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Everything changes.
The weather forecast said it would be in the low 70s, so it was only because I was lazy that I even had a coat with me – it had been left in my car from the previous bit of cold weather. I had some activities for work about an hour’s drive from Lubbock, and I took my camera (of course!), planning to take advantage of the promised nice weather. The work activities – a couple of ribbon-cuttings – were held outdoors and the weather got steadily colder as the day progressed. By the time I left, the temperature was in the high 40s.
When I stopped to take this picture, the thermometer on my car said it was 45 degrees. When I got to the next town, only nine miles away, it was 54 degrees. And when I got back to Lubbock, 30 miles from where I took the picture, it was, as promised, in the low 70s.
Everything changes. Even the weather.
Lately – as perhaps you’ve noticed – I’ve been in a musical mood. Here’s a Bruce Cockburn song:
Make me a bed of fond memories
Make me to lie down with a smile
Everything that rises afterward falls
But all that dies has first to live.As longing becomes love
As night turns to day
Everything changes
Joy will find a way
Ralls Cemetery
Ralls, Texas
photographed 1.31.2014
What waits at the end of the road
What waits at the end of this particular road, in a cemetery, is a small, concrete block building with a locked door.
Let’s hope that’s not really what the end has for us.
***
My friend Sue Wallis passed away this week; her memorial service is today. Sue was a fine poet and a good woman, and she left the earth too soon. Her husband Rod McQueary passed away in December 2012, also much too soon.
Here’s a Sue, reciting a poem in which her love for Rod is palpable. I miss them both.
Elm Grove Cemetery
Alpine, Texas
photographed 1.19.2013
Angel branches
If you ask me, the best thing to see in Chicago is the Graceland Cemetery; its website proclaims it to be a Chicago treasure, and I certainly agree with that.
I was glad I visited early in the spring, before the trees had leafed out – otherwise I’d have not seen this angel, or at least not seen her this way.
I’ve posted other shots from this cemetery, including illustrating what acid rain does to statues, an odd combination of flowers and a serpent, and a statue that inspired a poem.
If you go, be sure to stop off at the office, where you can get a map showing the location of the most famous dead people there. You’ll be surprised at how many you’ve heard of.
Graceland Cemetery
Chicago, Illinois
photographed 4.16.2013
Angel
The sculpture, known as the Umlauf Angel, keeps watch over the front section of the City of Lubbock Cemetery. The Angel, by internationally known sculptor Charles Umlauf, was commissioned by the City in 1958.
By 1994, things were looking bad, as she had developed cracks due to weathering. Restoration in 1995 and 1996 was successful. Sort of: only a few days after the restored sculpture was complete vandals (two high school boys, later arrested) chipped away at the wing tips, causing $1,200 in damages.
She’s fine these days, casting her gaze skyward amidst the gravestones.
The City of Lubbock Cemetery
Lubbock, Texas
photographed 2.3.2009
Cross/fence
I met up with my blogging friend from Always Backroads, and we found this a nice little cemetery in Puerto de Luna, New Mexico.
One of the graves had an iron fence around it, and it was topped with this arrangement of crosses. You can tell that someone still looks after the fence and repairs it when warranted. Not all the graves there were that lucky.
UPDATE:
My friend Ehpem wondered what this looked like in color. And since we here at One Day | One Image strive to keep our reader(s) happy, here it is, as requested. Opinions? Comments? Any further requests?
El Calvario Cemetery
Puerto de Luna, New Mexico
photographed 9.21.2013
One Day | One Image 