The funny thing about my April 1st post is that much of it is based in fact.

It is true that the grave marker of Silas St. John, which was cast by the famous San Diego artist Donal Hord, is in the Wells Fargo History Museum in Old Town. It's true that this part of the world is famous for ghosts. It's true that the Whaley House  down the street is considered by those who believe as one of the most "haunted" places in the United States. And it's true that I've heard some weird things upstairs in the old Milton Sessions house  back when the museum was housed there.

Moreover, one morning ten years ago I did have an experience similar to the ghostly one we conjured up. However, instead of looking up and seeing my co-worker Casey Gill in the monitor, dressed in his 19th century finery, I saw what I thought was…well, I don't know what it was, but it did send a jolt up my spine like nothing else I have ever felt.

I did think I saw a ghost. For about ten seconds.

Like the physicist father whose roof I grew up under, I knew that the apparition that I'd seen in the security monitor had to have a logical explanation. I walked out and stared at the camera, then went back and forth from monitor to camera trying to figure out what had caused the diaphanous  vision in my cathode ray tube.

Finally, as I was peering up at the pinhole camera for like the third time, a swirl of air caused the spider web to catch the early morning sun as it floated across the front of the camera.

Ha. Ha ha ha.

I hope that our little April Fools'  prank didn't bug anyone — or thing — out there. There was an article in the New York Times' Tuesday Science section  that said practical jokes  are good for us. When I unlock the door each morning it takes my eyes a few seconds to adjust to the dim light in the museum. It looks almost smoky in the museum, and I always catch myself a little, searching around for some sort of movement that I know isn't going to be there.

It's good to have an open mind. Even if it scares you a little.