Day: September 19, 2007

Cemeteries, Photography

On Visits With Dead People

Shelly

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Mount Gilead Cemetery

Just a couple of random thoughts that went through my head as I was driving back from cat sitting this morning.

On grave site offerings: There is a discussion in one of the cemetery groups on Flickr, about the tradition of leaving tokens at grave sites. Some of the responses–critical of the practice–were mind boggling in their ignorance and intolerance. The act of leaving small items at grave sites is as old as humankind. There are likely many reasons why people feel compelled to do so, the most obvious to me being the desire to show that the deceased has not been forgotten. When you leave a token–a stone or a coin or a small memento–whether or not you actually knew the person in their lifetime, you are connecting with them. You are saying that you care, and that it mattered that they existed. That’s a pretty basic human need, I think.

You are also connecting with the living who visit the grave. “I was here, and I want you to know that I have not forgotten your loved one.”

On headstone inscriptions: I know it’s tempting to do tracings or rubbings of marker inscriptions, but old stones are fragile. Just touching them can cause damage the stones. And, with very old stones, rubbings won’t do you any good, anyway.

Just as damaging are chalks applied to the stone, in order to increase visual contrast for photographs. Please don’t do that!

Photography is harmless and may actually give you a better chance to retrieve “lost” information from headstones than just looking at them and transcribing them in situ. I have found that inscriptions that were worn to illegibility became readable when I Photoshopped the pictures I took. It may require temporarily darkening or lightening or increasing the contrast, but the results are pretty amazing.

The inscription below is one of the ones I was unable to make out at the grave site. When I got home and started Photoshopping the close-up I’d taken, I was able to piece together the text. And I didn’t have to touch the stone in any way to do so.

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Grave Marker, Mount Gilead Cemetery

Beneath this willow weep
a child, a lovely sister sleeps
We know that she is happy
With her angel plumage on
But our hearts are very desolate
When we think that she is gone

Cemeteries, Crankypantsing, Photography

Effin’ Car Alarms!

Shelly

I hate them, I do. Really and truly. It’s bad enough when they go off during “normalish” hours, but 4am? Does anyone ever pay attention to them, anyway? It seems that they are so ubiquitous that it defeats the purpose of having one.

And my new neighbors? Noisy as hell. They also have two out-of-control Pit Bulls, and they have absolutely no common sense about handling the dogs. Across-the-hall neighbor says they let the dogs pee when they’re on the balcony, so it drips down onto her patio. Nice. She also said that she’s seen them bring their dogs to my patio to relieve themselves. I wondered who was leaving the messes, because I did notice, and because I damned well pick up after my own dog. And now I pick up after everyone else’s, too, apparently. I’m sorry, but if you are squeamish about it, the least you could do is take your dog to the far side of the field, instead of right-friggin’-next-to other people’s patios.

Grrr. Across-the-hall neighbor works for the property management company. She said that a 57 year old woman was the one who put in the application, etc., not two college age girls and their boyfriends. She said she was pretty happy, thinking that the new tenant (singular!) would be quiet. Ha! My guess is that the girls’ mother is the one who applied for the apartment and signed all the paperwork. I can sort of understand that, if she’s the one footing the bill, but it seems a little dishonest to sign a lease when you know that you aren’t the one who’s going to be occupying the property.

Serenity now!

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Maple Tree, Mount Gilead Cemetery