Friday, September 4, 2015

The Headstone, A Photo At Last

Copyright 2015, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

Man and I have been waiting most of the summer to visit the cemetery where his grandparents are buried to see and photo the brand spanking new headstone we ordered and had placed there last year.  The cemetery is in a rather inconvenient place, not in our normal travel areas.  In other words, we have to go out of our way to visit.

We had to have the oil changed on Zoom Zoom the car, and had agreed that on the way back from that (in northern Ohio) we would "swing" by the cemetery.  The weather forecast was 50% chance of rain and maybe severe storms. Figures, the day we will drive 200 miles or more and way out of our way, the forecast was icky.

So, we head out, we stop and have a nice lunch, we drive to the dealer.  They do the oil, also rotate the tires and tighten a lead on the battery that Man was reluctant to tighten too much.  Warranty can handle, eh??

So we know we are fighting Mother Nature. We leave dealer. Make stop at the local Costco which is laid out different than ours.

As we leave there Man is pushing a bit, he is in a hurry due to concerns over weather. We head north on the expressway, lots of construction, and then, it starts raining.  It rains a bit. On. Off. On. Off. OOOOOPS:  The wipers are not working right per man. Sigh.

We are running into the rain which is light, then deluge, then, it starts to slack off. We have hopes by studying the weather on MyRadar app that we might make it to the cemetery before the rain really hits that area.  Man is not happy because of wipers, which he claims are not functioning correctly.  Frankly, I have never figured out those wipers so, I figure they are just on the wrong "setting".  He is convinced the malfunctioning is due to the issue of the battery lead fix. 

The rain slows. We are almost there. It almost stopped raining.  We pulled in. Rain has all but stopped. Get to the back of the cemetery.  Jump out of Zoom Zoom. We take off almost at a run to locate this headstone before the rain starts back up. Get about 4 rows into the search.  4 rows in and it starts pouring.

Back to Zoom Zoom. Man is still screaming about wipers. I am swearing up a storm, err, am very upset, because he wants to leave. After waiting all summer, we are 30 seconds too late??  We stay, even tho he was not thrilled. It stopped raining in about 5 minutes.

While we sat there I looked around and decided I needed to look about 50 yards down further. That little tree, looks familiar, don't you know.  I don't think Man stopped in the correct spot in the cemetery, I seem to remember that little tree being nearby the burial spot.

So I got out leaving Man there to fuss with the wipers. I found the stone. It is covered with wet grass clippings and I did not have my soft cleaning brush. Sigh. I cleaned with my hands best I could and took a number of photos. At least there is no freaking glare from the sun.

Geessh!!!

Wait all summer for this opportunity and the rain hits just as I step out of the car.  Figures eh?

Of course, it is still spitting rain, and you did not hear it here, but, yes, I was out there and there was some thunder, which means, there was lightening near by. I know, don't lecture me. SIGHHHH.

I am reminded tonight as I processed the photos that those double stones are hard to get a good photo of. Or, in other words, I am just too short and have a hard time getting a photo. 

A little grass shows and I note, with a grimace and some of my dark humor, that the edges of this photo have a little bend in them because I am fighting shortness of stature, mine! Looks like a photo done with panoramic settings. OK, I'm giggling, because, I must.


No, I cannot make this stuff up.  OHHHH, and the wipers, they were fine, worked just like they should all the way home, when I drove through sprinkles and hard rains.  Figures.  Really, you just MUST laugh.




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2 comments:

Joan said...

The lengths we will go to in order to get a cemetery photo -- panoramic or not. I giggled my way thru the post. Impressed by the head stone, it tells a history in itself.

Carol said...

Thanks Joan, I was thrilled to be able to get that "story" on the stone. Archie has taken me for quite the research trip/adventure.

The stone is as close a duplicate as could be had. Archie and Edna's son Walter is buried in the plot next to theirs. He died in 1940 as the result of a horrific car accident. The cemetery rules are such that we had to duplicate color and style. It was some challenge, but, the monument makers in Utah did a wonderful job.