Fort Collins, Colorado

Only the Good Die Young:  His epitaph reads: "Only the Good Die Young." The good in his heart is the subject of loving scrolls from his mother and sister, who probably also authored the one on his love for music. Play on Roger: Play on as an introduction to the posts for the rest of this week. Rest Haven Memory Gardens. [2019]

Fort Collins, Colorado

Live Your Dash:  "Life is Short – Live Your Dash." Get it? If not, look at the dates of birth and death on the tombstone and see what is in between: a dash. His dash was a short sprint, but he "finished the race." The mood-setting verse from II Timothy may be the most common scripture on cemetery headstones in the country. Grandview Cemetery. [2019]

Julesburg, Colorado

The Last Camping Trip ~ From Tents to Trailers and Beyond:  He'll be on that lake forever and the fish tales will just get taller and taller. Here's proof we can carry our dreams to our graves. For him and his wife, and their four kids, the world of camping probably began in a humble tent and ended in a toplofty RV. Julesburg Cemetery. [2019]

Fort Collins, Colorado

Lighthouse Theology 2:  John 8:12 ~ "Jesus is the Light of the World." KJV ~  "Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life." Resthaven Memory Gardens. [2019]

Loveland, Colorado

Unicorns on Parade:  Here in the land of love (get it?) is another unicorn with a right-sized horn. Remember where that horn (really a tusk) came from? That's right: the narwhal. Remember the symbolic associations of unicorns? That's right: strength, love and fantasy.  Remember which sex is more likely to have a unicorn on their memorials? That's right: females. Remember the most famous woman ever painted with a unicorn on her lap? That's right: The Virgin Mary. Do you remember what famous toy line featured a number of colorful unicorns? That's right: My Little Pony. Lakeside Cemetery. [2019]

Fort Collins, Colorado

The First Shall be Last, and The Last First:  Shall we end the year with . . .?
An A-name + A poem + A piece of physical geography
     "We're all driven by the winds of change,
     Seems like nothing ever stays the same,
     It's faith that guides me around the bend,
     Life's forever, forever beginning again,
     Flow on river of time."
For two days, today and tomorrow, we allow ourselves to be immersed in the mysteries of time. We remember what we have done over the past year, and we contemplate how our lives will be different in the one to come. Ultimately, though, our own river of time disappears into the world's great ocean – but time, like the river we're riding, continues to flow. So, let's all enjoy the ride while we can and remember that the river flows on. And, by the way, did you see how, with one small change, he made the "River of Time" lyrics his own?
Grandview Cemetery. [2019]

Julesburg, Colorado

Picture-Perfect Farmsteads:  Here is a headstone that stands as a pictorial memo to all future generations: a view of the farmstead that shaped a generation or two of the family. Well into the future one of their descendants may come by and say: So that's what the land looked like before the new highway brought in all those housing subdivisions! Julesburg Cemetery. [2019]

Mancos, Colorado

Defined by Our Duds: Was his appeal the music that he played or the duds that he wore? Maybe you can't separate the two, and it looks like he was defined by both. Now, like a pharaoh, he has an obelisk of his own, and it matches his black suit. Cedar Grove Cemetery. [2013]

Rifle, Colorado

Defined by Our Duds:  Many of us are defined by our work duds. We wear them proudly because our job was a good part of our identity. The lamp on this headstone seems to indicate he spent a lot time underground, which is exactly where he is now. Rose Hill Cemetery. [2013]

Greeley, Colorado

Voices from the Land of the Living ~ Third Person Singular Subjective Case:  "He lives with us in memory and will for evermore." Linn Grove Cemetery. [2013]

Nunn, Colorado

Voices from the Land of the Living ~ First Person Plural Subjective Case:  "We think about you everyday. When we cry and when we play. . . . We love you with our hearts and soul. We just wanted you to know." Mountain View Cemetery. [2013]

Cortez, Colorado

Voices from the Land of the Living ~ First Person Plural Subjective Case:  "We are all connected." Cortez Cemetery. [2013]

Greeley, Colorado

Voices from the Land of the Living ~ First Person Plural Subjective Case:  "We loved him a lot, but God loved him more." Linn Cemetery. [2013]

Platteville, Colorado

Voices from the Grave ~ First Person Singular Subjective Case:  "Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to take."  With a universally popular (though slightly modified) bedtime prayer, a month of "perpendicular pronouns" comes to an end. If you still haven't figured out the meaning of perpendicular pronouns, think about "I." When people walk the earth, they are perpendicular to the surface. However, when they lie beneath the sod, they're not so perpendicular anymore. From their graves, though, their voices can still be heard: thanks to their burial memorials. Mizpah Cemetery. [2013]

Mancos, Colorado

Artistically Yours:  In the graveyards of the world, far more people let you know their avocations than their vocations. For a living, he probably didn't play that guitar, and she probably didn't paint. But strumming and painting is what made living worthwhile. Where are they now? "Gone beyond the sunset." And, what did they take with them? The arts. Cedar Grove Cemetery. [2013]

Durango, Colorado

January is for Palindromes:  Find the palindrome. Surname? No. Given name? No. Nickname? Yes! To the Bob buried below: Clickety-clack must have been music to his ears. To the Bob making music for the masses (scroll down): His jazz must match his nickname. Is there such a thing as palindromal music? Music that sounds the same when played forward and backward? Greenmount Cemetery. [2013]

"Bob: A Palindrome"

A 2013 Album by Bob Hurst

Can Music be a Palindrome?

Durango, Colorado

World Teachers' Day ~ October 5:  Over 100 countries in the world follow the lead of the U.N. and proclaim October 5 as national Teachers' Day. That does not include the U.S. Nevertheless, feel free to proclaim tomorrow as your own Teachers' Day. Say thank you to your kids' teachers, honor a teacher of your own, or visit a cemetery and see how many headstones you can find that proudly identify the departed as teachers. Greenmount Cemetery. [2013]

Durango, Colorado

A Band of Angels Coming After Me:  "Swing low sweet chariot. Coming for to carry me home. A band of angels coming after me. Coming for to carry me home." These are perhaps the most well-known lyrics of all the spirituals written by slaves in the pre-Civil War era. Today, they capture the hope of everlasting life in the great beyond, a place that will be so much sweeter than the home we know on Earth. Greenmount Cemetery. [2013]

Greeley, Colorado

History of Aeronautics ~ Chapter 2:  Early hot-air balloons were nothing more than kites carrying lanterns. But in the late 1700s, during an era when all good things came from France, the Montgolfier brothers sent the first human beings into the air in defiance of gravity. A ceiling on human occupance of the earth had been broken and imaginations soared. What would you like for your ascent into heaven? A hot air balloon, perhaps? Linn Grove Cemetery. [2013]

Ault, Colorado

N is for Nelson:  "For there are these three things that endure: Faith, Hope and Love, but the greatest of these is Love." These are the words of Jesus translated from the language he spoke, Aramaic. If one word describes Christianity, it is Love. But, today another verse is being cited as the central tenet of the Jesus Movement in the modern world, a verse about his confrontation with the money changers: "And he made for himself a whip from rope and cast all of them out of The Temple; and the sheep, the lambs, and money exchangers, and he poured out their money and overturned their tables." Ault Cemetery. [2013]