An afternoon at the Mitchell Cemetery

As a kid I grew up on the aptly named "Cemetery Road", a mile or two from the town cemetery. It is a beautiful place with lots of green grass and big old trees. It is very peaceful now and as I remember it as a child. I have quite a few family members buried in this cemetery as I come from a large Catholic family tradition and my family has lived in the area since the early 1900s at least. During my visit home I headed out to the cemetery to visit my dad and sisters grave, and to explore a little, just like I did as a kid. The big stone gates to the cemetery looked the same. My best friend and I would climb up on top of them and eat our picnic lunches.

I could almost imagine this little girl on her bike was me way back then...minus the helmet of course...that was back in the day when we were routinely allowed to do scary and dangerous things and no one thought twice about it! :)

With my love of my garden, this little stone near a grave touched me.

This next one has a neat inscription. It seems to read "Dear Companion thou has left me for the mansions of the dead. Yet in heaven I hope to meet thee where no farewell tear is shed" Some of the older graves listed ages right down to how many months and days old the person was.

This next one marks the grave of 3 children. It reads: "Dear lovely babes, to part with you has rached our hearts with pain. And though our loss is great we trust is your eternal gain"

This next one is so cool. It was so moss covered though that the many inscriptions could not be read at all. There were blocks on top that spelled out the babies name and a little stone log next to it. I really wished I could have made out the words on this one.

This one says: "Call not back the dear departed, anchored safe where the storms are oer. On the border land we left them, soon to meet and part no more."

This one was sad. He died on February 2nd, she died 12 days later on valentines day.

I remembered these three little lamb stones, from when I was a kid. They must have made a big impression on me for me to still recall them. I looked a bit for them and finally found them. They would have been only probably 20 or so years old back then, but they seemed really old to me at the time.




I enjoyed my time in the cemetery. Just as when I was a kid, I found it a lovely peaceful place to spend some time. As nice and peaceful as it was I haven't changed my eternal plans. I want my ashes sprinkled among the cactus in the front yard..so I can haunt future ancestors who hopefully will be caring for all my well loved plants!

Visiting the past in South Dakota

I really enjoyed my visit back to my home town in South Dakota with my dear Mother. I have had a hard time getting back into the swing of things since I got home and haven't had time to get any garden posts up. However here are some pictures from my visit to Mitchell SD. This first one is wild turkeys- my brother has some that visit his home by the river every evening. At dusk they all fly up and roost in those big trees. Talk about entertainment! If it wasn't for that thing called winter I might be tempted to move back home for sights like these!

I got brave while I was home, and went and knocked on the door of the house I grew up in...this was home to me as a child, and it looks pretty much today like it looked back then, except for the trees are about 30 feet taller than I remember them! I guess time has marched on just a bit!

My dad built a fireplace in the backyard when I was a kid, and the remains of it were still there.. It looks like it has been a planter in recent history, but nothing was planted there now. I have so many memories of 4th of July celebrations, and marshmallows roasting over the fire. Sparklers...sprinklers...cats..chickens...ahhhhh childhood!

In the cement I found my dads initials- WK and the year he poured the cement base- 1966! I was 5 years old!

And here is my sweet mother- she will be 87 this winter!!!

Since it has been so very long since I lived in SD, the normal 'weeds' were interesting to me. I found this black eyed susan along the road.

Milkweed and Cat-tails!

My brother who still lives in my home town took me on a bit of an adventure while I was there. We visited a Hutterite Colony and had dinner with some friends of his who belong to the colony. As a child I had seen Hutterite people at times, but I had no real idea of what they were like, or what their lives were like. Wikipedia has a great page of information if you are interested. They are simple people who make all of their own goods- right down to the huge steel grain elevators. They really have an amazing history and they were incredibly welcoming and gracious when I visited. Here are a couple pictures from the Colony. They raise Jersey cows for milk.

They also have a huge turkey business. This building with some 8000 turkeys reminded me a bit of the movie Chicken Run!

Moses and Sarah - and their sweet pup!

And lastly here is a picture of my hometown icon- the Worlds Only Corn Palace!!!! Every year colored corn is used to create picture panels on the outside of the building. It really is pretty cool although I always thought it a bit 'corny' when I lived there.

It was so hard to say goodbye to my sweet mom, but it was also incredibly good to see Tucson and my home again. As sweet as my childhood memories are...I am definitely home sweet home in Arizona.