We took a little vacation

down south recently and of course, I made sure we stopped at a few cemeteries. If it had been up to me we probably would have stopped at every one we passed, but unfortunately my husband doesn't share my fascination with cemeteries to the same extent as I do so we had to compromise.

One of the biggest surprises was the cemetery in Asheville, North Carolina that we stopped at, just by chance. As I was walking around this huge cemetery, I came across the graves of Thomas Wolfe and O Henry. I found it interesting that both headstones were relatively small and neither was adorned except for some small stones and other items that visitors left. Does anyone know why people leave stones on graves?

Here is Thomas Wolfes

Just a short distance away is O Henry! It’s a good thing they had a sign pointing it out because I would not have recognized it by his real name. Again, quite an unimpressive stone.

What a coincidence to find the graves of two famous people without even trying!

I found that cemeteries down south have some similarities to those up here in Michigan. For instance, they like plastic flowers.

And they like to over decorate.

The differences? Well, they tend to mound the graves.

They hyphenate when needed

They fence them in to protect them from ????

They use stones that have fallen to create sculptures and build bridges

It was a fun time. I can't wait to get on the road again!

Leaving trinkets

at grave sites is something that never occurs to me so I find it interesting when I come across graves decorated with numerous knickknacks, usually accompanied by lots of plastic flowers. It’s not that there is anything wrong with these decorations. In fact, sometimes I feel there must be something wrong with me to find them so amusing (sometimes sad) since there are so many of these colorful graves.

Are the decorators simply bringing gifts that they think their loved one would enjoy? Or, are they trying to reveal (to me) as much as they can about their loved one by filling their four by eight space with items that truly meant something to that person in the grave? Maybe it’s a combination of the two. Whatever the intention, there are many times when I have walked away from a grave site having gained a some knowledge about the stranger buried there. And sometimes I walk away craving more.

That's alot of plastic

A little moss would make all the difference

The baskets looked like they cost more than the flowers

A boiler maker, harley riding, fishing and dog loving man

The American bow hunter

Frogs and Christmas

The headless horseman...opps horsewoman

He loved his cocker spaniel

And he loved his weiner dogs

The twins

The Mad Rush

is over for planting. I still have a few things to get into the ground at home but the cemeteries are done at least.

Here are a few pictures of interesting things I found in urns while I was visiting the various cemeteries this spring.


Notice that the beer can takes precedence over the flowers. At least the color of the can matches the flowers.





Everything about this is sad.

I was actually a little freaked out when I peaked into this urn. The eyes of those cats were spooky!!! And don't they know that birds and cats don't mix?

This was found in the urn of a small child who had died. He died only a few years ago so I was very surprised at the lack of flowers on this grave. Very sad. Maybe I'll go back and put something on this grave.





Squirrels and rabbits. Very popular for grave decorations. Next to dogs that is.




By the way, if you have taken any weird or interesting grave pictures, feel free to send them to me, I would love to see them. Maybe I'll even post them here!

Whoa!

Sometime between my job, mushroom hunting, and visiting the area greenhouses, the last couple of months flew by. Where in the world did that time go? And why can’t winter go by that fast?

This week will be a busy one for me. Lots of planting and flowers to deliver. It is still pretty cold for the end of May but the Mulberry tree has begun to leaf out so I think it’s safe to plant.

I don’t have any new cemetery pictures but I can share a few from my mushroom hunts this spring.


This is why these darn mushroom are so hard to find. Look how well they blend into their surroundings.

I almost tripped right over this little guy. It’s a baby sandhill crane.




His mom and dad were trying their best to distract me so I quickly snapped a couple of pictures and went on my way.




What an eerie feeling it was to stand in the middle of these flooded pines.




The picture makes him look huge, but this blowsnake is just a young guy, maybe 10 inches long.

The time of year I like least

is almost over. If you live in an area where you have clearly defined seasons like I do here in Michigan, it's that short period of time (but sure seems to last forever) that occurs between winter and spring.


I call it the D season. The final lingering snow piles are dirty; the tree, shrubs, and flowers look dead; the spring peepers are still deep in their holes; the mostly sunless days are dreary.


Once I hear the frogs and see my daffodils everything will be OK.

I sure did think

that I would be able to spend more time on my blog once winter hit but that certainly didn’t happen did it?

I just keep finding more stuff to fill my days. Lately, it has been cross-country skiing. I told myself that this year I was going to learn how to ski “skating” style. So far, I have not had much success. Maybe I should have tried to get a better handle on the classic style first?

I also flew down to St. Thomas in the American Virgin Islands - my first ever tropical vacation. Quite an interesting little island that is. Especially Coki Beach. It was a beautiful beach filled with an eclectic mix of people and as an added bonus (for me, anyway), it had a tiny private cemetery. I was not allowed to enter the cemetery but I did manage to take a few pictures from outside the fence.

Something to consider

When selecting a headstone/cemetery for a family member (or yourself, if you’re the kind of person who wants it all taken care of before hand), please remember this:

If you select a flat stone and live in a state that gets snow, it will be very, very, very, hard for family and friends to find your grave in the winter. Even if they visit it all the time when the weather is good. Even if they have a map from the sexton. Take it from someone who spent almost a half hour looking for my Aunt and Uncles’ graves this Christmas season.



So, if you want a nice wreath at Christmas or a visit on your winter birthday, pick out a headstone that will stand above the snow and a cemetery that allows them.