Seminary Ridge 7/24/06

A very comfortable Monday evening awaited two nice families from Delaware and Virginia. This was a smaller tour, only 7 people, so this one was very laid back. I don't think I scared the kids too much , so we had a pretty good time!

Storyteller's Rant...When I was playing golf the other day, the girl I was playing with asked me what I did for a living. When I told her that I was a storyteller she really didn't understand what I meant. Then I mentioned the ghost tours, and I got the typical rolling of the eyes and polite smirks from everyone in the foursome. I was then told by this guy that the stories are all made up and exaggerated while she commented that "It's all bullsh*t, there are no ghosts." They just don't get it.

I could care less about ghosts and what people think of them. Does it really matter? I had a police detective from NYC tell me he's seen a ghost, am I supposed to not believe him? I've heard tons of people tell me that they have spent thousands of hours on the battlefield and never saw a ghost so they don't believe in them. Hey that's great.

It's about the storytelling. We could be guiding fairy tale tours and as long as the storytelling was good then I did my job. Ghost tours are like going to movies in a way, instead of watching a screen, the visitor is asked to use their imagination. How often does that happen in ordinary life? Take advantage of such situations. Enjoy the stories for what they are, stories.

"Rick Saunders"