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Lawnmower And Hammering

 

Not sure if this really qualifies as a ghost encounter, but it's certainly odd.

In around 2008 I began noticing the sound of a distant lawnmower in the middle of the night. It sounded way off in the distance. But because it's quiet in the middle of the night I could hear all the sounds you'd associate with cutting grass. The crunch of going over a stick, various sounds of the motor as it pushes through long tufts, all those lawnmower type sounds. Every so often, I'd hear this nocturnal mower. I found this amusing, thinking 'sucks to be their neighbour.'

I mentioned this to a few friends. For a lark I made up stories about some deranged guy with body parts in his garden shed. 'Hey, do you remember that film Lawnmower Man? Well, there's some wacko around here who mows the grass in the middle of the night.' You can imagine the sorts of stupid jokes which followed.

About a year later, Christmas time at Mum's, I heard another distant lawnmower in the middle of the night. I didn't think much of it, just 'Huh what'd ya know, another late night grass cutter.'

This has been going on for absolute years. Every now and then, in the middle of the night, someone, a block or two away, mows their grass.

Few months back, around August, I heard the late night mower again. For the first time, since this has been happening, I questioned it. What got me was the direction. No matter where I hear this, it's always the same distance away. I then started thinking if cutting grass in the middle of the night is really something some people do, surely you'd come across it late at night driving to or from wherever. But I've never come across anyone mowing their grass in the middle of the night, nor have I ever heard anyone complain about a neighbour doing so. This time I listened hard, maybe I'm hearing a truck or even the fridge. Nope, it's a lawnmower alright.

Then my thoughts turned serious, along the lines of schizophrenia. Nearing ten years of accepted nocturnal lawnmower compressed into five minutes of bombarding realisation makes you a bit tetchy. I was going from one end of the house to the other trying to get a direction on this sound, before I went to my husband with it. Couldn't get a direction. We were going to bed, he was upstairs while I was trotting around downstairs. He could tell something was amiss by my running around. I went up and said "Okay, can you hear a lawnmower?" he looked at me in the way he does when something's bloody serious and said "I can hear hammering."

Big long discussion that night. He could hear distant hammering. I could not hear any hammering whatsoever and he couldn't hear any lawnmower. But he's been hearing hammering on and off for a long time, he thinks much longer than my 2008-ish lawnmower. Like me, he hears this when it's very quiet, like night time. We've discussed hearing this during the day, but it's the kind of volume you wouldn't notice over daytime traffic or even birds, it would blend in. I've heard distant lawn mowing many times during the day, but whether every one is a physical occurrence I've no idea now. We've also discussed the possibility we've been hearing these sounds at the same time, without knowing it. Like that night.

No hammering or lawnmower since that night in August. Husband joked now we've clocked these as phantom sounds we'll probably never hear them again. That'd suck.

So what the heck is going on here? Neither of us have any affiliation with lawnmowers or hammering, no more than the next person at least. We don't have any desire to do any renovating or repairing or fancy lawn maintenance. These sounds don't resonate with us at all. We both love gardening and nature but hearing hammering and a lawnmower is a bit extreme.

We keep waiting for one of us to hear this again. I tried to force hearing the lawnmower one night, didn't work. Over the years it only occurs maybe twice a year at most, and this is about the same for his hammering.

If only we'd known about this ages ago, drats.

Thanks for reading.

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The following comments are submitted by users of this site and are not official positions by yourghoststories.com. Please read our guidelines and the previous posts before posting. The author, Tweed, has the following expectation about your feedback: I will read the comments and participate in the discussion.

Melda (10 stories) (1363 posts)
+1
7 years ago (2017-07-08)
Tweed - If a lawnmower is indeed a power tool then my husband is allergic to it. I should have taken videos of the few occasions that he actually mowed a lawn!

In fact he has so many power tools and wood that you cannot park a car in our double garage! Carpentry is his hobby. We have a little alley on our property next to the garage, with a lock-up gate, and that is where the cars have to go.

So much for men and their tools - um, power tools.

