April 19th - The Heebie Jeebies

Our theme this week is "Spiritual Ground" and I struggled with it all week, not having any idea what to do. But today I thought a nice peaceful shot of the local cemetery might do it. That's spiritual, right? It would probably be more peaceful at night, so that's what I decided. I know, I know... it sounds scary, but hey, I'm a man. I'm 46 years old. I can watch scary movies and not freak out. It's only a graveyard. I don't believe in ghosts. So off I went after dark to see what I could shoot. "I" as in, "me". Alone. By myself. As in, "nobody went with me". (well Chester went but he had to stay in the car - they don't like dogs in graveyards. I guess they figure dogs might dig up a bone). So there I was taking a few shots, being careful not to step on any graves, and having a good time keeping my imagination in check. I looked up at the steeple, and I thought if I moved around to the other side, I could align it with the north star and maybe get some star trails revolving around the cross. (Did I mention I was there with nobody else?) So I went around to the other side of the chapel (or church or whatever it is) and was getting the cross aligned, when I heard a horrible scratching sound. (My first thought was, OK, my imagination is not in check, so check on that will ya?) I checked, and nope, it's REAL SOUND! I'm not kidding. (and the hair on the back of my neck just stood up when I typed that). I looked up, and there on the steeple (jeez, I have goosebumps now!) was something crawling around to the side facing me. And I'm serious by the way, I'm not kidding about this. Then I heard raspy, gasping breathing from up there. It was freakin' wierd, man. That raspy breathing was too much - I didn't stay to investigate. Instead I blew out of there PDQ. Now that I'm home safe (assuming nothing followed me), I'm thinking maybe it was a raccoon. Are raccoons strong enough or are their claws sharp enough that they could crawl around on a near-vertical steeple? Or could it have been an owl maybe? But what would breathe like that..... It gives me the heebie jeebies just thinking about it.
20 sec. f/3.5 iso 800

And yes, I think this is the longest 365 post I've seen yet....