Monday, January 6, 2020

Cemetery Mysteries


It may seem dark to write about the precarious joint health of my dog one day, and then show her standing in a graveyard the next. It's purely coincidental, I assure you.

In fact, Olga seemed much better yesterday. She went on her usual morning walk and then accompanied me to the cemetery in the afternoon, where she chased squirrels with only slightly less abandon than usual.


We left the Kong at home, but she brought a tennis ball and even managed to get a little dirty, which always equals happiness. (For her, anyway.) I didn't see any visible limping.


I noticed a very old grave decorated rather bizarrely with Hello Kitty and other figurines. The people in the grave -- a man and woman -- were both adults when they died, he in 1910 and she in 1935. So why Hello Kitty? It's a mystery.


But maybe not as mysterious as this grave, decorated with a Magimix Compact 3100 food processor.

(OK, that may have just been dumped there.)


Speaking of dumped rubbish, the pile of discarded Christmas trees at Fortune Green is gigantic -- bigger than I've ever seen it. The council has some serious mulching to do!

15 comments:

Yorkshire Pudding said...

It's nice to see that Olga had a good walk and appeared to enjoy herself. She seems to be smiling in the tennis ball picture. Lord knows when and why grave decoration habits changed with plastic crap taking over from fresh flowers.

Ms. Moon said...

Sometimes I think about the bones of all of the animals and humans underneath us and it's a bit mind-boggling.
I'm so glad that Olga is better. She's such a sweet girl.

Sharon said...

Why would someone dump a food processor in a cemetery? That is very strange indeed. Glad to see Olga enjoying herself.

Anonymous said...

So good to Olga out and having a fine time at the cemetery. It surprises me that people would abandon junk there. Well, what really surprises me is thinking that people would act more thoughtfully than that. LOL.

Red said...

The leaning headstones make me wonder if someone still looks after these graves.

ellen abbott said...

glad to hear Olga is better. you'd think that whoever was putting the small items beneath the headstone would make the effort to straighten it. those things look so clean, they can't have been there for long.

Edna B said...

Why not put the discarded Christmas trees in the woods for the animals to enjoy? I love the photo of the old cemetery. It's really quite beautiful. I would enjoy walking through there and seeing all the old gravestones. Olga looks so happy. I'm glad she's feeling better. You have a wonderful day, hugs, Edna B.

Allison said...

I love a good cemetery. The ones in France were just lovely with all of the ceramic flowers decorating them. That cemetery is looking a little down on its luck, if cemeteries can be said to have luck. I'm very happy to see Olga is better. Dogs just do not live long enough.

The Bug said...

Do the Christmas trees smell fabulous? Could I just make my way to the center & sit & breathe a while? That seems like it would be heavenly...

Catalyst said...

Hello Kitty? Obviously they were cat lovers. The food processor? Obviously a chef. Elementary, my dear Watson.

Now, don't you start trimming those bushes!

jenny_o said...

I'm glad Olga's limp was temporary. What a funny, sweet face she has!

I laughed at your description of the kitchen appliance, even though it's a shame people dump garbage in a wild space.

Maybe it's just me and I should be more tolerant because I haven't been in this situation personally, but it bothers me to see anything but flowers on a grave or memorial. We get a few roadside memorials here that are set up to mark when people died in car crashes (I know, strange) and they seem to be decorated seasonally. I know different people mourn in different ways, yet it still seems odd to have plastic pumpkins and Christmas trees set up at these sites. How did flowers get to be inadequate? Maybe because the families know their loved ones didn't care for flowers? I don't know.

Beth Reed said...

Hi,
So happy to see Olga feeling better. It is a good thing for the both of you.

I really loved the old cemetery. I think that those headstones must be really heavy to pull back up. My moms settled and shifted and my sisters took tons of sand and it took both my brother in laws to hold the headstone up in order to get the sand in where it needed to go.
I think that a council or something should be formed to give those people a nice and clean resting place.
Does it have a marker or something for information on it? I wonder how old it is. I really could walk for hours. Ok someone else can walk behind me and push as I couldn't get around unless I had a wheelchair.

Have a fantastic day!!!

e said...

Lots of history in that cemetery...I love Olga's smile. Glad she's feeling better.

Penelope said...

I am glad Olga is feeling better.
Lots of mysteries in an old grave yard. I love cemeteries and find them very interesting and peaceful. Perhaps that person lived cats and a young person wanted to honor that. I have a friend my age who is crazy about Hello Kitty. I don't get it but who am I to tell her what she should like? To each his own. And the food processor? Plenty of interpretations pop up there. Have you ever heard of the Terlingua Cemetery in Texas?

Steve Reed said...

YP: Yeah, what was wrong with plain ol' flowers, anyway? I would think all this plastic and wire junk would be a nightmare for the groundskeepers.

Ms Moon: It IS mind-boggling. I'm always conscious that there are people beneath my feet. (More to the side of my feet, actually, since I pretty much stick to paths between graves.)

Sharon: Isn't that weird? They'd have had to lug it a fair distance to get it to that spot.

Robin: Junk is a perpetual problem in many public places in London.

Red: The cemetery is mowed and trimmed but nothing is done to the headstones, at least not that I've seen. When they fall, they fall.

Ellen: Leaning headstones are a common feature of English cemeteries. I think British people in general are more tolerant of that look!

Edna: It is a beautiful cemetery. We love walking through there!

Allison: The area where we walk is predominantly populated by very old graves. It's not down on its luck, it's just well-weathered!

Bug: That is a fantastic idea!

Catalyst: Ha! No, I'll leave those bushes alone. I like the wilderness feel of the cemetery, actually, and it's a great environment for birds and critters.

Jenny-O: I've never understood the obsession with memorials, and leaving things like stuffed animals and toys. I honestly think I'd feel that way even if I knew the person being memorialized.

Beth: Most of those headstones are very old -- going back at least 100 years. I think over time they just age, like all of us!

E: It is a very historic place!

Penelope: I don't know the Terlingua cemetery, no! It's possible the Hello Kitty people were cat-lovers, but it surprises me that anyone now would know that, considering how long ago they died.