Visiting the Graveyard

In September for book club we read Here Lies Linc by Delia Ray, a story that is set in my city and features a graveyard and a legend that are also here. The author is local and lives nearby too. It was a good book and I recommend it. It sparked my interest in visiting this graveyard, which is only about two miles from my house. So on a beautiful fall morning (the day after we met and discussed the book), I went out to find this big historic graveyard that I didn't really even know about before. I had driven by it many times before but I had no idea how far back it stretched and how huge and historic it was.

First I went to a cemetery that turned out not to be the right one. It was small and pretty.

 

Then I google-mapped Oakland Cemetery and found that it was less than a minute away. When I got there I couldn't believe how big it was! It's been hiding back there past the main road this whole time, taking up many blocks worth of space. Those tricky graveyards!

I was searching for the Black Angel that is featured in the book, and I didn't have too much trouble finding it. If you want to read about the Black Angel, (and you should because it's really interesting and involves supposed curses and evil), you can here and here.

I don't think it's a beautiful statue. It's pretty creep actually. The wings are weird and the fact that it turned black is strange, and it doesn't have a kind face. But it didn't feel ominous on such a beautiful fall morning, and daring woman that I am, I DID touch it!

It was neat to see the details on the grave that were talked about in the book.

 She doesn't look like a very nice angel! But who knows, maybe she's just misunderstood?

  

It does look a little strange amidst all of the "normal" graves, doesn't it?

From this angle it looks like her wing is shielding a grave, perhaps her son's grave/memorial (assuming the angel is Teresa Feldevert), which is the engraved tree stump right next to her. That's a nicer way of thinking of it, isn't it?

The cemetery is HUGE and I spent a little while exploring other parts of it. 

I love the history that is in graveyards. 

I find them to be very informative and peaceful places (at least in the daytime!). 

A family of small gravestones.

 It blows my mind that we live our long, richly detailed lives and then end up like this, all contained on a stone and in a box under the ground. Of course there's much more to death and life after death than this, but as far as the earth and our bodies go, this is what remains as proof of the life we lived here.

This reminded me of the Tree of Life in the Book of Mormon.

 Oakland Cemetery is so large that it has "neighborhoods" to help keep things organized.

There's the Black Angel in the background.

I like the statue in the foreground better!

I really enjoyed going there and I plan on going back again. What a hidden gem!

Nature's Gym

We got a good workout from that hike I wrote about yesterday, not only because of the hike itself, but also because the trail had workout things placed along it at various points. John loved this because he's really into fitness. He always has been, but he especially is now because he has started competitive boys' gymnastics, and he also dreams about being on American Ninja Warrior someday. 

I can't think of a much more beautiful gym than this one.

It's got fresh air, good atmosphere, peaceful solitude, and of course, great scenery!

  

 

I think that rock-climbing is one of the best workout opportunities that nature offers.

Ever since he was a toddler, John has loved climbing rocks and trees.

Gorgeous!

  

This is a place where I might actually attempt (and probably fail) some chin-ups.

{I have strong legs and okay abs, but I've always had pretty wimpy arms, so I hate chin-ups!}

John, however, is very good at chin-ups. 

He's strong and well-built and I'm amazed that he's already developing a six-pack. This boy is built!

Doesn't it look like nature is smiling down on him? So beautiful!

Sam attempted a ladder climb. 

He and I are pretty much on the same page when it comes to workout equipment.

John ended his workout by letting loose his inner Tarzan with a swing on some long branches. 

Nature really is the best gym!

We Took a Hike, and It Was Beautiful

In October we went on a beautiful Saturday morning hike on a really nice trail not far from our house. I can't believe we've lived here for four years and I'd never been on this trail before! I definitely want to walk there again (and again and again). We were lucky because it turned out to be the last Saturday of the fall in which the weather was still mild and the leaves hadn't all blown off the trees yet. The night before there had been some rain and so that morning everything was sparkling. bright, and beautiful. 

John and Sam were unintentionally dressed alike, which was kind of cute.

I daydream about scenery like this.  

The sunlight caught this shimmering spiderweb perfectly.
Definitely proof of an enchanted forest.
(Especially since there was no spider or dead bugs in it!)

A spot of red...

Glimpses of the lake through the trees...

 

The colors were so vivid that morning! I still can't get over it.

 And the ground was a softly rustling blanket of leaves.  

Away from the lakeshore and back to the forest...

Note the perfect little bridge in the lefthand corner...

I love this!

It was a beautiful morning, and a beautiful hike.
(Did I mention that yet?)


I can't believe before I lived here that I thought there was not much more to Iowa than farmland.
 There's so much more than that! It's a beautiful state.
Now go take a hike! Ha ha.

Murphy's Law

The week before last, I had all these important computer-related plans that involved things for our trip to Florida, Christmas shopping, blogging, etc. I had my blog posts all planned out for that week. But then the computer completely died when I was working on my Monday post, and that was the end of that! My carefully crafted plans went down the drain, along with the computer hard drive. For an organized control person like me it was pretty upsetting, but I knew in my heart of hearts that it wasn't the end of the world, though it kind of felt like it that day. We knew the hard drive was going to die soon, but that really was the worst week it could have happened. Murphy's Law is alive and well, I'm telling you!

We got a new hard drive that week, but I couldn't use the computer for very much because everything had to transfer over from our old hard drive, which took days and days (it was still going when we left for Florida). But now everything's back up and running again, and I only lost a file or two (sob), and I will proceed with my life and my plans as usual. I didn't really want to blog about Halloween in December, but it's a hard knock life and I'll do what I have to do. (Ha ha.) I'm also going to catch up on my monthly review posts because I do NOT want to write about "Sunny September 2014" or whatever in 2015. So I plan on blogging for the next 2-3 weeks even though I usually take December off from blogging. Consider it my gift to you. ;-)

Now that I've given you that extra special glimpse into my life, I will end this blog post here. I've gotta make up for lost time and go do some major Cyber Monday shopping!