Ambling around...

Well, I haven't had a lot to post about lately, so I guess I'll talk about a cemetery. This is one of the Pioneer cemeteries in Dallas, on the edge of an old township called Letot that was swallowed by Dallas in the late 50's. For a bit of information about this cemetery go here.

Basically, this is a family cemetery containing 15 graves. The Mooneyham family settled in this part of Texas in 1844, making them one of the earlier settlers. One member of the Letot family is buried here, but most of them are in the "Old Letot Cemetery" about a mile away. Both are wedged between warehouses now... The only remnants of the community of Letot are these two cemeteries, and the Letot Baptist Church, which was sadly in need of repair the last time I drove by it. The Letot Elementary School was still standing at the beginning of this year, being utilized as a warehouse, but was torn down this summer.

This particular graveyard is not listed as a historical marker, while the Old Letot Cemetery is, and is under the control the the Dallas Historical Society.

It's been a rather interesting week... The most interesting experience I had this week was delivering human body parts to a research laboratory. Now, I've done that before. Or I'm assuming that's what was in those boxes. It doesn't really bother me, they have to get to the labs somehow, and it might as well be me... to be perfectly blunt, I've delivered Haz Mat that was far more hazardaous than this...

Usually you pick up a box that say Hazardous Material on one side and Human Tissue Samples on the other and you just take it. You don't know exactly what it is, and you just get on with it. It pays well, and it has to get there in a hurry. This job however I picked up at the airport. Now, any Haz Mat that is on the airplane has to be clearly marked as to the contents.

So, I'm driving around a box with "Human Eye Tissue" sitting in my front seat.

I don't know if it's just me, but as far as disembodied people parts go, eyes are right up there on top of the creapy list. Probably because when you talk to somebody, you look into their eyes, and you can communicate with someone with just a glance... eyes just seem more alive and human than other things. I don't know exactly why it's creepier than other things, but I do know that halfway to the delivery, I suddenly got a feeling that that box was STARING at me.

Anyway... that was the highlight of my week.

I so need a new job...

Wyatt's Chapel Cemetary

This is one of the pioneer cemeteries in our neck of the woods... in it's modern incarnation. Most people, if they notice at all, just think of it as a green space in the middle of a shopping center. Quite frankly, most modern built shopping centers and office complexes have these places in them... utterly useless. It's too hot to sit out on the stone benches, and if people do decide to rest for a minute at them, security guards often start circling. So most people ignore them. This one however is what's left of the Wyatt's Chapel Cemetery.

At one point in the history of Texas, families were divided by acres of land connected only by dirt trails through the Mesquite. There were small 'Hubs' where families from several farms and plantations would gather, and these places usually had a schoolhouse, church and graveyard. Wyatt's Chapel was one of these places. Most of these small communities did not survive the Great Depression.

The above plaque gives the names of the 20 known individuals buried here. Other plaques on the below pylon give some other information...

A basic summary: Wyatt's Chapel consisted of 3 acres. 2 acres were dedicated to the church and school, (the plaque doesn't say, but usually the church and school were the same building) while 1 acre was dedicated to cemetery, although only 1/4 acre was used for burials. The stones from the abandoned cemetery were removed in the 1950's. ( I have no idea why) In 1976, one family put a stone commemorating their ancestors who were buried here, and another original stone ( the gray one in the 3rd pic, at the base of the pylon) was replaced.

It was unknown how many persons were actually buried here until an archaeological excavation in 1980 found 44 graves, 15 of which were children. There are also 2 civil war veterans buried here, 1 Union and 1 Confederate. This memorial park was built in remembrance of the pioneers, both known and unknown, who rest here.

Actually, this is a rather nice solution to the problem of a small cemetery in a developing landscape. There are at least 2 shopping centers in Dallas that I know of which have built 9 foot high brick walls around small graveyards, then erected locked steel gates. I guess they figure people don't want to shop when they're reminded that they're gonna die some day... What you can see of them is full of weeds and plastic bottles.

Meandering around, and a surprise at home...

Had a long drive out today... all the way to Bridgeport Texas... I don't know why they call it Bridgeport... I didn't see a bridge, and there's definitely no port... but there we are...

I saw this rather magnificent stand of Optunia... I wish I could say it was natural, but it's a deliberately planted security barrier... unless you're driving a tank, I seriously wouldn't recommend trying to get through this...

And here's a rather magnificent scrub oak... I've always loved the meandering twisted branches on these things...

And fairly close to my house, there's a cemetary that I realized I'd never visitited... of course, I looked for cactus... But I think that other cemetary I saw them in is an exception to the norm... there's no cactus here at the Rehoboth Cemetery... I intend to look up the word Rehoboth, because I have no idea what it could possibly be referring to...

Thsi is the grave of Mary Miller... the first grave at this site...

And this is the grave of Clara Bell and Cora Lee Whitehead... twins who were born and died within a month.

And here's a distant shot of the cemetary... You can't tell from the pic, but the grounds are dotted with small wildflowers... which is really kind of a relief... I get tired of cemetaries that are maintained like golf courses. A more natural look is far more fitting to these historical sites...

And this was blooming it's fool head off when I got home... My Parodia werneri was blooming! I thought the buds were a couple days away from opening, but the heat over the last couple of days must have spurred them on... These pics don't show the colors well... the blooms are actually darker, almost royal purple...

UPDATE: The name Rehoboth is biblical...

And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name Rehoboth, saying, "For now the LORD has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land." (Genesis 26:22 ESV)

I'm still not sure that I totally understand the reference, but there it is...