IT'S TIME TO GO BACK TO BEING WEIRD
from the New Mat Top Hat (May 2009)
JACKSON RUN -- I want to express in this, my last article, how much I have enjoyed being a part of the New Matamoras community. The last two years that I've spent here have become ingrained in my memory and I will carry fond thoughts of the land along the river with some of the friendliest people around.
When I came here in February 2007 with my late husband, it was with the intention of getting a taste of retirement, and it was a much needed break from an extremely busy life and work load -- not to mention a respite from weirdness. I'll explain later.
Early in 2006 Ethan had mentioned to me how much he loved southeastern Ohio. He used to come here to hunt every fall with his sons, his brother and his nephews. In fact, his brother had bought a house on Jackson Run in 1989, which he subsequently sold to the people who currently live there. Ethan wished his brother had kept that place because he loved the woods and the area and wished he had thought to buy property here years ago.
I said to him, "Well, you could still buy property there, if you want." He looked at me and said, "But you wouldn't want to move there."
"What makes you say that?" I replied. "Maybe I need a change."
I remember the twinkle in his blue eyes. "You mean, you would consider it?" Not only did I consider it, but I was aching for some new direction in our lives. I was getting burned out with my job and I felt there was too much stress in my life, due to my "outside interests" and the burden of always being the one to turn to.
So we wrote the Marietta Chamber of Commerce and gathered information, hoping to take a trip when summer came, to check out the area. Then, Ethan got sick the end of February 2006. A strange viral pneumonia triggered his pulmonary fibrosis and he almost died. He went on oxygen and life changed quite suddenly for both of us. I gave up on the idea of pursuing the "Southeast Ohio Dream."
Later that summer, someone suggested that Ethan might not need as much oxygen if we lived at a lower altitude. Where we lived in Colorado it was 6,000 feet. When we asked the doctor, she admitted that it was possible he might do better at a lower altitude. Once again I began researching the southeastern Ohio area, and on the Internet I found the house on Jackson Run. When I told Ethan, he grew excited and wanted us to make a trip out to see the house.
You may think it s a bit much for somebody to travel almost 2,000 miles to look at a piece of real estate, but this is the man who traveled 2,000 miles to meet me... and look where I ended up because of it. Anyway, I got a couple of weeks off from work and we drove to Marietta the end of September.
Ethan wired the car so that we could bring the oxygen concentrator, since he needed it full time. He did seem to improve as soon as we left the high country.
The house on Jackson Run was the only property we looked at on that trip. We liked it and so we bought it. It wasn't quite that simple, though. We still had to list our home in Colorado, and this was at the time when the real estate market was starting to sour. I guess it was meant to be, though, because within two months our place sold and in another two months we arrived in New Matamoras, along with a snow storm and freezing temperatures at the end of January 2007.
I loved it here. I loved the woods, I loved the river, and when spring came the birds were my passion. It was quiet, it was secluded, and it didn't take me long to get used to not having a job any more. I had already made up my mind, when we moved, that I was going to become a "normal person." I wasn't going to talk to anybody in our new community about my interests other than writing novels, raising chickens and being a songbird fanatic -- all of which were safe, "normal" topics.
Sometimes I think being weird is like wearing a badge that everyone can see. We were there only a couple of days when some locals came to the house and the first thing the man asked was, "(So-and-So) tells me you're psychic."
I didn't know what to say. Okay, I'm intuitive, but I wouldn't go so far as to say I'm actually psychic, although they say everybody is -- to a certain extent. I kind of laughed it off and said, "Well, not really... but I am into UFOs."
Maybe it was the wrong thing to say. His wife got that look and her eyes rolled up into her head. But her husband said, "Oh, yeah, I'm interested in UFOs!" The wife kind of slunk away at that point. I didn't need to be psychic to pick up that she wanted nothing to do with aliens or space craft.
I decided from then on just to hush up and try to remember not to bring it up with anybody again.
