The "Witching" Hour

In the "spirit" of the day before Halloween, here's an interesting "historical" definition of the title of this blog and then my warped example of such. The events I'm about to describe didn't take place at midnight, but between 5am and 6am (when it still technically LOOKs like midnight, but with a whole lot less people around. Lol)......

According to the wonderful cyberlibrary of Wikipedia:

"In European folklore, the witching hour is the time when supernatural creatures such as witches, demons, and ghosts are thought to be at their most powerful, and black magic at its most effective. This hour is typically midnight, and the term may now be used to refer to midnight, or any late hour, even without having the associated superstitious beliefs.In neopaganism, it is sometimes used to refer solely to midnights occurring during a full moon, when a witch's power is supposedly at its greatest."

I walked out of my apartment building a few minutes earlier than my usual "routine" time to leave. It was just like any other ordinary morning waiting for the bus...or so I thought. At the corner of Belmont and Sheridan, as I wait for the #156 bus around 5:15ish every morning, I stand next to three or four newspaper dispensers, with a convenience store about 5 feet behind me. Occasionally there will be one or two early commuters joining me at the bus stop, but a majority of the time, I am the only person standing there. Today was one such day, though I discovered I had a "visitor."

When I hear this slight scuffle of noise, I turn down my music/headphones and turn around to the source of the noise. It's a RAT. Right in front of the front door to the convenience store! I think I literally jumped up off the ground an inch or two. I hopped off the sidewalk and onto the street, carefully walking around to stand on the other side of the newspaper dispensers....as far away from the disgusting vermin as I could get without being unseen by an approaching bus. I waited a minute, looking over to see if the rat was still there, in hopes of resuming my original spot to stand. Phew, not there. But then I'm paranoid, thinking maybe Mr. Rat will jump out of the plant shrubbery and I'm beginning to think any passerbys in their cars must think I'm a paranoid schizophrenic because I keep turning around, looking all around me with vigilance.

I get a false sense of security and breathe out, relax. Oh wait! There he is again, jumping from the far right shrubbery back in front of the door. What's mind boggling is that I don't recall seeing any food or crumbs on the ground. So why he kept being drawn back to that damn door, I haven't the foggiest. I think he just wanted to torment me...and it worked. Not only was I freaked out by this creepy creature, but I looked like an idiot when I jumped upon hearing a leaf on the ground brush past me on the street. I thought it was the rat playing mind games. And it was just a leaf. Finally, I see the bus coming. Thank goodness for small miracles. Get me away from this stinkin' rat, I think.

Suddenly, I hear someone shouting REALLY loudly. I turn around and there's a middle aged man who looks like he's about to run a marathon...he's got a tshirt on with "VAIL" printed widely across the pale pink (yes, you heard right: PINK) shirt he's wearing similar to what track runners/athletes wear. He's jogging in place and at first I thought he was talking loudly to get my attention (I was listening to music) and ask me a question. But then I turn my music down to listen to what he's saying. He made no sense. It was as if he thought he was a sports announcer, talking about "squares" and who knows what else. It wasn't gibberish, but it also had no point. And no, he wasn't talking on a cell phone or anyone else around for that matter, continuing to jog in place without crossing the street or with any intention of moving anytime soon. I'm thinking, what is going ON this morning?!

Fortunately, the bus pulled up at that moment and I climb aboard. If you recall from an older blog, I had mentioned the bus driver (whom I refer to as "Jeff Foxworthy Bus Driver", for obvious physical similarities) who always looks at my shoes when I get on the bus. Well, today I was glad he had something else to look at besides my feet. Something far more amusing: an athlete turned loco, jogging in place and shouting to himself. I put in my transit card and turned around to look at the crazy man. JFBD make eye contact. He chuckles, I chuckle. I shake my head and say "I don't know...." and make my way to the back of the bus. As I get comfortable in my seat, the bus makes a right onto Sheridan. I look out the window and there before my eyes....the crazy man waving AT ME. Hilarity surrounds me....always.

I get off the bus minutes later and almost miss my transfer because the #73 driver decides to leave before the scheduled "departure time" and I have to start sprinting towards the next bus stop across the street where the bus has stopped at. I barely make it, but I do. As I'm walking to work after a series of aforementioned bizarre and random "events," a cyclist going past me gives me the "turn around and stare" look. "What was that about?" I ask myself. Okay, moving along.

I get to work and notice Carol and Annie aren't there yet, which is weird because they usually are always the first to get to work before me. I look 15 feet ahead to see a random object on the sidewalk. Curiosity getting the best of me (per usual), I keep walking to get a closer look. Yes, it IS in fact what it appears to be: a folded over mattress and semi-decent looking frame (according to Carol...perhaps she's in need of a frame. The story is already weird. Why stop now? hehehe) underneath it. I shake my head. It's only 5:57am, my witching hour.

If this is any indication of how the rest of the day may unfold, wish me luck! And I can only imagine what Halloween may bring tomorrow. Watch your back folks. It's a creepy crawly world out there.