Bald Cypress Trail at First Landing State Park

First Landing State Park is a significant area for Americans. The name reflects a rich history of being right on Cape Henry, where the settlers "first landed" in 1607 before heading to Jamestown to officially settle. I'm planning on doing a more in-depth blog on that history, but the park itself is a fantastic place. I went right as summer was winding down. The heat was still in the air, but the thick trees of the park created a relaxing, shaded place to hike and see nature. I got some great nature photos and wanted to show them here.

The great thing about living in Charleston, SC and Saratoga Springs, NY, is that living in Virginia is the best of both worlds for them. I get aspects I love of the north here, and aspects I love of the south. One aspect is the swamps of the south. The trail I took, Bald Cypress Trail, made me feel like I was back in South Carolina.

As you can see, this trail shows off the wetlands of the park. The murky water was distinct and swampy. This was in the middle of the trail, but it's the most significant part and what the Bald Cypress Trail is known for. I'll go more in depth later on what these trees are called and what those stumps are. I just thought this would be a good beginning photo since it's the most known representation of the trail. My next photos will be in the order I took them on the trail.

The trees when first entering the trail. It almost looked like some exotic jungle with the thin trunks and winding vines all over.

Here was a good shot of just how large and looming the trees are. It's hard to tell from some far away photos, even the big trees can look pretty thin. But no, there are some large trees in this area. Like I said, the perfect representation of the north and south. They have small and big trees. You can also see the thick canopy cover at the bottom left of the photo creating the refreshing shade.

A hollowed out log to create a cozy home for a creature. Especially with the cold season starting. 

Seeing this reminded me of my blog of the fairy woods up in New York. Life finding a way and seeing new growth. 

The Bald Cypress Trail had some great outlooks over the swampy terrain. I love how in this state you can have an area like this, with swamps and thin trees. Then you can thicker forests with pine and sycamore trees.

I mainly take photos of mushrooms because my best friend loves mushroom hunting. Something interesting about Virginia Beach though is that I've seen more mushrooms here than anywhere else growing in the sand near the beach. 

I was extremely excited to see the leaves starting to change color. It's trivial now, being November, but when I took this I was so ready for summer and the heat to be over. This was one of the first signs I saw of Autumn.

There were a few wooden overlooks on this trail. There were TONS of turtles, frogs, and dragonflies all over. I stood there for awhile not making much noise, and that's how I was able to get so many good looks at the wildlife. They didn't realize I was there.

I believe this is a green frog. The only reason I saw it was because it's cute, little head was poking out. Its body was completely camouflaged to the murky water and plants in it.

A dragonfly. There were so many flying around, I was happy to get a shot of one standing still.

I can't tell but this looks like another green frog. Its face looks to have that green coloration while it's body is that camouflaged dark green. It's legs are so long though - I bet it can jump far.

A spider eating a dragonfly. This picture sure does exemplify the hot weather season over here. Tons of creepy crawlies around, surviving in their own circle of life.

A zoomed in photo of the spider eating the dragonfly, because I wanted to give you all the heebie-jeebies.

I know it's hard to see, but there's a frog under all of that algae. It truly hid itself from everyone.  

 Another green frog I think! I thought it would be another type since its face isn't green, but it has webbed feet which rules out a lot of other types of frogs in the area.

The little one was very photogenic. I even got the little details of its rough skin texture.

A very bright mushroom growing out of the ground. I remember its vivid color stood out to me on my hike.

This turtle was very quiet and it took awhile to spot it hiding in the shrubbery and on the shore sunbathing. 

I love this photo because it shows off the surface floating algae on the water. It looks like a swamp right out of Louisiana or something. 

Now here's something interesting. This guy right above me was HUGE. I heard a loud noise and looked over and a lot of water was moving. Its back got caught on a log which made it look bigger, but you can see the head itself is the size of the body of the sunbathing turtle from before. I asked the ranger about it, and he said they had a lot of enormous snapping turtles in the park. They get pretty large there and stay in the deep parts of the water. I took a video of it swimming - unfortunately, it was at the end of its time above water and it went behind some plants then went down below the surface. I posted the video on my YouTube connected to this blog.

 

Here it is up top, and if it doesn't go through here's the link : 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgDkhCfCRz8

I know the video isn't the best, but that snapping turtle was tremendous, like a little alligator or something. 

