Wednesday, June 8

goodbye summer fun

I am busier with 2 classes this month than I was all Spring! And to think I was going to take on another reading-intensive class -- ha! So it loooks like I will not have much summer fun this year, which is probably okay since I am not sure what is really going on around town anyway. Yeah, I'll make it to the Court Square Concert Series, and of course I'll do some other stuff here & there -- but no 'Live at the Gardens' or big, fancy trips or anything. Probably. I just forgot I'm supposed to be going to Kiawah Island next month, but we'll have to see about that. I have to (get to?) research & present a short talk on "Tombstone Art in Elmwood Cemetary" next week. IN Elmwood Cemetary. At 3:30 in the afternoon. I will make sure to choose shady spots for my featured tombstones. I really like Elmwood, and have to encourage all my 4 faithful readers in Memphis to go there sometime (when it's not 97 degrees in the shade). When those cemetaries were designed, they were given serene-sounding names like Woodlawn and Oakwoods, and some of them ended with "Park" or "Gardens" so they seemed like nice places for a picnic. So that's what the Victorian-era Americans did: they had picnics with their ancestors. See, I haven't even started to do research yet -- this is just from reading the book on Elmwood several years ago. Not morbid at all.

3 comments:

Phoebe said...

I actually have a book that belonged to Elmwood. It's from 1874 and has a history of the cemetery. If you'd like to borrow it, you are more than welcome to. It's one of a kind.
Somehow my dad got it for me years ago. I think that Elmwood sent it to a printer for something (the invoice is in the book) and never got it back. And now it's at my house.

Chris Lawrence said...

Reminds me, I guess I should go by Elmwood when I'm in Memphis next weekend since it's been years (probably at least a decade) since I've visited the family plot.

Memphis Chix said...

Well, let me know if you see any interesting tombstone art while you're there & I just may take my History of Memphis class to visit your ancestors!