#mortuary display

[extemporaneousmusings]

19/1/21

Pictured: a small Jewish cemetery we found on our morning Lulu walk that dates from 1821-1849.

Three good things about today are

1. Finding the cemetery! I <3 cemeteries!

2. A good therapy session

3. Watching the flyers play some good hockey

[extemporaneousmusings]

8/9/20

Pictured: flowers against some nice architectural background with a lil bee who is very hard to see because he’s in shadows and blends in really well with the yellow and black // two purple roses left on one of the old gravestones in the park. the inscription reads: Harriet Key. Daughter of James F. and Julia Ann E. Conover. Died June 24 1833 Aged 8 months and 6 days. // a particularly nice row of buildings without too many cars blocking the view

Today’s been pretty good and it’s not even 8PM. Still plenty of day left. I need to do some more work on chap revisions but my goal is just 2 paragraphs, and I’m hoping that will take me around an hour. 

The meeting w/ my advisor went well, I sat in on the first practice talk for our (now-digital) outreach program, went for a kinda sweaty mid-day walk (thus, the pics), and had a good therapy session. Then I talked to my lil sis, and E and I are making fish tacos for dinner! Only real bummer is that Macy got the bread while we were at the grocery store bc I didn’t move it far enough away from the edge of the counter so no croutons in my future this week :(

Oh! And a friend and colleague from the museum reached out to me today and said she’d like to get together for a socially distant hang and it made me really happy! I haven’t seen her since before I left for Athens a literal year ago.

[extemporaneousmusings]

17/3/19

Swan Point Cemetery, Providence, Rhode Island

three centuries of young William’s. archaeologically, infants are often buried and memorialized differently than adults. however, these three children were each interred with contemporary burial practices of their time: William Waterman (d. 1817) has a beautifully preserved slate headstone, William Francis Sayles (d. 1902) is buried in a bronze-capped sarcophagus, and William M Renard (d. 2009) resides in some of the newest plots near the columbaria. 

[extemporaneousmusings]

17/3/19

Swan Point Cemetery, Providence, Rhode Island

variety of mortuary display. please note the offerings left at H.P. Lovecraft’s tombstone, including several pens, a black and mild nib, coins, rocks, keys, and a few other trinkets that were unidentifiable in the early spring mud.

[extemporaneousmusings]

17/3/19

Swan Point Cemetery, Providence, Rhode Island

on honoring your personal connections with the dead: Major Sullivan Ballou died in the Battle of Bull Run, which is one of the closest major (get it) battlefields to my parents’ house. A week before he died he wrote a letter to his wife, which was featured in the Ken Burns documentary. (shout out to my dad for texting me this after I sent him a photo of the inscription with the caption “dude died at bull run”) Today I spent time with a man who died fighting for his beliefs. I have visited both the place he died and is buried, and the place he was from and memorialized. I have thought about him as a spouse, a writer, and an American, which are three of my own significant identities.

Letter to his wife Sarah on July 14, 1861. 

‘my love for you is deathless. it seems to bind me with mighty cables that nothing but omnipotence can break.’

[extemporaneousmusings]

19/10/24

Pictured: surprise 19th c cemetery just off the trail // view from the outlook at Jefferson Rock over the Potomac river which TJ himself described as a view worth crossing the Atlantic for (he could also see the Potomac river converging with the Shenandoah river but you can’t see that anymore since no one’s allowed to climb the big rock)

Today I:

-took Lulu for a Saturday morning walk and didn’t see any other dogs! Totally bonkers !!

-drove out to Harper’s Ferry WV for my mom’s bday and went on a hike on a section of the Appalachian trail that was absolutely fantastic but also a bit more challenging than I was expecting. hopefully my ankle doesn’t bark at me too much this evening

-saw an old cemetery 🥰 can’t describe how much I love old cemeteries

-introduced Lulu to my brothers gf and they got along really well!

[extemporaneousmusings]

18/3/24

Pictured: last minute, hastily executed incorporation of some images into a writing sample for a job app due today + a gorgeous amaretto latte // an excellent example of late 19th century mortuary display in Spring Grove Cemetery

Today I:

-applied to 2 really good looking jobs

-went for an afternoon outing in Northside for Jules to get a piercing and for both of us to enjoy our favorite veggie burgers in the city at Tickle Pickle

-took a chilly, slightly snowy gander in the biggest cemetery in the city with some friends and had a lovely time

-have several hours free this evening to read something for fun :)