Electric Ghosts

This is probably not a ghost story, though sometimes it feels like one. I go back and forth quite a bit about ghosts; thinking if there ARE any, then everything else we think of as super or supra natural has to be here, too. That means God and angels and maybe (possibly) demons?

Actually, I think demons are in a class by themselves. They confuse me, for one thing, because the original Biblical passages about Satan involve a sort of celestial being who served as a kind of prosecuting attorney (see the story of Job). 

Somehow, this angel-prosecutor evolved into the Lord of Darkness or Hell, but as a playwright, I see a lot of holes in that script, though it makes for great movies and TV.

Demons aside, could there be spirits (ghosts) among us without angels, God and other celestials? I would think not, because if you have one sort, isn't it silly to say that's the only kind? 

As I said, I scuttle between these doors almost daily and haven't settled on the answer. But my house may be trying to help me decide.

When we bought our home last summer, we knew there had been one owner, more or less. Our new neighbors said a man had built the house in 1957 but hadn't been able to stay, and sold it to a couple named Einar and Solveig. Einar died some years ago and Solveig sold the house at age 97.

The couple had two daughters, who must have played in the little playhouse in the backyard. Inside, their 1970s wallpaper greeted us in their bedroom and was also in the kitchen and downstairs. A Southern style mural was downstairs too--and we are changing all of these.

The past seems to intersect with the present not only through the decor and walls of the house; it seems to reside in the electricity, too.

I know, that sounds weird.

When we moved here, the electrical wiring was a mess and needed to be redone. While it seems "mostly" safe and finished, there are some odd things that happen, and while they CAN be explained scientifically (I think), they still feel somewhat ghostly--and maybe that's just about me.

What I'm referring to is that every once in a while, for no outward reason (like overuse), half the lights and electricity cut out. This happens at all hours and times of the day - in the dark, light, whatever. One time it was particularly scary because my husband was in the bedroom and I was watching The Haunting of Hill House.

When everything went dark, I was terrified--especially as my friend Annie told me that ghosts tend to manifest in technology. (She wrote several books about her life in a haunted house, so she ought to know.) After that incident, I've put a flashlight next to me on the couch, because ghost or no ghost, you don't want to be alone in the dark after watching a really scary horror movie.

What is happening when the lights go out? One breaker (in a raft of breakers in the basement) flips to the other side and the lights go out. My electrician refers to this using unintelligible electrician language that I can't remember.

What is left for me to do about it? I go downstairs and flip the breaker back, and then the lights go on. Last night, I did that and by the time I got upstairs and sat down at the dining room table, the breaker went back again. My husband went downstairs at that point and flipped the breaker again, going back and forth once or twice for good measure.

We seem to be all right now. Then again, who knows? Why is that one breaker flipping, at least once a month? And why have the electricians grounded our bathroom outlet, only to have shocks still occuring?

Last but not least, why do electricians cost so much?

Not last, in fact, because I'm still wondering about Einar. Did he die in the house? I'm not sure. Is he mad at us? Playing tricks? I haven't been particularly nice about his electrical work, which he did himself, though I'm sure he was a wonderful baker.

Or maybe I'm just playwriting, and there really is an explanation for the breakers flipping all the time?

That's probably true. But our hall closet has Solveig's name printed on a little white nametag sticker. I plan to leave it there as long as it doesn't disintegrate, just to let Einar know his family is welcome here. Because, you know. Just in case.

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