tombstone angel

Digital photography is very freeing. No more paying for film developing and printing (or digitizing) costs. I can shoot as many photos as I want and the only thing it costs is some hard drive space. This enables me to play around with different angles and perspectives. A cemetery is a wonderful place in which to play this way.

angel from another view

The first view of the angel seems neutral about humanity, but the second view seems like an Angel of Judgment. Symbols on Headstones Demystified says that angels in funerary art represent

The agent of God, often pointing towards heaven; guardians of the dead, symbolizing spirituality. Angels are shown in all types of poses with different symbolism. Two angels can be named, and are identified by the objects they carry: Michael, who bears a sword, and Gabriel, who is depicted with a horn.

Apparently, this angel is one of the nameless host.

angel silhouette

This one makes me think of the angel who announced the birth of Christ to the shepherds, although I’m not certain why I see it this way.

angel's face

Here I focused on the angel’s face. It seems to be leaning down to decorate the person’s grave.

angel with hand in focus

The angel seems to be dropping a leaf on the grave from a wreath in its hand.

I’m not sure which perspective I prefer. Any opinions?

Related posts:

1. Angel food lamps If I only had a lamp kit, I could make...
2. Ivy for memory Gaiety and joviality seem rather out of place in a...
3. O death, where is thy victory? Years ago in a photography seminar, the instructor said that...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Roman maiden holding ivy wreath

My great aunt was quite an expert on the meaning of funerary art. I’m not.

However, the wreath in this Greco-Roman maiden’s hand intrigued me. What does ivy signify in a cemetery context?

According to VintageViews.com’s Glossary of Victorian Cemetery Symbolism, ivy signifies “memory, immortality, friendship, fidelity, faithfulness, undying affection, eternal life.”

Memorials.com’s Symbols on Headstones Demystified says the ivy wreath is symbolic of “gaiety, joviality.… The wreath and festoon together symbolize memory.… Use of garlands, wreaths and festoons dates back to ancient Greek times and it was adopted into the Christian religion as a symbol of the victory of the redemption. [Ivy wreaths are an a]ncient symbol of victory, memory, passed to eternal life.”

Gaiety and joviality seem rather out of place in a cemetery. We visit a cemetery to mourn and remember the ones we’ve lost, not have a party. But maybe those concepts are not so out of place. Only my mother’s and grandparents’ bodies lie in that grave plot. Their spirits have gone before me and I will see them again. That I can celebrate.

Related posts:

1. O death, where is thy victory? Years ago in a photography seminar, the instructor said that...
2. Just call me angel Digital photography is very freeing. No more paying for film...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Winged Victory of Samothrace replica

Years ago in a photography seminar, the instructor said that cemeteries are wonderful places to photograph. I’ve driven by this one numerous times and had always found it interesting because of the funerary art I could see from the street.

This statue is a replica of the Winged Victory of Samothrace.
I don’t know the donor’s rationale for erecting this statue where he did, but it certainly reminded me that the cemetery is not our final resting place. When I saw it, I immediately thought of the verse

O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? (1 Cor. 15:55, King James Version)

Actually, I heard it as the music in Handel’s Messiah.

In the Bible, and in the Messiah, the answer comes a bit later:

 ⁵⁷But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Cor. 15:57, King James Version)

No matter who you are, remember that your final destination is not a cemetery. That’s just where your body is headed. The real you lives forever. If you follow Christ, the eternal destination is eternal victory in Christ. If you don’t, well, you don’t want to go there.

Related posts:

1. Ivy for memory Gaiety and joviality seem rather out of place in a...
2. Just call me angel Digital photography is very freeing. No more paying for film...
3. “Al Capone was here” Wendy’s vinyl siding took a beating in Monday evening’s...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Dwight D. Eisenhower's statue on the grounds of his library and museum in Abilene, Kan.

His statue, in his Army uniform, dominates the grounds. When we toured the museum, we thought it focused more on his generalship than his presidency. And Eisenhower somehow didn’t seem quite real. In President Harry S. Truman’s library, the visitor meets the man. Truman seems human. Ike, on the other hand, seems a monument. Getting at the real person behind that famous grin is difficult.

Ike, his wife Mamie and their son Doud Dwight, nicknamed Icky, are interred in the Place of Meditation on the museum’s grounds.

