Tuesday, December 7, 1999
Haunted picture frame tests visitors’
IQ levels
By Bill Whitaker
Folks taking the St. John’s Episcopal School tour of homes
in the River Oaks area Sunday afternoon found their gullibility
tested when they arrived at the home of longtime financial planner
Eddie Hodges and his wife Nelda.
Granted, there was plenty to contemplate, specifically the
Hodges’ work during the past few years remodeling their home
at 1409 River Oaks Road. That includes an elevator, a large balcony
overlooking the back yard (complete with what Eddie jokingly refers
to as an “automated hammock,” controlled by a pull-rope)
and extensive storage space.
But the thing that had many visitors doing double takes was
the grandly framed portrait in the Hodges’ fancy guest bedroom.
Reason? At first glance, there doesn’t appear to be anyone
in the portrait. It looks like a mere sheet of glass in an elaborate
frame. Only by looking at the glass from a certain angle, and
then only in the right kind of light, can one barely make out
the fine features of a noble lady. But just who she is remains
a question without likely answer.
“You’ve heard of the ‘Unknown Soldier’?”
Eddie, 68, asked. “Well, this may be the ‘Unknown Relative.’”
Nelda says they had no idea the glass had any hidden properties
when she purchased it and the frame at an antique store.
“The frame was actually what I was interested in,”
she admitted, referring to the wooden, gold-leafed frame. “I
saw it, I liked it and I thought I’d hang something in it.
The glass was already in it. And then one day my daughter cried
out, ‘Oh, my gosh! Oh, my gosh! I can see a woman in this
frame!’”
As a result, Nelda has been reluctant to put anyone else’s
portrait under the haunted glass. And so, the Hodges put the beautiful
frame up in the guest bedroom and have left any and all lodgers
to conclude whatever they will.
Probably their reactions have been similar to those of folks
taking Sunday’s home tour benefiting St. John’s Episcopal
School.
“I love it!” JoAnn Davis exclaimed when she came
face-to-face with the blank frame hanging on the wall of the otherwise
elegant and immaculate 1968 home. “I love it! It’s just
there! It’s whatever you want it to be!”
It’s difficult to say what might cause the elusive image
in the glass. The Hodges guess a portrait that once lay under
the glass many moons ago may have left subtle evidence of itself.
And then, they admit, there is the possibility the glass truly
is haunted, though thus far no poltergeists have stepped out of
the frame and gone walking about the Hodges home at night.
Whatever the case, Nelda has determined the portrait will remain
empty, at least as far as the casual observer is concerned.
“I just like the frame — and it is a great conversation
piece,” she told me. “People are always asking what
I’m going to put in that frame. I only say, ‘Nothing,
because I just like the frame.’ As far as the image goes,
I just tell everybody that only the most intelligent of people
can actually see it!”
Having a ball
Saturday afternoon’s state matchup between the Abilene
High Eagles and South Grand Prairie Warriors was enough for a
proper quorum of the Taylor County Commissioners Court.
Perhaps fortunately, commissioners weren’t seated anywhere
near each other and, thus, could not conduct county business during
half-time activities.
County commissioner Chuck Statler’s considerable background
in TV and radio, including his toilings as a sports announcer,
landed him in the Texas Stadium press box on behalf of KTAB-TV.
Meanwhile, among the fans below was fellow commissioner Corky
Cox, whose son Del Van Cox is part of the Eagles coaching staff.
Also in attendance: County Judge Lee Hamilton.
Finally, longtime county commissioner Jack Turner was spotted
searching for a seat along with his wife and other family members.
Jack loaded up the family early for the trip from Abilene to Irving,
which included a mid-day shopping spree for wife Nelva, which
is where Jack’s patience was truly tested.
“We went to Old Navy” Nelva told me upon arriving
an hour or so before the game at Texas Stadium.
“Bought everything in the shop, too. But, of course, Jack
was bored with all the shopping. He spent most of his time wandering
around with his hands in his pockets. Next time we just won’t
bring him!”
Bill Whitaker, who enjoyed the $3.50 hot dogs for sale at
Texas Stadium but didn’t dare ask for mustard or relish,
can be reached at 676-6732 or whitakerb@abinews.com.
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