May 2, 2012 New Orleans Graveyards

"A Summertime Graveyard" by Will T. Massey

In the summertime the graveyard
Is the coolest place to be
I know the names on every stone
By the widest wide oak tree

Mr. Ferguson's lady
She left town with April in the air
The last of her roses have blown away now
And the weeds look lonely there

Mr. and Mrs. Martinez
They have crosses side by side
In the shadow of the Smith monument
Pink granite, tall and wide

Thompson is the youngest here
Last autumn brought her name
And beneath it reads the passage
"The seasons pass, the love remains"

Time will take the golden leaves
Before the fall is through
I'd love to make some memories with you

I fell asleep out here last Saturday
I woke up with the sun going down
I climbed up in the wide oak
And looked out at the lights of town

And the hospital windows
Were the color of a harvest moon
As the darkness closed around them
I watched the delivery room

And I pictured some young Romeo
As a nurse stood in the frame
She held a newborn baby
And I wondered about his name

And I wondered when the seasons
Would carve his name in stone
And I wondered if he'd spend
His summertimes alone

Time will take the golden leaves
Before the fall is through
I'd love to make some memories with you

I guess my favorite conversations
Are with those who are asleep
They take me in their dreams
And I listen to them weep

And when the morning is a painter
With a lighter shade of blue
They turn their eyes to me
And then they fade from view

Time will take the golden leaves
Before the fall is through
I'd love to make some memories with you

Metairie Cemetery

I have always loved spending time in cemeteries. But I have never been in any as interesting as the ones in New Orleans. Luckily my cousin Laura also loves walking among the dead. So we spent all morning in Metairie Cemetery...once we found the very hard to find entrance under the highway.

Damn crawfish are everywhere in this city.

When it started to rain it was time for lunch, so my driver took me to the Brooklyn Pizzeria for a real New York slice or two. Then we headed to the French Quarter...but wait just a minute...what is this...

the oldest extant cemetery in New Orleans...it began in 1789...so we stopped at...

Saint Louis Cemetery No.1

This tomb is reported to be voodoo Queen Marie Laveau's final resting place. Visitors leave tokens when they ask her for favors.

After another hour or so in this cemetery, we walked through the art district on Julia Street. It began to rain again so we walked through the Riverwalk Marketplace.

 Here's a picture of me with my cousin...wait I might not be that cuddly.

I took this shot because I have seen this brand, Chrissy uses it to bread fish.

 We had a true New Orleans dinner at Jeff's house. His neighbor gave us five pounds of crawfish that he recently caught and had just boiled and another friend gave him homemade gumbo.

A tasty end to a great day.