Happy Halloween!

Mushrooms = Cannibalism?

A question was posed to me in last week's post about Cemetery Mushrooms.

You don't eat any of them, do you?

So I started thinking.... if a person were to eat mushrooms grown in the cemetery would that make that person a cannibal?

Graveyard Mushrooms

The rainy summer has brought forth a plethora of fungi. I have found some lovely specimens amid the headstones in the woods.

Roadtrip ~ Florissant Pioneer Cemetery

Florissant Pioneer Cemetery is located a few miles to the southeast of the town of Florissant. The town was originally a Ute Trading Post and had a post office as early as 1873. The cemetery was incorporated in 1874 and was one of the first in the Pikes Peak backcountry.

This cemetery is located on rolling terrain immediately to the east of the Florissant Fossil Beds. The oldest section of the cemetery is located on the top of a knoll immediately after entering the gate. The newer graves sites - it is still in use - are located down the hill. It is a beautiful location with tall pines and aspen as well as wildflowers.

Unfortunately, many of he headstones have been damaged and repaired (like the one above). While others are still missing pieces. The Pikes Peak Historical Society maintains the cemetery and does what it can to repair the tombstones. 

Ghostly Singles

Are you tired of Haunting alone? 

Has the fun vanished from those midnight wanderings in the cemetery?

Well, Ghost Singles is the place for you!

At Ghost Singles you can meet others from the ethereal plane just like yourself!

Find yourself a date for that Seance! Or just chat with someone of like interests - chain-rattling! walking through walls! scaring the pi$$ out of someone!

So don't attend the Hallowe'en Party alone this year! Go to Ghost Singles and find your perfect Spirit!

all images courtesy of Magickal Graphics

Roadtrip - Odds-n-Ends

Rocky Mountains in May

Interesting Tree Root

Vine covered Telephone Pole

Roadtrip ~ Pioneer Cemetery

As all of you Faithful Readers out there know, no trip for Hubby & I would be complete without a visit to the local cemetery.

And Pioneer Cemetery which rests on a hill overlooking Glenwood Springs is a very special cemetery. 

It is the resting place for Harvey A. Logan a.k.a Kid Curry who was a member of Butch Cassidy's gang. 
And for Doc Holliday's gravestone.

No one knows for sure where John Henry Holliday a.k.a. Doc Holliday of OK Corral fame, is buried. But a memorial to this famous gunslinger has been erected and many people leave a token for him. Hubby had a bit of a smoke with Ol' Doc. And they talked about playing poker.

Heading up the trail toward the cemetery felt more like a pilgrimage than a hike. It was quite the trek up the hill!  

There was even a tree festooned with ribbons and flags alongside the trail.

Many of the headstones we saw were newer - the originals having become part of the landscape around us. 

The grave markers we see only represent some of the deceased buried here on this site. These are the remains of the hard working-class pioneers who's hands built Glenwood Springs. They were a multi-racial workforce of immigrants and recently freed slaves and others who came to love this land. Some are unknown.

Many of the names we saw were of children. 

And the years 1918 - 1922 were a common thread amongst many of the names we read.

Epitaph not written in English.

Pioneer Cemetery is nice. A beautiful view and a nice old growth of trees give the residents a pleasant resting spot. I could have spent more time there.

Woodmen of the World ~ Pt. 2

When the Woodmen of the World organization first came into being, it was not limited to just the United States. The organization could also be found in Canada. Though it's members were concentrated mainly along the Eastern section of the country.

At the time of the organization's birth, the Victorian Rustic Movement was at its peak. This era gave birth to the idea of cemeteries as a place for families to picnic and enjoy the out-of-doors. Cemeteries were now planned 'subdivisions' incorporating trees, flowers, benches, and nicer looking gravestones. Tree stump grave markers were now becoming popular in these new 'resting spots'.

Victorian era Gravestone - Georgetown Cemetery

W.O.W.  adopted the tree stump design for the headstones that were included with the life insurance policy which was purchased by a member. A fitting memorial to a member of the organization. 

W.O.W. designed a four to five foot tall monument, sometimes with branches and sometimes without, for adults and a stacked log design for children.  Sometimes branches were 'broken' off the monuments as family members died. 

This mother and her two children were killed in an avalanche - Central City Masonic Cemetery

The headstones would include depictions of W.O.W. relics - a maul and wedge, an axe, a dove holding an olive branch, or ivy vines and the inscription, "Here rests a Woodmen of the World". The word "rests" was used because Woodmen do not lie. 

A copy of the W.O.W. design would be sent to the local stone carver in the hometown of the deceased member. The gravestones were usually carved from limestone, but specimens of native rock were sometimes used. Quite often the local stone carver would incorporate his own designs onto the tree stump. Thus creating slight differences of pattern. 

When a W.O.W. member died, the local lodge would have a 'remembrance ceremony'.The members would march to the cemetery where the headstone would be unveiled and dedicated.

An important part in the early years of W.O.W. was the creed, "no Woodmen shall rest in an unmarked grave." And even though the tombstones were discontinued in the 1920's due to the cost, W.O.W. still follows that creed.