Cemetery Drive

Winter is coming...

This past weekend, J and I decided to head to this huge cemetary right on the outskirts of Des Moines. I grew up driving past it almost every time we headed to the city. I remember holding my breath as we went by... I guess so ghosts couldn't get you?

I'm by no means a morbid or dark person, but I suggested we check it out. We had a few hours until dinner, and it was shaping up to be a pretty nice day outside, so we decided to walk around. Again, I'm not usually up for talks about death or darkness, but it was legitimately beautiful and I had been wanting to go... Looking back, it doesn't seem any more strange that exploring the cemeteries in Savannah, which I've done several times.

J, being the handsome troll he is, found a headstone with his last name on it almost immediately. And then another one. And another one. He insisted we take a picture by each one, which turned out to be hilarious. He was extremely picky and careful about where we were stepping so that we weren't disrespectful.

In front of one of the last graves we saw, there were eggplants, a full bottle of wine, and candles. Obviously we had no iea what it meant, so J googled it later. Turns out those are pretty token voodoo objects to place in front of graves to gain favor from the dead or to show respect to a voodoo goddess. I had no idea voodoo was being actively practiced here, but I guess it's not that surprising. Iowa's a pretty diverse place, given that it's in the middle of the Midwest.

For being darker than my usual activities, I actually had a great time at the cemetery. It was really cool to see the history - the oldest gravestones, where you could barely read the words, to the "fashionable" gravestones, to the mausoleums. There were a bunch that were shaped like tree trunks, which I recently found out was because they were part of an organization called "Woodmen of the World." There were ones with Freemason symbols on them too!

I especially loved looking at the names. I discovered that I love the names "Ida" and "Fannie" (no surprise to my fellow Pi Phi's out there). Old lady names are my favorite, apparently. It was heartbreaking to see the baby tombs, as well as how many kids are burried out there. Thank God for modern medicine, right?

What are strange places you love to explore? Would you feel comfortable walking around a cemetery?