After I returned from my drum lesson tonight, I decided to walk around my neighborhood. This isn't an uncommon thing; I just decided to go a different route. I stopped off in a cemetery that is nestled among residential property and forest.
I thought it was somewhat of a creepy endeavor, but I went in anyway. I haven't really spent time in a cemetery for several years (there are two old cemeteries in Kalamazoo where I did photography once-in-a-while). This one seemed nearly empty if one was to look solely at the headstones. One of the more prominent markers was on a war soldier's grave. Born 1763. Died 1816. The place was calm - quiet, despite the fact that there is a neighborhood with many young families just beyond the fenceline. It definitely had an M. Night Shyamalan quality to it.
I am considering getting materials to do some grave rubbings, but it might just be easier to do some photography. There are some great trees I can use for shadow. Digital would be the easiest, but I think I will buy some black and white film and a variety of filters for experiments with inset grain and era effect. If only my parents had a dark room in their new house. Perhaps I can build one in my place next year, should Jeremy and I have enough to put a down payment on a condo. I miss making my own prints. Perhaps I should take some photography classes at a community college just for the access to a photo lab.
Is it creepy that I enjoy being in cemeteries? I'm not rolling around on the lawns or anything. Cemeteries are just linked to many positive childhood memories. We used to go to (the old) Maple Grove Cemetery on Ann Arbor Trail when I was little. We did grave rubbings and my dad did a great deal of photography there. Perhaps I should visit it when I stop and see Autumn next time. I don't know, though. My elementary school was torn down and it might be depressing to see the gaping wound that is left within the fenced lawn.
I am such a downer today!
Tomorrow, I have meetings all day and then I am meeting James for dinner. Perhaps I can convince him to bring Noah - for a while last year, we were like the three amigos - well two amigos and me. If only Noah and I could find that friendship that we had. If only he hadn't gone and made things awkward.
Oh, damn. I'm doing it again. No more IF ONLY's!
1 comment:
Maplelawn. Wow.. The memories I have of that place.
The bike trails leading through from Ann Arbor Trail to Joy road.
The civil war gravestones we would find hidden under years of growth, Forgetten about by generation after generation. The areas of the cemetary that seemed empty, but were in fact 'full' and basically discarded. The rare find of a grave in the woods where the treeline had pushed into the cemetary from years of neglect.
It all sounds so bad... but it shows how life moves forward. We to may one day be completely forgotten. Our graves being discovered once again by children 5 generations from ours.
To me, it shows how we should be so proactive while still here on this earth. Once we are gone, we are gone. (and I am not sad at al about that) But while we are here.... We can make all the difference now.
:)
Post a Comment