I grew up as a military brat, traveling all over the US as a child, but it wasn't until I lived in Butte, Montana that I became really interested in cemeteries. Initially, I was attracted by the wonderful, if sometimes a bit macabre, art found in old cemeteries. Eventually it expanded to history when my father and I made some trips to Scotland. Visiting cemeteries with stones dated 100+ years before the Revolutionary War was quite an eye-opener! Some of my happiest afternoons have been spent sitting by a graveyard wall in the sun just appreciating the QUIET and trying to imagine who some of "these people" might have been.

This also seems like a great way to "kill two birds with one stone," so to speak. I've been looking for something that allows me to do some kind of service to others, but with flexible timing, and this does just that...as well as getting me out and walking around in some lovely, quiet places where there's no need to rush about. I don't know who most of the people were whose graves I photograph; I tend to just pick random ones while I'm looking for requested ones. Seems a wonderful way to honor people, some of whom may no longer have anyone left to remember them. I try to add a flower to each grave I record for that reason...as a way of saying, if only for a few moments, that they are not forgotten. What a treat to have found something that's so "me" and so meaningful!