Sandy J. Hartwick's Blog, page 2
November 13, 2020
Kindness from Strangers
Photo by Lisa Fotios from Pexels
“He was a veteran; I could tell, because he was wearing a ball cap that mentioned his service in Vietnam. “
Kindness from Strangers
Have you ever experienced kindness from a stranger? I am not talking about the general civility of holding open a door for another person or letting someone into line in front of you at the grocery store, which are wonderful things and sadly seem to be becoming rare events. I am talking about someone going out of their way to help you, turning a bad situation into something better.
In an age where people judge you for most anything, your political affiliations, your tattoos or whatever, it is refreshing to experience such kindness or let’s call it what it is…love.
A few years ago I was at lunch with my parents at a popular Italian restaurant chain. My father decided he needed to use the restroom and it was a long walk from where we were seated to the bathrooms. My father was tottery, the Parkinson’s disease he suffered with was making him dizzy and it was difficult for him to walk. I held his arm as we walked slowly to the back of the restaurant. I had no idea how I was going to help him once we reached the restrooms.
As we reached the restroom door, a man older than me, but younger than my father, approached and told me he would help my dad. He was a veteran; I could tell, because he was wearing a ball cap that mentioned his service in Vietnam. I was so relieved and amazed that someone had come to help me in this situation!
After a while they both came out the restroom and I thanked him profusely. I walked my father back to the table feeling grateful and blessed. To some, I suppose it was a small thing, but to me it meant so much. I didn’t have to humiliate my father by taking him into the women’s restroom or embarrass both of us by taking him into the men’s room. A stranger saw the situation and got up from his meal to help us.
So many say they want to bridge the divisiveness we are seeing in our country these days. Let’s do it. Start by showing kindness to your fellow man. Do something without expecting any thanks or compensation. And most of all, don’t prejudge your neighbors, you do not know their hearts or experience. Kindness is free.
November 12, 2020
Thanksgiving Circa 1970-1984
Reflecting back on the Thanksgivings of my childhood, I seem to hone in on the ones spent at the Soderstrom residence in Mason, Nevada. This is the house where my father’s parents Gladys and Dave lived.
By some arrangement, we almost always spent Thanksgiving with my father’s parents and Christmas with my mother’s parents. I recall the men sitting in the living room watching football, the women working like mad preparing the feast in the kitchen and all of the kids running around outside, as long it wasn’t freezing.
It was rare that all of the cousins would be together on Thanksgiving, but when it happened, there would be nine of us hellions running around and having a blast. I remember riding the big, red trike around the concrete walk that circled the house, playing tag or horses or some other game with my cousins. All of the running would keep us warm, because most Thanksgivings offered brisk temperatures.
I remember the long dining table decked out with a lace tablecloth, fine china and real silver for the adults and a couple of card tables set up as the kid tables. My grandmother was really good about setting up little paper cups filled with M&Ms for all of us kidlets.
When the turkey was finally done, one of the men finally did some work and carved the bird. Even the kids were excited to sit down and eat. Grandma’s mashed potatoes and gravy were especially delicious.
After all of those hours of work, it seemed the meal was over quickly. Everyone was stuffed and the kids wanted to go play again. Once we were old enough, my cousin and I were put to work washing dishes, an unfortunate privilege of being the oldest girls (I don’t remember my brother ever having to do dishes!). Grandma didn’t have a dishwasher.
Eventually there was room for dessert, pumpkin pie as always, which Grandma served with Cool Whip. (I remember Cool Whip as such a delicious treat, but once I got older and learned a little about nutrition, it’s something I never let my kids eat.)
As the evening passed, the adults would visit and sometimes the football game would be over and we might be lucky enough to watch the Snoopy Thanksgiving special. The visiting went on and on until it was late and then leftovers were loaded along with sleepy kids into the car.
When you are a child it seems like things will never change. I can still remember the golden November sunsets in my grandparents’ backyard and the shouts and laughter of all the cousins.
Time does its work and you get to sit at the grown up table, which turns out to be not as much fun as the kid table and then Thanksgiving changes, because Grandpa and Grandma are not up to hosting. New traditions arise as cousins marry and move away.
