Wandering about the cemetery
This afternoon I grabbed my camera and headed for the graveyard. I know, that sounds a little ghoulish, but cemeteries are one of my favorite places to take photographs. There are history and drama and expressions of grief that survive the ages. And, there is even humor. My all time favorite gravestone was of a man who apparently outlived everyone in his immediate and extended family...except for at least one. He must must have been a miserable cuss in life. His gravestone simply said, “May he receive his just reward.” I dunno...I suppose that’s ambiguous enough to not be scandalous, but I have my suspicions.
Today I was able to finally get a good shot of my favorite series of stones. They have been a challenge because of their angle and the number of other markers that have been packed in around them. I call this my Gothic Family. They really are unique. I wonder if they were as interesting when they were alive.
One of the other things I am on the lookout for in cemeteries is children’s markers. They are almost always different with poetry inscribed or biblical verses or nursery rhymes. That holds for the very old as well as the new. But there are, of course, exceptions. I found two such exceptions today. One doesn’t even have any dates inscribed. Nothing but the names of the children. Three of them—Ada, Eddie, and Bertie. It is such a stark marker. They alone represent their family. The parents were never buried there.
The other stone is new, marking the resting place of a 3 month old infant. It is plain, but the site is thoroughly decorated. I’ve noticed a trend in decorating children’s grave sites in the last couple of years. Many have lanterns that turn on at night to keep the dark away, with toys and knick-knacks tucked around the plot. The one below is one of the more decorated. Despite its festive atmosphere, it still amplifies grief. One expects that in a cemetery, but it never fails to surprise me how many ways grief can be expressed. In another hundred years, though, no one will ever know this plain little marker was so carefully and lovingly tended.
I thought I was the odd one out snapping photos of strangers’ graves! But, Key West has one of the most interesting public cemeteries around - every grave is above ground since it’s so close to sea level, and prone to flooding, etc. I know I took several but there’s one here if you’re interested…
I’ve always liked old cemeteries. They are so rich in history with thousands of forgotten stories. And the old cemeteries always seem to have the best trees. There is no place more peaceful. Long ago and far away, I used to go out with my film camera to the little hidden family plots that dotted the countryside back in NY state. At one time I had hundreds of photos of the stones giving the brief details of entire families. Made me appreciate modern medicine when I saw the evidence of entire families being wiped out by cholera epidemics and such.
Alan, that’s a perty picture. I spent some time stomping around in one of the above ground New Orleans cemeteries a few years ago, also built above ground for the same reasons. The tombs in your photo are quite different. They look like a lot of the architecture in Florida. I don’t know what the style is called, but it is distinctive and much different than the tombs in NO.
Modern cemeteries are pretty boring by comparison. It seems to me that what little we leave behind ought to be at least as interesting as we are in life. People in the future may think we were a boring and tasteless lot. 
Posted by Kate on 07/07/06 at 01:38 PM
Cyn, it would take me years just to spend time in the cemeteries in the eastern part of the state. Man, we’ve buried a lot of people in the last three centuries. I haven’t even been to the ones in Boston yet. The ones in your neck of the woods would make a nice day trip, though.
Posted by Kate on 07/07/06 at 01:47 PM
We may all be thankful that we are not legends in our own (and future) time. I’m certain that Buffalo Bill Cody didn’t intend to be a tourist attraction with a gift shop and restaurant that take advantage of his name and his resting place. How utterly gauche.
Posted by Kate on 07/07/06 at 01:51 PM
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My son says he does some of his best thinking and writing in the cemetary. We have several in this town - and you know where it is!! - that might interest you. West Parish is meandering and peaceful as is the one nearer “the” academy. There are at least 3 in town, maybe more, but all have a lot of character and would make for a worthwhile trek “down county”!!
You would love the one near where I grew up, it is just about a quarter mile from my mom’s house and is well populated with my ancestors and family members. Goes WAYYYYYYY back in time and has an interesting ambience of it’s own. Apparently way, way back when, my great grandfather or great great left some kind of endownment, so that it would be taken care of forever and ever which is kind of neat. I am not sure that the money exists today, after all, what he thought would be enough then, is probably not even a drop in the bucket today.