Key West Cemetery 2015 (part two)

I had the opportunity in April of this year to do a trip to Florida and the Keys with Sid. As part of that trip we visited the Key West Cemetery, the place where Sid had photographed the enigmatic stone of the bound woman which appears in this blog.

Pensive angel

We actually visited the cemetery twice while we were in the area. The first day that we did it was very hot (well, actually both days were hot but that's not the point of the story). Being from the northern climes we had liberally slathered ourselves with sun screen, SPF 100, to protect our pasty skins from the sun's rays. Unfortunately for me the lotion that I had put on my face combined with the sweat of my brow and the resultant mixture ran into my eyes and they started to burn. It certainly put a damper on my enthusiasm for photographing the site that day. I was very glad that we came back.

A shady nook.

It has been said that a cemetery is like a town in itself, in fact this blog is called 'Cities of the Dead' for much the same reason. There are built up areas, suburbs, mansions and hovels, all connected by a network of roads and paths. And the trees are an integral part of that landscape.

Again, being from Canada, we were used to different species of trees and so many of them appear quite strange and beautiful.

So this particular city of the dead has it's rich sections, it's poor sections, even a military section, as well as dedicated areas for different religious faiths. The tombs and headstones also incorporate many different styles which too reflect the culturally diverse nature of the islands more lively inhabitants. The cemetery is a rich mixture of styles.

U.S.S. Maine memorial and gravesite.

This area is devoted to some of the sailors who perished in the explosion of the battleship U.S.S. Maine in Havana Harbor in 1898. One of the reasons that I put it here is that among all the American Flags that fill the plot, if you look, there is a single Union Jack flag at one of the stones.

Beaded angel.

I hesitate to use the expression 'carnival influence' because it might seem disrespectful but a few of the stones were draped or decorated with beads.

A rosary or such.

 And another example.

Ravages of time.

Because of the heat and the salt in the air the weathering of statuary created some interesting figures.

Melting angel.

Melting cherub.

As I was idly looking through the images that I had shot over the two days I saw something a that made me stop and take one of those hard looks at the image. I did a crop of the image (the original was a vertical shot and I cropped it horizontally) in order to put a bit more emphasis on it and added the shot to the blog at the end here. I have to admit that for some reason I got a bit of a creepy vibe.

The angel and the wasp nest.

Colin

Taber Hill, Scarborough

I did a little research to find out what 'unusual' burial sites might be close to me here in Scarborough (part of Toronto) that would be appropriate to include in this blog. I've done the small country cemeteries in the outlying areas but nothing from the metropolitan area (although I have photographed a couple of other locations). I did a bit of research and found out about this site, an ancient ossuary located in a park not far from where I live, and made a point of visiting it.

Through the trees to the top

There is the the hill of course, as the name implies, at the top of which sits a stone on a pedestal. Located just in front of it and a little to the side is a limb from a tree, one end embedded in the ground, with a single feather attached.

Stone and branch

Park, hill and stone sit in a well established housing subdivision. The details of the bone cache's discovery are on one of the two plaques which are affixed to the stone, the one facing west. I'll let you read it from the photograph.

West facing plaque

The plaque on the other side, facing east, has a prayer on it. I'll print the prayer here because it's a little difficult to read from the photograph itself.

Iroquois prayer

It says:

'O Great Spirit whose voice I hear in the winds and whose breath gives life to all the world, hear me. I am a man before you, one of your many children. I am small and weak. I need your strength and wisdom. Let me walk in beauty and make my eyes ever behold the red and purple sunsets. Make my hands respect the things you have made, my ears sharp to hear your voice. Make me wise so I may know the things you have taught my people, the lessons you have hidden in every leaf and rock. I seek strength, O Creator, not to be superior to my brothers, but to be able to fight my greatest enemy, myself. Make me ever ready to come to you with clean hands and straight eye, so that when life fades as the setting sunset, my spirit may come to you without shame.'

Very nice sentiments.

Taber Hill

And there's one other detail, and one that means no disrespect to the site or the people who are interred there. It appears that this is a great sledding hill in the winter time.

Colin

The Enigma - Key West Cemetery, 2014

Memorial statuary tends to fall into basic groups:  angels, Christs, cherubs, the occasional portrait, perhaps a dove, and so on.  But during my visit to Key West Cemetery, there was one statue that fell into none of the standard categories.

How did this unexpected nude, with its unusual position and flattened features, come to be in the cemetery? It stands over the grave of Archibald John Sheldon Yates, 1911 - 1966, whose gravestone lies in the centre of his shattered tomb.

The statue's weatherworn face is almost expressionless, but its tilted head and closed eyes project a sort of ecstasy - or is it suffering?  In retrospect, I cannot say if the statue's hands are bound or not, but their position appears to be one of bondage.

I suspect that some research online would reveal the story behind this figure, but I decided not to investigate.  Some mysteries are more satisfying when left unsolved.

- Sid