After all of that excitement, here's one last photo I got on this wooden overlook of a little frog peaking its head up above the water.

The contrast of this magenta-colored leaf on the tan needles was very pretty to me. You can see the leaf has tiny patches of green in it too.

Here's another photo of the trees in the water. I like the three different shades of brown at the bottom of their trunks. One thing it said in the pamphlet for this hike, is that those little stumps aren't dead. The live trees called the pneumatophore tree, grow what are called these "knees" out from their roots. Then they grow straight up out of the water, and help give oxygen to the tree roots itself. It's pretty amazing.

The last photo I took on the trail was this diagonal tree and its spiderweb roots. It was a beautiful picture to me.

So there's my hike on the Bald Cypress Trail at First Landing State Park. I saw a lot of interesting nature, and just re-hiked the trail last week. It's not as green now that it's gotten colder, but there were a lot more squirrels running around. It's a delightful trail and I truly enjoyed it. I hope it felt like you got to enjoy the hike with me. We saw some pretty exciting sights in it.

The Drums

Happy Halloween my readers! Right now where I am, it's windy, dark, and late. Trick-or-treating is over, children are in bed, but the night is still young for those of us who are awake. The veil between the living and the dead is at its thinnest. So keep your jack-o-lanterns out to ward off any malevolent spirits. If they manage to get in your house, make sure you're wearing a costume so they don't recognize you. I thought since it's a dark, dreary night for All Hallows Eve, I'd tell you a spooky, true story my dad told me.

It's been years since I've heard this, and currently only my sister and I remember it, so bear with me if I've missed any details. It's a supernatural occurrence that happened to my dad when he was a kid. It's short, but it raises the hairs on my skin.

My dad grew up in San Francisco. If you know much about there, you know that they can have some crisp, cool weather. They have their infamous fog that sweeps over the rolling hills of the city. It's a beautiful area, at least in terms of terrain, and my dad told me a lot of stories from his time growing up there. One story always stuck out to me though. The story of the drums.

When my dad was younger, his family would go on hikes in the local parks and surrounding forest. One day, his family and him went on a hike. It was a normal day - cool and refreshing out. He described it as a day like any other. There weren't necessarily a lot of other people out, so it was a bit isolating. Other than that though, everyone was enjoying the fresh pine air, and subtle gusts of wind  glossing through the trees. They were getting pretty deep into their hike, when suddenly they heard a faint thumping sound.

"Thump, thump, thump," it went off in the distance. They were confused, but quickly figured out it sounded like a drum. It was like someone was hitting a powerful drum with a thick stick, over and over in a repetitive, steady pattern. It was odd, but they chalked it up to just an abnormal occurrence, and kept walking.

The sound stayed stable in the background for awhile, but it did start to get louder and louder as time went on. Eventually, my dad's family started wondering where this noise was coming from. The noise was gradually getting closer and closer to them, and their curiosity started to soar. Additionally, their fear started to peak up too. This was an odd sound, with no explanation, and my dad's family hadn't seen another person on their hike for awhile now.

The sound continued, "thump, thump, thump." Perhaps the most bizarre thing about this sound, my dad told me, was that it wasn't coming from one direction. It was surrounding them from every angle, with seemingly no origin.

"Thump, thump, thump" - the noise got louder. It all became more confusing.

The beat then started going faster. It was quickly gaining on them from all around.

"Thump, thump, thump, thump."

It got closer and closer, surrounding them. My dad said his heart was racing. He looked up and saw fear in his parents eyes. That's when he knew it was time to be scared, even his parents didn't understand was going on. They all started to run.

It didn't matter how fast they ran. The noise was closing in on them, from every angle. They kept running and running, trying to get away, but it stayed caught up with them. In fact, it was only getting louder.

"THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP."

My dad described it as being right on top of them. Even if they kept running, it kept following them, enclosing in on them. My dad was so afraid. The drums were hurting his ears and he didn't know where he could go, or what he could do to find safety.

Just when the whole family was at their limit for fear, and felt completely hopeless, it suddenly stopped.

My dad and his family were out of breath. They all looked at one another, wondering what had just happened, where the noise had gone, and if they were finally safe. They kept waiting for it to come back, their nervous expressions didn't fade for a long time. But the sound didn't come back. The noise stopped so abruptly, they started to wonder if they had just made it all up in their heads, or exaggerated how loud it was - how fearful it had made them. They went home, seemingly never talking about what had just occurred in the forest.

