Saturday, August 21, 2010

The Deerly Departed












I enjoy driving through cemetaries. No, I'm not morbid. But cemetaries are peaceful, pretty, have lovely trees and wildlife, and you can see some very strange and touching things. You can also see huge chunks of time pass by in the blink of an eye. It makes one very mindful of time. So I never like to say that I'm "killing" time. I will say that we had twenty minutes before our dinner reservation, and we used the time by driving through the cemetary across the street from the restaraunt. Here are a few of the unusual things we saw. But as we were looking, someone else was looking at us. Watching from the edge. Being very careful to keep the tall grass between her face and ours. She never took her eyes off us, and as I snapped away she never moved. It's good to remember that watchers are everywhere, and act accordingly. Here is someone else who is always watching and will never move away.

"From heaven the Lord looks down and sees all mankind; from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth - he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do...but the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love...
Psalm 33

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ginny, thanks for sharing the beautiful verse and what a pretty deer watching you from afar. I especially enjoy older cemeteries in the spring. Many families have planted pretty flowering trees and shrubs that have been there for years.
Wishing you a blessed Sunday.

Kilauea Poetry said...

Well I just checked out the comments on your festive yellow polish- hilarious..and I do hope your feeling better! I have a strange fascination with cemeteries! I can't believe your beautiful friend- what a special surprise and photos! Every time I see a funereal in a movie, it never fails to stir me up- the trees are wispy, green grass.. Anyway, I agree and I love the Psalms-

Kilauea Poetry said...

Forgot to say what a lovely header this made!! Oh (btw) that was a seed pod from the Shower tree:)

DawnTreader said...

She's watching you and you're watching her! Good pictures.

I've had "issues" with cemeteries, I found them depressing. (You'll find some thoughts about it if you look up the label Halloween on my blog.) But where I live now (since two years) I'm surrounded by them. If I walk into town I pass by two of our oldest ones. In fact I usually walk across one of them, and past a grave of ancestors of mine. In the other direction is a newer one, with another family grave. It was not really an aspect I considered when I chose my new home. Ironically, it became sort of a preparation for me (since my mother died the following year). Cemeteries used to be "far away" and gloomy places for me, only visited when forced to, and with everyone always in miserable mood. Now that I live very close to one, I've sort of become "better friends" with it.

RoeH said...

I LOVE cemeteries! I like to walk through them and read the headstones and wonder about who they were and what their lives were. It is truly peaceful there. Like that deer, I could stay there forever. (No pun intended.) :))

Rose said...

good morning. I'm not morbid about cemetaries. When I have gone to a cemetary, I think of history. Looking at the grave markers, I can't help but think that this person died,but what was their life like?Some of the dates on the grave sites are very old and have unusual words on headstones. I've never seen a deer , but where I've gone is more within the city. Thanks for making a comment on my blog. Hope it's a blessed Sunday. We have early church at 8a.m. so this comment is at an earlier timr. Rose

MadSnapper said...

love the pun on the DEERLY departed and of course the visitor. thanks for pointing out the comment about killing time, i say it all the time. and i will try to break that habit. some of my best photos were when i was taking advantage of time waiting. you are so thoughtful and have a wonderful insight into daily life.

Reanaclaire said...

Yes, the cemetery which I visited in Canada are very nicely kept and serene looking too.. but there are some which portray an eerie feeling.. maybe the uncut grass made it so...
Love the deer picture.. it looks astonishing..

Jane said...

I too enjoy old cemetaries - the older, the better. Nice picture of the deer as well!

Jane

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Oh how neat, Friend..... To find a deer looking at you while in that cemetery is just super!!!!!! AND--seeing what people leave by or on the graves is always interesting. I too am fascinated by cemeteries.. I love to go in the really OLD ones.. I think of those people and how and where they lived. SO interesting..

Did I ever tell you about the cemetery that George and I found WAY up on top of a mountain (no road to it; only a path) one time when we were hiking???? I was amazed.

Hope you have a marvelous Sunday.. God Bless... Love your verse.
Hugs,
Betsy

Ruth's Photo Blog said...

It is so special to know that God is always watching me.We are off to the church service today,looking to hear a special word from God.Have a wonderful day.
Blessing,Ruth

Karin said...

Enjoyed your post and the verse. I have several cemeteries I visit throughout the year. Very interesting! At one of the cemeteries I have personally known 100+ - don't think I'm exaggerating. That's where so many of the seniors are buried who spent their final days in the nursing home where I've worked for over 24 years. It's also my parents' final resting place. Love your deer - my fav animal. Now I'm humming, "As the deer....."

George said...

I think I can understand why you like to visit cemeteries and it's especially meaningful when you spot a watcher as you did. Thanks for the reminder in your verse and thanks for the wonderful pictures.

Stephanie V said...

When my daughter was very little, we used to picnic at the nearby cemetery. It was right by the ocean and had lovely grassy places to play. We never saw any deer, though. That would have been special.

photowannabe said...

Nice transition and example Ginny.
I like to visit cemeteries too. I like wandering and wondering about the people there.
Love your title for this post. Very clever.

Melanie said...

I like cemeteries too. They're so peaceful and quiet. I enjoy studying our family history, so I've made my fair share of visits to cemeteries.

From the Kitchen said...

I don't find spending time in cemeteries odd. In fact, I have childhood photos of my family gathered around the big tombstone on my great-grandfather's grave. It was an annual photo-op when we visited Kentucky! And, I'm especially fascinated by the lovely old graveyards of New Orleans, Charleston, Chicago, etc.

Obviously the deer enjoys visiting as well.

Hope you are feeling better.

Best,
Bonnie

Doris Sturm said...

Actually, I like cemeteries too - had to go past one in order to go to school as a kid and on the way home, we walked through the cemetery reading the headstones and looking at all the fancy statues...some of them had angels and ornate tombstone. The dead people can't hurt you anymore - it's the live ones you need to be weary of...but still would not purposely go out in the middle of the night to go sight seeing there.

Concerning my bug post, ladybugs are great for getting rid of aphids that would otherwise kill your roses and other ornamentals...I think you can buy them through Burpee's mail-order catalog.

ruthi said...

Cool! Like you Ginny I love cemeteries too and I find them peaceful and a nice place to think. I take a lot of photos of the cemeteries too. The deer is a bonus for you. I have not seen one yet but mostly chipmunks.

Have a wonderful week ahead.

srp said...

I especially love the really old ones, like those in Colonial Williamsburg and the even older ones in Europe. So many stories there.

SquirrelQueen said...

Great capture of the deer, she is a beauty. That is one of the reasons I like to walk through cemeteries too.

I love your play on words in the post title.

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