“My Stance on Confederate Monuments”

The Roses and Thorns of Life

I love history…..and unlikely as it may seem, battle history. As a little girl, I would sneak into my big brothers’ bookshelf and borrow the myriad of books about World Wars and soldiers’ memoirs and pilots’ remembrances.

I had to have a Junior High school report on the Civil War signed by my parent because the teacher said it was too detailed. She said it was A worthy but couldn’t give me one because I didn’t follow directions and my elaborations about troop movements and positions were above and beyond what was required.

I love history. I have always defended the beautiful, artistic renderings of Generals and explorers and historic figures.

But these past months, a sorrowful realization that too many look upon such statues with hate in their eyes and hearts has enveloped me. So many wave one “Confederate” flag, never learning there were others, displaying it for reasons…

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“Gettysburg Ghosts”

The Roses and Thorns of Life

My farmhouse stands on Hallowed ground…..The Confederate Cavalry used these grounds as headquarters during the Battle of Gettysburg.

Now, a century+ later, strange things still occur at my farm.   Things you don’t notice immediately, little changes, turns of statues, empty vases now filled with water, movements of objects, mischievous antics that must pass the scores of time lost souls endure.

I got a couple of “holiday hellos” this past weekend from the spirits who wander my home…..well, their home too.  🙂

I had guests over so there is verification that I was totally surprised to find these changes had taken place.

The first one occurred at my dining room table.   I have Angels holding small glass candle holders on the table.   I was at the house for hours until I realized one of the Angels had turned, facing a different direction from how I had arranged her a couple of…

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“A Ghost Mystery?” Weirdness at the farmhouse…..

Weird stuff at my farmhouse

The Roses and Thorns of Life

Yesterday, a strange thing happened at my Gettysburg farmhouse.   I should say, another strange thing, because weird things happen all the time there.

Clocks don’t keep time, lights go on with switches turned off, statues move……..

It’s just the way it is in this town……you take each bit of weirdness with a grain of salt  (and I have had weighty salt bags moved)…..99 times out of 100, no harmful energy is felt…..

Now yesterday, I glanced at my windowsill.   I looked at my vase…then did a double take, as you will see why, in the photo.

My vase was filled with water.   Normal, right?    Not quite, I didn’t put any water in it.

Okay, the window has a leak?   No gutter above the window…….torrential rain falling sideways would have to hit that window….

My window has sensors…….if anything hits or vibrates it……an alarm sounds.   No alarm sounded at that…

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“Sach’s……The Most Haunted Covered Bridge”

The Roses and Thorns of Life

We drove out to Sach’s Bridge last night…..A ways outside of Gettysburg, hard to find if you don’t know where you’re going…..stands the covered bridge thought by many “ghost enthusiasts” to be one of the most haunted sites on hallowed ground.

I have gotten many orbs at Sach’s….had some strange encounters with more people than ghosts…….including one reenactor on Halloween night……

But now, the atmosphere has changed……..The large mass of trees behind Sach’s has all been chopped down.  Spotlights brighten the interior and exterior of the bridge, severely hindering the spooky atmosphere that once befell her beams.

It was a full moon last night, but very hazy.   I snapped a few photos, caught some interesting orbs or moisture spheres (depending on which side of the ghost hunting table you sit)……. but left feeling sad that one of the most atmospheric places around Gettysburg has forever been changed………..

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“An Anniversary Gift from My Ghost”

The Roses and Thorns of Life

Today is my wedding anniversary.    I guess my resident soldier ghost……yes, there is a Confederate ghost who wanders about the farmhouse…..wanted to acknowledge the day.

I wrote about him in a previous blog and reveal how he came to let me know his horse was buried in my field……..

Two things were disturbed at the farmhouse when I walked inside……sometimes, statues are turned, sometimes heavy salt bags are moved…sometimes clocks stop and start working again with precisely the right time.

Today…….two things awaited me on the floor…….

A Confederate kepi hat and my black glitter roses……..