Regards, Melda
Tweed (36 stories) (2529 posts)
+1
7 years ago (2017-07-08)
LOL Melda, I'm not surprised he finished her lawn. He probably figured he'd do it faster because the average bloke is utterly OBSESSED with 'power tools'. Does a mower fall under the power tool category? Oh who cares. 😆
Melda (10 stories) (1363 posts)
+2
7 years ago (2017-06-27)
Tweed - I know I'm way out of time on this one. I just happened to read this experience of yours yesterday.

This is not at all paranormal but a real life experience which had me laughing for weeks 😆

This happened in Kimberley SA. The neighour across the road from us, Auntie Ann, who also babysat my kids in the mornings while I was at work, had this habit of mowing her lawn in the evenings and sometimes quite late at night. She did this because during the summer months Kimberley is unbelievably hot during the day.

I must admit it did become irritating but I didn't say a word, she looked after my kids. My next-door neighbour however one night decided that he had had enough. He had to leave very early in the mornings to be at work on time.

One night at about ten p.m. I heard this altercation going on across the road and I could hear Auntie Ann becoming more and more volatile. I rushed out to my garden gate and saw her having an argument with the enraged neighbour.

Next thing he calmly took the lawnmower away from her and proceeded to finish mowing the lawn, while she sat on the step in front of her door, very relaxed, smoking a cigarette.

I may just mention that he was dressed only in his sleep shorts
😆

Auntie Ann never mowed her lawn after seven in the evening again.

Your experience just reminded me of this neighbourhood altercation and how amused many of us were by it.

Regards, Melda
AugustaM (7 stories) (996 posts)
+3
8 years ago (2017-03-03)
Wow I like the way your ideas came together, Manafon and Tweed! The evolutionary perspective is compelling and something to really think on!

Ha ha ha I'm over my up vote quota for both of you too lol
Manafon1 (7 stories) (722 posts)
+3
8 years ago (2017-03-03)
Tweed--That is a very interesting thought. That being able to pick up telepathic communications on the wind may stem from our ancient ancestors utilizing the wind to pick up danger in the environment (or equally being more aware if hindered by it) and using that brain space instead (if often unconsciously) to pick up other transmissions with the aid of the wind.

Very intriguing idea. Wanted to give you an upvote for your comment but I'm past my allotted quota.
Tweed (36 stories) (2529 posts)
 
8 years ago (2017-03-03)
Manafon this Hudson bloke sounds pretty awesome. I think his ideas make a lot of sense because of our evolution. Wind dulls our senses and heightens them at the same time. A storm can disorientate us, in a primal sense our fight or flight responses are activated. But as we no longer need to run from saber tooth tigers and the like there's now room for more information. So maybe our instincts go something like "Oh crap is this a safe place to be? The wind's too noisy, where those dinosaurs at, oh wait they're extinct, I can relax." So then the logical part relaxes but the primal part still looks for danger and while searching it picks up finer frequencies, like ghosties.

Augusta that phone moment of yours must have been so crazy weird. The sort of thing you never forget. Crazy thing to have happen.
Manafon1 (7 stories) (722 posts)
+1
8 years ago (2017-03-03)
Tweed and Augusta--On the subject of wind and the paranormal, author and naturalist W.H. Hudson had two fascinating experiences in his life that involved a strong wind blowing in his face. In both experiences a face appeared to him. Both were perfectly real looking but, "it appeared to be in and a part of the wind, since it did not rest for one instant, but had a flutter like the flutter we see in a cinematograph picture, and continually moved to and fro and vanished and reappeared almost every second, always keeping on a level with and about three feet removed from my eyes."

In both cases of Hudson seeing faces in the wind (both faces were of people he knew who were living) he received a message that turned out to be factual. He states, and this might be similar to hearing voices in the wind, "the two appearances of phantasmal faces... Appears to fit in with the whole idea about the wind--it's powerful effect on the mind, or shall we say on the matter or substance of the mind; and I do not find it impossible to believe that one of the effects is to make the mind more sensitive to telepathic communications. In both instances the wind, a strong south-west wind and an east wind blowing a gale, blew from the direction of the person whose minds were occupied with me at the time,"

He concludes, fascinatingly, by stating, "Doubtless, they were images on the brain, projected into the air, as it seemed, and their incessant windy motions perhaps corresponded with an agitation in the brain, or with the substance of it in which the affections, memory, reason and imagination reside, with perhaps other faculties we know not of or are only just beginning to know."

