The Manhole Haunting

I’m a sales rep with Thermal Pipe Systems, Inc. located at One City Center at the 800 block of 10th Street, Northwest. I went outside our office complex, my usual morning constitutional most days around 9:30 to breathe fresh air and check the weather. It was overcast, but warm this Tuesday morning in mid-February, pleasant weather for Washington D.C. this time of year. 

The traffic was moderate for this time of the morning.  A haze of purple and strong scents of tar and oil sets in the air following automobiles on the street. The streetcars were running on time unloading and loading passengers at the intersection a few yards away. The sidewalks were streaming with tourists, shoppers, and employees on their way to work, alongside the black asphalt vapored with steam. I love the sounds of the city streets, horns blaring and tires squealing to stop in time at the intersections. I’m an avid people watcher and some are quite entertaining to watch.

Street food vendors are stationed along the sidewalks and are always open for breakfast, lunch, and afternoon snacks. The aromas of steaming coffee, hot chocolate, bacon, ham with cheese and egg biscuits, and fresh pastries, make it hard to resist. I walked to my favorite vendor a few feet away. I had to wait behind a line of six customers. Not to doubt the wait. Carl has had a reputable and popular business at this spot for years and always has a vast assortment of tasty goodies. I bought a ham and cheese biscuit, a cinnamon roll, and a large coffee.  

It was a wonderful day to be outdoors, so I preferred a walk to the 500 block and wait for the streetcar connection at the intersection across the street from Ford’s Theatre. I had time and the exercise would be beneficial health-wise.  This would take me to the Department of Energy and Environment Headquarters, 1200 First Street, NE. I had an appointment with the Storm Water Management officials at 11:30.

 I tried calling and stopping in several times for an appointment during the past month with no response. Fortunately, I received a call back yesterday to meet with them today.  I was anxious to introduce our new plan for a more efficient and economical underground steam pipe and stormwater to monitor and test a pressure relief system that vents the 1,800 miles of sewer lines throughout the District of Columbia.

I take the public transit system quite often instead of driving in the crazy traffic here in D.C. Besides, on this particular walk I enjoy looking across the street at Ford’s Theatre admiring the architecture, and imagining the ghosts of actors, the excitement and drama that must have taken place in the building over the years, and especially the shooting of Abraham Lincoln by John Wilkes Boothe.               

My mind was in a fog fantasizing about a scenario of Wilkes approaching President Lincoln and shooting him when there it was! I saw it, the people across the street and the ones beside me saw it, everyone saw it, or did they? Why were so many of them just walking away? They must not be paying attention or distracted by something else.  My God, steam was rising from the manhole by the sidewalk on the other side of the street in front of us In a billowing cloud!  Within the cloud was a perfect image of a male figure – bazaar and unbelievable to anyone who saw it, to say the least.  The figure was moving through the cloud. His movements were obvious and adamant wanting to tell or show us something. And so, if they did see it, how could they walk away as if it weren’t there? I stood there mesmerized for a second or two and tried to decipher in my mind what I saw.

    I imagined the figure could be the ghost of a stormwater engineer who may have had an accident and met his demise during the installation of the pipeline years ago. Or perhaps, could it possibly be the ghost of John Wilkes Booth or Abraham Lincoln himself?  My thoughts continued with maybe it might be one of the many men who were there at the time of the shooting had a heart attack due to the site of Lincoln’s demise.

   The streetcar arrived and I boarded the first couple of steps without taking my eyes off the manhole. I couldn’t board any further because passengers were standing and crowding to the front. They were squeezing into each other and straining their necks to peer out the front and right-side windows for a closer look at this incredible phenomenon. I was relieved to know the vision was real to so many other eyes, not a phantom figure of my imagination. A few passengers held their hands over their mouths and gasped in disbelief. The streetcar operator seemed intrigued with a paralyzed stare, but soon shook his head and announced that everyone was to be seated. I boarded and deposited my fare in the farebox. Fortunately, I found a seat in front with a head-on view of the manhole. When I finally recollected my senses and evaluated what we had seen, I realized what the image was as we drove away.

 I was relieved yet slightly disappointed that it wasn’t a ghost after all. I will only share my realization with you, as the streetcar operator and passengers are still in awe with their thoughts about what they had experienced. I  don’t want to burst anyone’s bubble and you, of course, are free to analyze and come to your conclusions.

 In the meantime, please bear with me as I intend to share an explanation of my theory. As I see it, the rising steam from the manhole as the artist and the medium, surrounded small parts of the buildings across the street and thus, created this extraordinary piece of art!

  Do I dare share my experience with my friends and colleagues? No, I think not. Even my family would laugh and say that I was making up a wild story or kid about maybe there was something in the coffee that made me hallucinate.  I’ll have to admit at first, I did think about the coffee. Oh well, wild as it is, this is my story and I’m sticking to it!