun-size and cannot reach those cabinets.  I got a raised eyebrow about that but it's my dang kitchen and that's what works for me.  The cabinet space that is lost there will be made up by the center island and my new walk-in pantry.  

We are not changing the footprint or buying any new appliances other than a microwave range hood, so that helped keep the costs down.  The other cost saving part of the this kitchen remodel is our own elbow grease.  We--and I use the term loosely because it will mostly be Captain--will do the demo of the current cabinets and countertops, we will do the painting, and we will lay the new flooring. 

If you did the math to calculate the time from that first post to now, you will realize that I spent 7 years planning this.  I had to-scale drawings.  I had bookmarked photos in Houzz.  I spent hours scoping out kitchen displays at the big box stores in Rochester.  For all of my impulse shopping tendencies, I put a lot of thought and deliberation into this particular project.  Go me!

Photo courtesy of thediscoveriesof.com/travel-memes

The other planning project that is taking a lot of my time and attention right now and for the next three years is a trip to Aix les Bains, France, with my dragon boat team in August of 2026.  This will be my first international travel and since I do not do well with the unknown, I have been immersing myself in all thing European travel.

When Captain gently kidded me that I was wasting my excitement right now given that the trip is three years away, I reminded him that this tendency toward hyperfocus is part of my ADD struggles and he could just quit being a buzzkill.  

My absolutely favorite travel guide to watch on PBS is Rick Steves.  I just love his quirky views on off-beat places to visit and the practical budget advice he provides.  When I visited his website, I found a treasure trove of information including guidebooks for purchase which--of course--I immediately put in my shopping cart.  

There was also a travel forum where members could ask questions about European travel.  Since I have never been afraid of asking questions anywhere, any time.  Ask Molly about the shrubs I admired so much that I pulled into a complete stranger's driveway to ask what they were.

But I digress.

I promptly posted a question in the France thread explaining that I'd be there for a dragon boat festival and then I asked about day trip ideas from Aix les Bains.  I got some good answers that I can ponder over.  

The next day I was messaging a friend who will be traveling with me, and she told me about this tour guide she watched on YouTube named Rick Steves and on his website's travel forum, someone had just posted about going to a dragon boat festival in 2026 and I should check that out.  

This time I was the buzzkill when I told her that was my question.  We had a good laugh.  

In anticipation of international travel, I gathered up my drivers license, my passport card, my birth certificate, and my marriage license and went to our local county courthouse to apply for a passport book.  Turns out, because I already have a passport card, my request would be considered a renewal instead of a new request, and I could just fill out a form and mail it to the processing center along with my current passport card and a check for the fee.  

Hold it.  I have to send off my actual passport card?  Through the mail?  To some government center and hope to get it back?  Hmmmm....but, okay; if you say so.  I did take the precaution of sending it with a tracking number so I can make sure it got where it was supposed to go.  

Photo courtesy of deertravelssite.wordpress.com

Maybe the worry about that will dull the excitement of the travel, but I doubt it.  I usually lean a lot heard toward excitement than dread!

So, even though the trip is three years away yet, get ready to hear a lot more about the plans for it until it's wheels up to France!

Au revoir, mes amis!