Ghosts, Drugs or Insanity?

That title pretty much sums up this post. I’m searching for answers, explanations for some rather odd, recurring events I’ve experienced –correction: I keep experiencing. Got a minute? Grab a beverage, pull up a chair and help me figure this out.

I’ve heard the best way to figure something out is to look at the facts. Study the data and your answer will make itself known. Fine. Let’s begin with the “odd” events.

Over the past six months to a year, I’ve “seen” people where and when there shouldn’t be any people. One of the more memorable times happened late one night. Well, now that I think about it, they ALL happen late at night. I’m not sure what time it was and it really doesn’t matter. Lying on my left side (as I always do), I woke with a start and looked up into the out-of-focus forms of a man and a woman standing beside my bed looking down at me while I slept.

The woman had dark, shoulder length hair, seemed to be a larger-sized woman and was wearing a boxy shapeless dress that went down as far as I could see. The man was squat, bald and heavy, shorter than the woman. Although both their forms were murky and gray as though they consisted of a heavy mist, the woman seemed to have a contented look on her face and while the man’s eyes were large darker spots in his round face, he’d angled his head over against one shoulder as though trying to get a better look at my face.

I blinked –hard, and blinked again. They were still there. My mouth went dry and I froze just like I used to do when I was a little girl terrified of the monster under my bed. I blinked slower this time and squinted to try to bring their faces better into focus. Instead –they dissipated into the shadows. I took a deep breath and told myself that I must’ve eaten something really weird to create that hallucination. But then Jasper walked stiff-legged to the edge of the bed and rumbled a low warning growl while staring intently at the spot where the pair had just disappeared.

There’ve been several other similar instances, all with different “people”. People I don’t know. Like the thin woman wearing a pair of shorts and a tank top, her long hair piled on top of her head, standing in front of our television with her arms folded. It was well past midnight and my husband had fallen asleep in his recliner in the living room. I crawled out of bed to go shut off the t.v. and throw a blanket over his snoring body. She didn’t turn when I walked into the living room. She was intently watching whatever was on the t.v. I stood still and did my now standard routine of stare-blink-breathe-blink again. Yep. You guessed it. She seemed to see me out of the corner of her eye because her head turned slightly in my direction as she disappeared.

And now the rest of the facts:

No one else has seen these whatever-they-are’s but me –and apparently, Jasper. He doesn’t bark but he stares at them too and usually rumbles out a growl that says, “Yes, Maeve. I see it too.”

I’ve not been ill but I do take a medication at night to prevent killer migraines. It’s not a sleeping pill or pain medication but it is a medication sometimes prescribed for seizures. Debilitating migraines are a strong curse for many in my family but thankfully, there’s medication now that prevents them –or at least it’s helped prevent mine. Since, I’ve been taking this medication; my visitors are appearing more frequently and in much clearer focus.

All my life I’ve been accused of being different. I’ve always “seen” things in the shadows but never as clearly as my visitors of late. As a child, I was often scolded for being afraid of the dark and telling lies about what couldn’t possibly be there. I’ve given my husband the heebie jeebies several times when I’ve correctly “predicted” or “mused” how a given situation is going to play out. Unfortunately, I can’t do this with any accuracy and it just sort of “comes” to me.

So…what do you think? Is it ghosts, drugs or insanity? An overly sensitive child with an active imagination was my past self. Could I be reverting to my childhood ways? And if, as some would say, it's all in my head then why is it happening to Jasper too? 

Could this be what I think it is?

I wonder if the veil between worlds is thinner in Scotland? Take a close look at this picture. Do you see the curling wisp of white smoke twisting up over the wall of Edinburgh Castle? I snapped this shot while touring the castle during our trip at the beginning of this month. I wanted a picture of the great view across Edinburgh and especially the coal-tarnished spire of the church on the right.

I didn't notice this odd-looking stream of white smoke crossing the picture until we'd arrived home and printed the pictures. I use a digital camera and always check the shots on the viewer plus we downloaded the pics onto my netbook each night when we returned to our room.

There also wasn't a sign of any smoke anywhere that day. I've got the nose of a prize-winning bloodhound coupled with a monstrous sensitivity to smoke of any kind. I'm a reformed smoker, haven't had a cigarette in over twenty years. I’m a better smoke detector than the sort that needs batteries.

When I saw this phenomena the first time, I asked my husband if he remembered any smoke that day and jokingly added that perhaps it was one of our ancestors saying hello from the other side.

My husband descends from Clan Maxwell. My lineage traces back to the MacDonalds. Perhaps this visitor wished to be noticed by its descendants from "across the pond".

We'll never be certain what it was that day and I know some folks will laugh and blow it off. But I hope it was one of our long ago kin making contact from the other side. I wish them peace and safe journey.