Saturday, April 7, 2012

The Graveyard

I took these photos at the Waverley Cemetery last weekend. It lies on prime real estate in the Eastern suburbs of Sydney. It's an amazing place.



For more inspiration on the sights, smells, tastes etc of graveyards, go here to the Bookshelf Muse.


Do graveyards freak you out, or are they fascinating places? Would you walk through one at night?

Note: I’ve prescheduled some of these posts for the A-Z Challenge because I'm away from the computer over Easter. I won’t be able to do my usual blog visits, but when I get back I’ll visit everyone who has left a comment.

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30 comments:

Kyra Lennon said...

Graveyards definitely freak me out, but there is something so beautiful about those photos!

Unknown said...

Lynda, I love this post. Graveyards fascinate me, especially the old ones with tombstones from, like, the 18th and 19th centuries. Once, when The Hubby and I were shopping for land, we came across one encircled by fleur de lis spiked wrought iron fencing, complete with this enormous iron gate. Looked like something out of a movie, it was so amazing. Vines everywhere, HUGE weeping willows. Just...awesome.

Funny thing when I read this post, I thought about my BFF. When we were in high school, she held her breath every time we passed a graveyard. ;)

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

That second shot is amazing! Right by the beach - great location.
Graveyards don't bother me. Just bodies and tombstones - the souls have moved on.

Luanne G. Smith said...

That's a beautiful shot with the angel's wings against the water. I couldn't resist taking a few photos of a tiny graveyard in Wales too. Something about the weather and the dark headstones said "do it."

Happy Easter.

Unknown said...

Wow, overlooking the water? Nice. How beautiful...for a graveyard.

Unknown said...

Whenever I visit a graveyeard I always look for the oldest headstone I can find. It's amazing the kind of history that is open for everyone to see.


Jamie
Fellow A-Z bloggy buddy
Mithril Wisdom

Tonja said...

They are fascinating to me as an adult. I wonder about everyone's story.

Jackie Jordan said...

I don't know about loitering in a graveyard - creepy - but my favorite forest is right behind my house. Our gated community is surrounded by dense woods. It's an adventure in itself trudging through this forest and seeing wildlife in this natural habitat.

Unknown said...

The year I lived in Paris, I often visited the Père Lachaise cemetery. Do they freak me out? No. Would I walk in one at night? Yes.

Kela McClelland said...

Wow those pictures are lovely. Cemeteries are not so bad, I would and have walked in one at night.

Nick Wilford said...

Enjoy your Easter break!

I'm not freaked out by cemeteries. I've walked through the one near my childhood home at night many times. It's fascinating reading some of the little snippets of information on the headstones. Actually George Harrison is buried in that one - not the Beatle, this one died in about 1845.

Carol Riggs said...

Very neat photos! I really like the flower in the foreground of the one. I'm not too freaked, though I definitely think they'd be creepier at night! (no thanks)

Mary Aalgaard said...

Fascinate and inspire. I love reading inscriptions on tombstones and imagining the stories behind those names. That is a gorgeous setting for a cemetary.

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Rachna Chhabria said...

Great photos, Lynda. I feel spooky when I see graveyard pics. But your pics are not freaking me out.

Golden Eagle said...

Nice pictures!

I'd be nervous walking through a graveyard at night. Mostly because the ones around here have signs that say "Closed from dawn to dusk" and I'd hate to get caught there. :P

Joanne said...

Graveyards are fascinating to me but only in the day time. At night they are a bit creepy and spooky. :) What a wonderful place to be buried - with a seaview!

anthony stemke said...

Graveyards do not freak me out. In New Orleans, they have very interesting graveyards, most are above ground because of the sea level.
Happy Easy Lynda.

Jemi Fraser said...

That yellow flower in the first one is perfect!

vic caswell said...

i loved the second one soooo much and the concept of the first was genius!
i love cemeteries, the older the better!

Su said...

They don't freak me out at all! I've never really had occasion to go through one after dark, although I used to hear stories of graveyards being the site of teenage pranks at night, so I might not for that reason. Of course, this could all be local myth.

Love the pics!

Sarah Tokeley said...

I love graveyards, so much history.

Theresa Milstein said...

I used to hold my breath because when I was very young and on a field trip, the bus passed by a giant cemetery in NYC, and one of the students said you had to or you'd die. I was suspicious, but decided to hedge my bet. Since then, I thought of them as creepy. But Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book reminded me that the outside world is scarier.

Jarm Del Boccio said...

I love graveyards...for their beautiful tombstones and mausoleums. We found gorgeous ones in Buenos Aires dedicated to Evita. See the photos here: Http://4ambassadorsofchrist.blogspot.com/2012/02/evitas-buenos-aires.html#links

Loree Huebner said...

Graveyards are full of history. We have an old one near us. Hubby and I take a walk through it now and then.

Suze said...

Graveyards don't freak me out, at all. There is always something to intrigue and give one pause to reflect. I actually enjoy visiting them. That shot of the statuary over the water is breathtaking.

Callie Leuck said...

I love that second picture.

I like graveyards, especially the old ones. There's so many interesting stories, you just know it. I'm not too keen on them at night, though. Too many fantasy stories.

Betty Alark said...

Beautiful pictures!

I adore cemetaries! One of my favorite places to hang out. Its like walking thru a gallery!

I've never walked thru one at night since most of them that I've been to - close at sundown; however, I wouldn't be afraid to do so!

It's a perfect place to think, talk aloud; birds hangout there; and the stones are so fascinating to look at!

Random said...

Nice pictures. I *so* want to visit some cemeteries in other countries.

To answer your question, I find cemeteries to be fascinating places. I've taken hundreds (maybe thousands) of photos in them. And yes, I would definitely walk through one at night, preferably during a full moon!

Nancy Thompson said...

Graveyards are cool places to visit if you dig history, which I do. Seattle has an awesome one.

J.L. Campbell said...

Your graveyards look nicely organized and maintained. Most of the ones here are overgrown with bushes and you wouldn't want to venture near them at night.