Place of Meditation bell tower

I am not at all fond of the International Style of architecture, finding it hopelessly bland and uninteresting, but I absolutely cannot resist a pattern. Ironically, Abilene is full of wonderful Victorian architecture, but its two most prominent structures, the Eisenhower Museum and Library and the Dickinson County Courthouse, were both built in that dreadful, boxy, soulless style.

fence between foyer and burial site in Place of Meditation

A fence separates the foyer from the Eisenhowers’ gravesite.

copper leaf fountain

A fountain made from copper leaves falls into a small pool. The sound is very soothing and, as probably intended, acts as an aid to quiet contemplation.

Hubby looks at Ike, Mamie and Icky's graves

We paid our respects to the Eisenhowers, then visited the chapel attached to the grave site.

A low marble wall divides the grave site from the small chapel, fitted with stained-glass windows designed and installed by Kansas native Odell Prather. I really prefer windows that are a picture of something, but these were beautiful, as was the light they cast. It seemed a good place to rest and meditate, but closing time was drawing near.

Even though Ike himself seems elusive, his life’s work is truly monumental.

Related posts:

1. Hello, how are you? When we toured the Museum of Independent Telephony, Abilene,...
2. Insulators We visited the Museum of Independent Telephony while we were...
3. Ridden hard and put away wet A horse should never be ridden to the point of...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

When we toured the Museum of Independent Telephony, Abilene, Kan., ELO’s song Telephone Line kept running through my head. Song starts out with the singer having a conversation with the telephone operator.

I thought, “When was the last time I’ve talked to an operator?”

vintage switchboard

Back when telephone service started, subscribers had no way to avoid the operator.

“Central” could listen in to any conversation and she often did. Before 911 arrived, Central was the person to call when trouble came.

mouthpiece

This looks very non-ergonomic. The operator would have had to lean very far forward to talk into this mouthpiece. How well could she be heard through it?

Later, women sat on stools connecting and disconnecting phone calls. Phone companies tried employing men and boys at first, but they were rude and cut up. Girls and women were much better to customers. That opened another job to women beyond teaching and nursing.

detail of vintage pay phone

I used to keep a dime, then a quarter, in a little niche in my car’s dashboard, ensuring that I could always call for help if I got into some trouble.

When’s the last time you saw a pay phone? Who needs a pay phone any more?

dial on Eisenhower's telephone at his Gettysburg, Pa., house

This switchboard was installed in President Eisenhower’s Gettysburg, Pa., milk house after he had a heart attack. Can you imagine the President of the United States having no phone in his house, even a getaway house?

I was tempted to change the phone number to 867-5309, but I couldn’t bring myself to cover up those original numbers. They illustrate another change point: Who has a phone number starting with letters any more?

Besides God, change is the world’s only constant. Isn’t that ironic?

Related posts:

1. Insulators We visited the Museum of Independent Telephony while we were...
2. I like Ike A person just cannot visit Abilene, Kan., without visiting the...
3. Stone bridge In the dry High Plains, bridges are not that...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Since no one was about to give me this horse from the C.W. Parker Carousel at Heritage Center of Dickinson County, Abilene, Kan., I could not only look it in the mouth but also photograph that mouth.

His breath wasn’t too bad, either.

carousel horse eye

I’m not sure what this gaze means. Is the horse protesting my invasion of his space or is he grateful for the attention? Who knows. He doesn’t say much with that big mouth of his.

Where’s Mr. Ed when you want him?

Related posts:

1. Ridden hard and put away wet A horse should never be ridden to the point of...
2. Horse Thief Reservoir Some days I’d like to return to the sandbox where...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Poor Patches, the carousel horse

A horse should never be ridden to the point of exhaustion, then put inside when he’s still soaking wet with sweat. Horse should be left outside long enough to dry.

So with a carousel horse. When the poor thing is cracked and broken, the last thing it needs is to have some strip of metal wrapped around the injured part and affixed with nails and screws. Wood has rotted around the nails and screws, leaving Patches in bad condition.

He was ridden hard and put away wet.

More strips on poor Patches

Instead of these awful metal strips, Patches should have been repaired with dowels and glue. But his owner probably was in a hurry to get him back into service.

Patches is in the Dickinson County Museum, Abilene, Kan. Before he can be restored, new eyes, tail, ears and stirrups must be made and reattached. He still has a little paint affixed to him, so museum staff is attempting to match that paint.

Hopefully someday Patches will be restored to his former glory.

