An old cemetery visit

September 17 2014
by emma

I love historic cemeteries, they’re fascinating, poignant and peaceful all at the same time.  Lafayette Cemetery in New Orleans is on my wish list (I’m weird, I know!) and when I backpacked around Europe years ago, like a lot of gen-Xers, I visited Jim Morrison’s grave at Père Lachaise Cemetery which was sort of touristy yet the cemetery itself was romantic; ornate and full of history.

We visited an old, local cemetery recently and Ant and I spent an hour or so there, wandering around in the late afternoon sun looking at the beautifully aged headstones and graves, a lot of them crumbling and broken (which was fairly distressing to see at first, why can’t they be looked after better by the council?!).  There’s a gorgeous, massive old tree there and I spotted tiny yellow leaves falling down and dappled sunlight across the headstones.  As we were walking out though, we saw one with a new photograph attached of a middle aged bloke with a huge grin, hugging an older lady who looked like his mum and I became suddenly very sad.

Anyway, if you want a strangely peaceful afternoon and a healthy dose of perspective, a lovely old cemetery’s the place.





There’s always one!


7 Responses leave one →
  1. I always have a mixed reaction to old cemeteries. The Dunwich cemetery at Stradbroke is beautiful and interesting as the island was once a leper colony, and many ships docked there to undergo quarantine. Fascinating, but sad since so many little kids are buried there.
    Great photos as always Emma. Soft, dreamy, and just a little eerie.

  2. Thanks for sharing these lovely…yet ‘sad’ cemetery photos, Emma. These head stones remind me of old neglected Jewish cemeteries in Eastern Europe. Looks as if they have been much neglected, and very, very old!

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