My dad spent many nights in the woods alone after that through his life. He went on and became a ranger, and hiked and camped a lot just on his own time too.  Whether it was from his work out in various forests, or a motorcycle road trip alone, he was always out in the woods by himself for one reason or another. However, he told us he never heard those drums again. He had no explanation for it. He knew he remembered it right. He was so young, but he could never forget the fear on his parents faces as the sound closed in on them from all sides. It was an phenomenon he never found an answer to, and something he wondered about his whole life.

So there you have it. Here's a simple story to help your skin crawl this All Hallows Eve. Stay safe tonight. And remember, there are things in this world that have no logical explanation. So be safe when the veil between the living and the dead is it's thinnest - sometimes you can't run away from something that's set on getting you. Have a happy Halloween.

Grace Sherwood - Named Witch of Virginia Beach

Being on the east side of the country has brought a lot more history into my life. I currently live close to where the original settlers first landed in the states, when America was discovered. So you can say this area has an extensive backstory to it, even if America isn't itself a very old country.

Part of our tale of woe as a country is a lot of horrendous acts. Like every other formed country in the world though, we are moving forward and learning from these everyday, as to make sure history doesn't repeat itself. One documented theme that catches people's attentions though, is our puritan era where we burned, hung, drowned, and killed in various other ways, what we deemed witches. I'm sure you've all heard of the Salem Witch Trials, and the massacre that fell on the women of this era. These tended to be women who stuck out among other women, accused by many for not fitting the social or religious standards of the time. This consisted of a wide range of independent women, women who were too unique to those in their towns, women who laughed too much or too loud, women who's beauty was too strong for the male to trust himself with, or even women who liked something as simple as herbal medicine, as Grace Sherwood did. She is the one I'll be talking about today.

I went and visited the monument dedicated to her, and the church where a gravestone was put in for her honor. Her statue is on the corner of Witchduct Rd., on the grounds of a hospital. This road was named after her, as she was the only person in this area to be subject to trial by ducking. This is also known as Trial by Ordeal, Ordeal by Water, or the most famous, Trial by Water. The point of this practice was that water is considered a sacred, holy element. If she drowned and died by it, the water was accepting her and she was pure and not a witch. If she lived, then the water was rejecting her for being impure and she was a witch. It was a lose-lose situation.

Grace White was born in 1660 in Pungo, Virginia of Princess Anne County. Pungo has now transformed to parts of Virginia Beach. Grace Sherwood's most famous name is "The Witch of Pungo" due to this. Her father, James White, was an American farmer and carpenter, and her mother, Susan White, was born in England. When Grace was 20, so in 1680, she married James Sherwood, and became herself Grace White Sherwood. He was a farmer like her father, so Grace was surrounded by farming, growth, and greenery her whole life. This inspired her to grow herbs herself, and use them as a natural medicine for all creatures alike. She was known for even helping animals out with this medicine. When Grace and James got married, her father gave them 50 acres of his land. In 1681, a year after James and Grace were wed, her father passed away, and they inherited the entire farm that consisted of 145 acres. Grace and James had three children, all were boys. Two were named after their father and grandfather, John and James, the third was named Richard. Along with healing sick creatures with her herbs, and helping out on the farm, Grace also was midwife. She was known for being a diverse character. A notable fact about her is that she not only helped out on the farm, but she also wore pants while doing so, instead of a dress. In these times, that was rare, and may have added to people being distrustful of her. Unfortunately, in 1701, her James passed away, and Grace had the entire property to herself.

Now prior to his death, Grace had been accused of withccraft a couple of times. In 1697, a man named Richard Capps said she had put a curse and murdered his bull. The court actually didn't go against her, or with her, and came to no decision with this. Grace was a strong person though, and sued Richard for defamation afterwards, in which she got an unknown settlement to close the case. A year later in 1698, her neighbor John Gisburne alleged she had "enchanted" his cotton and pigs. The same results happened as the first trial, where the courts didn't take a side. She, again, filed for defamation. Again, in 1698, a woman named Elizabeth Barnes claimed Grace had transformed into a black cat, came into her house and onto her bed, and when she drove the cat out it left through the door keyhole. This obviously was quite the stretch, but as before, the courts didn't take a side and Grace filed for defamation, only to fail and lose money from court costs and fees. All of this was painting out Grace to be a problem to the community, along with her tall figure, her herb garden, her "manly" sense of humor, and her wearing pants while farming.

