There is a Banshee outside...

Our normal beautiful spring weather was interrupted today by a major storm moving in off the Atlantic. There was the normal mixture of rain and sun, but it is the gale force winds that really keep you on your toes. As I write this I am sitting here watching our van rock back and forth as the gusts of winds hit its right side. This kind of weather isn't anything unusual, but it got me thinking. I think that it was the sounds that really got me thinking. Our new house has some very different sounds than our old flat. I'm not sure what is causing it, but every once and a while I hear a whistle. It isn't loud, and it isn't bothersome... just strange. The whistle will slowly change pitch and then will suddenly change in a different direction.... If I didn't know better I would think that it is a child trying to practice a 'wolf whistle'. Thankfully that is the only strange sound that we occasionally hear... we have some friends here that were living in a house that had the most eerie sound. The winds would occasionally hit the windows at just the right angle and would make a sound that really resembled a baby crying........ now just imagine that... waking up in the middle of the night only to discover that it wasn't your baby crying.... just the wind... spooky! There is no way that I could ever get used to that one.

It is little wonder that ancient Irish superstition explained these strange sounds by saying that it was the Banshee (Bean Sí) or 'female spirit'. It was believed that the fairy woman would wail outside your window as a warning of impending death. There are many traditional stories about this white-clothed, red-eyed, and very haggard looking woman where she actually caused the person to act in a way that brought about their death. Legend has it that she, herself, is not to be feared. She simply is trying to protect and warn.

Ok.... I don't believe in Banshees....... but on a day like today, I'm almost a believer!