I was going to title this: "A walk on the wild side", however I couldn't find anything "wild" to write about and my pics are more on the weird side...sort of like me! I've been trying to get a daily walk in. I've been using the cemetery as my walking route. I've mentioned this a few times on my blog. It's a great place to walk...quiet, smooth paved road, few cars, fewer people, and I have a route all mapped out so I know how far I've traveled. Sometimes I run into my son Jordan as he's walking his dog Eddy. So all in all it's a good spot. I wasn't working today so I took the opportunity to do my walk in the AM. Today was a beautiful, non humid, sort of cool weather day. It was a bit noisier this morning as all the mowers and weed whackers were out in force keeping everything neat and tidy. All of a sudden it was dead..pardon the pun....silence. Everything stopped because 2 funerals were about to begin. Today I decided to take my camera. The other day I saw a few things I would have liked to have captured. I'm not sure my phone has a zoom lens and I missed some cool shots of big black birds on top of some headstones. Kind of creepy I guess! So I made sure I snagged my camera this morning. I decided to take time to snap some pics of the weirder things on my route. I must add that the other day I stopped in my tracks and actually uttered this statement: "Man, is smells like something died around here." I'm hoping it was an animal. Anyway, here are my pics of weird cemetery sightings:
Headless, limbless angel.
Ditto.
Some monuments are huge. Some say the ball on top of this one moves. I don't care if it moves but hopefully it won't fall on my head!
This grave is a child's. It sits on this hillside all alone. Sort of sad I think. The following graves aren't really weird but I wanted to demonstrate the differences in burial plots.
Some are fancy and big. They say you can't take it with you...maybe they are going to try.
Some are humble.
Some invite you to sit and chat.
I'm not sure if the picture shows the wedding ring going on or coming off since it says:"Until Death Do Us Part". When Jack and I were sealed in the Mormon Temple the vows said: "For Time and All Eternity"....makes me smile to think how much time I'll be able to torture that poor guy!
Some are decorated to the hilt.
Those who served in the military have special stars that indicate which war.
You might have to look close to read what's on the back of this grave. Some headstones have interesting things about the person or a special saying or Bible verse. This grave is the sweet young lady who lived next door to us in town. She had a lung disease. On the back it says: Life isn't measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. She was a special person and I think of her and her family each time I pass by here.
None of us knows how much time we'll have on this earth. I pass by baby graves and graves of folks who've lived a long, long life. What we do with that time is what's important. Let's not waste it. Sometimes a walk in the cemetery is just what is needed to feel alive.
14 comments:
If our cemetery was closer, I would definitely walk there. There are strange and wonderful photo ops there.
R
great post we don't know how much time we get. Love your post
Cathy
You summed it up very well Yaya. A walk in the cemetery can make you feel grateful to be alive. Too many time people waste this precious gift of time by complaining and being bored rather than living and being grateful to be alive and sharing.
Our cemetery is very regulated as to what a person can put on the graves as some can go overboard. It's usually well maintained and clean.
Too bad about the damaged statues. It would be nice seeing them repaired but they surely would be a labor of love.
I'm glad you had some time to yourself and away from work.
Take it easy.
Hugs,
JB
Good morning, dear YaYa! This was a very interesting pictorial essay, my wonderful friend. How true it is. A stroll through a graveyard makes us feel alive. It makes us think about time, a precious commodity, and how we use it. My father always reminded me that "time waits for no man." Time runs out far too quickly for some. There are no guarantees for any of us. It was fascinating to see the tombstone of a Civil War soldier and I appreciated the words printed on the monument of that young woman who suffered from lung disease.
Next time you run into Jord and Eddy on your walk please say hello to them for me. Enjoy your Thursday, dear friend YaYa!
I may be a bit "weird" but I enjoyed your walk you shared with us today. Definitely a good place to take a walk, I am sure lots of interesting sights to see. I am always curious about cemeteries; they are interesting to walk around and to look at the names on the gravestones or markers. So true to live our dashes well in our lives.
betty
I love walking about cemeteries.
Yes, you can say that again! (about the cemetery making us feel more alive)...I love my walks in cemeteries but find so many of the stories so sad.
I guess those angels are still awaiting their resurrection. :) It is a beautiful cemetery. When I was young, I always held my breath while driving by a cemetery. Not sure who told me that it would keep the ghosts from getting me, but I definitely believed it. Still can't go past a cemetery without at least thinking it, so I would be rather red in the face trying to walk through this large one without getting air. I'll leave those walks to you, and just enjoy them via pictures.
We often walk in the cemetery in Hayesville. We visit Bob Strong and many others. Never really thought about putting that on the blog. I might have to be a copy cat in the future.
Time sometimes it seems an eternity other a breath
Very interesting and not too weird - except for the headless angels,that is. We used to enjoy walking through old cemeteries and reading the headstones, trying to imagine the life of the people buried there. The gravestone for the child reminded me of the time my sister and I discovered a gravestone for a baby at the far end of my Granny's back yard. She and Grandad had never noticed it before and supposed it was from the owners long before them. After my husband passed, I noticed how some graves were lavishly decorated. I really enjoyed your humor in this post and also, the quote on the woman's headstone. That is a good one to remember. I had a really tough time making a decision of what to put on my husband's headstone.
You are so right about none of us knowing about how long we are going to live. 'Your post today is a very enlightening one and like a wake up call so to speak. It must have felt weird and sad at the same time to have seen children's graves. Thanks for sharing the things you came across.
I love walking in cemeteries too. But the grave of the little child all alone is so sad. I hope he or she isn't alone long. Everyone needs neighbours
Before my husband died, we traveled to Portland Oregon where I lived as a child and he took me to visit my baby brother's grave. Georgie was just two when he choked to death on a peanut. The operation was not a success and they lost him on the table.
His grave is marked by just a little plaque with his name on it ...I took pictures of it. It is very near a WWII cannon. My parents thought he would have liked that. They were so young when he died. His death changed them. They were never really young after that. The cemetary is just beautiful..on a hill overlooking Portland.
It was my first time to visit him as they thought I was too young. I was just five or six when he died. I know I will never get back to visit again. A nice place to lay your loved one ...is such a good thing. This was an interesting post. :)
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