A chilly spring morning, and off we went to Elmwood Cemetery for one of the occasional history walks they offer. This is a very old cemetery, with every name you now see on street signs, or in the names of counties, on some monument — the founding fathers (and daughters) of the state. I think the theme of this one was Art and Architecture, so we stopped at a lot of artists’ stones, but as always, the interesting stuff was everywhere.
People leave change, and an occasional bill, in the lap of this lady, who serves as the unofficial logo of the cemetery.
This coffin-size bronze is actually the entry to an underground vault for one family. It’s only been opened once in modern times, the staff historian told us — on her day off. The lid alone weighs a ton, but once it was raised, they could see inside to several niches with initials on the end. And it was totally pristine, no water, no seepage from the earth. Whoever built it, built it to last.
The co-founder of Pewabic Pottery. There was originally an open pot in that niche, but weather took a toll and it was later replaced with the mosaic.
A plate on a natural rock monument:
It exists, and you can get it via Project Gutenberg. Wikipedia:
He practiced for several years in Mansfield, Ohio until he started his journalistic career in 1860. He was the editor of the Port Huron Commercial (Port Huron, Michigan), and the Detroit Evening News (Detroit, Michigan). In 1880, he abandoned journalism and entered the US Patent Office.[5] He was appointed principal examiner in 1886 and served until 1893. In 1877 he became Washington correspondent for the Scripps Syndicate, serving several prominent newspapers.
He continued in this capacity until after publishing his groundbreaking 1893 work “The Law of Psychic Phenomena,” which brought him international fame throughout the English-speaking world. The book’s sales continue to this day.
This was followed in 1895 by “A Scientific Demonstration of the Future Life” (considered by many his superior work), then “The Divine Pedigree of Man,” and finally “The Law of Mental Medicine” in 1903, published just days before his death from heart failure on May 26, 1903, in Detroit.
A more modern resting place. “Asiwaju basegun” is apparently a title associated with his native tribe; he was Nigerian. Also, an accomplished medical doctor.
I was reminded of the Sedgwick Pie, the burial ground of the Sedgwick family (Edie and Kyra being the most notable examples), in Massachusetts. The patriarch and matriarch of the clan are buried in the center, with descendants arrayed around them in concentric circles, feet toward the middle, so that on judgement day, when they arise from their graves, they only have to see other Sedgwicks. Ha ha ha.
After that, we had a late lunch at Saffron De Twah, came home, collapsed into dual naps and awoke to find the wind had changed and the temperature had risen by 20 degrees. Everybody outside was in shorts. I opened the windows. We’re still alive, might as well enjoy this warm breath while it lasts.
So much news over the weekend. Orban ousted, JD Vance fails in Pakistan, the president farts out another few emissions on Truth Social. I’d rather enjoy the spring weather and let my laptop run a software update. So take it away in the comments while I eat a piece of cake and enjoy the sounds of playing children through the open windows.
Dorothy said on April 12, 2026 at 7:52 pm
Cemeteries fascinate me. Reading the headstones, you can learn so many kinds of names. The older the grave, the better the chances of reading a name you’d never heard of. I should have written some of them down.
The first house we owned after we got married was on a steep hill in Wilkins Twp, PA. Our street intersected with Churchill Road. At that intersection was a cemetery, and before we had kids we used to walk up to the cemetery with our dogs Dublin and Peanut. We’d walk onto the very back section of it where there no graves, and walk the pups in all kinds of weather. (and yes of course we always picked up whatever the pups put on the grass) Then we’d take the paved road where cars could drive and walk out toward the front of the cemetery, coming home on our street again. It was always so nice and quiet to walk there. And there was a separate Jewish section where you could find the resting place of Allison Krause, who was killed at Kent State in 1970. I only visited it once. That was enough. It made me terribly sad.
I was glued to The Masters today, and was ever so glad that the Irishman won! It’s been 24 years since the last back-to-back winner. You all know who that was.
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Colleen said on April 12, 2026 at 8:08 pm
I loved walking through Lindenwood when I lived in Fort Wayne. The city’s history is there.
Yay for my ancestral land of Hungary. If they can vote out an authoritarian who stacked the deck in his favor, so can we.
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Sherri said on April 12, 2026 at 8:37 pm
Someone on Bluesky suggested that the idiom “screwed the pooch” should now be replaced with “fucked the couch”, as in “JD really fucked the couch in Hungary.”
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BigHank53 said on April 12, 2026 at 9:34 pm
The Artemis mission returning was pretty cool. Other than that…yeah, this weekend’s news makes software updates look good.
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