You see, back in Colorado I was known as the "UFO lady" because back in the 1980s I was an associate director of an organization that helped UFO percipients, which translates to people who think they've been abducted or have had some kind of contact with an unidentified craft or the folks who fly them. My role was to listen, to record their stories, investigate, and try to reassure them that they weren't necessarily crazy or alone. I, too, had experienced some anomalous and unexplained weirdness, and all my life I've been weird (which isn't a bad thing, it just means I think differently from most folks).
I guess that's what attracted my husband to me. It was because of our mutual interest in the subject that he found me and traveled 2,000 miles just to meet me. At that time in my life I was actively holding public meetings about UFOs, spreading awareness so that people could learn that the subject is not just something to make fun of. Real people, including police officers and airline pilots -- and yes, even our astronauts -- have witnessed the unexplainable.
There are countless instances of very credible sightings and contacts that have taken place over many decades. For reasons known only to them, certain people in control of our government and our military do not want everyone else to know the truth about our planet's visitors. Other countries in the world, such as Mexico and Belgium, are much more open with their citizens about the subject. Since July 1947 and the Roswell incident, extraterrestrials became a matter of national security and a grand plan to brainwash the public into believing witnesses are crazy and that UFOs do not exist was launched. The controlled media always makes fun of sightings... haven't you noticed?
Most people I would talk to found the subject fascinating, and usually had their own story to share. They would call me at all hours of the day or night, call me at work, corner me on the street, and after years of that, I felt I needed a break. My little monthly UFO newsletter, The Star Beacon, which I began in April 1987, grew into what it is today, a 16-page color magazine, now in its 23rd year. I have subscribers all over the world, and the Internet has allowed me to expand with a PDF version and a Web site that offers many of the articles free each month.
It's easy to get burned out on being weird, especially when you're trying to raise a family, have enough time for your husband, write novels on the side, and go camping and bird watching. I got stretched really thin in 2006 -- to the breaking point -- which is why coming to Ohio seemed to be the right choice. Of course the fact that my husband needed to come here to enjoy his last years was the most important reason, and I've never regretted that we came.
However, he passed away last September, and I've been alone long enough. Our place is too big for one person, and I want to be close to my 10-month-old grandson who lives in Colorado. So I'm going back this month. I sold the property and am headed for Pagosa Springs, a community of about 1,500 people, with lots and lots of weird folks just like me... I knew it was going to become my home when I visited there last fall.
I've had my fill of being normal, let's face it It's time to go back to being weird, which just happens to be my calling. Pagosa Springs, some say, is a vortex area and right now is attracting a lot of us so-called light workers. What s that, you ask? To put it in simple terms, a light worker is someone who tries to make the world a better place. Sometimes you don't need to do anything except simply be in an area for a while... just sort of light up the area around you... using good thoughts, emitting positive energy and kindness, even if it's just a smile at a stranger or a loving thought. It has nothing to do with being religious, it's a spiritual thing... I know some light workers who don't even have a clue who they are. I'm sure one of them lives on my road.
So now I hope I've explained my reasons and extended my gratitude to you for allowing me to be a part of the New Matamoras community. I may have been somewhat of a hermit all these months, but it was necessary for me to re-energize and get ready to fulfill my mission. We are not far away from December 2012, the end of the Mayan Calendar, and a time many people find exciting because of the possible shift in consciousness and dimension.
Ethan wanted so badly to stick around for it... but you know what? He is anyway! But that's another story.
And if you want the whole story, you'll have to get my book, which coincidentally is coming out this very month. Throughout All Time is my spiritual autobiography about the man who traveled 2,000 miles to meet me, and the ensuing two decades we shared that were not always the dream life we had envisioned.
Naturally, Jackson Run plays its own part in the book. You can order it on my Web site, www.earthstarpublications.com, or it will be available on Amazon.com probably by mid-May. Thank you for letting me share your beautiful corner of Ohio for a while. I will never forget this area nor the friendly faces I've come to know in the last two years.
BE SURE TO CHECK OUT my new column at the Denver Examiner, where you can find articles on Relationship Transition.
To place your order for Ann's new book, THROUGHOUT ALL TIME, click here.
E-mail Ann to leave a comment.