Chance's Corner: Spooky Texas Traveler, Part 2

 

For this weeks haunt, we'll actually be going out of state to New Orleans, Louisiana. Yes, it's not Texas, but this is a travel of mine that's worth telling. New Orleans has always been a fascination of mine due to its rich history and its lurid past of Voodoo practices. I use the term "past Voodoo practices" lightly because, well... it's still in practice.

One of my first stops in New Orleans was Marie Laveau's Voodoo shop. The smell of incense wafted through the open doors and beckoned me in. All sorts of "trinkets" covered the little shop and various Voodoo dolls hung from the ceiling. I started inspecting the dolls and each one represented a different country of origin and had a specific purpose. Some were actually cute and some were downright frightening. A worker noticed me gawking and informed me that the doll that draws you in the most is the one you need. Well, the cute Voodoo doll "For Success" drew me in and I purchased it. Another interesting "trinket" I found was a bag of brick dust to spread across the threshold to ward off evil.

From there, I ventured towards the nearest cemetery Saint Louis Cemetery Number One, which some say is where the famed Voodoo Queen of New Orleans Marie Laveau is "buried" in a above-ground tomb. All of the dead are "buried" above-ground because New Orleans' elevation is so low that it floods very easily and the citizens don't want to have unexpected (and decomposing) visitors knocking on their doors. Anyways...

The cemetery had an eerie beauty to it that I shall try to convey in the pictures below. When you come to the photos of the tomb (reportedly Marie Laveau's) that has the Triple X's on them, the explanation behind it is that it is the anonymous signatures of people who are petitioning for the spirit of Laveau to do them some otherworldly favors. Spooky right?

As night fell, I thought it'd be fun to go on the Haunted History walking tour of the French Quarter. It's mostly just a lot of talking about history and reports of ghosts to go along with the history. Some of it was interesting, like how people actually had their keyholes put in upside down to confuse ghosts and to keep them out of their house. There was one stop on the trip that really captivated my attention. It was the old home of Madame Marie Delphine LaLaurie, a sadistic murderess who tortured her slaves for fun.



The infamous kitchen is now a garage.

It is said that LaLaurie would host lavish parties at her home, but several times throughout each party she would disappear... and then re-appear in a whole new wardrobe. Sure, she could be pulling a Lady GaGa, but the truth slipped a little when LaLaurie was suspected of horsewhipping a child and throwing her out the window to her death. The truth finally did come out when the kitchen in her home caught on fire. Firefighters rushed to put the fire out and found a slave chained in the kitchen. It was the slave who started to fire in a desperate attempt to get free. The firefighters also found several skeletal remains under the kitchen floor. However, it wasn't until they went upstairs and forced their way into a locked room, when they really knew what they were dealing with. Blood and mutilated bodies littered the locked room. A slave girl was locked away in a box, her broken limbs contorted so she could fit. The other acts committed to the other bodies are too grotesque to describe. And that's why LaLaurie had to change her dress so many times at a party... her unquenchable bloodlust. By the way, LaLaurie fled and was never caught.

I saw no ghosts on the Haunted History tour, but I might have captured one on my camera at the Hotel Monteleone. I was admiring the hotel's famous Carousal Bar (a place author Truman Capote haunted during the living) and snapped a quick photo over the crowd fighting to put their bellies up on the bar. I didn't notice until I got home that the businessman's face right in front of me was well... see-through. Someone said "the ghost-face" is just an overexposure, which means that the image is white-looking or washed-out. But if you look very, very closely you can clearly see straight through the man's head and make out what is behind his head. I admit that there is a glass door next to him and mirrors encircle the top of the carousal, so maybe that has something to do with it. I'm not swearing this is a ghost, but hey... it's fun to think about.



 

Did you know? : Franklin County Tribute to Veterans

Several years ago, Franklin County attempted to record the stories of many of our veterans for the use of the school and library in educating future generations about the men and women who fought for our country. 

Those interviews have now been transferred to DVDs and are available for checkout from the Franklin County Library. 

I (Julie) have watched a few of them and they are truly fascinating.  I learned bits of history that I had never heard before and was able to see into the minds of young men who were leaving home for the first time and finding out just how vast our world is.  Some of the men served in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam, while others were enlisted during peace time.  These interviews are truly a treasure, especially since many of the men have now passed away. 

