A rainy, windy, rumbly evening in the Adirondacks, when it is just me and Hedgehog in the little cabin by the lake, could set a girl's imagination on a rather dark path...
It is my very favorite sort of evening, we have no expectation of activity beyond supper, hot chocolate, a book, the knitting project in my lap...but as the sun goes down on the drear, and the last light, though dim, fades, and the windows rattle and the curtains stir, the hundred-year-old pines press closer around the house, the dark forest behind and the darker lake before us seem to swallow up the little house in their insistent primeval wildness, and I...
am, I will admit, just a bit...
spooked.
The feeling is deliciously shivery and cozy all at the same time, until the hour grows later, and longer, and I am the last one awake, and I begin to feel that I am somehow the night watch, and...
I am not sure that I want to be the night watch, after all...
I do not want to watch for anything...
and I do not want to listen for anything...
not for the movement in the trees, the slight hitch of latch...
or even my own quiet intake of breath.
23 comments:
Sounds to me like youse are all havin' fun. xxx
No! No! See, you're uneasy 'cause watchin' out is, historically (and clear back to pre-historically;-) speaking, a man's job! Seriously!;-p It's what we do. The women and children nestle in the nest and the men stand at the mouth of the cave and 'watch out.' Sometimes we'd wander over to the mouth of a neighboring cave and chat--that's how hangin' out was invented! ;-)
What you describe sounds exquisite.
i don't have a forest, sugar, but i do have trees that stand guard around the house when the MITM isn't here! there is something quite special about walking around inside while the wind blows outside and the house is illuminated only by the moonlight...xoxox
Leah, hen, it's no the dead you'se have to watch out for.. it's the living.
Holy Faither, is that a noise I can hear coming fae doon the stairs?
Sleep tight princess.
Ooooohhhh!!! I'd love to be where you are right now!!! I've always loved spooky out of the way places, where my imagination can run wild!! Just my crocheting project, my book, and my goose bumps.
sometimes when my kids aren't home, I'll rent a scary movie, turn all the lights off, and watch it all by myself, just to scare the hell out of myself. Keeps me on my toes. I can't tell you the last time I was actually genuinely scared, though. :(
I miss those days.
And I loved the way you wrote this. I got goosebumps just reading it.
hope you get some rest after spooking yourself. lol. now i can't sleep...just watching...
great description! have fun!
Okay I'm back and I'll tell you a really funny story. Anyone reading this knows I grew up in the Catskills. Just a hop, skip and jump from the Adirondacks. It's all blends once you get past Kingston! Trust me!!!
My sisters and I were all in our teens. We had a TV in our bedroom. Well, at least our part of the "Attic, (Cher, Me and Tammy, after Jan kicked me out of hers, and that was after Dad put tape down the middle of the room to keep us apart. How rude, cuz I could have killed her with my bare hands given the chance that little bitch. Ahhhhhhhh, yes, hence my exile to the wee teeny bopper room. (No really, I could have taken her!)" But the TV was in the wee teeny bopper room. Leverage. Saturday Night Live in the 1970's. The pinnacle. I held court. Then it happened. We were all smoken' pot with all the windows open and the fans on and a squirrel ran behind the TV as we were learning about "pot brownies on SNL." Swear to God. I remember Laur looking at me and me looking at her. She said "Suzy, was that a squirrel?" I said "Yes, I THINK IT WAS!!!" Tammy said (she was only like, 11) "HOLY SHIT, IT IS!!!" We all yelled, "DADDY!!!!!" And of course he came running upstairs and we didn't care if he busted us or what. We were all relieved when he caught the little fella in a box and transported him outside. Then he returned. His exact words, "Knock it off."
Hummmmmmmmmmm.
Thank goodness the moon is only at the half. Or...or...ooh, wait a minnit. What comes out when the moon is only half ready????
What a fun and spooky night. Have a double hot chocolate and an extra marshmallow.