After Grace's husband died, some say the townspeople wanted her land, and that's what led to the ultimate ducking trial. However, the straw the broke the camel's back was in 1705. Grace got in an physical altercation with Elizabeth Hill, her neighbor. Grace ended up suing her and her family for assaulting her, and the courts saw favor in that. She got twenty shillings from this. It seems like a win right? Well, unfortunately, it gave people an excuse to blame Grace for a miscarriage Elizabeth suffered about a year later (1706). Their thought process was that she was still upset over the ordeal and "bewitched" Mrs. Hill to cause it.

Leading up to the ultimate trial by water, the courts ordered twelve, and I quote "ancient and knowing women" to search Grace for witches marks. (On a side note, Elizabeth Barnes was one of these "knowing" women, so you can see the bias already). These were thought to come from the devil, and were more often than not something that looked like a wart, or a nipple. So we have twelve "ancient and trusted" women, in the puritan era, looking at an herbal medicine maker, animal loving, trouser wearing, woman for witch marks. They claim to have found two.

One beautiful quote I found in my research was that Grace Sherwood was taken into a church prior to the ducking trial, and given the chance ask for forgiveness of her essential sorcery. She said "I be not a witch, I be a healer." 

However, she still went through the trial by water - twice. The first time she floated to the surface, and the second time they put a thirteen pound bible on her. Grace untied it and came to the surface, proving, to them, she was a witch. It's also said that right before she was thrown in the first time, she said "before this day be through you will all get a worse ducking than I." Then afterwards it rained heavily, so that also added to people's fear of her "evil doings." We don't have any way of actually knowing if she said that though. Afterwards, she was put into her local jail. 

Many of the records to what happened after to Grace can't be found, but it's said she stayed in jail as long as almost eight years after. She was also made to pay someone named Christopher Cocke, 600 pounds of tobacco. In 1714 she was back on her land. While all of the details between 1706-1714 are up in the air, there is documentation that 1714 is when she first started paying taxes back for her land. This indicates it's the first year she got to go home. Events following this were quiet. Grace was said to live a simple life to herself for the rest of her years. She died in 1740, at the age of 80, leaving everything to her sons.

(The trial of 1706. At Witchduck Point, 10 AM July 10th, 1706. Grace Sherwood, the daughter of a carpenter and the wife of a planter in the county of Princess Anne, was accused of witchcraft. Grace was tried in the second Princess Anne County Courthouse, found guilty, and consented to the traditional trial by water, Grace was tied crossbound and dropped into water above man's depth. If she were to sink and drown she was innocent and could be buried on holy ground, Grace did float, thus was guilty as the pure water was casting out her evil spirit. She was incarcerated in the local jail just beyond this statue. After her release, Grace paid back taxes on her property in 1714, returned to her farm and worked the land until her death at age 80 in the Autumn of 1740. Grace Sherwood, Virginia's only convicted witch tried by water, she lays claim to Witchduck Road. Her legend lives on as "THE INFAMOUS WITCH OF PUNGO.")

(Grace White Sherwood 

Born 1660 Died 1740

Married April 1680 to James Sherwood

James died 1701

Survived by sons,

John, James, and Richard

--

Sentara Healthcare has graciously provided this sit in recognition of their community, and the history that surrounds us.

This 21st day of April 2007

--

Sculptor Robert Cunningham)

(Timothy M. Kaine. Governor. Ms. Belinda Nash. 

Dear Ms. Nash:

I am pleased to join the mayor of Virginia Beach in extending best wishes as you work to promote justice in the 1706 "witch ducking" case of Grace Sherwood.

With 300 years of hindsight, we all certainly can agree that trial by water is an injustice. We can also celebrate the fact woman's equality is that a constitutionally protected today, and women have the freedom to pursue their hopes and dreams.

The historical records that survive indicate that Ms. Sherwood, a midwife and widowed mother of three, survived her "trial by water" in 1706. Those records also indicate that one of my predecessors, governor Alexander Spotswood, eventually helped her reclaim her property. The records also indicate Ms. Sherwood led an otherwise quiet and law abiding life until she died at the age of 80. 

Today, July 10 2006, as 70th governor of the commonwealth of Virginia, I am pleased to officially restore the good name of Grace Sherwood.

