I report. You deride.

Did you miss me? I've been very sick! Acute bronchitis! But I am all better now. Thank you.

OK so I am going to tell you three weird things and invite you to tell me at least one weird thing.

Because it may be that I (and various other family members) are occasionally slipping into some sort of third dimension.

At the very least we may be flitting about on the outskirts of paranormaltown, at about the time they roll up the sidewalks.

Three weird things! Maybe more. It could be more and who's to argue?

The first thing happened a month or so ago.

I was sitting in my favorite chair in our family room and Erica was also in that room but some distance away.

She was poking at the embers on her Kindle Fire and I was using my laptop for some online research.

Neither of us could see the other's screen and in fact we had ignored one another for the better part of fifteen minutes.

In other words we weren't conversing about the stuff we were looking up.

Thing One: Christmas in June

Specifically, I had decided to look up the Web site of a church because I had an appointment to interview its pastor about their cemetery.

While perusing the church's Web site I noticed some links, and one of them was to transcripts of sermons.

I'm not sure why -- except that I sort of like sermons if they're cooked properly -- but I clicked on that link.

I checked out the titles of the sermons and saw that one had been given on Christmas Eve. Since I love the Christmas story in all its iterations, I decided to read the sermon.

Or at least glance at it.

So I clicked in and had just begun learning about Mary, Joseph, and the Baby Jesus on a long-ago night in Bethlehem when, without preamble, comment, or warning, Erica's Kindle Fire proceeded to emit music.

As in, from its wee on-board speaker began to emanate the unmistakable opening bars of The First Noel.

I looked sharply in Erica's direction. As you might imagine.

"What are you doing?" I said.

She looked up. "Shopping for a Christmas CD," she said.

?????

"In June?" I said.

"Yeah. What are you doing?" she said.

"Reading a Christmas sermon," I said.

"Seriously?" she said.

Seriously.

Explain that if you are able.

Thing Two: Yeppers

OK the next thing took place within days of the other incident and it is downright macabre. For that I apologize in advance.

This time I was not even in the same room with the other person when the very weird thing occurred.

I know you'll think I'm making some part of this up so that it'll fit, but trust me: I'm not.

The following is exactly how it went down.

I was sitting at my desk in our sunroom, studying a few Find A Grave memorials on my computer.

TG was in the next room, which is the aforementioned family room.

He was sitting with his back to me at least ten feet away, and there was a mostly-closed set of French doors between us. We could not see one another at all, and if we'd wanted to talk we would've had to raise our voices.

He was watching the news.

That's when I clicked on this picture.

I'd almost finished reading the plaque -- in fact I was on the very last line -- when TG (who often talks loudly to the TV, especially during an election cycle) must have agreed wholeheartedly with whatever was being said because without preamble, comment, or warning, he said:

"Yep! Yep! Yep!"

That is a verbatim quote.

As each "Yep!" rang out I waited for the next one. Not breathing!

Three.

Chills ran up my spine and branched out to my extremities until they were all goose-bumpy and then my hair stood on end.

Explain that if you are able.

And as you do, bear in mind that the little girl whose grave marker I was reading, who in her short TV and movie career once played a little girl who in real life was murdered by her father, was herself murdered by her father. At age ten.

The quote on her marker is from the movie The Land Before Time, in which her voice-over character, Ducky, was inclined to the peppy slang triple-affirmative.

Thing Three: Clowns getting around

A few days later I was telling Erica about the eerie yep incident.

"OK I've got another one for you," she said.

?????

She proceeded to describe a dream she'd had awhile back. A dream about clowns.

"Only, I hadn't seen any clowns or read about clowns and I wasn't thinking about clowns," she said.

In other words there was no explanation for the dream. Not even too much onion on a hamburger.

But then? The very next day after having said dream?

"I was at a traffic light and I glanced in the rear-view mirror and behind me was a whole vanload of clowns," she said.

"A vanload of clowns?" I said.

"Yep!" she said. "I thought maybe I was hallucinating so I looked down for a second or two then checked again."

"And?" I said.

"And they were still there. A whole vanload of clowns getting ready to turn."

If you can explain that, I'll give you a balloon and a lollipop.

Then I'll squirt you in the face from a special flower on my lapel.

Happy week!

