Green (021/365)

TIME: 8:08 am

PLACE: Back yard

SUBJECT: Moss on fabric planters

*~*~*

At this time of year, I am happy to see any sort of green in the yard. 

Moss-Covered Stone (107/365)

“…and although there is plenty of space on a gravestone to contain, bound in moss, the abridged version of a man's life, detail is always welcome.

Vladimir Nabokov (1899-1977), Russian-born U.S. novelist, poet. Laughter in the Dark, ch. 1 (1938). The beginning of the novel.

TIME:  9:43 AM
PLACE:  Cemetery
SUBJECT:  Moss on grave marker

I am a member at the "Find A Grave” website.  In the past I have contributed several memorials as part of my genealogical pursuits.  As a member, one can volunteer to contribute photos from other members requests of specific gravesites.  Yesterday, there were a couple of requests for photos at a nearby cemetery.  I claimed them and this morning, I went and took the pictures.  One of the requested headstones was for a husband who died in 1861 at the age of 53 and his wife, who 1901 at the age of 82.  Their maker had moss growing on it – it looked so beautiful in the shadows and light of the morning.

Moss-Greened Roof (254/365)

 
“Old Rover in his moss-greened house
Mumbles a bone, and barks at a mouse.”

Walter De La Mare (1873-1956), British poet. Summer Evening (l. 3-4). FM. Fellow Mortals; an Anthology of Animal Verse. Roy Fuller, comp. (1981) MacDonald and Evans Ltd.

TIME:  2:43 PM
PLACE:  Jarrot Mansion, Cahokia, IL
SUBJECT:  Springhouse roof

This morning, MB, SD and I helped in creating an outdoor classroom at their school.  Then, after we had MB and SD hosed down, the family traveled down to Cahokia for the Jarrot Mansion Special Anniversary Open House.  The mansion was originally built between 1807 and 1810 by Nicholas Jarrot, a native of France who made his fortune in land speculation (records show he owned as much as 25,000 acres in the area!).  Jarrot’s home is one of the earliest examples of Federal style architecture in America.  The property was placed on the national Register of Historic Places in 1974 and is in the process of being historically preserved.

Hip Hipporay! (279/365)

 
Is a hippopotamus a hippopotamus, or just a really cool Opotamus?

Mitch Hedberg (American, comedian, 1968-2005)

TIME:  3:57 PM
PLACE:  Pediatric Assoc Inc.
SUBJECT:  Hippopotamus figurines

StellaDella had a follow-up appointment at the pediatrician today to verify that her kidney infection is completely cleared up.  It was…Yay!  One bank of the exam rooms have windows that overlook a large plant bed.  The doctor’s office workers have placed animal figures throughout the foliage.  The kids always enjoy looking out the window and spying the animals.  There are dinosaurs, beavers, giraffes, dragons, frogs, lizards, goats, horses, chickens, fairies, unicorns and the above hippos (and lions and tigers and bears, oh my!).  For an idea on the actual size of the figurines, that’s a 3-leaf clover between the mama and her baby.

Cemetery Sentinels (237/365)

 
Loin des sepultures celebres
Vers un cimitiere isole
Mon coeur, comme un tambour voile
Va battant des marches funebres.

To the solemn graves,
near a lonely cemetery,
my heart like a muffled drum is beating funeral marches.

  Charles Pierre Baudelaire (French poet, critic and translator, 1821-1867) Les Fleurs du Mal. Le Guignon

TIME:  12:04 PM & 12:10 PM
PLACE:  Calvary Cemetery, St. Louis, MO
SUBJECT:  Headstones & Moss-covered angel

I went to some cemeteries in St. Louis to seek out gravesites of my relatives.  The St. Louis Archdiocese has a wonderful website where you can search for burials.  The results will include, among other information, the cemetery, section and lot number of the internment.  At the cemetery office, additional information about the plots are often available.  The workers at Calvary Cemetery are very helpful.  I have been to this cemetery several times and find it fascinating.  After finding my latest genealogical gravesites, I wandered through the older Italian section.  That section had rows with many large statues on top of the stones as seen in the first photo.  About half the stones had porcelain portraits. The burials in this section, ranged from the late 1900s to the early to mid 1950s.  There were many children and young people buried here.  When I retuned home, I was able to trace several of the internments back to death certificates on the Missouri State Archives website.  All those people were living, breathing human beings; they touched someone’s life and were loved at one time.  Now, all that is left to prove that they were once here is the stone that marks their final resting place.  It makes me think…100 years from now, will there be a person viewing my grave in the same way?  It is a very humbling thought and can help me put my day-to-day frustrations into some much needed perspective.         

Nesting (226/365)

 
God gives every bird his worm, but He does not throw it into the nest.

P.D. (Phyllis Dorothy) James (b. 1920), British mystery writer. Jonah the tramp, in Devices and Desires, ch. 40 (1989). Quoting a wayside pulpit.

TIME:  10:00 PM
PLACE:  My desk
SUBJECT:  Bird in a nest

This little bird and its nest hitched a ride with the roses HandsomeHusband sent me for our 1st date anniversary (20 years) back on July 28th.  Our florist places these little birds sitting in their moss nests in her bouquets as her signature.  After the roses faded, I plucked the bird out of the arrangement and stuck it in a pencil holder that sits on my desk – I’m sentimental that way.  I spent a lot of time sitting at my desk today, attempting to uncover it under the layers of papers, receipts, magazines and books.  I think I may have found it! 

Where the Moss Slowly Grows (066/365)

 
"And so another journey has come to an end
Another moment passed that will not, will not come again
Resting in the shade of oak, so it has always been
And its true that I'll miss you but I'll see, I'll see you again
I'll see you again

Embrace this joy, this pain
Don't miss this chance it will not come again
You mean more than you may ever know
Don't linger where the moss slowly grows

There are so many things I wish I could've said
They might not have changed your mind but sometimes we just need hope alleged
Above the mountain shadow, the sunset dimly glows
The oaks will look down on our heads forever and our dreams will be no more
We should not ever let them go

Embrace this joy, this pain
Don't miss this chance it will not come again
You mean more than you may ever know
Don't linger where the moss slowly grows

I remember those summers that stretched on without end
The future called so loudly and the oaks, the oaks were silent then
Silence forever, conversations in my head
Might not have changed your mind but if we'd spoken
Here's what I'd have said
Here's what I would've said:

Embrace this joy, this pain
Don't miss this chance it will not come again
You mean more than you may ever know
Don't linger where the moss slowly grows"

Tiger Army (American psycobilly, punk, alternative rock band, 1996-present), Music From Regions Beyond, Track 11, 2007

TIME: 4:09 PM
PLACE: Madison St.
SUBJECT: Weathered Fence

DramaQueen and I picked up my niece, Brandi to go shopping tonight.  This fence was on the side of the rode leading out of her subdivision.  The two girls indulged me while I took several pictures.  But I wasn't able to linger as long as I liked...they wanted to go shopping.