I wish someone had told me to treasure those times, because they are not forever. Maybe everyone else thought it would go on and on too.
Photo by Dex Ezekiel on Unsplash
” It was rare that all of the cousins would be together on Thanksgiving, but when it happened, there would be nine of us hellions running around and having a blast.”
November 11, 2020
Homeward Bound
Homeward Bound
It has been over four years since we moved to Idaho. I love the state. Idaho is blessed with an unbelievable amount of water, gorgeous country, endless farms and barns and wonderful people. In fact, what I love most about Idaho are the incredibly nice people. I am going to miss them.
By some wacky fortune (this is a tale in itself, which I may tell someday), we are moving back to Nevada and not just anywhere in Nevada, but right back where we started from–Smith Valley. We are moving to the Plymouth Ranch, a historic ranch that has ties to some of my relatives. There are two houses on the property, one the original structure, a large home that has served well, but is ready for some love and a facelift and a smaller home that is move-in ready. There are also some really cool, old outbuildings, a big barn that I call the horse barn, a large brick shop, an old feed mill complete with silos, corrals and some smaller outbuildings that have much potential.
Our current home in Idaho turned out to be much more of a fixer than we realized and as I type, our contractors are finishing up the master bath remodel. I guess what I am trying to say is that the fixer-upper process is far from ending, it is starting all over again. There is so much to do that it is a bit overwhelming, not to mention the packing up and moving part.
If you have been following the blog, I had some technical issues and fell off my blog horse for over a week, but I am getting back into the saddle and hope to keep at it in spite of moving, holidays, etc. I plan on keeping you posted on our progress on the ranch and the great big move.
October 31, 2020
A Las Vegas Haunting
Photo by Guido Coppa on Unsplash
A Las Vegas Haunting
This spooky story comes from Lynn and Matthew; they shared their first spooky story yesterday, “Sammy Sees It.”
Their second story happened in 2003-2004. Lynn and Matthew began to attend church in Las Vegas and were randomly grouped together with another couple for Bible study. They drove out to meet and have Bible study with B. and his wife.
B. lived in an old area of Las Vegas in the family home that he had grown up in, in fact the street that he lived on bore his last name. This area of homes featured large lots, with most homes on at least one acre.
The home was old style with a sunken living room, sunken master bedroom and lots of old creepy wallpaper. The house had an odd, very long hallway, shag carpet and looked its vintage of 1960’s–nothing had been updated. Out in the back yard were tennis courts and 4-5 random and odd cement slabs. The property was on a large lot.
The house made Lynn ill at ease. It did not help that the home was decorated in renaissance style with various swords in the living room and in the master bedroom there was a full suit of armor, complete with sword. Lynn kept reminding herself that these were nice people that they had met at church.
They held Bible study in the living room, first watching the assigned video and then having a discussion and prayer.
Lynn continued to feel “creeped out,” the home was in the middle of nowhere and everything felt off. The bad feelings continued to grow and to make matters worse, Lynn felt the urgent need to empty her bladder. She knew she would have to go down the long, dark hallway to use the bathroom.
At last she had to go. She walked down the hallway and found the light okay. She entered the restroom, turned on the light and noticed the old, weird 60’s wallpaper.
As she sat on the toilet she had a horrible feeling that she must not turn her head to the right toward the shower and the closed shower curtain. The feeling poured over that she MUST NOT look to her right.
“At this point, I don’t think I could have forced my head to the right to look.” Lynn finished and wanted to wash her hands.
“I walked as close to the wall on the left as I could. I washed my hands, not daring to look right or worse look into the mirror. I turned the light off and almost ran back to the living room.”
I sat down and tried to act normally. There was a knock at the front door. It was 8:30 on a Tuesday night, we were out in the middle of nowhere and down a long driveway–we should have seen whoever it was drive up. B. got up to answer the door. There was no one there. B. said, “Huh? No one there.”
Lynn said, “Maybe it was a ghost?”
B.’s wife said, “Why do you say that?”
Lynn, ” Why do ask why?”
B’s wife, “No, why, did you see something? Was it in the hallway? Was it in the bathroom?’
