Just Begin......

Queen Victoria, perhaps the grandest mourner of all.


There is no question that I am Historically Displaced.
An old Soul uncomfortably wrapped in a modern time.
Fragile, yellowed lace calls to me.  Crumbling wood and granite beg me to take notice.
Old photographs of apparent strangers seek display in my home and become family.
A tarnished cameo means more to me than the biggest diamond ever could.

And so, I am forced to follow the Path of the Old Ways.

Having moved here in 1991 and living across the street from the Morgan Cemetery, I had always had it in mind to create *some kind* of artistic project centered around the land.  I even recall purchasing the materials to make my start....simply paper and art pencils.

Now, mind, I am no artist.  (per se- I believe we are *all* artists-but I speak of honed technique here)
What starts in my mind hardly ever seems to come out on paper.  I (deliciously) envy a superbly wonderful and creative friend of mine, artist Sue Sabiston, who can close her eyes and create a rendering to make you cry!

So, it is that to blame, (my lack of focus-not Sue's talent!) perhaps, that I had no clear direction and so never *began* my hazy project.

Well, that was moons ago and I never did walk across the street.

And then I moved.

And life went on.

A year or so ago, in the midst of planning an outing for my WANDERERS group, I decided upon a visit to this cemetery.  It was a lovely day and a wonderfully peaceful place.  The old stones call to me, as they always have in old grave yards, and I fell immediately in love!  But, alas, still no true project.  And who even knows what happened to that paper and pencil?  But a seed was planted in my brain.

Fast forward to yesterday.

  Because of a lovely friend of mine, Teresa from RAZZAMADAZZLE  http://shutterbuggbitten.wordpress.com/2012/05/22/more-cemetery-pictures/
and her recent, sublime cemetery posts, I made up my mind to *start* my project!

So, I drove in....got out of the car....and just began.

Which is a very fine place to start!  You'd be surprised at how: just beginning can take you a very long way!

I have decided that I will create an ongoing folk art project centered on the cemetery wherein I wander and meander and pick and choose and create a lovely work of blog art celebrating and honoring the deceased that rest so peacefully there while, at the same time, maintaining a sense of the actual layout of the grounds.  A wander with purpose, if you will!  lol

  Know you:  "All who wander are not lost."   ;)

In addition, this folk art will serve as the cornerstone for my Autumn folklore storytelling project to be held
right in the cemetery this Fall! (Which I am VERY excited about and promise to tell you all about as it progresses!)  The final, cumulative project will then be shared and presented as a public event at Harvest time!

In the meantime, I will try my best to take you on a virtual folk tour of the way I perceive the graves.

I can't even express to you how excited I am that I have finally taken the step to begin!

Let it be said that I profess to setting forth no historically accurate facts regarding the cemetery other than what appear on the tombstones, nor do I approach this from a scholarly point of view.  I am merely and humbly *painting* a picture in my own, small way and honoring those of the past who, through my art, may still have something to say.  I thank them in advance for knowing that I come there with naught but admiration and respect and a longing to preserve a time that I was, much to my historically displaced sadness, never able to experience.  I am so looking forward to the rest of the Path and sharing it with the community.

I do hope you'll join me on this journey.

With much love & excitement.....
~Mimi