Sincerely

Timothy M. Kaine)

So three hundred years later, Grace Sherwood's name was finally cleared. These last photos have been of her statue by the hospital on Witchduct Rd. When you walk up, there's many different names carved into the bricks. I showed a couple for Grace Sherwood, and the Pagan community here. There was also one for Belinda Nash, who the governor's letter was addressed to, and other ones for various accused witches of this area as well. Here's one example : 

So Grace wasn't the only named witch in this area. Which is sad to hear about, and others actually died from the accusations. 

I also went and visited her headstone that the Old Donation Episcopal Church has in honor for Grace Sherwood. It's only down the street from the statue. 

It was in this white, fenced-off area.

The place was well maintained. Pathways, a bench, and decorations ran through it. The most notable, and sweet touch I saw though was that it was an herb garden, in honor of Grace and her love for herbs. 

A tranquil place to sit among the herbs, in honor of Grace Sherwood.

It was a beautiful experience to see this. I'm thankful the church was so thoughtful in how they presented this site.

(In memory of Grace White Sherwood

1660-1740

Healer of sick with herbs

Convicted as a witch

She survived Virginia's only trial by ducking in the Lynnhaven River

July 10, 1706

Named cleared by governor

300 years later)

I want to end this on a good note, and I'll try. Unfortunately, people love a good scary story more than the truth of a matter. Grace's actual grave is unmarked, under some trees in between Princess Anne Rd. and Pungo Ferry Rd. (VA Beach). People circulate stories of that area being haunted. They say black cats slink around, and abnormal storms hit the area. Back when she was first buried, any cat found around the grave was killed. The legends continue to this day - that when Grace died, her body was put next to her fireplace by her sons. A gust of wind supposedly came down the chimney and stirred up dust, sparks, and embers. After the distortion of it all, her body was gone. The only sign left was a cloven footprint. They say the devil took her body. Her land was continuously burned down and vandalized. In 2002, the little bit that was left was bulldozed away, except maybe a few bricks that are too overgrown to find anymore. Now the land is part of the Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

How do I know her legend is known to scare people here more than it is to be a tragic tale of woe of an innocent woman getting accused of something she was not? Well, I was walking in a local mall here after I had started writing this blog. Someone was selling a book they wrote about her, Grace. They said they grew up here, and heard of all the legends of the Witch of Pungo. They began linking murders that happened to the land surrounding her, and said she had cursed the land. I told them about my blog, and they tried to persuade me to buy their book. I couldn't though. 

I'm sure not every local here views her as a scary story to tell in the dark. However, researching Grace, and talking to those in this area, I've seen more view her as a frightening figure, rather than a tragic character who was almost a martyr for her time. It's wrong to use a woman who went through so much, just for being different from her society, as a scary story. The truth is, Grace Sherwood was a light soul - a friend to the animals, and a lover of herbs and plants. She suffered many devastating events in her life by constantly being accused for something she was not. She had the will to fight back, which made her stick out more in a negative manner. She was eventually named a witch, and suffered for years because she survived death by water. Grace Sherwood is not someone who curses the land, but rather, her spirit and life's history rejuvenates it. These trials that took place centuries ago targeted the women who didn't fit into the church's standards that shaped their whole society. The accused witch's legacy's will live as a sign of hope, independence, and the true purity a soul can have. Rest in peace Grace Sherwood, and to all other victims to any witch trials in our world's history.

The Shadows in Arizona's Desert

(The Grand Canyon)

I'm combing two factors into this blog, but they're connected - shadow people, and Arizona.

I've been cross country twice now. Both times my husband and I drove, and both were the southern route. So we drove from Northern California, down the state, then cut across to South Carolina. The first time was to move to South Carolina for my husband's job (January, 2017). The second time was to get back to our home in SC after visiting our hometown in Northern California (December, 2017). It was sort of a road-trip honeymoon the second time. The first time we were just trying to get through the country as fast as possible, and we had our pets with us. I'm using photos from the second time, since I didn't take many photos the first trip. However what happened to me is an experience in Arizona I had on our first cross country trip.

On both trips, I drove through Arizona. It's a beautiful state. The Grand Canyon is the most well-known area of the state to a majority of people. However, a lot of the state can be very isolated and eerie. I drove for hours in it without seeing a town, another car, and only desert.

