Post by Man in Black on Jul 5, 2008 16:36:14 GMT -5
This happened to me this past winter...
We've been waiting on this snow storm for several days. Here in the Southeast winter weather is a novelty. It started about 10:30 pm last night. Excited, I planned to keep myself awake until the ground was covered so that I could get some good pictures. Around 2:30 am this morning we had about 3 and a half to four inches of snow cover and it was still coming down heavy.
I truly live in the middle of nowhere. It is at least 15 minutes to the nearest small town and if you want a Wal-mart... well, plan on an hour. There is a Baptist church a mile from my house and it is well lit with street lamps. I've used the location for photo settings before because it is on a rounded hill with a great view of the surrounding mountains. So Silver Creek Church is where I headed.
I have a steep drive way but my jeep had no problems on the way down in 4wd. The getting there was the part I was looking forward to the most as I knew I'd be making fresh tracks. I was not disappointed, nobody had touched the road and I happily trudged along watching the beautiful snowflakes warping toward me.
I really love this shot, the falling snow looks creepy
I hesitated when I reached the church parking lot, feeling a little guilty about disturbing the nice white patch in front of me. I cruised through anyway figuring that my tracks would be filled soon. I parked next to the covered walkway that runs between the two main buildings and hopped out with my camera... leaving my headlights on for extra lighting.
The church property is cut in half by Green River Cove road. A large portion of the cemetery is across the road from the church while the other part is on the backside. The forest in this area is vast. Behind the graveyard is miles of unsettled woods. Unfortunately they are selling the property off in lots but there are no houses yet. No lights, no roads, nothing but trees.
Well, I snapped a few pictures, some with the flash some without. I got one or two of my jeep with the lights on. Last, I turned to catch a couple shots of an old tree near a street lamp that was overlooking the back set of graves. As I was setting my camera, and shielding it from the driving snow I heard a sound. Believe it or not falling snow can be louder than you think especially when you're listening for something in the distance. But, there it was again... distinctly through the hiss of the flakes I could hear voices!
Now, my old jeep doesn't even have a radio so I immediately looked around for a police car. I figured that a cop had stopped to tell me to move on... but nothing... no cars, no nothing but me, my camera, and the church graveyard in the snow. At this point I started to get a little spooked. As anybody who knows me well can tell you, I don't panic. I don't think it's any certain amount of bravery, it's just that I must not have that part of my brain.
So, like that person in a horror movie that doesn't make the sequel, I moved closer to the cemetery to see if I could catch the voices on my camera's video recorder. As my cold fingers fumbled through the different picture modes the voices grew louder. By this time I could easily tell the sound was coming directly from the field of headstones. The accents were definitely southern and it sounded like a conversation between at least two men. I got my camera set and tried to focus. One of the men seemed to take notice of me but I couldn't make out what he said. Whatever it was it caused his partner to erupt into what sounded to me like a distinctly Appalachian cackle.
This one is from about the time I heard the voices - As you can see it's not
a good picture, I was starkly distracted - It is of the street lamp
overlooking the graves
That was it, I turned on the camera and taped a few seconds of footage but I never heard anything else but the whisper of the falling snow. I decided that though I wasn't one to bolt at the first hint of danger, it was probably good sense to get in my jeep and go.
A half hour later here I sit trying to make some sense out of it. Honestly, I don't know what it was. Could it have been two drunk hunters that tumbled over to a headstone for a rest? Sure, stranger things have happened but I find that unlikely. I only know the facts. I heard voices coming from the midst of graves. Graves surrounded by nothing but forest land. I saw no lights, no cars and heard nothing out of place but ghostly southern voices in the midnight snow.
The spooky drive home
We've been waiting on this snow storm for several days. Here in the Southeast winter weather is a novelty. It started about 10:30 pm last night. Excited, I planned to keep myself awake until the ground was covered so that I could get some good pictures. Around 2:30 am this morning we had about 3 and a half to four inches of snow cover and it was still coming down heavy.
I truly live in the middle of nowhere. It is at least 15 minutes to the nearest small town and if you want a Wal-mart... well, plan on an hour. There is a Baptist church a mile from my house and it is well lit with street lamps. I've used the location for photo settings before because it is on a rounded hill with a great view of the surrounding mountains. So Silver Creek Church is where I headed.
I have a steep drive way but my jeep had no problems on the way down in 4wd. The getting there was the part I was looking forward to the most as I knew I'd be making fresh tracks. I was not disappointed, nobody had touched the road and I happily trudged along watching the beautiful snowflakes warping toward me.
I really love this shot, the falling snow looks creepy
I hesitated when I reached the church parking lot, feeling a little guilty about disturbing the nice white patch in front of me. I cruised through anyway figuring that my tracks would be filled soon. I parked next to the covered walkway that runs between the two main buildings and hopped out with my camera... leaving my headlights on for extra lighting.
The church property is cut in half by Green River Cove road. A large portion of the cemetery is across the road from the church while the other part is on the backside. The forest in this area is vast. Behind the graveyard is miles of unsettled woods. Unfortunately they are selling the property off in lots but there are no houses yet. No lights, no roads, nothing but trees.
Well, I snapped a few pictures, some with the flash some without. I got one or two of my jeep with the lights on. Last, I turned to catch a couple shots of an old tree near a street lamp that was overlooking the back set of graves. As I was setting my camera, and shielding it from the driving snow I heard a sound. Believe it or not falling snow can be louder than you think especially when you're listening for something in the distance. But, there it was again... distinctly through the hiss of the flakes I could hear voices!
Now, my old jeep doesn't even have a radio so I immediately looked around for a police car. I figured that a cop had stopped to tell me to move on... but nothing... no cars, no nothing but me, my camera, and the church graveyard in the snow. At this point I started to get a little spooked. As anybody who knows me well can tell you, I don't panic. I don't think it's any certain amount of bravery, it's just that I must not have that part of my brain.
So, like that person in a horror movie that doesn't make the sequel, I moved closer to the cemetery to see if I could catch the voices on my camera's video recorder. As my cold fingers fumbled through the different picture modes the voices grew louder. By this time I could easily tell the sound was coming directly from the field of headstones. The accents were definitely southern and it sounded like a conversation between at least two men. I got my camera set and tried to focus. One of the men seemed to take notice of me but I couldn't make out what he said. Whatever it was it caused his partner to erupt into what sounded to me like a distinctly Appalachian cackle.
This one is from about the time I heard the voices - As you can see it's not
a good picture, I was starkly distracted - It is of the street lamp
overlooking the graves
That was it, I turned on the camera and taped a few seconds of footage but I never heard anything else but the whisper of the falling snow. I decided that though I wasn't one to bolt at the first hint of danger, it was probably good sense to get in my jeep and go.
A half hour later here I sit trying to make some sense out of it. Honestly, I don't know what it was. Could it have been two drunk hunters that tumbled over to a headstone for a rest? Sure, stranger things have happened but I find that unlikely. I only know the facts. I heard voices coming from the midst of graves. Graves surrounded by nothing but forest land. I saw no lights, no cars and heard nothing out of place but ghostly southern voices in the midnight snow.
The spooky drive home
