Cemetary Keeper

While hiking around Barn Island in Stonigton, CT, my husband and I came across an old cemetary in the marsh. It was surrounded by a beautiful stone wall. The cemetary had been cleared of brush and was easily accessible. Next to the cemetary, was a similar plot with a similar wall surrounding it, but it had not been cleared of brush. The brush was quite thick and the only way into it was to crouch and crawl around under the brush and brambles filling it.

My husband decided to look through the cleared lot at the old stones, while I decided to crawl around in the brush filled lot to see if I could find any old stones lost in the thicket. I went in and searched around old trees in the brush. It was difficult going. My clothing continually was caught up in the thorns of the brambles and after a fairly short period of time, and in finding no headstones, I gave up my search. As I was headed out of the area, crouching and crawling, I looked up and out to the path I had left previously. Standing there was an older man. He was crouched with his hands on his kneees looking down at me and not very happy with my being in there. He was wearing old greenish pants with a white shirt, sleeves rolled up, and suspenders. He had on a roundish-sort of spectacles and a clean shaven face, though it looked as though he had some stubble.

He proceeded to yell at me, "What the hell are you doing in there? Got the hell out of there!" As I continued to fight my way out, I put my head down and apologized and told him as I moved forward that I was just looking for old stones and was coming out. I arrived at the path and he was gone. My husband asked who I had been speaking to. I told him about the man and he stated that no one had been there. He said he'd been on the path and there had never been a man there. He believed what I had seen as he heard me talking to the man. The man had appeared as clear as day. He looked very real to me, I did not question for a moment that he had been anything but a person as real and alive as you or I, though his apparel did seem old and a bit "off".

It was a wonderful experience, although I did feel a bit bad that I had upset the man.