There are canyons throughout the state, it's not all flat, but even seeing these beautiful, enormous rock formations can be bone-chilling. They're a nice change of scenery from the flat desert, but there's a lot of hidden buildings in those areas. I saw several hidden buildings up in the canyons. I know there was more too, I just got lucky seeing the few that I did based on the sunlight and shadows pointing them out. I have a photo as proof of one of them I saw.

(I didn't mess with this picture's coloring. It just naturally came out that way.)

It looks like a city in the hills, right? Well this wasn't. It had been at least an hour since I had seen any town, and usually when you're coming up on a town after such a long stretch of highway, there's tons of signs to advertise for gas, food, and lodging. This had no signs. If I hadn't been paying attention to the surrounding landscape, I would have missed it. I didn't see any off ramp to it either. If it somehow is a town in these canyons in the middle of no where, please let me know. However there wasn't any indicator of it being one. It may even have to do with oil or a construction site. There was no sign with anything about it so I don't know, and I couldn't drive up to it either to check.

This also wasn't the only one I saw. There were some far better hidden man-made, modern structures  tucked away inside the canyons that I wouldn't have been able to take a picture of. Some were very well camouflaged.

So what are all these concealed structures hidden in the canyons? I can only assume the military. Arizona is infested with military, particularly airforce. A lot of the civilians in the U.S. wonder what they're up to, hidden and sprawled around in the middle of no where through the desert. Many of you will know the name Roswell. That's in New Mexico (I actually stayed there on the same honeymoon trip, but there wasn't much of significance. They play up the alien theme though. It's a lovely town that I would be thrilled to visit again.). Well New Mexico and Arizona are very similar in geography. Both states are equally as mysterious and they definitely have some military life there that most people in this country have no idea about. 

This is a base I passed by quickly, thus the blurry photo. I could have blinked and it would have been gone. This base was in the middle of no where in AZ. It may be where they train new pilots. It definitely wouldn't be something too covert if you can see it from the highway. However, it is worth noting that there was no road to get off to this base around. The people who are stationed there must have a back way they enter it, because there was no off ramp from the highway. Now you can see there's a lot of strange military areas out there. It's a bizarre state. 

(A view from the window of the Arizona scenery)

Another sinister aspect to this state is just how many abandoned towns there are. I didn't get any photos of those that I can find, and if I did I'll insert them at a later date, but when you're driving on the highway then you see a block-sized town completely abandoned and in disarray, you get goosebumps. You come to the realization that real people settled down there, and left because of the lack of resources, or maybe were even told to leave. There were even some towns that looked abandoned, but then I'd see a trailer or two that were lived in. So people were living in an essential ghost town, miles away from any resources or other humans. It was abnormal to see.

So what does this have to do with shadow people? I mean, at this point you may assume I'd talk about aliens or government conspiracies. However, I'm not, well not really. I had an experience with a shadow person when I stayed in Arizona on the first road trip I went on. It was the only time I've ever experienced anything like that, and with how creepy this state can be be, it really makes me question why it happened. 

I didn't go into Arizona with a preconceived notion it would be some spine-chilling place. In fact, I did that with New Mexico. Arizona was considered to me a pretty innocent state before I went through it. I had even gone to Phoenix, AZ on a trip with my church years before, so if anything I had good memories of the area. I explain this because I have considered maybe I was subconsciously scared the evening it happened, and my brain reacted to this fear and came up with it. That very well could be a possibility.

(Blurry photo of some Arizona canyons)

I just wanted you to get a picture of the landscape and terrain of the area. I also have a ton of pictures of the Grand Canyon, random scenery shots from the highway, and some from the Petrified Forest State Park. I'll be inserting those throughout the blog, so you can stay in the mood of where I was when this happened. Remember, my experience happened a year prior to when these photos were taken. 

(There's a lot of wind power all through the southwest portion of the U.S.)

First, a shadow person is a being you see usually in the middle of the night, although some people see them in other areas, usually out of the corner of their eye - I'll be talking about seeing them in the middle of the night though. It's almost always accompanied with sleep paralysis, and there are several theories that go along with why people see them. Sleep paralysis is essentially when your mind is awake, but your body isn't. So you're consciously aware, but can't move. We'll go into all of the following theories of shadow people down below.

