I am back from my little journey, with a few tales to tell.
Visits down the cobble stone steps to Granny’s, late night hair do’s with Mombie.
Baking a handful of different treats.
And then, there was the beautiful day amongst vine and stone…
Wrought iron and rain clouds.
In that place of endless silence.
Mysterious and vastly peaceful.
A place where tales rest.
This song played over and over in my mind…
Atop a rolling hill…
In the little border town I grew up in…
Sits the old cemetery.
Older at the top, amongst huge old trees.
Sloping down the sides with newer graves, and newest at the bottom, surrounding the hill.
Of course, I walked to the maze at the top.
The oldest spots, of crumbling statues and forgotten plots of earth.
Where a giant angel looks on.
Knowing.
Protecting.
It was one of those perfect days meant for the memory vaults.
A light cardigan on my shoulders, thick rain clouds that only sprinkle.
And a beautiful whispering breeze.
The kind of weather that is so beautiful, you stand in silent space, letting it envelop you.
Quietly crunching leaves.
No other living person around.
Taken back in time.
Reading names.
Dates.
Wondering…
Such quiet and cool air.
The breeze leads the way…
Where vines grip wrought iron and trees so tightly.
Trees so big, and gates so old, it’s as if they have been there always.
Forever.
And so, I took deep breaths in that wonderful peace I was feeling.
Staying at the top of the rolling hill, in the oldest most forgotten part of the cemetery.
Twisting through giant green trees.
Running fingers along metal…
Gathering leaves and brambles on the edges of my too long skirt.
Such a beautiful place.
In some parts, forgotten silk flowers meet flowering weeds.
Shrines and statues everywhere.
With flickering candles from time to time.
Telling you, perhaps someone had really been there.
A boy child…
1905-1906
Round I wandered…
Believe it or not, I had never wandered this cemetery alone.
I had been to a handful of funerals here in my life.
And once, Mombie dropped me and my junior high aged friends in here at night and had us screaming and running for our lives.
But now, as a different girl…
In a different time.
It was changed.
Beautiful.
I kept my eye open for my paternal grandfather’s grave.
And some great aunts.
I marveled at the crumbling statues that I had always taken for granted.
When you grow up in a place of statues, incense and tiers of candles – big huge churches with gold gilding and 14 foot angels- it is what it is.
Until you go away for a long time.
Growing up.
And return with older fresher wiser eyes, to embrace it all in your mind.
It’s a wonderful feeling.
It changes.
And you have a renewed love for the places that make up where you came from.
Like an old cemetery.
That all of a sudden opens your eyes to the history of where you grew up.
And how as a child, you never noticed.
I took endless photos to share with you.
It was so difficult to choose.
And if I could convey the weather, the air, the clouds and the birds…
I would.
Alas, I can only tell you about it.
There was a little pink cottage in memory of a baby.
The door removed, the inside filled with angels…
Across from graves so old, they had been fenced in.
95 year old trees, growing right in front of those old headstones.
To where they touched, and hugged.
As I walked up and down, and all around, I saw large black shadows on the ground.
I looked up to see ever so many vultures swimming in the sky.
And then, just like that, they settled into the tree right above me.
Oh my.
I looked up at them, wondering what they knew?
I found such comfort in that cemetery.
A place where history meets modern day.
Where blooms find a way to stay alive, amongst oldest forgotten graves.
Where the ground shifts as time moves on.
Where people come to grieve and pray.
And a giant angel looks on, as he has for 100 years or more…
Every single day.
More tales to come your way soon.
So happy to be back to endless fur love and garden nooks.
And moments here with you.
Looove, V
Vanessa:
Oh how I adore old cemeteries. I find myself walking through our old local cemetery quite often. Reading, imagining and wondering. So many little baby headstones and tragedies.
Thank you for sharing these photos and letting us have a peek inside your time spent at the old cemetery.
xoxo
Kim
Gerushia’s New World
Ooooh! Delightfully calming and spooky at the same time. I agree with Kim-the baby headstones break my heart. I saw a gorgeous old cemetery in Shreveport this weekend. I’ll be posting photos soon.
Do people leave candles burning there? They’re lovely, but that seems dangerous. I’m such a granny about stuff like that.
My hubby doesn’t understand and just thinks it creepy and …unnatural….but i grew up exploring a fabulous graveyard in Easton , PA It sat at the top of a hill right up the road from my Aunts house……
I spent many happy afternoons in the cool shade of towering trees. Drinking in the quiet…the solitude…the peace. Reading headstones….wondering about their lives…the sadness that surrounds childrens graves and wondering why they died so young….peering in the doors of crypts full of cobwebs…giving the shadows a second glance or two…..I miss that…its been ages…thanks so much for sharing your photos. Hugs! deb
I think people that think of graveyards as creepy perhaps have never spent any time there, then they would know different…..
What an enchanting cemetary, so full or unique character. I love old cemetaries, the stories they can tell is endless. So glad you had such a lovely experience on this visit.
Take very good care.
Always, Queenie
Call me strange or maybe just a touch of the mystic in me, but I am completely at peace and free of petty complaints that seem to be the norm of everyday life, when meandering through a cemetery.
Some stones filled with great sadness, some with interesting history, all making a great statement. A place of calm and peaceful reflection.
Peace to YOU sweet Vanessa.
I loved this post, Vanessa! The words you chose were so beautiful. I haven’t wandered through a cemetery in such a long time. It makes me want to do so. Cemeteries are full of such mystery as you gaze at the silent graves and wonder about the lives that were. Thank you so much for sharing your visit with us.
