History, Stones and Maples

Rock Ridge Cemetery Project

                 While tinkering with this cemetery project I had quite a lot of fun. Selecting a cemetery to be my subject took some time. I wanted to visit and report on a cemetery that had unique history. My first choice was a small, rather old cemetery in Vermont near located near some property my family owns. It stood out because the man who originally settled the land is buried there. Then I recalled another cemetery a bit further north in Vermont that would be very cool because Calvin Coolidge, the thirtieth president of the United Stated, is buried. That fact is interesting because he is not buried in Arlington National Cemetery. Finally, while I was explaining the project to my dad, he mentioned a cemetery right in Sharon that has a lot of local Civil War history, including the final resting place of Debra Sampson Gannet. Thus I decided on the cemetery I would visit. J

              The Rock Ridge Cemetery is located at 107 East St. Sharon Ma, 02048. I drove to the cemetery on a warm clear day getting there via Beach St in Sharon and had to take a detour around because one end of East St is closed for repairs. When I pulled into the cemetery I decided to look at the old section first and left my car there. The cemetery is medium to small in size surrounded on two sides by wooded wetlands that I later found out were called the Devil’s Brook wetlands. The remaining two sides ran along East St and Mountain St. The entire boarder of the Rock Ridge is surrounded by stone walls, the older style, made by taking rocks found the field and stacking them up to make a fence. I was unable to figure out for sure who runs the cemetery however; I believe that it is run by the township. The group in charge of placement seems to be the Sharon American Revolution Bicentennial Committee.

            The Landscape of the cemetery is amazing and gorgeous! Scattered throughout the area are maple trees that, with the season, all have bright red and yellow leaves. Many thousands of leaves have already fallen creating twelve inch high “leaf banks” which I observe a caretaker blowing to the side. Despite the humungous amounts of fallen leaves the trees stilled appeared full. The grass was well kept and the area around each marker was well manicured.

           Unfortunately, I have to stop blogging for now; however, I will try diligently to post more in a few hours. I have so much more to share plus I have lots of pictures to display. More to come! J   

Neither Created Nor Destroyed

The Oxford Book of Death

by

D. J. Enright

"It is indeed impossible to imagine our own death; and when we attempt to do so we can perceive that we are in fact still present as spectators. Hence the psycho-analytic school could venture on the assertion that at bottom no one believes in his own death, or, to put the same thing another way, that in the unconscious every one of us is convinced of his own immortality(153-154)(Freud as cited by Enright).

This theory is interesting because it brings into light the question of do we actually experience ultimate death with our mind or are we simple observing the death of our flesh while the mind is set apart. Class discussion, textual material and my own near death experience have me leaning towards the second possibility. If that is true and the mind is separate from the body and continues to exist, in theory, after the body dies, it could indicate that that conscious beings do not actually die, and their mind at least is immortal. There are a lot of directions that this could take, for example, matter can neither be created nor destroyed so is it possible that the mind is matter? Or is it something else entirely. 

The Sun and Moon

The Sacred Art of Dying

By Kenneth Kramer

                The Chinese attitude towards death pays particular attention to the correlation between creation and death. Basically, the principle is that before there is even creation death is a part of it. This quote sums it up well:

                  “…contained within the beginning is the not-yet-beginning-to-be-a-beginning

         nature of creation, to say nothing of not-yet-beginning-to-be-non-being, In this

         sense, true beginning is beginningless, and birth already contains its opposite, death(81).

The founder of these beliefs, Lao Tzu called these ideas Tao or the way. Tao is described as being formed yet formless, absent of sound and void yet it is still referred to as the mother of all. It should be observed that Tao is merely a name for something that is devoid of a name(82).

This attitude is also where we find the concept of Yin and Yang. According to text Yin and Yang are opposites of each other yet they are intermingled. Not only are they intermingled, however, they are thought to reflect the “anatomy” of the soul.

