Friday, March 27, 2009

-Cemeteries of St. Augustine- March 27, 2009

St. Augustine is unparalleled in early U.S. History. Due to its being the oldest U.S. city, it also has the oldest graves. Because the Spaniards defeated the French for possession of the area back in the 1500's, it still has a very Spanish look, and much Catholic influence. I wish I had been invited to participate with the Friday Shootouts earlier, so that I could have been more comprehensive in scope with the cemeteries.

This quaint, tiny church cemetery is similar to hundreds of others scattered throughout the South. It was originally built as a little church in the wildwood, but now development has surrounded both church and graveyard. Ironically, the cemetery is on Wildwood Rd., and has the name Moultrie Creek Wildwood Cemetery. It is less than a mile from our home.

San Lorenzo Cemetery is one of the large active graveyards in the county.

Areas of the cemetery have uniform gravestones, some much older than others. It is obvious from the picture, that people are still dying to be there. (Lame joke!)

Shortly after I took these shots a funeral procession arrived for a graveside service. I never learned who it was. Mortality is a fleeting, fragile existence.

This lid, soon to be used, lying near the grave site, was evidence of the finality of the ceremony about to occur.

There are those that attempt to create a lasting monument to their lives, reminiscent of pharaohs and kings. I wondered, "Did the lives they lived or their good deeds warrant such splendor?"

Across town, in a very humble low income area, is the Evergreen Cemetery.

As I strolled within the walls, I almost stumbled over Mary Jackson's tombstone. It was a very poignant moment for me. From the appearance of the marker, it seems that she has been completely forgotten by family and friends. Soon, her tombstone may be below ground with her, and also forgotten. After viewing the photo in an enlarged size, I felt it was ironic that on the ground, resting against the front face of the stone, was an acorn.......a symbol of new life. (Click on photo to see it.)

As I walked back to my vehicle I did step on a broken stone that was almost completely obscured, face down. In a moment of protest, I stood the small stone, along with another that I found, against the tree a few feet away.
Who was this James Cornaley who died over one hundred years ago? What was his life like? Does his thirty two years of life on earth deserve this neglect? As of this posting, he is finally (posthumously) gaining a degree (no matter how small) of international notoriety. I am comforted to believe that, in death, he has gained happiness and will receive his just reward from a merciful God.

Near the oldest section of St. Augustine is a very small National Cemetery. The tombstones, row on row, remind me of this famous poem.
In Flanders Fields, by John McCrae
*******
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely, singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe;
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep,
though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Those who give the ultimate sacrifice for their country deserve all that we can give them. However, so often their deaths are such a waste, which is a reflection on the inhumanity of mankind.

This was my favorite photo at this particular cemetery. Thank you, veterans for your sacrifice.

13 comments:

  1. What is this site- did you mean shout outs!

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  2. No. Go to Forever Fishing Friends and read the comments of the last post. Someone requested that I join a group does Friday postings of featured things about their communities. Today will be pictures of graveyards. Interesting, huh? GingerV is the first person I made contact with, in Brazil.

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  3. Hi, I jumped over from Reggie Girl's site. We started the town shoot outs together, along with Barry.

    Did you do cemeteries? I know St. Augustine has some interesting cemeteries. I came here looking for them, but found only ducks. Some nice ducks, though.

    Look forward to you joining us next week, though I am not sure if Bagman took over and is pulling our leg about the assignment.

    We have been letting participants pick our assignments each week, going in alphabetical order.

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  4. WOW Papa and Mema what fantastic picture's you've posted here!! I love your shot's....how very thought provoking.
    Thank you for joining us for Friday Shoot-Out's and way to go with the last minute request. That just tells me that you're waayyy cool and awesome.
    Love the pic of the duck at the top of your blog and that saying is just so true isn't it?
    Hope your weekend is filled with much love, joy and laughter.
    Take good care and.......

    Steady On
    Reggie Girl

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  5. Now that is the St. Augustine that I remember. Those are just beautiful photos. That little church is so cute.

    Thanks for the tour. You did a great job.

    Hope to see you around each week, though I am not sure what B&B really has in mind for next Friday.

