Hope Cemetery, Part III

My last installment of Hope Cemetery.

You don’t expect to see pyramids in a cemetery but there are two here.

Larger-than-life soccer ball.

"Set me as a seal upon thine heart for love is strong as death" - Song of Solomon 8:6 William and Gwendolyn Halvosa sit in their marriage bed in pajamas, holding hands, with their tombs stretching out before them.

The mausoleum with the carved granite insets in the doors. While I was looking around, the owner of the crypt came to place flowers - she was very proud of the tomb. In fact she searched for her keys to let me in to admire the stained glass - but she could not find them. Too bad I would have loved to step inside. There are 8 crypts inside, the roof weighs 23 tons and the Last Supper in stained glass adorns the back wall.

The saddest (oldest?) grave in the place.

Looking at the stained glass you could forget it was raining outside.

Hope Cemetery, Part I
Hope Cemetery, Part II

Hope Cemetery Part II

There was too much beauty at Hope Cemetery for me to only dedicate one post to it. Too many hours of labor, and love, built into each piece.

Louis Brusa's own grave features a strange sculpture of "The Dying Man," slipping away, held by his wife. Brusa succumbed in 1937 to a common stone carver's ailment, silicosis, from a lifetime of sucking in airborne stone particles. Ventilation equipment added to the stone carving buildings in the mid-1930s eliminated the hazard. ~Roadside America

This entire stone is covered in carved flowers. Just think of the time involved to create such work.

Hope cemetery was established in 1895 and originally contained 53 acres. Since that time it has expanded to a total of 65 acres. Edward P. Adams, a nationally known landscape architect, created the original plan for the cemetery. Each new section of grounds is the result of expert counsel and modern design. The careful planning and architectural standards of Hope reflect the most progressive principles in cemetery development.
~Central Vermont Chamber of Commerce

Hope Cemetery was on my list of must-sees as soon as I learned of it. Weird New England made it sound very intriguing.

Even the doors on the tombs are magnificent.

These doors have carved granite panels.

Hand-carved Pieta from the original Michelangelo.

With Bleeding Hearts nearby.

If you missed the first installation on this cemetery please check it out.

New Vermont friends

We scared up a red squirrel while geocaching in Vermont.

And there were several Bobolinks around, but they never do cooperate with me very well.

We saw more butterflies than fossils at the Goodsell Ridge Fossil Preserve.

Goodsell Ridge contains the most complete fossil record of the world’s oldest reef dating back over 480 million years ago. On Goodsell Ridge, between stands of cedars and clusters of purple clematis and snowy aster, the ancient bedrock juts out from the soil, displaying in swirls and fossils organisms of extraordinary antiquity. ~Lake Champlain Land Trust

Haden found a wasp busy building a nest on a rock.

I thought these fish were pretty cool, but I don’t know what they are. They seemed to be fighting.  We found them at Chazy Reef at Isle LaMotte, along with the turtles of a few days ago.

Hope you are having a great weekend!  And Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there!

Reverence (Burlington, Vermont)

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

On our way through Burlington (Vermont) I had to stop and see the Whale Tails. They can be seen from the Interstate but what’s the fun in that?

We walked right up to them.

I gave them a little hug.

Not sure if Dennis was trying to push them over or finding his Zen.

Reverence was created by Jim Sardonis from 36 tons of African black granite in 1989.

Hope Cemetery in Barre, Vermont

We visited Hope Cemetery in Barre Vermont on a drizzly morning. But I think the drizzle just added to the intrigue.

Most of the granite for America's headstones comes from this part of Vermont. The master artisans of Barre, many Italians who immigrated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, worked the Barre Gray granite blocks into poignant memorial designs. ~ Roadside America

A balanced 3D cube showing - Tree of Life, Together, Nature

Love, Salesman

Each stone is more detailed than the last. I love how some of the names appear to be the signature of the person buried there.

Half-size replica of a race car.

I hope you’re getting an inkling of how huge these monuments are.

Wanna go for a ride in a Bi-plane?

If you want to know more about this cemetery and its stones check out Central Vermont’s webpage.