While awake...

Some of the best ghost stories I have ever heard were told by my friend when we were around 10 or 11 years old. We would set up 'ghost story telling meetings' on rainy summer days, preferable on someone's grandma's attic. If that didn't work out we also had the option of hiding under a large blanket, pretending to be in the midst of war, or to close all the shades in the room and light a candle. Each of us would improvise tales of horror and suspension, but noone ever came close in story telling skills to my friend. She knew how to build up a story with just the right amount of ingredients, and she always knew how to end the story so that people were left numb with fear and doubt.

While awake...

Today we took a trip to a beautiful hill dedicated to a man who is now in a city upon a shining hill.

Most of the things I know about him I learned of after moving here, to the very state he so loved. Peggy Noonan's "When Character Was King" is still waiting to be read. I did try reading parts of the book right around the time of his passing, but the Kleenex box immediately ran out of tissues... Need I say more? Gotta read this one when hubby isn't home to watch my swollen red eyes...