A Quiet Moment

“After all to the well organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.” - J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, spoken by the character Albus Dumbledore

An Uninspired Post

Ever have one of those days when you just feel totally uninspired?  I've got no doubt you know exactly what I'm talking about and I've also got no doubt that I am most definitely having one of those days - or should I say another one of those days as I wasn't exactly inspired yesterday either.  I'm thinking that the major rains we've been having are partially responsible and losing that hour of sleep the other day always throws me for a total loop no matter how late I may sleep in the next day and try to get it back.  I'm honestly beginning to think that Indiana, Hawaii, and Arizona have the right idea by not observing that whole mess-with-the-clocks thing that the rest of us do!

Anyhow, all that said, I thought I'd take yet another break from recounting my travels in Vermont to just throw some random pictures out for you.  We'll get back to covered bridges soon!

The other day I went out and took some random railroad track pictures, two of which I used in yesterday's post.  After climbing sliding down a rather steep embankment near some tracks I found myself looking at some urban art in a very non-urban location as this isn't even close to any houses!

If you look closely, you can see that there is art underneath the art so I've got to wonder if this is a popular place for graffiti?  I'll have to go back sometime and check to see if the artwork has changed but I'm going to find another way to get down there as I almost found myself sprawled on the railroad tracks on my way down that embankment!  Grace thy name is not Linda!

I climbed down an even steeper embankment near a different set of railroad tracks behind the Yantic Cemetery to hang out for awhile in the vain hopes that a train would come by and while killing time I spotted what I guess you could call artwork by Mother Nature -

Those twisted branches almost look like large anaconda snakes wrapped around small trees waiting for some unsuspecting prey to come along!  Chances are good that when there's foliage one would never notice this sort of thing but with the leaves down, it's pretty cool to look at.  I wonder how long it took those trees to grow like that?

Giving up on a train, I climbed back up to the cemetery where a statue caught my eye against the blue sky -

Again, I think this would look totally different with leaves on the tree but I rather like this bare look.  Another form of art perhaps?

And finally, though it has absolutely nothing at all to do with artwork of any sort, I thought I'd share a couple pictures of Tesla that I took while Amanda was playing with him and the new toy I got for him the other day -

As you can see, he's quite the determined hunter!  

And a successful one at that! 

Here's wishing all of you a successful Tuesday and may you catch whatever it is you may be chasing, too - inspired or not!

Stopping By the River Bend (Cemetery)

Last Saturday was a gorgeous day so what better way to spend it than to point the car in the direction of the Atlantic and head over to Rhode Island to find something good to photograph? Of course, the real trick was to try to find a route of travel that wasn't packed with beach-goers off to take advantage of the good weather and work on their tans so to that end Amanda and I snuck into Westerly via the back route otherwise known as Route 1A.

Even though I should have known better, my main objective at that point was to get to Watch Hill in the hopes of finding the lighthouse that's supposed to be out there somewhere but as soon as we drove close to the water, the area filled up with tourists and I quickly abandoned that idea for some place less crowded. However, I'm getting ahead of myself ...

Before we even got close to Watch Hill as we were driving down Beach Street, aka Route 1A, towards there, a rather large and gorgeous cemetery on the right-hand side of the road caught my eye and I just had to double-back to check it out. What can I say? I'm a sucker for beautiful cemeteries, especially ones with interesting statuary!

It was, in fact, this very angel here who caught my eye as I was driving past and I just knew I had to go back and take some pictures as it was easy to see even from the road that she was an exquisite carving.

Sitting on top of a stone marked "Monti", she really was quite regal even though she was - unfortunately - missing her right arm. I can only wonder in what pose that missing limb had been carved - was it held upright perhaps holding something towards the roadway? A sword maybe? Or a flower? I can only guess as there's no way of knowing unless somehow, somewhere I can find another picture of her when she was still complete and whole and so far that search has turned up nada.

The above picture is the back of the angel and the gorgeous wings that she sprouts. It shows how intricately carved the details were and how beautiful the craftsmanship is.

Of course, Amanda had to have a staring contest with the angel based on that whole Doctor Who 'don't blink' thing and then we backed away to find some more interesting statuary.

The cemetery that the unblinking angel beckoned us into was established in 1849 and originally known as the Elm Grove Cemetery before someone decided that its location on the eastern bank of the Pawcatuck River lent itself more to the name of River Bend Cemetery. It is an absolutely gorgeous cemetery and probably one of the best well-maintained ones I have seen in a very, very long time.

According to their website, River Bend "abounds with magnificent granite carvings created by artists and their descendents, brought to the area to work in the granite industry. Some monuments are large and intricate ... some small and delicate. They are all works of art and labors of love." No argument from me on that one - there were some absolutely beautiful stones to be found ...

