So to continue on our lead up to Halloween, I thought it would be some interesting learning time to go and explore a couple cemeteries in town. Halloween and Day of the Dead take on such different aspect of the dead. On one hand there is Hallween where we fear the night when it is thought the veil is thin and it is a time of fear and spook. And on the other hand there is Day of the Dead where it is festive and a time to remember our ancestors who have died.
So with this comparison and getting ready to do both celebrations shortly we went to the oldest cemetery in town, and a small historic cemetery in town. Using it as a learning tool it was fun to see how the boys approached it.
1- Jasper was not inclined right away to get out of the car, prefering to view from his seat
2- The boys started to notice all these street names on the tombstones
3- They could tell the older from newer parts of the cemetery based on the style and shape of the stones
In college I was fascinated by the art motifs and designs on early American stones. I spent lots of time walking around and photographing stones. It was peaceful and grounding at the same time. In fact Silas was curious why there were benches in the cemetery and we talked about the contemplation of who we are and the folks may want to just come and sit at times.
We also found 2 governors. Supposidly there is a famous ragtime musician buried in the first cemetery we went too, but we could not find it. Maybe another trip back.
The second historic cemetery we were at was much smaller and on what use to be the family farm, now nestled in between apartments and a Waffle House- hmm too bad. They both enjoyed checking this one out and learning more about our town from this glimpse of some settlers.
So when we settled down for an evening of reading a selection from the Halloween basket, Silas remembered this favorite read with a tombstone at the end. Pretty fitting and a great combination of book from an old old poem by Mary Howitt in the 1800's that is set to some wonderful illustrations from fantastic Mr. DiTerlizzi (better known for Spiderwick). Spider and the Fly is indeed a cautionary tale, rhythmical in its reading and always a favorite for us. There is just something classic in this black and white treat!
Hope you enjoy hearing about our creepy learnin'- here are a few more pics and my old shutter bug finger got the itch again! I will be making my way back to another historic cemetery on a haunted weekend adventure with my mama and sis.
More book reviews to come . . .oh yes and they are monsters!
