Thursday, January 04, 2007

Friday Cemetery Blogging

We actually got the day off on Tuesday for the Ford funeral. It seemed only fitting to spend the extra time off prowling around a cemetery. I went to a small town northwest of here. It was freakin' cold. They still had snow on the ground from last weekend's weather. After about a half hour of roaming around the frigid marble, my camera shutter began to freeze up. A sure sign that it was time for lunch. Before I left, I got some interesting photos.


I though Little David would appreciate this one. It has the Hawaii State Flower, the hibiscus, on it. If you look closely, there is also a Hawaiian inscription:



The English translation was on the bottom half of the stone, but I forgot to photograph it. Anybody want to take a guess as to what it means? According to my cemetery field guide (thank you C. Wright) the hibiscus is often seen on tombstones in the Pacific islands. The flowers are only open for a short time each day, which is symbolic of "the brevity of our time in this realm."

There were some really nice marble headstones in this cemetery. Like this one, for instance.


More to come...






9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love the idea of hibiscus' on a tombstone.

Patti said...

I Love you?

Beautiful pictures. It's so ironic that you have snow on the ground there, and we have sun and 60 degrees here. We USUALLY have 2-3 feet of snow on the ground. ~Sigh.

Princess of Everything (and then some) said...

WE? We had Tuesday off??

I like them both but I really like the little marble one. She was not very old was she?

robkroese said...

Very cool. Where do you work that you got the day off for Ford's funeral? (I want to make a joke here about having to take the day off every time my Ford died, but I've thought better of it.)

Anonymous said...

Really great headstones. I like the thought of the hibiscus.Pretty neat. Thanks yet again for the Friday cemetery notes...My absolute fav.!!

Patti said...

What's the English translation for the Hawaiian?

little david said...

"Aloha ahui hou" means "Goodbye until [we meet] anew"

Of course, aloha, the basic meaning of which is "love" can also mean "hello" or "goodbye" as well.

Yes, I did appreciate the hibiscus and the Hawai'ian language inscription. There are lots of Herreras in Hawai'i.

That Janie Girl said...

I love the hibiscus! And what a beautiful saying...

RC said...

i like the habiscus a lot.