Just thought I would throw Hudson's rumination into the mix. I don't know or necessarily believe the wind can enhance telepathic messages but then again who knows!
AugustaM (7 stories) (996 posts)
+2
8 years ago (2017-03-03)
I wondered then if it was a child who had been lost in a storm - Virginia winters used to be far more vicious than they are today... Though even one of this era's freak snow storms could have fatal consequences to a small child caught out. When first I heard it, I tried to dismiss the terrified little voice as some weird wind whistling through trees or eves effect but the words were just too precisely enunciated. He would clearly yell, "Daddy! Daddy! Please!" It was chilling! I wanted to go out and look for him but my mother wouldn't let me and she couldn't hear it.

How interesting about your grandmother - even though no phone was involved in your experience, it reminds me of rather chilling experiences I've heard of involving phantom voices on old party lines. I hope it was a nice thing for you to hear her voice, though:) As I've mentioned before, my grandparents passed when I was about five - when I was 27, the phone (in the same house mentioned above) rang, I picked it up... And heard my grandfather's voice say 'Hello, is this Augusta?'...my stomach dropped to my feet and I started to cry. In this case, however, though it was a miracle of sorts, it wasn't paranormal - the voice was, in fact, my grandfather's long lost brother whom the family had thought was dead and I had never known about!

Going off now to read the story you linked! 😁
Tweed (36 stories) (2529 posts)
 
8 years ago (2017-03-03)
This is the other wild weather experience I was thinking of:
Http://www.yourghoststories.com/real-ghost-story.php?story=8317
Tweed (36 stories) (2529 posts)
+2
8 years ago (2017-03-03)
Augusta, now I'm really intrigued about the child you heard in the rain. One of the mods, either Miracles or Granny has an experience posted about hearing odd things in the wind. Except their experience was shared by other members of their family, same time, same storm, in different houses!
I've yet to submit this, but when my Gran passed I heard her talking to one of her friends, who'd also passed on. Same sort of thing, super windy night. At the time it felt like the wind helped me hear them, it was weird. I guess there's audio matrixing and all that but this was clear as night and day their voices, or clear apart from all the wind lol.
There seems to be something about wild weather that helps ghosties break the sound barrier or something. Weird, but cool!

As for the lawnmower and the hammer, I'm still on the fence that it's paranormal. Husband believes it is, but I'm open to it being tinnitus related now. That said, if it happens again to both of us at the same time again I'll be a bit freaked, but in a cool way. 😊 Glad you enjoyed reading this.
AugustaM (7 stories) (996 posts)
+3
8 years ago (2017-03-03)
Interesting experience, Tweed! I know what you mean too - the last house I lived it was around 80 years old and was part of an historic neighborhood that began construction as a self sufficient community in 1918. Whenever the wind blew hard off the river or heavy rains pelted us - basically whenever the weather was at its most miserable - I could clearly hear the voice of a child, a boy I think maybe between six and eight, calling out desperately for its Daddy - always from the North end of the street. My mother never heard it.

Regarding the social aspect of the commentary on this thread - I've been noticing the build up too and I completely agree about the other paranormal sites out there. Ever since I stumbled upon this site I have thoroughly enjoyed it and especially the community - it reminds me of a site I belonged to long ago ATWAS (not a paranormal site but a communal story writing site and if anyone remembers THAT, I'll do a happy dance). I always look forward to seeing the input from the community - especially the regulars like you:) It is always irksome when I come across a comment that indicates a possible troll amongst us - and thank you to the mods for all the work you do:)
Tweed (36 stories) (2529 posts)
+6
8 years ago (2017-03-01)
Manafon, I have images of a little dude trying to juggle your cutlery. Very odd to drop one from a height though. I had an equally baffling kitchen noise a few months back, ha and it's with a spoon as well. I was stirring tea and the last tap of the spoon onto the cup rang out like it was drenched in reverb. It was very odd/cool. I tried to do it again, but nothing, of course.

DirtCreature, no not American lol. You're right about paranormal sites being vulnerable to all sorts. That's the reason I've never been a member of any, apart from this one. I assumed every other site to be kind of dumb haha. Maybe not dumb, but less realistic.

