weather radar: Well, I'll be damned!

There’s all kinds of weirdness in Connecticut. By American standards, there are some very old places here. With old places come legends, superstitions and hauntings. I’ve lived in and near many of these places. One prevalent tale is of the Melungeon . . . or Melon Heads are they are more commonly referred to. The term “Melungeon” has been bastardized into “Melon Head.”

These people have cut themselves off from the mainstream and the result of which is a micro-society of inbred, giant-headed mutants. These communities live unseen on the outskirts of towns.

One theory is that the Melungeon are a group of isolationists thought to inhabit the more out-of-the-way areas of the eastern sections of the United States . . . from the Appalachian Mountains all the way up into New England. They are believed to be the mixed-race descendents of colonial European outcasts, freed slaves and Native Americans.

There are multiple Melon Head legends in Connecticut . . . Monroe, Seymour, Weston, Oxford, Southbury, Trumbull and Shelton. It is believed that our indigenous big-noggin’d freaks could possibly be the descendents of escaped mental patients. The institution that housed them burned to the ground in 1960. Most staffers and inmates perished in the fire but several patients were unaccounted for and have yet to be found.

The inmates hid in the forest and nearly starved to death. Instead of returning to the world that had shunned them they resorted to cannibalism to survive the harsh winter.

Although they mainly forage in the woods and streams for sustenance, it is said that their taste for sweet human flesh has not waned . . . that they live quietly and independently in the backwoods of Connecticut but are not adverse to snatching up an unwary hiker or camper.

As described by those who have seen them firsthand say that “they are small in stature, frail looking, with long spindly arms and fingers. Their teeth are crooked, blocky, and discolored. Their most conspicuous feature, their heads, are bald and bulbous and out of proportion with their stooped torsos. Some observers say their eyes are red.”

I’ve travelled many of the more famouser roadways that the Melonheads have been spotted on or near . . . Zion Hill Road in Milford, Sawmill Road in Shelton and Velvet Street in Trumbull . . . and I’ve never seen or encountered any stubby people with bulbous heads. That’s not to say they’re not out there. I did once come across a mailbox that may have been telling of the inhabitants contained within the attached residence.

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Inspired by Countertop Chronicles Pork Reuben

1 pound Extra Thick sliced bacon
Thousand Islands Dressing
Can of Sliced Artichoke Hearts
Swiss Cheese
Can of Sauerkraut

Melt butter in a large skillet. Place two slices of bread into the hot butter and top with swiss cheese.