Soccer Balls Go To Heaven

There's not too much to say about today. It seems as we get closer to heading home, the days get shorter. I feel relaxed, happy to be where I am at this moment and wishing the clock weren't ticking so damn loudly in my ear.

But we have today, right? And a few more adventures on the way. Leaving Sheri and Jess (and Oliver and Petunia) will totally suck -- don't get me wrong -- but I have a feeling we'll be back to see them soon.

We visited with Sheri until about ten before setting off toward Montpelier, Vermont's capitol. We stopped in Barre first to see the place that our friend, Judy, from the Nantucket ferry recommended: Hope Cemetery. It was an absolute riot.

As stone masons flocked to the area, drawn by the granite industry, this became their final resting place ... and a gallery of sorts to showcase their talent. Many were Italian, evident in the intricately carved names on the stones, some in beautiful script that I've seen nowhere but here. You get the sense, without even looking at the dates, from looking at the art deco style that quite a few of those buried here were interred in the 1920s. And in many cases, the sculptors actually carver their own tombstones.

Since we enjoyed it so much, and there are way more pics that you actually need to see rather than hear about, I'm treating you to a photographic tour.

This one gets to be first, because I love sailing, and you need some good background music to listen to while looking at the rest of these pics.







For that eternal love of sports. Let him take his passion with him to the grave. But really, it's the quote on the ball: "There is no room for second place. There is only one place and that's first place."














This one must have been done by  the sculptor in advance of his death. As you'll note, a woman is depicted coming in to find a man slumped over, eyes closed. She cradles him in her arms, clearly impacted by this great loss. See close up for more detail. My proposed title for this piece: "How My Wife Will React When She Finds My Lifeless Body."

And in case your music ran out, this musical selection is aimed at the next stone.

I find this one just plain creepy. I can't help it. They look like they are laying in bed, and this is above their final resting place. Pun not amusing.

Dale Earnhardt? Ok, fine ... maybe that wasn't funny.

More music, while you look at this and ponder the chains forged in life, which cannot be broken in death. Which, of course, makes me think of this.

Below, just because anytime you go to a cemetery, you never really get to know what the guy buried there looks like. Or how nice his 'stache was.

Biplanes are just cool.

Because having an oil tanker on your tombstone is sweet.


Finally, the piece de resistance, ruled best in show by both Gram and I due to the inherent practicality: The Old Arm Chair.

Mom, that one's for you. It's the song Great-Grandma Inch used to sing. Gram just about fell off her chair when I found it.