Where Poppies Grow

Beloved Wife & Mother

2011-05-26T10:34:00.001-06:00

Beloved Wife & Mother, a photo by daisytrench on Flickr.

Constance L

2011-05-15T17:25:00.002-06:00

Sacred Heart of Mary, Boulder, Colorado

Raymond and Constance Boyd

2011-05-08T14:27:00.000-06:00

Sacred Heart of Mary, Boulder, Colorado

Herrin Butterfly

2010-09-02T14:58:00.002-06:00

City of Lafayette cemetery

Girl in Cemetery

2010-06-01T09:13:00.000-06:00

City of Lafayette Cemetery, Lafayette, Colorado

Constance Louise

2010-05-10T10:17:00.005-06:00

Jim went with me to visit my mother on Mother's Day.

Robert Edward Stanaway

2009-05-09T20:53:00.002-06:00

This gravestone was made by renowed glass artist Robin Stanaway for her father Bob Stanaway. Green Mountain Cemetery, Boulder, Colorado

Trembath

2009-05-08T08:49:00.002-06:00

Red, white and blue in the city of Lafayette cemetery, Colorado

Kordouni Tulips

2009-04-22T08:19:00.000-06:00

Green Mountain Cemetery, Boulder, Colorado

O'Hara

2009-04-21T12:40:00.001-06:00

Green Mountain Cemetery, Boulder, Colorado

Toy Airplane

2009-04-13T17:45:00.001-06:00

City of Lafayette cemetery, Lafayette, Colorado

Wall of Names

2009-04-13T17:32:00.000-06:00

City of Lafayette cemetery, Lafayette, Colorado

Crown of Victory

2009-04-08T15:49:00.002-06:00

Patterson

2007-09-17T16:25:00.003-06:00

City of Lafayette Cemetery, Lafayette, Colorado

Sentinal

2007-04-19T14:37:00.000-06:00

A stone in Green Mountain Cemetery silently looks down on Boulder Valley.

Robin

2007-04-19T14:36:00.000-06:00

Robins hop here and there among the gravestones of Green Mountain Cemetery in Boulder, Colorado.

Dear Grandma

2007-04-19T14:30:00.000-06:00

Nordstrom

2006-12-12T13:07:00.002-07:00

Bove

2006-12-12T13:07:00.001-07:00

Wife and Daughter

2006-07-25T17:46:00.000-06:00

City of Lafayette Cemetery, Colorado

Stone Drapery

2006-07-12T17:31:00.000-06:00

Sacred Heart of Mary, Louisville, Colorado

Magic Potion

2006-07-08T14:54:00.000-06:00

I love the way the rust colored moss seems to rise out of the potion jar. Sacred Heart of Mary, Boulder, Colorado

B for Boyd

2006-07-08T14:52:00.001-06:00

My mother's gravestone. Sacred Heart of Mary, Boulder, Colorado

Red Tulip I

2006-07-04T16:23:00.000-06:00

Green Mountain Cemetery, Longmont, Colorado

Red Tulip II

2006-07-04T16:22:00.000-06:00

Green Mountain Cemetery, Longmont, Colorado

Death Card: Osho Zen Tarot

2006-07-04T16:21:00.000-06:00

Drapery

2006-06-30T17:45:00.000-06:00

Green Mountain Cemetery, Longmont, Colorado.

The Raven Brings Messages from the Underworld

2006-06-30T17:44:00.000-06:00

Green Mountain Cemetery, Longmont, Colorado.

Playgroup

2006-06-30T17:43:00.000-06:00

Cemetery, City of Lafayette, Colorado.

Little Angel

2006-06-19T16:13:00.000-06:00

Green Mountain Cemetery, Boulder, Colorado.

Kanji

2006-06-19T16:12:00.000-06:00

Green Mountain Cemetery, Boulder, Colorado.

Stone Rose

2006-06-14T10:30:00.000-06:00

Green Mountain Cemetery, Boulder, Colorado.

When You Can't Afford a Tombstone

2006-06-12T15:55:00.000-06:00

When you can't afford a tombstone, your loved ones create one for you from bits and pieces of things that they have. City of Louisville Cemetery, Colorado

Shadow of a Rose

2006-06-06T13:48:00.000-06:00

Cemetery, City of Louisville, Colorado

Vocabulary of the Dead

2006-06-06T13:47:00.000-06:00

Necropolis: city of the dead; cemetery; ancient burial ground.
Necomancer: one who performs sorcery and divination through communication with the dead.
Necrophobia: fear of death; fear of dead bodies.
Necrosis: death of animal or plant tissue.
Necrolatry: worship of the dead.
Necromimesis: believing that you're dead.
Necrophilia: erotic attraction to dead people.
Necromantheion: oracle of death. It is a door to the Underworld, the realm of the dead.

Beloved Son and Brother

2006-06-06T13:36:00.000-06:00

Cemetery, City of Louisville, Colorado

Baby Allie

2006-06-06T13:33:00.002-06:00

Alberta Ostrander; Cemetery, City of Louisville, Colorado

Dark/Light

2006-06-02T09:44:00.000-06:00

A close-up of a large stone in City of Lafayette Cemetery, Colorado.

