I spent this past weekend with the SIM Crew in the northwoods near Bemidji, Minnesota. We did a big confidential investigation of a enormous property there. We investigated this property last year and the property owners were so impressed with the evidence we captured, they invited us back for another ghost hunt. The crew enjoyed this time up north immensely, and we all stayed in a big cabin at Dreamer's Resort, deep in the woods outside of Bemidji. We were the last guests of the season, and we had the resort to ourselves.
Jerry was born and grew up in Bemidji, in fact that is where I met him, while I was a student at Bemidji State University. While we were doing some research on the property we investigated, Jerry and I took some time away so that we could hike back in the woods to the place where his father grew up. So we trekked out into the dense woods in search of the Ayres homeplace.
The house burned many, many years ago, and the place where it once stood is quite a ways back from any road, near a lake. We didn't know the exact coordinates, but as we came to a place in the woods where we thought it might have been I felt a presence, someone was with us I was certain. I felt like someone was near me and watching us, an eerie feeling but not scary. I kept my feelings to myself for a time, but as we turned to make the trek back through the trees I asked Jerry if he felt there was someone with us. He said yes, he too knew we were not alone.
Was the presence we felt Jerry's Grandfather or his Grandmother? Or maybe the uncle that passed away at a very young age from asthma? Were they drawn to us, specifically to Jerry because he is a direct descendant and they could somehow tell? We can only wonder. All three died there, in that house 60+ years ago. We know that the veil that separates the worlds of the living and the dead is very thin this time of year, and ghosts are easily able to make their presence known to us, and they did just that.
Interestingly, later in the day we were able to contact our cousin Amy who has done a lot of family research. She has made the hike back into the woods and found the remains of the old foundation. Amy was able to send the coordinates to us, and amazingly when we looked at the map our belief that we had been near the home place was validated. We had been within a few steps of the house where my father in law was born and spent his childhood. Jerry and I feel sure that one or more of the Ayres ancestors was with us as we hiked around, searching for the remains of the home that once housed them. We wanted to return after dark (it is what we do), but with bears on the move (we came across bear poop and the smell around us indicated that there was one near us) as well as wolves known to inhabit the area, well, we thought perhaps we wouldn't be safe.
We hope to go back there sometime soon to the exact coordinates. What will we find? Family ghosts? We can only hope we do, it would be nice for Jerry to meet his ancestors, wouldn't it?
