We Are Not in the Business of Ghost Hunting, Ghost Busting, or Trying to Prove Their Existence - We Just Enjoy Living With So Many Possibilities Day to Day

Birch Hollow Photo by Suzanne Currie

      Yes, it's true. And we wouldn't think of offering any clarification or apology for admitting this! Suzanne and I believe there is an existence beyond this mortal coil. We do believe that those who have crossed over can communicate with the living; if that is, they, the recipients, are willing to receive messages. Many don't believe in life after death, and we have never made it our mission to convert anyone to our way of thinking, which we like to believe is both open minded to possibility, and faith minded, that there is more to the soul than occupying a human body for the years of its mortal existence. We were brought up in households that were most definitely Christian, although mine was much less about carrying those beliefs to Church each Sunday. My mother was God-fearing but not church going. As a youngster, growing up in the old city of Toronto, the Jackson family would at times, attend services three times on Sundays. Until that is, my grandfather Stanley got stiffed by a church congregation after building them their new place of worship. He never got paid, but did eventually come back to a former church-life, and as I noted previously, he actually died on the steps of one in Florida. Suzanne's family even helped out at church fundraising sales and at regular suppers held at the Windermere United Church. So both of us have an upbringing of various degrees of religious adherence but we did not foist our beliefs on our sons, letting them make up their own minds about the distance between heaven and hell. We don't really involve religion as the end all, when we bring up the fact of our lives, that all four of us at some time or another, have had other worldly encounters that aren't so easy to dismiss. But then why would we. It's not like we're afraid of these messages from the so called "other side." There's nothing threatening about them. They're just friendly reminders you might say, and we take them at face value without so much as a chill down the spine.

     Suzanne and I have been experiencing paranormal activities in the places we have dwelled, since our first days of marriage. I won't bore you with the details of these, because honestly, they're in the multiple hundreds, and most of the more involved ones, we haven't shared with anyone. But we are not ghost advocates, (and we really don't think about them as such), and although we can normalize these encounters because they have been so frequent, we don't speak at ghost-spotting seminars, and would never, ever, attend a ghost-hunting adventure especially if there is a joiner's fee. The ghost for profit thing bothers us. And we would never endorse or get involved in any action to dispatch an alleged "resident" ghost from a so-called haunted house. If it was a seriously researched haunted house, after all the due diligence was performed to document this fact, why the heck would you want to get rid of that old gang of once upon a time? So here's where both Suzanne and I differ with the ghost haters out there. Of all the situations we've been involved in, as far as the alleged paranormal goes, we have had a few unsettling encounters, but never anything even close to malevolent. Nothing particularly frightening, or Hollywood worthy, and that might seem odd to you, because ghosts and wayward spirits, visible or not, are like poisonous snakes....and not sanctioned to slither loose about the house while vulnerable humans reside within.

     Let me explain this a little further. Suzanne has been my writing and research assistant for as long as we have been a couple. She has been a part of all my heritage involvements in South Muskoka, which have been extensive when I think back to the early 1980's, which has included an intensive period working as a curatorial team at Bracebridge's Woodchester Villa and Museum. By the way, a most wonderful and engaging octagonal estate built for woolen mill founder, Henry Bird back in the 1880's. From 1983 until the fall of 1989, our whole family, including my mother Merle, who was a tour guide, spent a lot of quality time laboring to keep the site open on a very short shoe string budget. That meant an intensive relationship with a building that had it all, as far as interactive entities, who for all intents and purposes, seemed to appreciate the fact a new and sensitive family was keeping the old house cozy and inviting to others who wished our intimate tours. Well, it was a haunted house by all definitions, and there were other corroborating stories told by former occupants of the house. This wasn't a game changer, and the frequent intrusions, while unsettling initially, didn't stop us from looking after the amazing estate, and taking the time to understand all its spiritual gyrations. The best time for these strange yet endearing interventions came at Christmas when the museum / house was decorated, with an attractive tree set up in the parlor, and carols playing from a 78 rpm record on the Victrola. There were voices and sensations all the live long day, that we would occupy the building, but not once in those intense days and years trying to keep the house open, did we feel oppressed or distressed by what sensations came down the pike. We never got the feeling the entities wanted us "out" of the residence, but to the contrary, they wanted us to stay and seemed only mildly upset, when we left the premises. I can remember looking back at the house, in the low light just before sunset, and being quite sure I had seen a face in the window, and the curtain fall back into place before I turned back to the task of trundling our gear and young sons down that hillside above the cataract of the Bracebridge falls.

     We are not the kind of folks who would participate in ghost walks, or cemetery camp-outs to watch for spirits sweeping in their veil of mist, amongst the moss infused tombstones. But we won't discourage those who find these events and projects entertaining. We are, of all things, I suppose, realists and contemporary seekers of more of everything, when it comes to the universality of interesting experiences, whether it's the case we have by happenstance been visited by aliens, or witnessed the landing of their space craft in The Bog across from our house, at Birch Hollow. By the way, we haven't had that experience yet, but if we did, we'd want to pay attention and of course, document the unfolding event. Why not? Just like we wouldn't think of trying to exorcise an entity, that, in our opinion, meant us no earthly harm. You see, we have a much different opinion about this stuff than most who do believe in ghosts and assorted paranormal bandy-legged wee beasties and hobgoblins of the harmful variety. We are always willing to get another side of the story, you might say, and as researchers and historians, and half-energy news hounds for the media, we prefer to get the scoop on whatever breaking news is offered to us. And if it happens to be a message from beyond the grave, whether it is a visual sighting of an entity we can't explain, or something internal or external that causes us to suddenly recall an event, a person, or a situation intimate to us and few others, we really don't have any reason to deny our senses, or sensibilities for that matter. We could easily compose a book of what we believe have been messages from those who have crossed-over, who we validate each and every time, thanking them for letting us know, for example, they are okay as entities on the so called "other side." We don't get spirited messages like, "get the heck out of our house," and "we're going to kick your ass if you don't!" I can remember finishing my good friend (and book collecting colleague) Dave Brown's biography, about a year after his death, and after putting all the typed pages together, and the research notes aside, I felt the significant weight and clench of his big hand, on my right shoulder, providing a definite and trademark Dave "pat on the back." Just before this, I had said out loud, even with no one else to hear, "Well Dave, I hope you will approve of the book, because it's the best I can do." Dave was persnickety and it was one of the most difficult tasks in writing I've ever had. But when I had agreed to write it in the first place, it was at his request. He just didn't tell me he wouldn't live long enough to work at my side to get the text right, as to his specifications. So yes, I knew full well, that Dave was letting me know, the bio was to his liking. And, where it happened on that night, was right beside the couch where Dave would sleep on his visits to Birch Hollow.

     Suzanne and I are both contemporary, "in the moment" people, who while faithful to historical truths and facts, and always take a critical approach with our research, don't dwell in time lost and bygone days in our daily lives. When we have a strange but not unwelcome encounter of the paranormal perimeter, we talk about it for awhile, try to understand why it happened, and what message we can garner from the interaction. But we don't freak out about it, and truth be known, we are quite positive about the apparent reality, that we as mortals, are considered receptors for incoming messages. No, we're not psychics and we have not abilities to contact the deceased or enquire for anyone else, what their relatives are doing in the great beyond. But if we did know, well, we'd be reluctant to pass it on, because, you see, we are not qualified; and prefer only to continue on our merry way as happenstance receivers of incoming intel, for our own use. And for writing posts like this one today.