Just read this thread for the first time. I've had many experiences and yes I plainly saw the deer the first time I looked at it without reading the text, other than the thread title (which hinted at something might be there). The deer is plain as day. Cool picture. Things I have seen without going into minute details: Orbs in the cemetary - I have a photograph I took where they are all over the cemetary of varying sizes and groups (taken with film, not digital) and developed at a commercial lab. It was my Mother's graveside service. They look similar to children's soap bubbles. I read about them later, after I saw them in the picture. Graveyard dog apparition in a cemetary - a thin, or pale vision of a white German Shepard that was standing there looking at me - then turned and walked back into the woods and poof - faded out of view, before it should have been out of view. Strange animal actions when asking for proof something existed. (3 times). Twice with wild birds and 1 time involving a squirrel. Too involved to explain. Astral projection - personal experience (2 times). First time scary, second time more controlled. Entry and exit point is the back of my neck both times. Read about in detail after the experiences. UFOs (many) but I work near experimental aircraft places, but these were quite visible and nothing like any aircraft I've seen before. All different than each other, and see in different places. One was quite small and I saw it over a house in my current community. It hovered and moved in various directions then sped off and disappeared. It was a green light with no definition, other than round. Music in a haunted lighthouse keeper's house (Point Lookout State Park) - America's most haunted place with cold air wafting up from the opening in the wall area in a upstairs bedroom. They were not playing any music. My son heard it too. Link to Pt. Lookout provided by the DNR of Maryland. Lots of death and misery there during the civil war. There is a mass grave of over 3800 prisoners of war there, and unmarked gravesites as well. Also, shipwrecks. If you are in the area it is open the first Saturday in November (and there are lines). The lightkeepers house is a mirror image house, with both sides the same, double everything. Cold spots that one wants to move out from immediately. Extreme deja vu around certain people. Foggy veil in a photograph taken of a deceased person moments after death, yet ALL images taken before death, and the next day are normal. Only those taken within 2 minutes of death. A soul escaping? Fog or smoke in a photograph taken at a funeral that had the outline of a face. Lights in shrubs as a child Ghost sports car (with top down) with one driver that crossed in the path of me and another person (we both saw it at the same time) and there was no road where it went, only grass. Caused the driver to hit the brakes it looked so real (yet unreal) It was moving left to right straight across in front of our path. I don't deny the existence of anything and most of these experiences were not scary, except cold spots and astral projection. Most I felt no emotion about, it was just there and I was not trying to see any of it. Some experiences felt warming. Brand me a nut - I don't care. I've seen what I've seen and that's about all I can say about it. I don't know why I see these things (and I did not see all of them alone) and some are photographed and some not. I don't try to explain them one way or the other. CT Here is a link that might be useful: The Gosts of Point Lookout

I was in Amarillo I think it was in January of 2002 where they had 2' of snow on the ground and I couldn't see above the drifts and snow piles plowed along the roads and parking lots. I had trouble finding my way out of a couple of parking lots, because it was like a white snow maze. It was quite the site! So, you all can have some significant snows from time to time. I'd also add that Amarillo is within relatively easy driving of some very cool nurseries(Sunshine Nursery in nearby Clinton, OK; High Country Gardens in Albuquerque and Santa Fe, NM; Trees That Please in Los Lunas, NM; Wichita Valley Nursery in Wichita Falls, TX to name a few). Even in the winter when they do get cold it usually doesn't feel as cold because of the dry atmosphere and strong sunlight (both because of the higher elevation, usual lack of clouds, and more Southerly latitude). Also, the spectacular scenery that's not too far off in places like Palo Duro(also full of botanical gems!), the Wichita and Quartz Mountains of nearby SW Oklahoma, the Rita Blanca National Grasslands, Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument, the awesome multicolored deserts of nearby NM, and the National Forests in the same area. Lots of native plants in the area that are still somewhat underutilized in the nursery industry growing in surrounding areas near to Amarillo to select from, if you're interested in the nursery aspect. Like rcnaylor said, I don't think you have to worry about population crowding being a problem in the area for probably about say...200 years or so at least? he he I also think land can be bought for reasonably cheap prices as well. I would also agree that if you're an Easterner (most seem to see this area as stark and lifeless, which it isn't!) or someone who prefers forested or heavily treed areas, you might not like it, but there are trees, native and cultivated, and you can grow lots of trees in the area. I'd also say that many spots in New Mexico have many of these same things going for them as Amarillo, except usually more mountains and more forests at different elevations on the mountains, although the lower altitude areas are more similar to Amarillo.

I have not yet received any envelopes or stamps from anyone, so I wanted to make sure no one is having trouble contacting me. If you are, please post here again. I have recently replied to a few emails, so maybe I'm all caught up. But, please let me know if you've been left hanging unintentionally. Thanks, Martha

Thats interesting about the Great Lakes area being dryer, El Nino means warmer and wetter here and they have been describing this one as the El Nino to dwarf all previous El Nino's. Warmer = too warm to get snow but perfect conditions for rain which means high probability for ice. We already had a doozy ice storm, it looks like a war zone around the city. Just one degree made the difference. If we'd stayed at 33 all would have been fine but no, we dropped to 32. Worst of all, the trees were still covered in leaves so the extra weight really added to the disaster. We had no power for two days, widespread outages all over the city and they are still working on it along with tree trimming and removal. We haven't had a really hard freeze yet. I have zinnias still blooming among other plants. Today is mid 70's. Tom, you ought to see the Callery Pear trees right now and hear stories on the local news of people saying how sad it is to loose such a wonderful tree. A great many of the poor things just ripped completely in half straight down the main trunk all the way to the ground, others simply dropped all their major branches and only the trunks are left with maybe a branch trying to hold on here and there.