Some Unexpected Tombstoning Surprises

I've been Tombstone Chronicling for several years now. During family genealogy research I came upon the FindAGrave (the site is also referred to as FAG - one of the only times that word is acceptable) website. Their goal is to chronicle with a picture (and any bio that can be added) each and every tombstone in America - actually they're going for chronicling the entire world.

Hmmm, I thought, we have graveyards around here that are older than dirt, some of them totally neglected, and with tombstones that are becoming unreadable because they're either disintegrating, sinking into the ground, being absorbed by a tree, or worst of all, vandalized, and most of them haven't been photographed. Considering I also love to walk outdoors, particularly in cemeteries (it might sound odd, but don't knock it till you try it - it's so very peaceful), I realized this would be a great new thing to get involved with. So I did, and still do.
I've been able to do photo requests for several people of their ancestors and have found numerous of my ancestors. It's neat to finally see the tombstone of a gggg grandparent buried in West Virginia when you live in CT and there's little chance you'll ever be in that gggg's cemetery!

Sometimes when you go tombstoning, the unexpected will happen. Just once, I made the mistake of not wearing long pants and socks. After getting over the worst case of poison ivy I've had in a long time, even if it's 100º outside, fully covered I always am! (Actually, I'm now a fair weather tombstone photographer - I'll never be out there in that kind of weather again.)

 And then there was the time when I stepped backward to get a better camera angle. My foot went right into a hole. A small and very deep hole. Imagination kicked in and I knew the dead were pulling me under. Never in history has a 50ish, not in shape and not at her ideal weight (don't ask) gotten out of a hole faster. You would have thought the leg not stuck in the hole up to it's knee was a giant spring. I must have leaped at least 5 feet straight up in the air! It took a good 10 minutes for my heart to return to normal.

Yesterday, among the tombstones, I met a bug:

To take a picture of the larger tombstone, I pulled the smaller one forward.

There was a small beetle where the protective shade of the smaller stone had been.

I just love my new macro camera (thanks mom!). A tiny (about 1/2" long) beetle can be photographed up close and personal so all the world can see just how beautiful he really is. And yes, I put the smaller stone back just as it was and left Sir Beetle to do whatever it is that beetles do. BTW, that's a false potato or horse nettle beetle.

~~~

xoabb

*Update from my gardening parents:
Those lovely flowers from yesterday's post are
~Scilla Siberica~ or ~Siberian Squill~