On my wall, hang a Union and a Confederate kepi…….just the Confederate one was moved……

Why the black roses?…….Well, maybe my spirits mourns not sharing all his wedding anniversaries with the southern belle who waited back home……….

What do you think?

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“You Never Know What You Might Capture on Film”

The Roses and Thorns of Life

This has been a magickal and mysterious past couple of days……..

Tuesday, around dusk, as my husband and I were arriving at our Gettysburg farmhouse, my eyes glimpsed an elusive sight…..Just down the road from my farmhouse, a herd of deer were grazing close to the road.   It had been a long drive, my wolfhound, Aura Lea, was anxious to get out of the car; so as much as I wanted a photo, I didn’t ask my husband to stop the car.

Now, deer are sure out there in Gettysburg, but around my farmhouse, they never congregate in herds.   The farmer next to me has a deer house in his tree.   These deer are wise enough to stay away from this spot, and I am wise enough to not lure them with food so they will be an easy target for his gun.

So it was very magickal to see…

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“Memories of 9/11”

The Roses and Thorns of Life

This will be a quiet day for me…..I was close by and witnessed the tragedy of this day not on a TV screen, but through my eyes. It is recorded in my brain….what I saw, how I felt, the clothes I was wearing…….and the shock of what I saw. It was not until hours later that I realized I saw thousands of lives extinguish. When it happened, somehow your brain thinks they all got out, the buildings were empty…..later, the true horror becomes reality…….When I saw that burning, gaping hole, I knew that Tower would not stand. And when I saw the antenna sway on the roof of the second Tower, I turned to my daughter and said, it is going to fall too………and seconds later, it did. I feared we would not make it home that morning……the police were telling us to get out of there…..Thankfully, we were lucky…

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“I’d Proudly Stand Up”

The Roses and Thorns of Life

This Fourth of July is so filled with dissidence……..even watching fireworks in the sky seems like more angry shouting amidst our citizens.

I am not a proponent of fireworks, but I have gone to two very special firework displays in my lifetime.

One was over Liberty State Park in New Jersey, where lights and colors filled the sky above Lady Liberty (The Statue of Liberty’s head).   The next time I was there, different colors filled the sky……..I watched the fire and smoke of the burning Twin Towers obliterate the sky.

Several years ago, I attended another poignant ceremony.    The names of Medal of Honor recipients were to be displayed on remembrance bricks in the center of my town, Gettysburg……where so many heroic footsteps left their traces.

Those who donated to this cause were each given the name of their recipient and invited to a wonderful celebration, featuring the very…

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“Music Dissolves the Years” The David Crosby Concert

The Roses and Thorns of Life

I saw David Crosby in concert Sunday night, in Gettysburg.   We have a beautiful, intimate theatre here, a treasure which I hope is valued and cared for as the years pass.   Years add treasure to theatres, lives, and songs.

David has been through much in life, enough to chip away facades and foundations if he didn’t have the powerful force of music to energize his soul.   His voice was brilliant, strong and clear.   His love for music was so evident and shone through each chord.

David handled the concert with acumen.   His Gettysburg audience, though of the age when all remembered Vietnam protests and Woodstock festivals, was mainly a silver haired, conservative crowd.   David was able to get his opinions to the crowd in a gentle way.   Some artists overwhelm the audience with an in your face agenda.   David gently sang an American patriotic anthem and voiced his love of…

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“So many to make one’s heart cry…..Two to make one’s heart smile”

The Roses and Thorns of Life

It takes me a little over three hours to drive from Jersey to Gettysburg…..on a good day with little traffic.    Each drive seems to bring more roadside casualties to my eye….. so many deer lying lifeless by the side of the road, their carrion being picked at by scavengers in the wild.   Each time I pass one, my heart saddens and I say a little prayer of blessing for those that didn’t make it to the other side of the road.

Very early this morning, outside my farmhouse window, I received a thank you for all those blessings.   I saw a doe with a tiny baby, nursing underneath.   I never saw this mother/child connection before and felt so privileged to witness such tenderness.   I prayed for their safety; neighbors have deer houses around me and I know many of them hunt.   If this loving mama fell to a bullet…

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