George B. Singleton's 'Somewhere in Time' from Nov. 24, 1983

George 'Buster' Singleton

(For decades, paranormal investigator George “Buster” Singleton published a weekly newspaper column called “Somewhere in Time.” The column below, which was entitled “Man thinks better on a hill,” was originally published in the Nov. 24, 1983 edition of The Monroe Journal in Monroeville, Ala. This column and all of Singleton’s other columns are available to the public through the microfilm records at the Monroe County Public Library in Monroeville. Singleton’s columns are presented here for research and scholarship purposes and as part of an effort to keep his work and memory alive. Enjoy.)

I suppose everyone has his special place, where he can get away and think and pass the idle time without the worries of everyday life. Some like the beach; others long for the busy streets of our large cities and the great shopping malls.

Then there are some who cannot let a week go by without going out on the town, so to speak. Loud music, twirling lights and dancing crowds. This is their idea of a good time.

There are many things that I like to do. I enjoy good food, and I like to travel at random – that is, to start each day with no special plan or schedule or destination in mind.

Change course

I like to go in one direction for a while and then change my course – go down some back road just to see where it ends, then turn around and find another one, and start another adventure altogether.

But most of all, I love to ride in the beautiful hills, those that fill the northeast area of Monroe County.

It’s hard to give a reason as to why the hills affect me as they do. I have traveled through these hills many, many times. Each time is as refreshing as the first. The cool winds, especially in the evenings, bring the touch of changes with a warning of colder days ahead.

Then there are the bare peaks or the high places, where one can sit and listen – listen to everything, or perhaps listen to nothing. Or, should you decide to listen carefully, you can hear the many different sounds that ride the sighing winds as they move across the evening sky.

Whether it was intended or not, I believe that man can think better on a high hill. With all the troubled times in this old world of ours, I think that if we could get all the world leaders together and let me show them one of the special places that I have mentioned, the hate and bitterness would disappear from their hearts. Then truly they could beat their swords into ploughshares, and work hand in hand forevermore.

Witness the sunset

And then if, by some reason, these world leaders have not settled their differences before the late evening and they can be detained before a brief time while the evening sky takes on its glorious colors, then let them witness the golden sun sinking toward the distant horizon with all the grandeur and splendor that I have witnessed.

War would be no more. They could not help but raise their arms to the heavens and feel His presence during this special time and special place.

I believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that when the exact location is found where the Garden of Eden was situated, in all probability it will have been nestled in the beautiful, beautiful hills northeast of here.