Biblio, thanks for your reassuring reassurance, you're improving already! I picked up on something of a build up over the past month or so too. Oooh yeeah! Unrelated, I might have some useful info for you, I'll post it on your carved bust narrative.

Granny, I've never had a problem with having my comments deleted. Lord knows it's happened more than once or twice, if anything it amuses me. But last night felt different. I must stress it wasn't that the comment was deleted, it was what Miracles said, I found it very reductive, all things considered. I didn't read the comments which were deleted, so perhaps I'm taking things out of context. I understand how hard and tedious it can be to run a forum. There's no grudges or bad feelings from my end.

Roylynx, thanks you did cheer me up, you always do! 😊
roylynx (guest)
+1
8 years ago (2017-03-01)
Senhora Tweed, I actually enjoy all your stories and I find that most of your comments interesting and very very helpful! I was reading the previous story and all the comments, I tend to strongly feel that some people here really need a lesson personally, which of course that would not have been you.

You have shown that you have a clear mind and temp to know how should certain things have to be treated, I am sure that is nothing personal at all but really some amateurs seem not to realize it at all. Mods here are just doing their job as a mod as zzgranny commented; I don't think they will be standing on anyone's side.

Please do not stress yourself for little things like that, readers know the rights and wrongs, none of us should stress or struggle for them. I hope this can cheer you up a bit.

Smiles from São Paulo
E.Lynx
zzsgranny (18 stories) (3329 posts) mod
+3
8 years ago (2017-03-01)
Tweed: I hope you didn't take the recent events personally, because that wasn't the intention. And as Biblio stated, he's on your side, as I'm sure many others are as well. Well, we Mods really don't have the luxury of choosing sides. When a situation arises that could potentially start a fire we have to put it out. I think you probably missed the chance to read the reply to your deleted comment and therefore have no idea why yours is gone.

It was really no more than stomping the sparks before the fire could start.

We do our best to banish the trolls, and we rely in part on the members alerting us. 😊 But we really are on the side of the site when it comes down to the nitty-gritty and no one is immune from having comments deleted. Please don't take it personally.
Bibliothecarius (9 stories) (1091 posts)
+3
8 years ago (2017-03-01)
Tweed,

As you well know, I have a habit of sounding off when I think there's a deluge of idiotic commentary or outright B.S. Occasionally, I have misjudged a situation; on those occasions, my responses qualified as idiotic commentary. Additionally, I've made unclear statements which have caused inadvertent offense or have provoked melodramatic responses.

I am here to learn, to discuss, and to explore people's paranormal experiences. I agree that there are issues which become "dangerous if left untreated." I confess that, of late, there have been some comments which have irritated me to the point that I've simply skipped over not only that individual's self-absorbed derailments of the discussions but also other posters' well-intentioned responses directed to that comment and not to the original posting. *Not* reading everything is highly unusual for me, as I normally read posts and the subsequent comments several times; glossing over material is a warning sign to which I should pay close attention. As I look over the last few weeks, I realize that I have felt the slow, steady chill of a blizzard building up in the back of my mind.

I may be irascible, curmudgeonly, abrasive, sardonic, and fallible, but I'm on your side.

(That was supposed to be reassuring... I'd better add "reassuring" to the list of emotions I have to improve upon.)

Best,
Biblio.
DirtCreature (guest)
+3
8 years ago (2017-02-28)
I just realized you're not American, Tweed. My American brain makes me assume everyone is from my country until I saw the country of origin for your stories... XD

It must be difficult for the admins to keep that stuff under wrap. Forum sites are vulnerable to time wasters but the paranormal sites are vulnerable times infinity. I just went through the submission guidelines and they seem pretty strict about what gets to be published. It seems that things get out of hand when the person who submits a story starts to take advantage of the privilege of having published stories. But as I am not a mod, I don't know where the line is to blocking time wasters from the site... However I also feel that can sometimes make the trolls work harder to get past the ropes. It is very frustrating. But I suppose that's why it is extremely crucial that all YGS members be as cautious, skeptical, and inquisitive as possible. Also to not get too attached to stories. I noticed that happened when BlackDiamond (I think that's the username) posted a story about Dr. Who? Some of those who responded to the story, as I recall, were enthralled by the story only to be disappointed by its falsehood.
Manafon1 (7 stories) (722 posts)
 
8 years ago (2017-02-28)
Tweed--Forget to add that I dug your comment about the Tomten. Having met a couple of the dudes (or at least heard what I believe to have been Tomten) a few years back I couldn't help mentioning them. I had a spoon drop into my kitchen sink this morning from what sounded like a couple of feet above while I was alone and in another room. When I investigated, there were two spoons sitting in the sink. I think they were already there but one of them had to have been picked up by a good height to reproduce the sound I heard. Weird stuff. The Tomten immediately came to my mind.

