Monday, October 25, 2010

Fairview Cemetery: Two Trips

Saturday Justin and I went to Fairview Cemetery.  He was very patient and didn't laugh at me when I had to squat in weird positions to get good shots.  It's a beautiful cemetery.  For those who know the area, this is where General Harry C. Trexler and his wife are buried. 

There are a great deal of angels there but a lot are damaged.  One of the largest is missing both an arm and her head.  One small angel is missing a wing.  A bench was knocked over as well.  I hate graveyard vandalism horribly but then am also torn because these damaged statues provide interesting images.  I just tell myself it is time damage even though I know it is not.

The ground is sinking in quite a few places and at least two slab style graves are starting to cave a bit.  This makes it incredibly important NOT to walk in front of a tombstone where a body is buried.  Most of the old caskets were wood.  As the wood rots it collapses inward.  If you're standing on that area...down you go.  It's not nice.  My foot sank a bit along the corner of the slab grave.  In the morning I'm going to call the caretaker and tell him/her which tombs are starting to degrade a bit.

I took Maddie and Reilley with me on the second visit.  I found a very frilly sort of Victorian child's dress and took some shots with her and some of the angels.  It may seem morbid but I am drawn to the children's graves the most. Perhaps because of my own past.  Maybe because such care was taken to remember these souls that were only on this earth for such a brief moment; not even a blink.  Looking at the names, the dates, the ages, just the ones marked "Our Baby" with no name gives them immortality.

"The weight of this sad time we must obey;
Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say.
The oldest hath borne most: we that are young
Shall never see so much, nor live so long."
- William Shakespeare, King Lear, 5.3.325

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