(The Grand Canyon - it truly is grand and it showed me how small I really am in this world)

Science has some theories on why seeing shadow people may happen. They say it may be from having your emotions in an increased, almost paranoid state, as you're in this vulnerable position of being essentially paralyzed. They also say another factor is it happens when sleep deprived. We start seeing hallucinations in the shape of something that can harm us, other humans. As someone on Wikipedia put it, you don't see shadow dogs or shadow birds, you see people. Most of us fear a human coming in and attacking us in our sleep, and that can dig its way into our subconscious. We wake up - whether it be in the vulnerable position of not being able to move, run, defend ourselves, or scream due to the sleep paralysis, or maybe we're coming off some drugs that have messed with our mind, or we've been exceptionally sleep deprived and that's messed with our head - and our fear comes to life in our brains with this hallucination of someone standing there, looming over us, or walking up to us. Another possibility is maybe we see a random shadow projecting from something in the room, and our brain is trying to figure out what it is so it comes up with the shape of a person. That may be out of fear, or just familiarity as our brain wants to recognize the shadow's shape. 

Then there are more supernatural explanations. One popular theory among religious individuals is demons - watching you while you sleep, maybe even trying to possess your body. They have been thought to attack you while you're in a helpless state, and create fear. Fear weakens an individual, and that can play on their faith. Demons want this.

Similar to demons, but not quite so malevolent, is the theory of ghosts. The difference here is one was once living. It could be a curious ghost just studying you. It could be a depressed ghost watching you with sadness and envy because it lost its life too soon. It could be a ghost wanting to find a way inside you to live out its life again, similar to the premise of Insidious. It may even be a loved one who's going to check up on you - in your half-conscious state you could just be closer to the other side and can see them more clearly. Although ghost do tend to be seen in more of a white, transparent light, versus a dark shadow. 

Here we'll get into more bizarre theories. There may be more than I list though. I'm doing this mainly from memory from various YouTube videos I've seen on the subject in the past. 

One is creatures from other dimensions. Or more accurately humans from other dimensions (at least humanly shaped creatures). The thought is that there are multiple universes, and sometimes they connect. A thought that's always crossed my mind is I can be sitting in a room, writing my blog, and in another dimension in the same place, there's a highway, or meadow filled with people. We're both unaware the other exist, but we're both living our lives in our own dimension, yet in the same place. I could write a whole blog post on dimensions and different theories on how they may work, it's a rabbit hole to fall into. 

There are a couple of theories on dimensions. I'll very quickly scrape over the surface of them. The first is that there are other universes. Like I put earlier, they have different creatures living in another realm to us that we can't get to or see. The second is these dimensions are different versions of ourselves, each being a different timeline of life events that happens after every decision we make. Essentially, I say yes in this dimension, and no in another, and like the butterfly effect it spirals me into different outcomes and life events. *spoilers* Think of that scene from the new Avengers movie (Endgame) where the Ancient One says if the Hulk takes her stone and doesn't return it, it will destroy her reality, but save his. The concept is similar to that way of thinking. 

Perhaps the shadow beings are us peeking into our alternate lives. Or if we're going with the first theory, other creatures from these different realms are looking in on us. Maybe they're even unaware we're there, or we're the shadow people to them.

Astral projecting is another possibility. This is where you have an out of body experience when you're asleep. Again, think of the premise of the movie Insidious. The little boy astral projects in this story. His being leaves his physical body as he sleeps. There are two theories involved with this one. Either this shadow person is you looking in on yourself, (however this theory doesn't make much sense because if your astral self is watching your body sleep, then you wouldn't have another consciousness in your body to be aware there's a shadow creature watching you). The other theory is it's someone else's astral projection watching you. This could be an innocent occurrence, with it just poking around and you coincidentally seeing it, or it could be an astral being of someone who wants to harm you, or spy on you. 

(A small river at the bottom of the canyon, you can see it leads to an even bigger river too)

(A gorge at the bottom of the canyon)

(There are trees growing up the side of the canyon, you can really see the height here of how far down the Grand Canyon goes)

Time travelers has been considered another possibility. Some people think that humans of the future have figured out a way to travel through time. This theory is where time travelers are the shadow people. They want to watch and observe humans from different time periods (shadow creatures have always been a prevalent subject, even among old legends and folklore). They don't want to be recognized or seen but are sometimes caught observing us. Perhaps their technology gives away from disguising or hiding them and that's when we see them as a shadow person.