The Richardson Family

The Milner Family

The Brown Family

The Loveland Family

River Bend was established just five years after my favorite cemetery in Norwich - the Yantic Cemetery; but unlike Yantic, it's still a very active cemetery and doesn't look like the families of those people who are buried there have moved on with their lives and forgotten all about the loved ones they've left buried there. Instead the grounds are more like a park and walking through there doesn't give you so much a sense of desolation and loss but of celebration and remembrance. More cemeteries need to be that way as death is as much a part of living as is birth; the problem is most people don't seem to want to face that.

Doors on the Hartunian Family mausoleum.

As always, I'm sure that there was a lot more to be seen so perhaps another trip is in order the next time I'm over towards Westerly (my son lives very close to there). I read on their website that the cemetery is the final resting place of two Congressional Medal of Honor recipients, I'd like to go back and pay my respects sometime as well as walk amongst the stones of people who were well-loved in this life and are now well-missed.

A Trip to Sleepy Hollow, Part Two

My Dear Clark:

I send you herewith a plan of a rural cemetery projected by some of the worthies of Tarrytown, on the woody hills adjacent to the Sleepy Hollow Church. I have no pecuniary interest in it, yet I hope it may succeed, as it will keep that beautiful and umbrageous neighborhood sacred from the anti-poetical and all-leveling axe. Besides, I trust that I shall one day lay my bones there. The projectors are plain matter-of-fact men, but are already, I believe, aware of the blunder which they have committed in naming it the “Tarrytown,” instead of the “Sleepy Hollow” Cemetery. The latter name would have been enough of itself to secure the patronage of all desirous of sleeping quietly in their graves.

I beg you to correct this oversight, should you, as I trust you will, notice this sepulchral enterprise.

I hope as the spring opens you will accompany me in one of my brief visits to Sunnyside, when we will make another trip to Sleepy Hollow, and (thunder and lightning permitting) have a colloquy among the tombs.

Yours, very truly,
Washington Irving
New York, April 27, 1849

On December 1st, 1959, almost ten-and-a-half years after penning the above letter, Washington Irving, an American author, essayist, biographer and historian of the early 19th century did - in fact - lay his bones beneath the soil at Tarrytown Cemetery following his death from a heart attack on November 28th, 1859 in his bedroom at Sunnyside, his Tarrytown home located just 3-1/2 miles from the cemetery. Following his death, the cemetery Trustees posthumously changed the name from Tarrytown Cemetery to Sleepy Hollow Cemetery to honor the man who was the first American to earn his living solely by his pen.

A 90-acre parcel of land consisting of both a beautiful valley and scenic knolls situated on the easterly bank of the Hudson River at Tarrytown, the cemetery is fourteen miles north of the boundary line of New York City and serves as the final resting place for many of New York's rich and famous including Elizabeth Arden, Andrew Carnegie, Leona Helmsley, William Rockefeller, and Walter Chrysler - founder of the Chrysler Corporation.

Having visited the Chrysler Building in New York City, an amazing work of Art Deco architecture, I was rather surprised to see such a rather ordinary and unadorned mausoleum for the Chrysler family. No replicas of 1929 Chrysler radiator caps or hood ornaments, no eagles, no metal cladding, no radiating terraced arches ... just a simple Greek structure. Definitely not what I was expecting!

Not all of the buildings and grave sites at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery are as plain as the Chrysler Family Mausoleum, though, beginning with the main gates which are locked at 4:30 p.m. whether you're still wandering the grounds or not! Considering the size of this cemetery, I'd be willing to bet people have been locked in more than a time or two. I like to think of myself as adventurous but spending the night in a place that's sure to have it's share of spooks and things-that-go-bump-in-the-night is not high on my list of things to do!

This is the Main Office and Washington Irving Chapel whose stained glass windows depict scenes of Irving's life as well as scenes from his short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow". Of course, I didn't know that until later so didn't even think to ask the lady at the Reception Desk that I got a map from if we could see the Chapel or not. Duh ... I am so going back in the Fall!

The Pocantico River, which is a beautiful stream but really not much of a river, wanders through the middle of the cemetery.

When the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery expanded to the east side of the Pantico River, a passage over the river was required so the Headless Horseman Bridge was built. This isn't the actual site where Ichabod Crane lost his race with the Headless Horseman (that's further up near the Old Dutch Church and the original bridge was long ago replaced) but when you drive across the boards, they clatter like a horse's hoof beats and the area is so dense and creepy enough to make you think that the Headless Horseman just might appear!

We didn't encounter any horses with or without riders - headless or otherwise - but there was some wildlife out noshing on the lush grass that surrounded the graves. This fella was nice enough to stop and pose briefly for a picture!

I don't believe I've ever been in a cemetery that had so many mausoleums before or ones with such beautiful doors! These are just a few of the ones that we saw.

These are the doors of the Leff Family Mausoleom and even though I have no idea who they were, I really liked the stained glass portrait of Joel Leff that adorned the back of the wall. I'd be willing to bet he was an avid pipe smoker while he was still alive!