Comments

[Mari]

I hear the theme of the Twilight Zone in the background! Very strange and i have no explanation. I also have no weird stories to share. :(

[Sue the Hobbit]

Well shiver me timbers, that was some of the weirdest stuff I've heard in a long time. I notice strange coincidences all the time, but, of course, I can't call any to mind right now. I'll be sure to let you know if I think of any.
I'm kind of relieved to hear that you've been sick. It's better than the alternative, which I thought, that you were ignoring the hobbit. Although I'm sure you don't think so! Hope you're all back to your piratey self. I'll try not to be so egotistical in future.

[Donna (Texas)]

Ok....Now I want you to concentrate REALLY HARD!!!
Give me those Winning Lottery Numbers!!! NOW!!!Hahahaaa

I truly do believe in these things...I have those type of things happen all the time...The last one, I was in that "not quite asleep" state when all of a sudden I see a poster of a young girl and at the bottom were the words, Fatally Abducted.....Nonsensical huh? Well, about a week later, on the news, I see the same girl...who had been fatally abducted....
Lots of different things have happened to me over the years...
Weird huh....
hughugs

[Debbie]

I've had those things happen too, very weird. We too to often make fun and poo poo certain situations, but I've learned to pay attention.

Two examples:

One: I think I've told you this one before. When hubby was with the Navy and we were stationed in Hawaii, I was at home by myself one morning. I smelled this scent, I knew exactly what it was and I knew it immediately. My elderly grandmother dipped snuff, and there is no confusing that smell with anything else. I had not seen her in years. I couldn't figure out why my house smelled like that awful smell, until the next day when my mother called and told me that my grandmother had died, at the same time I smelled that awful odor. So what was going on? Was it a visitation of some sort? I don't know, but it sure was weird.

That same grandmother swore that she saw her husband the night after he died, sitting in his favorite chair in their bedroom. Everyone in the family poo pooed it as the dreams of a distraught women. Maybe, maybe not.

Second example, and more recent -- last weekend.

Hubby and I were out riding the motorcycle, a cruiser which is for highway/blacktop not gravel or off road. He always tracks out the routes ahead of time on Google maps/Earth (whatever). Anyway, we turned on to a blacktop road after having a nice dinner at Meo Mio's Cajun Restaurant. The blacktop almost immediately turned into gravel. I thought he would turn around, but he figured it would change back quickly to blacktop because Google did not say it was gravel.

We went along for a few miles, and I had this awful, sudden feeling that we should turn around and turn around immediately, that something bad was imminent. Of course I poo pooed myself and didn't say anything.

Around the next corner was a steep hill, rough gravel, and yes -- the bike skidded and down we went into the rough gravel with the motorcycle over on its side. Thanks goodness for roll bars.

We had not seen one house, not one building, not one person, until right before the accident. A women and her daughter were on 4-wheelers, they checked on us, helped us upright the motorcycle and get on our way.

Now, was the 'feeling" I had ESP, or was it God trying to tell me something, or simply the good horse sense that God gave me? Were the women there by God's design to help us? I choose to believe in God and his watchful hand.

Thank Him that we were not hurt, our protective jackets did their job and were worth every penny. Some sore muscles, but other than that (and a bent roll bar) we are fine.

You can bet the next time I have one of those 'feelings' I will speak up immediately.

[glenda]

So happy that you're all better now. Stay that way please. As to the "Twilight Zone" happenings, no way would I make fun of that, it has happened to me more than once. But, I can't tell you about it right now. LOLOL..............G.

[Debbie]

I forgot to tell you that I'm so glad you are feeling better. Bronchitis is nothing to fool around with and can make you feel miserable.

[Skunkfeathers]

Bronchitis sucks. Glad you've whipped yours.

Minds/hearts in sync, might explain your occurences. Mebbe ;-)

My own weird story which I'll keep short: on 7-10-06, I was promoted from a position I'd held for 9 years, to something different for my then-employer. On 1-25-11, I was dropped from employment there by new ownership, "because I didn't fit the image they wanted to project", whatever that meant. On 4-25-12, I had a dream about returning to the old place, and resuming my career there; I made note of it only because the next day, I learned that a person that made it impossible for me to even consider returning there, was no longer there. On 7-10-12, I officially replaced the employee (who is retiring) that had taken the spot I vacated on 7-10-06.

Funny how things work sometimes ;-)