Kremlin and I went on an abortive geohashing mission last week, and along the way, we hit Hillcrest Cemetery. I’m always intrigued by how things shift and change over time in a space like a cemetery, so it was nice to amble through again, although it was disturbing to note the intensity of damage to graves in the area. I would like to imagine that all of the broken headstones were damaged accidentally or in storms, but there are a surprising number, and that seems to suggest vandalism.
I like that this man has tools on his headstone. It’s quite unique, for this cemetery at any rate, and it makes me think that he was probably the kind of person I would have liked to know. It’s a bit hard to see in this scaled down image, but the carving details of ivy and flowers around the sides are also quite lovely.
Lily of the valley on a 19th century headstone.
This is a grave in the fenced area of the cemetery which holds some of the founding families of Mendocino. I’m kind of surprised that the Kelley House Museum people aren’t keeping up these graves. This ivy is going to start to cause serious damage in a few years.
Footstones heaped against a headstone. I guess footstones aren’t really in vogue these days, but I kind of like them.
More headstone-devouring ivy.
I am very intrigued by this carving detail, but I don’t know what it represents. The grave is Portuguese…if anyone know what’s going on here, I would love to know about it.
And, finally, an interesting twist on the phrasing of the old “God have mercy on his soul.”
