Where is Rex?

     Today, the dog and I went on a small road trip to the Evergreen Cemetery in Manchester to take a requested photo for findagrave.com. It has been a very dry winter so far, and what is usually a very lush and green cemetery is very brown and overgrown :-(  The local community cleans up the cemetery every June, but to me, that is not often enough.  It is obvious which plots are being taken care of (it is strange to see the plots of relatives of people I know from town.)

     One of the few things that I do not like about cemeteries is the amount of infants and children that are buried there.  Luckily infant mortality is not a common as 100 years ago.  It is heartbreaking to see families who have a lot of children that did not live five years.  (One family here has five infants, none of whom lived longer than a week.)

     I found "Rex's Twin" just across from where I was taking my photo.  I looked throughout the plot, and did not see "Rex."  (If he were still alive he would be near 100 years old).  Often with infant grave markers (that do not have a name listed) it will say Infant LAST NAME  or Beloved Child of NAME OF PARENTS.  I have never seen a grave marker like this one.  No name, simply Rex's Twin.

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Facing my cemetery fears...

Very few things about cemeteries "scare" me. I am not afraid of ghosts or demons or orbs or anything "of a spiritual nature." I am afraid of: snakes, spiders, anything creepy and crawly. I was at the cemetery in Manchester, California yesterday when I spotted the grave in the above picture. (The quality is not that great--sorry). I would never had noticed it, for the entire plot of overgrown, and the photo is taken through a "hole" in an overgrown mass of plants and ivy.
I was looking for a specific marker (for findagrave.com) and knew that I had to crawl in there to see if it was the grave I was looking for (it was not). Keep in mind that the ivy was at least two feet deep, and heaven knows what was living in it. (Shiver).
Once inside, it was like being in a BEAUTIFUL forest. Although the entire space was only 10X10, it was the most peaceful plot I have ever been in. Then I took this photo:

I know that it is crooked, but I was waiting to be attacked by whatever was making the ivy its home. The names of their children is inscribed on the back, but it had a HUGE yellow slug crawling on it, and since I believe in leaving things as I find them, I left it!
I did make it out alive. I am sure that in a few years, the "jungle" will overtake this grave. I will try and keep the "opening" open, and will brave the space again.
Thankfully I was able to find the marker I was looking for...on the other side of the cemetery!
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Where everybody knows your name

I love small town cemeteries. Odd Fellows Cemetery is located in Point Arena, California. Point Arena today has less than 500 residents, and has a cemetery with one of the most beautiful views of the ocean. (If I were to be buried here, my tombstone would say (I finally got my ocean front / view property!)

Despite being such a small town, I have been able to find soldiers killed from all of the 20th Century wars. (Including World War 1). It is hard to imagine the grief a small town must have to have one of their own killed overseas.

The next town over is Manchester. It has a population of less than 150, and a very small cemetery Evergreen.

Two weeks ago they had a volunteer effort to clean up Evergreen. (Mostly gardening was needed). The last time I was there, I took the above photo. The McMullens are buried next to their FIVE infants. I can not imagine the grief of having all five of your children die in infancy.

It is touching when a community comes together to take care of their local cemetery. Especially when the number of cemetery residents outnumber the living city residents!

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