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Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Winter Cemetery

I really like cemeteries.

To me,
they are like parks.

And, let's face it,
no one gets out of here alive,
you know what I mean?

Sure, it can be a sad place,
and
even a heart-wrenching,  depressing place.

But if you try, you can prefer to instead think of  it as a place to reflect
on people's lives
and how they touched one another when they lived.

A place to celebrate LIFE rather than death.

*******

Since retiring, we live in a tiny, rural community on a lake.

It has a quaint, perfect cemetery.

Every Memorial Day, the Historical Society goes to a couple gravesites
and gives a small talk on the life of one or two of it's community members that have passed...
right beside their gravesites.

I thought that was a really neat thing to do.

So, every spring, summer and fall, I usually take a ride and just walk about the cemetery, looking at names of all of the community founders.  I imagine them in the times they lived. 

Some, so very, very different than now.

So, after a recent snowfall, I just had to drive by and get some snapshots of it.

It was perfectly quiet there, not even any birds chirping...no wind blowing...
just solitude and peace.




You already know my fascination with gates,
especially in the winter.

So, of course, the cemetery's gate is one of my favorites:























I love the old granite markers...
and looking at the names and dates.

But on this day, all lay under a blanket of snow, with no entrance to my curiosity:




























I look forward to my spring visit,
when the snow will melt away, and and flowers will make their way up through the soil...
and bring some new life and green back to the scene...


The cycle of life.

It is amazing.

And nowhere points this out more than a visit there at this time of year.
*****************************************************************************
By the time this publishes, I am on vacation in Florida for just a few weeks....
but
I still want to BUG you about
entering the FREE PHOTO CONTEST!!

Hurry!
You only have until midnight, Jan. 31st to enter January's theme photo of:

BRIDGES!!!

Just follow THESE RULES!!!

You don't have to be a Blogger to enter,
but you do need to become a Follower of this blog, which is easy!
Just click at the top of the blog where you see all the other pictures of
the beautiful faces of the other Followers!
Now...
get out there and snap a photo of your favorite bridge and send it in!!

20 comments:

MadSnapper said...

fantastic photos, i to love old cemeterys. i like the sepia print becuase is makes the old look old. the gates are beautiful. if you ever get to savannah GA, don't miss bonaventure cemetery. all the graves are 300 to 400 years old and talk about peace and quiet. it sprawls along the savannah river bluffs. hope you are having a good time downhere in flo

Ginnymo said...

I love all these photos!! I used to love walking through cemeteries and reading the stones. When I was younger, I and my siblings would go up into the hills where there was a nice old one and sometimes it would be almost dark and that is the time it was scary. There was an old tomb that had a door ajar or open for some odd reason. That was scary. Nothing was inside of it though. Your photos brought back some fond memories of that time. Everything always looks nicer covered in snow. Love that gate! It's 30 degrees warmer this morning than it was yesterday morning...It's 9 degrees here..LOL Going up to 32 today!! We are having a heat wave!! Take care!!

Anonymous said...

Doing the shots in b & w was the perfect way to go! Enjoy your trip!! Be safe AND WARM!!

Bossy Betty said...

Lovely shots. The use of black and white is especially effective.

Country Gal said...

Awesome photos, great choise of sepea and black and white really tells the histoey in the shot.
I to like cemeteries very interesting and tons of history ! Great post, have a good day, PS the first bit about no gets out alive hahahaha I thought that was good lol!

Unknown said...

Great photos; black and white suits them. I love reading the really old gravestones. Some people were quite witty in their epitaphs!

Sharon Wagner said...

I just got back from Belize. And I took some photos in a spooky cemetary there. Maybe they'll turn up during a later post. Happy FLA travels!

Linda Reeder said...

Beautiful! I love old cemeteries too. And the gates - lovely!

Pat Tillett said...

I love old cemeteries also! The trees are also amazing in these photos...

Loree said...

Lovely photos - in a very poignant sort of way. Enjoy your vacation.

Betsy Banks Adams said...

I love old cemeteries also, Joan, as you probably know --since I post cemeteries from time to time. Can't wait 'til spring when you can go back there.
Hugs,
Betsy

Nat said...

Very atmospheric!

Far Side of Fifty said...

I love to wander the local cemeteries too..trouble is I know most of the people buried there..I could give the talk. Have a great vacation! :)

Tracy said...

Love the photos, especially the snow covered gate with the huge tree in the background...and thanks for the reminder of looking for my bridge photo! I need to do that this week :)

D said...

I can hear the silence.

Alan Burnett said...

Gorgeous photographs. And I share your love of cemeteries.

Lil Sis Boombah said...

Beautiful! The black and white is perfect. I love cemeteries too. Our church has one with markers going back to mid 1800s. But if you're ever in Little Rock, you should check out Mount Holly. It's on the national registry of historic places. Every Halloween, a local magnet high school's drama class dresses in costume and stands by the markers of the people they choose. They each give a little speech as if they were that person. The saddest was Quatie Ross, who died on the Trail of Tears. Love your work, keep it up!

RNSANE said...

Cemeteries are so interesting and your photographs of this snowy setting are so beautiful and serene!

SquirrelQueen said...

Old cemeteries are great places to visit, there are so many stories on those markers.

Enjoy you time in sunny Florida!

Ann said...

wonderful photos. Snow scenes are my favorite anyway

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I retired in June 2008 and started my blog in November 2008. I worked at several jobs as a Registered Nurse prior to retirement. I LOVE being retired! Blogging has offered me a whole new venue to start writing again and to share new hobbies such as gardening, birdwatching and sharing my nature photography. If you like my blog, PLEASE click on "follow this blog". Having a lot of followers reading my blog gives me incentive to continue to do photography and to continue to write. I also LOVE comments, so I encourage you to leave me a comment after you read my posts. Thanks everyone, for taking the time to read me!!

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