The Halloween Candy Man

Since I built Ned an altar this week, I've been thinking a lot about him. This altar thing is a wonderful tradition and I hope it becomes more entrenched in the United States. It isn't attached to another holiday. It is just about remembering loved ones who have gone ahead of us. I was raised to take flowers to the cemetery at Easter and Mother's Day, Father's Day and Christmas. Not a bad thing to do but it was another thing to do along with cooking, cleaning and entertaining for the holiday.

Now Dia de los Muertos is a day all to itself. The thing you are remembering and celebrating is the life of the one you loved. And even better is that I can build my altar right in my own home and every time I see it I think about how much Ned loved his tequila and sangrita or red wine or Snickers. Yes, all of those things are on the altar. And yes, he would sometimes have a Snickers along with his tequila and of course with his red wine.

So, any way for the last couple of days I've been thinking about the good times. Like the time we had tiny Snickers bars for Trick or Treat. We didn't have many kids come by so Ned and Tom Robinson had a great evening eating the bag of Snickers and polishing off a bottle (or two) of red wine. I've been thinking of all the Date Nights we had in the Centro where we sat at a table in the San Francisco Café and watched life go by while we ate and drank and talked. I still don't know how a couple who are married as long as we were could still have anything to talk about but we did. I've been thinking about Port Aransas when the kids were young and we built bonfires on the beach while kids had wiener roasts and played games in the sand. I've been thinking about the great trips we took. Sometimes I even have to chuckle at some memory.

Some people think their loved ones return on Dia de los Muertos. I don't know whether that happens or not at this time. But I do know that I feel Ned's presence often and always when I  really need him.

This was Ned in the Jardin on Halloween, 2011. He had just finished a round of treatment in Houston and we had driven back in time for Dia de los Muertos. There were lots of kids and it was the last time he handed out candy for Halloween. Yes, that smiling man is my Ned.

Day of the Dead

Sometimes I think that globalization is watering down the traditions and customs of countries but there is a Mexican one that I've adopted and whether I'm living in Mexico or Texas, it is one that I plan to keep. It is Day of the Dead.

These days in Mexico it is getting commercialized with a sort of Halloween adaptation on October 31, with Calaca Festivals and Catrina parades on November 1 and 2. What kid wouldn't want to dress up and collect candy on Halloween. I understand the business community promoting events that will bring people into town to eat in restaurants and stay in hotels. The Day of the Dead I'm talking about is what happens in homes and with families.

About dark on November 1, I was walking into town. A door was partially open and I could see a small altar with candles, food and marigolds and even marigold petals sprinkled across the floor toward the door. Around the walls sat family members having a drink and talking. No doubt they were remembering loved ones.

On November 2, I went with some friends out in the campo, way out in the campo to a cemetery. We had to park on the road and walked about 1/2 mile on a rutted road with big potholes filled with the rain from the night before. There was one truck stuck in the mud and evidence that a few others had gunned the motor to escape other potholes. As we neared the cemetery vendors had set up stands to sell flowers, candles and food. Rancho dogs scooted in between the potholes and people to scrounge for tidbits accidentally dropped.

I took a deep breath when we walked through the gate of the cemetery. It was packed with people. It was so beautiful. Many families had turned the dirt on the grave so that it looked like it was a new grave. And flowers, not just marigolds but flowers of every kind and color from cosmos picked in the campo to stems of red gladiolas bought at a shop. Flowers in empty jalapeno cans and plastic bottles, huge round wreaths and even flowers stuck in the freshly turned earth.

Some family groups were visiting but most were gradually moving toward the far end of the cemetery where that was a three sided shed. They were waiting for the priest to arrive and for the Mass to begin.

Last year I had a large altar for Ned. This year was a little smaller. I decorated it with flowers, candles and some of my favorite pictures of him. Of course, I had red wine, his favorite tequila and Presidente Brandy. AND the biggest Snickers I could find. Many Mexicans believe that the spirit of the person comes back to visit during Day of the Dead. I think I always feel him by and a part of me but Day of the Dead is such a wonderful way to remember him and celebrate his life.

