Every year my office has its Christmas party at a men's club (not 'Gentlemen's Club') in Newburyport. It's one of those buildings with lots of history that you find all over New England. Lots of famous people 'slept' there, including both George Washington and Lafayette. Now its a gathering place for the old guys of Newburyport to play pool, cards, and there's even a candle pin bowling alley (3 lanes) in the basement, with equipment dating to the early 20th century.Decorating the main floor of this large house are portraits of some of the people of note that have stayed here or visited. Among them is this guy, who I just learned died before his painting was complete. Why they didn't put a body on him after he died remains a mystery. The paintings are almost universally creepy, most of them suffering a particular problem of age that leaves the skin tones of the subjects a remarkable green. Not a hint of green mind you, but space alien green. But no one is creepier than old 'Ichabod' here. While his body may spend eternity haunting people, his head floats menacingly over the festivities and out of the weather safe in the knowledge that where he is bodies are no longer important.
18 comments:
Good Lord! It sounds like you've been celebrating the Holidays in Hogwarts!
What an awesome blog post!
If those pictures were hanging in our old stone office, that would be even closer to the truth.
Even after a few beers the pictures never spoke to me. There is supposedly a ghost which by two degrees of separation has been verified. But we have a ghost in our office, so that's not particularly novel.
More enthusiasm for this post than I expected.
wow! that is super creepy
any encounters with the ghost lately
ghost stories are paricularly scary coming from you -
a secret society of aliens or mutants - who knows -
next time I come out, could we arrange to spend the night there?
MT - you're not enough of a gentleman.
what!
PLEASE!!! I'll do better.
It'll take a lot of backtracking up that road. Mister.
I can be the gentleman you want me to be.
I am talkin to Dan right now.
He can't help you in this.
he is trying
Back to the original post. Enthusiasm because this - the history, the character, it's a represents a lot of what is great about New England, and something you don't quite get, at least in the same way, out here in the Plains.
Great in a completely abstract way.
I don't know. Layers of bodies buried in cemeteries, rich dark wood interiors of 300 year old ivy-covered buildings, relics from the founding of our democracy...those aren't abstract concepts, there. They're concepts you can really get your nuts around.
I suppose, though in a very 'western culture' sort of way.
Green-faced and headless guys from 1794 really don't float my boat. I find the actual paintings hilarious though, many of the actual people, much less so.
That said, I certainly appreciate a depth of history and admire those that brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty....yada yada yada.
So there were strippers? No?
Yes, but unfortunately you could only see their disembodied heads.
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