I suppose that to a lot of people, it seems bizarre that my girls like to go out to the cemetery to pose for pictures but I guess that Amanda has gotten rather used to it by now as evidenced by the number of pictures she asked me to take of her in various places and poses.





No, Amanda, I don't care how long you stand there; you are not getting a For Here, Half-Caf, Quad, Iced Grande, Soy, Starbucks Doubleshot on Ice + Energy! Kids! ...

This gentleman here is Mr. Owen Jones, a Welsh-born fella who made his fortune through a New York City department store and real estate dealings. His monument is a Gothic church in miniature and features a life-sized sculpture of himself standing beneath a vaulted canopy. His wife, Maria, and two sons also share the plot but there are no statues of them.

Sleepy Hollow Cemetery's Civil War monument is dedicated to "Our Union Soldiers" and commemorates the local men who served in the War Between the States. A local sculptor who was legally blind at the time, Johnson M. Bundy, created the bronze Union soldier who stands guard over the graves of the fallen who gave their last full measure of devotion to keeping the Union as one.

Standing at the top of a former earthen redoubt that was constructed in 1779 by local militia for protection during the Revolutionary War is the Revolutionary War Memorial which reads "In Memory of the Officers and Soldiers of the Revolution who by their valor sustained the cause of liberty and independence on these historic fields". The men for whom this memorial stands are buried nearby in the Old Dutch Burying Ground.


Close by the American Revolution Memorial is the plot of the Delavan Family.


The plot consists of an ensemble of six marble figures which surround a central granite pillar upon which the figure of Hope stands.

Daniel Delavan was a captain of the local milia that erected the earth redoubt on which the American Revolution Memorial now stands and which this plot overlooks.

Captain Delavan was originally buried in a cemetery in Ossining, New York but was relocated to this final resting spot in Sleepy Hollow by a later generation of his family who commissioned the marble figures as a tribute to the Captain.

The marble figures were all quite impressive though some of them were definitely starting to look a little worse for wear. I suppose, though, when you're standing in the cold of Winter and the heat of Summer for as long as they have, you're going to look a little worn, too!





At the very front of the plot is a life-sized statue of Jesus that Jamie gave a big hug to as she thought her father might enjoy the picture. Matter of fact, she borrowed my cell phone while we were there so that she could tell him that she had found Jesus, though he appeared to be missing his fingers. Sigh ... why can't I have normal kids?

Speaking of not having normal kids, Amanda had to take a moment to reenact a scene from one of her favorite Doctor Who episodes "Blink". As the good Doctor told Sally, "Don't blink. Blink and you're dead. Don't turn your back. Don't look away. And don't blink. Good Luck." When we turned to walk away I made sure that the angels weren't following us ... just in case!

While we're on the subject of angels, I thought that this one was really very pretty though it would be nice if someone would come out and polish it up a bit. I bet when this stone was first commissioned, it was just gorgeous though the greenish-blue does add an interesting effect to it.

Now does this or does this not look like the perfect tree to be smack in the middle of a cemetery called Sleepy Hollow?!?

Another stone that I really liked as it shows what fantastic craftsmanship used to go into the making of gravestones. When you stop and think what sort of tools people had to work with back then it's even more impressive.

I thought these decorative iron rails were very impressive, too and it made me think that the people who were buried near them were well-loved by their families considering the care and expense they went through to mark their final resting places. It's just too bad that the current generation of their family doesn't seem to come around very often.

As far as final resting places go, I think out of all the ones that we saw (and we didn't see anywhere near as many as we could have), I liked this one the best. It looks like it would be a lovely place to lay your bones at the end of your life. It was witten in a 19th-century brochure for the cemetery that "Death is stripped of many of its pangs when it transplants to such surroundings." and I've got to say I agree with that as it was hard to find sorrow in this cemetery but more a celebration of the lives that its inhabitants once lived.

This small stone seems to sum it all up when it comes to death and cemeteries and this mortal life of ours.

As their literature likes to remind you, Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, for all that it is a place of historical significance, is still a very active cemetery with individual and family plots available. We passed workers constructing a new mausoleum in the area of the Chrysler Mausoleum and no doubt it will be as much a work of art as many of the ones surrounding it; perhaps I shall have to go back and take a look at it along with all of the other spots I missed as we just didn't have time to cover the entire cemetery or see the graves of many of the people who made our country great in one form or another. Seems to me a trip in October might be the perfect time to revisit Sleepy Hollow ... though not after dark and certainly not alone!

If all of this has made you want to read Washington Irving's Legend of Sleepy Hollow again or for the first time, please click on this link which will take you to a complete transcript of the short story. As a matter of fact, I believe it's time to become reacquainted with Mr. Ichabod Crane myself!

*All pictures can be seen larger by clicking on them.