I like to explore, empty houses, broken houses, houses where the basement doors are nailed shut and even though the frames are empty, there are still curtains in various stages of rot in decay hanging in the windows.
These empty houses stand alone in fields, sometimes they stand quietly on streets where the lawns and trees in it’s neighbors yards are trimmed and watered and coddled and fed a healthy diet of fertilizer.
I like the empty houses, the ruined houses, the houses that have nightmares every night.
And if I can’t find a ruined house with bones buried in the basement and shadows huddled in the attic
No matter what I do, no matter how busy I am there are things I make it a priority not to forget:
I never forget birthdays, or anniversaries- I never forget the name of your dog, I will always remember the last important story you told me.
I will always remember your favorite color, the name of your favorite song.
Those are important details and there is a special place in my brain for that information. I care for it, I tend it, I think of that place is my head as a garden that must be cared for and tended with patience and devotion.
But most important of all, the thing that I give a great amount of care to is this:
I never, ever forget where the bodies are buried.
Artists Unknown
Bodies left unattended and forgotten spread and sprout and bloom like wildflowers and some curious fool is bound to come along and pick them and carry them home to someone they love.
First up,even though the Science says they aren’t real- I believe in ghosts and spirits and curses.
I believe in the natural world, I understand the rules and laws that govern it, I have also lived long enough to know that the world doesn’t always play by the rules, so sure I can believe that there are times when Nature busts out of it’s box and dances all over books and papers and Google and everything else that strives to define it.
So, at t his time of the year I like to celebrate all things ‘supernatural’ because – you know, it’s a hoot.
This year in my efforts to have a little fun I came bought a book called ‘ Food To Die For “. It’s a cookbook that was written by paranormal investigator AMY BRUNI and along with pictures and stories about ghosts and haunted houses ( and prisons ) printed on beautiful slick paper and even beautifully bound, there are recipes.
Each recipe is connected to a haunted place- so along with the story about Lizzie Borden, there is a handwritten recipe card written in Lizzie’s hand from the early 1900s, which is now the property of the Fall River Historical Society a Cornbread recipe inspired by the Villisca Axe Murder House and my favorite was meal that was served to prisoners that looks like baked dirt.
I’m going to try that one.
The reason I love this book is that it’s deliciously creepy.
Bake a meatloaf that Lizzie Borden served to her family and serve it with cornbread inspired by the Villisca Ame Murder House? I mean, how weird would that be? You could whip that up, serve it and spend the meal snickering with each bite your guests take.
So this year as Summer ends and Autumn arrives, I think I’m going to have a little fun in my kitchen.
