Woke up feeling kind of congested. I hope it’s nothing to worry about. It could be the cat, but more likely I’m getting carried away with the incense again. It’s not like I’m burning it like crazy, but this incense is incredibly strong. 

This cat can no longer have access to the other bedroom when I am asleep because she woke me up by banging against the wall. I know she’s been going on the kitchen counters when I’m not around to see it because I find things on the floor when I get up.

 I’m glad it didn’t get as hot as they predicted for today. It’s still over 100° which is good for the pool, but it should cool down enough tonight for me to go on a bike ride at around midnight. If it’s over 85° I’ll just run on my treadmill indoors. Camp NaNoWriMo starts at midnight tonight, so I should probably have my workout completed by then. 

We’re going swimming at 6 o’clock this evening instead of 5 o’clock. Lately, every time we go the damn water aerobics class is going on. We can still swim around the deep end, and it’s better than having screaming brats there, but I still prefer it when there are fewer people to have to swim around. 

It’s amazing how many old ladies have tats even though tattoos have been around for a long time. 

I can’t swear to it, but I think the aerobics instructor might be the lady on the other side of the circle who used to leave her dog out round-the-clock, a definite no-no here. There is also a huge trailer that is constantly parked on the street in which I believe her daughter and two granddaughters might be living. The dog seems to have disappeared, but I always suspected that somebody living there might be somehow affiliated with the park staff in order to be getting away with shit like that. No one under 47 should be living here unless it’s a visit for no more than two weeks. I just never said anything because they’re on the other side of the circle and the only time I hear the kids is when they come around on their bikes and that isn’t very often at all, thank goodness. If I can’t hear it inside my home on a regular basis, then I don’t say anything. 

Retirement communities have definitely changed over the years. Had I even thought of blasting music in the park my parents lived in in the late 80s, I probably would have gotten kicked out immediately. Here, you can run loud power tools and you can blast music all day as long as it’s in the daytime. 

I finally put up the long-stemmed pink flower stickers in the bathroom, and it is amazing what a splash of color a few stickers can add to a room! I will take pictures but not until I get the mini mural of the window looking out into the forest. 

I was originally going to do two short stories that were about 25,000 words each. I am now thinking of three stories, each being around 17,000 words long. I decided to make a story out of that wacky dream I had a few nights ago where a woman finds another woman in her basement and threatens her husband if she doesn’t let her sleep there and service her at night. So yes, this one will be rather X-rated. Realistically, one would call the police as soon as she left, so I will need to think of something she has over her to blackmail her with. I have other particulars to work out as well like how the hell she was able to get into the basement, and do I want to go with a ghost that only she sees, or should she be a real person? I will probably make her real but we will see as the story progresses. I thought of actually linking the three stories together somehow, like making it a series. 

I saw a documentary last night on the Amityville Horror house that many believe to be haunted because of the family that was murdered there. The next family to live there fled without taking their belongings. People of various fields explained how we can sometimes manifest our fears, and that if you expect, even in the back of your mind, for certain things to happen, you up the chances of them actually happening. I believe that was the case with the Lutz family. I believe that they believe it was haunted, though. 

Personally, I’m not sure if I believe in ghosts and devils any more than I believe in gods and angels. However, many things happened in our Maricopa house that suggested the land might have been haunted since the house was brand new at the time, and if I hadn’t had first-hand experience with dream premonitions and a few other things, I would probably not know what to believe as far as psychics go. 

Still, my guess is that it wasn’t haunted. The Lutz family did admit that some things that were depicted in the book and movie never happened (there was no “red room”), and all the families that lived there after them said it wasn’t haunted at all. Mr. Lutz claimed he was “pinned” to his bed one night, but as a doctor explained, our brains paralyze our bodies so that we don’t act out our dreams. Occasionally, we can wake up before our brains release our bodies. This sort of happened to me recently. 

I think society in general simply has a fierce need to believe. Every dream MUST have a meaning. Every blessing MUST be because something up there just loves them. Every curse MUST be because something up there hates them. Every event MUST be for a reason. 

Maybe they’re right. But maybe they’re also wrong.