The picture? I made it in the campo cemetery. At one grave site there were two kind of raggedy dressed men. They seemed to be alone and not a part of any family group. One had white hair and he was stooped. He was turning the earth of the grave. The other, younger, the man you see above. He was putting flowers on the grave. Was this the grave of the wife and mother? I was touched. And it is another one of those times when, if I were a writer, there is a story to be written.

Pre-Visualization

I have to admit that although I took a lot of pictures, most of the time I was just shooting but not necessarily seeing the scene as a finished image. But when I was in the Cemetery of the Old Jewish Quarter in Prague I saw it in a dark monochrome. I saw it in square format. I wanted it to feel as dense and compressed as it was.

 

This cemetery was established in the first half of the 15th century. Jewish law forbid Jews from destroying a Jewish grave and in particular they were not allowed to remove a tombstone. Also, they were forbidden to bury Jews outside of the Jewish Quarter so purchasing extra land was impossible. When they ran out of space more layers of soil were placed on the existing graves, the tombstone was sometimes lifted and more people were buried. This resulted in the cemetery having 12 layers of graves and tombstones packed densely. Although this is not a very big space, it has been estimated that there are approximately 12,000 tombstones presently visible, and there may be as many as 100,000 burials in all.

 

Seeing the image as I wanted it to be in a print was pre-visualization. I was totally aware of this as I framed images although my camera shows me a rectangular color image in the viewfinder and I was totally aware of how I would process this file in Lightroom. Ansel Adams, the father of pre-visualization, would have been proud of me. Maybe his spirit was sitting on my shoulder for a little while that day.

Exploring Houston - Evergreen Cemetery

This week I drove to Eastwood where I own a vacant lot on Rusk Street. I've driven around the area many times but for some reason I had never driven South of Dumble Street on Rusk. Just four blocks South of my lot, Rusk dead ends into Altic Street and there in front of me was a cemetery. I never pass up a cemetery especially one that looks like it has old tombstones in it and I could see some old tombstones.

The one I photographed above reads:

ELENOR

wife of

J. R. GRYMES

 

BORN

April 1, 1827

DIED

March 20, 1903

 

There were quite a few tombstones with similar kinds of dates. The oldest burial I found was in 1895. But about half of the cemetery was colorful with balloons and flowers from Mother's Day. The tombstones and the decorations in that section had a very Hispanic flavor and there were some recent graves.

Thank God for the internet. As soon as I could I looked at a Google map and found that the cemetery was called Evergreen Cemetery. Then I googled Evergreen Cemetery Harris County Texas. There it was. Even a short video about someone who was helping preserve the cemetery. Even better, here is the text of a Historical Marker which I didn't find while I was walking around but it gave me the background of the Cemetery.

The Evergreen Cemetery Association organized in 1894 and purchased 25 acres at this site to establish a cemetery. The first recorded burial was that of the infant Nellie Storkes on October 4, 1894. Charles Hooper replaced first sexton Joseph Grenedig in 1898 and served until 1924. He was succeeded by his son, James, during whose tenure (1924-1936) 10 of the original 25 acres were sold. Hooper family members cared for all or part of the cemetery until 1984. Three distinctive ethnic burial arrangements exist here. Southern folk burial sites are often subdivided by families and enclosed by a fence with an arched gate. German families are buried together and their grave stones decorated by fine craftsmanship. Rows of evergreens and crepe myrtles often separate the German sections. Hispanic grave sites tend to be individually situated and decorated with floral arrangements. Among those buried in the cemetery are veterans of conflicts ranging from the Civil War to World War II, city and county officials, and local labor group and fraternal organizational members including the Masons, Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, and Woodmen of the World. The cemetery is maintained by an association comprised of descendants of people buried here.

1994

location: 500 Altic St.

I've lived in Houston for most of my life but it seems like every time I go exploring I find a place that I didn't know anything about. I love that.

UPDATE: More information about the cemetery here.