A little bit more of this and that from our afternoon of exploring Evergreen Cemetery on October 12th. You can see why I like it there so much. I like old cemeteries as a rule, not just this one. My maternal grandfather is buried here, and so is Pat's uncle. I imagine I'll end up here one day too. Not a bad place to hang out for eternity.
Have you ever heard of a Wind Phone? It's a beautiful, poetic concept that was dreamed up by Japanese garden designer Itaru Sasaki in 2010 to help him deal with the death of his cousin. The idea is that you use the phone to have a conversation with a loved one who has passed on. Since the first Wind Phone in Ĺtsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, Japan was created, many more have sprung up in places all over the world and yes, there is one in Evergreen Cemetery. I knew that we had a Wind Phone here but never noticed it until Pat and I did our little ramble through the cemetery earlier this month. It was a lovely surprise. Did I use it? No, but I will. I have a few things I'd like to say to some people I loved very much. It will keep.
Here's another somewhat funny find during our visit to the cemetery. I've featured this lovely and goth-tastic monument on the blog before, without ever realizing that it's the back of someone's headstone and not just some nice sculpture. D'oh! I finally walked around the thing and saw that the someone in question was none other than Winfield Scott Stratton, who was a generous philanthropist in the early days of Colorado Springs. Mr. Stratton started out as a carpenter, then struck it rich in the gold rush and ended up a wealthy man. He was extremely charitable with his riches, donating quite a lot of land and money to the city while also taking care of the poor. You can read all about his good deeds HERE, if you're interested.
I can't believe I've been admiring this "sculpture" for so long without even realizing that I was actually looking at the back of it, and it's a very notable grave to boot! At any rate, the message is wonderful and I wish more people would heed it in the way that Mr. Stratton did.
Halloween is coming up this Friday, so I figured this would be a good week to share the things we saw on our stroll through Evergreen Cemetery on October 12th. We just happened to stumble across the gravesite of our city founder, General William Jackson Palmer. This was actually quite hilarious because I can't tell you how many times I've visited the cemetery with the intention of finding his grave and somehow never noticed that it's only a few steps away from the historic chapel, which I've photographed for the blog on a few occasions. Ha! This plot contains his grave and that of his wife, Queen, and one or two other family members, apparently (I can't tell you who they were or how they were related to him). I always thought he'd have a big, elaborate headstone or even a family crypt, so maybe that's why I never noticed his grave before. It's simply marked with a large rock with a plaque on one side and some embedded script on the other. Then again, Palmer was a Quaker, which means he had simple tastes, so that probably accounts for the humbleness of his final resting place. More tomorrow!
It's Sunday Style, No Kings Edition again! This peaceful participant chose to protest in traditional Mexican attire, and she stood out like a bouquet of flowers. Gorgeous! And what a great message, too!
I snapped this last Friday as I was in the middle of taking some engagement portraits in Monument Valley Park. We did get a little kiss of snow on the peak a couple of weeks ago, but it was only on the north face of the mountain and disappeared within a few hours. But this light dusting stuck around for a few days before almost completely melting away. It looks so pretty with the nice golden trees in the foreground of this photo.
More great moments from the protest! I read that over seven million people (!!!) participated in the US alone, and who knows how many in other parts of the world. Here in the Springs we had an estimated 12,000 to 15,000 motivated people show up, which is even more than the last No Kings demonstration. Way to represent, my fellow El Paso County peeps! The fellow above in the crown is the father of one of my friends. I had the best time and came away from this event with a renewed vigor to keep making good trouble.
