So we had an emergency ghost hunt on Saturday. Lots of spookiness was claimed by the homeowner. Shadow figures, bed shaking, moving mists, footsteps, lots and lots of footsteps… generally scary stuff made worse because she lives alone. That was the really odd part. She’s lived in the home for twenty years with no problems until recently. We came in as quickly as we could, as the incidents had been getting worse by the day. Particularly the bed shaking. In short, she was terrified.

So the five of us met at the house, along with a part time group member, T. The set up went smoothly and the client, while visibly anxious and worn out, was obviously relieved to have some help.

The Boy and our fearless leader had interviewed the client in her home earlier in the week. They both claimed the house felt uneasy, particularly on the second floor, which the client stated was the most active area. We were all pretty excited. We were really going to try to help someone, and the activity level was high enough we really thought something might happen. I should mention, in case I haven’t, that I have personally never experienced anything supernatural. I consider myself an open-minded skeptic. I really hoped I’d experience something that night.

Each one of us spent time with the homeowner throughout the night. She was obviously on edge, constantly moving, talking, smoking, and quite willing to talk about the incidents. She was blatantly nervous. I wondered how much sleep she was getting. We toured the house, taking time in each room on the second floor. Nearly all the activity surrounded that floor alone. Even the few things occurring on the main floor centered on the stairs or noises heard from above.

The largest concern, for the client, was the bed shaking. She’d even tried sleeping in the guest room to avoid it, with no luck. So we set up in the bedrooms, the hallway and the living room. We used a handheld in the office, where loud thumps or footsteps were heard from the attic. We set a DVR in the attic and the basement, as well as carrying them with us for EVP sessions.

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Headlines, bumper stickers, billboards- turn around and look, somewhere close there is something announcing, “My Dad is a solider”, “Our sons are fighting for freedom” and “Thank you for Fighting” with the ubiquitous fresh faced young man with a grim look and sand colored uniform.  How about this from the CNN website? “Moms, wives remember sons, husbands at war.” Look at a few protest signs, “Bring back our sons”, “I want my Dad back!”  Emotional messages to be sure. 

When was the last time you saw a protest sign saying, “Bring Back Our Daughters!” or “Support Our Mothers!” What about a news story? “Military Husbands: How They Cope” or “Little Boy Surprised on His Birthday by Sister Serving in Iraq.”  Rarely do people even acknowledge that women are serving overseas at all, let alone in actual combat.  It’s disturbing to see the few mentions of female soldiers inevitably turn them into victims.  Sexual harassment is a perennial favorite. Susceptibility to PTSD, depression and other mental issues after returning from war began as a military issue.  Now, it is a female military issue.
More women then men report symptoms and seek help.  Could the culture of sexism in the military be to blame?  If women are seeking help, then any man who chooses to do so could be considered weak.  Any solider who chooses help; male or female runs the risk of being looked down upon, simply by virtue of needing help.  “Army of One,” “Be All That You Can Be” phrasing that suggests self-reliance and individualism; but not too much individualism. The military culture of self sufficiency and teamwork, leadership and obedience is another topic but one that dovetails into the issue at hand. 

Females in the military have a higher mountain to climb, an almost Sisyphus-ian task to achieve equality with their male counterparts.  Their honor is not nearly so guarded, their skills downplayed while their ‘detriments’ to their units are broadcast far and wide.  Their sacrifices are mentioned in passing, if at all, while a male solider is canonized for putting off his wedding for a year or two.  The only headline a female solider can count one is the local paper, when she gives her life for her country, unless of course she gets captured.  Jessica Lynch endured horrendous circumstances, but the focus was not on a solider being kidnapped, it was on a female soldier being kidnapped and the twisted sexual nature of her capture. People are fascinated by such gruesome stories; therefore, they get the billing.  This is once again proves a detriment to male victims, we don’t hear about male kidnapping nearly as often.  Why would we? They are men, able to handle the strife and torture with a masculine stiff upper lip.
The intention of this entry is not to diminish the sacrifices all soldiers are making to fight this endless war.  I just want to be sure all soldiers are getting support.

It pisses me off to see the lack of recognition; it should piss you off too.

*Title Credits: Homer Simpson, “Lisa on Ice” season 6 episode 8 (a fantastic episode by the way)

Reading: Neverwhere By Neil Gaiman (I know, I’ll get off this kick eventually, I promise)

Watching: American Idol, Medium and One Tree Hill (Why yes, I am a loser,thanks for asking)

Shopping: For the Boy’s birthday- got any ideas? Just in case you weren’t aware, he will be 30. Damn, that’s old!

Playing: Still Fable 2, but I’ve gotten bored with it.

Listening: Everclear, because I like to think I am still in High School. Please don’t shatter that illusion.

So it all started with a TV show. Most people know the one I’m talking about, over on the Sci-Fi Channel. From there the Boy starting talking about hunting ghosts, a lot. In fact he started collecting equipment and working up ideas for building his own. Last year, around Halloween no less, we tagged along with another group at a haunted school. I was terrified for the first twenty minutes or so. I mean paralyzed with fear. See, I’ve never had anything even close to a supernatural experience, ever. So I was, at first, horrified of having one and equally worried about losing my shit in front of all those people, let alone the Boy, who would tease me mercilessly if I did freak out.

            But then, twenty minutes or so after ‘lights out’ and we began walking around the freezing, eerily empty school and the fear just dissolved. It was fun! It was a lot of fun! Like a treasure hunt or mystery game. You have to look for clues, or evidence. You have to look at alternate explanations for lots and lots of things; you have to be smart and pay attention, but still get to have a lot of laughs. In short, I loved it. We didn’t find anything that night, but we still had a great time.

            The Boy knew a few people there and pretty soon we started talking about forming a group of our own. One thing led to another and Saturday night was out first hunt. There are five of us: #1, #2, #3, the Boy and me. I know they need clever names; I’ll get to it at some point. For reference, #1 is our Fearless Leader, #2 is his girlfriend who went to school with the Boy and how we all got introduced in the first place and #3 is our fearless leader’s cousin and also doing the tech stuff with the Boy.

            So our first case: Our Fearless Leader’s sister’s house in random small town Iowa. Built in the early 1900’s it was used as a doctor’s office and maybe as a funeral home or morgue, although we haven’t confirmed that.

            The major activity: Front door opening and closing, feeling uncomfortable in the basement, the kids seeing shadows and hearing voices and one little girl refusing to sleep in her bedroom if the closet door is open. Our client had not told the spirits to leave, only not to bother or scare her children. Also the attic is creepy. I don’t remember the specifics, but attics are always creepy in old houses.

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