A beautiful Fall day is perfect for a visit to one of my favorite places...Cleveland's Lakeview Cemetery, a glorious 285 acre park established in 1869 that is home to over 102,000 corpses!
Hercules and I wandered the tombs, crypts, and monuments while leaves of orange, yellow, and red floated lazily down from the canopy above.
You might expect that we were in a somber mood being men in our 40's. Au contraire, when we get together we usually behave like snickering teenage boys. On this outing the seemingly innocent names carved into stone got us chuckling.
At this point there was some back and forth banter reminiscent of these two fellows.
And then we found Anus, Pressed Wood(Ouch!), and Thomas "PEW" Robbins, who we decided died of excessive flatulence.
And then there was...
Good ol' Philpot.
Fannie Ruggles...she was a lumpy kind of girl.
Olive was a rude girl.
Henrietta Horsburgh was not a pretty girl in the least.
We were now laughing so boisterously that I felt a bit...
We were on the verge of hysteria when we discovered the potty humor all around us.
A trip to the cemetery need not be a solemn affair, it can truly be a dead man's party with the right perspective...and the right person beside you. The one that gets you.
Baby,
Life's what you make it
Can't escape it...celebrate it...anticipate it...yesterday's favorite
Don't you hate it?
Everything's allright.
Everything's allright.
~Talk Talk 1986
watch the video
26 comments:
Oh, thank goodness I'm not the only one who gets a little kick out of the names on headstones during my cemetery excursions. My favorite name in the historical cemetery near my house: CHASTITY RELIC.
I suspected as much from you Miss Dana....that is a good one!
Will, I just about fell on the floor from laughing so hard! T.P. Handy is a definite classic!!
I love a good jaunt through a cemetery - there's so much beauty and craftsmanship to be found in old tombstones and crypts. I also love looking at the lichen and moss growth on the stones. I'm not sure why, but I can't stand the thought of being buried in one.
Still giggling over this post William!! There must be something about Halloween artists that draws us to a good cemetery, but you have much better "names" in yours than we have in ours. Too funny!!!
Laurie
Oh, thank you so much for that, Will... I really needed a smile, and many laughs... that was GREAT!
I know Lori...I think TP Handy is the best one ever! And Laurie...we did spend several silly hours looking for the best ones! And Dear Dixie...glad I made you smile, I am trying to do the "drought dance" for your nice outdoor decorations!
Priceless! You should consider turning this excursion into a coffee table book...or even postcards or a calendar.
There's something very special about being irreverent...in a funny way. My siblings and I used to see who could be the first person to make our mom laugh in church. Once we succeeded, she was pretty much disabled for the duration of Mass. Nothing better than watching your mom laughing so hard she's crying and hiding her face in a misalette. We accomplished this by singing like the old ladies who were always seated behind us. Good times.
I think the souls in the cemetery appreciate your having a good time there. I bet it keeps them entertained!
FUN post William! I liked the "Dangler" & "Cummer" headstones. LOL '-P)
Thanks for visiting my blog as well.
PS: Talk Talk is one of my favorite 80's bands!
SpOOky Cheers,
Chris
Like everyone else I too enjoy strolling thru graveyards looking at unusual names and wondering about the person buried there.
Next time I read one of your posts I'll have to remember not to be drinking coffee, it really doesn't look good on my monitor. :)
Sorry about your monitor Tamara!
Brilliant! You've topped out 'Goodenough' family plot from Santa Paula. Can you believe the age of some of those headstones; nothing like we have here in California. Love the post.
This post is hilarious! Each tombstone was funnier that the one before. I love Halloween, but from reading your blog, you love it more than anyone I know. What an amazing collection and your work is fantastic. I think the witch on a goat is my favorite.
I found your blog via Jodi Creager, and am so glad I did. I'm passing on the Kreative Blog Award to you.
Wow Linda! I am honored that you are passing the award to me! Wouldn't you just know it though; I once surreptitiously poked fun at the hokey spelling on this award....and now I have to own it for a while. What goes around, comes around. Thank you!
I loved that day, Bubba. Loved it. And great post, so now I can remember it more vividly.
Looks like you've been celebrating Halloween early,but then why not? Wonderful post and music!!Happy Halloween!!!
blessings,Flora
and i thought it was funny to name someone hercules!!!! it could be worse!!!! hehe!!!
I was at the cemetary with my sister and we came upon the grave of a girl we knew who had married a widower. His first wife was buried on one side of the headstone and her on the other. We were wondering: When he dies, which side does he go on?! (And, just where is his third wife going to be buried?!)
You are so right Nancy, Society is sooo terrified of Death that we don't even question anything having to do with it, I know that people are in grief but come on! I am personally appalled at all those embalming chemicals that we bury into our planet without hesitation. I want a "Green Burial" with a nice tree planted on top of me that I will slowly feed! Maybe I should blog about this....Thanks!
Foul Ball Jaz! Email me personally with that sort of business. Geez.
i am right there with you! if i had to kill everything i eat personally, i guess i would live on something like marshmallow fluff because the only thing that dies in that process is the one that eats it.
Priceless! Thank you for a great laugh!
GREAT cemetery shots! I also love discovering the oddities of grave stones!
Happy Halloween!
*giggling* I think Joycee and I need to drive up there and visit this cemetery for our next graveyard shoot Will! And when I first saw what this post was about, I had deja vous because Joycee and I did this same thing last time we went to the cemetery with her Poe doll. She had me taking pics of Poe beside tombstones with names such as.....Mohn & Rank (with Poe pinching his nose). Looks like creative minds think alike and have the same sense of humor....*giggle*
*Lori
he!he!he! Love the "potty" mouth! Happy Halloween!
WOW - Beautiful cemetery and photos! I love it!
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