I'm a big fan of cemeteries. Don't know why. Not that I want to take up residence in one of those places anytime soon. I'm not ready for that just yet. But this morbid fascination with final resting places of the dead has been a part of me for as long as I've lived. I always get excited whenever I drive past a cemetery. And you know what - the older they are, the more fascinating they are for me.My fixation with them, however, ends with just enjoying their view. I don't crave spending a night alone in a cemetery, nor do I have any interest in communicating with the dead. I just enjoy looking at gravestones. Period.
And last week, I had the privilege of exploring the Burwood General Cemetery. I didn't plan the trip, though I've been toying with the idea of dropping by the Kew Cemetery not too far from my place. I sort of stumbled on the former while I was sent by Alex to fix his rear sensor monitor which was damaged when some scumbag mistook it for a GPS navigator and tried to yank it off the dashboard after smashing the window. So I drove the car to the workshop to have it fixed.
It took an hour for the job to be done. So the guy at the shop suggested that I have coffee and read some newspaper at a coffeeshop down the road. I did. But something else caught my eye - structures that looked like tombstones across the road.
Lo and behold! It was a cemetery. The coffeeshop was completely forgotten. I crossed the road and savoured the sight that awaited me. It looked more like a park than a graveyard! Some of the graves were so beautifully constructed and adorned with fresh flowers. A few even had mini showcases displaying favourite personal items of the deceased. Some housed the entire family! And I found one very old headstone dated back to 1866!
I explored from one end of the cemetery to the other. I only saw one other couple and an old lady visiting graves of their relatives. It was quiet and very peaceful. When I've covered the entire cemetery, I decided to finish reading a book that I'd been reading. I couldn't find a bench, so I settled for a tombstone under a tree and spent the next half an hour there. I bet the spirit residing there must have been pleased with my company.
After more than an hour there, I had to go back to the workshop for my car. But it certainly was an hour well spent, at least for me!
6 comments:
Death metal freak waiting to come out?
Good to have you back, you lazy bum . . .
what to do? laziness is part of me these days ...
LOL!!! life is good down under. even time for a trip to the cemetery. but seriously, i've been to some really interesting ones as well, like the one just at the foot of edinburgh castle. old ... no, make that really old. and it was all cold and misty as well that time. but it was in the morning. just that it was smack in the middle of winter. i think you'd have gotten a big kick out of it!
Yea...goats head & midnight sacrifices coming up!! Its actually interesting to see the kind of messages on the old tombstones. There's a cemetery in Paris which is on the tourist route as its the final resting place for Jim Morrison & Karl Marx, amongst others.
Wei Yin: lets have a contest for who's gonna blog the least!!
Can't keep up with some people with too much time on their hands!!
hi guys - good to see you all. yeah, been dormant. also good to know i'm not so morbid after all! will visit more cemetaries soon. hopefully nothing follows me back!
Hello. This post is likeable, and your blog is very interesting, congratulations :-). I will add in my blogroll =). If possible gives a last there on my blog, it is about the GPS, I hope you enjoy. The address is http://gps-brasil.blogspot.com. A hug.
Post a Comment