Not Going To Market
Friday, December 2, 2011 at 10:08AM It must have been 1978 when I first got a glimpse of the Winchester Mystery House. I was 5 years old and a member of Indian Guides, a father/son group put together by the YMCA to help build parent/child relationships.
One summer we went camping at Calico Ghost Town just outside of Barstow California. I remember really loving the caves and cool stuff around. I also liked panning for gold and even remember the bag of fools gold I got as a souvenir.
Inside one of the stores was a rack of brochures. The kind you would see at a travel agency or tourist spot such as this. Sea World, Disneyland, the L.A. Zoo, and others were all there staring me in the face. And that’s when I see it. A big scary house that just looked amazing. I was intrigued which at that point meant I grabbed it and took it to my father to read.
Since then I have wanted to check it out. I have not been obsessed as much as had it near the top of my bucket list.
Here’s the story in short ninja form. The Winchester’s made rifles. The got rich. They had a baby who died at 6 weeks old. Soon after Mister Winchester dies. His wife freaks out and goes to a psychic to find out why death is all around her. The Psychic tells her she is cursed by the souls of the people who were killed by Winchester rifles. She asks what she needs to do so she will not be next. The psychic tells her to buy a home and continue to build to appease the spirits. So she does. For 38 years. 24/7.
Staircases that go nowhere. Doors that open up to nothing. Windows everywhere. One staircase has 7 switchbacks, 44 stairs, and yet only takes up one floor. There is one door that when opened would drop off from the second story to the side of the house.
She would visit a séance room every night asking the spirits for direction on building her home to keep the bad spirits away. Each morning she would take the notes she took and gave them to the foreman who would get the work done. Crazy. Cool. Creepy.
So on our week long vacation I made sure we had the Winchester house on the itinerary.
When I woke up I grabbed my stuff and headed downstairs for a shower. Three steps in and both of my feet come out from underneath me. I landed flat on my back and slid down the stairs. My foot stopped my slide when it hit the wall and punched a hole into it. My toe did not hurt too bad but after the 40 minute drive to the Winchester house my back hurt more than anything!
Walking around the house was so confusing. So overwhelming. You could get lost so quickly. One wrong step and you could be in big trouble.
Our tour guide has worked there for 13 years and knew his way around. We would walk from one room to another and sometimes he would turn a corner and we would have no clue where he went at first.
And then the diabetes relation clicked. Diabetes is like this house. Big, scary, overwhelming, confusing, creepy, and dangerous. But like our tour guide, over time getting around may be easier, Finding your way seems impossible at first but can be done with help or a lot of studying. Sometimes we take a path that goes no where or there is something that looks like a good idea but ends up being a dangerous path.
We went on both the main tour and a behind the scenes tour that included wearing hard hats and traveling underneath the house into the basements. So awesome. And did I mention that since we got there so early we were the only people on the tour. The intimacy of it made it so much better.
When we got back to my in-laws I took my shoe off and saw a very ugly looking bruise on my big toe. A quick trip to a local podiatrist found I broke the piggy that went to market.
Now I am Limpy McBackpain. I have an appointment to see my doctor today for my back. I saw my podiatrist on Monday and he says it will be 6 weeks for the break to heal. Yay.
All and all we had a great trip. Anytime the four of us are together we have fun. Not to mention the Carb Party that happened last Thursday night!
Here are a few other pictures from the trip.
Above Berkley looking out across the bay.
We look like an old married couple. I love that.
My first time across the Golden Gate.
Check out the sweet beard. Or attempt at one.
Before we left town we had breakfast with a good friend.
Reader Comments (5)
That house looks CRAZY!!! I love the diabetes relation, and you're totally right.
I love the pictures of the family, and the one where you say you look like an old married couple. Made me smile. So nice that you could get together with Manny & A as well!
I hope the doctor was able to give you some help today. You've been hurting for a long time!
The beard attempts are nice, but I LOVE Gillian's hair!
I've seen the signs for Calico but never thought it was worth making a stop for. :)
I think I mentioned it in a tweet but I broke my big toe like 3-4 Christmases ago and it still hurts from time to time (and I wore that stupid boot for a month!)
AWESOME.
your family is so beautiful! glad you finally got to see that crazy house (great analogy too!), clumsy mctripperson.
The friend which i have and always had since i was diagnosed with diabetes is Natvia http://natvia.com/ its this natural sweetener which helped me to maintain my blood sugar level each day and also made me 10 pounds lighter.