Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Walking On The Bones




Wordless Wednesday































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23 comments:

Lynn said...

This is something Carl and I have never shared with anyone. We walk on bones. After we went to the visitation at the funeral home, we went to walk on bones. It is a communal moment with the dead. A time of clearing of the mind. A time to learn from the dead what we would never learn if we were not amongst them. There is a peace and a respect for life that comes with this type of meditation.

Jennifer said...

ok, i am a little freaked out at the moment...

very interesting though...

my ww is up

Anonymous said...

Cemetaries make me feel a bit uneasy but that's probably because I've been to far too many funerals.

When we lived in an Apartment we lived near Mount Pleasant cemetary in Toronto, and I have to say that's one of the nicest ones I've been to. It's very park like and even has walking paths. We used to occasionally walk through it.

But the last time I was there I had an eerie thing happen. I know I have relatives buried there so when we would occasionally walk through I'd look for the names. Well I found a group of Graves with my maiden name on them the last time I was there (several years ago). When I got home I had a phone call that one of my cousins had died in a firey car accident.

I know it was just a coincidence but it made me feel that if I hadn't gone there maybe he wouldn't have died.

Intesting pictures though. You found some old ones. I kind of like the moss growing on the stones too.

Viamarie said...

Can't seem to think of what to say.

My WW is up.

Courtney said...

What an interesting bunch of photos.

RheLynn said...

Some very interesting stories there. It is telling of the community there that they erected a stone for the Indian family.

Mr.J and I went to the cemetary near our house the first month we lived here - and walked it. Mr.J found it as you did, to be a respectful communion with those who came before. I felt that feeling only briefly. For some reason - especially near the places where the tombstones were broken or the names unreadable - I felt a terrible sadness and/or rage which makes me not want to go back. It was probably my mind playing tricks on me, but it made me feel as if I had done something wrong for the rest of the day.

When you know someone who is buried there - for me, that is an anchor. You belong there to respect that person. Otherwise it feels, to me, like I am intruding on space I was not meant to cross.

Lynn said...

So far everyone has touched on why I chose those stones. I learned about a whole Indian family who died in the rapids right beside the cemetary. Their Indian names printed under their Christian names. The area we were in was one of the larges fur trade routes in Canada.
The last one was a Masonic stone. The man died at 25yrs old. He could only become a Mason at 21. He barely got to become involved with the craft before he was taken away. Then two brothers. One 28 month and one 2months tells us that there must have been a horrible contageous disease in the communtity.

Candy Minx said...

Hi Lynn,

These are incredible photos. I too love to visit cemetaries. Often when travelling I will go to the graveyards...so I often get teased about this but I am glad to see someone else with a similar fascination. (I have been to Jimi Hendrix's grave, Jim Morrison, Emily Carr...and tried to find Furry Lewis last year in Memmphis, we didn't though)

Thank you so much for visiting my blog and your informative comments about university changes in Canada. Gave me an awful lot to think about and I went crazy responding to your comment.

Cheers,
Candy

Candy Minx said...

Tricia, what an incredible comment you have made here, and I can totally see how you could make that association...you must be a very empathetic person.

I've been to that cemetary several times myself and it is huge and lots to look at. I also like the one on Sherbourne/Danforth, the Necropolis.

I find the things you can think about so interesting, like Lynn noticing the Indian families.

there is a great big cemetary in Vancouver, near 33rd and Main...and I counted 15 Victoria Star recepients there. There are not many VS from the second world war...so this seemed strange , like what does B.C. make heroes? I realized they probably weren't all from Vancouver but had probably moved out west to retire.

Anonymous said...

RYC: "How old was he there? A few days?
Very cute "

He's actually 3 months old! Xavier was our early bird- born 12 weeks too soon. So he's about the equivalent of a newborn in the photo. Thanks for stopping by!
-Ashlee

Anonymous said...

Well... That left me wordless....

Frances D said...

I love walking through cemetaries - excellent pics.
Thank you for visiting my site.
Take care,
Frances

RennyBA said...

What nice pics and thanks for adding the story in your comments - very interesting reads - thanks for sharing!

Lori said...

Interesting photos. You look at the headstones and wonder who they were, what kind of life they had, etc. Happy WW!

FRIDAY'S CHILD said...

Looking at your post reminds me of my SIL who just passed away last month.
Thanks for stopping and thanks to Dr. John for sending you to me.

Anonymous said...

oooo I just love graveyards! where on earth was this particular bone yard? btw, the queer chef pimped me here!

Lynn said...

This Cemetary is in Arnprior Ontario.
Arnprior is located where the Ottawa river and the Matawaska River join together.
I will have pics of the area later in the week.

Lazy Daisy said...

I love to look at old cemetaries and headstones. We have some in our area from Civil War days.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for stopping by and visiting... as a teenager in New England we used to spend alot of time in the old graveyards etching the headstones. Interesting photo gallery...."walking on my bones"...we learn something new everyday. Thanks.

Osquer said...

There are some fascinating shots there! I find myself wanting to sit in cemetaries and read, though I never do it. I'm finally getting to the point in my life where I care less how weird people think I am, so maybe I'll try it soon. I find cemetaries tranquil places though I don't visit my own ancestors. They're all buried more than three hours drive away. I just love the artwork of grave stones, the quiet and...I don't know, something in the atmosphere. I just like cemetaries.

Lynn said...

No One in the photos is family to me.
I expect, seeing that these stones are from the 1800's there are probably very few relatives of these folk in the area.
I actually have relatives buried in Toronto, Burkes Falls, Flanders Fields, and possibly the region I live in now. (York Region, Ontario)

Anonymous said...

Whenever I have occasion to visit a cemetary I look at the names and dates of birth and death... sometimes I wonder what those people's lives were like, who comes to visit their grave, things like that. Very interesting.

Anonymous said...

Lovely photos. I also fancy taking pics of tombstones or cemetery.