The other day it had snowed during the night. It was a light snow with an accumulation of maybe an inch to an inch and a half. This was an chance for me to try out my new camera. Off to the cemetery I went with camera and tripod. Setting it up I took a panoramic shot. Returning home I downloaded this and wound up cropping some of the ends off to make the picture fit the screen right. The picture was taken in full color but I was taken by the fact it looks almost black and white. It is a rather stark picture. After having cropped it and looking at it closely I was inspired to write a little verse.
and I can't help but wonder if they ever know.
Do they know when it rains or the ground is dry?
Do they know when the snow falls gently from the sky?
And when I come to visit and say a little prayer
Can they hear my thoughts and know that I am there?
If you have read previous blogs of mine you already know that I have an interest in genealogy.With that interest you are naturally drawn to graveyards. The inscriptions on the stones are fascinating and full of information. If it is written on the headstone you can be pretty sure it is the truth. Mistakes made are usually corrected.I know no one nor am I related to anyone interred in the cemetery where the picture was taken. Some of the stones are quite old and I'm sure have not been visited in some time. Perhaps their descendants have moved from the area or perhaps they have become lost to time. As a young man I had no interest in such things and thought it strange for anyone to visit a cemetery except maybe to leave a flower at Christmas or place a flag on Veterans day.I now wish that I had searched out my ancestors final resting places. Oh I knew a few,the ones one or two generations back. Now thanks to the Internet and the availability of documents I have discovered the resting places of many more. Unfortunately I no longer live in the area where I was raised. Perhaps I'll be able to travel back there and visit some of these places. Some are in well established cemeteries and others are tucked away in the woods. One can only hope they have not been destroyed by development. I discovered just down the road from my childhood home lies my first cousin six times removed and his family. It is in a small family plot now in a grove of white pines. Not far from the shore of the bay. The date of the last interrment was 1915. I can't help but wonder who was the last of the family to visit. Perhaps their children or Grand children. If possible, the next to visit will be me. I'll introduce myself but somehow I think they will already know who I am.
I am equally fascinated with cemeteries. In fact I am on the board of Cedar Lawn. There is much to be learned on a walk through an old cemetery...great photo by the way!
ReplyDelete