Monday, September 24, 2007

sunday in the marble orchard



My mom and Loni joined us Sunday afternoon for the first annual Plymouth History Walk. It was a guided walking tour of the oldest section of Oakhill Cemetery, with seven stops along the way. Players in period costume told the life stories of some of the earliest Plymouth residents while standing next to their tombstones. There was a newspaper owner, a businessman, the first mayor of Plymouth, the daughters of a farmer, a Civil War soldier, the president of the local Women's Christian Temperance Union, and a minister. We learned some history, and the boys did really well, right up until we got to the minister, but by that point I was losing the plot a bit as well. Only about half of the tour was on the paved paths of the cemetery -- the other half of the time, I had to off-road it with the boys in the double stroller, which was not made with that use in mind. I got stuck in a rut more than once, but luckily Loni was on hand to help us out of the worst jams.

And really, what 16-year old DOESN'T want to spend the afternoon in the cemetery with her mom, sister, and nephews? Not our Lon, that's for sure. Check out that tree in the background -- it was struck by lightning not long ago.


At the first stop, another kid was misbehaving a little. The boys were entranced, and thankfully forgot that they could be misbehaving as well.


These are the two little girls. They told their family story, then explained a little bit about the fascinating symbolism of gravestone icons. Really interesting stuff. This tree-shaped monument represents a life cut short.

About halfway through, and Liam already wants to know when we're going to be finished.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

You realize, of course, that the first picture is the famous "dirt road" Grampa Okey talks about taking.....