Who knows!
Manafon1 (7 stories) (722 posts)
+3
8 years ago (2017-02-28)
Tweed--Your points are beautifully put. I have to agree that the main reason I come on this site is to read new and thought provoking ideas concerning paranormal subjects. However when we all experience (as I just did with another member) odd outbursts that are created just to garner attention, for attentions sake, the site can suddenly feel like anything approaching its remit.

There should always be room for a huge sense of humor but when immature attention seekers clog up this really great site, well, that just sucks. Here's to hoping we can all get back to ghosts 😁.
Tweed (36 stories) (2529 posts)
+6
8 years ago (2017-02-28)
YGS,

This place is fast becoming a breeding ground for trolls and Barbara Cartland novels.
I don't care if my comments get deleted. But I find when arguments are just at the point of resolve they're censored and the situation drags on. I realise Americans have a lower tolerance to certain prose but I think it's to the detriment of honest people. For this reason I urge the YGS owners and mods to review the submission and comment guidelines of the site. Because currently the site is supporting time wasters and trolls.
As a few of you know there's been a lot of off site communication about certain situations over the years. I find myself behaving as a vigilante on here, in an attempt to protect honest members and keep the forum 'safe'. Perhaps it's because my comments and emails are often delayed by a day or more, and are deemed no longer relevant or even frivolous due to the off timing delay they're sent. But I continue to be unable to stand by while people are taken advantage of, it makes me crazy. Maybe I'm at odds with the guidelines or something, if so I should walk away. But I know this place can be a great exchange of paranormal info and I hope that it finds its way back there.

Of course I'm not referring to teenage Halloween Ouija stories and Miss Demeanour rides, they'll always be great fun. I'm talking about the subtle cellular level stuff, it's dangerous if left untreated.

I've been burning the midnight oil lately, working on a project. This time of the night/morning belong to Tomten, time makes everything clear.

Peace and love to you all.
valkricry (49 stories) (3286 posts) mod
 
8 years ago (2017-02-13)
High five, Martin! ^^^ Thank you so much for going to bat for us!
Martin (602 posts) mod
+6
8 years ago (2017-02-13)
I just want to point out to users who had their stories copied in the http://trueghoststories.tumblr.com/ blog, after sending complaints to the owner and giving them time to clean up their act, and receiving no responses, and escalating it then Tumblr a few times, they seem to have decided to take the blog down. I don't know if it's forever but if they come back, I do hope they completely get rid of any content they have stolen from others.
zzsgranny (18 stories) (3329 posts) mod
+3
8 years ago (2017-02-06)
Tweed, please excuse the interruption.

KikiGirl: I followed the link you provided as well and saw that you did post a response to one of the threads. You should also ask that the stories that belong to you be removed. If they don't then you have the right to report them to facebook.

Now that that's been said, I think you should know that since it is your story we're discussing, this is the wrong place to do it. If your comments aren't directed to the OP or their experience, you should go to one of your own stories and post. This is in the comments guidelines and states:
*As a general rule, posts should be on topic and related to an author's story. If you have something entirely unrelated to say, please use your own story to do so. Comments may gradually get off track a bit, it happens, but don't jump in a story with a completely different subject, or worse, just to promote commenting on your own story. Also, make sure to read the previous posts before publishing yours.*

Please read the Comments Guidelines by clicking the link at the bottom of the page.

Now, let's put this puppy to bed, shall we?
Tweed (36 stories) (2529 posts)
+10
8 years ago (2017-02-05)
Kiki, once again I find myself replying to you at a ghastly hour.

