Graveyard on a Hill

The morning started out misty and overcast, and I took a different route to work to see how the fog looked from Skytop. The news of the morning was that Skytop was socked in and you couldn't see a darn thing.

I decided to pay a quick visit to a charming little cemetery on a hill nearby. The cemetery contains some beautiful grave stones from the Civil War era. It looks out over the green, rolling hills of my home. And at the edge of it stands a huge, beautiful tree, which I used to frame many of my shots.

It was very peaceful and quiet there. While some people may consider graveyards to be gloomy, depressing places, I myself do not. I have played in graveyards ever since I was a little child, and I adore them. There is nothing like a good cemetery stomp, I always say.

There are graveyards that I have coveted for their beauties, and this is on the path to becoming one of them. We must each of us one day find a place to lay our tired bones down when we are done with them. A beautiful green graveyard on a hill just might be a fine place to do so. (Yes, one day. But not anytime soon, one hopes!)

Before I left the Bald Eagle valley, I made one more stop: I visited the creek itself. As soon as I approached the water, I saw and heard a bunch of birds milling about along the edge. In looking closer, I noted that each bird had a wild, fluffy, brown hairdo: it was a mama merganser and her fuzzy-headed babies.

As soon as I came into view, the mama bird barked an order, and they all obediently leaped into the water, making tracks to get as far away from me as quickly as possible. You would be surprised how loud their tiny wings sounded, beating on the surface. It was almost as though they were wing-walking on water.

In under two minutes, the little family had rounded a corner and completely disappeared from sight. A photo of the merganser armada is included in the "extra photos" area. And please tell me if you agree that it almost looks like the mama merganser is wearing . . . pink lipstick.  :-)

The tune to accompany this image is a song about a woman walking through the graveyard, reading the names and words on the stones: the 10,000 Maniacs, with Lilydale.

Some think it so haunting
To be drawn to the
Cemetery ground, as we
There's a stillness here
Thankful found . . .