It all started last August. We had some great friends come and visit us for a week. One of our activities was to go on a cemetery scavenger hunt at night. I supplied each team with a flashlight, a pen, a time limit, and a list of items to find. The only thing left for me to do was to find a cemetery where we wouldn't be disturbing anybody if we happened to screech.
It took me about a month of scattered searching; not for any lack of cemeteries, but because I was picky and enjoying the search. I finally settled on the "Old Bennington Cemetery."
-Now skip ahead to this week-
I enjoy reading the local obituaries- whether I know the individuals or not. (It was my sister Jane who started me reading them, and we'll assume she's to blame for any macabre tendencies.) This week I came across one that had me skipping. No, I'm not glad somebody died - no hate mail please.
Nellie was her name. She was born in the early 1900's and raised about ten miles from my home. The 'skipping' part? Nellie not only has the name of my favorite character in "Little House on the Prairie", she also attended church and school at the Old Bennington Cemetery!
I did not know the church used to have dual duty.
Why is this so important?
Because the picture below makes a whole lot more sense when you imagine a recess with kids outside playing, instead of just a stuffy old church yard.
-Ok, back to August-
We had a great time, despite the fact that the worst scare we suffered was a fear of stepping on unseen fire ant holes.
We wanted to document our fun, but it was a little too dark for pictures. Carol, my friend, and I had everybody step across the road where there was a farm/yard light on, ....in front of the church/schoolhouse.
We told the kids to give us a zombie/death like pose to help us remember our cemetery hunt.
They were tired of our motherly picture pestering. They'd had it all week. They halfheartedly complied with our request.
This is it:
Now look again. How many kids can you count? Go ahead, blow it up. Eight? Yes, me too. But I guarantee you there were only seven of ours being photographed.I'm thinking the one that looks see through, the one that looks like he's got bib overalls and a cap on, the one that Dani's zombie like pose happens to encircle- I'm thinking maybe he's Willie, and he was hoping the noise we all made meant Nellie (from the obit) had finally come back to play with him. And that with all that noise she'd brought along Mary and Laura too...
What a find, what a find.
Not convinced? Ok, I take it all back. Happy Early Halloween!
