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This is a very good year for hostas locally, but driving past at speed I had not managed to capture a photo, which is how we took a detour and ended up – at the cemetery.
There were no hostas, but we always enjoy the trees.
It is not a particularly elegant cemetery, but it is at the top of a steep hill and very peaceful so we stop by occasionally.
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Remembering that this name is used in England as an exclamation…
I looked it up.
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This is James Gordon Bennett who was born in Banffshire, Scotland in 1795 and emigrated to the USA, becoming a journalist and eventually founding the New York Herald. By all accounts he was an interesting fellow.
Perhaps even an ancestor of the gentleman who died on my 50th birthday.
After all, one of the Gordon Bennett’s enterprises was sponsoring hot-air balloon races and Cambridge has an annual hot-air balloon festival. I must find out if there is a connection!
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The trees are quite wonderful.
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Standing beneath them feels comforting.
Maybe because they represent shelter?
I couldn’t help noticing a trio of much younger trees.
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And Grant noticed a squirrel running off with something large in its mouth.
What was it?
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It turned out to be a pine cone and as we looked about, we could see that squirrels had been having quite a feast.
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Mosquitoes began to feast on us, so we returned to the car.
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On the hill Grant spotted some extraordinary mushrooms but squinting at them, I decided they were not real and got out to check.
They were some sort of memorial.
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The only flower I found that day was our sweet Lily.
And she would certainly do.
That looks like a peaceful spot to be laid to rest, under those trees. I can see why you stopped there. The mosquitoes would also have driven me away though.
Best wishes, Pete.
That’s quite an attractive place to spend eternity, communicating with all the trees!
Thank you so much, Carolyn, for the interesting post! I love this beautiful place, and if I were living close by, that would be my final place of rest. The trees are magnificent, and having squirrels playing about, a bonus. I love your research on the history of Gordon Bennett, indeed an interesting man.
Joanna
There are so many similarities between the Gordon Bennett you know from the internet and the man with the same name on the grave … my husband would have said: “Just connecting the dots” 😉. Beautiful trees – I especially like the three next to each other.