Included are interviews with:

• Charles Teague
• Charles Parker
• George Wims
• H.G. Birdsong
• J.W. Mauldin
• Joe Scott
• Bo Wafford
• M.P. Long
• Bob Spearman
• .... and many, many more

DVD check outs are for two days.  If you do not have a library card, simply bring in an ID and we will get you one!  I hope that you will make use of this local treasure!

Knowledge...

Marvelous Monday! (and Thursday) : Slime

This week's Marvelous Monday! experiment was making slime.

This was a fun activity and not nearly as messy as it looks.  The finished slime has a consistency very similar to Silly Putty. 

Slime

 

1 bottle (4 oz) plain school glue

warm water

1/2 teaspoon Borax (sold on the laundry aisle)

Food coloring

 

Empty the glue into a bowl.  Fill empty bottle about halfway with warm water.  Replace cap and shake to rinse bottle of glue.  Pour into glue.  Stir to combine.  Add several drops of food coloring at this point.  In a separate container mix about 1/4 cup of water with the Borax.  Stir to dissolve Borax.  While stirring glue mixture, slowly pour Borax into glue.  Almost immediately you will feel the consistency change.  I had to abandon the spoon and finish mixing with my hands.  I usually had a little water left that didn't mix with the slime.  The more the slime is played with the stiffer it becomes. 

 

 

We have had a lot of fun with it.  We let it drip over the sides of a cup and it slowly oozes down the sides and puddles on the counter.  The kids really had a ball with it!

 

Chance's Corner: Spooky Texas Traveler, Part 1

Well friends, it's that time of the year when the air chills and the goblins creep. My favorite time of the year! So, in celebration, I present this special edition of Texas Traveler with a spoooooky twist!

 
For part one of Spooky Texas Traveler, we need to step back in time at the Hotel Galvez in Galveston, Texas. Built in 1911, after the devastating Hurricane of 1900 that claimed 6,000 lives, the Hotel Galvez was erected (to draw back leery tourists) for the hefty sum of $1 million. Since then, presidents, actors and actresses, and other dignitaries have roamed the hotel's halls for over a hundred years.

 

 

Scent of the Dead

I had the pleasure of staying at the Hotel Galvez in 2011 for their 100 year anniversary, and as my family pulled into the circle driveway I could just feel that this place had history. It looms over you. So, once we made it to our room, it took one quick Google search to find out about the ghost on the 5th floor.

The general part of the story goes like this:

A young, filled-with-love, woman was staying at the hotel on the 5th floor in a room that faced the ocean. Everyday she pined and waited for the return of her lover, a sailor. Tragically, the sailor's ship sailed into a storm and sunk. His love was told no one survived, and in a fit of utter despair, the woman hung herself in the hotel. The ending changes depending on who you ask. Some will say the sailor was truly dead. Others will say, with a bit of Shakespeare in mind, that the sailor returned alive and well.

 

With every good ghost story, there is a good haunting. And this haunting does not disappoint! I did some more research about the different guest "experiences" on the 5th floor, and what really intrigued me was the multiple reports of the smell of Gardenias floating down the hallway. Reportedly, it was the forlorn woman's favorite scent. So, with my wits about me, I went up the elevator to explore.

 

I meandered around the long, narrow halls for a few minutes and came to a dead end. It was a window with a wonderful view of the ocean near rooms 500, 501, 502 and 503. I turned around to head back to the elevator and BAM!!! the strong scent of Gardenias hit me. I stood there, stunned, for a few moments and then I started doing some serious sniff work. I bent down and smelled the carpet. No spray scent there. I approached the surrounding doors and sniffed around. No perfume was wafting through the door cracks. The smell was just in that one spot in the dead center of the hall, unmoving like a hovering cloud. I walked away (quickly) down the long hallway, turned to go down another long hallway before reaching the elevators.

 

I retrieved the rest of my family and dragged them back up to the 5th floor. They grumbled all the way up... until the elevator doors opened. We took about five steps off the elevator, and the invisible wall of Gardenias overcame us. My family dismissed it as air freshener. I made them walk the rest of the stretch to where I encountered the dead end before and let them look out the window for a bit. Take in the beautiful views family... before the ghost gets you! Anyways...

 

The family and I turned back to head downstairs and suddenly the smell of Gardenias overcame us again. It was now traveling back in the direction of where it originally came from. My family became a little puzzled and tried explaining it away while we waited for the elevator. Another family that was staying on the 5th floor joined us on our wait and overheard our debate. They kind of laughed and explained that the same experience kept happening to them, and to several other people on that floor... as well as other not so innocent things.