Welcome back Vanessa! This is such a reflective and peaceful posting. The music so complimentary. I see how hard it must have been to choose your photos, for they all have such history to be told. Thank you for taking us along.<3
What have the boys been up to? I'll bet you got some big fur yelps, hugs and kisses when you got back! 😉
Laura, they only leave them on inside of concrete shrines, and they are
those real tall church votive candles, so they are safe I hope 😉
Blog: http://www.aFancifulTwist.com
Website: http://www.VanessaValencia.com
In a message dated 5/14/2013 11:19:34 A.M. US Mountain Standard Time,
Lovely. Reminds me so much of the cemeteries we visited in Paris. Makes a person a little weepy, doncha know.
Welcome home.
What an enchanting cemetary. I have to admit to liking to wander around in cemetaries. My grandmother is buried in one of the oldest ones in Chattanooga. Her grave is right across from the section for the wee ones.
It’s such a sweet and mournfull song… It goes perfectly with the photos…
your heart is always in the right place .. beauty follows you.
xoxo
Deb
I swear we are long lost relatives. These pictures and posts made me swoon……….
Welcome back! How I love walking through graveyards such as this one. The stories they do share and the secrets kept. Lovely!
I wish now that I had had more time to explore the cemetery near the Boston Common(when I was there three years ago) where the real Mother Goose and Benjamin Franklin (and many others) are buried. Seeing the graveyard in Boston was amazing. I am entranced by the designs of many old tombstones.
Thank you for sharing so many amazing photos of the cemetery you grew up near and I can imagine what it was like when you were a teenager going to the cemetery at night with your friends and being scared. Your visit now was kind of like being suspended in Time for you. A timeless experience. It sounded so very lovely with the solitude you expressed.
I enjoy reading Terry Pratchett’s paper-back novels where one of his characters is DEATH. Whenever a person dies, DEATH shows up and when he speaks it is always in CAPITAL LETTERS. Not all of Terry’s novels has Death as a character but the one novel that was made into a movie is ‘Hogfather’ a tongue-in-cheek novel all about fairy tale creatures living on the Disc World, and Father Christmas disappears on the night before Christmas and the wizards of the Unseen University have to find him. DEATH helps out and so does his daughter Susan.(This was written before Tim Burton’s ‘Nightmare Before Christmas’). I found the movie ‘Hogfather’ at Block Buster a few years ago and purchased it outright because it was not an easy movie to be found. Anyway, just a cool movie to watch with twists of fate. Susan, DEATH’s daughter can walk through walls, but otherwise she appears to be quite ‘normal’. And all of it is set in a Dickensen-type setting. I have the book too, which I found at our local Bargain Book store (privately owned). See how my mind works when someone else talks about graveyards and such? Hee! Hee! Death is a natural thing, or unnatural, however one wants to look at it. It is something that happens to all of us at some point in time. What a macabre but fascinating subject!!!
Three of Terry Pratchett’s books which are linked together are: ‘Equal Rites’, ‘Wyrd Sisters’, and ‘Lords and Ladies’ (in that order) which all include a wonderful character called Granny Weatherwax…a witch of course! You had mentioned wanting to know some more good reading a while back and these are entertaining and fun.
Ta! Ta!
Miss Teresa
Beautiful V, just beautiful.
I love cemeteries’ also. Nothing this beautiful here. You are right, oh so peaceful. I love all of your photos, you captured the scene so perfectly and the photos are suitable for framing.
Amazing cemetery Vanessa. I love to visit them, I know for a fact there’s an abandoned one not far from my home that belonged to a ghost town (we have many ghost towns in our greater city limits as there were a lot of abandoned mines since about 150 years ago). It is very interesting to see how people celebrate their dead in different parts of the world, even the headstones and monuments are very different from anything we have here.
Oh what a beautiful cemetery! I absolutely love the individual fences, the ancient gates. I would be quite happy if a tree were to grow out of my chest, once given back to the earth. I think a rose would grow out of yours.
**blows kisses**
Deb
Amazing cemetery! Fascinating places, cemetaries. You’re right, one sees them more clearly as a adult. I’ve always loved visiting them, when I lived in Paris I used to spend hours at Pere La Chaise cemetery, exploring all the graves and wondering about the souls who were buried there.
Beautiful…and such stillness…a quiet peace. Thanks for sharing the photos and your experience. 🙂
So beautiful. I love the peacefulness and quiet beauty of Cemeteries.
Lovely, lovely.
Do people nearby celebrate Dia de los Muertos?
I live in San Francisco – we have a big parade through the Mission district on that day, and people build altars in one of the local parks. Some of the graves in your pictures have decorations/mementos very much like those on the altars, so it made me wonder 🙂
Barbara,
Oh yes yes, in a hugely major way. It is a Mexican border town, so you can imagine. It is over the top, parades and processions and a totally decked out cemetery almost like you are in deepest Mexico.
It’s so beautiful, I will have to take some pics some time if I get down there during….
😉
Oh I love this. There is a cemetery in my downtown that reminds me of yours here. I have always loved going there and visiting and looking around at the stones and such. Being a medium, it is also interesting the spirits that I meet there. Thanks for posting this, and reminding me I need to go visit mine.
love & blessings
~*~
Isn’t it amazing how a place some associate with grieving can also be a place of such calm and comfort.
I have been in quite the melancholy mood today, lots of rain. A crow walked me to my car after church (yay!). This post suits me just fine. Love the quiet beauty.
How gorgeous this cemetery is! I love old wrought iron and statuary. Everything is shrouded in mystery. You wonder about the lives behind those names. Thank you for sharing this immaculate loveliness.