Well, you know me...once a cemetery girl, always a cemetery girl....As it turns out, there is a really old cemetery just behind campsite #48..and we walked back to it this morning on our daily walk. It is the "Ingram Family" cemetery...Some graves as old as 1870...There were about 12 tombstones and some were very hard to read. I remembered my mom's old trick of taking a piece of paper and rubbing a crayon or pencil over the writing and... it worked like a charm (thanks, mom)...I didn't have my camera with me, so I decided to walk back later and take a few photos.
It sprinkled rain shortly after we got back....We got our coffee, crossword puzzles and sudoku, then vegged out in front of the fireplace most of the morning. After lunch I decided it was time to walk back to the cemetery..I left Dennis at the RV playing solitaire. Also, he managed to catch SOMEONE'S cold. ( I have now succeeded in passing on my cold to all I have come in contact with..Dennis was the last holdout.)
I started out toward site #48.....Have I told you how very quiet this woods is?? I mean DEAD quiet..(sorry, I just couldn't resist). As I approached the old cemetery, I suddenly felt really creepy...I mean, invading a family cemetery could stir up some things I may wish I hadn't. For those of you who remember the movie "Blair Witch Project"..this is the woods and path I walked to the cemetery...
Now I am one who lived in a cemetery almost 10 years of my life and never once saw any spirit or ghost,(despite my sister and myself trying our amateur hands at table tipping and doing Ouija board conjuring).
This little cemetery is surrounded by a barbed wire fence,
(nice touch, trying to keep me out or THEM in???), with the exception of the entry, which is a broken fence gate (how could one resist?).
Most of the stones are all grown up with grasses, but there is one fairly large one in the center that had a strange symbol on the top...(photo op..click...I feel like I am part of CSI..Dust for prints, please).Anyway, the stone said, Woodmen of the World Memorial, also some Latin words I had no idea what they meant( my apologies to Dorothy Harrod, our Latin I teacher..also to Jim Curran, my 4 year Latin majoring friend). The name on the stone said,"Sov. Phillip F. Willis"...Now I want to know more about this stone and what in the world kind of title is Sov.? I am assuming it is short for Sovereign.
I was intrigued with this "Woodsmen" organization and pondered it as I trapsed through the leaves and headstones...Many times I am glad we are online back at the camper...I shall have to see if I can find some info..
Well, my work here was done. I had enough of "disturbing the dead", and memories of the day my Dad fell into an old grave and right into the wood casket kept me from exploring any further. I went back to my safe little home and did some research...
Seems that Woodmen Of The World was a life insurance kind of group, started back in the 1800's. Originally, it was started by men who wanted to help widows and children if the man in the family died and left them with nothing. I won't go into details, but if you want a frightening glance into an old fraternal organization who actually DID have a secret handshake..(Not to mention the fact you had to be 18, male and white to join), just google it and read on.
I guess I have bored you enough with my adventures, but hey, I am easily entertained...
Tomorrow is laundry and WalMart day...I love strange laundromats...you never know what you will encounter...Yes, I am VERY easily entertained...Later!!!
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