Deadscaping

On my recent trip to Oregon I came across a beautiful little cemetery. Ok, it really wasn’t beautiful. It was pretty dumpy actually. However it was very fascinating. I love cemeteries and find them very interesting places. Parks of the dead if you will. I love looking at the old sculptures and headstones. Finding odd little things growing around the place.
This headstone is one of the oddest that I’ve ever seen. The writing style is straight from the artist Gris Grimley (who I adore). No dates, no nothing. Just the name. Obviously very old. What an odd name to boot! Myrtle Grie.

This is moss from a tree growing in the cemetery. Most trees in Oregon are very very mossy. I thought it was interesting.

This is the other side of the same tree. Usually only Manzanita trees peel like that. This was not a Manzanita tree. I don’t know what it was. My son took great joy in flaking off some of the loose bark though. I love how it looks like it was formed from oozy lava.

This headstone was unique in it’s shape. I’ve never seen a diamond shape like that, especially one so old (1917). I also liked the hand-chiseled “mother” at the top.