 

By the end of our stay at the Hotel Galvez, I think my mother was at least convinced that the place was haunted... because a lady sat on the edge of her bed during the middle of night.

 

So, what do you think? Was it just some devious maids playing around with Lysol? Or could it be a trace of tragic history? Also, I would love to know if you have ever stayed somewhere that was haunted. Do you even believe in such a thing?
 

 

Save the Date!! - Holiday Craft Show and Recipe Exchange

Franklin County Library will be hosting a Holiday Craft Show and Recipe Exchange on Tuesday, November 5th, at 5:30. (Formerly called a "Pinterest Party") 

We have done this for several years now.  We bring the crafts we are working on to show off and have a potluck supper.  Everyone brings their favorite dishes along with the recipes and we sample new foods.

It's a lot of fun to see everyone's craft ideas.  We always come away with something new we want to try.  We've had jewelry, paintings, needlework, wreaths, paper crafts, metal art and more shown.  And the food is WONDERFUL!!  I have gotten several recipes from the exchanges that have become family favorites.  In fact, the Microwave Peanut Brittle that someone brought to one of our first events is my dad's favorite.  I make it for him for Christmas, Father's Day, and his birthday!! 

We hope you will come and bring us fresh ideas for the upcoming holiday season!  Personally, this is one of my favorites of our library events.  I'm really looking forward to it.  Hope to see you there!!!

Plant and Seed Swap Saturday!

Bring your plants, seeds, bulbs, and garden related items to swap for something new. 

 

Saturday, October 19th  10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. 

 

 

Tom's Two Cents : The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal

Once in a great while there comes along a book that brings together a sum of my special interests, and  "The Hare with Amber Eyes" is certainly one of them.  Told in the first person by one of its descendants, the book is the personal story of one of the great Russian-Jewish families of the 19th century, the Ephrussi's, beginning in Odessa, Russia, in the mid-19th century,  continuing in Vienna and Paris, and later spreading to England, North America, and Japan after WW II.  The author, a British porcelain ceramicist named Edmund de Waal, writes near the end of his book that he no longer knows if it's about "my family, or memory, or myself...or still a book about small Japanese things."  Well, it's certainly about all of these,  beginning with those "small Japanese things," called "netsuke."

Netsuke are very small, often intricately carved boxwood or ivory Japanese sculptures of humans, animals, reptiles, etc., often done in a whimsical or unusual manner or style.  They are so tiny that they can usually be held in the palm of one's hand or carried in a pocket.  In the latter part of the 19th century in Paris along with the wider discovery of Japanese art in general, they became all the rage for wealthy collectors; among those was  Charles Ephrussi, the third son of Leon Ephrussi, who along with his brother Ignace, had established great banking establishments, Leon in Paris and Ignace in Vienna.  These two men descended from Charles Joachim Ephrussi, founder of the family fortune, in the Russian city of Odessa, based on of all things the export of grain from Ukraine, then the breadbasket of Europe.  The next time you hold a piece of bread in your hands, think of the Ephrussi's and the enormous fortune they amassed from sheaves of wheat--yes, they were right up there with the Rothchilds!

But back to the Netsuke.  In one way this is its story, how it became a great collection of objets d 'art, how it was passed from one family member to another, how it miraculously survived in Vienna from the Nazi invasions and destruction of Jewish families in 1938-39, and how, ironically, it end up back in Japan, the country of its origin, again in the hands of a Ephrussi descendant.  If all this sound too complicated, it isn't-- it's written with the utmost style and clarity by a man who isn't even a writer by profession.  And it reads like a mystery!  What happened to the netsuke after the Ephrussi's were forced to leave them behind when they fled their palatial home in Vienna?  You would never guess in a million years who saved them and how!

As I hope I've suggested, this book is much more than a story about an art collection or the family who owned it.  It is ultimately a social and cultural history of late 19th century Paris and Vienna and the horrific 20th century wars that nearly destroyed the latter and the Jewish culture that partly produced it.  It is also, interestingly, the story of Tokyo during and post WWII, it's destruction and re-birth.  Above everything else, it is about a man who honored his family and came to know them through diligent and prodigious research in his own time.

Looking Forward

We want to thank everyone who came out on Saturday and helped us celebrate the 100th birthday of our building.  We had a great time!  We also kicked off our Seed Sharing Library and are now accepting donations.  We hope to begin sharing seeds in the spring, but we need to grow our library. 

