Where To Find A Ghost

My little girl is nine now.  She grows up more and more each day.  Her ears are now pierced, a gift from her grandma on the first day of a summer's visit.  She plays the violin and clarinet beautifully.  She is a good dancer and has taken to soccer.  She is very organized and thoughtful.  (In fact, talking to her on the phone the other day, inquiring about my efforts to do some painting around the house, she wisely said 'remember Dad, a good painter spills a little bit, or even a lot.'  What a wise and thoughtful thing to say to a bad painter like her dad.)

And then I found the list.
 I keep notebooks to keep track of work, tasks, ideas.  I started a new notebook about a month ago.  On a conference call the other day I turned the page, deep into the notebook, and I stumbled onto a list.  It is called "Where to find a ghost."  The list is not signed but the handwriting gives it away.

My Antonia listed twenty-two places where we can find ghosts.  I reprint the list below.  I do not correct spelling or make any other editorial changes but present Antonia Rose Ennis Rocchio's list of twenty-two places to find a ghost.  I hope and am sure you will find it helpful:

1.  Hopitals
2.  Nursing Homes
3.  Mental Health Facilities
4.  Churches
5.  cemeteries
6.  Prisons
7.  Police Stations
8.  Battlegrounds
9.  Orphanages
10. theateres/movie lots
11. Railroad Yards
12. Shipyards
13. Resturants
14. Bars & Taverns
15. Antique Stores
16. Apartment buildings
17. Older ships
18. Sports arenas
19. Airports/Bus stations
20. Coart Rooms/houses
21. Dentist Offices
22. Parks

As a dad the first thing I note is how much is spelled correctly.  'Hopitals' looks like a mental mistake, 'theateres' looks like she couldn't decide between the English and American spelling.  So, I am proud.

The second thought is it is a pretty inclusive list.  Golf courses seem fine, post offices are safe and I guess a movie theater is okay but not a movie lot.  Most every other place, it seems, is prone to be a place to find a ghost.  That's unnerving.  On the other hand I notice too certain places, children's bedrooms, closets, dark spaces under beds, dark bathrooms, are all perfectly safe.  Golf courses seem fine.  Kitchens, basements, rooftops.  There are no ghosts in these places so kids can just stop worrying.  That is a huge relief.

Other places on the list are of course obvious but how does a nine year old girl know about them?  She's been to no battlegrounds, shipyards or, I hope bars or taverns.  And why would a court room be haunted?  What makes her think that?

That the dentist's office is haunted I agree with.  I have thought that for a long time.  Yes, it is brightly painted and lit and everyone's friendly and smiling -- brightly smiling.  And there's music playing in the background and it's all well and good.  But I know I've seen a shadow around bright corners, heard a moan or two not associated with a biting drill, heard trays rattle with no dental assistants nearby.  I am glad she's figured this out.

I admit too it was a bad idea to take the kids to see 'Shutter Island,' Martin Scorcese's creepy ode to mid-Twentieth Century mental health care.  I can see why she believes 'mental health facilities' are haunted (although I don't believe they are).

The rest I leave to her vivid imagination, deduction, observation and experience.

And it's nice to see, for a little while at least, she is still a little girl.

David Rocchio lives, works and writes in Stowe, Vermont. (c) 2012 David Rocchio