Even as a child, I always loved old cemeteries. Especially the little, walled in family cemeteries that felt like a secret garden. I think I've always been somewhat of an empath, was just very aware that someone had stood in that spot feeling loss, but even so I always felt comfortable being there.

I take my lunch to a nearby cemetery sometime during the week before memorial day to clean, put out little flags and just sit and enjoy being with all the folks that are there.

I used to live about a block from a cemetery and my neighbor on the other side of it came to see me one day to tell me how upset she was that kids were playing in the cemetery after dark. They were hiding behind headstones and scampering around and scaring each other. I told her I really hoped they came and played near my headstone any time they wanted to. She was appalled. LOL

I'm with you Bonnie! I think the spirits of those buried in that place would be delighted to know the children were having fun playing there!!!

I am in total agreement with you Bonnie!

Leslie,
You'd love my "collection" from a burial site north of Chattanooga next to the Tennessee River that was about to be inundated with a new dam, back in 1968. I use it to teach something about the ancient cultures in this country using a mix of osteo and cultural I suppose. Dated by Univ of TN to 1100. None of my irises are that old, but they are more colorful!
A bit off topic, sorry.

But an interesting story Dave! Did they move/study the remains before inundating it? I sure hope so!

Yes they did Marilyn. At least to a point. A Univ of Tenn worker followed me around and "helped" box some of the bones I found and then ran off with it all to add to the study material in some warehouse in Knoxville area to never be seen by the public again. There was a decent report from over a two year period, however not much was done on the prior culture that occupied the area around 900. Of that earlier culture I found one buried dismembered skeleton missing its skull [buried without it, not taken] which was photographed and left in place. I do use the material to help kids understand how well they have it today compared to the early people on this continent.

To somewhat fit into the topic the oddest question during a show and tell teaching session was "Did you kill him?" I'm old but . . . .

Smartass kid...............

Makes me feel reeeeellly glad I never got beyond my student teaching semester--there'd either be chaos in my classroom, in which case I would shortly be out of a job; or I'd hurt one of those mouthers and be in jail, in which case I would even more rapidly be out of a job.

Tooo funny, Debra!

Ah Dave, I had the other side of that coin. We were working with different animal skeletons in a forensics class, and I just had started working on a dog skull. Wouldn't you know it, but a TV film crew came in to do a local flavor piece. So the reported saunters up and says "what killed the dog?" and I had to tell him (with cameras rolling) that he had been shot in the skull. I am pretty sure that was edited out of their little fluff piece! That was just a bad day.

No subject has a restriction on stupid questions!