We also want to congratulate Allie Rose (age 7) who won the Friends of the Library surprise giveaway of a Kindle Fire HD!  She was here from the Dallas area visiting her grandmother.

As much fun as this past weekend was, we have a fun and busy week to look forward to at the library.  Today is a Marvelous Monday! and for the next couple of weeks we will be having Halloween themed activities for the kids.  Stop in at 4:15 today! 

Also, Saturday from 10:00 - 12:00 we will have our Fall Seed and Plant Swap.  We've been doing this for a couple of years now and it is always fun.  To participate, just bring a plant or seed that you are willing to exchange.  It can be a cutting from something in your yard, bulbs or seeds, or a potted plant from a garden center.  Whatever you bring will find a good home with someone and you will leave with something new for your garden.  Some of our local gardeners bring lots of things, so usually you will go home with more than you came with.     

And finally, we have begun serving coffee.  Coffee is free, but a donation to the Friends of the Library is appreciated.  We are serving coffee from local roasters, Lake Country Roasters, owned by Martin and Susan Bass.  The weather forecast looks like perfect coffee drinking weather the rest of the week!

We hope to see you at one or all of our upcoming events!!

Tomorrow at the Library!

As you know, tomorrow is CountryFest in Mt. Vernon.  The library will be celebrating the 100th birthday of our building tomorrow from 10:00 - 2:00.  We will have cookies and punch upstairs, so come on by and help us remember our building's past and look forward to it's future. 

We also will be kicking off our new Seed Sharing Library.  We hope to begin sharing seeds in the spring and we want to gather seeds all fall.  Come on by and check it out and let us know that you're interested. 

Gordon B. Hinckley Quote

Lisa Reviews Andy Andrews

I have a confession! One that is very hard to own up to, especially when you consider my profession.  I have not completely finished a book – read every page, cover to cover – in, oh, probably a year. Now I do listen to audio books all the time. In fact, much to my family’s dismay, I have been known to sit in the car for a half hour or so listening to the last few chapters of the latest Patterson, Grisham, Evans, or whomever  I am “reading” at the time. And yes, I know listening does not, in most people’s eyes, equate reading but that is the pattern I have fallen into of late.  I have excuses, lots of them. But that is neither here nor there.

Several years ago, I stumbled on a little known author from the South who quietly slid onto the best sellers list a few times but never really made it to the more popular ranks.  It has been a couple of years since I have read Andy Andrews, the last book being The Noticer, which I loved so much I gave all three of my children copies and made them promise to read it.   Andrews writes thought provoking, insightful stories that are mostly labeled “self-help/advice” and I normally steer away from this type of author.   But, while this label may be true to some extent, I rather think his stories are true lessons from the past laced with enough possibilities of the future that he crosses several genres. But I absolutely love Andrews’ books.  I have read each one and some more than once.  I am captivated by the stories from history and their links to our present and future.  He makes me think.

How Do You Kill 11 Million People? Why the Truth Matters More than You Think

 

Well, of course the title caught my attention.  Then, because I am still in my horrid pattern of not reading (actually turning the pages), its size grabbed me.  It is about the size of a postcard and only eighty-four pages, including author interview, reader’s guide, resources, and bibliography.  I read it in about 15 minutes, cover to cover!  I will not delve into much detail about the book, simply because there is no excuse for anyone not to take 15 minutes to read it.  Instead, I will list my favorite quote from the book.  It is actually a quote from President James A. Garfield in his centennial address to Congress in 1876. “Now, more than ever before, the people are responsible for the character of their Congress.  If that body be ignorant, reckless and corrupt, it is because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness, and corruption. If it be intelligent, brave, and pure, it is because the people demand these high qualities to represent them in the national legislature.”  Then, he added, “If [one hundred years from now] the next centennial does not find us a great nation… it will be because those who represent the enterprise, the culture, and the morality of the nation do not aid in controlling the political forces.”

Wow, see I told you, lessons from the past laced with possibilities (good or bad) for the future.

So, take 15 minutes and read this “little” book.  It will make a BIG impression.

And, yes we have it here at FRANKLIN COUNTY LIBRARY.  We also have more books from Andy Andrews!  Read them all.  You won’t be disappointed.

CountryFest

We here at the library are gearing up for CountryFest on Saturday.  We will have two different things going on in the library.

First, did you know that the library building is turning 100?!?! Our building, which originally housed the First National Bank, was built in 1913 after the first bank building burned in 1912.  We still have the original marble countertops, coffered ceilings, and vault doors.  The Friends of the Library will be serving cookies and punch to celebrate and we will have displays featuring the history of the library.

