by marla
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Halloween is around the corner and with all the talk of ghosts and goblins a trip to a cemetery was in order. Nowadays you say you’re going to a cemetery and people look at you funny. But back in the day it was fashionable to visit. Visiting the departed is something some folks in my family still do. It’s part of life and remembrance. I guess that’s why I like Día de los Muertos so much. It’s original roots and culture in a youth obsessed world.
I find some cemeteries to be very peaceful and beautiful. Recently, I visited to Glenwood Cemetery in Houston, Texas. You know the one, it houses the Howard Hughs family plot. It’s privately owned and has a very romantic feel. There are huge trees, cherubs, angels, manicured greenery, curvy roads, and huge arched and Pantheon-esque structures.
Different sections have such different feels. It got me thinking about all that history. There are six generations of Houstonians there. It’s really close to downtown, but once inside it’s hardly noticeable. Unless you’re standing in view of the Houston skyline.
I do not like horror movies, and my haunted house days are over. But on a beautiful fall day I’ll visit a cemetery. I’m glad my aversion to horror flicks does not extend to cemeteries. I walked around with a few friends, but if you would like to visit and get a complete history of Glenwood, they offer walking tours for $10 and group visits.
Found this book, Houston’s Silent Garden: Glenwood Cemetery, 1871-2009. The angel on the cover was by far the most beautiful one I came across.
markapolooza
Very cool. There is something about the statues that are always fascinating. Statues look human and real, but are made of stone. They may look like our frail, ephemeral form—but are immortal and can stand guard forever in museums and cemeteries.
The fact they’re made of stone makes them incredible to photograph. Nothing beats light and shadow playing across stone captured by black and white film. The black and white doesn’t just bring out the contrast of light, but adds to the illusion that these rain-stained statues are from a distant, ancient place—at the same time beautiful and frightening.
Writer Steven Moffat brought this to television with the “Weeping Angels”, statues who can move when you aren’t looking. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weeping_Angels But the reason these fictional angels work so well as a frightening foe is that it taps into something primordial deep inside each of us.
Angelic statues withstanding the weather, and seasons, and centuries to represent a frozen mortality—while we mere humans come and go so quickly. We can dance, when alive, around the statues, and they forever stand guard over our resting remains. So, let’s celebrate them while we still can.
marla
Hi Mark! You know quite a bit about this. The second to the last pic in the post is the statue that most creeped me out. So life-like. Thanks for the comment!
@Leslie Yea some of them can be super peaceful and beautiful!
Leslie
Marla- my parents and grandparents are buried in Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge Mass. I love this place- very peaceful inside a large city. Many people go to bird watch, picnic etc. i find it relaxing
Ann @ Running With Chopstix
What gorgeous pictures! Glenwood is an amazing cemetery and I recently just visited it.