You can NOT seriously be clueless as to what to do with all the multiple explicit discussions about this subject over the past week or two. You are behaving like a needy child who wants their hand held through everything. Either that OR you're playing innocent for entirely murkier and deceptive reasons.

I haven't spent much time on here lately and I came now to catch up on some posts. But instead I read your long winded passive aggressive diatribe. Either you're addicted to attention or you're secretly using our knowledge to cover your own tracks. Either way the outcome is always the same, the forum is distracted by a needy person.

I don't have a witty summation for once. Tomorrow I plan on reading the newer submissions, I shan't be distracted by you.
valkricry (49 stories) (3286 posts) mod
+3
8 years ago (2017-02-05)
Kiki,
I went and looked at that facebook page. First, your entire story is there, not just paragraph 6, it's just spaced out in several posts. Second, I notice you did not bother to register a complaint under any of the messages. Did you message the page owner directly?
Third, I don't know what you were looking at but the picture I saw was not remotely " grotesquely offensive!" I see a background with a group of trees in silhouette shrouded in fog, with a smaller 'clear' black tree in the foreground.
Fourth, at least this Malinga person left your name on your stories. She seems to like you, as her site only contains the 2 stories you published here. Nothing else.
I suggest you contact the page owner, and then Facebook as well.
roylynx (guest)
+1
8 years ago (2017-02-05)
KikiGirl, report it to facebook and if necessary e-mail Martin as well. His address is available in the e-mail you receive when you submit a story here. Problematic members won't last long, so don't worry.

E.Lynx

This comment from KikiGirl is hidden due to low rating. Show comment

Manafon1 (7 stories) (722 posts)
+2
8 years ago (2017-02-05)
Hi Biblio--The way you went about having your account removed from that site was fantastic. Essentially creating a tsunami of info to overwhelm the culprit. In the case of my three accounts appearing on the Tumblr blog True Ghost Stories From Around The World, I wrote the person behind the site a couple of times but received no replies. After that I filled out the Tumblr copyright infringement form and let their machinery take over.

Within three days my stories were removed. Hopefully all the other YGS users whose accounts appear on that blog will fill out that online Tumblr copyright form and get all those stolen stories removed.
Bibliothecarius (9 stories) (1091 posts)
+4
8 years ago (2017-02-05)
Manafon:

As you know, one of my stories was plagiarized by a different website (the offensively-named "foolstory.com"); as of Sunday morning, the entire thing (http://foolstory.com/?p=329) has been removed. I did e-mail the person responsible for the site (and cc'd Martin) indicating my displeasure at a lack of attribution to YGS.

I guess including a lot of the plagiarist's personal information, including address, postal code, country of residence, e-mail address, and phone number (all of which I gleaned from the very useful "Who.is" **domain search engine** at https://who.is), persuaded him that copying our stories was not in his best interest.

For everyone else who has had a story taken from YGS, I strongly urge you to read the following paragraphs before reacting out of frustration or anger:

BEFORE I e-mailed him, I cross-referenced what I'd found on "who.is" with other domain names registered by him so I could confirm I was not being a nuisance to some patsy who'd had his wallet stolen. I heartily encourage the use of the website IN CONJUNCTION WITH cross-checking the information. The additional data I found corroborated the initial findings AND **ruled out** a woman with a similar name who studies/works at M.I.T. This was successful in encouraging the fraudulent individual to remove the story --without upsetting someone at one of the planet's most prestigious institutions of engineering & technology (That could have been a technological disaster of monstrous proportions!). I was also very, very careful to explain in polite terms WHY I was upset by the unattributed use of my personal experience, which I'd shared on YGS for suggestions, analysis, and feedback, and I was firm but polite in my insistence that the narrative be removed. Once the recipient of the e-mail can see how much data has been gleaned about him/her by the sender, remaining polite and calm is of paramount importance.

Best,
Biblio.
Tweed (36 stories) (2529 posts)
+1
8 years ago (2017-02-05)
Hey Manafon, thanks for the update, glad it's sorted. 'Puds' 😆
babygoatpuller (4 stories) (432 posts)
+1
8 years ago (2017-02-03)
I just saw Val's "Grandma Drowned the Boogeyman" story up on Tumblr. Thought you'd like to know Val. Looks like a LOT more from here are up to.

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