The Myrtles

For our 19th wedding anniversary, Michael and I wanted to do something different. We had an adventure involving a scenic drive, a haunted house, and a lovely trip down memory's ancient lanes.

St. Francisville is the 2nd oldest town in Louisiana and is preserved as much as possible, and replicated where it wasn't possible to preserve. Hurricane Gustav did a number on the town and on the 8 antebellum homes that are scattered in the area and open for tours.

We toured what is proclaimed to be the most haunted house in America. I dreamt about the mirror that we saw, with a purported woman's facial imprint in it, the night before I stepped into the Myrtles house. A picture of the mirror is the only picture one can take inside the house. I did not want a picture of it. The idea alone spooked me.

While listening to the legends of the murders that took place inside the house and on the grounds, Michael and I both experienced fuzzy, warm sensations. Michael is not at all what one might say woo-woo, so for him to notice the change in our fields of energy was very affirming to me.

I think the grounds there attract people who carry the ghost-magnet in their fields, so that they notice disembodied entities readily. My friend was telling me how a ghost pushed her and her husband on the swing. I purposely avoided any contact with entities except to say a prayer that they find the welcoming light of where souls go to rest.

I was hoping my mate and I could talk about what might happen in the next 19 years over a leisurely lunch, but we stuffed ourselves at breakfast so that we weren't hungry for pretty much the rest of the day. And Michael doesn't know the meaning of the word "leisure". We hurried to get there, hurried to have our (brief) tour of the house, hurried through our free tour of the grounds, hurried through the gift shop, and then hurried to get home, though there was absolutely no hurry now that our kids can fend for themselves. The man is a Gemini - fast is their m.o. We missed many points of interest in and around the township because we bought chocolates at the Myrtles.

After 19 years of marriage, we are settled in some ways, but in some ways not. Changes come naturally, but some I would like to force, like having more leisurely respites away from our mundane existence.

As for leisure time, I carve out my own. I am almost finished reading a book I started this morning. I read through 3 Jonathan Lethem novels in a weeks' time and returned the books to my boss. I got this one by him from the library, "As She Climbed Across the Table". Here is an author whose novels I will look for. My favorite had to be "Motherless Brooklyn", though I have enjoyed them all.

I have vowed to go back to St. Francisville and spend at least one night there at an un-haunted bed and breakfast, and tour the town at my leisure. It would be nice to step back in time and arrest it with my lover. I can always daydream about leisure time away from home even if I don't get it.