Haunting

We’re just five months away from the best holiday of the year!

I’m already plotting a trip to Witch City between now and then.

In the meantime, I recently visited Sheffield Island Lighthouse off the coast of Norwalk, CT.

According to popular magazine Conde Nast Traveler, it is one of two places in the Nutmeg State that have made national news as places where visitors have reported paranormal activity.

The other is Mark Twain’s home in Hartford.

Urban legend tells that an apparition of a woman in white can sometimes be seen. Also, tourists have caught the scent of cigar smoke in the home’s billiard’s room.

A bit too predictable on the latter spectral events, perhaps, but nonetheless a powerful way to evoke what we know of the man while he was among the living.

Built in 1868, Sheffield Island Lighthouse gives off somewhat forlorn vibes.

I was lucky enough to visit on a day where the cloud cover overshadowed the weathered stone structure, adding a mysterious quality to the composition I ended up selecting for this month’s post.

The island itself has seen its share of hardship.

Not pictured are the ruins of a newer house that sustained heavy damage in one storm or another. An old wreck and various detritus are also strewn across the southern end of the island near the beach.

This makes for an interesting juxtaposition with the sleek skyline of NYC some 47 miles away that I also tried to capture on my visit.

As far as hauntings go, the story runs that an archaeologist heard “strange chanting music” as well as a foghorn on their trip to the lighthouse.

I have found nothing else out about this, and Conde Naste seems to be the only available source with these small details.

Fascinating how sometimes four or five words are all it takes to capture our imagination!

The photo is the very first one I took upon arrival. The skies cleared up a bit during the hour and a half or so that our tour was on site.

I didn’t actually go in the lighthouse. For whatever reason, the interior didn’t interest me.

I did, however, imagine what life on the very small island might have been like in the mid-nineteenth century. And what might be in store for me during an overnight.

I envisioned reading books by candlelight and cooking a simple but rewarding meal for myself over a woodfire stove. A decidedly quiet, natural sojourn.

Truth be told, I’m more likely to be haunted by my regrets in life.

I am very pleased indeed at how the photo came out. I did very little to bring out what was already there in post. I purposely underexposed a little when I took the photo and had to brighten up some details like the pine tree’s limbs.

At the same time, I accentuated the uppermost clouds a touch to help enhance the mood.

I’ll end by asking those of you reading what captures your imagination, whether in the sense of a haunting or another mood that doesn’t fail to strike you.