Just in time for Halloween, stitching on the Point Lookout lighthouse is finished!
After adding the path using DMC floss #644 in a gobelin stitch, I worked the grass with Sheep's Silk "Green Leaves Dark" in Nobuko stitch. The bushes were stitched in French knots using Silk & Ivory "Ivy." The landscaping is complete!
Paranormal psychologists called in by the State of Maryland to investigate the strange doings in and around the lighthouse are not the only ones to have witnessed unusual occurrences. One such witness was Laura Berg, the last person to live in the lighthouse and the founder of the Point Lookout Lighthouse Preservation Society.
She, along with several others, participated in a seance in the lighthouse in the late '70s and was photographed during the event. The developed photo revealed the presence of someone unobserved by seance participants: the shadowy form, standing beside Laura Berg, of a man in a soldier's uniform, standing casually with legs crossed, who appeared to be leaning into the wall.
While still in residence at the lighthouse, Laura Berg awoke one night to the sight of six bright lights swirling on the bedroom ceiling. Detecting the smell of smoke, she rushed downstairs to find the space heater in the living room on fire.
Rangers at Point Lookout State Park have also had unexplained "encounters." One ranger going about his duties to secure the lighthouse for an imminent electrical storm reported seeing a young, clean-shaven man peering into one of the windows. When the ranger opened the door to investigate, the young man disappeared through the screening of the enclosed front porch. The ranger later learned that his visitor's appearance matched that of one of the passengers of the Express, a steamer wrecked on the Point Lookout shore during a similar electrical storm in 1878.
Gathering weather data along the beachfront, another ranger encountered an elderly woman, obviously agitated, who walked with eyes cast down as if looking for something she'd lost along the path. She shrugged off the ranger's offer of assistance and he continued on his way. When the ranger looked back a short time later, the woman had disappeared. Several weeks had passed when the tombstone of Elizabeth Taylor was discovered in one of the rooms of a local hotel. Records revealed that the Taylor family cemetery had been located on the same stretch of beachfront where the ranger met the old woman. Was it the spirit of Elizabeth Taylor, searching for her family members, that the ranger had encountered?
The Point Lookout lighthouse may not have been one of the most picturesque lighthouses I've adapted to needlepoint, but you have to admit its history certainly has been exciting!
2 comments:
I love these stories - and take them seriously, as I had "Poltergeist" experiences in my aunt's house after she died - I stayed in the house another few years, and the episodes were interesting, and sometimes comical. It got my attention. I like your stitching, as usual, on this one.
He's definitely different - in many ways! I love the look of the rooftops. The stories have been very interesting and posting the finished lighthouse on Halloween was so perfect for a haunted lighthouse. Wonderful job all the way around.
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