~Shannon L. Alder~
I went to visit my mom's grave site today. Mostly because she hadn't been lowered into the ground last time I was there. That was for her graveside service back in March of this year. I picked the wrong day to do this. First of all it was hot. I was at Forest Lawn in the Hollywood Hills from about 11 A.M. until 12:30 P.M. and while it wasn't as hot there and then as it ultimately got back here at home, 93º, it certainly wasn't comfortable. I also went on sort of a whim. I had been planning to do this for awhile but I didn't think too hard before walking out the door today. This lack of planning included my not having anything to eat before I left. That was a mistake. The good thing was Sunday, no traffic. The other bad thing was... a lot of people were being buried today and the people who were being buried apparently knew a lot of people to attend their last goodbye. Everyone looked the same too, people were confused as to which ceremony they were supposed to attend. So what did they do? They stopped their cars in the middle of the road and tried to figure stuff out from there. A very inappropriate setting to honk one's horn yet I was tempted.
Anyway...
Mom.
She's just to the right of the base of the tree.
Which is at the lower end of this church courtyard.
About 90 meters from where my father is buried. My father's grave always makes me sad. He was so young. The tragedy of his death and my childhood memory of his funeral rush my emotions whenever I'm here. Today I kept moving, keeping reflection and remorse somewhat at bay.
My mother's mom only about 60 meters east of my dad. The three graves forming a triangle. Another tragic death, my grandmother taking her life at 64.
Her "view" of the church.
My next destination. The Old North Church, a precise replica of Boston's historic church, from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem "Paul Revere's Ride." The historical rooms have documents and mementos of the colonial period.
Just behind the church, across the road, The Court Of Liberty, featuring a statue of George Washington (which curiously has some weeds growing out the top of his head.)
From behind George, looking toward beautiful downtown Burbank and the Verdugo Hills.
Just behind me again, the memorial for actor Stan Laurel and behind that the Birth of Liberty mosaic. 49 meters long and 8.5 meters high, it is the largest historical mosaic in the United States. It has ten million pieces of Venetian glass and depicts twenty-five scenes of U.S. history from 1619-1787. It's also fenced off by construction work. There's a lot of that going on here right now.
In 1989 I did an article for the Italian magazine Gente (People) for a "day of the dead" article. I mentioned this before here. I used to know where dozens of celebrity graves were located at this cemetery but today I only vaguely knew and wasn't going to bother looking too hard. Besides there are probably 1/2 a dozen sites for finding these nowadays. There was a guy I was talking to just before I took this picture who was walking around using some site on his iPhone. Still, he couldn't find Buster Keaton and all I knew was he was close.
I'm not sure what the pennies are all about.
A huge pile of beautiful cut flowers awaiting disposal. I think this is all a horrible waste but I won't get further into that.
Looking toward Burbank, left to right NBC (below that Johnny Carson Park), Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center, ABC Studios and Walt Disney Studios.
A lot of people had umbrellas to cover up from the noontime sun. I wonder what this woman was thinking.
Moving closer to the Burbank side of the cemetery. Bette Davis and family. My photo of her grave just one or two days after she was buried is my most popular image on Panoramio, currently having had 18,028 views.
A short hop behind Bette is Liberace.
Just around the bend, "Love's Messenger."
and directly across from her... these 3 seem embarrassed.
For perspective, here's a shot looking back to the Old North Church and George Washington. It's a big cemetery.
and turning around, I'm this much closer to the Disney water tower. Again, the Verdugo Hills, North Burbank in the background.
Lots of transmission lines, antennas and dishes back-side of the Hollywood Hills. They don't allow this stuff in populated areas. Deer and lots of rabbits rule the cemetery at night.
I thought my car might stay cool if I parked under the Shade. I was wrong.
No comments:
Post a Comment