Lynn told them everything.
B.’s wife, “Yeah, there’s something here.”
Lynn, “What do you mean?”
B.’s wife, “We think this house is haunted. We’ve already had an exorcism.”
She went on to tell them that the activity happened in the hallway, one of the bedrooms AND the shower that Lynn had been too frightened to look at. There were the usual signs of a haunted house, knocks at the door, unexplained sounds and phenomena. She told Lynn that they hoped holding Bible study in the home would stop the activity.
On the way home Lynn and Matthew talked about how creepy the house was –Lynn wondered why their vehicle felt off. It felt like the bad presence from the house was still with them. Matthew felt it too. They prayed. Remembering their earlier experience from their old apartment, Lynn commanded, “Bad ghost, get out of here! You’re not welcome!” The bad feeling passed.
After some time the couple divorced, but Lynn and Matthew remained in contact with B. One day they were in B.’s backyard and Lynn asked him about all of the random concrete pads. B. said, “I don’t know if it’s true, but some say that back in the day the mob buried bodies out here and put slabs over them. Then people would put sheds or tables over the slabs to make it look normal.”
“No wonder your house is haunted B.!” said Lynn.
Lynn says she will never go to that house again.
October 30, 2020
Sammy Sees It
It was in 2002 or 2003, a year or two after their marriage, that Lynn and Matthew had an unsettling experience in their apartment.
It was Christmas time and Lynn was sitting on the living room floor wrapping presents. Matthew was sitting on the couch watching TV and Sammy, their dog, as always was in his favorite place under the coffee table, asleep.
Out of a dead sleep, Sammy was up and barking. Sammy was a dog that never barked.
Lynn said, “His hair on his spine was standing on end. He was barking like the dog in Cujo, growling, baring his teeth. He was staring at something in the kitchen.” Sammy was a docile dog, kind and gentle. Now all sixty five pounds of Sammy was going crazy, barking at nothing.
“Shut up Sammy!” Matthew shouted. But Sammy didn’t even acknowledge Matthew. Normally, Sammy was totally submissive to him.
Lynn stood up. There was nothing in the kitchen. She walked into the kitchen and got a chill. Something was wrong. Something bad.
“What if it’s a ghost?” she asked Matthew.
“There’s no ghost.” said Matthew.
Sammy barked on and on, it was nearly ten minutes now. Lynn called to Sammy, “Sammy come here!” But the dog didn’t budge one step towards the kitchen.
Lynn went with her hunch. “Bad ghost, get out of my kitchen, you are not welcome!”
Instantly the atmosphere changed and Sammy stopped barking. He was happy and every hair had settled back to normal. He licked Lynn (he normally never licked) and tried to sit on her lap.
Nothing paranormal happened after that, but Lynn never felt at ease in the apartment again. She felt compelled to turn the light on when she walked down the hallway or if she needed to use the restroom in the night. They moved out in February.
Photo by splitshire.com
” His hair on his spine was standing on end. He was barking like the dog in Cujo, growling, baring his teeth. He was staring at something in the kitchen. “
October 29, 2020
In the Stacks
Photo by Jaredd Craig on Unsplash
“I was really walking fast now, starting to freak out, because I remembered my roommate had laughed at me a few weeks ago saying ‘Don’t you know it’s haunted down there?”
In the Stacks
J. attended the University of Nevada, Reno in the 80’s. She lived in Nye Hall, one of the noisiest dorms on campus. She tried many times to study in her room, but it was so loud. She decided to try the library, which was better. “It was quieter, but I was distracted by the different people coming and going.”
Then,she discovered the stacks–deep in the basement, rows and rows of books. “It was so quiet, so few people, and the rows and stacks of books went on and on. You could almost get lost down there.”
One winter night she came down to the stacks to work on a paper. “It was really empty down there that night. I think I only saw a couple of other people. I was working away, deep in my work, when I felt something brush the back of my hair.”
