Journal Entry - Week 4 - The Tram

I enjoy tram rides as much as the next person, but the one we took this week was rather formidable. It was nice to see the extreme ends of the cemetery; however I felt as though it was a bit rushed and bumpy. I understand time is of the essence, but I would liked to have walked a bit more at the various stops we made throughout the ride. Nonetheless, complaining aside, I did find the overall experience quite rewarding. I was already familiar with the rearmost developed grounds as I have family buried there, but I was missing a great deal of the middle area. It was haunting to see the woodland area during the time of day and weather conditions we experienced. I felt as though I was in some type of horror movie or maybe a documentary about ghosts and the supernatural.

As we rode, I thought about the transition of time as we bounded our way toward the back of the cemetery. Monuments and gravestones went from very aged and unreadable to legible, but weathered, and lastly to highly polished, laser-etched works of modern art. It still boggles the mind to think about the vast sums of money that people must have spent to remember their dead. But maybe this is why they do. Generally when we remember people, especially loved ones, we tend to gravitate toward the good times, the good memories. What better way to physically remember the good in a person than by carving it from stone with floral accents and quirky quotes. Personally, I want a massive complex dedicated to the memory of my family. I imagine something along the appearance of the Burnett, flowing lines in light-colored granite, but with the scale and convolution of the Drexel—a multi-leveled affair situated on an expansive, rolling, picturesque piece of real-estate flanked by a lake or waterfall. I had better start saving now…