            Yin                                  Yang

 is thought to be the moon                            is thought to be the           

 it represents:                                                Sun it represents:                                                                

“1. Negative charge                                                          “1. Positive charge

2. Earth (matter, mother)                                                    2. Heaven (aspiration)

3. Night                                                                             3. Day

4. Female                                                                          4. Male

5. Receptive, yield                                                             5. Active, aggressive

6. Soft (the river)                                                               6. Hard (the river bank)

7. Cold (moist)                                                                  7. Hot (dry)

8. Immediacy                                                                     8. Transcendence

9. Spontaneity, flow                                                           9. Discipline, order

10. Death"(84)                                                                 10. Life"(84)

The Last Day With My Sister

       My older sister, Marcie is always in, what could be, her last day. She has been since the day she was born. She is twenty now. Despite the uncertainty of her life my sister still lives life as best as she can. In the last decade or so my sisters eyes have slowly degenerated and her beautiful blues jewels have slowly closed to her. The lack of a visual window to her world has not held her back; rather she widened her other abilities, namely, her ears, her voice and her exploring fingers.

          Marcie cannot speak in a way that most could understand, never the less she does talk, sing and whisper to those around her. If it were possible to know exactly what day would be Marcie’s last, I would rise early. Extremely early, as Marcie’s internal clock can be skewed sometimes. I would help her dress and give her breakfast--- Marcie eats formula through a G-tube--- and afterward I would help her into her wheelchair---- Marcie cannot walk. I would then take her to a church--- it does not matter what denomination all that matters is that it has amazing acoustics. If possible I would then play the piano for her because she loves hearing my siblings practice. Did I mention that Marcie’s immediate family would be there with us? Our dad would play his acoustic guitar, our little sister would sing and play the piano with me, our younger brother would practice A Cappella while our mom would coach. Meanwhile, our older brother would blow up a few bicycle tires--- a noise that Marcie finds hilarious. Then very quietly, Marcie would periodically emit a little noise--- testing the acoustics--- then she would get louder and would begin singing along with the music and noise around her. And that is how we would spend Marcie’s last day; intermittent with reading aloud from fantasy books.

          Also there would have to be some animals ---- our pets---- for her to hold and feel; our goat Budderfinger (yes that is how it is spelled); our sheep, Trillium; our two dogs, Edgar and Chipper; our guinea pig, Izzie, and a few of our chickens.     

              

Over Seas, Alone, a small Child

The Oxford Book of Death

By D.J. Enright

“At the hour shaped for him Scyld departed,

The many-strengthed moved into his Master’s keeping.

They carried him out to the current sea,

His sworn arms-fellows, as he himself had asked
while he wielded by his words, Ward of the Scyldings,

Beloved folk-founder; long had he ruled.

A boat with a ringed neck in the haven,

Icy,out-eager, the aetheling’s vessel,

And there they laid out their lord and master,

Dealer of wound gold, in the waist of the ship,

In majesty by the mast.

A mound of treasures

From far countries was fetched aboard her,

With the weapons of a warrior, war accoutrement,

Bills and byrnies; on his breast were set

Treasures and trappings to travel with him

On his far faring into the flood’s sway.

This hoard was not less great than the gifts he had

From those who sent him, on the sill of life,

Over seas, alone, a small child.

High over head they hoisted and fixed

A gold signum; gave him to the flood,

Let the seas take him, with sour hearts

And mourning moods. Men have not the knowledge

To say with any truth--- however tall beneath the heavens,

However much listen to--- who unloaded that boat (131-132)

~Beowulf (c.720) (as cited in Enright)

               Examining this text truly drags into view how changed our death rituals have changed; and unfortunately, it does not appear to have changed for the better. In the time of Beowulf, the entire village would hike to the water’s edge to say goodbye to someone they knew and loved. Everyone was able to say their goodbyes to the one who left them behind and the grieving process was allowed to proceed with its natural course, for the most part. When we flip forward to our own time, when soul departs, a minimal tribute as possible is paid to the departed. The grieving process it nearly elimimated and mourners have little or no opportunity to reach closure, to say goodbye. We do our best to terminate all aspects of death from our lives--- with very negative results. What changed? Why did death become a shame?

