Staging New Hampshire

We all have had that "what is going on" feeling of confusion when there is no explanation for something, those twilight zone moments when you question your own sanity.

I like order and answers...organization and explanation.  I don't like uncertainty or confusion. 

This past Christmas we had 23 relatives at our home for dinner.  The next day I noticed a green cashmere sweater in the closet.  I sent out an email to the female guests stating that someone forgot their sweater.  Several replies came back stating the sweater wasn't theirs.  A couple weeks went by and I called those who hadn't replied.  The sweater didn't belong to any of them.

A sweater doesn't just appear in your closet.  This closet was part of a new addition to my home and prior to this party had never been used, so the sweater had to belong to one of the Christmas guests.  Yet, no one claimed it. 

We went through photos from the party trying to identify who might have brought it.  No luck. 

 Even though it was clearly a woman's sweater, I checked with the remaining male guests to see if any of them knew anything about this mystery sweater.  No luck.

I started to wonder if it was my mind...was I finally losing it?  Maybe it is my sweater and I just don't remember it?  Is that possible? 

A month after Christmas, my sister visited and I mentioned that the sweater mystery was still bothering me.  She asked to see it.  When I pulled it out of the closet, she said "Oh, that is my sweater...I totally forgot I brought it."  She forgot she brought it!  So this wasn't a mystery after all, I'm not losing my mind after all... my sister is losing her mind!

On a daily basis we blame memory or age when we can't remember something or find something.   But sometimes, you just want an answer to a mystery that may never be solved.

The other day, I was looking for a slip of paper that I was sure I had put in my bag.  I checked every compartment, not there.  I checked every compartment again, not there! 

 I was visiting my parents at the time and my mother went through the bag, zipping and unzipping.  "Sometimes you just need a fresh set of eyes" she said.  Her fresh eyes didn't find it either. 

 Oh well, I assumed it had been accidently thrown out.

The next day I pulled my cell phone out of it's zippered compartment and what came out with it?  You guessed it...the slip of paper!  Where did it come from?  The phone had been used several times in between the searching and the finding.  The cell phone compartment of the bag had been checked three times! 

One of life's little annoying mysteries.

A much bigger mystery:

A friend of mine woke up one morning to her cat on her bed.  The cat was hungry and was letting her know she wanted to be fed.  She gently pushed the cat off the bed and returned to sleep.

 She has not seen the cat since. 

When she got up and went to feed the cat, she couldn't find it.  She searched her entire condo, it just wasn't there.  She never went out that day and no one came in.  The door never opened.  The cat is gone.  

Everyone who has heard this story has tried to come up with an explanation for this cat's disappearance.  There seems to be a need to be the one to solve this mystery.  Everyone has a theory.

 We will probably never know what happened to that cat.  One thing is for sure, though, you will have your own ideas as to what happened...you can't help yourself!

By the way, after hearing this story, my friend's parents did their own search.  After hearing the story I, along with a couple of other friends, searched every inch of the condo. We couldn't find any holes or openings anywhere. 

Care to share your twilight zone moments?