The first blog of the year...and it's already February!

Yes, I measured snowfall with a bottle of Wild Turkey. Call me creative. :-)
 Besides, it's handy to have around for medicinal purposes...of course.

Yep. It's February and I am blogging for the first time in 2013.

 I am not the resolution type of person...I never have been. Sure, I'd like to lose weight, be a better wife and mom, find more haunted locations, blog more than I do, improve my work writing habits, spend more time discovering the roots of my family tree and solve world peace, but where do the hours fly to? If I could do ANYTHING this year it would be to figure out how to get more hours out of the day.

Snow days in the years of my childhood meant sitting around watching TV, reading a good book or sled riding. I LOVED ice skating when I was in my teens and couldn't wait to hit the local ice pond at the park. The snow days of the last few years seem to revolve around getting more work done....cleaning....catching up on more work and if I am not working...I am THINKING about work. Aye, yi, yi! I thought as you got older you were supposed to slow down a bit?

Today was another snow day off from school for my son, Mason. There were 3 snow days last week and just yesterday I told my husband and son that I would love to go sled riding. We have about 10 inches of snow on the ground and everything is pristine, white and crisp. Did I go sledding? No. What did I do? I came into the office on a Sunday, worked a bit on the next book, organized my office a little and signed a few boxes of books for the next book event.

 Sigh....I looked out the window today at home and saw a huge hill calling my name while I wondered where my sleds were at.

Fog and snow on the hill

 

Even though we have had massive amounts of snow this year, the cats seem to enjoy it. We have 5 outdoor cats and they all weather well. Please don't think they stay outside in the horrid temperature's. Perry has a lovely 8 car garage with a cat door. They have it made!

 

Petey

 

I am looking forward to spring time this year as I never have before. The warmth of the breeze and the promise of warmer days, more sunshine and no more bone chilling nights with air so cold your nostrils stick together! It cannot get here fast enough.

 

                               The deer seem to not mind the snow

 

 

With spring arriving I look at my haunted calendar for 2013. I cannot wait till my first overnight ghost hunt of the year! April 20th will find me haunting the halls of the West Virginia Pen in Moundsville. I cannot wait to see old familiar friends, the great staff at the Pen and my home sweet haunt!

 

The West Virginia Pen cover shot from my book

"The Haunted History of the West Virginia Penitentiary"

 

Today, the sky is gray and there is hardly any sunshine. One day this week, I am hoping to go find my sled and perhaps steal a few hours away from the work schedule. I hope to dig my heels into the snowy slope and perhaps fly as fast as I can on that plastic saucer sled that keeps calling my name. I hope you get time to steal a few hours as well and perhaps do something fun. Snow Angels anyone??

 

 

 

 

March already?

It's March?

Gosh.

I just got done packing away the last of my Christmas wreaths last week.

Well, not really but has time flown by or what? May be that time went by so quickly as I had my little head buried in my new little book.

The new book

Me at the "haunted" office with the first of the books rolling in. Happy day!

It published December 31st 2011, and just in time for me to celebrate New Years Eve! Actually, it's not THAT little. 618 pages and a weight of 2.2 pounds make it's a tad bit bigger than my "Birds of West Virginia"  manual. Seriously though...it was a labor of love. What is it with me and old prisons? My mom is starting to worry!

That would be me at the Pen in the "alamo" section of North Hall.

With all the hubub about 2012, polar shifts, planets aligning, and the Mayan calender, I think it'll be an interesting year for sure! How about you? I thought about planning an End of the World party on Friday December 21st and thought twice about it. Hey, why tempt fate?


So March is here and with it the arrival of spring is sure thing. Outdoor chores will start back up and oh....nice weather arrives and beckons me to explore some haunts and old cemeteries. Not that I don't mind checking out old buildings and cemeteries in sub zero weather but these bones are getting, dare I say it, old? If I can't have heated truck seats and a thermos of hot coffee, I may actually think twice about heading out anymore. HA!

Well, it felt good to stretch the typing fingers a bit today. Everyone keeps pestering me to blog more and I promise I will try harder!

I've been a bit out of commission with bronchitis this past week and it put me behind. I'm ready to open up the widows, breathe deeply, and get outside to investigate haunted locations and spooky cemeteries. Just as long as I can sit on those heated truck seats and sip my coffee outta my favorite WV Pen travel mug. :-)

 Life is....haunted.

Now how about some suggestions for places to explore???

Cemeteries in the Snow

Cemeteries in the Snow?

Okay, call me a taphophile if you must, but I REALLY love photographing stones and statuary in the snow. Most people I "used" to know only went to cemeteries when they had to. You know, funerals and to maybe place flowers at Memorial Day or special days such as birthdays etc.. The people I know now spend a great deal of time in cemeteries walking, having lunch, studying genealogy, taking tours , and also practicing photography.

Whoa. Let's back up a bit.

What's a "TAPHOPHILE" you ask?

Taphophilia is a passion for and the enjoyment of cemeteries. The singular term is a taphophile. Taphophilia involves epitaphs, gravestone rubbing, photography, art, and history of (famous) deaths. I love it all! All except the gravestone rubbing because it can actually hurt the stone and affect its appearance after awhile.

Epitaphs can be funny as well as advice laden.

Here are a couple:

Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime

Dean Martin

______________________________

Good friend for Jesus sake forbeare,

To digg the dust encloased heare!

Blest be the man that spares thes stones,

And curst be he that moves my bones.

William Shakespeare

I have been a fan of cemeteries and I'm not really sure where that came from? My earliest memories of actually spending any amount of time in a cemetery was when my parents would haul all of us to remote Webster County WV cemeteries to clean stones and place flowers. Having lunch on a blanket was a typical event during those afternoon treks as many southerners have done and still do.

My love of cemeteries entered into my professional life in 2005 and  leading cemetery tours seemed a natural addition to leading ghost hunts and haunted tours. I loved grabbing my candle lantern, donning my civil war era cape and leading people into the dark shadows among stones and the somewhat eerie crypts.

I have led nighttime tours of cemeteries since 2005. Cemeteries I have done professional tours at include:

Massillon Cemetery (Massillon OH)

Akron Cemetery (Akron Ohio)

Seville Cemetery (Seville OH)

Gnadenhutten Cemetery (Gnadenhutten OH)

Summersville M.E South.Cemetery (Summersville WV)

Pioneer Cemetery (Canal Fulton OH)

Schoenbrunn Village cemetery (Tuscarawas County OH)

But getting back to cemeteries in the snow...

Cemeteries in winter take on a whole new feeling. It's a fresh and clean landscape. Gone is the grass and the muddy car tracks and in it's place lies a crisp white coat of snowy pureness.

Snow on the hillside cemetery

  Photo by Renee Deal, Summersville WV 2010

One of the reasons I love cemeteries in the winter is because of photos like this.

Statue's tell stories and they are made all the more poignant when dusted with snow.

Angel draped in white snow

Cemetery in Canton Ohio

The symbolism of the two hands clasped represents a union of sorts, marriage or a couple who were partners in life. Stone's tell stories!

While winter is still upon us, take time to venture out to a local cemetery. Grab your camera, some hot chocolate to go, and head off into the fresh snow.

You may be surprised at some of the beautiful sights you will come across!

THE END

(or is it??)