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  6. Hey you!!!! The finished product is amazing!!
    You asked about how the Friday Shoot-Out works.....I'll sum it up as best I can.

    First rule - There are NO rules. Each person can post any pictures that they like on the selected subject. It's all about interpretation my friend and we all have a different view of the subject each week. Post your view and we'll all stroll over and have a little look see!!

    We have been taking turns picking subjects....Patty picked the 1st, she and I together picked the 2nd, Barry the 3rd and Butler and Bagman is supposed to pick the next. I think that we are doing alphabetical order so you're not that far down the line to choose a subject, lol.

    So many people have started participating (which is FANTASTIC) that there's just no way to post links to them all. Folks from Brazil, Germany, China and other places are participating and of course, they have a completely different time zone. We are just asking everyone to make the title of their post "Friday Shoot-Out"....

    Papa, we are all just trying to showcase the beauty in our own towns and introduce other's to the charm and life in our area. What a wonderful way to make new friends and see their worlds and communities :)

    I think that we have all enjoyed this project so far and we hope that it continues to grow and grow. It's almost like traveling for free, haha.

    I hope that helped some. In a nutshell, just post pics of the subject as you see fit. This is not an agenda to critique other people's snapshots, just an attempt to share lives.

    I would love that fishing trip by the way!!

    Steady On
    Reggie Girl

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  7. Some beautiful and moving photos along with very interesting and insightful commentary.

    I'm just delighted to have you with us.

    Looking forward to seeing what you do with next weeks theme, as soon as we figure out what B&B has in mind.

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  8. I love the thoughts and insights of my daddy!

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  9. Hi, yes, I was thrilled to be invited to participate in the Friday Shoot Outs, and I do so with great pride. :)

    I really like your photos - the Mary Jackson stone broke my heart.
    :)

    I did see you squirrel blog, and found it hilarious. :)

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  10. I vote you winner for the week, I liked very much the photos. look forward to your blog next friday...
    I like the idea of demacracy but there are so many people coming on board that doing alpha list to pick the topic is becomeing confusing. we need a central location to get the 'shoot-out Friday' topic - Reggie Girl????

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  11. I did get your comment Papa and I left you one on mine :)
    Please take what I'm about to say in the spirit is which it's intended okay?
    We stated from the beginning that there are NO RULES in Friday Shoot-Out. I for one am aginast making any now. Truthfully, I just don't see where anything has gotten out of hand?? This is a very simple fun kind of thing and you guys are trying to make it a little complicated maybe?
    I'm all for someone e-mailing out a topic. An alphabetical list was Patty's idea and at the time it was a great idea.
    We are mostly all very busy working people. If you have more time on your hands then, I for one would welcome you as the person to send out the topic e-mails. I and I know that Patty, Butler and Bagman or Barry just don't have the time.
    Let me know at my blog and please take this as gently as it is intended. Too many rules and fussiness just takes all the fun out of it for me. We all started as just showcasing our hometowns. Nothing more.......
    Take good care and.......

    Steady On
    Reggie Girl

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  12. Please understand what I meant okay? I know that you said that you have thick skin, but I promise you.....I was in no way being ugly Papa :)
    I love your blogs.......all three of them, lol.
    And please, DO feel free to make suggestions. For me and a few other's it just has to stay really simple.
    You're right........this is doing to be big maybe. Why don't you call Ellen DeGeneres or Oprah for us? Patty and I have been joking about doing that for a really long time but who knows?
    And I meant it......if you have the time to make an e-mail list and e-mail everyone the topic every week, I'm totally for it. I just can't fit that into my schedule right now. It's all that I can do to keep my head above water.
    And.........I may take you up on that fishing trip one day. I hope that I've made a lifelong friend with you and many others. You can never have too many friends, no?
    Take good care and.........

    Steady On
    Reggie Girl

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  13. I think what I'll do is start a list for myself of all members that I know about, and keep it as the first post on my Shoot-out blog. If anyone wants to refer to it, add their blog, subtract their blog, or just call to cuss me, that will be okay with me.
    Hopefully it will be helpful to any new member that joins. Each week, as soon as I find out the theme, I'll put it there also.
    Maybe, once I get this first list done, keeping it updated won't be too overwhelming.
    Thanks for all you do. Gordon

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