J. had waist length strawberry-blonde hair at the time. “I froze. I didn’t know if there was someone behind me or what to think. I sat there for a second and then a book fell off the shelf to my right. I jumped up and turned around. No one there. The book was a huge volume and I didn’t see how it could have fallen off the shelf. I suddenly realized how late it was and grabbed my things to leave. As I walked out, the fluorescent lights kind of buzzed and blinked as I walked along one after another. I was really walking fast now, starting to freak out, because I remembered my roommate had laughed at me a few weeks ago saying ‘Don’t you know it’s haunted down there?'”
J. was almost to the stairs when she heard another book hit the floor. She ran up the stairs and didn’t look back. She never went to the stacks again.
October 28, 2020
La Llorona
Photo by Volkan Olmez on Unsplash
My friend M. shares the legend of La Llorona, the crying woman. While M. never encountered La Llorona, her grandma used the tale to enforce good behavior.
M. says, “The story varies a little depending on who tells it, but the gist is simple. Basically,long ago, a woman named Maria, married a rich man, with whom she eventually had two children. Then their marriage hit a rough patch–her husband spent less and less time at home, and whenever he was home, he paid attention only to the children.
Eventually, she sees him with another woman. Enraged beyond reason, some versions claim Maria drowned her two children—but she immediately regretted it, crying out, “Ay, mis hijos!” (Translation: “Oh, my children!” or “Oh, my sons!”)
Maria is sometimes said to have drowned herself afterward. But when she arrived at heaven’s gates, she was denied entry, banished back to purgatory on Earth until she could find her lost children. She’s now known as La Llorona, which translates to “the weeping woman.”
My grandma would tell us if we went outside late or by water La Llorana would grab you and no one would ever see you again.
Grandma said that she was punished, because she choose a man over her children. That you could hear her at night calling for her kids.
I don’t know if you notice, but it’s very rare you hear about Latino kids drowning ! We were scared to go near the water !!
If you look up the movie or the story it gives you different versions.”
Your grandma was a tough cookie M.! I probably would never have learned to swim if I heard that story.
“My grandma would tell us if we went outside late or by water La Llorana would grab you and no one would ever see you again.”
October 27, 2020
A Cry For Help
Photo by Almos Bechtold on Unsplash
“They heard a woman’s voice from inside the car, “Help us! We’re in here.” The men worked harder, struggling against their own hypothermia.”
A Cry For Help
Tonight I’m running short on spooky stories, so I thought I would share a story that some of you may remember–it made national news in March 2015.
First responders arrived at the scene of a car crash in Utah. The car had gone off a bridge and rested upside down submerged in a river. Because the car could not be seen from the roadway, it was 14 hours after the accident before a fisherman discovered it and called for help.
Four police officers arrived first on the scene. When they saw an arm through the window they jumped into the icy river to search for survivors. They heard a woman’s voice from inside the car, “Help us! We’re in here.” The men worked harder, struggling against their own hypothermia.
They pulled an unconscious, 18 month old baby girl from the wreckage. The baby had been hanging upside down in her car seat since the time of the accident, her head above the water that filled the car below her. They discovered her mother dead in the front seat; her injuries led them to believe that she died on impact.
Reflecting on the voice that had pleaded for their help one of the officers said, “I don’t know what I thought I heard,” he said. “I’m not a typically religious guy. It’s hard to explain — it was definitely something. Where and why it came from, I’m not sure.”
Later, talking over the incident, one of the officers said he thought he was hearing things, but then the other officers said they heard it too. Here is a link to the story: https://www.foxnews.com/us/utah-officers-say-mysterious-voice-called-them-to-rescue-baby-trapped-inside-car
October 26, 2020
The Unlikely Hiker
On July 3, 1994, Robert Speer and his cousin were making their way down the trail in the mountains near Twin Lakes, California.
An older lady, around eighty (he guessed) was making her way up the trail. She was alone and dressed in street clothing. The boys said “Hi” and she echoed “Hi” back as she continued up the path.
It seemed odd, because she was headed up the path and the sun was beginning to set. The boys continued down the mountain and forgot about it. Robert and his cousin made it to the little cafe at the resort where they met their parents.
Later that evening at their cabin on lower lake, Robert learned that an elderly woman, an acquaintance of his grandmother had an accident; she and her vehicle had gone into lower lake that afternoon. She had died. When Robert saw her picture he was certain it was the same woman on the trail.