Red Marble Slab

2006-05-25T09:21:00.000-06:00

Green Mountain Cemetery, Longmont, Colorado

Two Pink Tulips

2006-05-25T08:54:00.000-06:00

Green Mountain Cemetery, Longmont, Colorado

Alone

2006-05-24T11:15:00.000-06:00

She's been without him for 28 years. Is she still alive or is she buried somewhere else? Green Mountain Cemetery, Longmont, Colorado

Two Dandelions

2006-05-24T11:14:00.000-06:00

Green Mountain Cemetery, Longmont, Colorado

Leaves in Granite

2006-05-24T11:12:00.000-06:00

Green Mountain Cemetery, Longmont, Colorado

Guess Things Happen That Way

2006-05-18T14:41:00.000-06:00

Well you ask me if I'll forget my baby.
I guess I will, someday.
I don't like it but I guess things happen that way.
by Johnny Cash

Rivers of the Underworld

2006-05-08T18:13:00.000-06:00

Columbia Cemetery, Boulder, Colorado

Styx: sacred river of unbreakable oath. Styx is also the name of a goddess and is the only female river. To swear by the Styx was the most holy oath a god could make.

Phlegethon: river of fire. It burns but does not consume.

Acheron: river of woe. The dead are ferried across by Charon, if they have been fortunate enough to have been supplied with the fare by their loved ones.

Cocytus: river of lamentation. Those who cannot pay the fare wander here, wailing, for a hundred years.

Lethe: river of forgetfulness. Drink here and forget.

Benjamin Skinner

2006-05-08T18:11:00.000-06:00

Much Missed

2006-05-08T18:04:00.000-06:00

Cemetery, City of Lafayette, Colorado

Framed

2006-05-08T18:03:00.000-06:00

Columbia Cemetery, Boulder, Colorado

And Many Happy Returns

2006-05-08T18:02:00.000-06:00

Green Mountain Cemetery, Boulder, Colorado

Black Urn

2006-05-08T17:55:00.000-06:00

Green Mountain Cemetery, Boulder, Colorado

Stone/Stone

2006-05-08T17:52:00.000-06:00

A stone ornaments a headstone in Green Mountain Cemetery, Boulder, Colorado

Death Card: Arthurian Tarot

2006-05-08T17:50:00.000-06:00

Green Mountain Cemetery

2006-05-08T17:38:00.000-06:00

Some pics from Green Mountain Cemetery, Boulder, Colorado, in spring 2006.

Hills and Stones

2006-05-04T11:43:00.000-06:00

Green Mountain Cemetery, Boulder, Colorado

In Memory of Eric

2006-05-04T11:42:00.000-06:00

One Friday night in February, Eric C., 16, tried to kill himself with a drug overdose. He was mostly successful. He wound up in intensive care, his life hanging by a thread, and that thread tied to this earth by high-tech machines. There was no hope, though, and so on Sunday his parents gave permission to remove him from life-support. In this way they finished the job they themselves had started on Friday afternoon, when Eric told them he was gay and they kicked him out of the house. He was a sophomore at Fairview High School and an acquaintance of my children. I don't know where he's been laid to rest.

1932

2006-05-02T13:33:00.002-06:00

Fresh flowers and plants grace the stone of someone who's been gone 70 years. Cemetery, City of Lafayette, Colorado

Gold Angel

2006-05-02T13:31:00.000-06:00

Cemetery, City of Lafayette, Colorado

Famous

2006-05-01T15:52:00.000-06:00

The Flatirons, world-renowned Mecca for rock climbers, form a backdrop to a headstone in Green Mountain Cemetery, Boulder, Colorado.

Painted Vase

2006-04-22T19:33:00.000-06:00

Cemetery, City of Louisville, Colorado.

Pouting Angel

2006-04-22T19:32:00.000-06:00

Cemetery, City of Lafayette, Colorado.

Spear and Flower

2006-04-22T19:30:00.000-06:00

A spear and a flower stand guard duty at a soldier's stone. Cemetery, City of Lafayette, Colorado.

Sun Shadow

2006-04-22T18:55:00.000-06:00

Cemetery, City of Louisville, Colorado.

A Very Old Cemetery

2006-04-22T18:53:00.001-06:00

I went up to Columbia Cemetery in Boulder (Colorado) after work to shoot some pics. It felt empty and dreary there, for all the sun shone and cheery dandelions proclaimed the return of spring. No one leaves decorations by the gravestones there, the way they do at Louisville and Lafayette cemeteries. At Louisville and Lafayette, the dead are The Dearly Departed, much loved, much respected and much missed. The dead at Columbine Cemetery are The Forgotten.

In all fairness, though, Columbia is a very old cemetery. Who remembers you when you've been dead for 50 years? Who is there to put flowers on your grave when you've been gone a century?