We will also be introducing our Seed Sharing Library on Saturday.  We are beginning the process of gathering locally acclimated, heirloom seeds.  In the spring, we will have seeds available for "check out."  We hope that after you take seeds to plant, at the end of the growing season, you will be able to return some seeds back to us to maintain the library.  On Saturday we will be introducing the concept of a Seed Sharing Library in greater detail. Below is some information that Lisa has put together about our Seed Sharing Library:

Stop on by Saturday!  We'd love to see you!!

Julie's Journal: On New Experiences

A while back I wrote a post on my trip to the Dallas World Aquarium and a kind patron told me that I needed to write more posts about the things I'm doing in my everyday life.  While I appreciated his comment, there is a slight problem with that.....I hardly ever do anything interesting!!  I have a very quiet routine... coming to work and going home and coming back to work.  My weekends are spent at home or hanging out with my family.  While I love my life, there really isn't much there to write about that anyone would want to read.

However, yesterday I had an opportunity to do something I had never done before.  One of our patrons has a new toy.  He has purchased a Can-am Spyder and whenever he has come in the library lately he's been telling us about it. 

Well, yesterday he offered me a ride, and I think I shocked everyone in the library when I said I'd go!  I'd never been on any type of motorcycle before and I believe it's actually probably been about 15 years since I was even in a convertible.  (I told you I wasn't interesting!)  My knowledge of motorcycles is extremely limited, but from what I understand the Can-am is considered a touring motorcycle. Whatever its classifications though, it was quite a thrill for me.  A short ride through town left me smiling the rest of the day.          

What new things have you done recently?  What new thing do you want to do?  Let me know in the comments below.  I'm very interested!  I may need to make a point of doing something new more often!

Chance's Corner: Doctor Sleep

Anyone who knows Stephen King knows about The Shining in one form of another. One form is  possibly one of the scariest books ever written. The other is Stanley Kubrick's The Shining starring Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd, and Scatman Crothers, which in my opinion (not Stephen King's) is possibly one of the scariest movies ever made. As a quick overview of The Shining, Jack Torrance takes a job as winter caretaker at the Overlook Hotel in the Colorado Mountains with his wife, Wendy, and extraordinarily gifted son, Danny, in tow. It seems to be a dream come true for Jack, who is trying to escape the temptation of his alcoholic past and extreme aggression. To Danny, however, it's a nightmare. The snow grows deeper. The boiler grows hotter. The rotten and insidious past literally haunts the maze-like halls -- lusting for Danny's secret and powerful gift. The ending really depends on what you've seen versus what you've read. Now that that's out of the way...

Stephen King's Doctor Sleep, a sequel that's taken 36 years to get here, tells the continuing story of Danny Torrance (now Dan). The prologue briefly picks up right where the last one dropped off and is about as close to the original book as this story gets. There a few references here and there later on, but this isn't a revisit to the original material. The prologue is mainly the most brutal part in this entire book. It's here that we learn that Dan grows up to be a hopeless alcoholic with fits of extreme aggression (just like his Daddy Dearest). There are also sickening descriptions of vomit, feces, two counts of child molestation/rape, and one count of brutal child abuse. Why? Shock value I assume. I could have lived without it.

The ball really starts rolling when Dan reaches the town of Frazier, New Hampshire. Here he finds hope very quickly (thank God) in the AA and starts putting his waning special ability to good use at a local hospice earning him the name Doctor Sleep. Terror seems absent during this elaborate setup of Dan's recovery and the birth and age progression of another special child named Abra who seems to have a strong connecting link to Dan. In the shadows, a cult of ageless people called the True Knot, overseen by a beautiful woman known as Rose the Hat, drift across America in their RVs and suck the essence out of all the children that possess the same ability Dan has. That's about as spooky as it gets. Ooooohhhh... RVer's. I didn't get any tingles from this group.

I really started to enjoy Doctor Sleep until the last 20% of the book. It is here that King tosses the reader a plot twist and desperately tries to make it work. It doesn't. It killed the entire feel of the book to me. It killed the entire feel of The Shining. Overall, it just made everything feel like a cheap sham. I am beginning to sense an overall pattern here with King's books. He just doesn't know how to end them.

Giveaway : Winner!!!

And the winner is.....

Laurel Norwood

 

Congratulations!!!

 

Come on in and claim your prize!