My spine tingles as I stroll through cemetaries and imagine lives of those below. Their stories create a great mystery which is heightened by the wistfulness and fascination that bubbles within me.
A humble prairie cemetary filled with quiescent dignity stands among my memories. As the rain torrented down, I dashed from the car and clung to the iron-clad gate draped with ivy. Peering at the headstones ahead, I watched the grasses gently bend with the rain to the ground.
I still have vivid memories of a tour through a musty old crypt beneath an Austrian cathedral. Skeletons lined the torch-lit walls, and the ceiling seemed to close in on us as the open coffins came into sight. A tour just days later lead me through an elegant cemetary memorializing some of Europe's greatest classical composers. Each gravestone towered like a throne in remembrance of this genre's most highly acclaimed royalty.
Yet another cemetary took me surprise this summer: the King's Chapel Burial Ground residing deep within the center of Boston. This cemetary is characterized by the engraved skulls on each dark, crumbling headstone which casts a gothic glow about the yard. The ancient lot itself is encased by busy city streets and towering business offices; a resting place within the center of the bustling world. Created in 1630, the burial ground contains occupants such as John Winthrop, the first Puritan Governer of Massachusets, the midnight rider Paul Revere, John Hancock, a Mary "Mother" Goose, and many of Benjamin Franklin's relatives. Interestingly enough, a Montgomerie gravestone lay among names such as these.
A humble prairie cemetary filled with quiescent dignity stands among my memories. As the rain torrented down, I dashed from the car and clung to the iron-clad gate draped with ivy. Peering at the headstones ahead, I watched the grasses gently bend with the rain to the ground.
I still have vivid memories of a tour through a musty old crypt beneath an Austrian cathedral. Skeletons lined the torch-lit walls, and the ceiling seemed to close in on us as the open coffins came into sight. A tour just days later lead me through an elegant cemetary memorializing some of Europe's greatest classical composers. Each gravestone towered like a throne in remembrance of this genre's most highly acclaimed royalty.
Yet another cemetary took me surprise this summer: the King's Chapel Burial Ground residing deep within the center of Boston. This cemetary is characterized by the engraved skulls on each dark, crumbling headstone which casts a gothic glow about the yard. The ancient lot itself is encased by busy city streets and towering business offices; a resting place within the center of the bustling world. Created in 1630, the burial ground contains occupants such as John Winthrop, the first Puritan Governer of Massachusets, the midnight rider Paul Revere, John Hancock, a Mary "Mother" Goose, and many of Benjamin Franklin's relatives. Interestingly enough, a Montgomerie gravestone lay among names such as these.