I honor of this week’s chapter “Graveyards and Funerals” in the Oxford Book of Death, and the fact that All Hallows Eve is in a matter of days, I have a cool link that I found containing some curious articles of famous grave sites in New England.

http://www.boston.com/travel/explorene/specials/halloween/galleries/famous_new_england_gravesites/

   

Dye With Peace; Dye With Beauty

The Sacred Art of Dying

By Kenneth Kramer

            The concept of Tibetan attitudes towards death left me with a clearer picture than did Zen. As stated in the book, death in the eyes of Tibetan Buddhism, “It is the reverse of the process of birth” (76). When an individual is at the moment of death, the individual must dwell with proper thoughts as it is believed that mental condition of a person at death (angry, stressed, happy, cheerful, etc.)has a great probability of being retained after death. At the moment of death, according to the Book of the Dead, the individual must practice the “ ‘Ejection of Consciousness’ in which the dying person: (a)keeps a pure mind, clear of earth-bound distractions, (b) visualizes a seated Buddha over her or his head, surrounded by a rainbow arch, (c) feel the self in the presence of an enlightened being, (d) visualizes consciousness as a ball of fire in the abdomen which then rises up the spine until it leaves the top of the head, and (e) experiences self-consciousness mixing with the mind of the enlightened being like water mixing with water(75-77). This process of dying surrounds the moment of death with peace and beauty, discouraging a negative outlook of the passing of a life.

Your Soul is Screaming; Shut-Up and Listen

Success build to Last

By

Jerry Porras, Stewart Emery, and  Mark Thompson

“Successful people told us that they’ve been given far fewer reasons to follow their dreams than reasons they should abandon them”(87).

                  There is always a reason not to succeed; those motivations are always much easier aluring than the alternative, dedicating one’s self to the trials and tribulations that crop up when attempting to earning true success. The tactic to withstanding the difficulties leading to success is a matter of finding the one or two reasons why that goal means so much to you and never leaving sight of those reasons. It is also a matter of holding on for dear life! Working towards your own personal form of success is additionally challenging because there are always other people who do not want you to succeed for one reason or another, reasonable or not. In order to achieve your own goals sometimes you have to put what you want before what others want whether it be for you or for themselves.

             In Porras’ Success Built to Last, they present four deviously ensnaring traps that can prevent you from following and/or achieving your goal(s). They are as follows:

·         “Trap #1: It’s Not Considered a Worthy Career”---- Society today is all about success (the five minute of fame kind) and it makes it very difficult to pursue certain goals, especially if they do not have overnight “success” in the very for-seeable future. In this trap you can also be your own worst enemy; it is an excuse which shields your worries about your own abilities (89).

·         “Trap #2: Bright Shiny Objects for Our Driveways, Resumes, and Ring Fingers”---- Much to my chagrin these things are what matter in the world. It really disturbs me that these “Bling” items and their obtain-ability or lack thereof is obsession for so many. There are only so many times you can fix a car. The more on your resume appears great, however, did you actually do those things for the right reasons, and with the deserved dedication? Is all that holds your relationship together your significant others salary? Should not the motivations that get you up in the morning drive a little deeper in to your heart (90)?

·         “Trap #3: The Seduction of Competence”---- We all want to please others; however, this can stifle our dreams and we end up living the dreams of other people. Some individuals might tell you that your idea is a bad one and propose one that they think is better. It may or may not be so, however, if you end up rejecting your dream for their approval then a part of you will eventually die. The text sums it up well, “Do you care more about being loved than being what you love?” Sometimes you just have to do something that only makes since to you. (94-95)

·         “Trap #4: The ‘Tyranny of the OR’”---- Either this or that; those are the only options which the majority of people believe they can consider. The general populous generally choose to proceed and only serve others. True, society would be in a bad way is this did not occur, but, why the OR? Why can we not say AND? Truth is we can. If you really follow your dreams they will typically, in some way, serve others while they cater to your personal needs; your souls silent scream. (101)