As long as you do not hear wood chopping in the night ...
Once the imagination gets going, it's amazing how easily you can scare yourself to bits in the most innocent surroundings. Then in the morning you discover that weird shape you were sure was a crazy, slavering animal was just an old log after all.
A beautiful atmospheric piece.
'The feeling is deliciously shivery and cozy all at the same time'
That describes exactly how I used to feel as a child when I was alone in the house.
Thank you for that Leah;)
BOO!!!
Hum..yeah I know the feeling you must get!Yes tenebrous.Oh to feel better just picture yourself some scenes of "Evil dead",lol.Ok..that wasn't funny :D
Sounds like a night for reading Edgar Allan Poe. Or maybe not. Plenty marshmallows in those hot chocolates.
Nothing nicer than being all snooxed up inside when it's howling outside go spoon Hedgie!
Map!--we are, all protestations to the contrary! In the daylight hours, there is swimming, and frozen custard, and many other delights indigenous to these parts.
A.D.--I simply could not agree with you more, the fact that my husband has to work in the city and cannot stand armed guard all night long has caused me much consternation!!!
savannah--okay, I'll admit I like your non-scary take on it, and I will hang onto that for dear life!!!
Jimmy!!!--I'm even more afraid of the living than of the dead, believe me--although watching too many Japanese horror movies has filled my mind with images of creeping ghosts with horrible long black hair--
Karen--I love scary movies! (see above) Now we can add that to the list of fun things we can do together when we finally do meet up!
Brian--I did get to sleep...finally...after much shivering.
Suzy--that's an awesome story. We have a positive chipmunk infestation this summer, and they are constantly running under the screen door into the house! We have taken to calling them, collectively, "Frank" kind of like "Borg."
Megan!oh god. What does come out when the moon is only half? Something very dreadful I'll assume.
Ronda--I had hot chocolate aplenty, thank you! I think it gave me nicer dreams.
mago--you naughty Franconian, that'll be my newest fear now!!!
nick--it is incredible, isn't it? I've had that exact thing happen to me more than once, I'll admit.
Pat--I felt that way, too, as a child, especially when I was babysitting at someone else's house. And yet, here I am, all growed up and still feeling that way!!!
Bob--boo yourself! ; )
Candie--haha! It was funny, you made me giggle.
Mme DeF--yes, sometimes one must just embrace the fear and read Poe! And eat extra marshmallows just to balance things out a little.
Baino--yup, that's exactly what I did--snuggled Hedgie. I figured she'd protect me with her Tae Kwon Do if need be!
I give you permission to go kick Bob's ass. No really *unties running shoes and hands them to Leah...that should do it.*
Get those familiar New York branches away from me. Ha! Yes, of course I know them all too well. But honey, Shara's about to arrive. Well, not today, tomorrow. Stop by and shout out. She'll have access to my blog and hopefully lots of fun. Be sure to stop by and say "Hey!"
Love you darling. Hey baby, I have something for Hedgie. It's a red, white and blue TY. Yessssssssssss, of course it's for you too. You're absolutely pathetic. YES I have photos, but I can't post until I kick Shara out. What?
XO
I went camping exactly ONCE in my life. That was enough for me! The quiet and dark creeped me out. From that day forward, the only “roughing it” I’ve done is when I had to watch a black and white television because the color was on the blink. I work very hard. I don’t sleep in tents.
We were bitchin' bout the rain a few months ago, now we really are needing rain. I wish we had some today. It would make the heat better for at least a little while. Hope you are having a good time.
Poetry here, m'dear. The only thing missing in this "picture" is the red wine! Still very peaceful!
Note to self: Don't read Leah's damn blog in the middle of the night when you are by yourself (and the neighbors porchlight keeps blinking randomly off and on..WHY??)
Another note to self: Send something creepy to Leah. Hey, have you seen that Lucia vid on my blog?? You should watch that. In the dark. By yourself. You should.
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