Chrysanthemums

2006-04-21T13:11:00.000-06:00

Cemetery, Louisville, Colorado

Helart

2006-04-21T13:09:00.000-06:00

Cemetery, Louisville, Colorado

Pinwheel

2006-04-17T17:04:00.000-06:00

This cheery pinwheel, whirling in the breeze, celebrates the life of someone's dear departed. Cemetery, City of Lafayette

Thoughts on Persephone

2006-04-17T16:57:00.000-06:00

The goddess Kore went down to the underworld and became Persephone. She didn't go of her own free will. Like we mortals are, she was kidnapped. Unlike we mortals, she was released and she returned. Her mother had advocated for her and won her freedom. But no one advocates for mortals. Once we're gone, we're gone, no matter that our mother grieves and beseeches the gods for us.

Father

2006-04-14T16:45:00.000-06:00

One little stone, all alone; no 'Mother' stone nearby. Cemetery, City of Lafayette

Branch/Claw

2006-04-14T16:40:00.000-06:00

Cemetery, City of Lafayette

Hawk and Sparrow

2006-04-14T13:16:00.000-06:00

I went to my dad's last night to help pay bills, as I've done every week without fail (practically) since Mom died five years ago. Dad's 70 now. He enjoys life and people very much. His hair's been white for a while but suddenly last night, he looked as though the years were catching up with him. It was easy for me to imagine being at his funeral the way we'd been at Mom's.

He told me how he saw a hawk catch a sparrow the other day. The hawk perched on his back fence and ripped the sparrow to shreds. It was horrible to watch. I spent the evening thinking about how death stalks each one of us. It lurks right behind. We might die violently or gently, but we are gonna die. Remember that, and let it make each moment sweeter.

The Stones at Arlington

2006-04-12T18:01:00.000-06:00

Arlington National Cemetery, Washington D.C.

Arlington

2006-04-12T08:13:00.000-06:00

Arlington Cemetery, Washington D.C.
PhotoFriday: Organized

Little Angel

2006-04-10T17:26:00.000-06:00

Cemetery, City of Lafayette

Landscape

2006-04-10T17:23:00.000-06:00

Cemetery, City of Lafayette

Heart Stone

2006-04-10T14:39:00.000-06:00

A heart-shaped headstone lies broken. Cemetery, City of Lafayette

Headstone

2006-04-06T08:55:00.000-06:00

BARNARDI DOMENICO, NATO 1855, MORTO 1913
Cemetery, City of Lafayette, Colorado

In the Mist I

2006-04-05T17:36:00.000-06:00

Cemetery, City of Lafayette, Colorado

In the Mist II

2006-04-05T09:29:00.000-06:00

Cemetery, City of Lafayette, Colorado

Death Card: Tarot of the Cloisters

2006-04-05T09:28:00.000-06:00

Only Two Things

2006-04-04T21:54:00.000-06:00

There are two things we have to do in this life:

1) Die
2) Live until then

There is no happy ending

2006-04-03T21:19:00.000-06:00

There is only death, dismemberment and the crucifixion of our hearts with the passing of the forms that we have loved.
Joseph Campbell, Hero with a Thousand Faces

Children Play

2006-04-03T12:38:00.000-06:00

Cemetery, City of Lafayette, Colorado

The Death of Pheasants

2006-04-02T13:17:00.000-06:00

Boiled up three pheasants last night with the goal of making pheasant with dumplings. David's friend Todd bagged a whole bunch of them on a hunting trip and now we get the fruits of his labors, such as they are. As I cleaned them in the sink I thought about their deaths. It must have been pretty scary for them in that field that day, with all the yelling and tromping and gunshots.

The shot drives their feathers into their flesh, pokes their bodies full of little holes and breaks their bones. One of the pheasant was shot at pretty close range. Its body was a mess -- not much left of the breast on the left side. This is what it means to be shot to hell, I guess.

The chicken we buy in the store is so so clean. We even buy it deboned now, which removes us yet another step from the fact that this was a living creature. It's more obvious what you are eating when you have to pick the shot out, break its leg joint with your hands to get the claw off because the joint is too tough to cut through, and remove bits of lung tissue and heart.

Life feeds on life, says Joseph Campbell. It's one of the mysteries of this life. I live because it died. Thank you, pheasant, for what you have given me.

2006-04-02T10:12:00.000-06:00

Cemetery, City of Lafayette, Colorado

Death is My Lover

2006-04-01T13:20:00.000-07:00

Death is my lover. He wants me deeply, intensely. He loves the way I move, the way I gesture when I speak, the way I tilt my head. He can't wait to get me alone.

He comes to me at night. He whispers love words in my ear and my mind goes swirling away into dark emptiness, a pale mist dissipating in the boundless unending abyss.

Death touches me as I lie in bed, so tenderly and so gently that I can hardly feel him. But my body turns to hard dry clay and bit-by-bit in flakes and shards I crumble away.

He sits beside me in the garden. The sun is black, the roses withered, the insects tiny buzzing skeletons. Eternity weighs upon me then. It is so heavy I can't move, so loud I cannot hear.

My husband doesn't know I have another lover, a lover who is faithful and infinitely patient. Death waits for the day that I love him back, for the day when, in his arms, I forget all the other things I love.

Death Card: Rider-Waite Tarot

2006-04-01T10:11:00.000-07:00