The Mischievous Spirit

Oh, this is so exciting!  Today we took my daughter and niece to Downtown Anoka to get some fresh pictures taken by our dear friend Christy.  After our photo session at various locations around town we were making our way back to my sister's house.  I told the group I wanted to walk past one of the houses that is featured on the Ghosts of Anoka tour so I could point it out to Christy's nine-year-old daughter Nina.  As we walked by I told everyone the story of the house:  The home is now owned by two very nice people who work for the local school district (yes, the district that changed their disgusting "neutrality policy" regarding bullying  kicking and screaming, embarrassingly so....but I digress) and are very pleased to participate and not only the Ghosts of Anoka tour but also the Home and Garden tour of historic homes in Anoka that takes place in the summer.  Their home is very beautiful and they should take great pride in it since they have renovated it so nicely.  The home is originally from the 1800's and was built to be used as a employee housing by the local flour mill.  Since then it has changed hands several times and in the 1930's it was owned by a man who lived their with his several brothers.  It is believed that the spirit who now takes resident in the home is one of those brothers. 

The spirit is that of a young boy.  They believe this, not because there is evidence that a young boy died in the house (though it is quite possible) but because the things the spirit does is totally something a young boy would do.  He is referred to by the Historical Society as "The Mischievous Spirit."  He likes to turn the radio on and off, he likes to ring the doorbell for no reason (the doorbell on this house is special, it is not an electronic doorbell, it is a turn crank doorbell from the olden days.)  He likes to scare the cats and run up and down the stairs in the middle of the night and run across the roof whenever it strikes him to.  Whenever the current owners get a new electronic device like an iPad or computer he messes with it to no end, fascinated by the new technology. 

Well, today as we walked by I gave my little speech I learned from doing the Ghosts of Anoka tours and then Christy said, "Nina, you should ask him to play!"  Nina shook her head apprehensively, and Christy began snapping pictures.  She got this gem:

I helpfully circled the smiling face of the spirit!  I think he was happy we were talking about him and that a girl his age was outside on the sidewalk!  Christy took several other pictures of the house and was going to go through them later, if she finds anything she will forward them on them on to me and I will share them on my Twitter account, @Halloween_Honey!

I'm so glad we were visited by the Mischievous Spirit!  He sounds like a good time!