Playing catch-up

Nothing great to share tonight, picture-wise. I'm not feeling great this week, and I'm restless and frustrated. I don't have the patience to sit on the computer and photoshop pictures. I'll post these SOOC shots from our walk tonight. They're tiger lillies: one of my favorite flowers.

Glimpses of the Dead

At the Jewish cemetery last week, I noticed that many of the headstones had these little pictures of the deceased.

Some were as recent as the mid-1960s


And some were much, much older.


I've seen pictures similar to this on a very small number of graves in other cemeteries, some even etched into the stone itself. I've thought before how much it makes one think about the person buried under the headstone seem so much more real. I can try to imagine what life was like for the people in these pictures. This woman, for example: I pictured her doing washing or taking care of her children.

In this cemetery the pictures seemed much more prevalent.

Here's the one I found most touching. Meet Constance.

Brotherly (and sisterly) Love

On our Saturday drive, we stopped briefly outside Evangola State Park. (As an aside, NY State Parks are kind of a crapshoot. While I'm sure they all have their nice points, we are mostly interested in certain things in a state park, and that's nature. We aren't looking for picnic areas or playgrounds. We want things like hiking trails and natural beauty. The thing is, NY State Parks charge admission....usually $6 or $7. That might get you the splendor and plethora of activities of an Allegany....or it might get you the craptasticness of a Lake Erie State Park. We don't know anything about Evangola but the location didn't look all that promising so we didn't shell out the admission fee. I'll check it out online sometime and maybe we'll stop by again.) Anyway, outside the state park we saw this bridge.

"Oh, what a beautiful location for a couple of pics of the kids," I thought.
You know what they say about the best laid plans, right? I got this shot but Liam was complaining that his feet were hurting from trying to stand on the little ledge.

Fine, we'll go to the end of the bridge, I thought. But someone had developed a strong case of the sillies.
Liam started sticking his tongue out in every shot. I'd fuss at him and he'd promise not to do it again.
Little bugger got me again!

And by this point both kids were cracking up...
and then Em had to get in on the act too.


So the shots I got weren't the shots I had envisioned...but they're much cuter anyway.

Summer Saturday, and a first for Liam

Yesterday we took a drive to NY. On the way back we stopped at a park in Dunkirk. The kids got to get out and run around on the playground while I looked for neat things to take pictures of. This park had a little skate park area. There were some boys there, so I asked if anyone minded if I took some pictures. They all ignored me...but then they started showing off. I got to practice some action shots with varying degrees of success.

And even big boys need a timeout once in a while.

As I was taking these pictures, I heard something I haven't heard in years and years: the sweet chimes of the ice cream truck!We NEVER see ice cream trucks in Erie. Would you believe Liam has never gotten ice cream from an ice cream truck? When I was a kid, the ice cream truck came down our street every afternoon. (Much to my mom's chagrin, I'm sure.)

So of course, we had to get an ice cream.
I can't think of the name of what Liam chose...I used to get them when I was a kid. It's sherbet in a plastic cone, with gum balls at the bottom. (Edited to add....It's a SCREWBALL! Thanks, Lou!) (For old time's sake, I had to get one too!)
Of course it was a hit. Something about the ice cream truck makes the treat taste even better.

The Jewish Cemetery

As I mentioned yesterday, I visited a local Jewish cemetery.

Erie doesn't have a very large Jewish population. There's only one other Jewish cemetery in town that I know of.

This location used to be almost rural, even in the last 15 years. Now there's a WalMart and a Sheetz, and the Harley Davidson dealership right next door.

It's not a huge cemetery, but once you get inside, it's so quiet it's hard to believe there's a busy intersection right outside the gates.

I'm familiar with the Jewish practice of placing a little rock on the headstone; I guess it's to show that someone has been to visit. I found it very touching to see this...

especially this one, with the little ladybug painted on it.

As I wandered around taking pictures, I noticed a couple of headstones far off in a corner of the cemetery, all alone.

Now, I have no idea why these gravesites were where they were, isolated in a lonely corner, but they were babies and children. 4 small stones. I left a rock on each of their stones.