I really can't go too far
for any kind of vacation. I mean, I need an awful lot of cumbersome
stuff: knee walker, regular walker, bath chair, etc., etc.. Plus, I
need to stay close to home in case of Cancer treatments. So, day
trips have to do for the time being.
My friend Ellen is in a
similar situation, although for a variety of different reasons.
During my research into the Hall-Mills Murder, I discovered that the
good Rev. is buried in Green -Wood Cemetery, New York. I had
never heard of it. I did a bit more research and, lo and
behold, I found that it's huge, historic, and reportedly
beautiful...if you've a thing for burial spots. I mentioned this to
Ellen. Turns out, she always wanted to see the place. We picked a
date, and off we went, over the bridges and into the wilds of
Brooklyn.
The place is amazing. It
would have been ever more amazing had I remembered my camera in order
to record it all. We made due with Ellen's cell phone, shot out of a
car window. After all, Green -Wood is acres of tombs, and I can't do
the marathon funeral crawl just yet. I did my editing magic on the
images we DID capture, and they appear below. Forgive the occasional
finger tip. Half the time I ended up hitting the wrong button and
taking a picture of myself!
These are the gates of
Green -Wood. Absolutely splendid. The best part is the little
attached building on the left. It houses a nice, clean bathroom. In
Brooklyn? A miracle!
This is the
Green -Wood chapel. We didn't really get out to look. It was a hot
day. However, I saw some interior photos on line. Next time, I'm totally going inside, walker and all.
Green -Wood is full of
subtle hills and fantastic views. We followed a winding road to the
left of the chapel and ended up with this view of its surrounds.
There are a lot of
obelisks, as well as tombs inspired by the Egyptian Revival period.
I have a particular
fondness for weeping angels. I just have to remember not to blink.
My other favorite is
shrine tombs. Here are a few examples. I think a study of one genre
throughout this cemetery would be a fascinating project.
This has got to be the
ugliest angel...or child...in the entire place.
How would you like to go to eternity in this angel guarded condo?
I wouldn't blink near this guy either...
Take a good look at the
following picture. Yes, the angel is headless, but we aren't
focusing on him/her. Notice anything different about the tomb on the
left...the one with a small American flag? No?
How about the big ass bear
sitting on the top?
I'm telling you, this
place is a treasure. I want to go back in the Fall when the leaves
are changing...and I have my own camera.
On the publishing front (and while we're on the subject of cemeteries):
Natalie Zaman and I were
contacted by The Fool's Dog, a company that develops predictive decks
as ipod and iphone applications. They had signed a contract with our
publisher, and approached up for images and text etc. (Thank the gods
Natalie is up there with the technology stuff. I still crave quill
pens and hansom cabs). Long story short, Graven Images Oracle should
be premiering as an application mid-month, if all goes well. This is
brilliant, exciting, and the company has handled our product with a
lot of thought, care, and hard work. I can hardly wait!
That's it for now.
Remember: Para-X in East Brunswick is less that 4 weeks away!
