Bonaventure...

(Photo: Lisa Erin Brown)

It had been several days since I had gone out for some photo taking time.  It is the times when I let several days pass without venturing into the outside world that I realize just how vital those therapeutic trips are to my sanity.  Not only do I go through much needed head clearings, I absorb the revitalizing energy of nature.

(Photo: Lisa Erin Brown)

Today's foray would involve a short trip to the Bonaventure Cemetery.  It is one of my two favorite cemeteries here in Savannah (the other being Laurel Grove).  Even though I have been to the Bonaventure several times, I always see something new, or see some of the same headstones and statues in a new way.  It being a weekday, I figured I would take advantage of the time before the weekend arrived as I figured it would be quite empty.  Of the living. It turned out to be just the opposite.  I passed several small groups of visitors, most seeming to be tourists from the brochures in their hands (they must have picked them up at the office by the main entrance), or by the way they collected around the more popular locations.

(Photo: Lisa Erin Brown)

The resting place of little Gracie, a.k.a. Little Gracie Watson, is a big tourist fave.  Her father managed a Savannah hotel called the Pulaski House in the late 1800's.  Gracie was a favorite of the guests.  She died in 1889 of pneumonia at the age of six.  One of the more famous Savannah natives buried in the Bonaventure is American lyricist, composer, and singer, Johnny Mercer.  Some of his well known pieces are "Moon River", "Black Magic", "Ac-cen-tchu-ate the Positive", and my personal favorite "Autumn Leaves".  I was going to pass his plot on my route, and planned to get some photos, but the "corporeal entities" hanging around were collecting there.  I took a detour.

(Photo: Lisa Erin Brown)

(Photo: Lisa Erin Brown)

Right next to Little Gracie is my favorite statue in the whole place.  An angel. Whenever I pass through the Bonaventure, I have to stop by and pay my respects.  Such a beautiful grave marker.  It seems that either family members, or someone else who holds the stone lady in high regard had visited prior.  There was a bunch of dried roses tied with a white ribbon in the statues hand. Two green glass 'stones' sat nearby.

(Photo: Lisa Erin Brown)

Leaving a stone at someones' resting place is common here in the South, and I am certain it is other places, as well.  I am told that the stone is supposed to be a family member or well wisher's 'calling card', so to speak.  It says that they had been by.

(Photo: Lisa Erin Brown)

The sun was quite bright as it was mid-afternoon, so there were several shots I would have liked to take, but the sun's rays in my eyes made framing anything pretty difficult.  On several, I had to just point, press the button, and hope for the best.  Amazingly enough, most turned out okay.

(Photo: Lisa Erin Brown)

Usually when I visit there I see quite a few squirrels scampering around, but today I heard wildlife more than I saw it.  Lots of rustlings in bushes and the collection of leaves and twigs littering the ground.  I did hear a woodpecker high up in a tree thudding out what sounded like Morse Code on the hard wood of the tree.

(Photo: Lisa Erin Brown)
(Some large gears on the remains of the old water works for the cemetery.)

The temperatures were in the mid-60's, so it was a really lovely day.  Had it been closer to 40, like it had been the previous few days, I still would have gone.  There is such an intense sense of peace and calm in a cemetery. Beauty can also be found there.  The older the cemetery the better.  That may sound odd to some, but I know that others know exactly what I mean.