At long last, on Sunday I hosted my first cemetery picnic! Fortunately, the weather was perfect, overcast in the morning, but clearing and beautiful by noon, so it was not too hot and not too cold. The cemetery was perfect as well, with beautiful headstones old and new, lots of trees and flowering bushes, and the picnic tables were even in the shade! And there were butterflies, orange monarchs flitting about doing whatever it is butterflies do in cemeteries.
What was disappointing was that there ended up being only four of us; me and one other member who also brought her husband and almost-two-year-old child. We had one no-show, and everyone else canceled for one reason or another. While the four of us did have a lovely time, one of the reasons for having meetups is to... MEET people! So we were bummed that no one showed up whom we didn't already know.
Here is a really good pic of me that Donna took:
This is the front of the old part of the cemetery. The oldest graves are toward the back and continue along the right. I'm standing next to an infant's grave; I always feel sorriest for the mothers. I almost lost my son to an accident when he was only 14 years old, but this lady lost her baby after only a few months. She never got to know him at all.
My sisterhood group started a tradition two years ago called the "Celebration of the Eternal Maidens"; on or around Imbolc (February 1st/2nd) we go to our local cemetery, which is within walking distance of my apartment, and put flowers on the graves of children (mostly girls) who died before they reached 18 years old and have no flowers or other signs that anyone visits them now. Most of the ones we find are under five years old, and the graves are very old. So sad...
Here are a couple of pics that I took. The first is of the center front, more modern part of the cemetery. The second one is of the same stone I stood next to in the pic above, but with more of the older part in the background.
It's such a beautiful cemetery that we plan on having more picnics here. I just hope more people attend!
It looks like a really nice place :3
ReplyDeleteIt is! I think it will be lovely in just about any weather, even rain. And it's only about 5 minutes from a really great mall, so that just makes it even better! :-)
DeleteOh, it's so disappointing that everyone cancelled at the last minute! At least it was a lovely day and the cemetery looks beautiful. They have picnic tables there? That's awesome!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful picture of you, Lucretia! I can't believe it's still warm enough down there you don't have to wear a sweater! ;o)
Thanks! :-) I think the picnic tables are there because the church and cemetery are part of the museum right across the street, and there's a small playground and field area next door. Whatever the reason, it's a wonderful setup!
DeleteIn this area we tend to have Mediterranean-type weather, but not much in the way of visible seasonal changes. It usually stays fairly warm here through mid-October, although the weather ouija board says there may be rain this weekend! Of course, this IS the weekend we're supposed to have the last cemetery cleanup of the year, so we'll see what happens with that.
I love your outfit too!!
ReplyDeleteThanks! :-)
DeleteIt's such a beautiful place! Those stones are old! It is indeed something very tragical over young lost lives. It must have been a horryfyeing experience to nearly loose ones child. I hope your son is ok now.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking much of starting a local goth group on facebook, just because I feel a bit lonely and odd but it is lot's of things that holding me back; my shyness, too much to do etc.
I think your velvet top and white skirt with flowers is a lovely combination.
Stuart is just fine now, thanks for asking! He recovered beautifully and with very few lasting problems. His only regret is that the titanium plate in his head doesn't set off security alarms in airports. ;-)
DeleteThanks for the compliment, I threw that outfit together at the last minute, and I love it!
I think you should go ahead and start that FB group; why not? Even if you don't go to everything that's planned, you'll still be more likely to meet local goths and make new friends.
And I'm rather shy, too, but it's a LOT easier to get to know people online and then meet them when you know a bit about them first. Try it and see!
It can be frustrating when people don't show up for planned events such as this one, but at least you got to spend time in such a beautiful place. I really like the rustic appearance of the old section. And, you look great! Hopefully, more people will show up next time.
ReplyDeleteThanks! :-)
DeleteYes, the dropouts really missed out, didn't they? In more ways than one. The four of us organizers are very disappointed by the lack of participation, and are considering dropping the meetup group and just getting together on our own through FB or private e-mail. Why keep paying $19 a month for the meetup site if no one shows but us? We're all friends now, and that's what we joined for!