Related posts:

1. Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth Just as a horse wasn’t supposed to be ridden hard...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Hades in a corn field

As I was driving a few days ago, I noticed smoke on the horizon. Day was overcast. The smoke made an interesting contrast to the sky. When I arrived the field where the smoke originated, I could not resist photographing the scene before me. Only a slight breeze was blowing and it pushed all the smoke away from me. Watching the field burn and smoke gave me an eerie feeling.

flames burning corn stubble

I felt as if I were photographing a small taste of Hell. I know that I’m not going there; my ticket is punched for Heaven because Christ has bought my salvation.

flames burning corn stubble

Fire here on earth is nothing compared to that stuff down there.

center pivot visible through smoke

Ironically, a center pivot stood in the middle of the field. Turn it on and fire is gone. But the farmer wanted the field to burn.

center pivot in smoke

God does not want anyone to burn in Hell, but eternal destination is each individual’s choice. God’s center pivot, Jesus Christ, puts out the flames and sets those who receive Him on the road to Heaven.

Which direction are you going?

Related posts:

1. God is in the details Ironically for one who grew up in corn country, I...
2. Clouds over a corn field I wish I knew the names for these clouds. I...
3. “Al Capone was here” Wendy’s vinyl siding took a beating in Monday evening’s...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

insulators from below

I was immediately drawn to this lighted display case full of insulators. They were used to protect wires from shorting out, especially in the rain. I love their shapes and colors. Of course, I just had to see what they looked like from underneath.

blue insulator

The little bumps on the skirt bottom helped rain drip away from the wires inside.

brown saddle insulator

My friend Esther contacted a friend of hers who collects insulators. He said, “The brown insulator and the ones in the background with the large top groove were possibly used in mines to carry large wires for longer distances back in the mines. This would be for electrical use.”

green glass insulator with bow-shaped top

Here’s another strange shape, this one from Hemingray.

Hemingray green insulator

This one’s also from Hemingray, in a style known as the “Doorknob”.

purple insulator

Ironically, purple insulators originate in a decolorizing process that removes the aqua or green coloration from glass. Manganese is added to take out the greenish colors. Under radiation, solar or artificial, the manganese turns purple. The more manganese in the glass, the deeper the purple.

orange insulator

I tried to find out what makes glass orange, but failed. I didn’t want to squeeze orange juice or make a bong, but those were among the results that appeared. Whatever.

The next time you look at a telephone pole, remember the hidden beauty of the insulators.

Related posts:

1. I like Ike A person just cannot visit Abilene, Kan., without visiting the...
2. Hello, how are you? When we toured the Museum of Independent Telephony, Abilene,...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Hubby with the bear outside the Russell Stover Candies factory outlet

We went on a trip in Central Kansas last weekend. Hubby is standing in front of the Russell Stover Candies factory outlet outside of Abilene, Kan., a chocolate-lovers’ paradise. It’s not just for chocoholics, either. Every kind of candy seems to be represented, plus it has a wonderful ice cream bar.

traditional chocolate Valentine's Day heart packages

Valentine’s Day is obviously the number-one chocolate-giving holiday. The store had numerous displays of leftover candy from that holiday.

chocolate Elvis jacket heart packaging

Some of the packaging was quite creative. I laughed out loud at this Elvis tribute. No wonder Elvis still rakes in money after his death. I do not understand people’s fascination with Elvis; apparently I’m just a bit too young for that.

ghost costume decoration

Halloween was well represented also, including fun decorations like this one.

jelly bean bins

This is truly Temptation Island for me. I love jelly beans! But I didn’t eat a single one. We made up for it in other places, though.

jelly bean hopper from below

If you’ve ever wondered what one of these hoppers looks like underneath, here’s a picture. I could not have shot this image without autofocus. I certainly couldn’t see underneath. I don’t twist that well!

fudge chunks

Here’s another Temptation Island I avoided. I love maple fudge, but didn’t eat any.

candy Bloopers box

Of course, no outlet store is complete without merchandise that didn’t make the grade. Russell Stover’s seconds are called “Bloopers” and those boxes were stacked shoulder high. We didn’t get any of those, either.

What we did buy were wonderful bags of gourmet chocolate with coconut and vanilla beans as filling. Yum, yum. We also shared a lemon custard ice cream cone. Very delicious and refreshing.

By the way, you’ve just exceeded today’s recommended caloric intake just by reading this blog post. Happy eating!

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.