Freaky Friday

I generally try to stay away from the graves of little kids while it seems my girlfriend is drawn to them. My reason is little kids are scary. In every horror movie or ghost story I've ever seen, those that have a little kid are the scariest. Think about it. The Shining, Not only was the main little kid scary it also had those 2 chopped up twins in the hallway. Pet cemetery, Even though the little kid didn't get scary until the end he freaked me out almost as much as that lady in the bedroom with the weird back thing going on. The Grudge, creepy little, screaming like a cat, bad haircut Asian kid. So as I was digging for something to post today I happened to look in one of her folders and I see this picture of this little girl. Alive and well I might say cute kid but in a picture taken some 50-100 years ago I'm going to go with freaky...

Wordless Wednesday

Edgar Allan Poe Finally Getting Buried in Style

I found this article fitting and interesting at the same time. I read Poe in the past but until recently I wasn't able to appreciate it... All this time I thought Murders in the Rue Morgue was just an Iron Maiden song...lol

Edgar Allan Poe Finally Getting Buried in Style

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Tombstone Tuesday

This was taken at Oakview Memorial Park in Antioch, CA. I have seen tombstones with rocks or pebbles left on them presumably by family members to signify a visit to a loved ones grave. The thing I found most interesting was the huge boulder someone has placed on this one. I'm not sure if this is customary or if it was left by a giant. Interesting nevertheless...

Tombstone Tuesday - Alexander Hamilton

In November 2005, I had the opportunity to travel to NYC with my daughter for her college theater auditions. I was excited and nervous to go. I had never been to NYC before! Though I grew up in the big city of Chicago, the stories of NYC had me scared to even go.

While planning our trip the first thing I wanted to do was go to a few of the older cemeteries. Of course, I figured my daughter and her friend would never want to go with me. 

When we arrived, our hotel room in Battery Park was not ready. We took that opportunity to walk all of lower Manhattan. During our walk we happened upon a few of the cemeteries I wanted to see.  Luckily, the girls had no problem walking through and looking at the history that was around them. The first church we walked into was Trinity Church. It was absolutely beautiful! Above is the grave of Alexander Hamilton, signer of the Declaration of Independance.

Inscription reads:

Alexander Hamilton

The Corporation of Trinity Church has erected this

Monument

In testimony of their respect

for

The PATRIOT of incurrupable INTEGRITY

The SOLDIER of approved VALOUR

The STATESMAN of consummate WISDOM

Whos TALENTS and VIRTUES will be admired

Grateful posterily

Long after this MARBLE shall have moldered into

DUST

He died July 12 1804, aged 47

Holy Sepulchre Cemetery Hayward, CA

On one of my many lunchtime excursions I had the opportunity to visit Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Hayward, California. This cemetery was established in 1913 for the burial of Catholics in Hayward and surrounding cities. Upon entering what struck me most about this cemetery was it's extreme organization of tombstones. I was discussing this with Cheryl over at The Graveyard Rabbit of South Alameda County and we both agreed that it appears to have been laid out with a laser. It seemed to me like every tombstone formed a near perfect line. In my opinion it took away from the character of the cemetery itself. I always complain that cemeteries are never well kept. This one is at the extreme opposite of such. I thought it was too well kept. I guess I'll never be happy. It was strange that I didn't immediately notice the large cathedral style mausoleum as I entered. Initially I thought it was a large church. As I got closer I realized that it was not a church but a beautifully decorated gothic style building. At least it appeared gothic to me. Just like it appears I need to brush up on my architecture. It is fittingly called "The Mausoleum of the Apostles" named as such because on the front it has a large statue of each Apostle with Jesus front and center with his arms stretched out welcoming everyone in. I sometimes take my curious co-worker with me as I visit some of the cemeteries and I guess he figured that since Jesus was welcoming us that we should go in. So I immediately followed suit as he walked in like a kid in a candy store. I walked a little slower because I have learned to take my time because I don't like to miss anything. Even though I always seem to. I was still trying to take in the artwork I had just witnessed on the outside of this building. It was absolutely amazing and must have taken forever to complete. Working in construction I always try to figure out how they put things together. Or how they lifted something so heavy. I guess it goes with the business. I dont' think many construction workers do what I do as far as cemeteries go. Most of us just hope that we don't end up there sooner than we have to. One of the things I found most interesting inside was they had these benches that you kneel on to pay respects to your loved ones. I'm not sure what they're called. But everytime I passed one I thought to myself how many people have probably knelt and grieved or prayed on these little benches. I began to sort of freak myself out to the point where when I'd see one I thought I could feel energy coming off of it. Everyone that knows me knows I don't believe in ghosts or anything like that but I have said before that I've felt things. Now even seeing this picture it is giving me a bit of anxiety just remembering the indescribable feeling that came over me that day. I don't know if it was emotion or residual energy left from the many loved ones that have knelt on these tiny benches for hours grieving over husbands, wives, mothers, fathers and children.

Freaky Friday

Can I just say first that it's good to be back? I've spent the last 3 days of my life in a place called Redding California. The city of Redding isn't too bad and there were a few cemeteries I wanted to visit but it was for work and I had no time. All I wanted to do was get home. Speaking of home I'll be moving over the next couple weeks so my posts may be a little sporadic. Luckily I have a couple more authors that seem to be doing a great job of keeping everyone entertained.

So here is this week's Freaky Friday. I did think this was a beautiful statue despite the baby appearing as if it were flailing around trying to get out of it's mother's arms. I don't seem to have a shot of them but I also remember thinking the baby's eyes looked sort of surprised or like it was in shock. It was nice picture though. This was taken at my second favorite cemetery, well so far, which is Cypress Lawn in Colma, CA. It some of the most impressive statues in California. I'm going to have to go there again once all my affairs are in order because it was early in my interest in cemeteries and the pictures taken were more of the statues than anything else and sometimes I like to know who is buried beneath these wonderfully artistic creations.