Ghostly happenings appear common

“Have you ever seen a ghost?” That question was answered by 100 residents of Scotts Valley and the four towns in the San Lorenzo Valley in an unofficial survey.
Overall, 53 percent answered yes, 41 percent said no and 6 percent said they had felt the presence of a ghost or something paranormal. Comments with the yes answers were sometimes surprising and enlightening.
Though many people think of ghosts as terrifying, malicious or, at the very least, capricious, the two valleys of the Santa Cruz Mountains appear to have been blessed with ghosts that tend to be more like Casper.
Most who answered yes spoke of family members who had recently died. For 10-year-old Alan Brady, it was a “sweet beautiful encounter” when he saw his great-grandmother’s “spirit ghost.” She wanted to see him one more time to ask for his blessing before going on to the next world.
One local resident described waking up in the middle of the night with somebody “spooning him” (curled in the fetal position in bed), with her hand in front of him. When he tried to see whose hand it was, the being’s other hand held his face down so he couldn’t turn his head, perhaps because the sight would have been frightening. However, he recognized the miniscule palm and fingers as those of his adoptive mother, who had recently died.
Another was puzzled when her chandelier lit itself, while her boyfriend’s computer typed “Hiiiiiiiiiiiii” without a touch from human hands.
A survey participant identified only as S said he awoke to an “Alice in Wonderland” kind of moment, in which his cat appeared to him wearing a top hat and a cane and elegantly waved good-bye. S did not know at the time that the cat had died the night before.
Since a longtime patron of Henfling’s in Ben Lomond died three weeks ago, several people have reported seeing One-Eyed Rudy either on the deck drinking a beer or peering at avocados at the outside fruit and vegetable stand at the Ben Lomond Market — a daily habit during his life.
Some of the more interesting stories come from a local haunt, the Brookdale Inn and Spa, where a 6-year-old named Sarah died in the creek that runs through the dining room. Evidently, this spirit is not at rest, given the stories that emanate from the famed Brook Room.
A well-known local merchant said that for most of his life, he hadn’t believed in ghosts, until he had a life-changing event while delivering 80 crates of wine to the lodge one Saturday morning. To do so, he had to prop open an indoor locked gate with one of the cases. The first several loads went fine, but transporting the last few was a little more difficult. Each time he returned to deliver the last loads, the gate had been locked, and the case that held the gate open was sitting outside the locked gate. There was no janitor present, and no teens playing jokes. Poltergeist or Sarah?
Another time, in the dining room during a music break, five of us heard a moan, looked up at the second floor and saw the wisp of a ghost going into the second room on the second floor — exactly where the little girl Sarah had lived when she died, though we didn’t know it at the time.
Stories abound. What is yours? 
Remember, as “Michael” of Monterey said, Halloween is the time when “the veil to the other side becomes thin, and you can see the other world. One thing is for sure — you know you’re not alone out there.”
Get on your costume and have some fun!
• Lyse McGilvery, a freelance writer, describes herself as a barefoot dancer who has lived in Boulder Creek since the earthquake of 1989.