I see dead people

Cemeteries. I admit they probably aren’t the thing that you would normally expect to see written about in the context of vacation blog. But, as I stated several months ago when I started these writings, they aren’t meant to be a dry day by day listing of where we go and what we do. I try to write about what I consider to be some of the funny, interesting, or unusual things that we experience. So, I’ll press on and let you decide which category this one fits into.

Living in California, cemeteries are probably something that you don’t really think about all that often because you don’t see them everyday. Considering that habitation of the state in any significant numbers began around “only” 150 years ago and that the big boom in the state’s population didn’t really begin until after World War II, there “relatively” aren’t all that many cemeteries around. And usually they are out in the boondocks somewhere and in the normal day to day driving you don’t pass by them very often. As a result, they really aren’t on most people’s radar all that often.

Ok, now come to New England. The Pilgrims landed in 1620 - almost 400 years ago - and people have been dying around here ever since. Given the number of people that have lived here over that amount of time and the number of cemeteries thus need, they are literally impossible to avoid. Drive down any highway and you’re sure to pass one every few minutes. Drive through any town and you’re sure to pass one or two or three before getting out of town. From small family plots located on farms to large ones containing thousands of graves in the middle of cities, they are everywhere. You can tell the older cemeteries from the newer ones by the style of the markers, their location and, most easily, by the amount of deterioration of the tombstones. The worst for deterioration are the old slate markers. Many are so old that you can’t read any of whatever inscriptions there may have been. That makes for a rather difficult hunt for anyone tracing their roots and looking for great great great great great great great great great great grandfather Ebenezer’s grave. And at a certain point in the deteriation stage, the location of his grave transcends from the known category into that of “Known but to God”.

A couple of pictures taken in cemeteries – though not taken for this blog entry – are located at various locations in the picture gallery if you care to hunt for them.