(Petrified Forest State Park)

(Another spot in the park)

(Whipple Point in the park)

The last, and probably the most famous theory, is aliens. Aliens are extraterrestrial beings from other planets. It's a long debate on whether they're real, if they're watching us, how advanced is their technology if they are, and if the powerful governments of this world are in on it. Aliens are another rabbit hole you can fall into, but some people theorize they have other worldly powers. That they have the ability to go through humankind structures and objects, or that they are telepathic in some way. Many people theorize that this is them, watching and studying us. 

(Arizona Desert)

I'm sorry if you know all of these theories and it's just a repetition of information for you. I wanted to bring them all up to connect the theories with where I was when my experience occurred. In particular the alien theory, which some people believe are hidden out in the Arizona and New Mexico deserts. There have been bizarre sightings of them in areas like these, although others argue it's just where secret military technology is being tested. Whatever the theory, it doesn't change the very real thing that happened to me.

My husband and I stayed in Flagstaff, AZ on our way to our new home. We got a pet friendly hotel. It was called Hotel Aspen and it was an adorable, quaint room. Everything was normal that night. The trip was going smooth. We got Taco Bell for dinner, and I walked my dog around in the snow for awhile to get her energy out. The people were friendly and I wasn't getting any weird vibes from the towns people or room. In fact, I love cozy rooms so I was happy we were staying there.

That night, I slept on the right side of the bed. I purposely wanted to be by the window. Although the curtains were fully shut, it's always made me feel less claustrophobic. That night I fell asleep after awhile, and woke up in the middle of night. I'm not sure what time it was.

I've had sleep paralysis a few times in my life. It's not how most people claim it is, at least when I experience it. I can't move, and I am conscious, but only somewhat. I'm in a bit of a dazed fog, and I often keep passing out and waking up over and over without the ability to move my body. Some people make it out to be like you're fully conscious and just stuck there. While this may be true for others, I know I'm not fully conscious. That would have made this experience far more terrifying.

I woke up and saw a shadow person right by the door. It was in the corner, past the window, in the shadow of the door. It was normal height, not too tall or short, and was just staring at me. I mean, of course you can't see its face or anything since it's a shadow, but it was faced in my direction, and it's like I could feel it staring at me.

I couldn't move and could only see this thing through my blurred mind and foggy eyes. I passed out and woke up a few seconds later to find it still there, facing me. This happened about a half a dozen times. It wasn't right on the foot of the bed, or looming over me, it was just in the corner by the door and window. It would be an extremely scary story if I were to say it kept getting closer to me each time I woke up. But no, it just stood there in the same spot. It didn't go away until I passed out for good for the night, and woke up the next morning.

There are some logical explanations to this phenomenon I had. Perhaps it was just a shadow emanated from something outside that I hadn't seen during the daylight, and my brain made it out to be a person. Like a trick of the eye in my half-sleep, vulnerable state. And that could be it. I did take a little while to go to bed that night though. I stared over that way for about thirty minutes in the dark after I had turned out the lights, and didn't see anything when falling asleep. It also wasn't right in front of the window, it was in front of the door. It was in the shadow's already, it was just a darker shadow. Maybe I was sleep deprived from the stress of moving, which is also another valid possibility. It just looked like such a human, but only their shadow. Like Peter Pan's shadow followed me to that hotel that night. Its silhouette didn't look like or similar to a human, it looked exactly like a human. It also felt like a human - it felt like there was another being in that room watching me. I don't know how else to put it, and I don't know what the right answer is. All I know is I've never seen anything like it before, even when experiencing sleep paralysis in the past. I also haven't experienced anything like it since, and hope I don't again. 

I've stopped sleeping on the window side of the bed whenever staying at a hotel too. I especially avoided it when I went the next year and stayed near the Grand Canyon.

Arizona is a mystical state, and I will go visit again. The endless desert and high canyons are captivating. You will never see a sunset quite like the sunsets out there. The sky transitions so well with various, mystifying colors that blend from the orange, lowering sun, into the deep blue, night sky. But I'll never forget the experience I had there, in Flagstaff. It's one thing to read about it, and hear other people's stories, but to go through it is a whole different, unreal experience that you can never fully explain quite right. Whether there's a scientific explanation or not, it was a very real, terrifying experience to go through. I'll return to the state, and enjoy seeing its' beauty, but it will always be in the back of my mind of my experience with the shadows that show up in the desert at night.