Now That's The Spirit!

People often tell me, "Nan, I feel like the weirdest stuff happens to you." My theory has always been that weird stuff happens to everybody, but they either don't notice, or don't do the event justice in their narrative re-telling.  But after a while... I started to feel as though maybe my life was a bit more odd than that of the average person.  Am I just imagining these events?  Do I over-embellish to make things seem more bizarre than they actually are?  Or even worse... are these things actually happening, but I'm the only one who can see them?!

This is where the camera on my iPhone comes to the rescue.  Now that I have an easily accessible camera with me at all times, I'm able to utilize the objective tool of photo documentation.  (And it also helps when I have a witness to these occurrences -- In today's reported event, my friend Stefanie was in Ann Arbor, and was able to experience this odd little event with me.)

So basically, Stefanie and I headed downtown for brunch. When we got to campus (in my car), I decided to park in the Maynard Street parking lot.  It was extremely full, so we had to park on the upper deck on the 6th level of the lot.  Because Stefanie really likes to be active, she forced me to take the stairs to the ground level instead of the elevator. As we were walking down the stairs, we heard two women behind us kind of gasp and then laugh.  Stefanie and I turned around to see what the commotion was all about.

To our initial shock, which later became delight... this very well-dressed Pumpkin Head was trailing us down the stairs.  "Stefanie, I am so glad you're here to witness this," I said as we gathered ourselves and continued down the stairs.  But having a witness was not enough.  So I pulled out my camera.  

"Excuse me, can I take your picture?"

"Sure."  

"Great!  Thank you!  And please be careful.  If you fall down these stairs, you will crush your head."  

"Okay. I will."

And what a festive way to celebrate Fall and the coming of Halloween!  (I love both.  Fall and Halloween.  So I loved Pumpkin Head.)

Here is an over-the-shoulder snapshot of Pumpkin Head following us down the street. 

So yes, I see some kind of strange stuff.  I guess it's good luck for an aspiring writer... you know, to be in the right place at the right time. But a special thanks to Stefanie and my iPhone for helping me prove to myself that I am not just imagining this parallel universe of strangeness.  

And just for the sake of photo documentation, I would like to post a picture of me walking back UP those very same parking lots stairs.   (Aaron always encourages me to exercise for my health... something he does almost everyday, and something I do several times.... a year.)  

So here I am taking the stairs.  But no, I did not do this without first putting up a fight.

"Nania.  It's only a few flights.  We're taking the stairs."

"Stefanie, it's like 20 flights!! I will have a heart attack!"

"It's 6 flights.  Now let's go!"

"No."

"Nania!!"

"Damn it." 

I didn't have heart attack, but I did get very sweaty.  And I believe seeing my sweatiness was Stefanie's punishment for forcing me into healthy habits.

-NL