I was running late (as usual) and was tempted to take the car down to the University area but at the last minute I hopped on a bike instead and cruised on down the hill for a bit of caffeinated libation and conversation.
Whilst headed home, I considered hopping on this thing and winding up who knows where but I learned my lesson about riding trains the first time I heard RW’s train hopping story (he’s lucky to be alive and furthermore, lucky to be walking).
I took a good long squint at the Hotel Yellowstone, one of my favorite buildings in Old Town Pokey. It was then that I realized that I didn’t want to be done riding my bicycle around town for the day so I headed for one of my favorite places in town. The cemetery.
The first time I ever saw Idaho or Pocatello, for that matter, was when I rolled into it on the wheels of a Uhaul truck. The first sight to greet me in this fair little town was the cemetery. Cemeteries are such quiet places — everyone there is sleeping so hard they’re turning to dust beneath their marble and granite pillows. The trees in the Pocatello cemetery are maple and elm mingled with some ever green conifers. It’s quiet there.
So I grasp on, push the door open, and find the silence.
Trucks rumble past but I can’t seem to hear them.
I’m not even sure what I think about in this space but there’s rest for my mind here and quiet for my eyes. I go to the cemetery to look at the changing colors of fall, to tell the dead they aren’t forgotten, to recognize the fullness of my life. To listen to the grass grow and if the season is right, to hear the snow fall.
For being a place of the dead, there’s so much life here.
So much scope for the imagination.
And when I had enough I biked home, stopping only to sketch an idea by the river that flows through town.
I didn’t have the time to make the time for this today
but I ignored that fact and sucked a little marrow out of life instead (I had a sort of crummy day in the studio yesterday and it put me into a bit of an emotional tailspin…).
Sometimes it’s alright to push at the deadlines, to expand my immediate space and take a little time of my own and squander it how I will.
And now you know,
I sometimes hang out
in cemeteries.
See you tomorrow!
XO
PLUME
You are not the only one who hangs out in cemeteries. I visited many cemeteries in East Coast, in Midwest, on the West Coast. Each is special in its own way and is a place to rest! Seems to me you had a lovely day, and thanks for the lovely pictures.
xo
PS-do not hop on the train, and I am off to class
I used to love to hang out in cemeteries when I was younger. So much peace and history in a place like that. I love the older historic ones with the faded limestone headstones. The carvings were so beautiful back then.
i miss you with all my heart
and i love hearing about your day.
also, your hair looks different every time i see it. literally every time. you're such a hair schizo. i remember blow drying that hair when you came to visit me. you knelt on the colorsquare carpet.
keep making the time. don't ever deny yourself that freedom. we get the best plume when the plume does best by herself.
xoxo
she
You are such an amazing photographer, and a wondrous-wordsmith. Thanks for taking us with you today!
xo
yup definitely keep doing these self-care things – i would SO do them if i was lucky enough to work from home…sadly veterinary medicine doesn't really allow a person to do that. oh well – maybe in my next life 😉
and hanging out in cemeteries is not so weird. they're always some of the loveliest, best-kept parks in a city.
A wonderful reminder that there is beauty all around.
P.S. That was one fancy fox you created, beautiful.
I love the cemetery, too! I think all cemeteries should be required to be full of trees.
I ended up pushing back my deadlines, too, to explore what's left of my dead garden. I found some hidden radishes!
I've always loved cemeteries too. I think the photos of your hair are wonderful and I love all your photos in general. Here is a stupid question for you…are you taking photos of yourself with tripod and timer or is someone taking them of you? They are always so great.
I love cemetaries too! My dad grew up next to one, and anytime we visited his parents in Texas, we spent all our time playing there. Unless there was a funeral of course. It's a big old cemetary, and Spanish moss hangs down from the trees, and I have loved cemetaries since I was a child because of that. Your pictures are beautiful and thoughtful. I love how you notice the things around you that most people walk past.
difficult days make the sweet days sweeter, odd about life, quiet helps to recharge. great photos as usual. L
I had my first kiss with my now-husband in that very cemetary!! It holds a very special place in my heart too (for different reasons). That bench looks familiar too…if you are by the bridge near South Grant Ave that is where my husband so romantically proposed!! Sorry to give so much info! It just makes my heart happy to see familiar and dear sights!
♥Evelyn
Ohh yes! Morning rides are the best 🙂
Mmm this is like a pretty lyric…
everyone there is sleeping so hard they're turning to dust beneath their marble and granite pillows
Wonderful words, beautiful pictures. The next time you visit the cemetary say hello to my brother for me. He was buried there in 1944 at the age of 3 – Larry Frederick Wallace:)
I look at this through the squinty eyes of a migraine, the saint tinkering with his computers in the room next door.
And i think to myself, if JSL ever wanted to give me a present, she would print out that self-portrait with the golden locks and send it my way.
It's so eerily beautiful.
These posts have been dreamy, otherworldly, beautifully melancholic. I say, old chap, I like your headspace.
(p.s. sister LOVED necklace!)
Oh dear, cemeteries, one of my favorite places. Heptonstall, England, saw a very special headstone…among some very very old old old inscriptions
Breathtaking pictures, J! Thank you so much for taking us along, as always. I feel very peaceful after reading this one. 🙂
Your comments make me laugh out loud! Just when I think my habits are dreadfully strange, you manage to put me in my place and confirm that you are JUST AS STRANGE (if not more…..).
Thanks for telling me to take the time I need to take.
Thanks for enjoying my images!
Sally: I'm going to look for your brother next time I'm there! I'll give him your regards.
Kate: This is a hold up. Gimmie all your radishes.
Joyful: I take all my photos myself, with a timer. I never carry a tripod, there isn't room in my life for one at the moment.
Akamilby: Spanish moss?!???? How romantic!
Evelyn: Yeesh! There are so many ladies with a Pocatello cemetery connection! Incredible! thanks for sharing the kiss with me. As for your engagement bench, I believe it's the one. I'll think of you now each time I sit there to sketch.
Mme: Your wish is my command.
Ahhh… scope for the imagination… a la Anne of Green Gables…
I don't know why but when I was a kid I used to ride my bike to the cemeteries and sit around too.. see who else was hanging out there.
Apparently it's more common then I thought 🙂