The next day was 4th of July and Robert and his cousin had volunteered to help at the pancake breakfast in nearby Bridgeport. As they were cleaning up at the end, Robert stopped and stared at the crowd on the street.
Walking through the throngs of people, Robert was sure it was the woman they had seen on the trail. He turned and tried to get his cousin’s attention, “Hey! Isn’t that–“
From behind him he heard her call, “Do you remember me?”
When he turned back the woman had vanished.
Photo by Sergei Akulich on Unsplash
“From behind him he heard her call, “Do you remember me?” “
October 25, 2020
Ghosts at School, Home AND Work!
Photo by Jon Butterworth on Unsplash
“They said the spirits probably followed me home from work at a nursing home, plus living on a haunted campus itself.”
Ghosts at School, Home AND Work!
T. studied to become an ER nurse and while attending college worked at nursing homes.
T. is part Lakota from the Cheyenne River Tribe and went to college for a semester at Haskell Indian Nations University, located in Lawrence, Kansas. Only natives registered in a tribe are allowed to attend. Haskell began in 1884 and has its own cemetery. It has a reputation for ghost sightings and phenomena.
T. says there were always reports of sightings and paranormal activity. T. could hear furniture moving around in the room above her dorm room almost every night, but then she got to know the girl that lived in that dorm and the girl said she never moved her furniture around–especially not in the middle of the night.
T. says, “I always just felt a presence there and I was scared of the deep darkness. The type of darkness you can’t even see shadows in. I had told one of my friends and they said the spirits probably followed me home from work at a nursing home, plus living on a haunted campus itself. That’s when I started sleeping with a dream catcher in my window and it got so bad and I was so scared that my friend had a friend of hers come smudge my room for me. It either helped or it made me feel better or both?
The natives believe strongly in spirits and smudging and I loved hearing all their stories about that sort of thing.”
A long time ago, I am unsure if I was awake or still asleep and dreaming but I was laying on my left side and I opened my eyes and there was a very tall, lanky man wearing a long black trench coat. He was a dark figure, but I could see the outline of his shoulders in the dark and his grey mustache. But the rest of him was black, however it stood out in the black of night. He didn’t move and appeared to be looking down at me. I don’t think I’d be as tall as he was–even if I stood on the bed.” (T. is tall.)
The trouble did not end when she left Haskell. T. remembers,”Another memory I have is that I was laying in bed and I opened my eyes and in the darkness was the door, straight ahead and slightly to the right. But standing just to the left of it, to where I could see his black outline against the white walls was a dark, bulky shadow. It appeared like it was just looking at me at the end of the bed. It had the strong, dominant presence of a man and that’s why I always refer to it as ‘him’ when I think back about it. I was so terrified I couldn’t move, felt like I couldn’t breath. He began to move more left around the side of the bed into the darkness. I remember the red digital numbers on the alarm clock on my dresser against the other wall he was now walking by. I squeezed my eyes shut and then the alarm clock started going off. I started to scream and opened my eyes and the lights were on and the alarm clock was off. The alarm clock said 12:13 in those bright red digital numbers.
That was the last time I saw him, but while I lived in that house I was constantly hearing knocking in the middle of the night, sometimes right on the window directly next to my bed. I honestly was always too scared to open my eyes in the darkness while I lived there.”
T. was around twenty when the shadow men bothered her and she was living in Oklahoma. The shadow figures were in two different houses. T. figured that maybe she brought them home with her from work.
She has worked night shift since 2003 and has had plenty of weird, spooky things happen at work as well. Countless times call lights would go off in empty rooms or doors opened and shut with nobody around. Sometimes there were loud bangs, knocks, and noises down the dark hallways. Always there was no one there. T. remembers several times patients asking about the man standing in their room, in the dark, in the middle of the night. Or they would ask for the identity of the woman sitting in the chair. T. says, “Every hospital and nursing home I’ve ever worked in, has the superstition that as soon as someone passes, you open the window so their spirit can escape and not be trapped forever there in the lonely hospital.”
