Blog Archives
It all falls down
Santa Rosa’s got three cemeteries – Evergreen Cemetery, out on the north side of town; San Jose Cemetery, down a narrow road on the east part of town; and the very old Saint Rose of Lima cemetery.
That’s where what’s left of a chapel stands guard over graves and weeds as the plaster falls away from the stone walls bit by bit.
St. Rose of Lima Cemetery
Santa Rosa, New Mexico
photographed 9.21.2013
Repaired (for now)
This grave marker doesn’t have any names or dates on it. It’s small, only about a foot high. Unlike markers in fancier cemeteries, it’s made from concrete. Time has been hard on it, and now there’s a crack that runs from the base nearly all the way to the arms. A loop of wire, twisted a few times, does what it can to hold the little monument together. For now, anyway.
El Calvario Cemetery
Puerto de Luna, New Mexico
photographed 9.22.2013
A bad answer
This shot of the caretaker’s shack was taken in the same cemetery as yesterday’s photo.
I took several pictures of this simple cinderblock structure. “Why are you taking a picture of that?” one of the day’s companions asked. It just felt like something I needed to shoot. I liked the texture of the walls and the shallow slope of the roof. I liked the way that one side or the other seemed to have been built at a different time. I liked the contrast between its straight walls and the every-which-way angles of the headstones. Maybe I felt sorry for it, the homely building squatting in the middle of the cemetery,overlooked and ignored. But when I was asked the question, I wasn’t able to articulate any of that. All I could say was, “I just like it.”
Old Independence Cemetery
Independence, Texas
photographed 3.1.2014
Old Independence
Sometimes when I go to cemeteries, things other than headstones catch my attention. Wildflowers, maybe, or things left at gravesites. I never know what it’ll be, and like to just wander until something catches my attention. On this particular day, in this particular cemetery, the most interesting things to look at were the relics of iron markers around the graves.
This cemetery is old (for Texas, I mean), dating from the early 1820s, and many of the graves were ringed by ornate metal fences. With few exceptions all the parts of the grave-fences were there, but almost none of them still held to their original alignment. And over the years, the metal had taken on a reddish, rough appearance; light-green lichen grew on a few of them. On the first day of March, the bright spring grasses made for a nice contrast, both in color and age.
And, so it was that on this particular day, in this particular cemetery, that contrast was what captured my attention.
Old Independence Cemetery
Independence, Texas
photographed 3.1.2014
A windy, lonely place
It was cold that day. And windy. The wind was so strong that it was hard to stand still enough to take a picture. I took this shot in record time, and hurried back to the warm car.
It’s too bad I was unprepared for “spring” in Michigan – which is different than “spring” in Texas – because this looks like it would have been an interesting cemetery to explore.
(Also it was so cold that I forgot to follow my usual procedure of shooting some identifying signs of the place. Through a lengthy process of looking at the other shots I took that day and referencing Google maps and street view, I determined that this was in Sharon Township. The maps didn’t give a name for the cemetery, and street view didn’t have a clear enough view of the sign that I could figure it out. But I can tell you that it’s next to the Methodist church. In case you were wondering.)
Sharon Township, Michigan
photographed 4.19.2013
One Day | One Image 