The Meaning of It All
by ANN ULRICH MILLER
© 2016 (all rights reserved)
An article from the June 2017 issue of THE STAR BEACON.
Time
to Get Back to Being Weird
AUTHOR’S
NOTE: Karen Curry’s Webmail ("It's Good to Be Weird") reminded me of an
article I wrote for the New Matamoras Top Hat back in 2009, just before I
left Ohio to return to Colorado, so I thought I’d share it.
JACKSON RUN -- I want to
express in this, my last article, how much I have enjoyed being a part of the
New Matamoras community. The last two years that I've spent here have become
ingrained in my memory and I will carry fond thoughts of the land along the
river with some of the friendliest people around.
When I came here in February 2007 with my late
husband, it was with the intention of getting a taste of retirement, and it was
a much needed break from an extremely busy life and work load -- not to mention
a respite from weirdness. I'll explain later.
Early in 2006 Ethan had mentioned to me how much he loved southeastern Ohio. He
used to come here to hunt every fall with his sons, his brother and his nephews.
In fact, his brother had bought a house on Jackson Run in 1989, which he
subsequently sold to the people who currently live there. Ethan wished his
brother had kept that place because he loved the woods and the area and wished
he had thought to buy property here years ago.
I said to him, "Well, you could still buy property there, if you want." He
looked at me and said, "But you wouldn't want to move there."
"What makes you say that?" I replied. "Maybe I need a change."
I remember the twinkle in his blue eyes. "You mean, you would consider it?" Not
only did I consider it, but I was aching for some new direction in our lives. I
was getting burned out with my job and I felt it, but I was aching for some new
direction in our lives. I was getting burned out with my job and I felt there
was too much stress in my life, due to my "outside interests" and the burden of
always being the one to turn to.
So we wrote the Marietta
Chamber of Commerce and gathered information, hoping to take a trip when summer
came, to check out the area. Then, Ethan got sick the end of February 2006. A
strange viral pneumonia triggered his pulmonary fibrosis and he almost died. He
went on oxygen and life changed quite suddenly for both of us. I gave up on the
idea of pursing the "Southeast Ohio Dream."
Later that summer,
someone suggested that Ethan might not need as much oxygen if we lived at a
lower altitude. Where we lived in Colorado it was 6,000 feet. When we asked the
doctor, she admitted that it was possible he might do better at a lower
altitude. Once again I began researching the southeastern Ohio area, and on the
Internet I found the house on Jackson Run. When I told Ethan, he grew excited
and wanted us to make a trip out to see the house.
You may think it's a bit
much for somebody to travel almost 2,000 miles to look at a piece of real
estate, but this is the man who traveled 2,000 miles to meet me ... and look
where I ended up because of it. Anyway, I got a couple of weeks off from work
and we drove to Marietta the end of September.
Ethan wired the car so
that we could bring the oxygen concentrator, since he needed it full time. He
did seem to improve as soon as we left the high country.
Jackson Run
The house on Jackson Run was the only property we looked at on that trip. We
liked it and so we bought it. It wasn't quite that simple, though. We still had
to list our home in Colorado, and this was at the time when the real estate
market was starting to sour. I guess it was meant to be, though, because within
two months our place sold, and in another two months we arrived in New
Matamoras, along with a snow storm and freezing temperatures at the end of
January 2007.
I loved it here. I loved
the woods, I loved the river, and when spring came, the birds were my passion.
It was quiet, it was secluded, and it didn't take me long to get used to not
having a job any more. I had already made up my mind, when we moved, that I was
going to become a "normal person." I wasn't going to talk to anybody in our new
community about my interests other than writing novels, raising chickens and
being a songbird fanatic -- all of which were safe, "normal" topics.
Sometimes I think being
weird is like wearing a badge that everyone can see. We were there only a couple
of days when some locals came to the house and the first thing the man asked
was, "(So-and-So) tells me you're psychic."
I didn't know what to
say. Okay, I'm intuitive, but I wouldn't go so far as to say I'm actually
psychic, although they say everybody is -- to a certain extent. I kind of
laughed it off and said, "Well, not really ... but I am into UFOs."
Maybe it was the wrong
thing to say. His wife got that look and her eyes rolled up into her
head. But her husband said, "Oh, yeah, I'm interested in UFOs!" The wife kind of
slunk away at that point. I didn't need to be psychic to pick up that she wanted
nothing to do with aliens or space craft.
