The Balcony Files - EP11022011

I wander out on my balcony at odd times in the wee hours of the night when I can't sleep, and sometimes I see things. Last night, maybe around 3am (I don't usually check the time, and instead wander around like a sleepy little zombie owl), I was standing out on my balcony and saw something...really strange.

Are you ready for it?

Okay...

I thought I might have seen something sort of like a...ghost.

Now, I'm not entirely sure I believe in ghosts, and why one was wandering outside my apartment complex, I have no idea, but hear me out. Here is the view from my balcony:

See that area I boxed in red? There's a street light nearby that highlights the whole area and it's clear through to the street. It's fuzzier in the picture than if you were looking at it in person. Anyway, I was just standing there looking in that direction, when I saw a semi-transparent shadow move from the tree that's kind of alone there in the middle and drift toward the trees on the right. It was raised off the ground, and I could still see the street through it, but it was definitely some kind of darkish smear. If I had to guess, it was maybe about two feet in length but positioned at around chest height if I was standing down there with it.

After I freaked out a little bit and found my cool again, I tried standing in different places, and squinting my eyes, and all sorts of things to see if I could recreate it. But I couldn't. So it remains a mystery.

Went back to bed, only to get up about an hour later since then I couldn't sleep because I kept thinking about the ghost that lives in the Charlie Brown trees outside my building, and wondering if it would just drift inside if I opened the door. This time, no repeats of ghostly apparitions, but I did see a deer wandering in that same place. He was just walking along the roadside all alone. I've seen bunnies, the occasional fox or two, and a possum walking along the top of the tennis court fence, but that's the first time I've seen a deer. I suppose hunting season drives them out, which makes me sad. Be careful driving and keep an eye out for them, won't you?

So...anybody have any explanations to offer up for the possible ghostly thing that lives a handful of feet from my apartment? 'Cause any logical explanation would be welcome.

~ Meg


On the Needles:
One Row Lace Scarf knitted with Rozetti Polaris in the Leonids colorway. Quick, mindless knit that looks much more complicated than it is. Really digging the sparkles.

NaNoWriMo Word Count: 3397