I decided from then on
just to hush up and try to remember not to bring it up with anybody again.
You see, back in Colorado
I was known as the "UFO lady" because back in the 1980s I was an associate
director of an organization that helped UFO percipients, which translates to
people who think they've been abducted or have had some kind of contact with an
unidentified craft or the folks who fly them. My role was to listen, to record
their stories, investigate, and try to reassure them that they weren't
necessarily crazy or alone. I, too, had experienced some anomalous and
unexplained weirdness, and all my life I've been weird (which isn't a bad thing,
it just means I think differently from most folks).
I guess that's what
attracted my husband to me. It was because of our mutual interest in the subject
that he found me and traveled 2,000 miles just to meet me. At that time in my
life I was actively holding public meetings about UFOs, spreading awareness so
that people could learn that the subject is not just something to make fun of.
Real people, including police officers and airline pilots -- and yes, even our
astronauts -- have witnessed the unexplainable.
There are countless
instances of very credible sightings and contacts that have taken place over
many decades. For reasons known only to them, certain people in control of our
government and our military do not want everyone else to know the truth about
our planet's visitors. Other countries in the world, such as Mexico and Belgium,
are much more open with their citizens about the subject. Since July 1947 and
the Roswell incident, extraterrestrials became a matter of national security and
a grand plan to brainwash the public into believing witnesses are crazy and that
UFOs do not exist was launched. The controlled media always makes fun of
sightings... haven't you noticed?
Most people I would talk
to found the subject fascinating, and usually had their own story to share. They
would call me at all hours of the day or night, call me at work, corner me on
the street, and after years of that, I felt I needed a break. My little monthly
UFO newsletter, The Star Beacon, which I began in April 1987, grew into
what it is today, a 16-page color magazine, now in its 23rd year. I have
subscribers all over the world, and the Internet has allowed me to expand with a
PDF version and a Web site that offers many of the articles free each month.
It's easy to get burned
out on being weird, especially when you're trying to raise a family, have enough
time for your husband, write novels on the side, and go camping and bird
watching. I got stretched really thin in 2006 -- to the breaking point -- which
is why coming to Ohio seemed to be the right choice. Of course the fact that my
husband needed to come here to enjoy his last years was the most important
reason, and I've never regretted that we came.
However, he passed away
last September, and I've been alone long enough. Our place is too big for one
person, and I want to be close to my 10-month-old grandson who lives in
Colorado. So I'm going back this month. I sold the property and am headed for
Pagosa Springs, a community of about 1,500 people, with lots and lots of weird
folks just like me ... I knew it was going to become my home when I visited
there last fall.
I've had my fill of being
normal, let's face it … It's time to go back to being weird, which just happens
to be my calling. Pagosa Springs, some say, is a vortex area and right now is
attracting a lot of us so-called light workers. What's that, you ask? To
put it in simple terms, a light worker is someone who tries to make the world a
better place. Sometimes you don't need to do anything except simply be in an
area for a while ... just sort of light up the area around you ... using good
thoughts, emitting positive energy and kindness, even if it's just a smile at a
stranger or a loving thought. It has nothing to do with being religious, it's a
spiritual thing ... I know some light workers who don't even have a clue
who they are. I'm sure one of them lives on my road.
So now I hope I've
explained my reasons and extended my gratitude to you for allowing me to be a
part of the New Matamoras community. I may have been somewhat of a hermit all
these months, but it was necessary for me to re-energize and get ready to
fulfill my mission. Ethan wanted so badly to stick around ... but you know what? He is anyway! But
that's another story.
And if you want the whole
story, you'll have to get my book, which coincidentally is coming out this very
month. Throughout All Time is my spiritual memoir about the man who
traveled 2,000 miles to meet me, and the ensuing two decades we shared that were
not always the dream life we had envisioned.
Naturally, Jackson Run
plays its own part in the book. Thank you for letting me share your beautiful
corner of Ohio for a while. I will never forget this area nor the friendly faces
I've come to know in the last two years.
Ann Ulrich Miller is the publisher of The Star Beacon. She is putting out a revised edition of Throughout All Time, to be published soon. The original first edition is still in print ($17.00 postpaid.) AnnUlrichMiller.com
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